Chapter 256: Top 10
The floating boxes slowly rearranged themselves, forming a serialized line as positions from 1st to 10th aligned perfectly in a straight row. One by one, names surfaced, followed by clear portraits hovering beside them, glowing faintly in the air.
"Behold the top 10 student faces!" the Host shouted, his voice amplified as he whipped the crowd into a frenzy.
Dramatic music thundered through the arena, vibrating against the seats, and as the final beat dropped, everything came into sharp focus.
1. Tavian Gridfall - 5,500,000
2. Leo - 390,600
3. Leon - 250,000
4. Lily - 115,880
5. Dhalia Renner - 67,899
6. Lyra Noctis - 51,478
7. Aaron Stone - 61,980
8. Ronan Virex - 40,900
9. Uraan Hurricane - 35,000
10. Marco - 63,450
{Ranking is not according to trial score since students have challenged each other previously}
From the rankings alone, it was obviousâafter securing a spot in the top 10, no one had challenged another. Everyone was afraid of revealing their remaining cards too early.
The moment the rankings finalized, the arena erupted. Cheers exploded outward as the Hostâs voice boomed once more.
"Everyone, cheer for our top ten students! We finally get to know each other. And the most secretive of them allâLeo, Leon, and Lily!!!"
"WHOOOOOOAAAAA!! WOOOOO!!"
The crowd roared, waves of sound crashing against the walls.
Along with the names, crisp photographs floated beside each rank. The instant eyes landed on the original top 3, the cheering doubledâno, tripledâas people noticed the presence of 3 goddesses among them. Still, the loudest cheers were reserved for the newly revealed one.
"Pink-haired goddess!!!"
"So beautiful!"
"Wait! Iâve seen her before!"
"Me too!"
Some girls screamed Leonâs name as well, though Leo wasnât quite as luckyâLeonâs presence completely overshadowed him.
"Hahahahahaha."
For the first time, Leo heard Leon laugh so heartily. It wasnât exactly pleasant for him, and all Leo could do was sneer in response.
"HAHAHAHAHA."
"HAHAHAHAHA."
Two even louder bursts of laughter echoed across the room. Turning toward the sound, people spotted a deep grey-haired boy with looks rivaling Leonâs, and another with fiery red hair, just as striking, both openly laughing at Leo.
Ronan and Aaron.
Their amusement, however, didnât last long. A sharp glare prickled against their skin, sending a chill straight down their spines. Both of them stiffened before quickly averting their gazes, whistling innocently as if nothing had happened.
Even they understood the danger of Lily.
Thatâs rightâcurrently, all top 10 students were placed in single rooms.
Tavian, as stoic as ever, stood rigid with his orange hair and a long braid neatly framing his sharp features. From the corner, his piercing eyes analyzed every individual present. There was no wariness in his gazeâonly curiosity.
Nearby, Lyra, the blonde beauty, stood beside the cyan-haired Dhalia. The two spoke quietly, their expressions relaxed as they enjoyed each otherâs company. It was clear they had known each other long before entering the academy. The same familiarity could be seen between Ronan and Aaron.
Many were surprised by Ronanâs demeanor. His ferocity seemed reserved strictly for battle. Outside of it, he was almost goofy, with Aaron constantly indulging his antics.
As for Marco, the light brown-haired boy stood awkwardly beside Uraan, the deep brown-haired student. Uraan appeared to be easing him into the groupâafter all, Marco was a recent commoner, while nearly everyone else in the room hailed from noble families.
Except for Leo, Leon, and Lilyâwhose origins remained unknown.
Most believed the trio were deliberately hiding their identities. After all, there was simply no way a recent commoner could score that many points.
Just recently, a vice-principal had visited them. His words were calm but firmâthis was a chance to get to know each other and grow comfortable together. While competition was important, it should remain a friendly rivalry. Turning fellow students into lifelong enemies was unnecessary and strongly discouraged.
At the end of the day, all of them would be fighting for humanity. They would represent it. With countless foreign enemies already looming, rotting from the inside was not an option.
The competition, he emphasized, should be treated as preparationâa way to understand each otherâs abilities. From now on, many officially issued missions would place these 10 together again and again. Teamwork would be vital, especially with the upcoming Inter-academy tournament.
At the mention of the inter-academy tournament, vigour lit up every studentâs face. The winning team would receive collective rewards from all academies. And of course, the juiciest rewards always came from the top 3 academiesârewards capable of pushing someone nearly 10 years ahead of their peers.
Finally, Tavian decided to speakâand he chose Leo.
As he approachedâ
"Is your score really legitimate?" he asked bluntly, striking straight at the point.
The room fell silent.
Some wondered if Tavian had voiced what everyone else was thinking. Others feared he had just made a massive mistakeâafter all, no one truly knew Leoâs temper, or what he was capable of.
Leoâs eyes narrowed.
"Iâm asking if your score is legitimate," Tavian continued evenly. "Unlike me, who exploited a loophole, you achieved nearly 400 thousand purely from the trial score. I donât believe itâs possible for someone under the age of 30 to score that much. Not to mention..."
He paused.
"...a recent commoner."
Eyes widened across the room. Lilyâs gaze darkened instantly. Even Leon looked surprisedâhe hadnât known Leoâs origin himself, and asking wouldâve been impolite when he wasnât ready to reveal his own.
But Lily relaxed the moment she saw Leo smirk.
He stepped forward, stopping directly in front of Tavian. Leo stood a full head taller than him. Tilting his head slightly, he met Tavianâs gaze without flinching.
"Why donât you confirm it yourself today," Leo said calmly, "or at bad luckâtomorrow?"
For something many believed impossible, Tavian smiled. The stoic sharpness of his face softened, turning impossibly handsome with that faint curve of his lips.
"Good. Thatâs exactly what I wanted to hear. We donât need any pussies at the top. Letâs see if you truly have what it takes to be our captain over these next 2 days."
The vice-principal had already stated that whoever ranked first would become the tier-1 class captain, leading them in missions and tournaments. With his trial score alone, Leo was the most anticipated candidate.
As for why Tavian seemed to know Leoâs origin, it was a secret of a high noble. But as for still considering Leo as the prospective captain, it was because Tavian had struggled against Dhalia and Lyra, both with half as many points as Lily, who was third and nearly 5 to 6 times less than Leoâs. So it was obvious Leo had the capabilities of being the captain if he was legitimate.
As if on cue, the scoreboard blinked once again. Names and faces vanished, replaced by question marks.
10 unknown blocksâmale and female silhouettesâappeared on the massive board before the audience. One by one, they shuffled rapidly, sliding into random positions before finally settling.
shing! shing! shing!
The cards flipped dramatically as the fighting pairs were revealed.