Whoosh!

A red light flashed from the bodies of all the students.

In the next instant, the light engulfed them, and their figures vanished completely from view.

The academy's backyard, once crowded with students, now lay deserted, eerily like a graveyard.

"Who do you think will win this test?" a short-haired female professor asked casually.

"I think Luvis, the genius from the Knight Kingdom of Batrum, will win. He has reached the Fifth Awakening level, making him the strongest genius in the kingdom," replied an elderly professor.

"Luvis, huh? I know him, and his strength is certainly impressive. Unfortunately, I've chosen Tina and Tira from the elf race. They're twins and high elves with wind and water spirit bloodlines. Their abilities are extraordinary, especially given that the test takes place on a forest-covered island. It's clear they hold a significant advantage," another female professor retorted.

Not wanting to be outdone, the other professors began to praise their own favorites.

Most of them mentioned well-known geniuses who were expected to win.

Eventually, their attention turned to Ronald. The old professor beside him asked, "Vice Principal, what do you think? Who has the best chance of winning?"

The others pricked up their ears, clearly curious about his answer.

"Me?" Ronald chuckled as he rubbed his chin. "I'm not so sure. Every student here has remarkable talent and ability. Still, if I have to be realistic, I'll choose one name—Merlin Clay."

When they heard the name Merlin Clay, everyone was stunned.

"Merlin Clay? Isn't he the prodigy from the Holy Kingdom of Aldoria?" one of them asked doubtfully.

"Yes, you're right. He is the prodigy from the Holy Kingdom of Aldoria," Ronald confirmed.

"But, Vice Principal, isn't he just an ordinary genius? There's nothing special about him, is there?" Another professor frowned.

Ronald's judgment was not a trivial matter. He possessed an ability called foresight.

It was similar to seeing the future, but it worked in a different way.

If seeing the future meant knowing events directly, then foresight only offered brief glimpses, with a success rate of sixty to seventy percent.

Because of that, since Ronald was so confident in the boy named Merlin, it wasn't impossible that Merlin would win this test.

Noticing their concern, Ronald chuckled softly and reassured them, "Don't worry. I didn't use foresight. I simply see him differently from the others, so I believe he'll win. That's all."

The professors let out sighs of relief. Fortunately, it was only a personal judgment, not one based on future insight.

That meant there was still a chance he could be wrong.

Soon after, the professors resumed their debate, and this time, they even placed a bet.

Ronald merely watched and shook his head.

'I'm not using foresight, but that doesn't mean my judgment is wrong. After all, Merlin Clay is a direct student of the academy's headmaster.'

Naturally, he couldn't say that out loud. It had to remain a secret, no matter what.

With a faint smile, he joined the professors in their bet.

...

"It's started, huh?"

Standing in front of the large window of her workspace, Linda calmly gazed at the academy's quiet backyard.

She took a sip of her coffee and muttered, "This test will weed out the truly talented ones. I'm very curious to see whether Merlin can complete the challenge I gave him."

She had complete faith in her beloved disciple's abilities.

Merlin had never disappointed her, so she was confident he would win.

However, the other students were no less talented. Each of them was a genius from the three kingdoms and beyond.

Perhaps her beloved disciple would face some difficulty.

...

"Ugh!" Merlin felt his surroundings spin.

His head grew dizzy, and his vision blurred.

A few moments later, everything returned to normal. Strangely, however, he felt a powerful wind rushing up from below.

When he looked down, he realized he was falling at an incredible speed.

"Damn it!"

He quickly reached out with his right hand and shouted, "Wind Magic: Float!"

In an instant, his body halted and began to float in the air.

Merlin let out a sigh of relief before slowly descending and landing safely on the ground.

"Ugh… The vice principal is really infuriating! He made me fall from that high up. Was he trying to kill me?" Merlin muttered in frustration.

If he hadn't been a mage, he would have been injured. After all, even a swordsman or spearman with a strong body would have suffered serious injuries in that situation.

Shaking his head, Merlin looked around.

He found himself in a dense, dark forest. Trees stretched as far as the eye could see.

Faint monster sounds echoed in the distance, enough to make anyone who heard them feel afraid.

But to Merlin, it wasn't frightening at all.

"System, scan the area within one kilometer. If there are other people, let me know."

"[Ding! Starting scan!]"

A radar panel appeared in front of Merlin. He waited calmly, and five seconds later, the panel stopped moving.

"[No one else detected, Master.]"

"What?" Merlin was stunned. "No one within a kilometer?"

A kilometer was quite a distance. Moreover, there were two hundred and forty students in total.

If there was no one else within a kilometer, that could only mean one thing—this island was enormous.

"System, can you analyze the structure of this island? How large is it?"

The system scanned the island. It took a while—about five minutes.

"[Ding! Star Island scan complete! The island covers an area of fifty square kilometers. Its terrain includes forests, mountains, lakes, and rivers. At the island's deepest point lies a giant magical core that maintains the island's structure, preventing it from collapsing. A powerful magical barrier surrounds the island, making escape impossible unless one dies here.]"

"Fifty kilometers? That's huge." Merlin's eyes widened in surprise.

In his homeland, even large islands rarely exceeded five to ten kilometers.

Now he could imagine just how massive this place really was.

"All right, thank you, system," Merlin said softly.

"[You're welcome, Master. Oh, and using the scan incurs a fee, so I'll deduct a thousand system points from your account.]"

A blue panel appeared in front of him.

"[Ding! Deducting a thousand system points for using the system's services!]"

Merlin: "…"

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