When Simon and every other candidate was given the condensed shadow essence in the beginning, it was the size of a small marble.
But in the second trial, the size of nearly every candidate increased as they fed it the corpse of demon beasts or the condensed shadow essence of other candidates.
Those who obtained more than 120 points had their condensed shadow essence increase from the size of a marble to the size of a ping pong ball at least.
The size of Thorgan’s condensed shadow essence was similar to that of a tennis ball.
Meanwhile, the size of Simon’s condensed shadow essence was similar to the size of a large apple.
Thorgan’s size was already large, but Simon’s was larger.
Not only was it larger, it was a lot darker.
The moment the female Veilmaster saw Simon’s condensed shadow essence, she was in shock, and she could not help but give Simon a suspicious look.
"This is your condensed shadow essence?"
This time around, Simon raised a brow and looked at her with a tinge of annoyance in his expression.
"Are you going to keep on questioning me? Or are you going to show me my points? You never questioned any other candidate like this."
The female Veilmaster said nothing and just stared at Simon with an expression of realization.
She knew that what Simon said was true. She had never questioned any of the candidates like they were in an interrogation room, and it was not even in her nature to do so.
She didn’t care about that at all.
However...
’An oddity. Everything about him is so odd.’
She had so many questions she needed answers to, but first of all, she knew that she had to find out what Simon’s points were.
But for some reason, she had a terrible premonition.
She took Simon’s condensed shadow essence, then she pushed it into the pure white crystal sphere.
A second after Simon’s condensed shadow essence entered the crystal sphere, the darkness of the shadow essence spread like wildfire, and this was not a grey darkness but an utterly black darkness.
The eyes of everybody were glued to the crystal sphere, and a few seconds later, every single nook and cranny of the crystal sphere turned black.
Just like when Thorgan’s condensed shadow essence was pushed into the crystal sphere, dark smoke was released from the sphere.
However, Simon’s dark smoke was extremely thick, akin to the smoke a burning crude oil released.
The female Veilmaster watched the crystal sphere with hawk eyes, but a few seconds later, her and the eyes of every other candidate widened in shock.
Crack
Crack!
Crack!
The crystal sphere began to crack, and the dark smoke that was been released from it was increasing in its intensity.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
More and more cracks appeared on the sphere, and some of the candidates subconsciously took a step back.
The female Veilmaster, two Veilmasters, and all the candidates all watched with wide open eyes.
Until...
Shatter!
The crystal sphere shattered into pieces, and the shadow essence in it nearly splattered in every direction, but the three Veilmasters took action.
They each used their demonic energy to trap the shadow essence, preventing it from touching any of the candidates.
After doing this, they snapped their fingers, and the condensed shadow essence vanished.
Every candidate stared at the pieces of the crystal sphere with a stunned expression, then they all looked at Simon.
Many of them recognized Simon because he was the first person to pass the first trial. However, they all quickly forgot about him because they believed that the first trial was all about luck.
How could they believe that a Minor Lesser Demon with a bloodline that was not even a Noble rank, achieve first position in the first trial based solely on skills.
None of them believed it, and this was the reason they subconsciously and consciously gave themselves when Simon was announced the winner of the first trial.
But now?
What could they say?
What could they do?
It was already surprising that Simon was able to survive the second trial alone, where many Fiends had lost their lives.
They believed that Simon had survived by hiding like a coward to protect his life, but his condensed shadow essence was undeniably larger and more condensed than theirs.
His condensed shadow essence had shattered the crystal sphere that was used to know how many points they got.
None of them had and could do such a thing.
Some wanted to say Simon had cheated and that maybe he found the large condensed shadow essence all due to luck or because he killed a more talented candidate or group of candidates all due to luck and backstabbing.
However, they could not say such a thing because they knew that luck was also very important in one’s life.
A lucky person could live longer than an unlucky person.
Also, if Simon was able to kill a group of talented or an extremely talented candidate, it meant Simon was the victor and the others were the losers.
So many thoughts and questions went through the minds of not just the candidates, but even the three Veilmasters.
They all stared at the broken crystal sphere in a daze, and the three Veilmasters who knew what exactly the crystal sphere was were even more in shock than the candidates.
The female Veilmaster looked at Simon, and she decided that she was going to ask all the questions that had been clawing at her mind ever since she saw Simon after the second trial.
"I have some questions to ask you."
Simon calmly raised a brow. "You’re doing it again, questioning me when no other person was questioned. What did I do wrong?"
The female Veilmaster was taken aback by Simon’s words that were spoken calmly. She did not expect him to talk back to her since he was just a kid and he was a lot weaker than her.
None of the other kids could do what he just did. But here he was, talking back at her.