ROOM 1313

9

As everyone checked their scores, their interfaces suddenly changed. A new notification appeared before them—a Top 100 Intelligence Leaderboard.

Sitting comfortably in first place was Liam.

"Liam Carter? Isn't that the human from Room 1313?"

Whispers immediately spread throughout the crowd as everyone began muttering in shock.

Liam himself was equally stunned to see his name at the very top.

"Up next... Physical Assessment."

Principal Alaric's voice boomed across the hall. He then turned toward Professor Eleanor and gave a slight motion.

Professor Eleanor raised a hand, and several silver scrolls floated into the air once again, each one gliding toward a student.

Liam slowly caught the scroll that drifted toward him.

"Crush the scrolls," Alaric instructed.

Liam immediately did as he was told.

His claustrophobia flared up again, and his surroundings vanished. A moment later, he found himself standing inside a massive combat room.

The space was enormous, completely empty except for him. However, the mana in the surroundings was incredibly dense.

It was so rich that the moment he breathed, the core inside his body began rotating at a frightening speed.

Just then, Principal Alaric's voice echoed throughout the isolated space.

"The Physical Assessment measures your combat ability, physical strength, speed, endurance, and adaptability. There is a scroll beside you. Pick it up and crush it when you can no longer handle the monster. Anything that occurs due to an inability to crush the scroll in time has nothing to do with the academy."

Liam noticed another silver scroll lying beside him and picked it up.

He cautiously looked around and waited.

A deafening roar suddenly echoed through the room and at the same time the mana in front of him rapidly converged toward the center of the arena, forming a blurry figure.

Liam immediately took several steps backward.

The figure solidified within seconds.

A horned monster emerged.

Its eyes glowed a sinister red, while rough black scales covered its body. It had the face of a bull crowned with massive horns, yet it stood upright like a werewolf. Slowly, its crimson eyes locked onto Liam.

Without hesitation, Liam circulated his technique throughout his body, boosting the flow of mana coursing through him.

The monster roared and charged toward him with unnatural speed.

Liam instantly realized that the creature was one level above him. It was significantly stronger and faster.

If Liam had been a werewolf, a vampire, or belonged to any of the other races, whether witches, demons, or angels—he would have easily defeated this monster with the kind of bloodline he possessed.

But he was human.

Humans had no overpowered racial abilities or terrifying transformations.

That was the main reason they were considered weak.

Humans grew stronger by practicing aura techniques that enhanced their strength and speed, but those were abilities the other races naturally possessed.

Witches, on the other hand, were practically nature's harbingers. The elements answered their every command, leaving them with little need for physical strength or speed. Once a witch from a fire clan became powerful enough, they could summon flames capable of burning an entire planet.

Werewolves were monsters in human form. At a moment's notice, they could transform into terrifying beasts armed with razor-sharp fangs and deadly claws.

Vampires and demons were somewhat alike. Vampires specialized in blood and became especially deadly at night. Although demons also received a boost under the cover of darkness, it wasn't nearly as significant as that of vampires.

From Liam's perspective, vampires were simply dead humans.

Immediately after every vampire was born, the infant was poisoned with a liquid known as Sanguis Vampyri before being killed.

Two days later, they awakened as vampires.

Because Liam had spent years studying and had even learned Latin, he discovered that the name literally meant Vampire Blood.

He had no idea where the substance came from, but that was all he knew.

Humans, however, excelled in many other areas.

They could wield weapons with incredible efficiency and were astonishingly creative.

Eventually, humans reached a point where they could learn fragments of techniques belonging to other races, allowing them to use certain basic abilities involving space, fire, demonic arts, and many others.

That was the sole reason Liam believed humans were still the original race.

After all, there had once been a time when they were the only race in existence.

Liam tapped his watch and a dagger instantly extended from it.

This was a watch he had spent years reconstructing. Throughout most of his teenage years, he had tried linking it to his core while attempting to create a small spatial storage within it.

He had never succeeded.

His parents had left him the broken watch along with what was supposedly a manual explaining how to use it.

It was probably the only thing they had left him.

The manual, however, was the most frustrating part.

It wasn't a manual at all.

It contained only a single sentence.

I failed. Hope the next succeeds.

That was the entire message.

Yet the cover still boldly read Manual.

Since then, Liam had experimented with the watch in countless ways, convinced it was some priceless treasure.

All he had accomplished was wasting years of his life.

Still, after investing so much time into it, he simply stuck with the watch and never bothered finding another weapon.

He decided the watch itself would serve as his weapon.

Now, facing this monster, he suddenly realized how foolish that decision had been.

The sheer force behind the monster's charge left him breathless.

But Liam wasn't the type to stand still and wait to die.

He quickly sidestepped, narrowly dodging the monster's claws by mere millimeters.

The monster's acceleration was terrifying.

It halted almost instantly before swinging its other arm toward him.

With no time to sidestep again or activate his aura footwork, Liam could only raise his dagger to block.

Clang!

The impact sent him flying.

Pain exploded throughout his entire body.

Even worse...

The silver scroll slipped from his grasp and was sent flying across the room.

Liam crashed onto the ground.

Perhaps the room had overestimated him and assigned him a monster far stronger than he should have been facing.

Realizing his life was truly in danger, Liam gritted his teeth and forced himself back to his feet despite the agony coursing through his body.

The moment he stood up, he saw two crimson dots rapidly growing larger.

They were the monster's eyes as it was already charging toward him once more.

Instead of confronting it, Liam sprinted toward the silver scroll.

There was no way he could defeat the monster.

He had to leave immediately.

However, the monster seemed to predict exactly what he intended to do.

It abruptly changed direction.

Before Liam could reach the silver scroll…

Boom!

With one powerful stomp, the monster crushed the silver scroll into smithereens.

Liam froze.

His only hope of escaping had vanished.

Now, it suddenly felt like death itself stood staring him straight in the face.

This time, the monster didn't charge.

It slowly walked toward him.

Liam felt his soul leaving his body.

He either had to defeat the monster...

...or survive long enough for someone to rescue him.

"Danger at T54."

Inside a massive room filled with thousands of monitors, a man calmly spoke into the communication device attached to his mouth.

In another space, a third-year student sighed as she prepared to enter T54.

This was one of the missions assigned to third-years—to rescue freshers during their assessments whenever necessary.

She was a vampire and her crimson eyes glowed faintly.

"Identity?" she muttered lazily.

"Human," a voice replied after a brief hesitation.

The girl sighed.

Knowing exactly who it was, she deliberately wasted a little more time before entering for the rescue.

Her intention was obvious.

Meanwhile, inside the assessment room, Liam could feel his heart pounding violently against his chest.

Think... think...

His thoughts raced desperately as the monster drew closer.

Then, the watch suddenly vibrated violently.

Cracks rapidly spread across its silver surface.

Before Liam could react, it dissolved into countless streams of light that flowed directly into his chest.

The core inside him began spinning wildly.

Life and death condition met.

■■■ WARNING ■■■

Life-threatening condition confirmed.

Dormant Core detected...

Synchronization...

Complete.

Adaptive Core has awakened.

Primary Authority Unlocked.

Stage I

"Insight"

Initializing...

A mechanical voice echoed inside Liam's mind.

His custom watch had completely disappeared into his body.

"What the fuck? Liam stood frozen in shock.

But he didn't have long to process what had happened.

The monster seemed to have admired his skin tone long enough.

It roared and charged toward him once again.