Chapter 417 - 417 Pillar of Divine Appraisal

417: Pillar of Divine Appraisal 417: Pillar of Divine Appraisal As they walked through the thinning crowd, their path eventually led them to a towering monolith at the heart of the floor.

It loomed high above them, carved from dark stone that shimmered faintly with a celestial glow.

Intricate markings ran down its length like veins of starlight, and all over its surface were names—hundreds of them—each glowing in varying degrees of brightness and hue.

Max paused before the massive structure, tilting his head slightly.

“So… what is this monolith?

And all these names written across it?” “This,” Lenavira began, stepping to his side, “is one of the defining features of the tenth floor.

It’s called the Pillar of Divine Appraisal.

Every challenger who reaches this floor has the option to pass through it.

It doesn’t test your strength’s rank—it evaluates you.

Your potential, your core, your bloodline, your soul… everything that makes you who you are.” Her voice lowered slightly, reverent.

“And once it evaluates you, it not only inscribes your name, but depending on what it sees, it can also grant a slight enhancement to your talent.

Though…” she paused and gave him a small smile, “the extent of that enhancement depends entirely on your luck.

Some gain clarity in their path, others feel an evolution in their affinity, and a rare few… awaken something they didn’t even know they had.” Max looked back at the monolith, intrigued.

A tool that not only evaluated one’s true worth but could enhance it?

He reached out with his hand, not touching it yet, just letting his fingers hover over the radiant surface as the names pulsed softly like distant stars.

‘So this is the tower’s way of recognizing potential,’ he thought, his gaze sharpening.

But then a thought crossed Max’s mind, and he turned to Lenavira with a curious look in his eyes.

“Talent… as in the ranks of our classes?” he asked, his voice low but thoughtful.

The idea had been bugging him ever since they started discussing the pillar—was it really just about how high your class ranked in the system’s hierarchy?

A number?

A label?

Lenavira shook her head gently, the corners of her mouth tugging into a faint smile, as if she had been waiting for him to ask that question.

“No,” she said calmly, “that’s just the system’s estimate of your potential.

The class rank is limited.

It’s based on what the system can read—your path, your affinities, and battle capacity.

But the Pillar of Divine Appraisal is different.

It doesn’t just read numbers or stats.

It gauges everything inside you—your soul, your bloodline, your comprehension, your willpower, even the strength of your desires—everything before it forms an estimate of your true talent.” Max slowly nodded as the explanation sank in.

It made sense.

Class ranks were useful, yes, but they were just surface-level judgments.

They set a cap on what one might be capable of, but they didn’t capture the essence of what someone truly was.

Talent, real talent, wasn’t bound by a system’s limitations.

It wasn’t something that could be captured in a line of text.

Max’s gaze swept over the towering monolith, taking in the countless glowing names etched into its dark, shimmering surface.

It didn’t take long for him to notice the structure of it all—there were ten horizontal lines carved across the monolith, each one acting like a tier where names were inscribed.

The highest line, the first one at the very top, had only three names glowing faintly in a divine light, exuding an overwhelming pressure even without context.

The second line just below it had slightly more—ten names at most—but the third line was densely packed, overflowing with names glowing in various intensities, and from there downward, the density only increased.

The tenth and final line, at the very base, was completely crowded—names upon names, hundreds of them crammed together in a blur of light.

As Max studied the lines, his eyes caught on something that made him pause.

In the second line, glowing with a serene white hue, was a name written clearly among the ten—Lenavira Lumine.

“Is that your name in the second line?” he asked, genuinely curious, glancing at her.

Princess Lenavira smiled, her pride unmistakable as she gave a soft nod.

“It’s my name indeed,” she confirmed.

Then, with a hint of that same quiet pride in her voice, she added, “The higher one’s name appears on the monolith, the more deadly and exceptional their talent is judged to be.

The first line is legendary—unreachable by most.

The second line is rare, reserved for those whose potential defies even the highest expectations.” Max nodded slowly, his gaze returning to the pillar, this time lingering longer at the second line.

His eyes then moved down to the third line and immediately spotted another familiar name—Korbin.

The name burned a deep, dark red, almost as if the monolith itself was wary of the power it represented.

He noticed just how many names crowded the third line—it was by far the most populated among the upper tiers.

“It seems most of the top geniuses are judged to be in the third line by the pillar,” Max muttered, observing the trend.

“True,” Lenavira replied, her tone calm and factual.

“Most, if not all prodigies of this generation land on the third line.

Reaching even that is a mark of greatness.

The second line… that is another matter entirely.

Only a handful in centuries have ever touched it.

I happen to be one of those rare cases this time around.” Max could hear the pride in her voice again, could see it in the way she held herself a little taller as she spoke.

But he didn’t dwell on it.

He simply shrugged it off, not out of disrespect, but because he had no interest in comparing glories.

However, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try the Pillar of Divine Appraisal.

“Max, it took you so long to finally arrive here.” The words suddenly floated to him like a breeze—soft, clear, and unmistakably familiar.

Max turned his head toward the sound, and a gentle smile unconsciously spread across his face the moment his eyes landed on the owner of the voice.

CREATORS’ THOUGHTS ShinGotLost Your gift is the motivation for my creation.

Give me more motivation!