Even though Gabriel didn't want to be in this intense situation, he knew he had no choice but to stand firm, no matter who he was going to offend.
He was also a bit surprised to know that Rem and Lishen were heads of their own departments, almost being on the same level as Eliana, yet it didn't matter.
Frowning, Elia opened her lips to speak, only to stop as she looked back. The door had opened suddenly in the back, signaling someone's arrival.
Even Gabriel glanced to the door, feeling somewhat relieved to see who had arrived. Just as things had become too intense for his comfort, Eliana was back.
"I've talked to him. He will be a little lax in the selection from now," Eliana told Rem and Lishen before joining up with Gabriel. "So, where were we?"
She gazed at Gabriel. "Ah, yeah. We were going to check your talent."
"Eliana, who is this kid?" Lishen inquired. "He has some great deal of arrogance, it seems."
"He is... Hmm?" It was only now that Eliana realized that she didn't even know Gabriel's name. She forgot to ask him the most basic thing.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"It's Karyk," Gabriel answered.
Eliana turned to Lishen and Ren. "He is Karyk. He is going to be a student at the Academy of Elements."
"Shouldn't he go through the exams before getting admission? I don't recall seeing him in the first batch. How did he become a student? Did he arrive with someone's recommendation?" Lishen inquired, even though he believed that it shouldn't be the case.
Most of the time, recommendations didn't work in the Academy. They could certainly play a subconscious bias or allow teachers to make things somewhat easier for the students, but they still needed to go through the tests. Even Elia, the Princess of the Lumen Kingdom, had to go through the tests to prove herself worthy after all.
Cole had already noticed the treasures that Gabriel carried. Hearing the conversation, he didn't find it surprising that Gabriel had a recommendation. He appeared to be from a very wealthy family, after all. Still, to directly jump to the last step of examination was the surprising part, even with the recommendation.
Even King's recommendation wasn't so strong as even the King's own daughter was taking a test. He wondered just whose recommendation Gabriel had.
"He doesn't have anyone's recommendation. It's just his talent and his age. Apparently, he's the youngest mage to Awaken the Element of Light. That's why he's directly selected into the academy without the need for any tests," Eliana explained. "He didn't even need the test of measurement for admission. It's just I was curious to see his talent, so I brought him here."
"Youngest Mage of Light? How old is he?" Based on the looks, Rem felt as if the kid was around twenty years old. He certainly was the youngest mage here, but he definitely didn't look that young.
"He's eighteen."
Eliana's answer surprised everyone present. An eighteen-year-old mage? It was the first time they were hearing of something like that.
"No wonder he's arrogant," the Summoner muttered under his breath.
He didn't bother to keep his voice down last time, but for some reason, now that Eliana was here, he was more careful as if he was scared.
"Go ahead, Karyk. Place your hand on the mirror." Eliana gestured for Gabriel to take the lead and finish it.
Gabriel didn't do as she said. He didn't want to blindly do anything without understanding how it worked.
"How does it work?"
"As soon as you touch the mirror, it'll start measuring your Talent and your Soul Strength. Two numbers will appear simultaneously, showing the measurements," Eliana explained.
"What's the range, and what's the peak anyone ever achieved in this test?" Gabriel asked, taking another step closer to the mirror.
"Peak?" Lishen smiled. "Are you already thinking about breaking records? Unfortunately, it's not that easy, even if you're the youngest mage. You awakened at such a young age, which means you're definitely talented, but even that won't ensure the peak. As for Soul Strength, it has nothing to do with how fast you awaken."
"The range of measurement is from one to hundred, with one being the absolute weakest talent," Rem answered. "As for the highest that's ever been recorded... The record is said to belong to Lord Aizen, who took a casual test after becoming the Lord of Church of Light."
"And what Score did he achieve?" Gabriel asked.
"Peak Double Prodigy... So far, only he's the one who's been measured in this mirror who achieved a peak score of a Hundred in talent and soul strength. As for the second highest score, it belongs to Eliana... The lady who stands beside you. She got a score of eighty in talent and Ninety Two in Soul Strength." Lishen chuckled. "She's also a Double Prodigy."
Gabriel gazed at Eliana, who didn't react. She didn't look smug at all, even when her score was mentioned. It was as if it was a useless criterion for her.
'So she's really close to the peak without having the support of a Grimoire.'
'It'll be really chaotic if I get a score of a Hundred in both, which seems to be unavoidable at this point. If even Lira knew that the Grimoire gives someone a peak Talent, then that means the Lord of Light must also know that to be the case. If he really exists, he would know my secret as soon as this news gets to him...'
"What are you thinking?" Eliana noticed Gabriel being lost in some thought. It was as if he was wasting time. "We don't have all the time in the world. Touch the mirror. There are people after us who need to get tested for their exams."
Gabriel let out a breath before he finally did what he was asked, leaving everything to destiny. He placed his left hand on the Mirror.
Two numbers appeared in the mirror, each being at zero initially, but both numbers started rising slowly. While the left number belonged to his talent, the right belonged to his Soul Strength.
Everyone in the hall carefully observed the score of Gabriel, wondering how the youngest mage was going to perform and if he was really as special as he was considered.
[000] [000]
[005] [007]
The numbers on the mirror slowly started rising.
'His numbers are rising so slowly. It looks like they won't go too high.' Lishen let out a disappointed sigh, seeing the slow rise.
He had seen many such tests, and most of the time, numbers rose rapidly when the Talent was high, and they only climbed slowly when Talent was low.
Even Eliana was surprised at the slow climb of the numbers, wondering if his early awakening was just a fluke, having nothing to do with his talent.
[012] [011]
[017] [017]
As time passed, the speed of the numbers going up only slowed down more as if they were soon going to stop.
Seeing the numbers going so slow, Gabriel was slightly relieved. They weren't going too high, which was somewhat good. However, at the same point, he was also upset. Why were his numbers so bad? Was he really not talented despite having a Grimoire?
At this point, even Eliana was sure that they expected too much from Gabriel. She was having second thoughts about giving Gabriel direct admission into the academy. Neither his talent was strong, nor his Soul Strength.
However, just as she had lost hope, something happened... Something that shocked everyone.
The climb that appeared to have almost stopped started going up at a much faster speed which was hard to believe.
The numbers that were crawling before were dashing now!
[045] [057]
[065] [073]
[081] [097]
In less than five seconds, the numbers crossed even the highest score of Eliana, becoming the second highest score ever recorded in the history of the Academy, and even that didn't appear to be the end as the climb continued.
[97] [100]
Gabriel's Soul Strength had reached the peak of measurement, shocking everyone and his Talent wasn't too far behind. Before long, it also reached the peak score.
[100] [100]
Gabriel had achieved the peak score ever recorded in this Academy, having a tie with the score that the last Lord of Light had achieved.
It was horrifying! Gabriel was as talented as the previous Lord of Light!
That revelation in itself was already shocking enough but what happened next made everyone's jaws drop.
"How is this possible?!" Lishen exclaimed in disbelief.
The always calm looking Eliana was also shocked to her core as her expressions changed.
As for Rem, he was also taken aback at what he stared at the mirror, finding it hard to believe.
[103] [109]
