Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Chapter 169: End of the practical exam

"Next is Evangeline Florivelle."

The moment she heard her name being announced, Evangeline’s heartbeat quickened. She felt both excitement and tension at the same time.

Slowly standing up from her seat, she walked forward and jumped down, landing cleanly below. As she walked up to the elevated platform, she did her best to maintain an outwardly calm appearance as she took a deep breath.

’I absolutely can’t mess this up. This is my debut.’

This was the first time people would witness Evangeline Florivelle in action.

’So it needs to be flashy!’

Soon, she stood before the restored stone armor. As soon as the academy staff announced the start, she channeled mana into all four gold bracelets she wore, as well as into the tiara on her head.

Moments later, a crown made of water materialized above her head.

The stone armor rushed at her, but she remained calm as she raised both arms in the air. Dodging the incoming gauntlet, she created a ball of water that was completely hollow on the inside.

She then used earth manipulation to materialize a stone inside that hollow ball of water.

Dodging another incoming gauntlet, she kicked the stone armor’s leg, causing it to lose its balance and fall down on its back.

As it struggled to get up, Evangeline sharpened her focus and cast a Tier Three spell.

’Infernal Blaze.’

The inside of the hollow ball of water was suddenly filled with flames, threatening to break free, but she gritted her teeth and maintained the structure she had created. And for the final part, she pushed a mini vortex of wind inside.

The wind vortex fanned the flames, increasing the temperature inside, which caused the stone to heat up more and more. The pressure inside the ball of water continued to increase, making it hard for her to hold it all together.

By now, Evangeline could feel the silent tension that had filled the arena as everyone’s collective focus was on her. Many of them could probably already sense the destructiveness of the attack she was preparing.

As the pressure became too much for her to hold together, a strained smile appeared on her face. She jumped back and hurled the pressure-filled sphere straight at the stone armor that was still on the floor, struggling to get up.

The moment her attack landed, the sound of a deafening explosion rang out through the arena as a massive cloud of dust rose.

And as the dust cleared, the destruction caused by her attack was revealed in all its glory.

A deep crater spread across nearly half the elevated platform. A crater far larger than the one Adrian had left.

Seeing the baffled expression of the audience, Evangeline’s lips slowly curled up into a smile.

She turned in the direction where Adrian and Ravian sat and made a victory pose with her hand.

’See this, Adi? This is my victory! My crater is larger than yours. I will be winning our bet!’

***

"This... this doesn’t... make any sense..."

{Rankings

1. Adrian Caelis Ravenshade (200)

2. Evangeline Florivelle (199)

3. ... }

Evangeline turned to Adrian, who was standing beside her and looking at the rankings just like the hundreds of applicants around them.

She gritted her teeth.

"We both got a hundred on the theoretical exam, but why the hell did they give me one mark less than you?! My crater was clearly larger than yours, so why...?"

Adrian looked at her expressionlessly, but she could somehow sense disappointment and frustration.

"Did you not hear the rules? The grades weren’t given based on how large‌ a crater we created; they were given based on how much damage we did to that suit of stone armor. And since we both obliterated it, they would grade us based on who was able to accomplish that more quickly."

So, since she took more time to create her attack, she got one less mark than him?

"But that’s... so unfair..." she whined. "My attack was clearly more destructive than yours."

"It was, and they were aware of that. But the academy is an organization that has to operate on a set of rules. They can’t simply change their method of evaluation for one individual."

Evangeline’s expression fell.

’To think I would lose to him for such a stupid reason...’

A few days had passed since the practical examination, and the results were out today.

The practical examination had continued even after sunset. Evangeline had expected most of the audience to leave after watching her and Adrian, but nearly all of them had stayed till the end.

Apparently, the one the audience wanted to witness the most was the Second Immortal. That was the reason they had watched until the end.

Sadly, it was revealed at the end that the imperial prince, the imperial princess, and the second immortal had all already finished their practical exam in private. Many of the people had crashed out when they heard this news.

It was complete chaos at the end.

Evangeline sighed.

’Looks like I lost in the end...’

Still, this was not the end. Now that the practical examination was over, those who didn’t make it into the top twenty percent would return home. Meanwhile, those who did make the cut would duel against each other to decide the final ranking.

’And I’m going to defeat Adi in that duel, no matter what!’

***

Adrian had returned to the inn with Evangeline, and then they both went into their rooms.

Lying on the bed, Adrian closed his eyes. And as he did, a thought soon surfaced in his mind.

A thought that had been on his mind for days now.

’The crown prince...’

Calling him the crown prince was somewhat strange considering that he was the only imperial prince.

’Someone abnormally intelligent for his age...’

This was a compliment he had heard too often when his new body was only five years old. But the secret behind his abnormally high intelligence was the fact that he was a reincarnate and a young man who was in a child’s body.

So if the crown prince had similar rumors describing him, there was an extremely high possibility that the prince was also a reincarnate, just like him. If it were before, Adrian would’ve jumped at this thought, believing this to be some great opportunity.

But after the disappointing experience he had in Evangeline’s case, he could no longer get as invested in such thoughts. The prince was probably just an extremely smart child and not a reincarnate.

And even if he was, then what?

Were they going to form some sort of alliance to fight against the entity that could’ve brought them this world? By now, Adrian had accepted that there were certain things beyond his control, and thinking about them had no real meaning.

And at this point, he even doubted whether some being had really brought him into this world. After all, it had been sixteen years since his reincarnation, yet there was absolutely nothing.

Adrian sighed.

’I should just ignore it all and focus on the upcoming duels. I have to win, no matter what.’

Just then, he heard a knock on the door as Nelliel’s voice soon came.

"Brother, I have a report."

"You can enter."

As soon as he gave his permission, she opened the door and closed it properly. Turning to him, she spoke in a somewhat excited tone.

"All the members of the cult have successfully infiltrated the empire."