"You should all know exactly where we are."
The teacher stepped down from the bus, his face unusually serious.
The students, too, seemed to understand something. Gone was the idle chatter and playful laughter—each of them stood silently, forming orderly lines with solemn expressions.
"The reason I brought you here today is because I want you to understand something."
"The peace we enjoy in the heartland, the calm environment in which we study and grow, exists only because countless heroes are shedding blood on the front lines."
"And in the near future, some of you will follow in their footsteps, entering the battlefield against the Moonfolk! That, for each of you, will be the greatest honor!"
"I hope you can realize that your awakened talent does not belong to you alone—it also belongs to all of humanity. The war is far from over. Behind you stand your families, your people!"
"You should know what you must do!"
Each student present bore a grave expression.
At this age—so full of dreams and burning passion—it was only natural for them to aspire to become great heroes.
Under the teacher's lead,
they paid tribute to the deeds of fallen warriors,
and finally returned to the square of the Grave of Heroes.
Yes, this was where they would take their very first Power Values test.
"Everyone, line up properly. The Power Values test is about to begin!"
With the teacher's command, the students quickly split into two lines.
This time, however, the equipment required for the Power Values test appeared far simpler.
It consisted of a single black metallic cube, paired with an old, dusty display screen.
"Yesterday, you should have already learned the basics of the Flesh Forging Art and Meditation Technique. For the next six months, your only goal is to raise your Power Values at any cost."
"When the National Awakener Trial comes, your Power Values will be the key to your entry into prestigious academies."
"A spiritual powers score over 40 grants you access to the regular academies in the major cities; if you exceed 100, you can enter the elite Astral Nexus Academy."
"You all understand what that means—I don't need to say more. So don't slack off!"
With that, the teacher quietly stepped aside.
Under the guidance of staff members, the Power Values test officially began.
Link was standing somewhere in the middle of the line, with Max right beside him.
He didn't strike up a conversation with Max. Instead, his eyes were scanning their classmates.
As his gaze passed over each student, a semi-transparent character interface appeared above them.
[Name: Jack]
[Power Values: 0.78]
[Flesh Forging Art: Flesh Forging Art for Middle Schoolers]
[Meditation Technique: General Meditation Technique]
[Skills: None]
[Talent: Pending Analysis]
…
[Name: Bruce]
[Power Values: 0.69]
[Flesh Forging Art: Flesh Forging Art for Middle Schoolers]
[Meditation Technique: General Meditation Technique]
[Skills: None]
[Talent: Pending Analysis]
…
After sweeping through them all, Link quickly realized that most students were using the basic techniques provided by the school—no surprises there.
These elementary techniques were easy to analyze at a glance.
But when it came to talents, things weren't so simple. Talents required deliberate activation to be detected, and unless someone used theirs, it was almost impossible for others to identify.
What Lib—the intelligent assistant embedded in Link's brain—could offer was limited to educated guesses based on data analysis. It wasn't a perfect detection system.
Still, that alone was already impressive.
What caught Link off guard, however, was how low the students' Power Values were.
After scanning the whole line, he found very few students with Power Values above 0.8. The only standout was Mary, with a score of 1.01.
Looks like I, Link, really am the savior of humanity, he thought smugly.
At the same time, near the Grave of Heroes, inside an abandoned factory...
Several masked individuals stood gathered in silence. Each of them bore a black crescent moon emblem on their chest.
They were members of the Moon Worship Sect.
"Silver Vixen, are you certain about your intel? Has a terrifying elixirist really appeared among the humans?"
"Do you doubt me?" Silver Vixen replied coolly.
Her voice was calm and crisp, and her figure slender and perfectly curved.
She paused for a moment, her cold gaze sweeping over the rest of the group.
"I've already explained the situation in detail. The Goldrolyn Auction House has indeed made significant financial movements. Furthermore, their chief elixirist rushed to the capital just yesterday afternoon."
"All the signs indicate that they're taking this newly surfaced elixir formula extremely seriously. And that genius elixirist, according to my judgment and intel, is likely still in this area."
"And more importantly…"
She turned her eyes toward the window, peering at the distant silhouette of the Grave of Heroes.
"That mysterious elixirist is probably connected to Yilan Middle School!"
The expressions on the Moon Worship Sect members instantly darkened.
If a powerful elixirist had indeed emerged among the humans, it would spell major trouble for the entire Moonfolk race.
Though the Moonfolk still held many trump cards and were confident in their eventual victory, the sudden rise of a talented elixirist would drastically increase their costs in the war effort.
At that moment, a man with a black hood—completely covering his face—spoke up.
His voice was raspy, but carried an unquestionable authority.
"Enough. There's no need to keep arguing about this."
"When it comes to human geniuses, the Moon Worship Sect has always upheld a strict policy: better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one go free."
"And don't forget… we have a traitor among us."
The moment these words fell, the atmosphere turned tense.
"Bill's mysterious death must have been caused by someone leaking his identity. We have a mole."
"Therefore, we have two missions today. First, kill everyone at the Grave of Heroes—ensure that the human elixirist dies. Second, find out who the traitor among us is and eliminate them."
At this point, the hooded man let out a chilling, almost bone-piercing laugh.
His gloomy eyes swept across the room as he continued coldly:
"I hope none of you are the mole. But if anyone dares to protect the humans at the Grave of Heroes…"
"…then that person is the traitor we seek."
"Now go. Commence the operation!"
Back at the Grave of Heroes,
Link and the rest of the students had lined up.
Their first-ever Power Values test was about to begin.
Standing behind Max, Link couldn't help but feel a touch of excitement.
Because from everything he'd observed so far, only Mary had broken the 1-point mark in Power Values.
So when the teacher and the others saw his results...
Would they be shocked? Would they start calling him a genius?
Just as he was entertaining this thought, a rush of hurried footsteps echoed around them!
Link's pupils contracted. Max, standing beside him, gasped:
"Dark Watcher?! What are they doing here!?"