Chapter 50: Chapter 49
Days flew by quickly, is what I'd generally say, but to everyone, those days felt like an eternity. Everybody wanted to know how they had placed in the exam.
For a whole week, the talk had been speculation over how would the rankings change.
"I think the Prince is going to rank first this time. Estelle Von Sideria's party seems to have quarrelled and broken up mid-exam. I doubt they did a great job at all."
"Yeah, I also think so. But the question is over the lower ranks. I think it's safe to assume Theo Von Macht will be in second place. He used to be third, and he's in the Prince's party."
"I think Estelle Von Sideria will end up in second place. It's a well-known fact that she's got the highest combat prowess out of everybody. Going any lower than second place wouldn't do her justice."
Everybody had their opinion. Except about first place, of course. It seemed as if the Prince ending up in the first place was just a matter of fact.
The whole student body was assembled in the arena once again. It was probably the only place that could fit them all together. The headmaster was stroking his beard, patiently waiting.
Once everybody had sat down, the headmaster started his speech.
"Welcome, everybody. The much-anticipated rankings are about to be revealed, but before, let me say a few things. First of all, I wish to praise everybody who dared to take on the challenge that the dungeon represented. It was the first time first years were given such an arduous test.
Second thing, don't be discouraged. Even if you failed this time, there's nothing to worry about. In cultivation, the most important thing is standing up again after a fall. Who dares to claim to be able to reach the apex without a single hitch?
That said, I won't make the wait much longer. Three… Two… One… Here they come!"
As he finished the countdown, the curtain covering the ranking boards fell.
1st place: Rick Flossen | 991 points
That much, everybody had guessed. But the second name, nobody could.
2nd place: Vince Von Sideria | 900 points
But that wasn't all.
3rd place: Theo Von Macht | 886 points
That wasn't a surprise, but…
4th place: Gero Harlow | 882 points
5th place: Nicole Ware | 878 points
6th place: Zack Lipsgold | 854 points
Among the crowd, one could hear many contrasting reactions about the ranks.
"Incredible! The guy who wasn't even in the top forty managed to make it to fourth place!"
"How is this possible? There must be some mistake with the scoring!"
"I think so too!"
'They dominated the leaderboard! Yet… I failed miserably.'
That's what Estelle thought, seeing Vince's party members that high up. She had two different feelings at this moment. She was happy because of Vince's success… yet she felt as if this was her failure.
Seeing her expression, Vince whispered something in her ear.
"Don't feel this down. It's the nature of any ranking. Those at the bottom can only do better, but those at the top can only fall. It's the paradox of being at the apex. No matter how much you improve, your rank can't get any better. You can only be overtaken by somebody.
What matters is, as the headmaster said as well, being able to stand up once more after a fall."
7th place: Artemisia Wernher | 810 points
8th place: Lukas Dachner | 808 points
9th place: Estelle Von Sideria | 784 points
"So I ended up in ninth place in the end, sigh."
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll make it to the top once again at the next placement exam."
10th place: Julia Kramer | 783 points
11th place: Harry Logs | 781 points
12th place: Andre Von Rais | 746 points
Vince's party unexpectedly dominated the leaderboard. Aside from the guy that had left the party, everyone in Vince's party had made it in the top six. Nobody had expected it to happen; therefore, it caused a big sensation.
The most astounded of all were the Prince's companions. They thought they would have effortlessly taken the top five spots all for themselves… but it didn't happen at all.
Seeing their inquisitive gazes, the headmaster understood where the confusion stemmed from. He then proceeded to explain the scoring.
"Considering how shocked you all are, I'll explain what happened. Rick Flossen's party were given 750 points as a party for their dungeon clear. This score is only influenced by how quick you cleared the dungeon. If one took the longest time allowed, one week, to clear it, they would have still gotten 625 base points.
Vince Von Sideria's party was given 700 points. Estelle Von Sideria and Artemisia Wernher, as they joined Vince's party mid-way, were given a lower score of 675. As for Harlan McKowen, as he was initially in that party but refused to contribute, he was given the same 650 points as what was given to the rest of Andre Von Rais's newly formed party.
As for the individual scores, they were all the way up to two hundred points maximum. Rick Flossen was awarded 141 points. He fought well, but his leadership as a party leader was somewhat questionable. Vince Von Sideria was given a whole two hundred points due to his excellent leadership and exceptional combat awareness.
He might not have been the greatest fighter, but he was always the most valuable one due to his ability to assist others. Every time a teammate of his was in trouble, he would always be the one giving a helping hand.
Theo Von Macht was given 136 points due to his valuable combat prowess and good teamwork. He wasn't given more as he's still far below Rick Flossen in both. Rick's score was relatively low due to the penalty we gave him due to his poor abilities as a party leader.
As for the rest of Vince Von Sideria's party, they were all given high scores —all above 150, due to their perfect teamwork. We especially wanted to award them also because of how well they adapted. Due to Harlan McKowen's refusal to help, they fought as a party of four for the whole dungeon. Yet, they all understood their roles perfectly.
The slight differences in score are primarily due to differences in combat prowess. The jury unanimously gave them max score in the teamwork and role sections.
You got the gist of it now. Lukas Daschner was given a good score because he was the one who took the leadership role in Rick Flossen's place. But, his combat prowess was rather low, and he wasn't of much help outside of his leadership.
As for the rest, the only interesting one is Estelle Von Sideria. She was given 109 points pretty much due to her combat prowess alone. She scored insanely low in the other categories as she didn't behave like a party leader at all and even endangered her own companions.
If it were me, I would have penalised her even more, but a case was made that it was the first dungeon dive for her. She even had the role of party leader without ever learning what such a role requires.
That said, that's all. As I said at the start, don't take those rankings to heart too much. For the first two years, they will continuously change. Only then, maybe, the rankings will stabilise. So, what matters is not your rank now, rather where you'll be in two to three years.
Keep on working hard and challenge yourselves, young ones! The ranking board will be moved to the front of the academy starting tomorrow, as the Spring break has come.
Use the next three weeks to rest well, as the next semester will be even more intense than this one! The privileges you will be given depending on your ranking will change drastically from then on. On top of the present benefits, you will be also be allotted cultivation resources corresponding to your rank!
See you in three weeks."
***
Later in the afternoon, the students started to leave the academy. This first semester changed everybody's lives. Before joining the academy, those kids hardly had any chances to interact with other children outside of their family. This might as well have been their first time for many of them.
The academy wasn't just a facility to teach noble kids how to cultivate. That much their families could do by themselves. What really mattered was the chance to collaborate and compete with other kids their age. It was a great way to stimulate their growth. That was also why social status was ignored inside the academy —on the surface, at least.
The kids who had once entered this gate alone were now walking in small groups with their friends while their respective attendants chatted and brought their luggage.
Vince and Estelle were no exception. They walked together with what had now officially become Vince's party. In fact, the day before the rankings were shown, they had already asked their party fighting teacher to change Vince's party to the current one.
As Vince's and Estelle carriage arrived, they said their goodbyes to their friends and hopped inside.
As the carriage departed, the two of them waved towards their friends while getting progressively more distant.
Since Vince couldn't exactly tell the Von Sideria he had acquired some slaves, he could only ask Gero to keep them for the time being. Considering he already had so many, nobody would notice… probably.
Unexpectedly, as the carriage was going, Estelle sat beside him instead of in front of him as she would usually.
'She seems to have forgiven me… Maybe it's better this way. It would have been weird being her attendant otherwise.'
But, no words were spoken. Only the sound of the hooves touching stone could be heard. Yet, this silence was in no way lonely.
Looking at her, Vince could see her fidgeting with her fingers. Every time he made eye contact, she would immediately stare elsewhere.
Making use of the moment, Vince spoke up first.
"I'm sorry to have lied to you, and I'm sorry, but I'll have to do it again. Everyone has secrets they want to keep. Anybody saying otherwise is obviously lying. You can only accept this fact and live on. Everyone you'll meet will keep things from you. It's better to get used to it now rather than later."
Estelle finally made eye contact.
"What you must learn to do is telling good lies apart from evil ones. Why did I lie to you back then? Simple. Having you know that I slaughtered over thirty men to protect you, what good could it do? Would have it changed anything? No. Worse, if you had told the wrong person, I might have gotten distanced from you.
Back then, you said I had violated your trust. I think you should rethink your definition of trust. Trust is when two people know that the other bears only good intentions towards themselves. So, if you had really trusted me, you wouldn't have questioned me further. Trust sometimes means accepting being left in the dark."
After this little preaching, Estelle lowered her gaze once more and started brooding. She was sure she had misjudged him.
'She's making me feel bad for what I'll have to do in the future… oh well. I've done it in the past, and I'll keep on doing it again.'
After a while, they reached the gates of the Von Sideria mansion.
At the entrance, Albert Von Sideria was waiting for them.
"Hey, kids! Welcome back home!"
The carriage stopped, and Estelle jumped down from the carriage.
"Uncle! It's been so long! I'm sorry for letting you down, but… I only got 9th place."
'Why do I feel like this guy is way too involved with us? Doesn't he have children of his own?'
"Aww, don't worry, little one. If you feel this bad, why don't you train with your uncle in these three weeks?"
"Yay! Training with Uncle. I couldn't ask for more!"
"Did they teach you flattering at school?"
"Hehe."
While the two of them kept on playing around, Vince jumped down from the carriage and started unloading all the luggage.
Albert gave him a grateful look and proceeded to bring Estelle inside the mansion while holding her hand.
'Now then, I have three weeks to do that thing…'
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
davidebic
davidebic Hello, I just dropped a random chapter because I felt like it. Anyway, I'm thinking of renaming the Stages from:
Dawn Stage, Initial Stage, Early Stage, Base Stage, Mid Stage, Advanced Stage, Late Stage, Dusk Stage, Peak Stage, Final Stage
to:
Early-Dawn, Dawn, Late-Dawn, Early-Noon, Noon, Late-Noon, Early-Dusk, Dusk, Late-Dusk, Twilight
Tell me what you think in the comments. That said, see you Saturday.
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