"…"
Neil was stunned by the Professor's instruction. He didn't have to try, and he knew that there was no way he could not crush this stone with his physique alone.
Although he was confident with his strength, it was definitely not at this level.
Nevertheless, he could see that Professor Shirley was already coldly looking at him, so he had no choice but to obey.
***
Professor Shirley was not happy about the accusation that Neil had made against Vale Chambers, one of her best students. She already knew about Vale's mysterious identity, and even the Headmaster was watching him.
A few weeks ago, she also heard Professor Lucius muttering Vale's name as if he wanted to see Vale as quickly as possible. It was too suspicious, but this made her aware that Vale was special.
She decided to settle the matter once and for all.
She wanted everyone to witness the truth as she pulled out the spherical obsidian stone in her possession to test their strength.
She looked at Neil and said. "Since you have a question about Vale's result, let's settle this matter with that stone. Hurry up and crush it. This is a test of your power. It's a simple test but an effective one."
"I… I'm already trying, Professor." Neil said as his face was already turning red.
Neil was actually trying to crush it, and she didn't even notice!
He then switched to two hands and tried it one more time. However, he felt that he was just being embarrassed here.
Not even a crack can be seen from the stone!
"Alright… That's enough. This stone is tough and heavy. It takes a lot of force to break it. Pass that stone to Vale, and let us see how he would do it." Professor Shirley said with a light smile on her face.
"Wait! Professor, give me another chance." Neil said as he wanted to try stealthily using his Dark Energy.
However, Professor Shirley shook her head.
"No, Neil." she said. "You had your chance. And you wasted it."
She then turned to Vale and gestured for him to start.
Vale stepped forward to take the stone from Neil. He kept his silence all this time since he felt that the Professor was handling this matter really well, and he was right.
Professor Shirley's method was better than he expected. Instead of dirtying his hands and wasting his words, it's better to let the Professor handle it.
'I'll just accidentally extract you later...' Vale thought with a wicked smile on his smile.
After getting the stone from Neil, he stood at the center of the class and spoke softly.
"You can enter your Phantasm State to inspect me while I crush this stone." Vale said as he gave them time to enter their Phantasm State!
He was so confident, and this made Lisa, Chad, and Aubrey smile at their friend.
'He can actually be so boastful at some time.' They thought unanimously as they entered their Phantasm State.
Then, after confirming that everyone had entered the Phantasm State, Vale made his move. He didn't show any strain on his face or sweat from his forehead.
He simply smiled and crushed the palm-sized stone with his right hand.
That's right! The stone shattered into many pieces!
This shocked his classmates but not the Professor. With the 20 Power Strands, she knew that Vale was indeed capable of doing something like that. It wasn't even that close to what he could really do with that number of strands.
'I wonder what was his real limit? Since I only have 20-limit Power Converging Crystal, I can't test him further. This is really fascinating.' Professor Shirley mused as she looked at Vale with admiration.
In the meantime, the center of attention silently lowered his hands and looked at the dust with satisfaction.
He had succeeded.
He had crushed the stone with ease.
'That thing can't be crushed by anyone below 10 Power Strands. I wonder if its purpose is just to be crushed like that. Why is Professor Shirley even carrying that in her pocket?' Vale couldn't help but think about it as he glanced at Professor Shirley with a polite expression.
"Ahem. Professor, thank you. That was interesting." He said with a stiff smile after realizing that Professor Shirley was looking at him.
"Well done, Vale. That stone can only be crushed if you have at least 10 Power Strands. Even without the Power Converging Crystal, you have already shown what you're capable of. "
Professor Shirley said before she turned to Neil and frowned disapprovingly.
"And you, Neil." she said. "You have proven your weakness. You can just sit down and wait for your turn. Regarding the matter of the Forbidden Ritual or whatnot, let the experts handle it. However, I'm telling you now that Vale didn't have any signs of using a Forbidden Ritual."
She looked at the rest of Class 2, who were stunned and excited by what they had seen.
"Class 2, you have witnessed their strength. Vale Chambers did not cheat on the Power Assessment. He scored a perfect 20-Power Strand because he is a powerful Arcane Arts Practitioner."
She paused and sighed again.
"I hope you all learned a valuable lesson today. Don't judge others by their results. Judge them by their actions. And don't make accusations without proof. Make them with evidence."
She then used a Dark Spell to clean up the shattered pieces of the stone before she continued.
"Alright… Let's not waste any more time and have everyone tested."
"Yes, Professor!"
Soon, the Power Assessment was completed.
Just like what everyone feared, they indeed got 2 Power Strands in their assessment. There were only a few exceptions. They were Neil, Dalton, and Warren, which all had 3 Power Strands.
As they thought that they would get second place in this assessment, Lisa Grayback's result shocked them!
She actually had a 5 Spirit Strand, which is very impressive!
Although her result couldn't be compared to Vale's result, she actually felt genuinely happy about this since she believed that Vale was just too unique and shouldn't be counted in the rankings.
As the Power Strand Assessment was finished, Professor Shirley smiled at Vale.
"Alright, since you have the best result here that could probably not be broken until you all graduate here, I'll be rewarding you."
The Professor said as she handed him a book.
'The Book of 12 Unique Advanced Dark Spells… This is Interesting.' Vale thought as he read the title of the book.
The book contained a list of twelve dark spells, their properties, and their applications. It was quite timely since he felt that he needed some better Dark Spells in his Arsenal.
"Study this book and make sure not to be rash in your Spell Selections. Your Spell Lights are limited, so I hope this book will make you reconsider those low-level Spells you're fantasizing about." Professor Shirley Reminded
