Chapter 294: Shocked
Central Committee.
They were receiving the recommendations as well as the scores of the students they had recommended.
In the hall, there were a total of twenty people, all specializing in education.
A middle-aged man entered the room, causing everyone to stop working for a moment.
The middle-aged man smiled. "All right, everyone. We will start grading every student who has been recommended. Remember, we’re searching for geniuses who can fight against the geniuses from other countries.
"There are only a hundred people, but there is one request from the president this time. If they are evolution masters, that’s a bonus point. We need at least ten evolution masters here.
"Even if we can’t defeat that gold-grade genius, we will have to show that we’re not going down without a fight.
"The easiest way to figure out whether they have potential as evolution masters or not is to check their Stability Test and their Support Test. The higher the number, the better they are. Who were in charge of these two tests?"
Five people raised their hands at the same time.
"Very well. You five, work together and focus on them first. Mark their names down. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" They nodded.
"Let’s start working then. Everyone, I’m expecting your good judgment to find the gems of our nation."
They had just started, but two people suddenly stood up and raised their hands. "Sir, you may want to look at this!"
Both of them said the same thing. They looked at each other as though they had some connections.
"What’s wrong?" The middle-aged man asked.
"I got a Rank 2 student who actually managed to straighten all nine strands. However, in the recommendation form, there was a special note about this achievement. He did it in just one second. They even attached a video of him doing it."
Everyone couldn’t help but open their eyes wider. Even the people who weren’t working in that area knew what such scores meant.
"Someone can do that?" The supervisor was astonished. He rushed to his spot, trying to see the video while asking, "What is that student’s name?"
If they had a Rank 2 student whose ability as an evolution master was that good, there was a chance this student would receive a direct recommendation to pass even without any more tests in the national selection.
"His name is Auric Elfe."
"Auric Elfe?!" The one who was shocked the most was the other person who had stood at the same time.
"What? Don’t tell me, you too?" The supervisor noticed his reaction.
"Y-Yes, sir. The score is just too absurd for me not to think it was cheating at first."
"Really? What was his score?" The supervisor asked.
"185,049 points."
"What the—" The supervisor covered his mouth, stopping himself from cursing. Even the others stopped what they were doing because of their shock.
The supervisor asked for confirmation as he couldn’t believe he was hearing the score. "Are you telling me, a Rank 2 Student, whose requirement was only 20,000 points for the overall score, actually scored that high in just a single test?"
"That was what I thought, so I needed your confirmation on whether to flag this name. But after hearing the name of the person who received the highest score for the Support Test, the score might not exactly be the result of cheating."
Another staff gasped as he recognized the name. "Auric Elfe? Wasn’t he the big genius that had caused quite a storm in the capital city? Chief Lucas from the Evolution Association vouched for his talent and abilities. He said his skills were already at the level of a gold-grade evolution master.
"Sadly, his elements hadn’t advanced to the next rank, so he couldn’t become a gold-grade evolution master just yet."
The supervisor suddenly remembered that name. "You’re talking about the evolution master genius who has multiple elements? That 17-year-old silver-grade evolution master?"
"Yes, sir."
"Is he going to participate in the selection?"
"Well, it’s good that such a big genius is participating, especially since we failed to persuade Tommiseus to participate. But I heard about his character..."
"I know, right? He’s causing a lot of trouble whenever he goes somewhere. The first time was at Kallarnos University, then there was the incident in the Alps ruins."
People had a high opinion of Auric’s ability, but they were worried that Auric’s personality would cause even more problems in this event.
The supervisor thought for a moment before asking, "Anyway, I need all his scores first. Send them there."
The supervisor pointed to the wall behind his seat. His screen was being projected onto the wall. All the students who were entered into this computer would require special screening.
The moment Auric’s file was shown, everyone couldn’t help but drop their jaws.
"What were those scores?"
"His Strength Test and Magic Test scores were excellent. He surpassed his rank, but those two scores weren’t comparable to his other scores."
"His Reaction Speed Test was also excellent. I believe most big geniuses could last seven to ten minutes on average. Then again, looking at his ability as an evolution master, he might be able to achieve this with his sensitivity alone."
"Yeah, but look at his Offensive Ability Test and Defensive Ability Test; those two scores couldn’t be underestimated either. Is there even a need to put him through a national selection for him? Can’t we just let him pass already?"
"But his character..."
The supervisor sucked in a cold breath. This was the first time he had seen such a great genius.
He waved his hands down, gesturing for them to calm down.
"Okay. He might cause problems, but look at the current situation. If he is going to cause trouble, can’t we just direct that trouble to other countries instead? In other words, instead of letting him make trouble for us, we’re just going to annoy the other countries by using him?"
"!!!" The staff certainly didn’t expect this suggestion.
It was rather ingenious.
"Now that I think about it, just imagining the annoyed expressions of the people from other countries puts a smile on my face."
"Right? We were having a headache because he was a troublemaker, but if they were the ones going to experience the trouble, Auric Elfe would become more and more pleasing to my eyes."
"Doesn’t that mean we just have to tell the trainers we send what might happen and ask them to direct that trouble to other countries?"
"It might be worth a shot."
The supervisor smiled because the atmosphere had completely changed. He continued, "All right. I will report this to the president and ask Chief Lucas to confirm his scores first. For now, put him on the priority list. Does anyone have anything else to report? Who got the best result for each category? Since we’re looking at different ranks of students, I prioritize the number of points they manage to gain beyond their requirements rather than their raw scores."
"I have a report of another name, sir." One person stood up. "Her name is Katarina Vasilyevna, the Vice President of Kallarnos University’s Student Council. She managed to score 207,605 points for the Offensive Ability Test and 196,596 points for the Defensive Ability Test. It’s basically about twice the requirement for the Overall Test.
"Her Stability Test is 120,405 points. While Auric Elfe got the best percentage with 1140% of the original requirement, Katarina’s score on the Offensive Ability Test and Defensive Ability Test were practically unmatched. She was also the one who managed to get the second best with 525% of the original requirement."
Another person stood up, suggesting yet another student.
"Surprisingly, the third person was named Ellia Stroph Astler. The reason she is special is that she currently holds the highest record for the Reaction Speed Test with 17 minutes and 57 seconds."
Then, two more people stood up.
"We are also reporting on the person who got the best in the Strength Test. He is..."
"Mine is for the Magic Test..."
While their numbers weren’t as impressive as those of] Ellia or Katarina, they were definitely worth paying attention to.
The supervisor couldn’t help but smile. Tommi might not join them, but there were plenty of geniuses who would represent their countries.
With this, they had little to fear.
Of course, the supervisor immediately reported Auric’s numbers to the relevant parties.
...
Evolution Association.
"Hahaha. He really got those scores?" Chief Lucas laughed aloud.
"Chief?"
"Don’t worry. I can vouch for his abilities. In fact, you should be rejoiced; the country should be happy. This kind of score only means one thing... He might be planning to become a gold-grade evolution master before the training program even begins."
"What?!" The supervisor was dumbfounded. "A 17-year-old gold-grade evolution master?"
"Exactly. Absurd, right? Those guys flaunted Nicholas Campbell as the one-in-a-million genius and showed other countries that they had such a young gold-grade evolution master. And now, we’re going to have one too, not to mention the fact that he is two years younger than Nicholas."
The supervisor gulped. As a person who served the country, he was obviously excited about this prospect.
Besides, Chief Lucas once mentioned Auric’s potential to be an all-element evolution master.
"But sir... his personality..."
"Don’t worry about that either. He’s not the type of person who likes trouble. However, if others cause trouble for him..."
"Now that you mention it..." The supervisor recalled all the news about Auric. "Whenever he made a big fuss, it was because someone did something to him first."
"Exactly. So, as long as our country doesn’t cause trouble for him, it would be fine. However, if other countries provoked him, they should be ready to humiliate themselves. If our instructors could just handle their parts without being scared of the repercussions, I think we can present a reliable image of our country. This will also make him want to stay in this country and grow further."
"Understood. I shall forward your insight to the president. With this, I will be able to convince the president to let him pass the national selection without having to take the test."
"No, I don’t think you need to do that. Even if you let him participate, he will stand out anyway. While he has received special treatment from me, he is quite a fair person. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, there’s no need to give him any special treatment."
"I’m just worried that the geniuses of our country will end up provoking him during the national selection. We don’t want to cause any unnecessary trouble during that time."
"Oh!" Even Chief Lucas couldn’t defend him on this one. "About that... I might have to agree. For now, let the president decide. But he’s already good enough to pass, right?"
"Yes. He’s probably the favorite candidate for this one."
"Very well. Give me an update."
"Will do. Thank you very much. Have a good day, Chief."
"Yep, you too."
Chief Lucas leaned back and couldn’t help but laugh. "Well, this is interesting. Were you going to surprise me by suddenly becoming a gold-grade evolution master? Your plan has failed this time. A 17-year-old gold-grade evolution master... He might really be able to reach that realm in the future."