Yoel continued to absentmindedly stare at the cube's hologram.
It showed a lot more than just what kind of Enigma he had– it also showed its potential, or in other words the limit to its evolution.
It also displayed the most efficient ways to train his Enigma, and so on.
It was a lot of information to swallow about himself, albeit even if it was a bit crude.
Overall, the description Yoel had gotten was very basic, what about his avon consumption? What about his avon control?
Weren't those all factors that should have been measured?
It really is weird.
But apparently, he was supposed to go through this aptitude test again sometime during his midterms, and he assumed that everything would be measured then.
Continuing to observe the holographic layout of his capabilities, his mind wandered to the man with icy blue eyes, whos hair surprisingly he couldn't quite catch a glimpse of, despite wearing no hat.
It was rather strange, hadn't the man looked at him a tad bit differently than the others? And his weird attire…
Ah, whatever. He might just be a professor here.
Without troubling himself with such thoughts, Yoel finally remembered to check the time.
Glancing at the corner of his hologram, the time read [5:45 PM].
…Wasn't there supposed to be a huge announcement at 6?
Yoel sighed, feeling like he should have expected to end up in this situation.
With a tired sigh, he began sprinting again.
At first glance, Yoel didn't really realize the speed boost he had gained from his newly attained Blessed body, one that could utilize avon to enhance its capabilities beyond what humans could do.
As Yoel ran, he also noticed something that had completely gone under his nose before.
While he was covered in somewhat deep shadows, he felt a bit faster, a bit stealthier…
A bit stronger.
It was as if being surrounded by shadows made the world feel more real, and with that, the avon he saw multiplied, being able to perceive avon that he never knew was there.
That… is also something that had gone unnoticed by the administration crew.
Sighing a bit heavily, he didn't know if keeping this a secret from the administration crew was a good or bad thing.
They'll learn it at the midterm aptitude test anyway, won't they?
Yoel felt like he could allow himself to have an ace under his sleeve, to impress everyone, only for now.
He was pretty content with his discoveries so far, it had been a different kind of fun to unravel the mysteries of his Enigma.
And he felt like he still had a mountain of those mysteries to unravel.
This'll be so much fun!
As Yoel thought these things, distracted by the future he was envisioning for himself, someone had managed to slip under his sight.
Happily running, Yoel almost didn't see someone bump into his chest as they ran in the opposite direction of him.
As he looked down, slightly surprised and a bit taken aback at his own inability to notice them– he saw a patch of fluffy brown hair.
Without thinking too much about it, Yoel pushed the person away instinctually, he didn't feel as if they were a danger, but something told him to do so.
What he saw was a short and petite-looking girl, rubbing her somewhat red forehead, with a slightly annoyed look on her face.
Her brown hair was tied in half twin tails, leaving just enough hair to accommodate her bangs.
"Are you okay…?"
Clearly, Yoel was not a social person. But he still had the decency to affirm if the girl was alright.
"A-Ah, I'm fine! Don't worry about me. The announcement is soon, you should hurry."
The awkward situation between the two was masterfully erased by the unknown girl, reminding Yoel of his priorities.
"Shit. You're right! My bad for running into you!"
Without being able to truly apologize to the girl, he sped past her and waved back at her.
Unbeknownst to Yoel however, the girl had long since abandoned her delicate smile.
***
Just barely in time, Yoel arrived at the auditorium once again.
The last time he had been here, was before the time dungeon incident took place…
They had announced what the first trial would be, in quite a way as well.
He vividly remembered the performance the vice principal of the school had put up.
Perhaps his enigma had to do with emotions or something of the like?
He also noticed that unlike how empty the auditorium had been back then, now it was almost filled to the brim. It was hard to find a seat.
Damn… I didn't know it'd be so full.
Since Yoel had arrived very late, he didn't find any open seats.
So, he had to stand, along with many other students.
He barely saw the stage, and it was quite frustrating.
Eventually, however, he found a place where he could see it. It had been somewhere near the highest point of the auditorium, where almost nobody stood and everyone had been seated.
While Yoel and the rest of the students were waiting for the announcement to begin, Yoel had a bit of time, so he absentmindedly began thinking about various things.
What was that girl doing, wasn't everybody supposed to show up to the announcement? I thought it had been mandatory.
Indeed, the girl that had bumped into Yoel had only bumped into him because they ran in the opposite direction. Weren't they all supposed to be heading to the auditorium?
And come to think of it, when Yoel was hastily trying to reach the auditorium, no one else had been outside…
It was pretty weird, but he didn't pay it much attention.
That was because many second-year students had missions or objectives given to them by the school.
Some could take days, while some could take even weeks.
And in some of the rarest cases, it would take some people months to complete a mission!
Oh, whatever, it's probably nothing. I'm overthinking things here.
Without a second thought, Yoel dismissed whatever conclusions his paranoid mind was getting at.
He had to focus on this announcement.
As if waiting for that cue, the auditorium began to shake.
And at the same time, immense pressure fell upon Yoel. But it was not only him that felt it. Countless other students fell to their knees after this incredible presence made itself known.
The students sitting down slumped, unable to hold their heads high and looking at the stage.
Yoel, who had also slumped and holding his knees so he didn't collapse, continued watching the stage.
Is this some kind of ambush, does this academy have enemies?
His heart thumped unbelievably fast, with such immense pressure, no one amongst the students could withstand it.
Even the ones in higher classes were powerless against the impossible weight of the pressure.
All they could do was stand and watch, moving took all of their strength and sapped them of all of their stamina.
And finally… something changed.
On the stage, appeared many magic circles like the ones Yoel had seen during his visit to Consequence's domain.
There was only a single difference.
These magic circles had all been of blue colors, and the formation of them had been so… crude.
Compared to Consequence's shackles, these circles had been infinitely cruder. It was as if looking at a toy train, and then glancing at a real train.
Whoever was orchestrating this show of power, didn't let Yoel observe the circles any longer, filling the auditorium with blinding light.
It felt like it lasted an eternity, if Yoel hadn't closed his eyes on instinct, he was sure he would've gone blind…
Once he dared to open them once again, he instinctively activated his enigma.
He saw multiple motes of varying purple shades scattered across the entire auditorium.
But the stage was filled with vivid and bright purple colors, specifically gathering around nine figures.
In the middle stood the vice principal.
To his right side, stood four men of varying uniforms.
Each man wore a different colored uniform. There was a single striking similarity to each of these uniforms.
Each had been tailored to act as a weird mix between a military officer uniform and a professor uniform.
That's some fashion sense they have…
Each uniform had been decorated with a variety of elements.
For example, one man had flames on his uniform, and another had clouds of varying grey shades.
To the vice principal's left side, stood four women.
Each of them had been exquisitely beautiful. More than a few boys near Yoel screamed out to them.
They wore similar, militarized professor uniforms like the men on the vice principal's right side.
And each of them had been wearing uniforms of varying colors, as well.
It was quite an interesting sight. Yoel would have been entranced by the beauty of the female companions of the vice principal if someone hadn't been in that group of men and women.
The man from the aptitude test, the man with icy blue eyes and hair that Yoel just couldn't quite grasp the color of.
He had been in the group that was accompanying the vice principal on the stage.