Soulless Soul

Chapter 24: Combat Assessment

The next morning, the Commons gathered inside one of the academy’s largest underground training halls.

Unlike Doctor Ronald’s dusty, book-lined classroom, this massive facility was built entirely for brutal combat evaluation and raw physical testing. High-grade, reinforced alloy walls surrounded the perimeter of the room, designed to absorb shockwaves and stray magical impacts. Multiple raised practice arenas, complex obstacle courses, and glowing diagnostic testing stations filled the spacious interior, illuminated by a harsh grid of overhead floodlights that left no room for error.

Instructor Rex, a heavily scarred Master-rank veteran with a military bearing, stood near the dead center of the hall alongside several lower-ranking assistant instructors. "Today’s assessment is simple," Rex announced, his booming voice easily cutting through the ambient chatter of the nervous teenagers. "We’ll be evaluating your overall physical abilities, your raw combat instincts, and your weapon proficiency. Once the tests are complete, you’ll be divided into different training groups based on your current calculated level—Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. Some of you will receive personal instruction from the faculty, while others will train in squads to prepare for team-based operations."

A quiet, anxious murmur spread rapidly through the crowd of freshman Commons.

Sky stood near the back, folding his arms across his chest as he kept his posture relaxed. Sounds troublesome, he thought, his street-bred pragmatism instantly evaluating the situation. Showing off too much draws attention, but scoring too low might get me thrown out with the garbage. I need to find the perfect middle ground. The first official assessment wasn’t exactly what he had initially expected.

Instead of simply punching a standardized digital impact machine or lifting a heavy block of iron, every Common was instructed to sprint through a specialized, hyper-reactive combat course. The track was a nightmare of engineering: it consisted of hidden pressure plates that shifted the terrain, rapidly moving barriers, swinging metallic arms designed to mimic sweeping monster claws, high climbing walls with shifting handholds, heavily weighted sleds that required immediate explosive power to move, and a final acceleration lane lined with high-speed motion sensors.

"This diagnostic path measures speed, reaction time, balance, agility, endurance, and explosive leg strength simultaneously," one of the assistant instructors explained, checking a digital clipboard.

"As expected of the military district..." Sky muttered under his breath, watching the mechanisms reset with mechanical clicks. It’s much more practical than throwing a single punch. Out in the ruins, if you can’t dodge while carrying a load, you’re dead no matter how hard you can hit. One after another, the Commons were called forward, racing through the grueling obstacle course.

Some relied purely on their raw athleticism, muscle-bound youths from elite backgrounds trying to force their way through by sheer strength. Others used clever footwork, slipping through the tighter gaps with practiced agility. Several of the lower-ranked candidates stumbled heavily after being struck squarely by the swinging metallic obstacles, tumbling off the track and drawing muted laughter from the watching spectators in the crowd.

After each completed run, a massive holographic display floating above the finish line projected the participant’s overall calculated physical rating.

Sky watched the numbers carefully, analyzing the baseline. Most of the standard scores ranged strictly between 10 and 14. Those rare individuals who possessed naturally enhanced souls or had undergone rigorous private training prior to their awakening occasionally reached a score of 15 or 16, earning impressed, respectful murmurs from the surrounding peers.

Given my current physical state before using my attributes, I’d probably land somewhere around eleven... maybe twelve if I push it, Sky calculated silently, keeping his face entirely expressionless.

Then, the crowd suddenly stirred, the whispers instantly dying out.

"Look, it’s Vesper."

The silver-haired girl calmly stepped onto the starting platform, her movements fluid and entirely unbothered by the hundreds of eyes locking onto her. She didn’t stretch her limbs. She didn’t prepare herself mentally with deep breathing. She simply stood at the line, her ash-gray eyes fixed on the empty track ahead, waiting for the signal like a statue carved from ice.

"Begin," the automated system chimed.

She exploded forward.

Sky’s eyes narrowed instantly. Her movements were absolutely flawless, a terrifying display of pure efficiency. Every single step she took was perfectly placed on the stone pathway. She slipped through the rapidly moving barriers without slowing down her forward momentum for a fraction of a second, vaulted over the climbing walls in one fluid, continuous motion, and weaved between the swinging metallic arms as though she’d memorized their internal rhythm long ago.

There was not a single unnecessary movement in her trajectory. There was not a single wasted breath. Within a mere handful of heartbeats, before the crowd could even process her speed, she crossed the final finish line. The massive holographic display flickered wildly as it calculated her data.

[26]

The room immediately erupted into a cacophony of frantic whispers and nods of approval. But back in the crowd, Sky blinked in mild confusion. Only twenty six?

He had honestly expected something significantly higher from her. After all, she was the undisputed number one on the leaderboard, and she possessed a legendary Title from the dungeon array. For her physical rating to match the high-end regular students seemed strange. Unless... she’s deliberately hiding her true strength, Sky mused, his suspicion flaring. Or maybe her Title isn’t based on raw physical power at all, but something far more insidious.

Only one person remained at the top tier of the brackets to take the test.

Arthur.

The son of General Vance calmly walked up to the starting platform, offering a casual, easygoing smile to the instructors as he took his stance. He looked completely relaxed, but the tight coil of his muscles betrayed his hidden readiness.

The signal sounded.

For a split second, Sky’s eyes widened as he almost lost sight of the young man entirely. Arthur shot through the course like a literal bolt of gold lightning, clearing every single obstacle with breathtaking, geometric precision. He didn’t just weave through the dangers; he completely dominated the course, his explosive strength shattering the wind as he moved. Even several of the hardened, veteran instructors raised their eyebrows in genuine surprise at his pacing.

When he finally crossed the finish line, the diagnostic machine paused, processing the absurd amount of data for longer than usual. Finally, the glowing numbers materialized in bright silver light.

[31]

The entire training hall became deathly silent.

Even Sky couldn’t completely hide his surprise, his jaw tightening slightly. A score of thirty-one was entirely off the charts for a newly awakened Common. It was a testament to the terrifying, deep-rooted resources of a major Legacy clan. No wonder everyone in the cafeteria had fully expected Arthur to finish first on the general board. In terms of pure, unadulterated physical capability, he was a monster among sheep.

Instructor Rex smiled with cold satisfaction, tapping his clipboard against his thigh.

"Excellent. As expected of the Vance lineage."

He turned his piercing gaze away from Arthur and looked toward the rest of the gathered Commons, the ambient temperature in the room seeming to drop under his heavy authority.

"Is anyone going to go next ?"

The crowd was quiet even Sky didn’t have the confidence to do so he won’t want to make a fool of himself

"Weaklings and cowards" Instructor Rex muttered out

"Now that we’ve accurately assessed your baseline physical capabilities, we’ll move immediately on to the combat evaluation phase."

The assistant instructors stepped forward, their hands moving over control panels as they began preparing the central sparring arena, the heavy metallic grates sliding open to reveal a circular stage.

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