Back at the academy, the plaza in front of the main gate was still packed.
A huge light curtain floated in the air above the crowd. It showed a moving image of the Forest of Beasts from high above.
Trees, beasts, and tiny figures of students could be seen shifting between the branches like ants.
In theory, this was set up so parents and guardians could watch the assessment calmly.
In reality, almost no one was looking at it.
Only a few sorcerers stood with their hands behind their backs, eyes narrowed as they watched the scenes in silence, occasionally nodding or frowning when something interesting appeared.
Everyone else was busy Complaining.
"This is outrageous!"
"You promised a safe test! How did it become a life-and-death hunt in a beast forest?"
"My son has never even camped outside the city before! If something happens to him, will the academy pay with his life?"
"Headmaster! Where is the headmaster?! Call her out!"
One of the instructors forced out a smile that looked more painful than crying.
"Everyone, please calm down," he said.
"The Forest of Beasts used for the assessment is only the outer region. The academy has placed many restrictions and barriers.
There are instructors watching in the shadows. Your children's safety is fully guaranteed."
"Fully guaranteed?" someone snorted. "If it is so safe, why not send your own child in first?"
A few parents at the front folded their arms and glared.
"That crystal was working perfectly fine," another guardian said through clenched teeth. "The moment my child's turn was coming close, you suddenly said it broke and changed the test. Do you think we are fools?"
"But the headmaster herself—"
"Headmaster, headmaster, that is all you know how to say," the man cut him off. "Where is she now? Why is she not here explaining?"
The instructor's smile froze.
He could not say that the headmaster doesn't know the reason why the only assessment crystal had exploded into dust.
So he just bowed again.
"Please be assured," he repeated. "The academy will take full responsibility.
Right now, the headmaster is personally handling the matter with the crystal. As for the test, there is no problem. Look—"
He pointed up at the light curtain.
On it, a group of students was currently running for their lives from a large boar with stone spikes growing out of its back.
"That is a Spike Boar!" someone shouted. "How is there no problem?!"
The instructor's temple throbbed.
Beside him, another instructor leaned closer and whispered under his breath, "Just keep saying 'restriction, supervision, safety' in different order. Maybe they will get tired."
The first instructor's face did not change.
Inside, he thought the same thing.
If not for the fact that the academy's reputation was on the line, the instructors would also like to complain.
A peaceful, boring, touch-the-crystal test had suddenly turned into a live beast hunt.
Their workload had increased several times.
At least the parents only had to shout. The instructors had to actually go into the forest.
While the plaza boiled like a pot, The headmaster was inside the academy.
***
Deep within the main tower, in a restricted room, Helena stood in front of a stone table. Four senior sorcerers stood around her, each dressed in dark light armor with hood embroidered with different patterns.
On the table lay a pile of faintly glowing dust.
This was all that remained of the assessment crystal.
The room was surrounded by several layers of barriers. Runes glowed faintly on the walls, sealing sound and mana inside.
Even if someone pressed their ear to the door, they would not hear a word from within.
One of the old sorcerers leaned closer to the table.
His hair was white, his beard long, and his eyes sharp. He held a thin rod in his hand and carefully poked the dust with it.
"The structure has completely collapsed," he muttered. "The core is gone. Even the base magic circle has been wiped clean.."
Another sorcerer, a middle aged woman, shorter and more round, folded her arms.
"This crystal was a gift from the first king," he said unwillingly.
"From the founding of the academy until now, more than a hundred years, it has tested thousands of students.
never, not even once, has it shown any sign of damage. Today is truly a historic day."
The third sorcerer, a woman with sharp eyes and a cold expression, gave him a sideways look.
"Is that praise?" she asked. "Because if you say that outside, the royal council will hang all of us on the wall."
The round sorcerer coughed and shut her mouth.
Helena did not look at them. Her gaze stayed on the dust.
"Confirm again," she said slowly. "Are you sure, There was no external interference?"
"We checked the formations." The white-haired sorcerer straightened.
"The protective layers were intact. No trace of sabotage. From start to finish, nothing touched the crystal except the examinees' hands."
"So it broke itself?" the round sorcerer said. "Is this even make sense?"
The cold woman snorted.
"No way," she said. "You saw the vision above the plaza."
At that, the room quieted.
The halos rising to twelve, falling to nine, then forcing their way to fifteen.
The chaotic mix of elements. The violent fluctuation in the crystal's light.
Finally, the web of cracks and the complete collapse.
Even with their experience, they had never seen anything like it.
The white-haired sorcerer tapped the table lightly.
"If it were only nine rings," he said, "I would say a genius appeared. If it were only twelve or fifteen, I would say the crystal misread and overloaded.
But up and down like that, with multiple attributes overlapping? It is as if something has completely broke the whole crystal."
Helena finally lifted her eyes.
"What about the residual mana?" she asked.
"We tested," the cold woman sorcerer replied.
"Most of what remains is… strange. It does not match any elemental profile. It resembles 'nothing' and 'everything' at the same time.
If I did not know better, I would say the crystal briefly connected to many people at once, then get overloaded."
The round sorcerer sighed.
"In simple words," she said, "we do not understand."
Helena rubbed her temple.
"Very good," she said.
"We do not understand why the academy's only assessment crystal exploded in front of all the nobles and parents in the city. The council will be very pleased."
The four sorcerers looked at each other.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Finally, the white-haired sorcerer coughed softly.
"There is still one thing we can be sure of," he said. "The crystal did not break on its own. It reacted to something.
That reaction happened when that merchant boy touched it. The one named Oliver Reed."
The name hung in the air.
"He is not from a noble family," the cold woman said slowly. "His records show average talent, average resources. There is no record of special bloodline or blessing."
"Average, average, average," the round sorcerer muttered. "Then boy smack the crystal with his forehead than turned it into dust. If this is 'average,' I do not want to see 'exceptional.'"
Helena was silent for a few breaths.
Then she turned her gaze away from the table.
"We need to find out more information about that boy," she said.
"Maybe his body have some kind of mutation never seen before?
Anyway we need good reason otherwise The board will scream, and someone gonna need to take responsibility.
She raised her hand and tapped a rune at the edge of the table.
A new light curtain appeared in the air in front of them, separate from the one outside.
It zoomed straight into one part of the Forest of Beasts, ignoring most of the examinees and focusing on a lone figure walking deeper between the trees, carrying a small bag at his waist.
'Oliver Reed.' Helena's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Record everything he does," she said calmly. "If the assessment crystal burned itself out by this one person, we should at least watch carefully."
Unlike the students and the ordinary instructors, the headmaster and the four sorcerers were veterans with a lot of experience. They did not believe in coincidence.
If something happened, there had to be a reason.
If they could not find that reason, then in the next council meeting, one of them would surely be the one paying the price.
While they were staring at the light curtain and the pile of dust, the true cause of everything suddenly shivered in the Forest of Beasts.
Ethan felt a chill run through his sole.
Even though he was only a sandal now, he still felt as if all the hair on his body was standing up. The problem was, he no longer had any hair.
'What was that?' he thought. 'Why do I feel like someone just wrote my name in the King of Hell's book?'
He had no idea that his little collision earlier had made one Grand Sorcerer and four veteran sorcerers focus all their attention on Oliver, trying to find out what was wrong with him.
It would not be long before their eyes moved past the boy himself… and noticed the strange sandal hanging at his waist.