Headmaster Leopold shook his head and chuckled.
"In first place, awarded with a full ten points, is Fourth Prince Tor. He's once again displayed unmatched intellect. However, this time, he's shown this old man just how important absolute strength in conjunction with intelligence is. While none of his schemes would have worked had he not been powerful enough, the fact of the matter is that he was.
"When one thinks about it, without authority, intelligence is only meaningless. When you play a game of Domain, the more intelligent individual wins, but this is only because the rules of the game have been established as something that must be followed. While the authority in use isn't obvious to you at the time, it is in fact there.
"This sort of logic can be applied to all sorts of matters and I thank little friend Ryu for opening this old man's eyes to this truth." Headmaster Leopold smiled lightly, feeling ten years younger all of a sudden. How long had it been since he had such a profound breakthrough in his Mental Realm?
In truth, this conclusion was a bit depressing to him. He had never attempted to enter the world of cultivation because he believed the matters of the mind were superior. But, by now, it was already too late for him.
Still, he didn't feel despair. Instead, he etched these matters into his heart. He could only hope that some of these faint memories followed him to the next life. When that day came, he would definitely not waste his youth again!
"In second place…"
The crowd unwittingly shifted forward in their seats. The first conclusion had been obvious nearly from start to finish. What they wanted to know is just how the rest of the board had been affected.
"… I've placed Second Prince Tor."
As expected, Headmaster Leopold's words stunned the crowd. Jedrek did have an eye-catching performance, but even if Leopold chose to ignore Ryu's words about Kalmin, surely second place would have been either Silas or Amory, no?
In regard to Silas, although he failed in the end, that was only because Ryu was a monster. Who would possibly calculate for the possibility that their opponent, as a mere fifteen-year-old boy, could defeat a Lower Fourth Order Beast? This obviously wasn't the fault of Silas' scheme. In fact, his actions could be said to be perfect.
Then there was Amory. He was once again calm and steady throughout the whole process. In truth, his performance was inferior to Silas'. The only reason it would be acceptable if he placed second instead was due to how perfect his commands were as he climbed his steps. From beginning to end, only his helpers never suffered a single injury. While this was partly due to how powerful his Dragon Corps were, it was also related to his quick and clever battle tactics.
Still, this time, no one had an outburst. Everyone simply waited patiently for Headmaster Leopold to explain.
"Among the seven remaining Princes, Jedrek brought out his greatest strength with the most efficiency.
"A King knows when to take a step forward, but he also knows when to take a step back. You all know this, but both of Jedrek's grandfathers are Emperors of the battlefield. Old General Garis has been a loyal guard of Tor Kingdom for several dozen years and has a list of military merits that could extend from one end of our Highest Mortal Plane to the other.
"On the other hand, Supreme Elder Amell Tor is an overlord of the cultivation world. He is not only an unmatched talent, but his battle prowess has been well known since his youth.
"A youth like Jedrek is under tremendous pressure not to only succeed, but to follow in the footsteps of those who came before him. The reason I award Jedrek nine points isn't only because of the overbearingness of his wealth, but because he's shown the bearing of a True King. Only a person worthy of that title can forge his own path with such absolute confidence!"
Hearing Headmaster Leopold's explanation, no one could find it within themselves to refute. This competition was entirely about naming the one Prince who was the worthiest of the title King among the eight of them. In that case, weren't Leopold's requirements perfect?
"In third place I name another tie. This time, three ways – Prince Kalmin, Prince Amory and Prince Silas.
"Everyone is aware of how poised First Prince Tor behaved. He is the only one among the eight that left their subordinates in perfect condition. His adaptation abilities were excellent, and his approach to combat was both novel and an homage to history. While lacking in his own combat strength, he also made use of his greatest strengths to succeed. I reward him a score of eight.
"As for Prince Kalmin, I also cannot give him higher than an eight. While it is true that he is responsible for half of Ryu's plans, it cannot be ignored that it was necessary to sacrifice his younger brother to achieve these means. While it is important for a King to understand sacrifice – the very reason I didn't deduct many points for this folly – one must sacrifice yourselves before your allies…"
Ryu practically tuned out the rest of that portion of the Headmaster's speech. The moment he heard it begin, he could smell the bullshit wafting through the arena. It was obvious that Leopold was making things up as he went to make it seem like he wasn't being manipulated by Ryu. It was also obvious that this was simply the highest grade he dared to give Kalmin to not attract the hatred of the three Sects. So Ryu only chuckled lightly.
He had to say though, the old man was quite good at concocting stories. This was a competition where brothers were pitted against each other on purpose. Who's to say that Kalmin didn't sabotage his brother on purpose so that he would certainly become King?
Obviously, though, Ryu didn't say any of these things out loud. He let the old man have his fun.
"In fourth place, I have Prince Atticus with six points. While he did succeed in pinning the weakness of Kalmin, he didn't exploit it fully. So, I can only award six point. In fifth place, I will award Third Prince Tor with one point for completing the trial. And in last, we have Second Prince Opes.
"After combining the scores of both trials, we have: Ryu (20), Amory (16), Kalmin (16), Jedrek (13), Silas (10), Atticus (8), Cayden (6) and Kwan (0). Prepare yourselves, for this will be the third and final trial."