CHAPTER 47: CHAPTER 47 - SECOND ASSESMENT BEGINS

After getting back to the hall, Logan searched for Grant and Layla to pass the time until the second phase.

They sat down on some fancy chairs with a floating table in front of them. Two others, named Thomas and Robert, soon joined them.

’At least they are somewhat normal,’ Logan thought, smiling as he talked with them. He felt like they were just like Grant and Layla, down to earth and not constantly comparing achievements.

’Robert and Thomas come from average families, at least compared to everyone else here,’ Logan thought. ’Robert’s father isn’t even worth a billion, but he spent nearly everything to send him here, even selling the majority of his business shares.’

Logan had a lot of respect for someone like that, the number of people who’d do the same can be counted on one hand.

’Luckily for Robert, he also has an S-rank shadow affinity,’ he thought, nodding along while the others talked. ’Thomas, on the other hand, has a father with multiple billions and he himself has an A-rank wind affinity.’

As time passed, the mechanical voice announced the final round of testing, calling upon numbers 171 to 176 to enter the examination rooms.

"All testing complete," the mechanical voice announced after a minute or so. "Moving on to phase two in 15 minutes."

Logan glanced around the table. Everyone looked excited, except Layla.

"Now the real fun starts," Grant said, clenching his fist with a grin.

"Agreed," Thomas nodded, smiling softly.

"Do the two of you know what this year’s assessment is?" Logan asked, confused.

"No idea," Grant said, still grinning.

Layla facepalmed, clearly embarrassed.

Logan looked at the others, who all shook their heads.

"It isn’t one hundred percent sure until the very last moment," Thomas said, shaking his head. "Rumors say it’ll be a dungeon contest, but who knows, it could easily be one-on-one combat as well."

"I guess we’ll see then," Logan said, nodding.

After 15 minutes passed, everyone heard a click as the mechanical voice rang out again.

"All examinees, line up in front of the S-rank hunter who performed the affinity assessment for you and follow them to the next examination area," the voice said, making everyone fall silent.

The S-rank hunters emerged from the rooms and took their places, waiting as the examinees lined up.

’The blond woman,’ Logan thought, lining up in front of her.

After everyone lined up, the university personnel said nothing. They simply started walking.

The groups walked deeper into the stadium, eventually all splitting up from each other.

’I wonder where we’re going,’ Logan thought, glancing at the highly technological surroundings he found himself in.

They finally came to a stop in front of a massive metal wall, with a blue-lit panel embedded in its surface.

"Wait here," the blonde female hunter said as she started typing on the blue panel.

Seconds later, a giant square in the wall slid open, revealing a pristine white room inside. At the same time, the floor beneath them creaked as weapon racks slowly rose from below.

"This is the assessment," the female hunter said, gesturing to the room. "You’ll go in here one by one and fight with an intelligent testing robot, with artificial surroundings."

"Your score depends on how much damage you inflict and how long you can last," she continued, glancing at each of them. "The higher the points, the better your ranking."

Another projector projected a blue screen on the wall to the left of the female hunter. "If your points do not exceed 1000, you’ll fail immediately. The top three scorers will each receive a special reward upon entering the school."

Hearing this, Logan raised an eyebrow.

’What about people with a healing affinity?’ Logan wondered, but since it didn’t have anything to do with him, he didn’t bother asking.

’If there was someone with a healing affinity in this group, I would’ve heard that question by now.’

After explaining the assessment, the female hunter pointed at the first student, a slim but handsome blond guy.

"Grab your weapon and go in," she said, gesturing for him to keep moving with a cold expression.

The boy grabbed a sword without hesitation and stepped into the room. A moment later, the door slid shut behind him.

’This will be interesting,’ Logan thought, paying close attention to the ranking screen.

Meanwhile, the female hunter from the university kept a close eye on Logan.

’I never thought I’d get to test an SSS-rank hunter,’ she thought, interested. ’Everything about him contrasts though.’

’I’ve read about the new Mercer heir cleaning up his company and being a great leader so far,’

she thought. ’But his core is only in the beginning stages of the bronze rank.’

’Is he so busy with his company that he doesn’t cultivate properly?’ she wondered, before hearing a beep beside her.

’The first one is done,’ she thought, glancing at the panel. ’Only 3 minutes and 10 seconds. Seems like the increase in difficulty took him off-guard.’

Logan glanced inside the room as the door shifted open. The blond boy walked through appearing exhausted but not injured.

"Gray Price," the female hunter said. "Score 1005 points, barely qualified."

"What?" the boy asked aloud, not understanding why his score was so low.

Before he could argue, the female hunter called on the next name.

At the same time, the scoreboard updated, showing two names, both barely having passed.

’Seems like it isn’t that easy,’ Logan thought, glancing at the scoreboard after 20 minutes.

Five students had gone in after the blond boy. Only one of them achieved a score above 1200 while the rest barely passed.

’So far no one’s disqualified yet though,’ Logan thought, nodding. ’They probably filtered most of the students at the affinity assessment.’

Of all the results, Robert and Grant’s scores were exactly what he had anticipated.

’Both of them scored well over 1600 points,’ Logan thought, smiling. ’Grant made it to seventh place, and Robert landed in thirteenth.’

The assessment door shifted open once again, snapping Logan out of his thoughts.

"Logan Mercer, grab your weapon and please go in," the female hunter who’d evaluated him said, still polite but without causing others to pay attention to him.