Chapter 256: Top 10 Chapter 256: Top 10 The floating boxes slowly rearranged themselves, forming a serialized line as positions from 1st to 10th aligned perfectly in a straight row. One by one, names surfaced, followed by clear portraits hovering beside them, glowing faintly in the air. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 "Behold the top 10 student faces!" the Host shouted, his voice amplified as he whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Dramatic music thundered through the arena, vibrating against the seats, and as the final beat dropped, everything came into sharp focus. 1. Tavian Gridfall - 5,500,000 2. Leo - 390,600 3. Leon - 250,000 4. Lily - 115,880 5. Dhalia Renner - 67,899 6. Lyra Noctis - 51,478 7. Aaron Stone - 61,980 8. Ronan Virex - 40,900 9. Uraan Hurricane - 35,000 10. Marco - 63,450 {Ranking is not according to trial score since students have challenged each other previously} From the rankings alone, it was obvious—after securing a spot in the top 10, no one had challenged another. Everyone was afraid of revealing their remaining cards too early. The moment the rankings finalized, the arena erupted. Cheers exploded outward as the Host’s voice boomed once more. "Everyone, cheer for our top ten students! We finally get to know each other. And the most secretive of them all—Leo, Leon, and Lily!!!" "WHOOOOOOAAAAA!! WOOOOO!!" The crowd roared, waves of sound crashing against the walls. Along with the names, crisp photographs floated beside each rank. The instant eyes landed on the original top 3, the cheering doubled—no, tripled—as people noticed the presence of 3 goddesses among them. Still, the loudest cheers were reserved for the newly revealed one. "Pink-haired goddess!!!" "So beautiful!" "Wait! I’ve seen her before!" "Me too!" Some girls screamed Leon’s name as well, though Leo wasn’t quite as lucky—Leon’s presence completely overshadowed him. "Hahahahahaha." For the first time, Leo heard Leon laugh so heartily. It wasn’t exactly pleasant for him, and all Leo could do was sneer in response. "HAHAHAHAHA." "HAHAHAHAHA." Two even louder bursts of laughter echoed across the room. Turning toward the sound, people spotted a deep grey-haired boy with looks rivaling Leon’s, and another with fiery red hair, just as striking, both openly laughing at Leo. Ronan and Aaron. Their amusement, however, didn’t last long. A sharp glare prickled against their skin, sending a chill straight down their spines. Both of them stiffened before quickly averting their gazes, whistling innocently as if nothing had happened. Even they understood the danger of Lily. That’s right—currently, all top 10 students were placed in single rooms. Tavian, as stoic as ever, stood rigid with his orange hair and a long braid neatly framing his sharp features. From the corner, his piercing eyes analyzed every individual present. There was no wariness in his gaze—only curiosity. Nearby, Lyra, the blonde beauty, stood beside the cyan-haired Dhalia. The two spoke quietly, their expressions relaxed as they enjoyed each other’s company. It was clear they had known each other long before entering the academy. The same familiarity could be seen between Ronan and Aaron. Many were surprised by Ronan’s demeanor. His ferocity seemed reserved strictly for battle. Outside of it, he was almost goofy, with Aaron constantly indulging his antics. As for Marco, the light brown-haired boy stood awkwardly beside Uraan, the deep brown-haired student. Uraan appeared to be easing him into the group—after all, Marco was a recent commoner, while nearly everyone else in the room hailed from noble families. Except for Leo, Leon, and Lily—whose origins remained unknown. Most believed the trio were deliberately hiding their identities. After all, there was simply no way a recent commoner could score that many points. Just recently, a vice-principal had visited them. His words were calm but firm—this was a chance to get to know each other and grow comfortable together. While competition was important, it should remain a friendly rivalry. Turning fellow students into lifelong enemies was unnecessary and strongly discouraged. At the end of the day, all of them would be fighting for humanity. They would represent it. With countless foreign enemies already looming, rotting from the inside was not an option. The competition, he emphasized, should be treated as preparation—a way to understand each other’s abilities. From now on, many officially issued missions would place these 10 together again and again. Teamwork would be vital, especially with the upcoming Inter-academy tournament. At the mention of the inter-academy tournament, vigour lit up every student’s face. The winning team would receive collective rewards from all academies. And of course, the juiciest rewards always came from the top 3 academies—rewards capable of pushing someone nearly 10 years ahead of their peers. Finally, Tavian decided to speak—and he chose Leo. As he approached— "Is your score really legitimate?" he asked bluntly, striking straight at the point. The room fell silent. Some wondered if Tavian had voiced what everyone else was thinking. Others feared he had just made a massive mistake—after all, no one truly knew Leo’s temper, or what he was capable of. Leo’s eyes narrowed. "I’m asking if your score is legitimate," Tavian continued evenly. "Unlike me, who exploited a loophole, you achieved nearly 400 thousand purely from the trial score. I don’t believe it’s possible for someone under the age of 30 to score that much. Not to mention..." He paused. "...a recent commoner." Eyes widened across the room. Lily’s gaze darkened instantly. Even Leon looked surprised—he hadn’t known Leo’s origin himself, and asking would’ve been impolite when he wasn’t ready to reveal his own. But Lily relaxed the moment she saw Leo smirk. He stepped forward, stopping directly in front of Tavian. Leo stood a full head taller than him. Tilting his head slightly, he met Tavian’s gaze without flinching. "Why don’t you confirm it yourself today," Leo said calmly, "or at bad luck—tomorrow?" For something many believed impossible, Tavian smiled. The stoic sharpness of his face softened, turning impossibly handsome with that faint curve of his lips. "Good. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. We don’t need any pussies at the top. Let’s see if you truly have what it takes to be our captain over these next 2 days." The vice-principal had already stated that whoever ranked first would become the tier-1 class captain, leading them in missions and tournaments. With his trial score alone, Leo was the most anticipated candidate. As for why Tavian seemed to know Leo’s origin, it was a secret of a high noble. But as for still considering Leo as the prospective captain, it was because Tavian had struggled against Dhalia and Lyra, both with half as many points as Lily, who was third and nearly 5 to 6 times less than Leo’s. So it was obvious Leo had the capabilities of being the captain if he was legitimate. As if on cue, the scoreboard blinked once again. Names and faces vanished, replaced by question marks. 10 unknown blocks—male and female silhouettes—appeared on the massive board before the audience. One by one, they shuffled rapidly, sliding into random positions before finally settling. shing! shing! shing! The cards flipped dramatically as the fighting pairs were revealed.