studiobondurri Chapter 457 Did It Work?
Chapter 457 Did It Work?
Surprisingly, only a few seconds passed before some of the students decided to line up in front of the proctor. These were the students that wanted to prove their innocence first and just get the test over with. They had almost nothing to hide.
William chose to stand near the end of the line, simultaneously holding a strategy meeting with the System in his mind.
"Oho, what's this?" the exam proctor snickered for a moment while a male student with black hair turned beet red from embarrassment. Behind him, every student was flustered while William raised an eyebrow.
"Don't go too far, Sir. We're doing what you asked." the student's ears displayed the same color while his fists clenched slightly.
The exam proctor removed his finger from the student's forehead and backed away with a glimmer in his eye. He wasn't smiling, but one could tell with a glance that he was in a good mood.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
"Don't worry kiddo, your secret's safe with me as long as you keep your grades up." he said.
"..." the male student didn't know what to say at that moment. He could only lower his head and run away in shame while the others made guesses as to what the proctor saw.
"Next!" the exam proctor didn't waste any time. He had to get through all two hundred students before the end of the day, and he was just one man.
Others could do his job, but not nearly as thoroughly. Only the Principal and Vice Principal had the consciousness strong enough to breach the minds of hundreds of students in a short time, and they were also very busy men.
Over the course of the next eight hours, each student passed the exam proctor's inspection with flying colors. The line grew shorter and shorter until there were only ten individuals left, while the rest of the students were granted a small battle arena around the two-hour mark to ease their short attention spans.
The proctor didn't forget to soundproof the arena, needing to place extra focus on these last few students. The ones at the end of the line were always the most suspicious.
Every year the Riverveil Family tried something, but this was the first year he had to put his powerful consciousness to the test right away.
The tenth and ninth students were both passes. The eighth was a pass, then the seventh was a fail and the guards escorted him out. Next, the seventh and sixth students both failed, both females and were revealed to be over a hundred years of age.
William didn't know how old Ardin was, but he guessed that the boy was probably in the same boat, considering his real Cultivation was well above the Ascension Realm and that was incredibly rare for someone in their twenties. The chances of a young talent being sent as a spy were low.
William was fifth in line, so he was next. He had begged the System to do something to help, but it explained that there was no way for it to do so. He was on his own.
He looked back at William with a newfound glimmer in his eyes. This was a diamond in the rough!
William stared back blankly for almost half an hour until the proctor fully confirmed William's loyalty, then returned to his normal self after the foreign consciousness left his mind.
Did it work, System? William asked.
-It seems he's learned about a few of your common Talents as expected, but nothing more. My existence is still a secret, and he's only aware of one World. All is well.
William mentally sighed in relief. He had separated his experiences with the System, using the Mind Talent to forcefully suppress a set of memories for half an hour instead of trying to remember them. The Mind Talent wasn't supposed to work in the dimension normally, but there was no way to reverse the changes to his mind that had already taken place.
As long as it was memory-related, William still had most of the Mind Talent's abilities, but the bonus effects were unusable.
Even so, William's plan was a success! He effectively distracted the proctor and protected the System, showing a bit of promise while still looking low-profile. He wasn't sure if it was enough to rank in the top ten, but he wouldn't be too disappointed if he didn't make it.
All the students on the sidelines looked at William with incredulous gazes. The ripples around him and the proctor had dissipated, but everyone present could feel the level of mental activity almost in real time. Only the exam proctor himself seemed oblivious.
"Excellent Cultivator William, pass." the proctor stated out loud, then covered his mouth with his hand. He had made a slip and forgotten what the Vice Principal said in the beginning.
"He's an Excellent Cultivator? Him?" somehow, eyebrows managed to raise even higher than normal. The men started sizing William up, comparing themselves to his aura, while the women looked at him with a slight glimmer in their eyes.
The Physical Charm Talent didn't work within the dimension, but William received quite a few notices at that moment.
-Earned affection from a complete stranger: +50 Potential Points
-Earned affection from a complete stranger: +50 Potential Points
-Earned affection from a complete stranger: +50 Potential Points
...
The successive fifty Points weren't much to care about, but William was happy to see that he wasn't limited to the abilities of his Talents. He felt uncomfortable under the gazes of all the students but decided to make the best of it and allow this moment to kick-start his school experience.