2026-09-02 12:08:11Gareth looked at her with a hint of approval.
“Now that’s a much more useful question. The answer is yes. Potions, rituals, contracts, physical enhancement, and certain types of magic can extend a person’s lifespan. Those who reach a high enough level of power can even live far beyond the limits of ordinary humans.”
The mood in the hall shifted.
The fear was still there, but the idea of gaining additional years of life was difficult to ignore.
Evelyn raised another question.
“What about the Academy Credits and Merit Marks listed in our profiles?”
“Credits are tied to your academic progress and graduation requirements. Merit Marks are Blackthorn’s primary currency.”
Gareth paused briefly before continuing.
“Weapons, artifacts, potions, magical materials, training facilities, even ordinary money from the outside world can be obtained as long as you have enough Merit Marks.”
Ryan fell silent.
A few hours ago, his biggest problem had been losing his job.
Now, a mysterious academy was offering something even most billionaires couldn’t buy.
Power.
And a longer life.
Blackthorn suddenly sounded a lot more appealing.
Then the Sigil on the back of his hand grew warm again.
Ryan looked down.
None of the other candidates seemed to be experiencing the same thing.
[Secondary assessment completed.]
[Innate anomaly detected.]
[No matching record found in the Blackthorn Archives.]
[Initial Talent classification failed.]
Ryan kept his expression neutral, but his heartbeat began to quicken.
So there really had been another reason his assessment took more than thirty seconds.
[Innate effect identified: Learning efficiency for all abilities increased by 100%.]
Ryan immediately understood how valuable that was.
His starting attributes might be terrible, but if he could learn twice as fast as everyone else, that weakness didn’t have to last forever.
Then the next notification appeared.
And it was even more shocking.
[Active effect identified: User may copy one F-rank ability from a target for three minutes.]
[Innate Talents cannot be copied.]
[Cooldown: 7 days.]
[Talent possesses growth potential.]
Ryan glanced at Gareth.
The instructor was busy answering another candidate’s question and showed no reaction whatsoever.
Another message appeared.
[Talent has not been named.]
[As the first owner, you have been granted naming rights.]
Ryan only thought about it for a few seconds before making his decision.
'Universal Prodigy.'
[Name accepted: Universal Prodigy.]
[Universal Prodigy - Level 1.]
[Potential evaluation completed.]
[Talent Rank: SS.]
Ryan nearly failed to keep his face under control.
SS.
He still didn’t understand Blackthorn’s entire ranking system, but he didn’t need much context to know that SS had to be extremely high.
Another warning appeared immediately afterward.
[Warning: Information regarding Talents ranked S or higher is classified.]
[Access restricted to the Talent owner and the Headmaster of Blackthorn Arcane Academy.]
Ryan opened his profile again.
The section that had previously shown his Talent as undetected had changed.
﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣
[Talent]
Name: Universal Prodigy
Level: 1
Rank: SS
Passive Effect: Learning efficiency for all abilities +100%
Active Effect: Copy one F-rank ability from a target for 3 minutes
Restriction: Innate Talents cannot be copied
Cooldown: 7 days
Information Status: Classified
﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣
Ryan read through the panel one more time before closing it.
Everyone in the hall had just decided that he was the worst candidate in Group Seven.
Gareth had even compared his combat ability to a chicken.
For now, Ryan thought it would be better to let them keep believing that.
“Break time is over.”
Gareth walked toward the center of the hall and raised his wand.
“The assessment only shows where you’re starting from. Blackthorn is far more interested in seeing how you behave when you’re actually in danger.”
Runes across the floor began to glow.
Several candidates immediately became nervous.
One man hurriedly asked, “What are we going to face in the exam?”
A faint smile appeared on Gareth’s face.
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be much of an exam.”
White light rose from the floor and began wrapping around their bodies.
Ryan felt the same sensation he had experienced when leaving his apartment.
This time, however, he was conscious enough to observe what was happening around him.
A few meters away, Evelyn remained standing calmly, though both of her hands were clenched.
Just before the hall disappeared from view, Gareth spoke one last time.
“If you want to become students of Blackthorn, prove that you deserve to be here.”
A second later, every candidate from Group Seven vanished.
Gareth had only just lowered his wand when another instructor entered the hall.
The man wore a broad smile.
“Crowe, you look miserable. Group Three got two Talent holders. One B-rank and one A-rank.”
“I didn’t ask.”
The instructor laughed.
“Don’t be jealous. I heard the North American academy found an SS-rank Talent holder last year. Only in his second year now, but apparently he can already fight on the same level as some graduates.”
Gareth snorted.
“Rumors.”
“Maybe. The upperclassmen even gave him a nickname.”
The man grinned.
“Demon King.”
Gareth shook his head as he walked toward the door.
“SS-rank Talents don’t appear that easily.”
He had no idea that the candidate with only nine total attribute points—the same one he had just compared to a chicken—was hiding a Talent of the exact same rank.
Previous Chapter
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Chapter 16 - Final Attack
“Two shots...” Ryan repeated quietly as he stared at the Goblin Warlord still standing in front of them. “That means we can’t afford to miss again.”Evelyn didn’t answer. Her face had gone pale, and the hand gripping her wand was trembling slightly, but her eyes remained fixed on the Warlord’s half-destroyed head.Two other candidates who had somehow survived on the far side of the courtyard exchanged glances.They could have taken advantage of the weakened Warlord and escaped toward the Sanctuary Zone.Instead, after seeing how close the monster was to falling, they raised their weapons and charged.“Now! Hold it down!”The fi
Chapter 15 - Shockwave
[Universal Prodigy activated.][Target: Goblin Warlord.][Copyable ability detected.][Shockwave - Rank F.][Copy successful.][Ability duration: 3 minutes.]Ryan read the notifications once before immediately turning to Evelyn. “Three minutes. That’s all the time we have. No matter what happens, aim for its head.”Evelyn frowned slightly, clearly not understanding where Ryan’s confidence was coming from, but she didn’t waste time asking questions. Her wand was already raised as Ryan tightened his grip on the dagger and ran toward the Goblin Warlord.One of the remaining candidates had just failed to escape.The Warlord grabbed him from behind and slammed him into the ground before his body shattered into light. The sight still made Ryan’s stomach turn, even though he knew everything happening here was only part of the exam.The moment Ryan entered its attack range, the Warlord’s red eyes shifted toward him.The creature swung its arm.Ryan had already estimated its reach and stepped
Chapter 14 - Trump Card
Evelyn had already turned toward the Sanctuary Zone, but after only a few steps, the difference in their speed became obvious.The Warlord was much faster.Evelyn, meanwhile, clearly wasn’t built around physical attributes.“Not toward the Sanctuary!” Ryan pointed toward the ruins of the building that had collapsed when the Warlord appeared. “Go toward the candidates who were hiding!”Evelyn glanced over and immediately understood.The fourteen candidates who had refused to fight from the beginning were now gathered near the ruins.They still hadn’t crossed the courtyard toward the Sanctuary Zone because they were too afraid, but the collapsed building had destroyed their hiding place.Evelyn changed direction and ran straight toward them.Several candidates immediately panicked.“Hey! Don’t come over here!”“Take that thing somewhere else!”Evelyn didn’t slow down.The Warlord kept gaining on her, but she still had a lead of roughly twenty meters.The moment she passed the group near
Chapter 13 - Under Pressure
“Don’t fight it head-on! Fall back!”Ryan was already moving away before he even finished shouting.Marcus had just been sent flying with a single blow, and that was more than enough to kill any desire Ryan had to test his strength against the Goblin Warlord.With his attributes, one hit might be enough to end his exam.Not everyone thought the same way.The ten candidates who had been heading toward the Sanctuary Zone immediately turned back when the boss appeared.They had already completed the five-goblin mission, which meant the only major reward left was standing right in front of them.“Attack together!”“Don’t give it a chance to move!”Several swords and axes struck the Goblin Warlord almost at the same time.Two arrows followed from behind.The result was disappointing.Its thick, muscular body suffered only shallow wounds, while the arrows barely managed to penetrate its skin.Ryan chose to observe from a safe distance.All the ordinary Blight Goblins had collapsed the momen
Chapter 12 - Triggering the Warlord
No one laughed this time.Too many coincidences had happened for it to still look like luck.Marcus was the angriest of them all.“You’re doing this on purpose!”Ryan turned toward him.“Doing what?”“Four!”Marcus raised four fingers, his face turning red.“You stole four kills from me!”Ryan was actually a little surprised by the number.He had deliberately targeted Marcus more often because his high attributes allowed him to weaken goblins quickly.But Ryan hadn’t realized he had taken that many.He checked his skill progress.[Power Slash Lv.1: 80/100.]What a shame.A little more and the skill might have leveled up.Then again, if Ryan kept doing the same thing, Marcus might decide to stab him before stabbing another Blight Goblin.“Fine. I’ll stop.”Marcus snorted loudly.The others looked more curious than genuinely angry.They all knew Ryan only had nine total attribute points.That made his ability to time his finishing blows so precisely even stranger.Ryan, of course, had n
Chapter 11 - Kill Steal
Ryan’s satisfaction after getting his first kill lasted only a few seconds.The moment he tried to raise his dagger again, the muscles in his arm felt heavy and sore, as though all the strength he had gathered earlier had been squeezed out in a single attack.Power Slash was strong, but Ryan only had three points in Vitality.If he forced himself to use the skill twice in quick succession, there was no guarantee his arm would still be able to hold a weapon afterward.So Ryan didn’t rush to look for another target.He continued moving with the formation while watching how the others fought.Some needed three strikes to bring down a Blight Goblin.Others needed four or five.Ryan began memorizing how strong each person was and estimating when a goblin had been weakened enough for him to finish it with a single attack.About a minute later, the heaviness in his arm started to fade.A candidate beside him was fighting a Blight Goblin that had already taken three sword strikes.The moment
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