"Good luck to all of you." Cairo lightly smiled at Alex, Lavinia, and Charles.
"The three of you should pass, okay?" Efa smirked as she hugged Alex, Lavinia, and Charles at once. "If not, this big sister will P.U.N.I.S.H you individually."
"After all we’ve been through, I’m sure the three of you will be fine," Elaine stated. "But do not be overconfident. Especially you, Alex. You’re injured right now, so don’t do anything reckless, alright?"
"I won’t do anything reckless," Alex promised.
Roselia leaned closer to Lavinia, who was beside her, and whispered something in the young lady’s ears.
"Alex is injured right now," Roselia muttered. "This is the perfect time for you to score some brownie points, My Lady."
"... Roselia, what are you talking about?" Lavinia was as composed as ever.
"I’m sure you understand what I’m talking about, My Lady," the handmaiden replied. "As you can see, Alex has this odd ability to attract people to him. If you don’t use this opportunity to improve your relationship with him, you might have a hard time once he becomes popular in the academy."
The maid then lightly tapped Lavinia’s shoulder and gave her a few more words of encouragement.
Checking the time on the clock on the wall, Cairo decided that they should now head to the academy so the three trial takers wouldn’t be late for their second trial.
They walked for fifteen minutes before reaching the path that led to Frieden Academy.
And just as Alex had expected, it was filled with many trial takers. The sight of the crowd made him scratch his head.
’There must be at least a thousand trial takers here,’ Alex thought. ’I wonder what kind of trial we’ll be taking today.’
As the group walked towards the gate, the Guards stationed there blocked their path.
"Only trial takers are allowed beyond this point," the one of the Guards said. "Anyone else, please, just wait for the results of the trial."
Cairo, Efa, and Elaine complied without complaints.
"This is as far as we go." Cairo patted Alex’s shoulder. "If you fail, get ready to suffer hellish training."
"I won’t fail, Master," Alex replied firmly.
The young man then shot a brief glance at Efa and Elaine, who were giving a pep talk to Lavinia and Charles.
If he failed the second trial, he wouldn’t have to worry about Cairo’s hellish training. After all, what awaited him would be the system’s death by snusnu.
In any case, he had no intention of failing, so he promised his master that he would pass the test without fail.
After passing through the gates, the Guards led the trial takers to the grand plaza of Frieden Academy, where a stage had been built just for this event.
A few minutes later, an old man with white hair and a white beard climbed up the stage with a faint smile on his face.
His blue eyes scanned the aspiring scholarship students of the academy, as if checking if there were any promising individuals who had come this year.
Alex immediately recognized the old man. Thanks to the game, of course. The other party was none other than the Headmaster of Frieden Academy, Rowan Valdemont, and one of the Thirteen Paragons of the World of Arcana.
The Paragons were the strongest beings in this world. Their presence commanded awe, fear, and admiration from those who had the honor of seeing them in the flesh.
"I welcome you all to Frieden Academy," Rowan said. "I’m sure many of you have traveled far just to be here, but only a select few will remain to study within the academy’s walls.
"However, know this. Even if you fail, it is not the end, for you can always try again next year. There is no age limit to learning. So, don’t give up hope, and always strive for excellence."
The Headmaster’s speech was met with silence, but all the trial takers looked at him with determination.
Rowan also understood that everyone must be feeling anxious about the upcoming trial, so he smiled and explained the rules of the second trial of Frieden Academy.
"This year, the staff of the academy have decided to conduct the second trial on a deserted island," Rowan explained. "The format will be a battle royale, and all of you will be sent there to eliminate each other. The last twenty survivors will be accepted as the scholarship students of the academy."
As soon as the format of the second test was announced, the trial takers couldn’t help but look at each other.
Before those words, everyone had seen each other as mere strangers.
But now, they saw each other as potential enemies.
The atmosphere in the venue suddenly turned tense, as if a war was about to erupt at any moment.
However, the Headmaster’s voice reached everyone’s ears, forcing them to once again focus their attention on him.
"Don’t worry. No one can die from this examination. Once you deal a killing blow to someone, they will immediately be teleported out of the domain. With this, everyone can fight to the fullest without worries."
The worry in the hearts of the trial takers decreased drastically after they heard that none of them would be killed in the process.
"Aside from your fellow trial takers, you should also be wary of the island’s environment," Rowan added. "There are Rank 1 up to Rank 3 Monsters that roam the land and sky. There are also four Rank 4 Boss Monsters, each one located on the North, South, East, and West of the island.
"If these Boss Monsters are defeated, they will drop a sigil. The one who touched the sigil will automatically be teleported out of the island, and become a scholarship student.
"We will only accept twenty scholars this year. However, those who could get the sigil will not be counted among those twenty scholars. This means we can have up to twenty-four eligible individuals this year. So, do not be afraid to challenge yourselves.
"However, let me say this to avoid any misunderstandings in the future. Those four Boss Monsters are very powerful. Even forming a team might not be enough to take it down, so challenge them at your own risk."
Rowen gazed at the trial takers before continuing his explanation.
"This trial will last for three days. Also, a mist will appear at the outer edges of the island and slowly expand every hour. This will decrease the space where all of you can fight and hide.
"If more than twenty candidates still remain in the last two hours of the trial, a swarm of monsters will appear. They will then proceed to eliminate as many candidates as possible until only twenty are left.
"However, on the extremely rare occasion that there are more than twenty survivors after the duration of the second trial ends, all of these survivors will become scholars of the academy."
After hearing that entirety of Rowan’s explanation, the trial takers felt more optimistic, believing that they only needed to survive until the time ran out to pass the trial.
But the Professors of Frieden Academy only regarded the hopeful candidates with barely-disguised pity.
The monster swarm was the last resort of the second trial to weed out the excess trial takers.
What did this mean? This meant that their chances of surviving it were actually very low.
"I’ll give you all a minute to compose yourselves before I send you all inside my domain," Rowan declared. "Prepare your heart, body, and mind, for this might just be the hardest trial that you will take in your teenage years."
Alex glanced at Lavinia and Charles, and the two nodded back at him.
"Let’s try to regroup as fast as possible," Alex said. "Dim Dim and I will find the two of you no matter what."
"Ahem!" Dim Dim raised its body, as if telling everyone they could count on it to find them.
"You don’t have to hurry to find us," Lavinia replied. "Just survive, and we will definitely meet without fail."
Charles nodded. "I’ll see you all inside the domain."
A minute later, Rowan raised his hand, which was holding a small crystal ball.
Suddenly, the participants turned into beams of light and flew toward the crystal ball until none of them was left.