Chapter 359 - The Spy
Like all academies, Miracle academy also had a test after mid-sem.
The theoretical part and the practical part.
Of course, no one cared about the theoretical test.
As Awakeners and especially, awakeners in a city like Valos, the people here had a deep respect for strength.
After a brief written test, the cadets were taken to a dungeon floating outside the Valos City.
Spie. Mid Dungeon.
The second years were asked to raid the dungeon and collect the magic beast cores.
The ranking was based on cores and thus, the practical test commenced.
Despite his strength, Varian didn't act out of line.
He simply slaughtered a couple low level 5 beasts and exited the dungeon.
After an hour, the test ended.
"I will announce the rankings now." The instructor wearing a grey military uniform said out loud.
The second year cadets stood in a square formation as they awaited his words…just kidding, they were sprawled all over the place as they discussed their exploits, bragged about their fights or simply rested after the exhausting fights.
'Disciple…discipline.' Varian was appalled by their behavior.
'Wait…I'm the one to talk. I was late for my academy on the first day.' But still, how could these boys and girls be soldiers who'd defend others?
To his relief, Varian found a small subsection of people standing straight and waiting for the announcements.
'Light in darkness. Darkness in light.'
"10th place. Calida."
"9th place. Biance."
It was the red-haired girl and blue-haired girls that fought yesterday.
The blue-haired girl, Biance raised her head in a smug smile and flipped a middle finger to Calida, the redhead.
Varian took a breath and checked their levels. Since they weren't experts at hiding their aura, he could even see their specific sublevel.
[Calida. Low Level 5. Fire Path.]
[Biance. Low Level 5. Water Path.]
"8th place…"
"7th place…"
Varian found all of them to be low level 5.
Then came the three guys who were beating up the Weiss family boy. The young masters of the new pillar families.
"6th…"
"5th…"
"4th…"
The three young masters were absolutely flabbergasted. As the children of Valos' most powerful families, they weren't even in top 3, dammit!
Varian facepalmed internally.
'I just swung my sword a couple of times and returned. I should've held back more.'
'"3rd place. Edgar Blacn." The instructor announced and his gaze landed on the transfer student.
According to the investigation, this silver-haired boy's background was big. But since he was forced to live in Valos, his strength wasn't enough.
'Even level 5 is not enough? Are our standards too low or are their standards too high?' He wondered.
At the same time, the crowd began to chatter about his rank.
If it was yesterday, someone would have jumped out and said something like.
"He must be cheating! I am ABC young master! There's no way I can lose to a nobody like him!"
But after watching Varian's show of strength, no one questioned him.
Being high profile also had its uses.
Varian looked at the three young masters who were now glaring daggers at him. But after thinking for a while, they didn't attack him.
"2nd. Vinar Hardy."
It was the dirt-blonde haired guy from yesterday.
[Vinar Hardy. Mid Level 5. Lightning Path.]
'What?!'
According to Boo's investigation, this guy had no prominent background. Even though you could succeed despite not having a background, the boost it provided wasn't negligible in the early stages.
So how…?
Varian's surprise wasn't to end there.
"1st. Liluh Grant."
The green-haired man smiled elegantly and turned towards the pink haired girl next to him.
"I told ya!"
"You're mid level 5 already?" Betty exclaimed.
Her words caused everyone to perk their ears. They also wanted to know the truth about Liluh's true level.
After all, he was only low level 5 before the mid-sem break.
Liluh looked at the shocked faces of his peers and his lips curled up. "Of course. I went to Solav planetoid and fought hard to advance."
After saying, he raised his arm and showed a scar on his wrist. "This is still healing, but it's from a high level 5 Abyssal. I barely escaped."
"Hiss!"
The cadets gapsed at his words. Fighting in a planetoid! Escaping from a high level 5!
Their feelings towards him changed from envy to respect.
Even Betty looked at him with a friendly smile. "You're so good."
'I really doubt it.' Varian wanted to say, but didn't.
[Liluh Grant. High level 5 Morpher Path.]
For Miracle Academy, this was an unusually high strength. So, Varian had a strong reason to suspect this guy was a spy.
But Grant family was entrenched in the Valos City for decades. Why would they send their young master to be a spy?
Besides, he was always studying at this academy.
Perhaps he hid his strength because it's too high and he didn't want to be targeted.
Perhaps…
'Boo, can you check the records of Solav planetoid?' Varian decided to exploit the information.
'Yes. Unlike Valos, all planetoids have a solid database.'
'Good. Check Liluh's records during the break.' Varian instructed.
'Um.'
After a minute, Boo informed.
'Master, he did enter the Solav planetoid.'
Varian frowned. 'Then is he innocent?'
'But—' Boo raised its voice.
'…finish everything in a go!'
'Y-Yes. He only stayed on the planetoid for an hour. And he didn't fight. He just patrolled in one of the safe areas. There weren't any fights in that area during the day.'
"Wait, what?" Varian said out loud, causing cadets to turn towards him.
"I got a call to pick." He gestured and broke away from the crowd.
No one stopped him. It was normal in here.
'Master, he stayed on Solav for one hour, returned in one hour. Then attended the academy yesterday right away.'
Varian sighed lightly.
This pretty much concluded everything.
Even if he advanced, he'd need more than one hour to sort out the process. Not everyone was like Varian who advanced in a matter of seconds.
Liluh would need at least a couple hours, but he had none.
Varian looked at Liluh who was chatting and laughing with Betty and narrowed his eyes.
'So you're the one.'