During the past six days, Eldric saw everyone fighting against the bear.
At first, everyone was rushing in blindly, hoping to kill the bear as soon as possible, but the more they tried, the more they began to understand the disparity in strength.
Even though the bear was just standing there while defending, they were still unable to kill it.
A few with rare professions were able to harm it, but the more they wounded the bear, the more ferocious it became. And it always ended up in their loss.
Even the first two who won only did so after trying out almost everything.
Ad for Eldric... He was more than happy to just sit back and watch. As for the rewards promised by Ellina, he had no interest in them. Much less in something completely mysterious.
.
.
While Eldric was sitting there leisurely, Ellina opened her eyes, glanced around her, and after looking at a few students who were just sitting relaxed snorted in displeasure.
Her coming here personally was already a great fortune for these brats. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to understand the importance of this moment in front of them.
"Don't regret it later."
While she was looking, she suddenly frowned for a moment before nodding and stepping out of the domain.
.
.
A few kilometers away from the Domain, the principal Garric was sitting leisurely in a chair slowly chewing the fruits placed in front of him while looking at the screen.
Beside him was the figure of Ellina, sipping a cup of tea quietly.
"Anyone caught your eyes?" It was Garric who spoke first. He wanted to know whether there was someone talented enough to gather her attention.
To this, Ellina just let out a sigh.
"Are you really asking me this question?"
With a brief pause, her eyes rested on the two boys on the screen who were sitting there quietly.
They were the ones who defeated the bear yesterday. And at this moment, they were just sitting there in silence, looking at others.
"Let's just say that the result has been a bit underwhelming.
Compared to the last year when they were able to finish it in two days, this batch of students is just simply bad.
Also, look at those few bastards sitting there with no intention of joining the lesson. How good do you think the results are going to be?"
Listening to her, Garric sighed in helplessness.
"I didn't tell anyone, but there are two people who awakened the Legendary profession this year."
As soon as he spoke, Ellina's hand which was holding the teacup trembled.
Narrowing her eyes, she looked at Garric, expecting him to explain. And soon enough Garric spoke further.
"Unfortunately, those two are from wealthy families."
As soon as he said those words, Ellina let out a cold snort.
"Also, they have already made some contacts and have joined other universities in advance.
At this moment, there is already someone training them at home."
With a brief pause, Garric added further " Not only those two, but six people with epic professions have also followed suit."
Ellina didn't need Garric to explain to her. She was from a much larger city and already knew about these things.
Rich and powerful people would often spend a fortune to get their offspring a special blessing. With its help, the lowest profession that they can awaken is Epic.
Those children then don't need to go into this much trouble and are guided by personal trainers. Even the universities would welcome them with open arms.
She was familiar with this because she was one of those children.
It's no wonder that the result in front of her was below her expectations.
"Sigh..." Garric who was sitting on the side wasn't unfamiliar with this. So for the students in front of him, he could only let out a helpless sigh.
"Don't be disappointed." It was Ellina who spoke. "The very foundation of strength is paved with money.
The ones standing there could only blame themselves for being poor and talentless."
.
.
On the field, Eldric slowly dozed off. And by the time he woke up, the test had already ended.
In the end, there were two more who were able to kill the bear in front of them.
As for the rest, they could only punch the ground helplessly. Many of them were still not satisfied, asking for a bit more time. They were sure that they could defeat the bear in the next hour or so.
But no matter what everyone wanted or what they were feeling, the bears in front of them disappeared completely before a figure slowly made its way toward the center of the grassland.
"That was decent." This was the only thing that Ellina spoke after glancing around at the students.
"Though I am a bit disappointed that no one else was able to defeat the bear, I still have high hopes for you.
Work hard. Get a good result in the trials and you can join the university."
Pausing for a moment, Ellina took a deep breath before slowly speaking further.
"This is going to be the last lesson, do I hope everyone listens with great attention."
"Tomorrow, the tower of trials will be unlocked for you all, so you can challenge it.
Before that, you need to learn about a few things."
With a brief pause, she took a deep breath and spoke.
"The Tower of Trials is basically your first step towards evolution. Once you step into it, there will be four difficulties to choose from.
Ordinary, Hard, Hell and Nightmare."
"Judging by your performance, I would recommend you to choose ordinary difficulty and if you are feeling lucky, then choose hard.
Also, if you are feeling a lot more courageous, you can choose the last two difficult as well..."
"Even if you die inside the tower, nothing will happen to you. You will just be kicked out of the tower and can not challenge again for a while.
Once you reach the end, your process of evolution will begin. And based upon the numbers and types of monsters that you defeat, you will get results."
"Also..." With a smile she looked at Eldric who was standing at the corner before speaking "Didn't you all want to earn more tokens?
Inside the trial, you can."
With a short pause, she spoke again.
"Four days later, your result will decide whether you can join any university or not.
Judging by your score, you will all get offers. So... Good luck to you all."
With these final words, she walked out of the domain, leaving behind the crowd of students who were still clamoring about the things they heard.
Heading back home, Eldric didn't do anything but just quietly lay on the bed. He didn't care about the results or rewards. His entire focus was on earning tokens.
.
.
One more day passed in the blink of an eye.
The next morning when Eldric woke up with a yawn, he was surprised to find the girl floating beside him while quietly looking at him.
"What the...?" Anyone would be creeped out by such a sight, but Eldric didn't seem to care about it. He was already used to such situations.
"I thought you were never coming back." Jokingly, Eldric said with a smile.
"Hmph..." With a cold snort, the girl turned her head away as if she didn't want to see him.
"..." Eldric wanted to speak but found himself at a loss for words. He didn't know how to console someone, so helpless he could only see her back.
This silence lasted for s moment before Eldric suddenly patted his head. He almost forgot that today was the day when the tower of trials would be open for him.
Taking a deep breath, he brought up his panel and softly spoke 'Home'.
Looking at the two icons of the auction and the tower of trials, he selected the trials without any hesitation.
And as soon as he touched the tower, a new window popped up in front of him.
[Please select a name. This name will accompany you throughout your journey.]
Eldric didn't immediately rush to input his name but thought for a moment before deciding on a simple name.
[Confirm name "Red"?]
Without any hesitation, Eldric chose yes and the moment he did, he felt his vision changing and before he could even process what happened, he found himself in an open white space.
"What the?" Narrowing his eyes, Eldric tried to observe his surroundings, but there was nothing to see except light.
And just when he was confused about what to do, a new window opened in front of him.
[Welcome challeneger. Complete the trials to go through your first evolution.]
[Please select whether you want to form a party or go alone?]
Looking at the option of choosing party or solo play, Eldric chose solo without any hesitation.
While it was true that people could form a party and complete the trials together, the rewards too will be shared.
Even if Eldric couldn't evolve his skills, he would have chosen to go alone, much less now when he is already more powerful than a lot of people.
As soon as Eldric chose to go solo, a new window popped up.
[Please choose your difficulty.]
[Ordinary] [Hard] [Hell] [Nightmare]
*Difficult could be changed.
Looking at the long explanation, Eldric thought for a moment before his finger landed on [Ordinary] difficulty.
He wanted to see just how difficult the ordinary trial was.
As soon as Eldric selected his difficulty, Eldric found the world around him changing before he was standing in front of a five-story tower.
Suddenly a new message box appeared in front of him.
[Welcome to the trials. Please reach the fifth floor to complete your evolution.]
In addition to this, there was small text of rows which made Eldric's eyes shine the moment he saw them.
[Kill 100 creatures on the first floor: 5 Tokens]
[Kill 100 creatures on the second floor: 5 Tokens]
.
.
[Kill 100 Creatures on the fifth floor: 5 Tokens]
Looking at the mission and rewards, Eldric took a deep breath. Even though he was expecting the mission for tokens to be difficult, he wasn't expecting them to be this difficult.
Gritting his teeth, he exhaled a mouthful of air before taking a step and walking in front of the door.
Looking at the pitch-black entrance he readied himself before walking inside.
"...."
Stepping inside, Eldric was greeted by the sight of a large grassland with no end in sight.
This was extremely similar to the grassland that the school has, except this one was crawling with monsters.
Holding his breath, Eldric looked at the nearest monster which looked like an ox.
"Heh... Stumped already?"
Just when Eldric was looking at the ox, he was frightened by the sudden voice behind him.
"FUCK..." Eldric immediately threw a punch behind him, hitting the space.
"DAMN IT." As soon as Eldric's punch passed through the sir, he knew who the troublemaker was.
Looking at the floating girl beside him with a black face, Eldric snorted coldly.
"How the hell are you here?" Even though he was angry, he was still amazed by the means of the girl in front of him.
This was the trial that only he could enter, but still, the girl was floating silently beside him looking at him with a face full of disdain...