OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Sofia had unsurprisingly achieved a similar result to Elijah:

Grade B for the first machine, Grade B for the second, and Grade C for the third.

Again, it was no surprise that she scored higher than Elijah on the second machine since her Aether Purity was naturally higher, having taken cultivation seriously from a much younger age.

However, her mental fortitude wasn't close to Elijah's, as she barely survived a second in Grade B.

Despite that, Sofia still looked at Emir with a prideful expression, hoping for praise.

What she got instead was him simply sending her back to her seat, with Aria giving her a hand.

Once situated, Aria went; after her was Max, followed by Arthur, and then the brothers' assistants, Junior and Quinn.

There were a few surprises here and there, but overall, their performances were within expectations.

The 'unnamed' were up next, and they didn't deliver at all.

E's and D's were common while scraping past with a C grade was considered an incredible achievement for all of them.

Time crawled by, and finally, the last student finished, receiving an E for his mental fortitude. It wasn't a surprise; like the rest, he was just a kid, unaccustomed to such cruelty in life.

As Darius said, "They didn't fight; they're still kids."

Such a statement fit them to a tee, even with their recent dive in mind.

Sure, it changed their perspectives and introduced them to pain and hate, but that was about

it.

They, in the back of their mind, knew that no matter how much danger they were in, death wouldn't visit them.

Emir was there.

So their experience still didn't reach the level that it could have.

Of course, there were a few exceptions that matched Sofia's grade, but those came from 'scholarships,' meaning that they had experienced their fair share of battle, no matter how sloppy.

"Alright, quiet down."

Now... after they were all tested, Emir displayed their results on the holoscreen, gesturing for them to look.

{Rank 1. Elijah Oliver:

Aether Control: B Grade. Aether Purity: C Grade. Mind Fortitude: C Grade.}

{Rank 2. Sofia Alexander:

Aether Control: B Grade. Aether Purity: B Grade. Mind Fortitude: C Grade.} {Rank 3. Aria Goldleaf:

Aether Control: B Grade. Aether Purity: D Grade. Mind Fortitude: D Grade.} {Rank 3. Max Blackwood:

Aether Control: D Grade. Aether Purity: C Grade. Mind Fortitude: C Grade.} {Rank 4. Xavier Jr:

Aether Control: D Grade. Aether Purity: C Grade. Mind Fortitude: C Grade.} {Rank 5. Arthur:

Aether Control: D Grade. Aether Purity: D Grade. Mind Fortitude: D Grade.} {Rank 6. Ava Nguyen:

Aether Control: B Grade. Aether Purity: D Grade. Mind Fortitude: E Grade.}

{Rank 7.....}

{Rank 8.....}

{Rank 77. Quinn Mercer:

Aether Control: D Grade. Aether Purity: D Grade. Mind Fortitude: C Grade.}

To anyone else, these results would've seemed natural, but those who knew a certain revenge-driven girl would definitely notice her lack of mental fortitude.

After all, out of the lot, only she could truly claim to have met cruelty.

So given her history, a C grade was unexpected; Quinn would have easily achieved a B.

Yet, as she already knew, life was unfair.

Still reeling from her mental breakdown the night before, her endurance was cut in half, barely allowing her to get a C.

This was another reason why Emir had this pop quiz done today.

Allowing someone to achieve a B in mental fortitude before Elijah would raise questions

about the rankings, making the Reaper's uniqueness seem less exceptional.

Emir couldn't allow that to happen-not yet, at least.

"Think of this as your benchmark."

He exclaimed, pointing at the results.

"And your goal mustn't be to just repeatedly pass this every other month."

His face showed a calm smile, but that only gave them shivers.

"No, your goal has to be to match my grades."

The holoscreen flickered, and a new set of grades was added, right above Elijah's.

{Emir Oliver:

Aether Control: SS+ Grade (Max). Aether Purity: SS+ Grade (Max). Mind Fortitude: Unable To

Compute.}

There was now a chasm of unknown magnitude separating first place from the second.

It was like comparing a flickering candle to the sun.

"That is what you should be aiming for."

And Emir instructed them to chase after that very sun.

Chaos immediately erupted after they processed what they had just heard.

"SS+ for both? That's... impossible. No way we can ever reach that."

"Mind fortitude, unable to compute? What does that even mean?"

"Dunno, I think it's SS+ too."

"Damn, I knew he was strong, but seeing it like this is something else."

"It's hard to even imagine."

"No way anyone can reach that level at fifteen. How does he even do it?"

"He's younger than me... This is just depressing."

"We're barely making D's, and he expects us to reach SS+? It's not fair."

"Yeah, but we're just starting."

"We've got time to improve. Besides, if we're being trained by him, maybe we can get close

by the end of the year."

"Exactly. We either try to meet his standards, or we fall behind and get left out. I'd rather try."

"No pressure, right?"

"Heh, it's brutal, but we have to do it... We can't let those at the top keep looking down on us.

If they can get those grades, so can we."

"The Academy is going to chew us up and spit us out if we don't."

The 'named' reacted no different.

Elijah and Junior, already aware of the result, were still impressed, staring at him with

admiration.

"My grades look so small compared to that."

"Mhm, this just shows how much further we need to push ourselves."

Aria had her arms crossed like always, a hidden smile on her face.

"...That was the least he could score if he wanted to teach me."

Max's eyes were wide, his fists clutched harder than ever before.

"This's just... No way this guy is younger than me. Fuck!"

Ava rolled her eyes, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, great, now we're supposed to be super geniuses too? As if I had the time for that~."

Sofia's icy demeanor remained unchanged as she processed the last few words.

"Unable to compute, that means..."

She looked at Emir with a glint of determination in her eyes.

"It reached too high a level. The possibility of permanent damage made it stop."

Her words were spoken softly, almost to herself, as if she was trying to make sure she

understood the sheer absurdity of what that entailed.

'...Just what did he go through?'

The ice queen didn't dare voice out that thought, afraid of the incredibly small chance that he

might answer her.

She didn't want the image of her muse to be tainted.

"T-This bastard." Quinn stared at him with gritted teeth, blood almost seeping out.

"I don't care what it takes. I'm not staying at the bottom!"

Arthur's reaction was in a similar vein to Max's, only much worse... he suspected deceit.

'He must've faked it, there's just no other possibility.'

While he didn't say it out loud, Emir knew that he would suspect such a thing, envy clouding

his judgment.

So he already had a reply ready, and once he read Arthur like an open book, he announced:

"For those that suspect my grades to be fake, I'll send video evidence after the class is over, so

focus up now."

Ignoring their subsequent reactions, he changed the holoscreen again, displaying a modified diagram, and started teaching as if nothing had happened.