Chapter 146: Model student

Chapter 146: Model student

The assessment chamber became silent the moment Noah confirmed that he would not continue to another round. The red markers that had covered his planetary map vanished one after another, leaving only the familiar continents and the four battered empires beneath his observation.

A final notification remained before him.

MONTHLY ASSESSMENT COMPLETE

Difficulty: Five

Rounds Completed: Six

Final Score: 600

Noah read the result once before closing the display. The number looked strangely small compared with everything required to earn it.

For more than twenty planetary years, his attention had been divided between battlefields, cities, refugee movements, research institutes, and armies numbering in the millions.

Now there was nothing inside the chamber except a chair, the inactive assessment formation beneath his feet, and the quiet sound of the ventilation system.

The contrast unsettled him more than he expected, and Noah remained seated while his perception adjusted to the academy again. Only minutes seemed to separate him from the sight of Luminous soldiers clearing the final Draeven stronghold, yet those images already felt impossibly distant inside the peaceful chamber.

The doors eventually opened, revealing several instructors waiting outside. Noah recognized two of them immediately as members of the assessment faculty who had contacted him during Round Six.

They did not surround him with questions, nor did anyone begin discussing the decisions he had made on his planet. The senior instructor simply looked at him for a moment before giving a small nod.

"Your assessment has been officially recorded. Six completed rounds at Difficulty Five and a final score of six hundred." The instructor beside him smiled faintly before adding, "Well done, Noah. You may proceed to the main hall with the other students."

"Thank you, Instructor," Noah replied as he inclined his head respectfully. He walked past them without attempting to prolong the exchange.

The instructors said nothing more, but Noah noticed the difference in the way they watched him leave. Before the assessment, he had been another first-year student among hundreds of newly awakened planetary gods, while now their expressions carried a quiet recognition that had not been there before.

Noah entered the main corridor and followed the stream of students toward the central hall. The academy felt almost offensively peaceful after so many years spent observing a planet consumed by war.

Students stood in small groups discussing their assessments, some excited by their results while others looked visibly disappointed.

Academy staff moved through the corridors carrying records as though nothing unusual had happened anywhere beyond the walls.

Noah briefly thought about soldiers who still refused to leave their trenches because they had not yet accepted that the invasion was over.

He pushed the image aside for the moment and continued toward the main hall.

The hall was already crowded when he arrived, with several enormous displays floating above the central floor. Students clustered beneath them while instructors remained around the edges of the room and waited for the final results to be verified.

Noah stepped through the entrance without immediately drawing attention. A nearby student eventually noticed him and nudged the person standing beside him before looking toward Noah again.

Several heads turned after that, and the change spread quietly through the nearby groups.

Nobody shouted his name, but conversations softened as more students recognized who had just entered.

Noah continued toward an open section beside one of the pillars. He could feel people looking at him, although most were polite enough to return their attention to the ranking displays whenever he glanced in their direction.

The final rankings had not yet been announced, and the hall remained restless until an instructor stepped onto the raised platform at the front.

The floating boards dimmed behind him as the remaining conversations gradually stopped.

"The monthly assessment has concluded, and all results have now been verified by the academy."

The instructor waited until the hall had settled before signaling for the rankings to appear.

Names began appearing from the lower positions upward. Students who had chosen Difficulty One filled many of the early rankings, with some surviving numerous rounds and accumulating respectable totals through persistence.

Difficulty Two and Difficulty Three students began appearing higher on the board. Applause occasionally broke out when a familiar name appeared, especially when students from the same class or social group recognized one another.

Several students who had entered with strong starting civilizations placed well. A young god whose planet contained a disciplined human kingdom reached the upper portion of the rankings, while another student with a beastkin civilization survived several increasingly difficult rounds before choosing to stop.

The instructor continued reading the results without lengthy commentary, which Noah appreciated. There was no need to explain why one civilization had performed better than another when the assessment had already measured the result.

As the ranking approached the top twenty, the hall became quieter. Most students already knew which classmates had produced notable performances because scores became visible once assessments ended, but the formal announcement gave the rankings a weight that private conversations did not.

Cassian Valeborne appeared among the upper group, and his score drew strong applause from several students nearby. Cassian accepted it with a relaxed expression before immediately searching the remaining rankings.

Their eyes met briefly across the hall, and Cassian raised his eyebrows before giving Noah a small nod. Noah returned the gesture and looked back toward the ranking board.

The tenth position appeared, followed by ninth and eighth as the hall grew increasingly attentive. Several students who had been speaking confidently earlier were now silent while the remaining names narrowed.

By the time the instructor reached the top five, nearly everyone around Noah was watching the display instead of one another. Fourth place appeared first, followed by third and then second.

The board paused before revealing the final position. Noah already knew what would appear, but the rest of the hall seemed to need a moment to confirm it for themselves.

The top line illuminated.

1st — Noah

Difficulty Five

Rounds Completed: Six

Final Score: 600

Silence spread through the hall for several seconds. Noah could clearly feel the difference between the reaction to his result and those announced before it.

Every student understood what Difficulty Five meant because they had faced the same assessment system. Even those who had selected lower difficulties knew how quickly enemy strength increased from one round to the next.

Anyone who had studied the rules also understood that reaching Round Six meant confronting an invasion on a scale far beyond the earlier stages. Noah therefore needed no explanation from the instructor for the weight of the result to settle over the room.

Applause began somewhere toward the left side of the hall and quickly spread. Within moments, much of the room had joined in.

The reaction was not wild in the way students celebrated close friends placing well. It carried something quieter and heavier, and Noah recognized it as respect.

He looked toward the instructors lining the hall and saw several applauding as well. Others simply gave him small nods when their eyes met his.

Nobody appeared interested in demanding an explanation of how goblins had survived. Whatever questions existed could wait because the scoreboard already showed enough.

Noah inclined his head toward the room in acknowledgment. He did not know what else the moment required from him.

The instructor on the platform allowed the applause to settle before continuing. "These rankings will remain provisional only until the academy’s administrative review is completed. Individual rewards, privileges, and opportunities connected to assessment performance will be communicated directly to the relevant students."

The announcement immediately caused another wave of conversation throughout the hall.

Cassian approached before Noah could leave, moving through the dispersing students until he reached him. Several people shifted aside naturally as he crossed the hall.

"I thought I had done well until they put your score on the board," Cassian said with amusement rather than resentment. Noah answered, "You did do well. My assessment simply lasted much longer than I expected."

Cassian glanced toward the ranking display before looking back at him. "Six rounds at Difficulty Five is a strange way to describe something that lasted longer than expected."

Noah gave a faint smile but did not attempt to explain further. Cassian studied him for another moment before extending his hand.

"Congratulations. Whatever happened down there, surviving that far with goblins is something I didn’t expect anyone in our year to accomplish." Noah accepted the handshake and replied, "Thank you."

Cassian did not ask for more, which surprised Noah slightly. He had expected questions about population, technology, or how his civilization had survived the later rounds, yet Cassian seemed satisfied with acknowledging the result.

Several other students approached afterward, including some Noah recognized from classes and others who had barely spoken with him before.

Their congratulations remained brief and respectful rather than becoming attempts to interrogate him.

"Well done," one student said, while another offered his congratulations on first place. Noah thanked them in turn and allowed each exchange to end naturally.

He noticed something else as the students gradually dispersed. Nobody referred to his goblins with the casual dismissal he had occasionally heard after awakening day.

Some of the same students who once regarded goblins as an unfortunate starting species now looked at Noah as though the word carried an entirely different meaning.

The assessment had changed how they saw both him and the civilization beneath his authority.

They still knew almost nothing about the true structure of his world.

They knew nothing about the institutions that had survived decades of war or the research networks that eventually produced firearms.

They certainly knew nothing about the mysterious stone or the One Percent Genius characteristic.

All they possessed was one public number displayed above the hall. Six hundred points had been enough to change Noah’s position within the academy without revealing any of the secrets behind it.

Noah looked toward the ranking board once more and saw his name above students from established families and powerful civilizations.

He felt no urge to celebrate the comparison because he knew exactly what the number had cost.

The academy saw six hundred points, while Noah remembered ruined cities, shattered regiments, and factories producing rifles as neighborhoods burned around them.

Those memories would remain long after the ranking board disappeared.

The instructor at the front finished the remaining announcements and formally dismissed the students.

Groups immediately began moving toward the exits while others stayed behind to discuss rankings and whatever rewards might follow.

Noah joined those heading toward the main doors with his next priority already clear. His planet needed reconstruction far more urgently than he needed to remain inside the hall.

Military industries would have to shift toward civilian production, while refugees needed permanent settlements or transportation home.

Abandoned fields required labor, damaged cities needed rebuilding, and millions of wounded soldiers would return to societies that had changed while they fought.

Noah intended to observe how the four empires responded before issuing any commandment.

They had survived the war largely through their own institutions, and he wanted reconstruction to begin through those institutions as well.

He had nearly reached the exit when a man stepped into his path. The stranger wore the formal dark uniform of the academy administration rather than an instructor’s robes, with a silver insignia Noah did not recognize resting near his collar.

"Noah?" the man asked, and Noah answered with a brief confirmation. The administrator then straightened slightly before continuing in the same formal tone.

"I have been asked to deliver a message to you. The principal would like to speak with you."

Several nearby students slowed as they passed, and Noah noticed Cassian farther away turning his head toward them.

The administrator’s words had been quiet, but enough people nearby had heard them to understand their significance.

Noah’s attention sharpened because he had expected a message about ranking rewards or perhaps an evaluation from the assessment faculty. A personal request from the principal was something else entirely.

"Now?" Noah asked, and the administrator nodded. "If you are available, yes. I have been instructed to escort you directly to the principal’s office."

Noah looked once toward the main exit, knowing his apartment and the opportunity to return his full attention to the planet waited beyond it. They would have to wait a little longer.

"Lead the way," Noah said as the administrator turned toward a corridor leading away from the student areas. Noah followed him while the noise of the main hall gradually faded behind them.

Students watched him leave, and several instructors did the same. Nobody called after him or asked where he was going because enough people had heard the administrator’s message to understand.

Noah walked farther into a section of the academy he had never entered before. His assessment had ended with six hundred points, and whatever followed that result was now waiting inside the principal’s office.