The Test's Results

"Any questions before I turn on the screen?" The captain asked.

"Yes, sir," Josh began, "You told us after the sparring that the results of this test would cause changes in the ranking of our group, where can we see the updated ranking?"

"Good question. I forgot to mention that. I will show you the updated ranking after you see your results," the captain answered.

"With that said, let's not waste any more time," the captain said while the screen lit up.

Kayden's eyes fixed calmly on the top of the screen as it illuminated with the results. Suddenly, they widened in disbelief at what he saw.

[ Kayden - 99 - 100 / 100 / 100 / 96 ]

[ Elena - 99 - 96 / 100 / 100 / 100 ]

'How is that possible?' He questioned himself, still shocked.

Kayden had never doubted that Elena was a talented person, after all, her arrogance had to have something to base it on. However, he was confident that no one on the base was close to him in terms of cultivation.

He was sure that even those talented ones such as Audrey, Connor, or Hannah still had to unlock their fortieth node, and he had assumed that Elena had unlocked 40 nodes at most.

Thus, this revelation dealt a blow to his confidence and served as a reminder that he had to keep improving his cultivation without pause.

Kayden realized that defeating Elena might be harder than he expected, but he was sure that if he trained with all his time and effort, she would not be his match.

As he thought about this, he regretted not pushing himself further the last night.

'If I had risked it and unlocked the fiftieth node, I could have easily dodged those bullets, becoming the first in the ranking with four perfect scores.'

He remembered how Elena was training when he first encountered her at the base came to his mind, as images of her deftly swings and graceful movements came to his mind.

'She probably still has a few less unlocked nodes than me, reason why she failed to get a perfect score on the endurance test. However, her agility is completely outstanding.'

Kayden wondered when and where she had learned to fight at such a high level, as she had never mentioned it during their time as neighbors.

Turning his focus back to the screen, Kayden scanned with curiosity the rankings of the others.

There was a significant gap from his and Elena's scores to the next ones.

[ Audrey - 92.5 - 90 / 95 / 95/ 90 ]

[ Connor - 92.5 - 95 / 97 / 92 / 86 ]

[ Hannah - 91 - 85 / 90 / 95 /90 ]

As expected, the following positions were occupied by Audrey, Connor, and Hannah.

Audrey was an incredibly balanced cultivator, leaving no weaknesses for her enemies to exploit.

Connor, on the other hand, had a formidable physique, which was especially reflected in his performance in the endurance and strength tests.

As for Hannah, despite having a slightly lower score than the other two, Kayden knew her strong point was archery, making her a deadly enemy in ranged battles.

Kayden's gaze continued down the list, looking for familiar names.

[ Charles - 84 - 80 / 90 / 86 / 80 ]

[ Julia - 82.5 - 83 – 86 – 82 - 79 ]

[ Lucas – 82.5 - 86 / 85 / 79 / 80 ]

Following Hannah, with a noticeable gap between the scores, Kayden found Charles and Lucas, along with the unfamiliar name of Julia.

Although Charles' score was not too remarkable, Kayden realized that the tests where a better physical condition was required clearly had lower scores.

Even when the physical form was important for the four tests, the strength and speed test did not require it as much.

The reason for this was that these two tests were based on explosive power, so the most important thing was the amount of mana the individual could keep in his body.

On the other hand, in longer tasks, the mana in the body would gradually fade away, and that was the moment when a better physical form shone through.

'I don't know if improving the physique provides more important advantages, but for this alone, it is worth it.'

Even though mana cultivation was undoubtedly the most important factor in deciding a battle, in a long battle where both cultivators ran out of mana, the better the physical shape was the more chances of winning the battle the cultivator had.

'After advancing to the next stage and greatly rejuvenating his body, Charles' battle prowess will skyrocket without doubt,' Kayden thought, as he recalled the old man's overwhelming superiority when fighting with the spear during the sparring.

Changing his gaze to the person called Julia, he tried to find in his memories someone with that name, but nothing came to his mind. Her scores were quite balanced, and she probably was someone to be reckoned with.

Then, there was Lucas. As always, his performance exceeded Kayden's, with the endurance test being a particular highlight.

Considering that his talent at cultivation was good seemed to be good but not outstanding, this showed that he was in great physical condition.

Kayden's gaze continued descending, as he found the results of Nick, Will, or Josh, among many others.

Eventually, the captain began talking, drawing everyone's attention.

"All right, I am sure you have had time to check your results several times, so I will now announce the new ranking of the group," he said.

The bodies of the recruits tensed, wondering whether they had improved or worsened their position.

"This time, I will start from the top," he explained, his eyes looking at a list.

"First place, Kayden."

This did not surprise anyone since Kayden had proven himself to be the best in an overwhelming way.

"Second place, Audrey."

"Third place, Charles."

"Fourth place, Lucas."

Exactly as in the previous ranking, the first positions did not change at all.

"Fifth place, Will."

"Sixth place, Nick."

"Seventh place, Josh."

A flicker of surprise sparked through Kayden, as Will had moved up two positions in the ranking.

A happy smile flashed on his face while he looked toward Charles with a grateful expression.

Josh, on the other hand, looked slightly depressed, but he quickly regained his composure.

Meanwhile, Nick looked somewhat annoyed at Will, but his expression seemed to show that he was sure he would reclaim his rank.

The captain continued.

"Eighth place, Alice."

"Ninth place, Claire."

'Both of them moved up, especially Claire. I wonder what's the story between Audrey and her.'

While Kayden was deep in thought about the new rankings, the captain finished announcing the last place.