The next was Spirit Strand Assessment, and this time, everyone felt motivated. They put aside their curiosity about Vale's unnatural results and felt excited about the Assessment.
'So it seems that Vale was focusing on his Life Strand and Power Strand when he entered the Academy… No wonder his Spirit Strands stopped improving. I wonder if we get to see progress this time.' Aubrey Hall mused as she looked at her handsome classmate.
Of course, she's also aware that even if Vale was forever stuck in 25 Spirit Strands, it would still be quite impressive. After all, she knows many decent Dark Arts Practitioners with only 20 Spirit Strands… Most of them were already in their 30s and 40s and didn't have a chance to study in the Academy.
Furthermore, according to the seniors in her club, some 10th-year students only have 20 Spirit Strands. These people were certainly average, but this means that it's not impossible to graduate with only 20 Spirit Strands.
Perhaps, the reason that many of them have high Spirit Strands in this batch was also because of the many advancements in the development or creation of Pills and Potions.
Soon, the Spirit Strand assessment started.
The average strands were 10 to 12 Spirit Strands. It was a great improvement considering that in their first year, most of them only have 4 to 5 Spirit Strands.
Just like what the professors said before, the Spirit Strands were the easiest to increase at their current age and would stop developing at the age of 20.
"I doubled by Spirit Strands… Hehe…" Alvin Vendel said in satisfaction after getting 10 Spirit Strands. He previously had 5 Spirit Strands so he couldn't help but feel proud of himself.
"Heh… I caught up to you. Do you remember teasing me for having 4 Spirit Strands?" Roswell, his seatmate, replied with a gloating smile.
In the meantime, the top rankers in their class also had decent improvements.
Warren and Leonore, who previously scored 17 Spirit Strands, now had 23 and 25 respectively. This showed how Leonore had a faster improvement speed than Warren.
On the other hand, Aubrey and Dalton, who had 16 Strands in their first year, now both have 22 Spirit Strands.
As for Chad Bulmung, with 12 Spirit Strands in his first year, he now has 19 Spirit Strands.
When it was Vale's turn, everyone went silent.
However, Professor Shirley even thought of making a joke.
"Vale, I selected a Spirit Converging Crystal that has 40 Spirit Strand Capacity. You're not telling me that you'll max it out as well, right?"
"Am I going to get a reward if I max it out?" Vale asked.
This stunned Professor Shirley for a moment.
However, her face turned serious as she considered the possibility.
If Vale really did that, then it's different.
If you have a high Life Strand and Power Strand, you'll be considered great and talented, but the Dark Arts Faction wouldn't think too much of it. After all, most Dark Arts can be learned even with a poor physique and life force.
However, having high Spirit Strands at such a young age was different.
As a matter of fact, even if the elders of the Dark Arts Faction were already old, weak, and sickly, they were still unfathomable and could destroy an entire city population with their rituals and dark spells if they really wanted.
If Vale was this great, the Council must be aware of this to ensure that his potential wouldn't be wasted.
"If you have that many Spirit Strands, I will request the Headmaster to have you accelerated… Perhaps you can even participate in this year's Twelve Academy Competition because of that."
Professor Shirley said.
"I'm not really excited about that, Professor. How about getting my ripped shadow back to me instead?" Vale suggested, which made the class extremely silent.
His classmates looked at the Professor since they wanted to see her reaction. This request sound a bit too ridiculous since it was known by everyone that they couldn't simply take it back unless they graduated from the Academy.
Furthermore, they were allowed to enter certain areas in the Academy because of this ripped shadow. It is similar to proof of their identity as a student of the Vermont Academy.
"Hmmm?"
This request had indeed momentarily stunned the Professor.
She had never expected such a request, but she had to take Vale seriously. This young man was filled with mystery, and she won't even be surprised if he said that he was an incarnation of the Darkness Emperor.
"I will have to ask the Headmaster for that request since I don't have any authority concerning the shadows. You have to change your request. Are you sure you don't want any special acceleration exam?" Professor Shirley replied.
Vale sighed at this and answered.
"That's certainly great, Professor. But I might miss a lot of things if I did that. Furthermore, I think I have a chance for that exam even if you don't suggest it to the Headmaster. Instead, may I request one thing from you? You can call it a favor."
"Of course… If there's something I can help you, I will try my best. We can discuss that once you reach the limit of the crystal."
As their conversation ended, Vale finally started as he held the Spirit Converging Crystal.
His classmates remained silent all this time…
The last time they had an assessment wasn't long ago, and at that time, Vale only had 25 Spirit Strands. They couldn't help but feel that it was too weird if Vale suddenly increased his Strands by 15 or even more!
That would make them question Vale's humanity! Perhaps, he wasn't even a human in the first place and had come from the Spirit World!
Perhaps, that was also the reason why he got a Dark Spirit to contract with him!
***
In the meantime, while Vale was waiting for the white strands to appear, a group of hooded people surrounded the Academy. They appeared out of nowhere, and the guards of the Academy were already lying on the ground, lifeless.
They didn't even have the time to react as they died swiftly without being able to report the situation to the Academy Officials.
Luckily, the Academy Grounds was still in a massive Formation Circle…
As soon as they stepped inside the Academy, the Headmaster, the Professors, and the members of the Order of the Evanescent Vessels stationed in the Academy sensed their presence.
Headmaster Jean calmly looked outside the window of his room while his hands were behind his back.
"We're under attack? That's surprising." He muttered.
However, although he said he was surprised, he didn't seem bothered by the attack.
