As Neil was about to be disappointed by her lack of reaction, he finally heard his classmate's surprised voices.
"Eight Spirit Strands? Aren't we all the same age? Why is there such a big difference?" One of the boys whispered after realizing the disparity in their spirit strands. Needless to say, before he entered the Academy, he already had his Spirit Strand tested.
The others had the same thought but didn't directly voice it out since they still felt indignant about being defeated by someone who grew up from a different Arcane Path's Faction.
"That's impressive! I knew it. You should've tested your spirit last… Now, everyone else would feel like garbage…"
"As expected of my new friend. You probably have the same or even better Spirit Strands than Maya…"
His lackeys added to boost his ego.
Neil was obviously delighted by this response but there are still some of them who were unconvinced as they whispered.
"He's from Somerhalder… He might be using a Rune to increase his Spiritual Force."
"Ssshh… You shouldn't accuse him of that without any piece of evidence."
"Haha… Who cares. Having eight strands might be the best achievement for starters in the past decade but it's different now."
These comments came from the female group seated behind Neil's friends. They were led by a female student who has a short figure with blonde hair tied up to make twin tails.
Vale didn't even have to ask who they were and Chad already informed them.
"That's Leonore's group…" Chad muttered.
"Do you know her?" Vale softly asked.
Chad shook his head at this and replied. "Not really… I only know the Roland's Curse… If I'm not mistaken, she's from the same Roland Family. It's better not to mess with her." Chad reminded as he also looked at the girls behind him.
However, Aubrey doesn't seem to be concerned and was only looking at her smugly.
In the meantime, Professor Harwin didn't miss all their reactions and she didn't mind it at all. She's even smiling after hearing all of this.
After having enough of their conversation, she continued.
"You can now take a seat, Neil. Thank you for showing your classmates how it's done. Next? Anyone would like to volunteer? If there's none, I'll be calling you one by one."
"Ahem… Let me try it!"
Finally, someone volunteered again. This time, it was the plump Blair Etton.
He copied Neil's actions and held the crystal for a while. After a few moments, the white strands started showing up…
"Blair Etton. Six Spirit Strands." Professor Harwin announced.
Blair was a bit disappointed at the result but he still showed his smile and thanked the professor. The latter didn't give any words of encouragement or any comment at all.
Instead, she continued asking for volunteers.
However, no one wanted to so she decided to randomly call their names one by one.
"Felicia Lobb. Four Spirit Strands."
"Emily Gainet. Five Spirit Strands."
"Reid Baldry. Four Spirit Strands."
"Junius Robson. Five Spirit Strands."
"Alvin Vendel. Five Spirit Strands."
"Jody Lumbarde. Eight Spirit Strands."
As soon as Jody's spirit strands were revealed, a commotion occurred. Their reaction is different now since they have already realized the difference in their Spirit Strands.
Most of them only have four or five strands but Jody and Neil were actually so impressive.
Those who hadn't tested their Spirit Strands for quite a long time started getting nervous. It was the same for Lisa who never had a chance to test her Spiritual Force.
Soon, it was Aubrey Hall's turn.
She didn't feel pressured at all as she even looked at Leonore with a provoking gaze. She didn't see Jody and Neil as her opponent at all!
"Aubrey Hall. Sixteen Spirit Strands."
Almost everyone thought they heard incorrectly.
"W-what?! Is there a mistake? How can it be so high?!" Neil reacted and he even stood up in surprise.
"That's right… Sixteen is a bit too much."
"Are you sure she's only 13 years old like us? What if she's already 16 or even older than that?"
"What did you say?! I will be turning fourteen in two weeks." Aubrey felt offended after hearing the last bit. She certainly doesn't look sixteen or seventeen.
Before Professor Harwin can stop them, one of her students commented on the situation.
"Sixteen Spirit Strands isn't that surprising… I'm sure that the other students who came from the Faction's Founding Members would have similar strands."
It was Leonore who commented on this.
"Hmph! But the Hall Family doesn't even belong to any of the Dark Arts Faction… They are merchants." Neil retorted. He wasn't expecting that someone in this class would exceed his Spirit Strand by a large margin. It was even double his result!
He thought that all the monstrous students are in Class 1 already.
Upon hearing his reaction, Leonore didn't bother to explain and only smiled. She seems to know more about Aubrey's identity and Vale didn't miss that hint.
Professor Harwin decided not to comment as well but she already noted Neil's behavior.
She was about to call for Chad Bulmung but she decided to change it to Leonore…
Everyone became silent as she stepped on the platform and held the Spirit Converging Crystal.
Even Vale was interested to see the result. After all, even the proud Zeno seems to be wary of her.
"Leonore Roland. Seventeen Spirit Strands."
As soon as this was announced, several gasps were heard.
Aubrey also looked at Leonore with a sigh. She couldn't help but think about all the money she spent to achieve her current state.
It seems that even after spending millions of zens, she's still unable to match the real elites of the Dark Arts Faction.
'I'm still close to her result… It's just a difference of one strand. I just need to show the same level of progress and I'll be able to repay all the money spent by my family to give me this body.' Aubrey inwardly said as she looked at Vale curiously.
All this time, she was watching his reaction… For some reason, she couldn't get a strong reaction from him even after she revealed her 16 Strand and Leonore's 17 Strand.
