[103] [109]
To everyone's disbelief, Gabriel's Talent had passed the range of a hundred, which no one knew was even possible.
Eliana's eyes were in disbelief, noticing the score just like the other teachers since only they knew what it meant. This kid! He had more talent than the last Lord of Light had!
They didn't know how much talent and soul strength the current Lord of Light had since he hadn't made an appearance ever since the beginning, but what they saw before them was still shocking.
The five youngsters in the back didn't know everything about the mirror. They had never given this test, so it was also their first time, but they did hear the teachers mention about the talent of the Lord of Light being measured on the Mirror, which was said to be the peak score, but the man before them had crossed the score, and it still didn't stop climbing.
[107] [115]
'How is this possible? Didn't they say the top it could go was a hundred? How did my score pass through that? And how did it pass the score of the Lord of Light? He had the Grimoire, which should've brought his score to peak, just like I have. So how is my score higher than him?'
[116] [119]
'Even now, it keeps going up? How? Don't tell me it's because I have two elements? If it keeps going up like that, just where will it stop?'
He didn't even dare look back since he didn't want to see the expressions of everyone in the room. This thing... It was a disaster in disguise for him. He was happy that his score was better than the Lord of Light, but for his mission, it was bad news.
As if him being the youngest mage to awaken wasn't bringing enough attention to him, this mirror made him shine bright like a sun. There was no way for anyone to ignore him.
'I can't let it keep going up. It's already bad enough.'
He knew he needed to do something to stop this score from going up, but what could he do? He couldn't just break the mirror.
After a long thought, he finally came up with an idea to stop his score from going up.
He slowly pulled his hand back, just enough so that his hand wasn't touching the mirror. There were only a few millimeters of a gap left between his palm and the mirror now.
From the back, no one knew that he had taken off his hand from the mirror.
'I should've done this sooner!' Gabriel frowned, noticing the score finally stop climbing.
[130] [145]
Unfortunately, the damage appeared to have already happened. He had a behemoth of a score.
The entire hall was silent... For a minute, no one spoke. Everyone stood still, still trying to grasp what just happened.
"It seems that's my score." Finally, Gabriel lowered his hands before turning around.
As expected, he was greeted by the shocking gazes of everyone.
"That score..." Eliana grimaced. "Rem, Lishen, you two meet me outside right now!"
"Everyone else, stay here. No one will leave this place!" Eliana left the call with Rem and Lishen, leaving the six youngsters behind.
'This is bad. Is she going to bring the Church of Light? Should I really stay here and take the risk of being caught? Or should I escape? But then the mission?'
Gabriel glanced at the Ring of Apophis. This was his last chance. If he left, there was no coming back.
'Sigh, it seems I have no choice but to take a risk.'
He sat on the ground, seemingly disappointed. He had decided to take the risk, keeping his faith in the academy. Even after the academy found out that he was the youngest mage of light, they didn't inform the Church of Light.
That made him believe that the Academy wasn't that close to the Church of Light and that they wanted a star student of their own. There was a really good chance that the Academy wasn't going to inform the Church of Light even now.
If they wanted a star disciple, then his value had just increased multiple folds. Could they really give him up? He based his entire assumption on the reaction of the old woman's response from before.
He knew that if he was wrong, things were going to get really troublesome for him.
He gazed at the small bag that was tied around his waist, wondering if he really should ask for help from Lira if the Church of Light actually came here.
"I won't. I can handle my problems on my own." He dropped the idea as soon as it crossed his head.
After seeing all his Artefacts, Cole had a really bad impression of Gabriel but seeing Gabriel sit in disappointment; he couldn't help but wonder why that was the case.
He stepped closer to Gabriel. "A young kid, from a wealthy family, carrying so many artifacts and possessing such an outstanding talent. Despite all that, why do you look so unhappy?"
"You won't understand," Gabriel subconsciously answered, but his expressions changed as he noticed what the man had said. He looked up, wondering how he knew about the artifacts he had. Could he see the Ring of Apophis?
"What Artefacts? What are you talking about?"
"I can see if something is a treasured artifact or not. My family creates most of the treasured artifacts in the city. I've grown around treasured Artefacts, so I know when there's one around me." Cole shrugged. "Don't worry. I am not going to tell anyone. It's none of my concern how many Treasured Artefacts you possess."
'Treasured Artefacts? So he can see my artifacts but can't differentiate between a treasured artifact or a Numen. That's somewhat better.'
After realizing that the man didn't know about his Numen Artefacts, Gabriel felt somewhat relieved.
"So, what were you worried about? If I were in your place, I would've been so happy. You literally have a god-tier talent. Then what's troubling you?"
"What's your name?" Instead of answering, Gabriel fired a question at Cole, changing the topic.
"Cole. Also, you don't have to change the topic. If you don't want to answer, you can just say. I won't ask if it's something personal but remember, with your talent, you're going to be the Golden Child of the Academy of Element."
****
A carriage stopped before the Academy of Element. The carriage had no insignia or symbol on it. It had no markings of any clan either. It was just a plain carriage.
However, as soon as the carriage stopped before the academy, the two guards at the entrance of the Academy instantly went down on their knees in respect.
The Carriage door opened slowly. A figure stepped out of the carriage.
It was a young man, having beautiful blonde hair and a slender face. The man was wearing ordinary clothes as if he didn't have the money to buy decent luxurious clothes.
Seeing the person, the two guards frowned.
"Who is this boy? Why is he coming in the Carriage of the Church of Light?"
The person who had stepped out of the carriage appeared to be in his early twenties. He had a piece of paper in his hands.
The carriage door closed, and the carriage left.
The man walked to the door of the carriage.
"Wise Sir, I am here to get admission to the Academy. Can one of you please escort me inside?"
"A-ah, I am sorry, but the time of entry is over. According to the rules, we can't allow you inside. But we can ask inside if we should allow you? I'm afraid you'll have to wait for that."
"It is fine. It's my fault for being late." The young man apologized. "Please convey my regret to them. Also, if possible, can you please give them this letter? It's a recommendation letter for me."
"Recommendation? I'm afraid that even the recommendation from the Head Priest of the Church of Light is ineffective at this point, let alone a recommendation from a random member, but I'll convey the message. Please give me the letter."
The young man handed over the letter to the guard, who took a casual glance at the letter.
"T-this recommendation... It's from..." The guard started stuttering as he saw the title of the person who gave this recommendation. "Y-you managed to get the recommendation from the current Lord of Light?"
Through the years, no one had received a recommendation from the current Lord of Light. Let alone getting a recommendation; no one had ever seen him. It was impossible to even get a meeting with him.
There were no official documents with his sign. It was literally the first time something related to the current Lord of Light was making an appearance.
"Yeah. I was lucky enough to meet him. He was a really nice person, even though a little weird at times. He gave me this recommendation out of nowhere and told me that I should study here since there's a lot to learn here." The young man smiled. "So please give this letter to the incharge inside if possible."
The guards couldn't believe that this man was calling the Lord of Light a weird man. In most cases, this could've been considered an Insult worthy of punishment, but the guards let it slide. This man was the only person they knew who had met the Lord of Light after all. Not only that, he received his recommendation.
"I'll be right back!" The guard ran inside.
