"I’ve always known you’re a genius! You just needed the right push!" She grinned proudly, showing her white teeth. "Hehe, you just bloomed late. I can’t wait to see what kind of talent you awaken during the Trial! It’s going to be something amazing, I just know it!"
She moved to pat Vogue’s shoulder with her usual strength, and Vogue immediately tried to dodge, knowing how painful her "friendly" pats could be. But she immediately glared at him with mock offense, her eyebrows rising.
"Is this how you treat your best friend? After all we’ve been through!?" Her eyes watered as she glared at him.
Vogue sighed in frustration and reluctantly placed his shoulder for her to hit.
"Pa!"
The ground beneath Vogue’s feet let out a muffled bang sound as the force transmitted from Vogue’s shoulder straight down through his body to the ground beneath his feet, creating a small crack.
She was way too strong for a lady!
"Twenty minutes until the descent of the Olympic Trial. All participants should be inside their designated cages immediately!"
A loud voice rang out throughout the entire school grounds, echoing off the stadium walls.
Both Vogue and Greta’s faces changed slightly, their playful mood shifting to seriousness.
"We need to head back now," Vogue spoke firmly, and Greta nodded her head in agreement, her violet hair swaying.
As they started walking back toward the stadium floor, Greta suddenly grabbed his arm and spoke with unusual seriousness, her voice lower and more intense than usual.
"Vogue, listen to me carefully. Don’t do anything reckless during the Trial, okay? The Omnibus System doesn’t care about our lives, it only measures our performance. Don’t seek high-level achievements or try to be a hero. Just perform within your limits and reserve your strength for survival above all else. Promise me you’ll be careful."
Vogue could see she was genuinely worried about him.
He nodded his head and replied. "I will be careful. You take care of yourself too."
Greta bobbed her head up and down vigorously, making her long violet hair ruffle and bounce slightly. Vogue chuckled at her unexpectedly cute look despite her intimidating size, making Greta puff her cheeks in mock annoyance as she turned around to leave toward her own cage.
Suddenly, she paused mid-step and glanced back at Vogue. Her mouth opened as though she wanted to say something important, something she’d been holding back. But after a moment, she ultimately closed her mouth, simply waved with a small smile, and then jogged away to her cage, her heavy footsteps making the ground tremble slightly.
Vogue raised an eyebrow, wondering what she wanted to say?
He shook his head and walked to his own cage.
All the cages were exactly one meters away from each all from every angle.
As he entered the metal cage, a Stellar Knight walked toward him without a word. The knight immediately locked the cage door, then took the key with him without even glancing back at Vogue.
Vogue didn’t respond to the cold treatment and simply sat cross-legged on the grass ground as he observed the growing crowd of spectators filling the stadium seats.
The entire senior third-year class of students were being watched like zoo animals by what seemed like the entire school population plus visiting families. Thousands of eyes tracked their every movement, looking for promising talents and guessing those who would turn into a Radiant.
In the high table overlooking the stadium floor, apart from the stern teachers, the gray-haired Principal, and the younger Vice Principal, there were various wealthy families present. Most notably, the heads of the three top families were seated: The head of the Wynter family, the Holland family and the Sterling family head.
They all stared down at the caged students with serious expressions on their faces.
These young people represented the hope of humanity’s future, and their performance in the Trial would determine whether they were dragons destined to spring into the skies or simple carp forever trapped in a small pond.
Not to mention, more than half of these students would almost certainly transform into mindless Radiants during the Trial, which was the main reason for the heavy reinforced cages that could withstand tremendous force.
In that tense moment, the massive holographic timer counting down to midnight reached 00:10:00—just ten minutes remaining.
The elderly Principal slowly stood up from his seat, his joints creaking slightly. He raised his wrinkled hands high, and instantly the entire stadium of thousands quieted down to absolute silence. Even the wind seemed to stop blowing.
His long white beard fluttered as he stared down at the students with a complicated expression —pride, sorrow, hope, and resignation all mixed together.
"The Olympic Trial is starting in less than ten minutes," his aged voice carried clearly across the stadium. "Through sparring with one another, our guidance over the years, and the support of the government resources, you have all developed abilities to protect yourselves during the Trial. You are as prepared as we can make you."
He paused, his voice growing heavier. "Saying more will do nothing useful at this critical point. Therefore, all I can do now is wish you all the very best of luck. May the stars watch over you."
Then, to everyone’s surprise, the old Principal actually dropped his walking stick, letting it clatter to the ground. He raised his right hand high above his head with his index finger and middle finger pointed sharply toward the darkening sky.
His face became solemn and reverent as his voice reverberated like thunder across the stadium. "In night, we evolve!"
Immediately, as if responding to a sacred signal, the entire student body as well as the family heads and every single person who had come to watch rose to their feet as one. They all raised their right hands to head level with their index and middle fingers pointed to the sky above.
Their faces became extremely solemn, as they stared forward and began singing the Hymn of the Stellar Night.
Their voices started soft and reverent as they sang the opening verse together.