Final Exam Ends

"King" Augustus was eventually placed in the White Queen District by Iver for temporary residence.

After settling him in, Iver and Isabel returned to the Silver and Tin Palace.

For his safety and to prevent him from slipping away, Augustus was effectively under house arrest there. He was monitored and protected by at least six inspectors on rotation, and three servants from the Silver and Tin Palace were responsible for taking care of his daily life and reporting his every move.

Even so, the "King" was moved to tears.

What a kind person! Oh, wait, I mean...

What a clever Fox!

Before this, he had even prepared himself to go to jail.

The prisons in Avalon are different from those in Star Antimony. The most common punishments and jobs there are running on treadmills.

Each treadmill is like a seven-person hamster wheel, with partitions separating them to prevent them from whispering to each other. Below it is a wheel axle device that can grind grains such as corn.

Once this device starts running, it spins continuously due to inertia. As a result, once all seven people are running, none of them can stop. The prisoners need to run for three hours at a time, twice a day, while serious offenders run three times a day. The amount of exercise is equivalent to climbing a mountain at an altitude of three to four thousand meters.

This would turn the prison into a giant mill. And with the prisoners' energy completely depleted by the machines, as long as their diet is controlled, they naturally won't have the extra energy to escape or fight.

The treadmill speed isn't actually that fast. After all, it's not just spinning idly; it's used to grind grains. But the amount of exercise is basically equivalent to climbing stairs non-stop.

The most terrifying aspect of this forced labor was that all one could see while working was the white wall in front of and on either side—white being the representative color of the Silver Crowned Dragon, and seven being His Sacred Number. Being punished was tantamount to worshipping Him.

This is why prisoners don't faint or die suddenly on the treadmill, but instead receive a slow recovery... But this also means that the body's self-protective limits are gradually opened up, leading to their physical strength being drained more and more thoroughly.

Aside from that, the prisoners had no other decorations and couldn't see the time. Therefore, they didn't know how much longer they had to work, or how long they had already been working. Even back in their cells, they were generally too exhausted to talk to anyone.

Over time, they didn't even know how long they had been in prison or how long they would have to stay.

Therefore, Avalon's prison guards didn't need to use restraints or instruments of torture to instill fear in the prisoners. After their release, they rarely dared to break the law and return to prison.

This is completely different from star antimony.

The prisons on Xingti Island are basically no different from slums. There are gangs, rules, bootlegging, and frequent fights. Prisoners mostly work in the prison workshops, occasionally getting to read, exercise, and have some physical activity. Instead, they are frequently dragged out by guards and tortured as punishment.

But the King preferred to be imprisoned in Star Antimony and tortured by instruments of torture rather than in Avalon.

Having already prepared himself for this, even if Iver explicitly stated that he would be placed under house arrest, he would only be grateful for Minister Moriarty's magnanimity. He also hoped that Avalon could quickly bring his family over.

Augustus certainly knew that free things are the most expensive—

It seems Avalon is offering no price whatsoever in order to bring his family over and escape Star Antimony's control and kidnapping. But in reality, this means sacrificing his future—now that his family is with Avalon, it's even harder for him to escape. It's easy for one person to run away, but taking his family with him is practically impossible.

—But so what?

The fact that Avalon went to such lengths to lure him and his family over shows that Avalon needs him. Although Augustus himself doesn't know what he's capable of, it's better than slowly dying of poverty on Star Antimony.

The place where he is currently under house arrest is even a villa in the White Queen District of the capital—with a butler and two servants responsible for taking care of and watching over him! In order to keep him entertained, and also to see his skills... Iver specifically instructed these servants to buy some raw materials for Augustus so that he could make Plant Essential Oil at home using professional equipment.

Meanwhile Iver and Isabel are still focused on their exams this week.

After this week, all of Iver's subjects will be settled.

Isabel is a year older than Iver and has taken more electives, so she has more courses to take, including three exams next week.

He ultimately got five perfect scores, which gave him a pretty good idea of his level after advancing to the Third Level. So he carefully controlled his score on the final Stibium Language and Iris Language, only getting two Three Petal Flower.

Actually, if he had put in the effort, he should have gotten at least five points. But with five "flawless" and two "exceeding expectations" scores, he would definitely be the top student in his grade.

But Iver hopes to leave some opportunities for other talented people.

Although Iver now has five truly outstanding subjects, he has only managed to get Three Petal Flower, which is below Four Petal Flower. To be the top student, all subjects must be at least Four Petal Flower above the "normal level," and having even one Three Petal Flower, which represents "passing," makes it impossible to become the top student.

Hai Na graduated early and has been working for almost half a year.

Although she still hadn't been assigned her own griffin, the Final Exam were obviously not something she needed to worry about too much. Aside from a few elective courses that still needed some testing, everything else was already finished. And the grades for those electives didn't really matter anyway... Even so, Hai Na still managed to study for a few weeks in her spare time, giving them a chance to get full marks.

Feeling relieved after finishing his exams, Iver and Hai Na gathered at Bishop Mathers's house.

"Are you particularly keen on getting a perfect score, senior?"

Iver with some curiosity, "Your graduation grades aren't of much use to you now, are they?"

"It's a kind of obsession..."

Hai Na was overjoyed. Holding her graduation certificate, she couldn't resist kissing it and breathing in the fresh scent of ink.

Then she turned to Iver and explained, "You know... I'm not actually smart, I'm just good at studying."

--really.

Iver thought to himself, "You're not very smart."

This beautiful and talented village girl is still essentially a village girl. Besides studying and training, she spends her time on the front lines, yet she remains clumsy and inept.

Despite possessing a wealth of theoretical knowledge and exceptional skills compared to her peers, she still experiences some lag in practical application. This isn't limited to theoretical knowledge; she's even finding it somewhat challenging in combat.

There was a strange sense of disconnect about her—as if it was Hai Na, not herself, who had learned the skills through the system.

Even though Iver directly used the system to upgrade his skill level, it wasn't as disjointed as Hai Na's.

Fortunately, although Meg successfully reincarnated, her promise to Hai Na still holds true.

Now, Hai Na has become Ligeia's formal apprentice.

If all goes well, she will be transferred to the Arbitration Hall after her next promotion. For now, she's still in the Bureau of Supervision, but she's simply gaining work experience.

Iver even speculated that the Bureau of Supervision never provided Hai Na with a griffin because they were unsure what kind of griffin they should give her.

Even before Meg noticed Hai Na, Hai Na grades were ridiculously high. It's highly likely that she'll be transferred to the Inspectorate or the Arbitration Hall after a while.

Griffins are essentially permanent. There's no such thing as giving someone a bad one and then getting a better one after a promotion; or having your first one die and then getting a new one—the griffin is tied to your career. Even Meg herself, after her griffin died in the line of duty, hasn't used her authority to hire a new one all these years.

This is not just a rule, it is also love.

Griffins, as companions of the Avalon, are not merely pets; Griffin Knights are not their masters, but their human partners. Since the cultivation levels of humans and griffins can advance simultaneously, it means their souls have already merged in reality.

This is why griffins can share their ability to fly at high speeds after transforming into wind elements with their companions.

Otherwise, given the griffin's top speed, they could probably create storms and tear trees apart just by flying. The griffin's body wouldn't be strong enough to withstand that kind of pressure, let alone a human.

But they don't need to resist.

Because griffins are the darlings of storms.

Even a category 18 typhoon cannot harm a young griffin in the slightest. A purebred griffin can transform its very essence into a storm. This is similar to a human's use of tools—a talent that needs no instruction.

This is why most griffins can only fly at full speed when flying with a companion—in this state, the other companions riding on their backs will fall off as soon as the griffin accelerates. Even the Grand Guardian's griffin that Iver previously rode, which could manipulate the surrounding winds to prevent them from blowing Iver off, dared not go at full speed.

"I'm pretty sure now that you'll get a White Feather Griffin."

Iver smiled and told her the good news.

He was genuinely happy for Hai Na. In a sense, Hai Na was like a good brother to him, someone he could be with without any pressure.

"That's so awesome?!"

Hai Na exclaimed in delight, "Wow, that's amazing!"

Although her words were a little crude to the girl, they were just right for her.