CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44 - NEW YORK CITY

Standing inside his training room the next day, Logan focused his mana inside his eyes.

His eyes slowly changed as a red tint spread through his irises. When he opened them, Logan saw a blue human-like outline in the distance.

’There you are,’ Logan thought, throwing a metal ball through the mist in front of him.

"Target hit," a mechanical voice said.

"Nice," Logan said, satisfied.

He’d been training this basic mana detection technique the minute he’d left the dungeon in preparation for the future. And now finally, he’d been able to fully use it.

"Now give me one with wind energy," Logan told the hologram beside him.

"Loading target with wind-elemental mana. Please stand by."

"Calibration complete. New target deployed."

Activating the technique once again, Logan saw a light-green colored outline through the mist and threw a metal ball towards it.

"Target hit," the mechanical voice from the hologram said once again.

’I’ve really got the hang of it now,’ Logan thought, smiling as he placed the metal balls back inside their crate.

"That’s enough for today," he said, walking out of the room.

Walking into his living room, Logan sat down on his couch.

’The board members have been really quiet lately,’ Logan thought, flipping through a report Edric wrote. ’Outside of the incident this morning.’

One of the board members had come forward, admitting to embezzling what Logan considered a relatively small sum.

’I never expected that to happen,’ Logan thought, remembering the message he’d gotten. ’It does seem like the measures I took against Harold are paying off.’

Franklin Smith, director of Mana Resources and overseer of core refining, processing, storage, and integration, disclosed both the exact amount embezzled, 60 million, and the timeframe during which it took place in his message.

’This guy basically started embezzling half a year ago,’ Logan thought, smiling. ’I’ll let the investigation team verify his claims before deciding what to do.’

If he was telling the truth, Logan didn’t want to fire him. His track record was excellent, and he’d significantly improved the company’s efficiency in the past.

After reading through some more reports, Logan got up and decided to cultivate his core for the rest of the day.

The next day, Logan woke up early in the morning. After getting dressed, Logan walked to the door and found Silas and Edric standing there.

"What’s going on?" Logan asked, opening his door. "Don’t I still have a few hours before the assessment?"

’’We’re heading there early to speak with representatives from other major companies whose children will also attend the private assessment,’’ Edric said, smiling.

"Wasn’t this assessment supposed to be private?" Logan asked, confused.

"It is," Edric responded. "The university holds each assessment private in one location."

"Naturally, they don’t have the manpower to send S-rank hunters across the world to every family requesting a private assessment," Silas continued. "So instead, they designate six central assessment points, each guarded by dozens of S-rank hunters."

"It’s rare for that many important people to gather in one place, so it’s perfect to make some connections," Edric said, raising a finger. "It’ll also show you who you’ll be going to school with, allowing you to make some friends early on."

Logan gave a nod, lost in thought.

’This kind of gathering is indeed perfect for networking, and probably a great way for the school to gain some funding,’ he mused. ’Some families might show up even knowing their kids won’t make the cut, just to be seen.’

’With so many people around, it’s bound to be interesting,’ he thought, smiling. ’I’ve never actually met any of our suppliers or competitors, so I’ll take my time to get a good look.’

"Alright, let’s go then," Logan said, smiling.

Silas walked Logan up to the centerpiece shuttle, while Edric grabbed Logan’s gear before following after them.

Inside his room on the shuttle, Logan stared out the window at the passing scenery below.

After flying for two hours, they arrived at the chosen place for this year’s private assessments: New York City.

Looking underneath his shuttle, Logan saw countless other massive flying shuttles parked on landing spaces.

’How large is this assessment even?’ Logan thought, shocked.

Walking to the lounge area, Logan found Silas and Edric playing cards with each other.

"Really?" Logan asked, sitting down.

"What? We are allowed to have some fun too, aren’t we?" Silas asked, grinning as he glanced at Edric.

Logan shrugged before continuing. "Say, how large is this assessment even?" he asked, glancing between the two of them.

"There’s probably around 100 to 150 kids your age," Edric said, smiling as he watched Silas’s expression falter.

"That many?" Logan looked surprised.

"This is just one of six assessment points worldwide," Edric continued. "Expect around 1,200 people to actually enroll purely from rich families, and around 800 from the common exam grounds."

Logan nodded when he heard a beep on his watch, telling him the shuttle had landed.

"Alright, time to go out," Silas said, flicking away his cards.

"Sore loser," Edric mumbled before also standing up.

"We are going to put on some formal clothes," he continued, turning to Logan. "It might be wise if you do the same."

Glancing at his normal clothes, Logan quickly nodded. "That might be more appropriate," he mumbled, immediately turning around.

"We’ll be waiting for you here," Edric said, smiling softly before also turning to walk towards his own room.

Logan quickly got to his room and changed into a formal suit.

Returning back to the lounge area, both Silas and Edric waited for him, both wearing very formal suits.

"Are you ready, kid?" Silas asked, grinning.

"Yes," Logan nodded, stepping on the hatch with them.

Lowering the hatch, they were welcomed by an S-rank hunter from the university.

"Welcome, Sir Mercer, Sir Verrick, and Sir Vale," the S-rank hunter said, bowing slightly out of politeness. "My name is Renard Sief, and I’ll guide you to the main venue for this year’s pre-selection."

"Thank you," Logan said, smiling.

While they walked past all the flying shuttles, Logan compared them to the centerpiece his family had created.

’There really are all kinds of shuttles,’ Logan thought, enjoying the sight. ’Ours is probably one of the largest though.’

Finally, a massive stadium wearing the large Global Arcane University’s gold and blue banners revealed itself.