16

"Name." 

Ruo Chen jerked his head up to see the same man who was reading out the rules earlier holding a pen and paper in his hands. The man's had a simple and unassuming face but it was his aura and presence that stood out the most. 

"Ruo Chen." Ruo Chen replied hastily after realizing that he had been staring at the instructor. 

The strong really do have a different feel...

He thought as he received his number tag with two hands. Ruo Chen was number 243 and he felt restless just thinking about how long he would have to wait.

He had to remind himself that he was actually considered lucky to have a number in the triple digits as he looked at the long line behind him. 

And this was also just the start of the first day of trials, just imagine the line later!

"Name." The same instructor asked Ye Ran in his usual monotone voice but raised his sharp eyebrows when he realized something was off.

"Ye Ran." Ye Ran replied as he took the number tag with his right hand before shoving it in his pocket.

"Hey kid, why are you hiding your presence?" The instructor asked with a hint of warning in his voice as he suspected that Ye Ran might be someone undercover to try to cause harm to the talented youths here for the trial.

Ye Ran's eyes turned a shade darker as he made mental notes in his mind, he was trying to gauge the skills of the teachers here through this simple test of whether they could tell that he was masking his aura. 

Since he was about to be caught, he had to up his effort in hiding.

"Teacher, please check again. Why would I ever hide myself?" Ye Ran said in an innocent tone while perfectly hiding his true intentions.

The teacher then checked again and noticed nothing wrong. He gave Ye Ran another look before moving on to the next kid.

Ruo Chen who had watched this from the side, sighed in relief as he was worried that Ye Ran might try to do something funny but thankfully, nothing too terrible happened.

He figured that the teacher will most likely keep an eye on Ye Ran and it was fine as long as they don't think of them as people wanting to cause harm. If they were to be labelled as threats, all the teachers of the school will fight together to take them down and with Ye Ran's current power, there was no way they could escaped unscathed.

Both of them decided to take a walk around the school before their number was called and they made their way to one of the buildings. This building and like all the other buildings had a really open air feeling to it but that was only on the outside as if you were to go further into the building, it was like a change from day to night.

This particular building housed many training rooms and Ruo Chen pushed open the door to one of them with excitement in his eyes. The room was empty except for a mat on the ground but one could immediately feel the calming effect it had on one's body. The increase in dark energy also made Ruo Chen feel energised as he felt his reserve being replenished.

Many schools have this type of training rooms but what was different for the Ink River school was that this energy was super pure as it came from the Ink River itself. The school of flames was also another school that used one of the natural features around them as an energy supply.

Unlike Ruo Chen who was enthusiastically looking around the school, Ye Ran was unbothered and only quietly followed behind Ruo Chen, while occasionally flashing a smile whenever Ruo Chen turned to look at him.

But immediately after, there would be a look of confusion on his face.

Ruo Chen had already gotten used to this weird behaviour and since he could not find the reason behind it, he thought nothing of it.

"243... Number 243." A voice reverberated through the air as it announced the next number.

Ruo Chen heard the call and said his goodbyes to Ye Ran before making his way to the trial building.

Many youths crowded around the building's entrance and it took Ruo Chen quite a bit of effort to even make it in. He was greeted with a female instructor who had a welcoming look on her face as she led him to the testing room.

As Ruo Chen walked through the door, he immediately felt several gazes scrutinizing his every move as he met the gazes of the white robed instructors. They were all using their own ways to measure Ruo Chen's ability and after a few seconds, the pressure was lifted slightly and small smiles could be seen on some of the instructors faces.

Seems like I'm decent enough. Ruo Chen thought as he made his way in front to the instructors. He was told to give a simple introduction of himself by the usher earlier and he quickly adjusted his posture before speaking.

"I am Ruo Chen from a nearby village. I have average skills but I will work hard to improve it." Ruo Chen said in a meek tone as he was trying to make himself seem as average as possible.

Since he was going to be by Ye Ran's side, he should save all the spot light for the protagonist. Besides, if he were to reveal his true strength, that would be putting too much attention to himself and that would naturally create enemies in the school.

After all, competition in foremost schools in this were bound to be high and Ruo Chen did not want unnecessary drama. Ye Ran already stood out a lot with his aura and good looks so there was no need to add on to it.

"But from my own observations, that does not seem to be the case?" A young voice spoke from one of the seats. It was a gallant looking youth with a fiery gaze.

"Esteemed teacher, you think too highly of me." Ruo Chen said politely while pretending to not dare to meet her eyes.

"How he does in this trial will prove to us whether or not he strong." A middle age man added with impatience.

The other instructors nodded before Ruo Chen got ready for the instruction.

"First, we want to test the power of your energy, please transfer it at maximum output into the space pouch." The same middle aged man read out the first trial before a black space pouch flew in front of him.

Ruo Chen then grabbed it before preparing to do this with as average of an effort possible. His own energy was incredibly strong for him age so he had to be extra careful when doing this trial.

He let out a small but steady stream into the pouch while forcing a pained expression on his face, even making his heart rate faster so he'd let out beads of sweat.

"Passable." An aged man commented before he swiped his hands to make the space pouch return into a wooden box.

"Next, please show off any skills that you have." 

Now Ruo Chen was in a dilemma. He had many skills in his arsenal but he did not know which one to use. Since he got a passable in his first test, then this skill has to be passable or better, but not too much better. 

Hmmm, which one to use?

In the end, he decided to use the skill pierce but he decided to make sure he did it really badly as it took quite the amount of skill and effort for the bullet to be like a spitzer bullet for a youth and Ruo Chen would also make it that it would not explode on impact as that would be an advanced skill.

Ruo Chen asked for a wheat dummy to be placed at the corner of the room before he pointed a finger gun and let out a 'spitzer' bullet. The shape was definitely not sharp with dark energy flowing out of the shape and it was way too slow for it to even be a bullet.

The only redeeming factor of it was that it was at least almost able to pierce through the dummy and the instructors were a little impressed. This was a unique skill never seen before as this world did not have guns and most people still used archery as a way of long ranged attack. 

They noted down Ruo Chen's creativity but were quite unimpressed by his control of energy. Yet they felt that this skill could definitely be improved on and they saw potential in Ruo Chen.

Enough potential that they allowed him to take the final test.

"Ruo Chen, you have passed the first two test and have made it to the final test that is to be held in a few days time. You will be notified on that day and you can wait in one of our dorms provided for your stay." The middle aged instructor congratulated with a wide smile on his face while the other instructors clapped. 

The gallant female instructor clapped along but had a suspecting look in her eyes as she watched Ruo Chen leave the room.

Ruo Chen heaved a sigh of relief when he left the room and many youths looked at him with curious gazes but he ignored it all before making his way to meet Ye Ran. 

It was Ye Ran's turn after his and he wanted to give him his well wishes even if he knew Ye Ran did not need it.

Ruo Chen soon spotted Ye Ran sitting on a nearby bench with a book over his face. 

"Wake up sleepy head, it's going to be your turn soon." Ruo Chen said playfully as he lifted the book from Ye Ran's face.

Ye Ran groaned as the sun hit his face and glared at Ruo Chen before making his way to the building. 

Back to being standoffish again.

Ruo Chen thought as he sat down on the bench, ever since living together, there have been many instances as such where Ye Ran's personality would alternate between friendly and cold and Ruo Chen was sure that Ye Ran was not bipolar in the novel but he had learned to accept the anomalies.

"The sun really is harsh today." He mumbled as he copied Ye Ran by placing the book on his face as well.

Meanwhile, Ye Ran who was now walking towards the building, had a strange flicker in his eyes before it disappeared as quickly as it came.