God From The Abyss

Chapter 51: Chapter 051: Welcome to the Silver Arcane!

Sounds of gasps and choking slowly replaced the previous excited chatter that danced across the hall. Behind Mikael, the council stared in surprise but made no move to intervene.

If the prospects could not stand the aura of one of their mates, then they had no business here. Even though the aura felt a bit excessive.

Mikael scanned the hall with his gold eyes. The once-proud scions of noble houses and heirs of wealth were near frozen — some already kneeling, others trembling, and a few who pulled out weapons in anticipation, only to let them tremble and fall into their laps.

The tiles around and under Mikael were fractured in neat, spiralling patterns as ripples of his released presence continued to push out.

He smiled, scratching the back of his head, with hair falling slightly over his face.

"This was meant to be a joke, but humans surely have gotten weaker in the past few hundred thousand years," he murmured to himself.

The oppressive waves lingered for a few moments longer before Mikael slowly retracted them.

Breaths came back and were caught. Most in the hall were pale-faced and pitiful, with blood and vomit on the floor before a few. At least not all.

Mikael’s smile turned predatory. Near the back, a handful of students sat — unmoved. He had found out what he wanted, and he had confirmed what he wanted to check, at least part of it.

One boy with raven-black hair and blue eyes raised an eyebrow, filled with mild curiosity. Another girl — elegant, blue-haired, her expression fairly amused and with a hint of excitement. The other three did not even glance his way at all.

The subtle strongest among them all, however, didn’t even look up from her book. Her presence was quiet, contained. Something quite uncommon among fifteen-year-olds, as he had come to realize over the weeks he had been here.

Mikael felt a sense of familiarity watching the six children.

"So, you guys won’t stop disturbing me with the reminder of your presence, no matter the realm, huh?" He chuckled as images, or rather fragments of memories, of the other Sovereigns flashed in the back of his mind.

The blue-haired girl waved at him.

It was the girl at the forest back then, after his reconnection to the Cosmic Gate.

He waved back and headed to her location, not even caring for the numerous glances and glares sent his way.

"Mikael, I trust?" the girl asked when he sat beside her.

"And if it isn’t the little squirrel. Why? How have you been, child?"

Mikael gazed into her eyes. There was potential, a great deal of it. When they had met in Greenwood Forest, he did not care about her rank or core, but he was somewhat happy the potential was still there.

Miriselle laughed a bit.

"I did ask you not to call me a squirrel or pet. I’m Mirisselle Cryo—"

"Big deal," Mikael interjected.

"Always with..."

A puff of smoke atop the platform at the center of the auditorium revealed an old man. He stood tall despite his old age, his posture a very straight one. His grey hair grew past his shoulders into a ponytail, and his beard was thick and neatly groomed.

He was dressed in a crisp dark blue three-piece.

His cane struck the floor softly, once, but its echo immediately shut the auditorium up. Up above, a large projection of the platform popped up.

Mikael looked into his eyes but could not see a single thing. He was the first human he had ever been unable to perceive the strength of, whether he was stronger than Mikael himself or weaker. Mikael had no way to find out!

The old man’s gaze swept slowly across the rows of prospects, his expression not giving away his thoughts.

When he finally spoke, his voice was smooth, measured, and resonant.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen... to the Silver Arcane Academy."

A pause. He let the weight of the words settle, as if to remind them that this place was no privilege.

"For centuries, this institution of learning has stood as the cradle of mankind’s finest minds, mightiest warriors, and brightest mages. Within these halls, bloodlines are tested, dreams are forged, and arrogance is ever refined."

A faint smile curved his lips at the last phrase.

"You are not yet students of this great institution, so I do not intend on boring you with long house rules and whatnots. You all are here to be interviewed, measured. You all are prospects. Guests, if I may use the term."

Another pause followed.

"As you may know or may not know, this society, our society, is a meritocracy — albeit functioning on a rigid caste system. It is structured, and you shall be stratified by your growth rates, your Rank, and your core. Basically, your growth rate and the achievement of potential. The higher you soar, the brighter your future.

"And here, we do not mince words. If you are weak, you have no business here; only the strong are worthy of being here. At least those who are strong enough to grow.

"Then again, strength without morals alone makes one a mere brute."

"The interview shall last three days."

Murmurs erupted instantly.

His gaze fell on Mikael, into his depths. And in that little moment, a tacit understanding was reached by the two. One was strong, too strong. The other had the potential to be strong.

The old man laughed before tapping his cane once, restoring quiet.

"Fret not, all the necessities have been prepared beforehand. The interviews, like I said, will last three days. Before I go on, could the Student Council available come up to the stage?"

The five students from earlier walked out.

Only when they had climbed up the stage did the old man continue.

"First off, we shall recheck your ranks. Anyone below the Master Rank shall be disqualified immediately. Though I believe everyone here to be Master Ranks, because I hate lies. After the core testing — sorry, retesting — is done, there will be tests. Written tests. And the next test shall be a survival test where you’ll be broken into teams of six, with a time limit. The third test will be communicated much later.

"Of course, all I gave were general overviews of each part of the interview. The professors in charge of each part shall give you the specific details. Questions?"

Miriselle raised her hand, alongside a few others.

"Yes, the young lady from the Cryovia Family. Go on."

"Based on your general overview, I believe these tests can be done in a day. Two days at most. What then would we be doing during the test-free times, for I am sure there will be a lot of that?"

"An excellent question. Surely you’ll be needing your rest, child. These tests will be a tad bit more difficult than those of years past, or so I am told. Needless to say, they might break minds and bodies, and test spirits.

"And probably some time to grieve for the lost ones."

"Eh?"

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