<h4>Chapter 288: The Test: Part 1</h4>


    Two students were sparring in the ring. One was using a short jab and the other, kick. The sh of the jab and the kick was producing bursts of dark energy in the form of green light and loud thuds in the air.


    On the fringe of the sparring ring of the fortress, Auldmandiller was sitting on a chair and his students on both sides of around the ring. The students were having different expressions on their faces as they watched the ongoing sparring in the center of the ring.


    “Both Xiao Ling and Ternes are close-quartersbat fighters. That’s why they covered themselves with dark energy on the body to increase the explosiveness of their strength and lethality. This is what you all should emte. Especially the rapid motions, during which they can still perfectly keep the dark energy in ce. This requires some level of prowess to do it,” Auldmandiller exined.


    Melissa was sitting on the right, her eyes drifting involuntarily toward Lin Sheng. Not just her, but nearly all the students had their eyes on Lin Sheng, who sat on the right next to Auldmandiller. Dressed in slim casual white clothes, Lin Sheng had dark hair, golden eyes, fair skin, and an always-on smile on his face. This created aposed and gentle aura around him.


    One sparer dropped to the floor, spitting out a mouthful of blood and never getting up again. The winner ripped the red scarf off his arm and tied it around his head. With a determined look on his face, he bowed at Auldmandiller and then waited for his next opponent.


    “Next challenger: Melissa.” A soft-spoken female voice sounded in the air inside the fortress. It was the synthesized voice of the testing device. The Soul Fortress was not some fusty dark-energy institution but a high-tech, high precision dark-energy workshop. Hearing her name called, Melissa rose to her feet and strode into the ring to face her opponent. And they both bowed to each other.


    “Among all the new students, Xiao Ling is the strongest in terms of physique and strength. But in terms of dark energy, Melissa has the upper hand. The earlier test shows that Melissa’s dark energy is 51, which is considerably higher than Xiao Ling’s 30. But these figures mean nothing inbat,” Auldmandiller exined.


    “This test will determine the position you hold in the workshop and your self-positioning during the mission in the future.” Auldmandiller brushed his beard with his hand and continued. “The school has an Overall Strength ranking of the students. These are official ratings. If you all are confident enough, you can take part in the program. The school will give out rewards based on the rankings. There is another strength ranking run by the students. No prizes given, but a better ranking on the list will definitely help in your future development.”


    “Two ranking systems? Teacher, why would anyone want to take part in the student-run ranking?” one student asked curiously.


    “It’s because many students are not qualified to take part in the official ranking. Such as those who have broken thew,” exined Auldmandiller. He was usually gentle and soft-spoken when it did not concern about the business of pharmaceutical manufacturing of the workshop.


    Everyone nodded in response.


    The sparring had begun. It was a battle between Melissa and Xiao Ling. But this time, it was different from the earlier close-rangebat. Melissa started by firing green flosses from her hands. They pierced through the air with a distinctive whoosh sound.


    Xiao Ling dodged, and his performance was particrly gawky from the start. A slight dy in his response had got himself cut on his left shoulder. Gritting his teeth in pain, he flipped back and retreated a dozen meters.


    “Come on!”


    Coming back on his feet, Xiao Ling lunged forward in an ‘S’ evasive maneuver. He sessfully dodged the dark-energy flosses that Mylissa shot at him. With a bright-green halo appearing around his arm, he flung his fist at his opponent in a Bullet Fist, which gained speed mid-air and created a loud airburst sound in the air beforeing within inches of Mylissa.


    In that critical juncture, a shield in the form of green floss mesh popped up an inch in front of Mylissa, just in time to stop Xiao Ling’s Bullet Fist. At that same moment, the floss mesh spun and popped more than a ton of green hideous spikes on the surface, ready to deploy its payload.


    “I surrender!” Xiao Ling suddenly cried out.


    The surprised Auldmandiller nced at Melissa. He needed to do a double-take on the kid. This kid had talent as she had put up an impressive performance.


    “Next!” announced Auldmandiller. He had already assigned a score for Xiao Ling in his mind. There was a momentary silence as all eyes fell on two persons on the spectator seats. One was Lin Sheng, who sat next to Auldmandiller, and the other was Margaret, the golden-haired, gentledy sitting on the other side of Lin Sheng. A foreign student from Olro and as Auldmandiller’s most doted on and cherished student, Margaret was the one closest to bing a disciple.


    “Anyone else?” Auldmandiller then looked at Margaret. “Would you like to show your skills to us?”


    “Aye, Teacher.” Margaret rose to her feet and tidied her dress before ambling out into the sparring ring. She wore a white safari skirt, a silver body armor, and leg armor of the same color as the body pieces on her exposed, perfect long legs. Hanging from her waist was a slender cross sword. There was also a diamond on her hair as an essory.


    “Melissa. Here we go!” Margaret greeted her with a smile.


    Melissa nced at Lin Sheng involuntarily. But she quickly pulled her sight back and nodded at Margaret. “Here we go!” She responded.


    Melissa opened her hand wide, intending to prove herself to her teacher. So she summoned all her strength right from the start by shooting dark-energy flosses that pierced through the air in an arc at Margaret.


    “Death Spiral!” With the wave of her arm, Mylissa had the dark-energy flosses split into a dozen more missiles, attacking the opponent from different angles.


    The students were on the edge of their seats watching the terrific battle. These students had an average dark-energy value of 30, but the abilities disyed before their eyes were so refined in control that it was way above what they were currently learning.


    “This is not possible without the dark energy getting above fifty,” said Anna, Melissa’s close friend who sometimes helped her run errands. Seeing Melissa putting up an impressive performance made her happy.


    “But Margaret isn’t any average student! No doubt Melissa is impressive, but she is a little too reckless, don’t you think?” A male student sitting on the other side shook his head. Indeed, before Anna could rebut, the battle took a sudden turn.


    With just a subtle leaping maneuver, Margaret dodged every single one of the dark-energy flosses. She then lunged forward and unsheathed her cross sword. In a sh of silver light, all dark-energy flosses began to break down and turned into light dots before they vanished altogether. Without giving Mylissa the time to think, Margaret hade dangerously close at her. Wielding the sword with one hand, Margaret thrust her sword forward and stopped an inch away from Melissa’s forehead.


    That was it. Margaret was the clear winner. There was a moment of silence as if everyone was shocked. Only then the students broke out in apuse and cheers.