novelraw Chapter 188: Headmaster’s Test
Chapter 188: Headmaster’s Test
John slowly touched each coin and infused an almost invisible pulse of Divinity into them.
Now, that sight was what finally surprised the noble students. The way he did it was simple, as if it were a mundane task that required zero focus, but that was exactly why they had reacted that way.
Not even the strongest Divine Forgers they knew had shown a similar level of skill in Divinity control.
John proved to them that, despite them knowing him to be an Inquisitor, they had still underestimated him.
Though, unlike how they would’ve reacted before, they were relatively calm, as if subconsciously expecting it to happen.
A contradiction that confused none of them.
"Now, here’s the deal."
Once the coins were all shimmering faintly with his Divinity, he threw them out across the classroom and had them land on each of their desks.
"I need all of you to try to imbue your own Divinity into it. Take control of it. Use whatever method you like, but take control. Don’t worry about me losing my hold; go all out—I can keep my Divinity in them from here..."
He flicked a casual finger in their direction, and they felt a wave of Divinity flicker in the coins, smacking them in the face as if it were a gust of wind.
Once a few seconds had gone past, most of the students glanced at each other, uncertain of how to go about it.
"That’s simple enough."
But then, seeing Ignotus go first, who was surprisingly attending the class, they quickly copied what he did. The same happened to those around him, Lykos, Ulv, Aur, Mer, and, of course, Gaia, following his lead.
They hesitantly touched the coins on their desks as they slowly circulated the Divinity within their own bodies.
The moment they made contact, they allowed much of the coin’s Divinity to extend into them, conjoining with their own.
At first, they met extreme resistance, unable to even penetrate the first barrier, unable to stuff even a minute amount of their Divinity.
But then, after at least a minute of desperate attempts, most students crossed what should’ve been an easy barrier.
Things didn’t get easier after that, though, and if Aur’s scrunched-up face was any indication, it was way harder instead.
Immediately, every student who crossed the barrier, except Ignotus and Mer, was ejected, their hands springing off the coins.
It was like they had played tug-of-war with invisible ropes, only this time the ropes were pulsing with Divinity that was barely theirs and mostly John’s.
There was seemingly no chance for them to win, to pull John off the platform, to take control.
Though it appeared that those two might’ve had a chance.
The whole class nervously watched them, trying to see who’d lose control first.
Mer’s hands trembled, and her jaw clenched.
"Come on, come on, come on..."
Surprising no one...
"Gah!"
She lost first.
Her hands blasted off the coin as she was launched back, landing on her backside with a thud.
The same happened to Ignotus a minute later, though a lot more controlled and clean, followed only by a clicked tongue.
Ignotus was the strongest in class, yes, but he still had no chance against an Inquistor, for they were Class Seven, Bannerets and up.
A Class Nine, a Priest, like him, was never supposed to win... At least he had managed to keep his mouth shut, though, enduring the backlash.
That was when John raised his hand, taking the class’s attention.
"Defending is easier than attacking. Especially when you’re lower class."
He gestured for them to continue, wanting to explain things to them while they worked.
They did exactly that, and he watched as a few students, mainly the six at the back, finally started to settle into the flow.
The room began to fill with grunts, muttered curses, and the occasional whimper of someone whose Divinity got smacked again.
Lykos’s and Ulv’s foreheads had veins pulsing so furiously that Ignotus was half-convinced they’d rupture something.
Gaia looked like she was trying to coax the coin into submission.
Aur looked like she was trying to intimidate the coin into submission.
And Mer... Mer was already sweating bullets, but she went at it again.
Little by little, flickers of their Divinity settled into the coins, and they penetrated the barrier in half the time as last time, their Divinity stabilizing in little flickers.
They were starting to feel like they had control, at least some semblance of it—that was, until John ’pulled’ a bit harder, completely overpowering the thin layer of Divinity they’d managed to put into it.
The coins were practically lit up with his Divinity, erasing all traces of the students’ Divinity as if it had never been there.
An act that took noticeably longer with Ignotus, a few seconds almost.
Clicking their tongues and sucking in their breaths, the frustrated five slowly began to realize the point he was making.
"But..."
John leaned back, continuing with a smirk:
"If the difference in rank is like ours, then it wouldn’t matter. It’d just be one-way violence." His tone was casual, almost too casual, and the students shifted uncomfortably.
’Don’t fight above your rank, at least not in any straightforward manner.’
That was the sentence that he was going to instill into them today. He wanted to make sure that they could not only see but also feel the difference in their ranks. Understand exactly why they must resort to trickery when against any such opponent.
To some, it was a direct comment on the way they fought.
To others, it was a warning not to match those special and fight any such strong opponents in the first place...
It was to know their place in the world.
Their prolonged lives would thank them for it.
A lesson Ignotus didn’t need, as he’d already fully understood and lived by it. But hey, it was appreciated anyway, and it never hurt to hear someone else validate one’s worldview.
"Alright, enough about that. Do continue."
With that, the students resumed the fight, and for the rest of the lesson, each of them became a little more aware of just how far they had to go to reach John’s class.
That distance seemed impossible, but at that point, only Lykos was annoyed by such a fact; the rest were completely fine with it, accepting the sheer difference between each class.
They didn’t give up, though; they were diligent, most of them managing to keep some sense of control even after John ’pulled’ a little, though not enough to even near his full power.
Little victories, sure, but he let them have those without comment.
And as they wrapped up, John called off the Divinity he’d left lingering on the coins and looked at a few students who stood to the side, silently asking them to collect the coins.
Nodding their heads, they quickly stood up and did as they were asked.
Once they were done, John looked back at the students...
Or rather, at Ignotus, and announced:
"The headmaster made you a special test."