Chapter 259: When the Brilliant Light Shines
Chapter 259: When the Brilliant Light Shines
It was almost like a conditioned reflex how the crowd began applauding and cheering as soon as they caught sight of a far brighter spirit guide making its way out of the Fog Forest.
They knew that the spirit guides did more than just leading the freshmen into the dungeon; they kept track of the scores too. The brightness of a spirit guide was determined by how much mana it had absorbed, which in turn reflected the number and strength of the enemies a student had defeated.
Unlike the others whose spirit guides were only around the size of a basketball, the one that was currently drifting out of the forest had reached a size where an adult could barely wrap their hands around. This was a clear sign that marked the birth of a new Ringbearer.
The excited crowd stared intently as the blurred figure walking out of the Fog Forest gradually grew clearer and clearer before eventually revealing a young lady with auburn hair and emerald eyes. Her graceful gait further accentuated the impact of her entrance, and the crowd immediately burst into cheers.
“That’s our young miss!”
“It’s that girl from Rosa!”
Charlotte Sorofya directed an elegant smile at the bustling crowd as she quickly scanned the surroundings, only to sigh in disappointment upon realizing that Roel was nowhere to be found.
After the intense battle she had been through, the one thing she wanted the most was to be warmly welcomed by her lover. In fact, she had even thought up of a script. If Roel had been waiting for her in advance, she would offer her hand and request him to help her put on her Rose Ring.
While the Sia Continent didn’t have a custom of wedding rings, the act of putting a ring on a lady was still viewed to be an intimate act done only by couples deep in love. In a sense, it was similar to what exchanging short swords meant in the older times.
It was just a pity that Charlotte’s plan wouldn’t proceed in the direction she wished. She thought that her lover would be able to defeat the Ring Guardian faster than her, but it seemed like she was mistaken.
He must have encountered a difficult enemy, Charlotte thought with a sigh.
There had been many incredible prodigies in the thousand years of the Saint Freya Academy’s establishment. It was only normal that some of the Ringbearers would be exceptionally powerful or were able to hold on for a long time. After all, they were all fighting enemies that were an Origin Level stronger than them, so it was understandable that they might struggle a little.
Well, there was another ‘acquaintance’ of hers who wasn’t out yet, but that was of minor importance.
Charlotte shook off the disappointment glooming in her heart as she walked up to the crowd and raised her hand up high. She channeled her mana toward the exquisite Rose Ring she held between her fingers, which immediately produced a beautiful red aurora. This gesture was immediately met with thunderous applause and roars of delight from the crowd.
“It’s the Redrose Ring! We have acquired the Redrose Ring!”
“Hooray—!”
“Long live the young miss!”
The crowd went feverish at the revelation of the Rose Ring, especially the nobles from Rosa. The freshmen all heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that they would have someone to stand up for them. At the same time, the staff members spoke compliments about Charlotte’s remarkable accomplishment too.
It had been quite a few years since the Sorofyas came to prominence in the Sia Continent, but due to their talent being centered around divination and astrology, as well as their Jewel Magic lacking decisive offensive prowess in a real battle, they only managed to bear a single Ringbearer over the past hundred years.
Thus, Charlotte becoming the second Ringbearer was welcomed by all of Rosa’s nobles, and this feat indubitably brought glory to the Sorofya House.
The cheers and applause continued ceaselessly, and it didn’t take long for Charlotte to be completely surrounded. There were many freshmen and senior students who wanted to leave an impression on this new Ringbearer.
However, before the hype could die down, yet another spirit guide dashed out of the forest, stirring a second round of commotion.
“That is…”
“It’s another spirit guide! Someone is coming out!”
“Woah, isn’t this spirit guide brighter than the one before?”
It was yet another huge uproar. The emergence of an even brighter spirit guide could only mean one thing—another freshman had successfully defeated a Ring Guardian and acquired a Rose Ring.
The expectant crowd watched as the light in the Fog Forest grew brighter and brighter before a golden-haired young woman flew out with a pair of light wings. Amidst awed gasps, she descended onto the ground together with her spirit guide. Then, she raised her hand and showcased the dazzling golden aurora of her ring.
“The Goldenrose Ring! We have another Ringbearer!”
“O’ great Sia! Long live Her Highness Nora!”
Another round of applause and cheerings broke out. The students from the Saint Mesit Theocracy swung their national flag around excitedly whereas those from the Austine Empire looked much less excited by the turn of events. Overall, the atmosphere was still cheery enough to drive off the dreary vibes surrounding the Fog Forest.
Nora also scanned the surroundings before making her landing, and the conspicuous absence of Roel made her frown. She turned to look at Charlotte, only to narrow her eyes warily upon noticing the Redrose Ring between her fingers.
She managed to obtain it in the end… Forget it, it was within expectations anyway.
Nora retracted her gaze, choosing not to dwell too much on the matter.
As the future successor of their respective countries, Nora and Charlotte knew that this wasn’t the moment to be engaging in a verbal fight with one another. What was more important right now was to accept the congratulations of their followers.
They were able to easily gain followers by virtue of their distinguished lineage, but this wasn’t enough. They needed to go a step further to win their true loyalty, and this could be done through using this moment of shared glory to reinforce their sense of belonging.
However, this duty didn’t hinder the two of them from occasionally directing a glance in the direction of the forest as they awaited for the return of their lover.
Others might not be familiar with what Roel was capable of, but both Nora and Charlotte had been to the Witness State together with him. They were well aware of Roel’s fighting prowess, and they didn’t think that the weakened Origin Level 3 Ring Guardians would stand a chance against him.
The two victors had complete confidence in Roel, but the same couldn’t be said about Chris. She paced around the balcony uneasily, and she eventually had to resort to lighting another cigarette to assuage her anxiety.
As someone who hadn’t dated ever since being ‘dumped’ by her senior more than a decade ago, Chris wasn’t able to figure out what she ought to write to Carter about despite having racked her brain for an entire afternoon. After careful contemplation, it dawned on her that the only connection between the two of them at the moment was Roel, and the latter’s result in ‘Night of the Demons’ was a perfect conversation starter.
From an objective point of view, Roel’s performance in the trial thus far had impressed her. Even if not for Carter, she would be tempted to offer a slot in her classes for him. It was just that she didn’t expect Roel to meet with some trouble here.
The Scholar Guilds and student organizations had begun tabulating the results to divide the students into five different tiers. The highest tier was naturally the ‘First Tier’ Ringbearers, but there was a subtle divergence between Charlotte and Nora’s results.
The size of Nora’s spirit guide was large enough to encompass an entire person, which was a spectacular results beyond the classification of the five tiers. The academy had a special name for this, ‘Special Tier’.
In the history of the Saint Freya Academy, there were very few students who were classified as Special Tier. Often, there would only be one every decade. The last Special Tier student to appear in the academy was Lilian from two years ago, and her spirit guide back then had been slightly larger than Nora’s.
Being classified under Special Tier was a mark that the transcendents’ strength far surpassed that of their peers. Such students were highly sought after by the leaders of each Scholar Guilds, and they wouldn’t hesitate to come to blows if that was what it took for them to secure the students.
It was just that Lilian and Nora’s background meant that they couldn’t be retained in the Country of Scholars, so the Scholar Guilds could only hold themselves back here. The same logic applied to Charlotte, who was ranked in the highest First Tier albeit not being in the Special Tier.
Looks like it’s a wasted trip.
Not all of the students were out of the dungeon yet, but the expectations of the Scholar Guilds’ leaders were starting to wane. In their view, anyone who had the ability to reach First Tier or Special Tier should have defeated the Ring Guardian by now. The battle shouldn’t have dragged out for so long.
As time ticked on, some amidst the crowd began to take their leave. Even the gamblers were also starting to lose their patience. They looked at the raised signboard just in front of the Fog Forest that wrote 【Challengers: 1】 and wondered if the final person had met with a calamity arising from the earlier anomalous mana pulsations.
And just as Nora and Charlotte were starting to get worried, the thick fog inside the Fog Forest suddenly began flurrying about as light poured out from within. This mysterious sight immediately caught everyone’s attention.
“W-what’s going on?”
“Is it a phenomenon produced by the instability of the dungeon?”
“Wait a moment, isn’t the light growing brighter, as if it’s heading in our direction?”
Listening to the discussions from the crowd, Antonio, who had maintained his silence all this while, suddenly raised his head and revealed a faint smile. Chris also quickly leaned over the railings of the balcony in agitation to take a closer look.
A white sun emerged from the fog.
It was a spirit guide that had grown over five meters in size, such that it was impossible to make out its original form anymore. It towered like a giant before the crowd, leaving everyone at a loss of words. The blinding light it emanated made it hard to maintain one’s eyes on it for too long.
Both the leaders of the Scholar Guilds and the teachers of the academy gasped in shock. The gamblers all fell into a state of daze. All of the spirit guides lingering in the vicinity floated over and began circling this giant bundle of light, as if celebrating a triumph.
Following the massive spirit guide, a black-haired young man walked out of the Fog Forest. Most of the crowd recognized him as the rising star of the stadium earlier on. He was the final challenger to leave the dungeon, as well as the man whom the other two newly crowned Ringbearers were looking for.
Roel Ascart shot a glance across the quiet crowd with his composed golden eyes. There was a short moment of awkwardness before it dawned on him what he was supposed to do. So, he raised his hand, and a pale blue light shone from his ring.
The silence lingered for a moment longer before the loudest hubbub that had ever occurred in the Fog Forest broke out. The earlier host at the stadium immediately got into his role and stepped on top of a chair and projected his voice with a spell.
“Ladies and gentlemen, today, we have all witnessed history in the making! Three Ringbearers in the same generation, as well as one who has brought us unbelievable light. Let’s welcome the birth of the Bluerose Ringbearer!”