The whole area went dead silent as every single student in the coliseum watched the unfolding battle with bated breaths.

Everyone was so focused on the battle that they had all forgotten that there were even other participants taking the test.

Their eyes were fixed on just a single screen.

Seeing Kael's newly transformed figure through the screens, everyone in the coliseum felt their hearts skip a beat, their grips on their seats tightening as everyone tried their possible best not to miss a single thing.

Never in many of their wildest dreams would they believe that they would be able to see such an intense fight while watching the first year's test.

Everyone watching the test was either 2nd or 3rd years and had all gone through many battles, but even then, the powers Atticus and Kael were displaying were completely beyond the first years!

Where had these two monsters come from? Was life even fair?

Many still couldn't believe what they were watching, which was why they were all trying hard not to miss a thing.

Back in the forest, Atticus gazed at Kael's transformed figure, whose red eyes were completely locked onto him. A palpable red aura enveloped his form.

'What a powerful bloodline.'

Honestly, if anyone had told Atticus that Kael's bloodline would have been so powerful, he would have dismissed it as a lie.

If Atticus were to be completely truthful, utilizing his current powers fully, he would be able to easily defeat Kael within less than a second. But if Atticus had been in the same rank with Kael, while the result wouldn't change, Atticus would have struggled a bit before he could defeat him.

This was, of course, without using the life weapon's arts. Utilizing that, the fight wouldn't even last a second in either of those scenarios.

Atticus sighed. He was wasting too much time fighting Kael. 'I think it's about time I end it,'

Atticus's thoughts were followed by him placing his right hand on the katana strapped to his left waist.

Atticus was finally going to use his katana!

Regardless of all the training Atticus had done with his elements, regardless of all the training he had done with his arts and perception, Atticus had never for once forgotten the life weapon's arts.

After he advanced to the expert rank, Atticus had expected his consciousness to be called back into the life weapon's realm so he could learn the next art, but no matter how long he waited, no such thing happened.

This issue had first baffled him, making him think about what Cedric had done back then when he had gotten a sudden increase in power.

He had, of course, tried to question the Katana for answers, but he had come out with nothing.

After a while, Atticus decided to let the matter go. What will happen will happen.

During the years, he had constantly trained the two arts, increasing his proficiency in them to staggering levels. What he loved most about the life weapons art was the fact that the art would constantly grow as he grew. Meaning, regardless of how powerful Atticus became in the future, the life weapon arts would always be useful.

The air seemed to change around Atticus as his hair fluttered wildly. Kael's aura, which was initially overwhelming the whole area and his form, was immediately dispelled as though it were an insignificant breeze.

Kael immediately noticed the change in the air around Atticus. He raised his broad sword in front of him as the palpable red aura enveloping his form surged and increased in intensity.

The eight gleaming swords that were moving around him at perpetual motion all came to an abrupt halt in the air, the swords all changing directions pointing their sharp ends towards Atticus's form.

Both Atticus and Kael's auras seemed to clash, the wind in the area intensifying as the trees and leaves whipped about. The tension in the air was palpably intense.

And just as both their figures were about to erupt in power, suddenly an AI voice resounded across the entirety of the forest, reaching the ears of every single youth currently taking the test.

[The test is over. You would all be teleported immediately.]

And before every single youth could react, a golden aura enveloped each and every one of them, and instantaneously every youth disappeared from the forest.

Back in the circular hall, the chair Aric was sitting on imploded as his aura briefly surged.

He quickly composed himself, subtly clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction. 'So close,' he thought.

The rest of the paragons gazed at Aric with narrowed eyes. Just why are monsters appearing everywhere?

The prowess Kael had just shown was beyond what many of them thought he could display.

Even though they had all initially accepted that he was the best talent in the younger generation, this was way beyond what he should have been able to achieve even at the Advanced+ rank.

They, as paragons, were well aware of Aric's bloodline even though it wasn't known by the masses.

The berserker bloodline.

It was a very powerful bloodline that enhances the power of its wielder to an extraordinary degree. But even with this, just how could a 15-year-old get so powerful!

The amount of events each of them witnessed today was so overwhelming that they had all forgotten they came here to watch their grandchildren. Every single screen in the hall had been showing Atticus and Kael's fight with none of them even watching the rest of the participants.

Two monsters in the first year, just how would this turn out?

"Blake," Aric suddenly called, snapping them out of their thoughts.

And immediately, a man materialized in the middle of the hall, swiftly getting down on one knee, with his head completely bowed as he greeted,

"I greet the esteemed Paragons."

"Handle the rest," Aric immediately commanded.

"By your word," Blake swiftly responded, and with a deep bow to the remaining paragons, he quickly left the hall.

And just as swiftly, without even as much as a word, each of the Paragons disappeared from the hall.

Atticus experienced the usual surreal feeling and darkness. And after a few seconds, Atticus opened his eyes to the sound of millions of youths cheering loudly.

WOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

The whole coliseum erupted into fervent cheers as the millions of youths who had participated in the test all materialized in the middle of the coliseum.

The intensity of the cheers was so alarming that the ground was subtly quaking.

ATTICUS!! ATTICUS!! ATTICUS!!

KAEL!! KAEL!! KAEL!!

And amongst the fervent cheers of the audience, two names were constantly resounding across the coliseum. The intensity of the cheers increased even more as the large screens displayed the figures of Atticus and Kael, with the latter having changed back to normal.

WOOOAHHH!!!!!

The Ravenstein youths all screamed at the top of their lungs as they saw Atticus's figure appear on the screen. Their cheers masked by the screams of the rest of the crowd.

Atticus turned his gaze around the coliseum, calmly looking at the cheering crowd. He was currently in the middle of millions of the other youths who participated in the test.

'So we were being watched by the whole academy, huh.'

Atticus had suspected that they were being watched, but he would never have imagined that it would be by the whole academy. Then Atticus suddenly remembered something, 'Wait! My rank!' He thought frantically.

Just as he was about to check the rankings on his device, a palpable aura suddenly descended on the whole coliseum, and as if turning off a switch, the whole area turned silent.

Atticus turned his gaze upwards and saw a man floating up in the skies.

He had a crown of gray hair and wore a white suit, radiating a grandmaster rank aura.

"Welcome to the academy, youths!" His voice boomed around the coliseum, reaching the ears of everyone present.

"My name is Harrison Blake, and I am the Vice Principal of this academy,"

"Congratulations, you have all completed the test, and many of you have proven yourselves to be warriors in the making,"

"But you all shouldn't relax, for this is just the beginning of your arduous path in the academy,"

"I shall start by announcing the top 1000 participants." Harrison's words were followed by a large screen appearing on top of the one displaying Atticus and Kael, displaying the top 1000 rankings.

1. Zoey Starhaven 180,400 pts

2. Atticus Ravenstein 160,100 pts

3. Kael Stormrider 145,050 pts

4. Aislan Frostvale 120,500 pts

5. Seraphin Stellaris 115,000 pts

6. Aurora Ravenstein 114,900 pts

7. Eldric Emberforge 111,200 pts

8. Harmonic Resonara 110,600 pts

9. Lila Alverian 108,300 pts...

Looking at the rankings, Atticus's gaze immediately landed on his name at the second position.

'Shit,' he thought in annoyance.

Because he had wasted and lost track of time when he was fighting Kael, Atticus had missed the chance to get the first position. He couldn't help but shiver when he thought of how Magnus would react.

Seeing the rankings, the audience in the coliseum all erupted into murmurs. Many of them were surprised at the person who took the first rank.

They had all been so engrossed in the battle between Atticus and Kael that they hadn't even checked the other youths who were participating.

Harrison released his aura once more, silencing the crowd.

He continued, "Now, these next instructions are for the youths who ranked below the 1000 displayed on the screen. If you click on your artifacts and navigate to the 'choose a leader' section, a new page would open up for you, asking you to, like the name implies, choose a leader."

"You must select a leader from the 1000 youths presented. Think wisely, as the chosen leader will guide you throughout your time at the academy. Alternatively, any of the 1000 can opt out of leadership, allowing them to pick a leader for themselves. The 1001st rank will automatically fill the 1000th position if someone chooses not to lead."

"I would also advise you all not to waste too much time; each leader can only accept at most 1200 youths under their leadership."

"You have 30 minutes."