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Chapter 59 Purpose of Inner Circle Exam

Soon after, Rain and Sumi then stepped at front and entered the borders of the inner circle.

As soon as they stepped in, the surroundings turned illusory and vanished, as though a fleeting dream. It was a sight to behold.

The space around them shifted slightly.

Rain opened his mouth, speechless. He brushed his eyes, checking if he was seeing things or not, but it was all real.

The forest trees, the mountain peaks, and the soiled land of the island… were gone, replaced by a vast clean plainfield.

\'Huh? What the heck? Is this real? or am I imagining things...?\'

Surrounding them, the inner circle was an infinite land without trees and mountains. A vibrant grassy field, absent of any monsters and harmful traps.

The air was calm and soothing, unlike the island\'s harsh and pungent wind. It really seemed like he was in a different world.

Merely by standing, they could feel the peaceful and hopeful ambiance of the vast plainfield spread throughout. It was something both of them particularly found comforting.

Beside him, Sumi also seemed to be surprised.

"This place…"

"This is… the inner circle, Sumi?"

Rain asked, finding it unbelievable. The entire place changed, nothing about it was remarkably similar to the island forest.

Looking at him, Sumi gave a short nod before speaking.

"This should be the inner circle. From what I\'ve heard, the academy has the most advanced research on dimensions. They can even create artificial dimensions, and the academy itself is hidden in a dimension."

"Wait, so are you saying the entire inner circle is a separate dimension?"

Rain was dumbfounded.

"Yes."

Sumi nodded expressionlessly, not finding it strange. She already gathered information about the examination beforehand, including data about the academy.

It was not unreasonable for the inner circle of the academy to be in another dimension, it was unbelievable, but not impossible.

"Every year, the academy sets up an examination for the upcoming freshman. One thing that does not change is the island or the outer circle—it\'s their way to test the Ranker\'s ability to navigate or survive in a new land."

"The inner circle, however, changes every year. It could go from a land of fire to an ocean. I wonder what\'s the purpose of the inner circle examination this time around?"

Sumi spoke her thoughts out loud, causing Rain to be slightly surprised. He had never heard her talk so much before.

"Perhaps it has something to do with those odd pillar over there?"

Rain suddenly chimed in and pointed at something from a distance. From a distance, a tall pillar-lie beacon was located.

"Maybe."

Sumi didn\'t give out an assured response. Without thinking about it any further, she walked toward the direction where the towering pillar beacon was located.

Rain followed after her. While walking to the rock, he caught sight of Lance walking on his lonesome from a long distance.

He found it a pity that the nobleman was stubborn and too prideful to team up with them, but he didn\'t want to push any more of the man\'s patience.

In any case, they could still meet in the academy later on.

***

The purpose of this year\'s inner circle examination—was to test teamwork.

At this moment, in another area in the inner circle, Elias could be seen with Hajin, Celestia, and Ragna standing in front of an odd pillar-like beacon.

The pillar-like beacon had ancient markings all over its body. On the sides of the pillar, there were deeply engraved handprints carved in.

"Are you sure we should stick our hand to these?"

At this moment, Hajin asked while looking at the handprints.

"Trust me."

Elias affirmed. He knew the entrance examination like the back of his hand. Currently, what they were doing was necessary for the exam.

If the outer circle tested the aptitude of the freshman, then the inner circle tested the teamwork ability of the freshman.

The inner circle test was rather simple—throughout the plain dimension, there were pillar-like beacons situated all over the place.

They were called "checkmarks" and each of them contains a puzzle piece once unlocked.

These puzzle pieces, once completed, create a "key" to the core circle.

Then, the way to unlock the "checkmarks"?

It was through putting your hand on one of the handprints, activating a mechanism, and getting the puzzle pieces.

It was simple as it gets.

But the kicker was that one person could not complete this test alone. The "checkmarks" were designed so that one person cannot get a puzzle piece by themselves.

The "checkmarks" all over the dimension contained different puzzle pieces, certainly, there were different activation requirements for each of them as well.

For example, the "checkmark" in front of them needed two handprints to unlock.

However, there were some "checkmarks" that needed three to four handprints inserted to unlock and get the puzzle.

But the minimum requirement was at least two handprints!

Then, a question arises, why can\'t the person just insert their hands on each handprint multiple times on the "checkmark" to unlock it?

Naturally, the academy was not stupid.

That was impossible, since once you put your hand in one of the handprints, the pillar beacon will recognize it and you can\'t use it again.

In other words, this was an exam impossible to pass alone!

It relied on the person\'s ability to adapt, communicate and collaborate. To simplify, it was about teamwork!

That was also the reason why he let the Saintess join his team, not because he could not stop her.

"Let\'s proceed."

Elias ordered out loud. He raised his hand and put it on top of one of the handprints, causing it to glow brightly.

Hajin nodded, proceeding with his instructions. He also raised his hand and put it on top of one of the handprints, causing a similar glow.

Woosh!

At that moment, the pillar-like beacon slightly trembled. The ancient markings around its body were glowing.

Elias, Hajin, Celestia, and Ragna looked at the unfolding scene with curiosity.

After a while, the pillar-like beacon stopped trembling and the ancient markings also stopped glowing.

Then, in the middle of the pillar, the side was pushed away—revealing a hidden container from within.

The container had a small fragmented stone inside it.

"Perfect work, Hajin."

Elias said and took back his hand. Afterwards, he took the blue stone and kept it in his pocket.

Seeing his actions, Ragna was curious and asked.

"What\'s that thing?"

"A piece of a key."

Elias answered vaguely before taking a step back. At this moment, the pillar trembled once more and suddenly burrowed to the ground.

"Let\'s go. I found another checkmark when we passed by."

Turning around, Elias waved his hands and walked away. Hajin, Celestia, and Ragna were perplexed by his attitude but followed nonetheless.

\'With that, I have ? of the pieces…\'

***

On Rain and Sumi\'s side, on the other hand, they were in a dead end—they arrived at a checkmark that needed three handprints to activate.

Rain and Sumi both put their hands on the handprints, but unfortunately, the hidden mechanism didn\'t trigger.

"Are we doing something wrong… or maybe?"

Sumi muttered out loud. On the pillar-like beacon, there was a huge symbol of the number \'3\' signifying the requirement

"Perhaps we need one more person with us. It doesn\'t work for the two of us. If that\'s the case, then that\'s unfortunate…"

"True. If I had known, I should\'ve tried my best to keep Lance with us. It might\'ve let us known what this thing is."

Rain nodded and sighed helplessly. Considering that these pillar-like beacons were the only thing in this vast plainfield, maybe they were the key to the core circle.

Regardless, it didn\'t hurt to try. Unfortunately, they couldn\'t even attempt to do it due to lacking one more person.

"Nevermind. Let\'s go, maybe there\'s a similar one that requires two instea…"

Sumi shook her head and turned around. However, she stopped her words when someone suddenly appeared in front of them.

Woosh!

It was as though space shifted—under their gaze, a new figure suddenly appeared and entered the inner circle.

Rain widened his eyes in surprise.

In front of them, a young woman with bright orange hair stood with an amazed and astounded expression on her face.

She had sapphire blue eyes that displayed novelty and curiosity. While she stood in a daze, an intelligent and cute air surrounded her.

She was beautiful. Rain added to his mind. Before he could even speak, the orange-haired girl suddenly shouted in surprise.

"That was…"

"...so coooooooool….!!!"

Roshia\'s eyes were sparkling. Unaware of her surroundings, she mumbled under her breath in a daze.

"What was the theory around that? How did space shift and transport me in a dimension? No, speaking of which, how can a dimension entrance be disguised so well? Does that mean the island was an illusion all along? No, that does not seem like it at all…"

"Uhh…"

"No, this seems to be something like the work of a magical formation. But such a formation that comprised the inner part of the island, such a thing is possible…? No, that\'s not possible, unless…"

"Uhm, hello..."

"It definitely is! Impossibility, magical, and wonderous... this definitely involved an archmage\'s interference to work and that makes a lot of sense!"

"Hey!?"

At this moment, Rain raised his voice.

"Ugh! What is it?!"

Snapping out of her daze, Roshia was in a rage. She raised her head and looked at Rain and Sumi like she was about to cook them alive.

However, upon seeing both of them, she widened her eyes in horror as she staggered back.

"Who are you guys and where did you come from?!"