"I’ll use her as an example to explain how we’ll know how many points you’ve gotten."
After saying this, the female Veilmaster shifted her gaze back to the girl.
"Are you in a group? Where’s your group leader?"
The girl was taken aback for a second, then she looked at a particular boy to her left.
"He’s the group leader. But-"
The female Veilmaster frowned, then she looked at the boy who had an expression that made it obvious he was traumatized by something.
"What’s wrong?" The female Veilmaster asked without taking her gaze off the boy.
"We’re the only ones left in the group. The others... died."
The female Veilmaster’s frown did not deepen since she already expected such a thing. Not every group would have all six members after the second trial.
"Doesn’t matter. Both of you step forward and bring your condensed shadow essence."
The girl stepped forward, and despite his traumatized expression, the boy also stepped forward.
Both of them handed their condensed shadow essence to the female Veilmaster, and she saw that the boy’s condensed shadow essence was darker and slightly larger than the girl’s.
"Just like I said, I’ll use their group to explain to you how we’ll know what your points are."
The female Veilmaster swept her gaze across the crowd, then she fused both condensed shadow essence before pushing it inside the pure white crystal ball.
The moment she did this, the crystal ball changed.
Like ink pouring on a white canvas, the white crystal ball was slowly getting darker and darker, and in the eyes of Simon and the others with exceptional eyesight, it looked like the light and shadow were both fighting.
A few seconds later, the shadow stopped spreading, and smoky black runes appeared above the crystal.
The number 137 could be seen by all.
The boy and girl instantly released sighs of relief, and the female Veilmaster nodded.
"Not bad. You pass."
The boy and girl looked at one another with smiles of relief but also one of sadness. The female Veilmaster saw this, but once again, she did not care in the slightest.
She waved her left arm at the duo, and a plaque with the number of points they got could be seen hovering in front of them.
"Stay by my right with your points."
The boy and girl obeyed. They quickly grabbed their plaques, and walked to the female Veilmaster’s right hand side.
"Now, you know how it works. No more explanation is needed. You’re next, come up with your group."
The female Veilmaster wasted no time calling out the next candidates, and this time around, the group had three members.
They offered their condensed shadow essence, and the result...
"92. Fail. Stay by my left hand side."
The female Veilmaster ruthlessly said, not caring about the dejected expressions of the three candidates.
She called out the next, but just a single individual walked out.
His expression was down, and he seemed to know the result as he handed over his condensed shadow essence.
The female Veilmaster did not ask why he was the only that came out.
It could be for several reasons... They were all dead, he was never in a group to begin with, or the group kicked him out because he was useless.
There were so many reasons why he could be alone, and the female Veilmaster was not going to ask.
"22. Go to the left."
The female Veilmaster said with unveiled disgust in her tone, and the boy looked down dejectedly.
She called the next, and just one person came out again.
"49. Left."
"83. Left."
"61. Left."
"103. Left."
"99. Left."
"123. Right."
"33. Left."
"70. Left."
"48. Left."
As more and more candidates began to step forward, the expression of the female Veilmaster began to change to one of confusion.
The reason was not because a lot of candidates failed.
The reason was because many of the candidates that stepped forward were not in groups.
They came out alone, and this was extremely strange and worrying to her.
’It’s not uncommon for there to be candidates without group members at the end of the second trial, but the rate worries me. What’s going on?’
Despite the worry and questions in her heart, she kept quiet and continued checking the points of the candidates.
When she was done, she and the others could find out what happened.
"666. Right."
The moment she said this, she paused and looked back at the chaos runes above the crystal orb to ensure she had not seen wrongly.
She had said this absentmindedly, but the instant she realized the number she had called, she was stunned.
This was currently the highest number, and it was a number that would please the Grave Lords once they get to know of it.
She looked at the group in front of her, and she saw a boy and a girl.
The boy was short. He had silver hair, and his eyes and forehead were covered with a black cloth.
The girl was tall, almost as tall as her. She was extremely beautiful and had white hair, causing the female Veilmaster to subconsciously compared their beauties.
The moment Simon saw the duo, he recognized them immediately.
’Jorra and Merath.’ he thought with a slight frown at the duo.
’How did they gather so many points?’ Simon knew that the duo were strange, but now, they had their attention.
He remembered Merath’s last words to him.
"We’re strong!"
’I guess they truly are.’ Simon smiled inwardly.
After some seconds, the female Veilmaster also gave them their plaques while making sure to remember their faces. Then she gestured to her right.
"You pass. Stand there."
They both nodded with smiles, then they walked to her right.
The female Veilmaster took one last look at the duo, then she called out the next candidate.
To Simon’s slight surprise, it was Thorgan.
He walked forward with a confident smile, then he handed over his condensed shadow essence which was the biggest and darkest the female Veilmaster had seen amongst the entire candidates.
Her eyes flashed with a smile.
She pushed the condensed shadow essence inside the pure white crystal ball, then...