The auditorium buzzed with noise, and even the students from the senior years looked visibly shocked. In front of Alex, the student council members exchanged uncertain glances among themselves, as though silently asking each other why the principal was making such a sudden change.
Toren did not pause, and with a casual flick of his finger, added one more golden bracelet to the group of three already hovering still in the air.
Toren pressed his index finger to his lips and moved his head slowly from left to right, drawing the students into silence. "Keep quiet, students. You are in the best academy on the continent. This noise does not suit you."
The students stilled at once, and those who had broken from the line to turn back and talk with their friends quietly returned to their original positions, facing the elevated platform ahead.
Toren smiled brightly at the sight of the silence he had created. "Since the classes are getting late, I will make it quick, alright?" He announced, letting his words settle before continuing, "The third rank goes to Lara Chronveil. Everyone, welcome her with a warm round of applause."
The students began clapping, and Alex found himself clapping along, swept up in the rhythm of the crowd.
Lara stepped out from the girls' row where she had been standing. She lightly pushed her purple hair behind her ear and, with practiced ease, stepped up onto the platform and stood beside the principal. Her face carried neither happiness nor sadness, only a composed and unreadable calm.
The principal did not hand out the reward yet, and instead moved on to announce the next name. "The second rank goes to Natasha Bloodclaw. Everyone, welcome her warmly."
The hall filled with applause once more.
Alex turned toward the girls' row, and from the very back of the line, a girl with her eyes hidden behind a long white ribbon that fluttered softly behind her, stepped to the side and began walking forward with effortless ease, despite having her eyes covered.
Alex was seeing her for the first time, and he realized he had not noticed her at all yesterday. She looked like someone who had stepped out from the world of gods. She had long, flowing black hair, so deeply black that it seemed to devour the very light around it. Her body was slender yet carried an unmistakable strength and regality. Her face was a beautiful pale white, without blemish or scar of any kind. But the one thing most particular about her, the one detail that set her apart the moment his eyes landed on it, was the pair of fox-like ears that rose from atop her head. And, it did not take Alex long to conclude she was from the Beastkin Kingdom.
Alex had not seen her at all during the entrance exam, and not once had he come across her yesterday either. Yet it was clear she possessed remarkable talent to have earned second rank in the overall score. And what was even more striking than her fox ears was the simple, undeniable fact that she had climbed the stairs of the platform without stumbling, without hesitating, without so much as a pause, all while blindfolded, her eyes sealed shut beneath that fluttering white ribbon. With quiet grace, she came to stand beside Lara.
Toren smiled again, this time with a mischievous curl at the corner of his lips. "A boy of remarkable talent, who once had the boldness to shout at me, convinced I was being unfair rather than accepting that he had been unable to beat a level one, has earned the first rank." Toren let his words settle, and the color drained from the faces of many students as murmuring broke out across the hall.
The students seemed to be asking each other, who in the world could have possibly accused the principal of the finest academy on the continent?
Toren, clearly savoring their reaction, flicked his finger and imposed an absolute silence over the hall. His smile broadened with unmistakable amusement at having revealed that small detail, and he added, "Welcome, everyone, Lucian Vaelorian, who has managed to claim first rank."
Lucian stepped out from the middle of the row. His lips were pressed tightly together, his expression visibly angry as he walked onto the stage and took his place beside the two girls, keeping a deliberate distance from them.
Toren then wasted no time. He leaned close to the mic, tilted his head and glanced toward Alex with a smile, and announced, "Welcome, everyone, our exceptional student, Alex Drakethorne, who despite earning first rank in both the written and the battle royale examination, ended up with an overall rank of fifty due to his level being one." Toren clapped for the first time, the principal had not clapped for top three rankers but was clapping for Alex, his voice warm as he added, "Welcome Alex with warm applause."
Alex pointed his finger at himself, unable to believe what he was hearing. Had he truly heard Toren announce his name? Shouldn't the principal call the fourth ranker rather than someone who has fiftieth rank? Every student turned their heads toward him, and Alex felt a tap on his shoulder from behind.
"You are being called," a voice said from behind him.
Alex felt something indigestible stir within him and found his gaze meeting the principal's white eyes, which were watching him with a quiet smile. Toren gave a small nod, as if to confirm.
Gathering what little strength he could, Alex started walking toward the stage with bewilderment still swirling in his mind and took his place beside Lara. He noticed that not many students had clapped for him. Only the students from the senior years, the student council members, and Princess Eva had offered him their applause.
"Now that we have our students on the stage." The principal turned toward Alex and the others. "I will hand everyone their award."
Alex had expected the bracelets to be handed out one by one, placed directly into each student's hand by Toren himself. Instead, Toren simply flicked his finger and all four bracelets drifted smoothly toward Alex and the others, beginning to revolve in a slow circle before coming to a gradual stop, each one hovering before a different student. One settled before Lucian, another before Natasha, another before Lara, and the last before Alex.
"Wear them," Toren said.
Alex quickly slipped his bracelet onto his right wrist but felt no change in himself whatsoever. No surge of power ran through his body, no buff of any kind made itself known.
"These bracelets will identify you as students of this academy, and the golden ones will tell others that you are exceptional students," Toren mused, placing his hand thoughtfully beneath his chin. "Tap on them twice and a small screen will appear, showing your name and the points you have respectively received."
Alex tapped twice and a small hologram screen materialized from the bracelet, displaying his name alongside other information such as his house, his rank, and at the side there were points written in bold letters. Alex gasped and felt his leg weaken seeing he had a whopping one million points.
One million points?
Alex quickly turned to Toren and asked, "One million points?" to confirm whether he was seeing correctly or not.
Toren nodded in affirmation and turned toward the students.
"This year, since the students are particularly exceptional, the points received have been increased slightly from previous years. The first ranker receives ten million." Toren let the words settle in the air, and Alex gasped before turning to look at Lucian, who already looked bored, having closed his bracelet's hologram display. Alex tapped his bracelet twice as well as he caught Lara also closing hers with twice tap and dismissed it, though a moment later he tapped it twice again to bring it back, wanting to stare at his one million points just a little longer.
Alex turned toward the students and found eyes enviously fixed on the four of them, though most of the envy seemed to be pouring directly toward Lucian.
"Keep quiet, students. I will end this quickly." Toren quieted the hall, though from the corner of Alex's eyes he noticed that Toren was thoroughly enjoying every gasp and stunned expression Toren drew out of them.
Toren continued, "The second ranker receives seven million, the third ranker three million, and the student at rank fifty receives one million."
Shortly after, Alex noticed the envious stares that had been aimed at Lucian beginning to shift toward him instead, and more than simple envy, the students seemed to feel that it was an injustice that Alex had received one million points despite being ranked fiftieth.
"Students, I see some angry faces out there." Toren smiled brightly, pressing his index finger beneath his chin and tilting his head to the side. "If anyone has a problem with Alex receiving one million points and a golden bracelet, you are all welcome to visit me in my office. After all, it was a decision made by me personally."
The students who had been burning with quiet outrage looked as though the blood had drained entirely from their faces and turned their heads down to hide themselves. Toren clapped his hands together with visible delight at watching the rebellion being stopped before it could even rise. "There are other benefits available to our golden bracelet holders as well, but alas, the personal villas can only be awarded to the top three and cannot be extended to Alex."
Alex found he was perfectly fine with that, though he would certainly have loved a private villa. There were other benefits he hoped would more than compensate. And he had one million points, which was more than enough for him. He would have loved two million, perhaps more, but he knew he could not afford to be greedy about an opportunity he had received and still did not entirely understand. Well, he could understand why Toren had chosen to include him. Alex had placed first in the written examination and tied for first in the final battle royale, so it would have been genuinely unfair to leave Alex without recognition.
"I will not reveal the other benefits here as you will all discover them soon enough," Toren said, turning toward the four of them with an apologetic look. "Since I have already kept the classes waiting long enough, I will end this here. But before I do, there is one thing I must address." Toren paused, letting his words hang in the air before adding, "I have noticed that some students are not satisfied with Alex being tied for first position due to him having zero kills in the battle royal match."
Toren glanced toward Natasha and Lucian, then turned back to face the crowd. "But know this. The higher ups and I have agreed that in a battle between life and death, victory does not belong to those with the most kills. It belongs to those who last until the very end."
Toren paused, and a cold, mocking smile settled across his face. "What good are your kills if you died before Alex did? You may have ended more lives than he did, yet you still fell. If this had been a real battlefield where death meant permanent death, Alex would have walked out alive. And all of you, with your impressive kill counts, would have been left behind, your bodies rotting in the earth somewhere, or perhaps never found at all, as so many bodies never are."
"So, if you still have any problem with Alex tying for first in the battle royale examination despite ending it with zero kills," Toren tilted his head slowly to the side, "then knock on my office's door."
***
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