Andrew and Ethan watched the confrontation between Kieran and Faith on their screens. Their faces displayed a mixture of surprise and astonishment.
"Hey, shouldn't the test be over yet? It's been five minutes since he's faced the Tone Traveler," Ethan said.
"Normally, the test should have ended after two minutes, but the data used to recreate the 100 young sovereigns had freedom of action during their simulation," replied Andrew.
"Isn't that unfair to him?"
"There's nothing we can do about it. That was the prerequisite for using their data. And besides, it's not every day that you get the chance to face one of the 100 young sovereigns."
The confrontation between Kieran and Faith reached its climax, and as she was about to hit Kieran, Faith stopped before leaving, disappearing into particles of light.
[Test number 7 Succeeded. 1000 academic merit points awarded.]
"Succeeded? Don't mess with me! Come back here!" shouted Kieran.
[Test number 8 Starts.]
"I don't want another test! I didn't win against her!"
While Kieran shouted in the white room, Andrew and Ethan looked at him, laughing.
"He's got quite the temper," Ethan says.
"Looks like he didn't appreciate being bullied by the Tone Traveler," Andrew replied.
[System Initialization... Data used: Human race, Knud Nettuno, middle stage Bronze rank.]
"I giv...."
When Kieran was going to say he gave up, an indescribable feeling invaded his body.
In front of him was an old man with wrinkled skin resembling tree bark who stood, hunched over, wearing a long, tattered black coat with several tears. He held a black cane that assisted him in standing upright.
"Hey, wasn't he the leader of one of the branches of the Crimson Eclipse Clan who was arrested two years ago?" Ethan asked, surprised by the appearance of the old man.
"This young man has no luck. After the Tone Traveler, he now facing this old man. There's little chance that he had strengthened his soul with his current rank. It looks like his tests will end here," Andrew replied.
The old man looked at Kieran with a crooked smile on his face. A dark aura emanated from him as an illusory crystal tree appeared behind him.
The crystal tree seemed devoid of life. Its bark seemed altered and twisted like tortured faces.
Viscous black blood flowed from the eyes of these faces while a bloody cry seemed to emanate from the heart of the tree, sending shivers in the back of Kieran, who seemed to freeze in place.
The old man raised his cane in slow motion before gently hitting the floor with it.
An ethereal energy emanated from the cane when it came into contact with the floor. Becoming a wave of energy that extended into the white room and passed through Kieran's body.
An intense pain invaded his body when the ethereal energy touched him. His spiritual world shook violently, and cracks appeared inside, causing him indescribable suffering.
Kieran's face contorted in pain as the cracks in his spiritual world grew rapidly. He felt as if each cell of his body screamed in agony. He couldn't even utter the slightest cry.
He looked at the old man's twisted smile one last time before losing consciousness. His body, falling to the floor of the white room, disappeared into numerous particles of light.
[Test number 8 Failed.]
The next moment, he woke up in his VR capsule with pain coursing through his body. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself before the pain faded. He entered his spiritual world to examine it just in case but saw no crack in it.
"How did the tests go?" asked Runihoril when he saw him.
"I managed the first six before being beaten in the 7th without being able to do anything. Then, in the 8th test, an old man appeared and used a strange attack that eliminated me instantly," replied Kieran.
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"What did the attack look like?"
"It looked like a wave of energy, but once it touched my body, my spiritual world began to break little by little."
"It looks like a soul attack."
"A soul attack? How do I defend myself against that?"
"You cannot defend yourself against a soul attack by yourself at your current rank. You must first learn to strengthen your soul before you can use it to defend yourself. Apart from certain special cases or those that awaken an ability related to the soul, a cultivator begins to strengthen his soul only at the Gold rank when it is strong enough to resist the techniques related to the strengthening of the soul. The other way is to use natural treasures to strengthen it, but the effect will be diminished without a technique to direct the effect."
"I will try to ask the next time I go to Starlight Industry to buy an artifact that could protect my soul."
Leaving his spiritual world, Kieran left the VR capsule and was greeted by Andrew, who was standing a few meters in front of him.
"Congratulations on passing the tests," said Andrew.
"Thank you. Does that mean I'm accepted into the academy?" replied Kieran.
"Yes. In the name of the Transcendental Academy of Ostrion, I welcome you among us. Your status was updated, and you can now access the academy information via your aurora collar. You can find all the rules, maps of the different infrastructures, information about the professors, etc..."
Andrew paused for a moment before continuing.
"I will explain some important details regarding the academy. Once a student is accepted, an account is created for them within the academy, accessible via the aurora net. This account stores your information and your academic merit points. These academic merit points serve as currency within the academy. In simple terms, they can be used for anything. You can exchange them for cultivation resources, evolution materials, time in the academy's special facilities, and even private lessons with a professor."
"How can I get these academic merit points?" asked Kieran.
"First of all, know that it is impossible to buy academic merit points with nova credits. One of the ways to get it is to perform tasks for the academy that you can find via your aurora collar. Your tests for the inscriptions reward you 1690 academic merit points. I advise you to read the rules and the available infrastructure of the academy to think about how you will use your points in the future," replied Andrew.
"Thank you, Professor?"
"My name is Andrew. I'm one of the second-year professors, so I might have the opportunity to give you some lessons. I have to take care of the other participants. Go to the academy's reception to get your uniform and the key of your room in one of the dormitories of the academy," said Andrew before going to another participant.
Kieran downloaded the map of the academy before sending a message to Ryan to inform him that he had passed the inscription tests successfully and that he was going to the academy's reception.
Arriving at the reception, he received his uniform and the key to his room with the location of the dormitory.
Leaving the reception, he saw a young man with brown hair and green eyes dressed in a black and red uniform running towards him.
A smile appeared unconsciously on Kieran's face when he saw his brother for the first time in five months.
Ryan approached him quickly with his fist clenched, ready to hit him, when he suddenly slowed down his steps when he saw Kieran's eyes that seemed darker than he remembered.
"You could have told me you changed your mind about the academy inscription," Ryan said, hitting Kieran on the shoulder.
Kieran smiled when he saw his brother. He spread his crystal sense around him and was surprised to discover that Ryan had also breakthrough to the Silver rank.
"You've grown," said Kieran.
"Hey, don't make fun of me! And don't use your crystal sense at the academy. It's against the rules outside of the battle-designed zones."
"Okay, okay. Can you show me around?"
"I'll show you the dorms first so you can put on your uniform."
Kieran followed behind Ryan while observing the surroundings. The academy's interior was entirely different from the outside, with no building of dozens of floors blocking the view or flying cars in the sky.
Each building seemed both elegant and simple. The large spaces that separate each building were interspersed with lush greenery, creating a natural division between them.
Many students moved through what looked more like a city than an academy. Ninety percent of them seemed to be humans, while the rest were a mix of several different races.
Each of them wore the uniforms of the academy with slight adjustments for the ones with different types of bodies. Those of the men were black and red, while those of the women were white and black.
"The interior of the academy is like a city. You can find markets, restaurants, associations for the different jobs, and infrastructure for cultivation. Each of them uses academic merit points as currency."
"Does everything cost merit points?" asked Kieran.
"No. The academy cafeteria is free, but only simple meals are prepared there. There are also mandatory classes taught by professors in the Transcendent realms every morning. In the afternoon, each student is free to manage their schedule."
"It's pretty convenient. I could train all afternoon after class."
"You will love the training grounds with the special formation array created by the academy."
"Special formation array?"
Ryan smiled, not saying any more words while moving faster.
"Hey, come back. Explain to me those special formation arrays."
After several minutes of harassing Ryan, the two arrived in front of a 4-storey building.
"This is the dorm you were assigned to," said Ryan.
"You still didn't explain what the special formation array is."
"I'll explain it to you after you change."
Kieran sighed, "All right."
The two entered the dormitory and quickly found Kieran's room, number 236, before entering inside.
The room was simple, with a minimum of comfort, a bed, wardrobe, desk, and a separate bathroom.
"Wait here. I'll be back soon," said Kieran before entering the bathroom.
Recovering his uniform from his aurora collar, he began to put it on before looking at himself in the mirror.
A bright black blazer, accented by a red vest, all impeccably associated with a white shirt. A belt adorned his waist, completing the set with black pants and shoes.
"Well, now, how am I supposed to put this on?" he says, looking at the black tie in his hands.
After several unsuccessful attempts, he looked for a tutorial on the aurora net but ended up giving up twenty minutes later by storing the tie in his aurora collar.