Chapter 64: Luck

The massive beast’s roar alerted everyone at once, and the excitement that had filled the examination hall immediately transformed into panic. The creature charged forward without hesitation, its enormous body crashing through the crowd and knocking several applicants off their feet before they could even react.

"I faced this beast five years ago when I was only eight. This is nothing."

Akuma remained where he was, patiently watching the chaos unfold around him while the others desperately scrambled away from the beast.

He had already experienced something similar during his childhood, and compared to what he had endured back then, this test barely qualified as a challenge.

Three minutes passed, and nearly half of the applicants had already been knocked unconscious. Their bodies lay scattered across the floor while the remaining candidates continued desperately dodging the beast’s relentless charges.

Of course, those who came from decent backgrounds had a considerable advantage. Their families could afford to hire instructors and provide them with proper training from a young age, meaning that an endurance test like this was hardly difficult for them.

Another three minutes passed, leaving only a little more than one-fourth of the original applicants standing. At this point, the beast continued charging from one person to another, but its movements were becoming almost laughably slow compared to the candidates who remained.

Several minutes later, the test finally came to an end.

With a single clap from the instructor, the beast immediately stopped and obediently returned toward the chamber from which it had emerged. The massive door closed behind it, leaving the exhausted applicants standing in silence.

"Congratulations. Twenty-five percent of you survived, which is the highest survival rate we’ve recorded so far."

The instructor paused briefly before turning toward another entrance.

"Now, let us proceed to the next test."

He led the remaining applicants into another enormous chamber, where countless objects had been arranged across long tables. Swords, spears, arrows, minerals, ornaments, coins, tools, and strange objects from different regions and periods covered nearly every available surface.

The instructor turned toward them and raised his hand.

"This will be the final test. You must choose one object from this room that contains at least twenty-five points of magical power."

Several applicants immediately exchanged glances.

"However, you are forbidden from using a magical scanner. Anyone caught using one will be immediately disqualified."

He pointed toward the massive clock mounted on the wall.

"You will have one hour. You may begin searching."

Akuma gritted his teeth.

Being born into poverty meant he had never possessed the luxury of studying magical objects or weapons. While the other applicants had likely been surrounded by such things since childhood, he had barely encountered anything more magical than the tools used by ordinary villagers.

"Tsk. I can only rely on my intuition and luck here."

Akuma immediately began searching through the countless objects scattered throughout the room. He examined bladed weapons, spears, arrows, minerals, ornaments, coins, and even several objects whose purposes he couldn’t identify, yet nothing gave him the slightest indication that it contained enough magical power.

As time passed, the uncertainty began weighing heavily on his mind. He looked around and noticed that many of the other applicants seemed remarkably relaxed, as though they had already identified their objects.

One applicant had even fallen asleep on the floor, with his chosen object resting beside him.

"Ten minutes remaining."

The instructor’s voice echoed throughout the chamber.

Akuma scratched his head, still unable to decide.

He continued searching, but every object seemed equally meaningless to him. The closer the examination came to its end, the more his thoughts became tangled, until he finally stopped trying to reason through the objects and began searching through them almost desperately.

"Three minutes remaining."

Akuma’s eyes widened. "Damn it."

He started digging through the pile with both hands, tossing objects aside one after another. His fingers brushed against countless materials until suddenly, something cold passed through his hand, almost like a gentle breeze flowing directly across his skin.

Akuma froze. "What was that?"

He immediately reached back into the pile and grabbed the object, but it refused to move. He pulled harder, his muscles straining as whatever was buried beneath the other objects seemed strangely heavy.

"Thirty seconds remaining."

The instructor’s announcement sent another wave of panic through the room.

Akuma gritted his teeth and pulled with everything he had left.

The object finally came loose. It was a small circular orb, its surface smooth and strangely cold against his palm.

"Time’s up."

The instructor stepped forward and instructed everyone to form a line before handing their chosen objects over for inspection. One by one, the applicants approached the examiner.

"Twenty-six magical power. Passed."

"Twenty-four magical power... so close. Failed."

"Twenty-seven magical power. Passed."

The examiner looked at the next object and nodded with little surprise.

"Sixty magical power. As expected from a descendant of Erid Rootil."

Akuma watched from the back of the line, gripping his orb tightly as one applicant after another received their results. Eventually, there was only one person left before him.

Then his name was called.

"Next."

Akuma stepped forward.

His heart tightened as he handed the orb to the examiner. The man placed it upon the examination device, and the machine immediately began making a faint clicking sound.

Tick. Tick.

His heart sank further, and his expression stiffened.

Tick.

The machine continued counting, and when it reached twenty, Akuma was already convinced that he had failed. He lowered his head slightly, staring at the floor as the final moments dragged on.

Then the machine clicked again.

Tick. Tick.

Two more clicks followed in rapid succession. Akuma’s eyes widened.

The examiner finally looked at the result.

"Twenty-five magical power."

He paused before announcing the result.

"Passed."

Akuma’s clenched fists slowly relaxed.

He had done it. He had barely found an object with enough magical power to qualify, but somehow, through nothing more than intuition and luck, he had managed to pass the final examination.