Chapter 1624 Qualifications [3]
The testing center was a massive building. Dragons were surprisingly good architects when they wanted to be, so despite the fact that it was created in just two months, it stood out and was absolutely pleasant to look at.
The line that stretched past its doors and wrapped around its entire vicinity three times, on the other hand, was not.
'Really?!'
It wasn't like August didn't know he was late, but he still didn't expect it to be like this!
'I can't do that.'
If he had to guess, with them testing people in batches of ten, the people at the end of the line wouldn't actually get into the testing facility for–
'–three whole days!'
It was unbelievable, and more importantly…
'I'm not doing that.'
August hadn't been taught to be a bad person, but…his father happened to be just a little bit mischievous.
After seeing someone do whatever he wanted for the sake of personal convenience for ten years, August had most definitely been influenced.
…maybe Damien hadn't been using Existence for the right things, but he just couldn't help himself. It really was too convenient!
Nevertheless, with Damien's mindset, there wouldn't be any harm done as long as nobody was actually affected by his actions.
In August's case…
'Sorry, Dad, but I'm gonna use it.'
The testing center was huge. It, in its own right, was bigger than the entire district August lived in during his youth. Surrounding it was a field several tens of meters long that separated it from the rest of the city.
August had to slip back into the city to find an alleyway where he could hide.
Once he did, he took a silver brooch out of his spatial ring, provided by his very generous father, and pinned it to his shirt.
Immediately, he disappeared.
Well, not really.
Invisibility wasn't efficient. Perception blocking was far more practical.
August's presence just vanished. He was still completely visible, but the people around him just couldn't register him in their minds.
He slipped back into the street and walked back to the testing center. Not a single person could see him.
'It really works!'
This was his first time trying it, and it worked even better than expected.
Life became easy when cheats were involved.
August made it through the doors and far into the line before he managed to find someone with a similar build to him and sneak in behind him.
It was really perfect, since the person behind him wasn't paying attention.
'Phew…'
August covertly took the brooch off and stored it, and, now that his wait had been shortened to an hour, he was more than happy to stand in line and enjoy the scenery and atmosphere.
It went by quickly.
"Haa…"
There was a man standing behind the registration checkpoint that August waited in line to reach.
He had been here for the past three months, and frankly, he was getting tired of it.
'Why does everyone else get to discover a genius?'
Out of the three testing centers, the one in Arragon was the one that found the least real talent.
It was probably because the people who lived this close to the central area didn't need to get qualifications to participate in the heir wars, but that didn't make his job any easier.
Rakon Astegarde was a member of the Scorch Dragon Clan that was subordinated to the Ignis Clan. He had been put in charge of managing this facility and overseeing the testing process.
However, he was bored.
Every single one of these young dragons was dreaming above their station. Most of them didn't last more than ten minutes, and the rest were disqualified within half an hour.
The line was long exactly because these kinds of people had lined up in droves.
"Haa…"
Rakon sighed again.
"Send the next group in."
He gave the order to those at the front, and the next ten people were allowed to register their names and enter the facility.
'All of these common names…'
The information came through immediately, and Rakon was made aware of who each of them was. They had names that were shared by hundreds of thousands or millions of dragons, and they would probably have talent matching that commonality.
'But…Void?'
August Void. It was a name more like a human than a dragon.
But, as he wrote…
'Just another water dragon.'
They were useful in society, but unless they had the Liqua Clan's bloodline, they were practically useless in all other ways.
'Whatever. I just have to do it. There's only three days left at this point.'
His job was almost over.
So, he welcomed in the participants as he had done a hundred times before.
"This test is simple!"
He went straight to the point. The theatrics had already become too tiring to keep up.
"First things first, we will release a True Dragon Aura on your bodies. If you cannot withstand it, then you do not deserve a chance to test for qualifications."
It began immediately.
A pressurized chamber opened on the other side of the room, and the aura trapped within was instantly released.
VOOOOOOOM!
It wasn't an Ancient Dragon's aura. Suppressing these youths with power couldn't test their talent in the slightest.
Instead, it was the pure aura of a Holy Dragon. Its suppression was exerted through bloodline, not strength.
Draconic talent was directly linked to bloodline. Even if they weren't from a Holy lineage, the blood of those dragons with talent would always lead back to a powerful ancestor in the past.
Bloodline suppression would rouse the blood hidden within them and give them the strength to resist.
However, if that blood wasn't present, or if it wasn't dense enough, then they would fail without a doubt.
'Talent is the most crucial differentiator between us and them.'
Someone of Rakon's level was already unreachable for most of those common dragons.
'As for those like Xaria Ignis? These people probably can't even comprehend someone who reached 4th class at just fifteen, could they?'
That was like a human reaching that level as a toddler.
Rakon had already stopped paying attention.
Ten people had entered. He had already heard three buzzers, signifying that there were only seven remaining.
'As expected…'
Three more buzzers sounded within ten minutes. When another ten passed, there were only three participants remaining.
Rakon waited as he'd waited every day for months. He closed his eyes and indulged himself in random thoughts as he waited for half an hour to pass so he could call in the next group.
But…
'Has it not been thirty minutes?'
It certainly felt like it.
"Say, how long has it been?"
He turned to the woman next to him, an assistant who was helping him with his duties.
"It has been almost an hour," she answered in a monotone voice.
"An hour?!"
Rakon shot to his feet and rushed to a nearby railing. He was several tens of meters off the ground on a suspended balcony, but he could see the field below clearly.
There was one boy on his knees. He wouldn't last much longer.
However, the last two, a boy and a girl, stood strong; sweating heavily, yet refusing to bend a single knee.
'Oh…? Oh…?'
"Oh…?!"
Rakon suddenly couldn't hold his excitement.
It was true that this was only the first part of the test, but if this was the performance they were showing already…
Rakon grinned.
'I can finally shut those pesky brats from the other centers up.'
With these two kids appearing at the last second, the Arragon facility also had something big to talk about.
At this moment, that was more important to Rakon than anything else in the world.
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