Re-Awakening: I Ascend with a Legendary class

Chapter 522: Grim Student Examination (6)

Round 3, Round 4, and Round 5 finished with Regalons achieving increasingly lower ranks than before.

When round 6 was finished, Almond ranked 5th with Lily and others below him.

The one factor they lacked was stretching them thin in terms of performance.

Rune of Power.

The other fellows, all of whom had Grim Potential, had also spent more time in Tier-1 positions and had indirect backing that acted like how Levi acted with Regalons, selling her services instead of guiding them for free.

But Levi and Regalons both were in lower-ranked territory and spent a very short time before these fifty Regalons in Grim Outlaw position broke through.

They hadn’t had enough time and experience to develop their Rune of Power, so their only hope was in this Grim Student Examination.

Levi knew it, but she didn’t tell them because the Grim Student Examination was actually the perfect place for Regalons to acquire their first Rune of Power.

The Examination had a total of 30 rounds, and each one provided challenges and utterly wonderful stages to complete, alongside rewards at the end.

So it was only a matter of time before Regalons began acquiring their Runes of Power.

And by improving alongside others, the last ten rounds would determine the ultimate ranking.

When Round 10 was over, Almond ranked 7th.

But he was calm, calmer than ever.

This wasn’t the case in the previous rounds.

He was desperate, he was frustrated, and he wanted to fuel his will and determination in various ways to acquire this Rune of Power by understanding and mastering a truth.

But only in round 10 he realized that his approach was wrong. This wasn’t the previous world. This was Grimverse.

’A Truth. No one else’s but mine. Free for me to use with such mastery that it shall become truth of this world, of this Grimverse, by making it acknowledgement my truth.’

’That’s the kind of power I need to grasp, and for that…I must not seek power that I imagine and shape.’

’I must seek the meaning of my desire. The desire for the thing that can pave my path towards the peak.’

’This is how I must grasp what I want.’

[Round 11 starts.]

…

The number of people who broke through to Tier-2 and entered Grim Examination in the last 24 hours was abundant.

So much that the number of those who measured Grim Potential like Reglons in the last 24 hours was…689,399. This displayed the scope of this Grimverse.

It was one of the six Tier-0 Cosmoverse, and one of the biggest, if not the biggest, among them. It encompassed countless lifeforms, where all could thrive and evolve as long as they survived and strived.

A blade of grass could gain sentience and join in the path of the power by becoming a Grim Resident.

There were societies of robots.

Kingdom of Wilderness.

Plantopia Empires.

Demonic Underworlds.

Angelic Heavens.

And the ones who lorded over such vast populations, building uncharted territories, creating their laws and competing with each other over only they knew, were Grim Lords.

The mystery that could only be solved by becoming the mystery.

The only thing everyone in Grimverse knew was that those under Grim Lords constantly waged wars to trigger events from Grimverse, creating a constant atmosphere of competition for those who wanted to become Grim Lords.

That’s why, from Grim Student position, from tier-2 positions and onward, there were cosmic leaderboards displaying top 1000 beings from each position, including Grim Lords, by Grimverse itself.

However, the affairs of Grimlords were out of everyone’s senses, as nobody could even see them in action except for their direct subordinates.

The Grim Student Examination held by Grimverse was private, as nobody outside could observe them. It wasn’t a show.

But the only exception was Grimlord’s position.

Grim Lords’ subordinates, mainly those working in their academies, had access to an ongoing examination leaderboard that shows the top 1000 examinees overall.

Some of the academies belonging to Grimlords didn’t even accept anyone below the top 1000, even if they had Grim Potential and acquired the top rank.

Because ranking was the most important.

689,399 people had Grim Potential, but they only wanted those who could rise above others and enter the top 1000.

The academy where John Wicked started working as a teacher, by forming a contract with a Grimlord who owned it, was one such academy.

At the moment, in a faraway star sector floating in the void of the Grimverse, a hall gleamed with a crystalline sheen.

Its walls shimmered like liquid glass, displaying streams of data and glowing lines of symbols that updated in real time.

The heavy doors at the end of the hall slid open, and a tall figure stepped in.

A man.

He was strikingly handsome, with ink-black hair falling slightly over his forehead, and a lean, muscled body that spoke of someone who was never idle, never undisciplined. Broad-shouldered yet fluid in his stride, he carried the weight of a man who had seen too much — and still smiled.

But his most distinctive feature was his eyes.

Each time he blinked, the pupils shifted — first into crimson rings, then into purple spirals, then into golden starbursts — as though every truth he had ever seen left its mark on his gaze.

John Wicked.

The moment he entered, the hall lights adjusted, bathing him in a faint golden glow, as if acknowledging his presence.

“Hey, Zephyr,” John said casually.

From the side of the hall, a swarm of particles solidified into a humanoid robot. Its body gleamed with polished chrome, its head a smooth oval with glowing blue streaks running like veins.

“What’s up, John? Was it your duty to observe the leaderboard today?”

“Nah, but I am interested today for a reason. Show me the leaderboard.”

“Alright.”

Lines of golden text formed in midair, floating like holographic constellations.

[ Grim Student Examination — Top 1000 Leaderboard ]

Rank 1: Ruh L’Abilom Maxim – Titled: Dominion of Spirals.

Rank 2: Jutain Veyra – Harmony of Myriad Songs

Rank 3: Krex Voltath – Storm Tyranny

…

Rank 998: Zerrik Olis Malhos – Piercing Clarity

Rank 999: Tarek Junno – Bleeding Will

Rank 1000: Loma O’lsors Vector – Mechanized Doom.

’Not in top 1000 yet, eh?’

’It’s round 11. If they are legit, they should start improving now and get into the leaderboard by round 20.’

John wryly smiled. ’Regalons. You can do it, right?’