More than 1,400 candidates were participating in Redhaven City’s Combat Examination.
With so many students competing at the same time, constantly changing rankings were perfectly normal.
However, a sudden jump of more than ten positions was unusual.
Such dramatic movements usually happened among the lower-ranked candidates.
Their strengths were relatively close, so a small difference in their scores could cause their positions to fluctuate wildly.
The top fifty were different.
Anyone who reached that level was already considerably stronger than the average candidate.
The score gap between candidates was also much larger.
As a result, even when the rankings changed, candidates in the top fifty usually moved only one or two positions at a time.
A jump of more than ten places was extremely rare.
That was why Daniel Carter wasn’t the only person who noticed what had happened.
The other teachers from Rivergate Second High School also began discussing it.
“Look!
Kael’s ranking changed again.
He’s already twenty-fifth!”
“What?
Twenty-fifth?”
“Seriously?
We only left for lunch for a short while.
How did his score increase this much?”
“Isn’t he from an ordinary class?”
“How is he this strong?”
The teachers stared at the ranking board in disbelief.
At this moment, nine students from Rivergate Second High School had entered the top fifty.
Two of them were ranked eighteenth and twenty-second.
But immediately behind them…
25th Place: Kael Veyron — 372 Points
Kael had become the third-highest-ranked student from Rivergate Second High School.
And he had accomplished it while coming from an ordinary class.
At the front of the spectator stands, Principal Martin Cole narrowed his eyes.
As a C-rank Spiritual Ability User who had reached Tier One, his memory was far better than that of an ordinary person.
He could remember the rankings and scores on the board almost instantly.
Naturally, he paid particular attention to the students from his own school.
Kael’s sudden rise had not escaped him.
But even knowing the numbers, Martin still found them difficult to believe.
328 points.
Then…
372 points.
A forty-four-point increase.
And it had happened within an extremely short period.
Martin quickly began calculating.
According to the scoring rules of the Combat Examination, killing a peak unranked Ferocious Beast generally awarded around six to eight points.
A Low-Tier One Ferocious Beast awarded roughly fourteen to sixteen points.
The examination smart watch also had a short delay between recording kills and updating the candidate’s score.
The interval was approximately four seconds.
That meant Kael had somehow accumulated forty-four points within a few seconds.
If the kills had all been peak unranked beasts, he would have needed to kill around five of them almost simultaneously.
If they had been Low-Tier One beasts, he would have needed to kill approximately three.
Either possibility was astonishing.
Martin’s expression gradually became serious.
This isn’t luck.
This is strength.
Even if Kael wasn’t yet comparable to the very strongest candidates such as Ethan Blake, his current performance was unquestionably approaching the level of the city’s top ten.
Martin couldn’t help feeling puzzled.
When did our school produce someone like this?
According to national regulations, all principals of secondary schools, as well as directors and deputy directors of municipal education departments, had to be Ability Users of at least Tier One.
That was why Martin could make a rough assessment of a candidate’s strength from the examination data alone.
Unfortunately, he still couldn’t see Kael’s combat footage.
Only the top ten candidates were being continuously tracked by military drones.
The thousands of fixed cameras throughout Grayridge Town were displayed on smaller screens, but finding one particular student among them was practically impossible.
The other principals had noticed Kael’s rapid rise as well.
So had Victor Mason, the director of the Redhaven City Education Department.
“Principal Cole,” Victor said with a slight smile, “it seems Rivergate Second High School still has some surprises.”
Martin nodded.
“This Kael Veyron probably wasn’t showing his full strength earlier.
The moment he started pushing himself, his ranking began climbing.”
Principal Richard Harris of Rivergate First High School looked toward the ranking board.
“He should already have the combat ability of a top-ten candidate.”
Victor nodded.
“Exactly.”
Then a question occurred to him.
“What ability did this student awaken?
I’ve never heard his name before.”
A candidate capable of fighting at this level shouldn’t have been completely unknown.
Martin smiled awkwardly.
“To be honest, this student only started showing unusual performance during today’s examination.
I don’t know all the details either.”
He turned his head.
“Mr.
Carter, come over here for a moment.”
Daniel Carter immediately understood what was happening.
He walked toward the group.
Being surrounded by the city’s most influential education officials and school principals made him feel somewhat nervous.
These people were all powerful Ability Users.
Daniel himself was simply a head teacher.
He stopped beside them.
Victor looked at him.
“Mr.
Carter, what can you tell us about Kael Veyron?”
Daniel took a breath.
“As far as I know, Kael awakened an E-rank ability.”
The surrounding officials fell silent.
“E-rank?”
Martin’s eyebrows immediately rose.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes, Principal.”
Daniel nodded.
“I personally confirmed his ability registration before the examination.”
He gave a bitter smile.
“In fact, before the Combat Examination began, I specifically advised him not to participate.”
Victor’s expression became thoughtful.
An E-rank ability.
Yet the same student was now climbing toward the top ten.
Something clearly didn’t add up.
“To reach this level with an E-rank ability…” Victor murmured.
“Then there must be something extraordinary about him in another area.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“That’s what I’m trying to understand myself.”
Victor glanced at the projection screens.
“Unfortunately, he hasn’t entered the top ten yet.
Once he does, the military drones should start tracking him.”
That was the only reliable way they could finally see Kael’s combat footage.
The live-broadcast system had been programmed by the provincial authorities.
Even the director of the Education Department couldn’t simply change the camera priority.
As for searching through thousands of fixed-camera feeds…
It was essentially impossible.
Victor smiled.
“Let’s wait.
At his current pace, he should enter the top ten soon.”
Martin nodded.
“Agreed.”
Then, just as Daniel was about to return to his seat, Martin stopped him.
“Mr.
Carter.”
Daniel turned around.
“Yes, Principal?”
“Stay here.”
Daniel’s eyes widened slightly.
He immediately understood.
The principal wanted to hear more about Kael.
And naturally, Daniel wasn’t going to refuse.
He quickly took a seat beside the school principal.
For an ordinary head teacher, being able to sit beside the Education Department director and several school principals was an extremely rare opportunity.
But Daniel barely noticed.
His attention remained fixed on the ranking board.
Time continued to pass.
Inside Grayridge Town, the candidates continued fighting.
Outside, the ranking board changed constantly.
Names moved up.
Others fell.
Scores increased.
And among all of them, one name continued climbing at an astonishing speed.
25th Place — Kael Veyron.
Then…
21st Place — Kael Veyron.
The teachers began paying closer attention.
A few minutes later…
16th Place — Kael Veyron.
Daniel’s eyes widened.
Then…
12th Place — Kael Veyron.
The atmosphere around the spectator stands gradually became tense.
And finally…
9th Place — Kael Veyron.
Daniel shot to his feet.
“He did it!”
His voice was filled with excitement.
“Kael made the top ten!”
For a head teacher from an ordinary class, this was almost unbelievable.
He had never imagined that one of his students could enter the city’s top ten.
Martin also released a quiet breath.
Kael had finally crossed the threshold.
For Rivergate Second High School, it was an important moment.
They had been under pressure from Rivergate Third High School throughout the examination.
Having a candidate enter the top ten finally gave Martin some confidence.
But Victor Mason was focused on something else.
“Now we can finally see him.”
Everyone turned toward the projection screens.
The ninth-place display had been showing another candidate.
Then…
The screen flickered.
The image changed.
A young man appeared.
He was slightly taller than average.
He wore a black combat suit.
His face was calm and determined.
His eyes were sharp.
In his hand was a black spear approximately 2.1 meters long.
The weapon was unmistakably the Obsidian Spear.
Its spearhead gleamed coldly.
Fresh blood stained the blade.
Several Ferocious Beast corpses were scattered around Kael’s feet.
A short distance away, another Ferocious Beast stood frozen.
It didn’t dare move closer.
The entire scene was strangely quiet.
A young man dressed in black.
A long black spear.
Blood-covered ruins.
Dead Ferocious Beasts.
And a surviving beast that seemed too frightened to attack.
The image alone created an intimidating atmosphere.
Even the teachers watching from outside the examination area could feel the sharpness of the scene.
Victor stared at the screen.
“So this is Kael Veyron?”
Daniel’s eyes were fixed on the image.
He had seen Kael countless times at school.
But this was different.
The student standing on the screen looked nothing like the ordinary E-rank Awakener he remembered.
There was no hesitation in his posture.
No fear.
No nervousness.
Only absolute calm.
Then…
Kael moved.
His body blurred.
The Obsidian Spear shot forward.
A spear thrust like a dragon.
The movement was so fast that the cameras almost failed to capture it clearly.
The remaining Ferocious Beast didn’t even have time to react.
Puff!
The spear pierced straight through its body.
The beast’s massive body froze.
A moment later, it collapsed heavily onto the ground.
Silence.
The teachers watching the screen were stunned.
Daniel’s mouth fell slightly open.
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
Martin stared at the footage.
None of them spoke.
Because they had finally seen the answer to the question that had been troubling them since Kael first appeared on the rankings.
The mysterious E-rank student hadn’t climbed into the top ten through luck.
He had fought his way there.
And judging from that single spear thrust…
Kael Veyron had only just begun to show them what he could really do.