A separate leaderboard had been inaugurated this year, specifically designed to track the performance of foreign delegations and foster a spirit of global competition. This "International Tier" was a strategic addition to the 2175 trials, intended to benchmark the Valerian Empire's rising stars against the most promising talents from across the world.
Trial of Perseverance
Zi Hao 5 minutes 31 seconds
Sang Heok 6 minutes 12 seconds
Min-Seok 6 minutes 30 seconds
Danil Ichetovkin 7 minutes 21 seconds
Alexey Reshetnikov 8 minutes 02 seconds
--
Ambassador Lee stepped down from the diplomatic platform, his robes sweeping across the stone as he approached the Eastern delegation. He moved with a deliberate, paternal warmth, offering a firm pat on the back to each participant.
When he reached the largest of the group, he paused, his expression softening with genuine respect. "Zi Hao," he said, his voice carrying a quiet weight that cut through the noise of the clearing crowd, "you have done our nation proud today. You showed them that our foundations are built on more than just speed."
Zi Hao hailed from the Chinese Federation, the preeminent superpower of the Eastern Continent and the undisputed pioneer of ancient physical cultivation.
Following closely in their wake were the Korean Union and the Russian Coalition, two formidable powers that had refined their own specialized brands of high-intensity training to maintain their status in the global hierarchy.
The Eastern Continent had consolidated into a singular, colossal coalition—a geopolitical titan born from the ashes of the apocalypse. This Union functioned as a unified front, mirroring the structure of the pre-apocalyptic European Union but forged with a much more desperate, martial necessity.
Each surviving nation maintained its cultural identity through representatives in the Union, yet they operated under a singular mandate: the survival and advancement of the Eastern path of cultivation.
By the time the dust settled on the first round, the casualty rate was a staggering fifty percent. Those who failed to summit the thousand steps were promptly eliminated, forced to seek enrollment in lesser Tier 1 academies scattered across the Valerian Empire.
It was a harsh pruning process that spoke less to a lack of innate potential and more to a deficiency in immediate, functional strength at this critical juncture in history.
Markus watched the dejected participants being led away, indifferent to the emotional weight of their failure. To him, they were simply variables that had failed to meet the required output.
Proctor Holmes signaled the remaining participants forward, his boots echoing sharply against the polished obsidian floors as he led them into the sprawling inner sanctum of the Royal Academy.
They eventually came to a halt before a row of fifteen reinforced, heavy-gauge doors. Each entrance pulsed with a faint, rhythmic mana signature—the gateway to the Trial of Agility.
"You shall enter these fifteen chambers one at a time," Proctor Holmes announced, his voice projecting with a sharp, rhythmic authority. "The Trial of Agility is a test of reactive fluidity. You will be subjected to a multi-elemental barrage of increasing intensity: tracking fireballs, concussive water bombs, invisible wind blades, and erupting earth spikes. Your objective is not to destroy, but to endure without being struck."
Holmes offered a stiff, formal bow before taking his place beside the monolithic digital panel that already hummed with the updated leaderboard data.
Trial of Agility
Markus Blackwell Clear: Perfection (Duration: 5 minutes)
Elena Quartz Clear: Near-Flawless (Duration: 5 minutes)
Alaric Ironwood Clear: Near-Flawless (Duration: 5 minutes)
Morgana Mordred Clear: Excellent (Duration: 5 minutes)
Donna Michealson Clear: Excellent (Duration: 5 minutes)
Felix Valerian Clear: Excellent (Duration: 4min 59 s)
Jessica Johnson Clear: Excellent (Duration: 4 min 44s)
Caspian Valerian Clear: Excellent (Duration: 4min 17s)
Beatrix Valerian Clear: Excellent (Duration: 3min 55s)
Elara Valerian Clear: Excellent (Duration: 3min 47s)
--
Rosalind tilted her head back, her eyes locking onto the apex of the holographic leaderboard. There, etched in a permanent, shimmering gold that seemed to pulse with its own gravity, was her mentor's name. Markus Blackwell held the only perfect record in the Academy's storied history—a feat achieved through five grueling minutes of absolute precision. He hadn't deflected a single projectile or cast a solitary counter-spell; he had simply ceased to be where the attacks landed.
Directly beneath him, the name of Headmistress Elena Quartz served as a haunting reminder of how narrow the gap was between legend and excellence. Her near-flawless run had been sabotaged by a single, reflexive offensive move—a momentary lapse in composure that shattered a perfect score and left her legacy forever in the shadow of the Blackwell standard.
Markus stood with his arms crossed, tracing the path of the golden light reflecting off Rosalind's pupils. He could feel her pulse quicken as she stared at his name.
Markus's laughter was a low, melodic sound that lacked any trace of nervousness—only a cold, expectant confidence. "Let's see if you can translate our training into the reality of the field," he said, his eyes narrowing with a sharp, pedagogical intensity.
"Don't just move, Rosalind. Occupy. If a single spark touches your hem, it won't be a failure of your speed—it will be a failure of your understanding."
The eager candidates stepped into their respective chambers, their internal mana signatures igniting with a surge of nervous energy. Almost instantly, the rooms' automated systems responded to their presence, saturating the air with a lethal, shimmering humidity.
The elemental barrage began as a rhythmic trickle—solitary fireballs and slow-moving water spheres—before escalating into a chaotic, high-velocity storm of wind blades and earth spikes that tested the absolute limits of their reflexes until, one by one, the students were struck down by the unrelenting intensity.
Zi Hao entered the chamber, his massive frame a stark contrast to the delicate precision required by the trial.
Despite the inherent disadvantage of his physical volume—a larger target for the room's automated systems—he moved with a startling, rhythmic fluidity that defied his heavy-set build. For 3 minutes and 35 seconds, he navigated the elemental storm, his feet barely touching the ground as he pivoted around fireballs and slid beneath wind blades.
Rosalind crossed the threshold, her footsteps silent as the heavy door sealed her into the vacuum-like stillness of the chamber. As she reached the center, the ambient mana surged, the walls humming with a sudden, violent luminescence.
A rhythmic barrage of elemental blasts erupted from all sides—synchronized arcs of flame and piercing wind—all converging on the single point she occupied.
Leveraging the Perception advantage she had cultivated under Markus's guidance, Rosalind transformed the chaotic chamber into a stage of absolute calculation.
While the other participants relied on raw speed or desperate mana shielding, she navigated the elemental storm with a preternatural grace, treating the lethal projectiles as mere markers in a complex, shifting geometry.
It wasn't just a display of agility; it was a perfect dance on a battlefield, where every tilt of her head and every fraction of a step was synchronized with the very rhythm of the room's mana.
As the clock bled toward the final seconds of the five-minute threshold, the chamber reached a fever pitch of elemental density. A pressurized sphere of water, moving with the velocity of a bullet, bypassed her peripheral guard and closed the gap toward her shoulder. Instinct overrode meditation; with a sharp, involuntary pulse of Void Mana, Rosalind struck the projectile mid-air, vaporizing it into a harmless mist.
A sharp, digital "Beep" echoed through the room.
The hum of the mana-projectors died instantly, and the glowing walls faded to a dull obsidian. Rosalind stood in the center of the sudden silence, her chest heaving slightly as the leaderboard finalized her results.
"Damn it," she murmured, her voice tight with a mixture of exhaustion and frustration. "I used an offensive spell." She stared at the floor, knowing that while she had survived the duration, that single reflexive strike had cost her the one thing Markus demanded: absolute, untouchable perfection.
Trial of Agility
Markus Blackwell Clear: Perfection (Duration: 5 minutes)
Elena Quartz Clear: Near-Flawless (Duration: 5 minutes)
Rosalind Valeria Clear: Near-Flawless (Duration: 5 minutes)
Alaric Ironwood Clear: Near-Flawless (Duration: 5 minutes)
Morgana Mordred Clear: Excellent (Duration: 5 minutes)
Donna Michealson Clear: Excellent (Duration: 5 minutes)
Felix Valerian Clear: Excellent (Duration: 4min 59 s)
Jessica Johnson Clear: Excellent (Duration: 4 min 44s)
Caspian Valerian Clear: Excellent (Duration: 4min 17s)
Beatrix Valerian Clear: Excellent (Duration: 3min 55s)