The lady turned her head and looked at Raia. Although their encounter was very brief, he actually remembered her face because she saved his life when he was almost killed by the saber fanged wolf.
When he confirmed it was her, he smiled and walked up to the lady. It caught the attention of many students around them.
"Flawless pill?" the lady asked with puzzlement in her face.
"Do you remember me? You gave me a flawless recovery pill at the forest outside Forzen City when I was wounded." Raia explained.
The lady narrowed her eyes and sized him up.
"Ah, half-dead?" She said with a straight face.
"Half-dead?"
"Well, you were half-dead when I saw you in that forest." The lady explained.
Raia awkwardly laughed. "That is true. I just want to thank you again for giving that pill to me."
The lady just nodded.
"Uhm..excuse me?.." Faye slowly walked to the two.
"Ah, Faye, Aaron. This is…" Raia paused because she didn't know the name of the lady.
"Sharia. Sharia Wolford." The lady introduced herself.
"Right. Sharia Wolford. This is Faye, this is Aaron…" He then realized the name of the lady. "Did you just say Wolford?"
"Yes."
"It's nice to meet you, Lady Sharia!" Aaron suddenly offered his hand towards her. She didn't refuse the handshake and that made Aaron happy and the other students filled with envy.
Raia was surprised by Aaron. "Pardon me for asking, but how are you related to Lord Guardian Victor Wolford?" He asked.
"I'm his granddaughter." Sharia casually replied.
The eyes of Raia widened after listening to her answer. Seeing his reaction, Aaron lightly elbowed him on the side.
"You don't know her? Are you serious?" Aaron whispered.
"I don't." He replied while still wearing the shocked look. He checked the university but didn't get to the point where he searched for the descendants of the Lord Guardian.
"Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, where are my manners? Raia Lyndon." He stretched his hands towards Sharia which she accepted.
"So Raia, you two know each other?" Faye said with a curious tone.
Raia then told them their short encounter in the forest and how Sharia saved his life. The two were shocked and worried after hearing what happened, especially the part where he was almost killed by the saber fanged tiger. Of course, he didn't tell them about the orb that dropped from it.
"So that's it." After hearing the story, Faye gave Sharia a good stare.
"If there is nothing else, I'll go." Sharia said then she walked closer to the stage.
Looking at her departing figure, Aaron bashed Raia with questions. He was like a reporter wanting to have all the details of the scoop.
"Isn't it the other way around and you should be the one saving her??" Aaron asked with a chuckle.
"I know, right?" Raia laughed as he placed his hands on top of Aaron's shoulders. He then felt a cold glare directed at him and remembered that Faye was silently standing on the side.
He faked a cough and smiled. "Come on, let's go near the stage."
As they walked, the gazes of many students, male and female, were still fixed at them. No, their stares were fixed only at Raia.
He didn't take it to heart as he didn't care so much about what others might think about him. He came here to study and seek protection for his family and the matters apart from those were not so important to him.
When the 353 students were gathered near the stage, Hesco came up and began explaining the second test.
"The second test will evaluate the current status of your strength." Behind him, a dummy doll emerged.
"You will attack this figure once with your raw strength. Talents can be used of course. In order to pass, you need to inflict at least 700 damage to this dummy doll. That's about 7th level Martial Physique State strength. You will be ranked depending on the amount of damage you dealt on the dummy doll and the points will be distributed based on that ranking. That's it. When I call your name, step forward and take the exam."
Hesco looked at the professor beside him and nodded. The professor moved the dummy doll about a hundred meters away.
Raia and the others were relieved to hear that the strength required to pass was at 7th level Martial Physique State. Aaron was at peak 6th level Martial Physique State and his strength could at least reach the requirement. Both Raia and Faye were obviously passing this test. The only question is what rank they would get among the exam takers.
The first name was called and a young man quickly walked to the dummy doll. He was at 7th level Martial Physique State and he hit the dummy doll with all of his strength. It is better to give it your all.
Hesco was looking at a screen he was holding and announced the result.
"750, passed." The man was happy and Hesco right away called the next name.
…
After almost hundred students, about 30 failed to meet the requirement.
Then one of the students with talent came forward.
It was the young man with Ice Talent, Azel Lander. He was at 1st level Martial Spirit State.
He stood about ten meters away from the target and created an ice spear in front of him. He launched it with good speed to the dummy doll.
Bang!
The air felt a little cold because of the broken ice. The students waited for the result.
"2,500, passed." Hesco shouted. His words gave the others a good reaction. It is already known that possessing a talent can boost your attack power greatly but it is still amazing to witness it with your own eyes.
On the other hand, there are others that didn't take it much to heart. These people also possess talent and are probably stronger than Azel. Raia was one of them.
Beside him, Aaron was actually excited and amazed. Faye was just standing there expressionless and was looking in a certain direction.
A familiar name was called after a few turns. It was the one from their city, Jacob Philips.
"So he was here too." Raia muttered in a low voice.
"Maybe the others were here too." Aaron said as he looked around.
"Let's see later."
Jacob easily passed the second test. With his 2nd level Martial Spirit State, he earned a score of 2,100. He was ecstatic and the determination in his eyes never faded even for a moment.
"Should we greet him later?" Raia asked.
"Nah. Just leave him be." Aaron answered.
"Okay."
…
Up to this moment, no person with talent failed the test. All of them gave the audience a good show of their talents. The one with the highest score was the lady with Fire Talent, Grace Miller. She was at 3rd level Martial Spirit State and her score was 4,700 which was a high 4th level Martial Spirit State strength.
"She really looks like a lady with fire talent." Aaron commented as he stared at the walking Grace.
Raia was also fixated on her and said, "Yeah. Red hair and eyes and with that scarlet dress, she really is one fire."
He suddenly felt a pinch on his side and saw Faye glaring at him.
"Aaron Spiegel." At this time, Hesco's voice sounded.
"My turn. I'll be back in a moment." Aaron said as he walked away.
"You can do this." Raia said with a nod.
And they breathed relief after Aaron came back with a passing score of 710. It barely passed but that is better than failing.
He came back with all smiles on his face.
Faye also passed the test as she got a score of 950. She clinged on Raia's arm while asking for his compliment.
"You did good, you did good." Raia said with a smile.
Faye giggled. "Hehe. Of course, I did."
There are only about fifty students left to take the test. At this time, Sharia was called in the front.
As the people looked at her walking towards the front, they were complimenting her beauty and talent.
The guardian of Rhost, Victor Wolford, possesses a lightning talent. In his family, only Sharia's father and she inherited his talent.
The audience paid her all their attention. They all knew that she possessed a lighting talent but was not sure about what type it is. She didn't show it during the first test after all and rarely showed it to others.
She was at 2nd level Martial Spirit State just like Raia. Sharia stood not to close from the target. She stretched her hand forward and shot lightning from her palm.
'Pushik Boom!'
Raia was shocked. "Black lightning?"
"Y-Yeah. That is really a black lightning. Amazing, she has the black lightning." Aaron was equally surprised and so was Faye. The others were shocked too.
There are various types of lightning talent such as the normal white, blue and silver and many more. The black lighting is categorized as a very rare one. Victor has a red lightning also called the blood lightning and it was already a rare one. And the black lightning is rarer than red lightning.
The people who didn't know that the lightning talent she had was a black lightning talent was shocked while the others who already knew like Hesco and the other professors were not surprised. However, they are still amazed by her talent.
"4,800, passed." With a wide smile, Hesco announced her score. She turned around and walked back to her place.
With that, she was now in first place.
Raia still waited for his turn.
Eventually, he heard his name.
"Sir." He greeted Hesco when he arrived at the front.
Hesco nodded. "Strike the dummy doll once with your raw strength, talent is allowed. Go." He repeated the rules.
Raia walked towards the target. He stood at a close distance and took his stance.
'I need that elite student position.' He thought to himself.
Behind him, Hesco was looking forward to his performance with the others.
Raia punched the dummy doll with all the strength that he had.
'Bang!'
A wave of air burst out as a result of the impact.
There was a trace of surprise at the faces of the audience. They surely didn't expect that the strength of the guy in front was higher than Sharia.
Now, they were all waiting for the result with excitement.
"6,500, p-passed." A moment of silence happened.
Then, a series of exclamations were heard.
"What?! 6,500? That is like mid-6th level Martial Spirit State strength! And he is still at 2nd level Martial Spirit State!"
"A 2nd level Martial Spirit State with a strength of 6th level Martial Spirit State? What kind of monstrosity is that?"
"I thought that Sharia is already the strongest but there is someone stronger."
"Does he have any talent?"
"It is likely a physique talent."
"He is also good looking."
"Looks and talent, just like Sharia."
Raia walked back to his two friends. Hesco looked at him with great astonishment.
'A great physique talent! That is definitely a great physique talent.'
"This year's class lineup is good. So many strong students came." He was elated by this event.
Jacob clenched his fist. 'I will catch up to you.'
On one side, Sharia was looking at Raia with disbelief. She was already shocked to the bone that the Martial Foundation guy who she saved months ago was in the same state as her at the moment. Now, his strength also surpassed hers.
'What exactly happened to him in the last months?'
She was puzzled yet also curious.
Ultimately, the second test came to its end. Out of the 352 students that passed the first exam, only 246 passed.
Raia took the first place and Sharia the second. Most of the students with talents were placed at the top rankings.
"Congratulations to all of you. For the third exam, we will move locations. Follow us to the venue."
Hesco announced after gathering students who passed.
At this time, students approached Raia and his group when they began to walk.
They were greeting him and giving their compliments. He returned their greetings and smiled.