Chapter 27: End of Ranking Assessment

The moment Kyle and Nine entered the tunnel, two (F-)-Rank goblins attacked them, but they easily took them down before moving forward. Soon, Alec and the others caught up and they all started moving together.

Alec glanced at Kyle and Nine, impressed by their good teamwork. While Kyle had some areas where he could improve, Nine's timely help made up for it. Alec nodded to himself, recognizing their power in their unique way, even if they weren't as skilled as Carcel and Lara.

Suddenly, he had a thought and decided to use the system appraisal function on Kyle. In a flash, his left eye glinted with a white light, too quick for anyone to notice.

_____

'Name: Kyle Ohan'

'Race: Human'

'Rank: (F+)'

'Special: ??'

'???'

-Error!

Trying to find the cause! Loading....

-Error!

No more information provided. To know further information host needs to be a whole rank higher than the target.

______

Alec frowned as he saw error notifications popping up from the system. Normally, when he used appraisal, he would get detailed information about the target. But now, all he saw was name, race, and rank. The system wasn't even showing Kyle's talent, which Alec knew was definitely (B)-Rank. This strange behavior made him wonder if Kyle truly only had (B)-Rank talent.

In the meantime, Kyle was locked in combat with two (F-)-Rank goblins. Suddenly, an arrow whizzed past him, striking one of the goblins in the head.

Kyle frowned and glanced over to find Lara aiming her bow at the remaining goblin. Despite her stealing his kill, he didn't want to be impolite.

"Thanks for the help."

However, instead of replying, Lara completely ignored him. During the entrance exam, she had witnessed Kyle's extraordinary performance and saw him as an equal. But now, she no longer wanted to associate with him. The gap between them felt too wide. What was the point of having any kind of connection when their worlds were so far apart?

Kyle blinked, and his faint smile stiffened. He didn't bother anymore and turned around to keep fighting the goblins. He had a neutral expression, but if someone who saw Kyle fight before saw him now, they would notice that he was faster and more brutal. It was like he was venting his anger on the goblins.

'Tsk, if she wants to ignore me, I would do the same.'

It wasn't the first time; he was accustomed to it. Those who had promising futures due to their talent often displayed arrogance.

.....

Half an hour later, Nine and Kyle were fighting on the left side. Meanwhile, Alec and his team were on the right. No one noticed when the distance between the groups started to increase. Some more students also caught up to them and were fighting between the two groups.

As Kyle slashed his sword and killed another goblin, he felt a sudden familiar sucking force. Before he could understand what had happened, he disappeared and appeared inside the training ground. Instantly, he glanced around and saw other students also appearing one by one.

'It seems the time for the ranking assessment has ended.'

Just like the others, his attention shifted towards Professor Liam, who emerged before the exhausted and disheveled students.

Meeting their tired gazes, Liam nodded before raising his voice to address them.

"All of you showed great performance, even though spending two days inside the dungeon was a huge surprise. There were also a few students who caught my attention because they showed great potential."

He glanced at Alec and Carcel, indicating he was talking about them.

"I know for everyone this experience was new, spending two days inside a cold and dark place, without water, food, and a nice place to sleep. All of you must be thinking it was too hard, considering it was the first test from the academy. Then let me tell you something, at the start I definitely said there would be some hidden task, which nobody was able to complete. Well, you were not even able to find them, completing them would be too far off a thing."

Liam showed a disappointed expression and looked at the students who were whispering to each other to know if anyone found any hidden task.

"Inside the dungeon, in the beginning, there were five tunnels. Among them, the middle tunnel guarded by the goblin warrior was the hardest. The two at the end had less difficulty, making it a little easier to pass. On the other hand, if anyone entered the last two, they would have been able to see some trees containing fruits and a water source at the start. Well, it's a pity no one entered those tunnels."

He said the last line with a scoff, making the whispering students quiet.

If they knew that the last two tunnels contained water and food, who would be idiotic enough to enter the middle one? Some students voiced their suspicions that if no one went there, where was the proof that those two tunnels contained water? But when the professor said he could send them inside again so they could check it, everyone shut their mouths.

No one wanted to see those creepy-looking creatures again. They all just wanted to take a nice bath to get rid of the stinky smell coming from their clothes, which were damp with green goblin blood.

Liam said a few more things like the students were allowed to rest for today and the results would be posted tomorrow inside the main hall.

He also told them that the top ten students would be rewarded. They would be allowed to choose a skill or Art of their liking from the second floor of the library without paying. Hearing about the possible reward made the students happy. After the professor finished saying what he wanted to say, all the students sighed and tiredly left for their dorms to rest.

Kyle and Nine both left together because their dorms were next to each other. Also, now that the ranking assessment had concluded, Kyle wanted to sleep.

He had slept inside the dungeon, but due to the goblin's constant attacks, he was not able to sleep peacefully. He also didn't rest after coming from the back mountain. Now that he had nothing to do, a sudden wave of tiredness washed over him.