Julie was grinning from bliss as she watched the performance of Paladin Blue.
She watched the highlight screen with a keen gaze as her eyes followed along his figure. For a single moment, she didn't look away from him as every decision, movement, body language, gesture and combat of his was captured by her full attention.
She was, in a sense, beyond relieved that her decision to recruit him, an outer denizen, was a correct one as her family was very conservative and cold towards those from that disastrous area. She couldn't do anything about it as there were indeed many incidents her family had to tackle because of abominations that would slip into the academy over the years.
Her grandfather was the Baron given responsibility by the Grand Duke himself to oversee the matters pertaining to the Outer Area. To be more precise, it was the House Auburn from generation to generation who carried this duty. Her grandfather was just the current Baron who inherited this noble title after the predecessor passed away from reaching the end of their lifespan.
Though by leveling up one could keep extending their own life but there obviously was bottlenecks which would appear to halt the player's advancements. It wasn't anything arranged by someone to torment the player society or anything. The matter of potential, comprehension and the four elements play a big role in how far one could keep advancing in their path as a player.
She had high expectations from Paladin Blue in that regard. From what she had seen of him and the results he had shown thus far, as long as he now had a good backing which would let him to grow safely during the initial journey on his path then no doubt he would be an influential figure in the future.
This wasn't an exaggeration but her certainty after much pondering and calculation.
Back to the present, she was a bit worried that the chaotic battlefield might end up giving him some trouble as all the surviving parties had joined in on their fight but surprisingly it seemed that he still had many cards up his sleeve.
She already saw the two new skills he had unlocked during that training period but the way he was now using it with absolute efficiency and terrifying speed very much felt like a treat for her eyes.
“That's how you should be! My investments are now on full display, hahaha…”
She laughed out loud while ignoring others' strange gaze as she was very much enjoying his performance in this monthly evaluation.
She obviously liked his dashing figure battling it out in such a way that it looked like an art. This was no euphemism as in her eyes, compared to other students, his display of strength indeed appeared as such.
“With this splendid performance, I am sure grandpa wouldn't disagree if I talk about his recruitment now!”
She decided the next course of action.
That was to get her conservative grandfather to agree to her decision.
°°°°
Blue used the Plagued Beacon skill, the perception type, to mark all the opponent players within his expanded sensing range. The entire battlefield became covered under his skill's effect and a downward arrow mark appeared over the head of the opponents which became visible for only his pawns to see.
There were three colors of arrows. A yellow one, red one and a purple one. He had already informed his pawns about the indications of each color. The yellow arrow on the player means that they were a low priority target and their strength didn't exceed his expectations in comparison to what he knew of his own party members.
The red arrow was a priority target and the party was to engage or strategize how to eliminate these red targets as fast as possible. Their strength was either similar or close to his own party members.
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The purple arrows were to be absolutely avoided by the party. Only the party leader, the strongest among them, would engage those purple arrows. Their strength had exceeded the party members and if they end up being attacked by them then retreating towards him was their priority and they were to absolutely not engage in offense but be defensive while focusing on the movement skill.
These were the strategies drafted by him for the skill he had unlocked. How could he know if the opponent was stronger than his pawns or not?
It was the skill effect. This was obviously a multifaceted skill as he could even figure out the level of those who came under this skill's effect. Not literally the exact number of levels they were at or their three attainments but it was a vague feeling gained from the perception whether they were defeatable or not.
More effects in this skill were still available for him but presently he only revealed this much to the outsiders and truthfully, he only had unlocked it a few days ago so even if he had more tricks left in it, his true skill proficiency wasn't that high yet to make a frightening difference.
Now with the marker on the opponents and no communication having to be done in mid-battle, the party got to work more efficiently and the opponents were getting thinned out swiftly.
He also stepped up the intensity as he used Contagious Spirit skill, the enhancement type, on the Wailing Sanctum used on himself. The zone, which was already large thanks to his shown skill proficiency, tripled in size and his stamina started depleting a little faster. This wasn't a problem for him but of course he had to show some grimace to keep up the act.
He thus moved even faster to eliminate the sacrifices as he needed to show that thanks to the enhancement skill he was on a time crunch to conclude the battle before he got totally depleted of “aura” from the zero stamina.
His enlarged Wailing Sanctum covered multiple opponents marked under purple arrows and the skill effect of sound attack had also become more intense thus his efficiency and speed to chop them up became more artistry.
Along with his space element comprehension and weapon mastery of bident he became a nightmare for those newbie players as his punches broke their teeth, his kicks fractured their bones, the shoulder tackles made their lungs devoid of air and his bident tore their flesh.
The new skill Contagious Spirit's true effects were far more praiseworthy than what the rudimentary enhancement nonsense he just showed but he won't reveal for obvious reasons.
This skill was actually able to link up with a few other skills to jack up the enhancement. Such an effect at only the Third Skill Unlocking stage, if known, would cause a commotion throughout the academy.
Just the tip of the iceberg was enough to suffocate his “peers” as his attainments and levels publicly known were already high so any further display would be detrimental for his future plans.
The large zone moved along him as he traversed the battlefield on the hunt of those purple arrows. His pawns got their priorities straight and worked on red arrows while the yellow arrows got some respite. Not for long though, as they soon felt the mounting pressure from their party members being downed. It was as if they were thrown in a meat grinder.
About three minutes later, only the Azure Sun party stood still with zero casualty on the snowy tundra. A brilliant performance where he showed off perfectly and stood high above his “peers” to make them suffocate from the sheer investments done on him.
He looked at his pawns and gave them a radiant smile which instantly cheered up their exhausted faces. The teleportation lights flickered and they were then teleported out after they fixed up themselves in a changing room.
““OHHHH!!””
““AZURE SUN!! YOU'RE THE BEST!!””
““PALADIN BLUE!!! AH! HE LOOKED AT ME!!!””
““LUNA!! I LOVE YOU!! YOU'RE MY FAVORITE PLAYER!!!”
““GUNSLINGER MARCUS! EAT MORE!!””
““SILENCE!! HE ALREADY ATE THERE!””
““HAHAHA!!””
Loud cheer from the students and his fans broke out the moment they exited. The other pawns of his were stunned on the spot as they felt like they just became a celebrity out of nowhere.
It wasn't actually wrong as the confetti in the air and loud cheers from hundreds of thousands of students along with the light show centered around them did give off a similar feeling.
Some of them couldn't help but freeze up from stage fright from being shoved at this situation after a bloody battle while some more extroverted, like Karla and Luna, had a proud and satisfied smile on their faces. Those two gracefully stood on his left and right as if it was their natural spot to take in that moment of celebration.
Blue also showed an appreciative smile on his handsome face, which catered to human's aesthetics, making the fans and those admirers erupt in louder cheers.
Thus the second monthly evaluation ends.