While the high-ranking wizards discussed matters in the secret chamber, the teleportation square began operating as well.
Teleportation light flared one after another across Noren Academy's enormous teleportation square.
Wizard Apprentices poured out like a tide, as though waking from a nightmare. Battered and exhausted after surviving disaster, they were flung onto familiar, safe ground.
The air no longer carried the scorched stench and bloody tang of the Gray Rock Plane. In its place was the Academy's distinctive cold scent, laced with faint magic.
Above the square, an enormous curtain of light slowly unfurled, glittering brilliantly. It displayed the final assessment results of this trial—the points rankings.
All the apprentices' gazes, no matter how many wounds they bore or how drained their spirits were, were firmly drawn to that curtain of light.
This was the ultimate measure of the glory and rewards they had fought for with everything they had, risking their very lives.
The rankings on the light screen rapidly refreshed, and the names at the top drew gasps of astonishment from many.
First place: Bert Vera Augusta—Points: 23541
Seeing that name, many people were not surprised.
Miss Augusta, powerful as a thunder god, had indeed slaughtered her way through the Gray Rock Plane, repeatedly forcing her way through Native encirclements and crushing formidable enemies.
She possessed an aggression and destructive power utterly at odds with her delicate appearance. She had smashed the most traps, slain the most Magic Beasts, and undoubtedly obtained the most point tokens.
Yet when they saw second place, many apprentices began murmuring in confusion.
Second place: William Blake—Points: 21965
This name was unfamiliar to most people. He was neither the descendant of some powerful family nor one of the Academy's consistently dazzling geniuses.
Benjamin looked at the name, his brows knitting slightly. After thinking