The logic was simple. Jacob was now a Rank 3 Cell Tempering Realm, a level he had painstakingly reached after four months of intense training, putting him in the upper echelons of the new recruits. His D-rank Blazing Sabre Astra Soul was a weapon of immense power, capable of turning an ordinary person to ask not to mention when he uses it.
Even a level 3 Cell Tempering Realm wouldn’t dare.
Levi, on the other hand, was a known weakling who had barely scraped his way to the peak of Rank 1 before the ceremony. Even if he hadn’t fainted from shock, he was nothing. An ant. The fact that he possessed a useless F-rank Water Soul only made the gap between them more laughable.
’Just wait until the exam,’ Jacob mused, his killing intent surged.
Jacob turned and swaggered back to his place in the line, basking in the envious and fearful glances of his peers. He was a chosen one, a future powerhouse. He had no more time to waste on trash.
Levi, in turn, paid him no further mind. The threat was like a mosquito’s buzz—annoying for a second, then forgotten.
His mind was already racing with possibilities, He had just experienced the power of a 200x multiplier on a passive meditation technique.
What would happen if he applied it to his combat technique!
His eyes fell upon a line in his status panel: [Combat Technique]: Basic Saber Technique [Level 1] <10.50%>.
This was the combat style drilled into every recruit, a set of foundational movements for wielding the standard-issue alloy saber. It was simple, effective, and utterly common.
’If I practice the forms, will the system register it as cultivation?’ his heart beginning to pound with excitement. ’What kind of multiplier will I get? 100x? 1,000x? What if... what if I hit the full 10,000x? Would I master the entire technique in a single swing? Would it evolve into something else entirely?’
The thought was intoxicating. He could already picture it: a simple, basic technique transforming into a god-slaying sword art under the impossible power of his system.
As Levi was lost in his thoughts, the awakening ceremony continued. One by one, students stepped into the tank, and a variety of Astra Souls were revealed. Most were E and D-rank—Golden Gauntlet, Stone Ape, Blazing Tree.
This were really impressive.
Then, a sudden chill swept across the entire stadium.
The temperature plummeted, and goosebumps erupted on the arms of thousands.
All eyes snapped to the stage, where a girl with long, jet-black hair stood as a vortex of crystalline blue energy swirled around her.
The energy condensed above her head, not into a weapon, but into the breathtaking projection of a majestic bird of prey.
It was a hawk forged from pure, shimmering ice.
Its wings, spanning over four meters, were like jagged shards of a glacier, and its eyes burned with a cold, blue light. The creature let out a piercing shriek that echoed not as sound, but as a wave of absolute cold.
"SCREEEEE!"
It spread its crystalline wings, and a visible blast of frost erupted outwards, coating the entire stage in a delicate, sparkling layer of ice.
"A C-rank Astra Soul!" an instructor yelled, his voice laced with genuine awe.
"The Ice FrostHawk! A summon-type with powerful crowd control abilities! Magnificent!"
The crowd erupted into a fresh wave of gasps and murmurs.
The girl who had awakened it, previously anonymous, was now the center of attention, a future star in the making.
Even Jacob’s D-rank Blazing Sabre seemed a little less impressive in comparison.
As minutes turned into hours, five hours after it had begun, the last student finished their awakening, and the grand ceremony finally drew to a close.
The stadium buzzed with conversation, students comparing their new talents and speculating on their futures.
Suddenly, the noise died down. A hush fell over the entire stadium as a figure stood up from the High-Table where all the Instructors are and walked towards the central podium.
It was a woman, and she commanded the attention of every single person present without saying a word.
She was astonishingly beautiful, with a figure that seemed sculpted by the gods of war and passion. Her fiery red hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall of lava, and her eyes, the same piercing crimson, swept over the thousands of students with an air of absolute authority. She wore the uniform of the academy’s senior staff—a tight black miniskirt and top that did little to hide her bountiful chest, wide hips, and powerful, toned thighs. She was a vision of lethal beauty, a predator in a field of lambs.
"It’s the Sub-Dean Scarlettt," a student near Levi whispered in a mix of terror and reverence.
Sub-Dean Scarlett reached the podium and surveyed the silent crowd, her crimson gaze seeming to penetrate every student’s soul.
"The 97th Annual Awakening Ceremony of the Chaotic Star-War Academy is now concluded," she announced, her voice as smooth as velvet yet carrying an edge of steel that resonated throughout the stadium. "This year’s results were... adequate."
She paused, letting the weight of her lukewarm praise settle. "We had one B-rank talent awaken, a pleasant surprise. A handful of C-ranks, including the Ice FrostHawk, show promise. The rest of you fall within the expected parameters."
Her eyes narrowed, the warmth in them vanishing completely. "Now, for those of you at the bottom. Those with E-rank, and especially F-rank talents."
Instinctively, thousands of pairs of eyes shifted, a massive, silent wave of attention that converged on a single point in the crowd: Leviathan Cross.
The weight of their collective pity, scorn, and morbid curiosity was a physical pressure, enough to make a person crumble.
Levi felt the pressure and although his face flushed alright, he didn’t flinch in the slightest.
He didn’t look down. He didn’t even acknowledge the stares. His gaze was locked firmly on the Sub-Dean, hee could feel a terrifying aura of power radiating from her, a dormant volcano of energy that made his Rank 2 strength feel like a flickering candle in a hurricane. This woman was on a completely different level of existence.
Sub-Dean Scarlett continued, her voice turning cold. "I am here to offer you a choice. A mercy. The path of a Cell Tempering Realm is not one of glory and riches; it is a path of blood, sacrifice, and a near-certain early death. Dimensional beasts do not care about your feelings. They will tear you limb from limb, regardless of your dreams."
She leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial, almost chilling tone.
"Those with weaker abilities die first. It is an undeniable, mathematical certainty. They die as fodder, as distractions, as grim statistics in a war that has no end. So, I offer you this, once. Leave and you will be given a generous severance package. You can return to civilian life, get a normal job, marry, have children, and live a long, mundane, and safe life. There is no shame in choosing to live."
Her gaze swept over the crowd, finally landing directly on Levi, the one with the lowest F-rank talent. "This is your only chance to walk away. Does anyone wish to accept my offer?"
A single person hesitantly raised his hand after which tens of people raised their hands which eventually lead to almost a hundred students raising their hands.
The asistant instructors led them out of the assembly and out of the Colossium.
The other students began discussing to each other if they should risk their lives for the sake of fame and power.
However the main protagonist that everyone expected would raise his hands actually didn’t.
They waited for Levi to raise his hand, to accept the mercy he was being given. It was the logical, sensible thing to do.
Seeing no one move, a flicker of something, perhaps respect or maybe disappointment passed through Sub-Dean Scarlett’s face.
"Very well, you’ve made your choice."
"You will be given one day of rest to acclimate to your new abilities. Tomorrow, the official Entrance Examination will commence. Your task is simple: you will each be required to enter the designated training grounds and hunt down one Rank 3 Primitive Monster. Succeed, and you will be welcomed as official students of this academy. Fail..."
She let the word hang in the air, the implication clear.
"Dismissed."
With that, she turned and walked away, her fiery hair the last thing the students saw.
The faces of the students in the stadium changed, and a torrent of noise erupted.
"Rank 3 monster? Wasn’t it always a rank 2 monster?"
"Why did they increase it by so much?!?"
"Aren’t they sending us to our death!?"
The students were horrified. One day of preparation and they have to hunt down a rank 3 Primituve dimensional beast!
One day. A Rank 3 monster!