"Don't you know Dave? The lucky fellow who was previously accepted as an official apprentice."
"Oh, oh, now that you mention it, I remember. Damn it, why is he at the top?"
" Full marks for Potionology. I know why Mrs. Izu took a fancy to him…Sigh, this kid was usually low profile."
" Not only that, look at Water Elementalism and Dark Elementalism. They're both above 90 points. No wonder he's ranked first..."
"Rankings number one? What ranking?"
Dave was among the crowd, and he vaguely heard the name 'Rank'.
Looking from afar, he realized that his name was actually ranked first.
"I am really ranked first…."
Dave didn't expect to become number one on the leaderboard one day.
It was said that the list was ranked according to the overall score.
He scored above 90 points in all three subjects, and he even scored full marks in one of them. Naturally, he had to be ranked at the top.
However, he did not expect that he would actually be able to reach the top of the rankings. This had exceeded his expectations.
It was normal to be ranked at the top, but being ranked first was a little too eye-catching.
"Full marks? 95?"
Andre was speechless when he saw Dave's score.
He knew that this guy's results wouldn't be bad.
There was no need to say much about Potionology. Before the assessment, he had even specially come to ask for so much information from him. The other two subjects should not be too bad either.
He just didn't expect it to be this exaggerated.
" However, he scored 95 points for the Dark Element…."
Andre suddenly thought of something and gave Dave a weird look.
"If I remember correctly, Dave, you got the last question on dark elements wrong, didn't you?"
95 points meant that he had only gotten one question wrong.
"It's a pity that you lost a full score.
"You have to know whenever you get full marks for any subject, and the academy will reward you!"
He shook his head as if he felt sorry for Dave.
".. When did I ever tell you that I was wrong?"
Dave was speechless.
"I was the one who answered that question correctly. The answer is beside it. Can't you take a look?"
" What?" Andre's eyes widened.
He ran over in disbelief and glanced at the answer. When he came back, his expression was strange.
" I thought Levan and I were correct…"
He still remembered how he had told Dave yesterday that he got the last question wrong…
He didn't expect the face slap to come so quickly.
Andre sighed.
"No wonder I only scored 80 points in Dark Elementalism."
" However, Levan only scored 90 points in his Dark Elementalism test this time. I wonder what his reaction will be when he finds out…"
Andre gloated at this.
Levan was previously regarded by many as the best level 3 acolyte in the field of dark elementalism.
He did not expect that he only got 90 points in Dark Elementalism, which was worse than Dave's.
This was not a small piece of news.
Dave didn't care about that, but he remembered the " reward " that Andre mentioned.
"What do you mean by a reward for scoring full marks? I don't think I've heard of it before…"
"Are you serious? It seems to be a new rule that the academy has released this year..."
Andre wanted to say something, but a tall acolyte angrily pushed through the crowd and walked over.
"Andre! Explain to me what's going on!
"Didn't you say that there's a high probability that the questions you gave will come out in the exam this year?"
Andre looked panicked. He waved at Dave and disappeared into the crowd of apprentices.
".."
Dave didn't want to get involved, so he turned around and left.
However, he was still thinking about what Andre had just said.
"There will be a reward for full marks? Is this a new rule set by the academy this year?"
He was like many other loner apprentices. He didn't have many friends and was busy with his own matters.
In terms of being well-informed, he was really far inferior to Andre.
However, it was useless to think about it.
If the academy really gave out rewards, it would naturally be given to him.
Shaking his head, Dave walked toward the classroom.
There was still a class today. It was rare for him to come so early, so it was not bad to reserve a good seat in advance.
..
Unexpectedly, during class, the reward that Andre mentioned arrived.
Hollis, who was in charge of teaching dark elements, handed a red pendant to Dave.
"This is the reward given by the academy for acolytes with full marks."
Hollis, who was usually cold, patted Dave's shoulder.
The middle-aged man smiled awkwardly.
"Not bad. If you're interested, you can change your major to dark elemental studies.
"The door to my laboratory is always open for you."
There was a strange coldness in his hand, which made Dave shiver.
" T-Thank you, Teacher Hollis!"
Dave thanked him immediately.
The invitation was tempting.
He respectfully took the pendant with both hands.
The pendant's workmanship is very exquisite. The red gem was big. The gem was wrapped in copper. It emitted a slight warmth. The heat instantly dispelled the chill on Dave's body.
Dave secretly activated his mental sense and found a red characteristic inside the pendant, which must be the source of its effect.
"The furnace core pendant is very helpful for meditation. You will know when you experience it yourself.
"For acolytes like you who are about to advance, this pendant will make things much easier for you."
After giving Dave an encouraging look, Hollis returned to his cold expression and walked back to the podium.
Dave took one last look at the pendant and put it away carefully.
He didn't know if it was because of the pendant or because of Hollis's recruitment, but he found himself the center of attention again.
He tried to ignore the envious and jealous expressions of the surrounding acolytes, but one of them was still quite enthusiastic.
He glanced at Levan, who should have "aced" the assessment.
He couldn't control his facial expression. His eyes were red, and he looked at Dave with complicated emotions.
Especially when Teacher Hollis passed by his seat and did not even look at him.
This young apprentice, who was once said to have been promised by Teacher Hollis to become an official apprentice, clenched his fists tightly.
Dave was helpless about this.
As he gradually became famous, more and more people like Levan began to appear.
In a sense, the apprentices were actually competing with each other.
There was a limit to the number of apprentices the instructors could take in. If someone took advantage of it, the others would suffer.
Dave was helpless.
He had joined Mrs. Izu's laboratory and became her apprentice, so there was a high chance that he would not " betray " her.
However, a mage like Hollis would still come and poach him.
Due to his influence, Levan, who was originally favored by Hollis, might be ignored by him.
Dave finally understood the malice that was born from this reason.
It was not his fault. It was these people's own strength that was lacking.
If Levan scored 95 or 100 points this time, Professor Hollis would probably be paying attention to him.
Who could he blame?