[OP: ]

A conversation between people wearing unique hooded clothes was taking place in a dimly lit room.

There were several magical screens before them as they observed the young adults shown on the blue screens that displayed the examinees as well as the elite student council members performing their assigned tasks.

There were several opinions about these people and among those myriad opinions, a few strong voices were leading the debates.

"He's the one headmaster keeps talking about isn't he?" A female voice filled with authority marveled as she watched a young boy on the screen.

The boy had black hair and blue eyes and he walked through the most dangerous area of the illusion forest as easily as taking a stroll in a park.

"He's good." A deep male voice spoke up and the lady looked at him.

"Those eyes.. he's familiar with the forest terrain." He analyzed with a small smile that surprised many other people present.

"Not just familiar." Then a new young male voice spoke up, baring even more depth than the previous voice.

"Skills, magic, and experience might be one thing but from the way he moves through the forest with that unreal finesse, it is as if he has lived in the forest for most of his life."

His words sounded convincing to the people watching the wall full of innumerable magic screens.

"He's good. And her too." Then a young female voice spoke up, attracting the gazes of the people present.

They looked at the girl who used her familiar crow and the higher-level familiar vision-sharing ability to detect the most dangerous creatures for the group of people in the area and eliminate them before they even encounter them.

It could have been negative had she eliminated the creatures without any reason or thinking but she was meticulous, and the people watching her could clearly see it.

"She definitely has a special eye skill that's far better than the conventional appraisal skills.

She's trained in using that scythe by someone almost on the same level as sir Maweth. It's amazing.

But more than that, her bored expression while facing creatures of (Blue) rank, creatures that many examinees might even faint while facing, is definitely cute."

"What..?!"

"The hell?"

"I heard she's engaged with that boy though."

Her words earned gasps, curses, and astonishment from all the people present but the girl ignored them.

"Aside from these two.." She turned her emerald eyes and observed the other screens.

"Meh. They are good enough."

There were many screens in this room, all showing the prominent individuals on the island. But the focus of these screens was a few peeps who were termed 'elites'.

They were observing the new student council members and if seen from a general point of view, every one of the people seen on the screens was exceptional.

There were few who were mages and commanded different elements as finely as the high mages.

But they were mostly only (tier-3) or (tier-4) mages so their control over their magic was truly exceptional.

Just like them, there were a few swordsmen and weapon-wielders who handled their weapons no worse than experienced seasonal knights.

There were assassins who roamed the shadows and darkness while there were also rangers who already held a solid grasp on the surroundings.

There were a few who disguised themselves and hid among the common examinees on the sandy outskirts, while some were pretending to be normal examinees like them while maintaining their assigned areas.

They all were far better than the hundreds and thousands of normal examinees and still, in the eyes of many of the people in this dark room, they were only good enough to deserve their ranks.

Then there were them..

"The twelve prodigies of the golden era.. I would deny it but they at least deserve that fancy title." She had a light smile but this time, the young boy voice from before had an opinion of his own.

"At least give them some praise! Some of them are as good as our council members!" He couldn't help his admiration as he watched the screen displaying these prodigies they were talking about.

The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0/v3l-B1n.

"The two from Heliox house are especially better than what we predicted."

They looked at the young lady with a blood-stained blade, standing alone among the tens of (Yellow) ranked direwolves.

She was as calm as a highly experienced knight who has had deep experience with dealing with her opponents.

They could tell she was trained far better than perfect from the way she moved, used her blade, wildly cut down the monsters, and didn't even flinch as if considering them lifeforms far lower than her own.

She was like a wild beast, a ruler, a predator when she hunted the creatures and the way she used her swords surprised them just as much as her strength.

She was good, and so was the youngest mage that even some people present in this dark room praised highly.

He was the youngest to reach (tier-4) in the empire's 'known' history and the oldies of the elder council favored him a lot among the other mage prodigies.

Well, it was mostly because of their greed and his family so they were bastards.

Still, he admired his magic and right now, the people here also couldn't help but admire the unique spells that contained power far higher than their base circles.

"She knows how to use her absurd strength perfectly while this fella knows how to use his unique ability and the fundamentals of magic.

Their basics are clear, similar to those people, but 'he' is especially too abnormal to keep as only a normal student.

He's good and I can see why the headmaster praised them so much even with his unique personality."

He was glancing between the two of their good student council members and the members of Heliox. He smelled something fishy but that only earned a smile from him.

"Hmm?" Then he moved his neck a bit as if he had a sudden itch and the smile on his face deepened.

"Right.. isn't he good? I almost didn't notice that. Hahaha!"

He suddenly started laughing while he was looking at the boy with black hair and blue eyes.

Others were confused as they looked at him, but then saw his finger that was pointing towards the places the boy had passed from the start of the test to right now.

It was tiny but a few of them noticed the small paper dolls.

They were surprised so they zoomed in on the dolls and their eyes widened in even more surprise.

"Aren't they [Talisman paper dummies]? Where the hell did that boy get a skill like that?!" Some older voices exclaimed with utter shock behind their voice and many voices after them had similar astonished expression.

But the young girl from before moved her emerald eyes around the wall of screens, used the magic crystal before her to change some of the screens, and focused on the paper dolls, their positions, the path they were set on, and when she noticed something..

"Damn, that's quite something."

A deep smile appeared on her face and she almost smirked.

This expression shocked the others even more, even the laughing boy from before, and when they looked at the new bigger screen that was showing the positions of the monsters on that specific part of the island, their movement patterns, and talisman paper dummies, all stacked on each other..

"Hahahaha! I want to meet them right now, lol~! Let's just call them out and have some fun~!" The boy shouted while most of them just stared at the screen, too shocked to even think what they should say.

"That is only possible if he knew about all the monsters, their near unpredictable movement patterns, and the nature of the whole terrain.. he figured it all out in a matter of few hours?" The deep male voice from before was also shocked to see the talisman locations that matched exactly with the monster's movement patterns.

"Even while considering the talisman carry low-quality enchantments.. which I don't think is the case after seeing his magic, to think he laid them out like that..

But what if the students don't meet the monsters in these locations?

He might have predicted the movements of the monsters, their possible intersection points with the students, and the paths of other monsters, but he can't possibly predict how those examinees would move, right?" The authoritative female voice from before looked around the dark room for a positive answer.

But the young girl shook her head despite the other old one's affirmation.

"I think there's more to things than what meets our eyes.

In the first place, the fact that he pulled out something like this means he already has full grasp on that entire area.

He knows the position of every element and individual on that land.

And it's not like he just knows it. He fucking has that ton of information memorized. That's the only way he's still setting up those dummies while moving masterfully like that.

It's basically absurd but what if he actually has the behavior patterns of all the individuals in that part too?

And let's say the enchantments on those dummies are strong attack spells that can kill the monsters in one hit. He has done it so it's more than possible that it's possible.

As we know, the one possessing [Talisman paper dummies] can use the dummies at will.

He can trigger the spells when the examinees are in danger, if we consider he is able to see them even at that time, then doesn't that practically mean he already has the whole area 12 under his full control?"

A new silence dominated the dark room, everyone including that young, laughing boy fell silent, and most of them didn't believe what she had just said.

It was absurd, theoretically, practically, and verbally. Even they, the special instructors, couldn't do something like that, so it should practically be impossible for a new student.

They didn't believe it, their rational minds denied it, and they needed proof of the theory the girl had just presented before them.

They needed proof and they didn't have to wait for this 'proof' for long as a group of examinees on the screen before them were already nearing a point with one of these thin paper dummies.

At the same time, a strong (Blue) ranked monster was nearing this group, or more like was naturally walking towards this exact same spot.

It was somewhat of an open area and the encounter of this bull and the examinees was going to verify her theory.. or not.

Maybe they will have to wait for the next group.