The Return of Godkin

Chapter 204: The Seventh Trial

Ray had already grabbed another four buns and stuffed two of them into his mouth without hesitation.

Raziel chuckled smugly. "Teacher, you don't need to worry. Our captain's greatest strength isn't his combat power. It's his stomach. He practically ate our academy's dining hall into poverty. Compared to that, these buns are nothing."

There was truth in his words. At Eastsea Academy, Ray had survived on the most expensive meals not out of luxury, but necessity. Even then, his hunger had only barely been satisfied.

These steamed buns, by comparison, were nutritionally average.

Giselle watched in stunned silence as Ray continued.

Ray did the math as he ate. Fifteen buns meant six points. Thirty-five buns would earn full marks.

Less than eight minutes into the trial, he had already consumed thirty-five buns from his own tray. Lily, by contrast, had eaten only four or five.

Without pausing, Ray moved to Violetta's tray. What had seemed like an impossible feat moments ago became routine. Seven minutes later, another thirty-five buns were gone. He then turned to Raziel.

Giselle's expression passed through several stages. Surprise gave way to disbelief, disbelief to shock, and shock to complete numbness.

By the twenty-second minute, Ray had finished thirty-five buns for Raziel as well. A total of one hundred and five buns had vanished, yet his abdomen showed no sign of swelling.

The examiner overseeing the trial stared blankly, utterly stunned. In all his years supervising this test, he had never witnessed anything remotely like this.

Finally, Ray reached Lily's tray. She stood up and offered him her seat, calmly handing him bun after bun as he continued eating. Her pace barely managed to keep up with the speed at which the buns disappeared.

By the twenty-eighth minute, he had finished thirty-five buns for Lily as well. Still, he did not stop.

"Time… time is up," the examiner said weakly, only just remembering his duty.

Ray had eaten forty-eight of the fifty buns on Lily's tray. Two lonely buns remained.

How… how is this possible?

Ray patted his stomach, looking faintly regretful. "Teacher, we got full marks, right?"

Giselle nodded numbly, then turned and walked away as if afraid she might witness something even more unbelievable. A monster… a true monster. Was he always like this? Or was his stomach some kind of bottomless abyss?

"Teacher," Ray called after her, scratching his head. "Can I take the leftover buns with me? I didn't eat breakfast this morning."

Giselle stumbled, nearly losing her footing. She waved her hand without turning back, signaling for him to do whatever he pleased.

Ray happily swept the remaining buns into several bags and stored them in his storage ring. Only then did he follow after Giselle, a satisfied smile on his face.

After half an hour of rest and such a meal, his blood essence had nearly recovered to full strength. Unfortunately, the buns lacked sufficient nutrition. Otherwise, he would have been in perfect condition.

*

"All four of them scored full marks in the sixth trial?" Seraphina sat in a lavishly furnished room, her expression twisting into something unreadable as she listened to the report.

"Yes," the middle-aged man replied respectfully. "They achieved full marks. It was also reported that they took the leftover buns. Most of them were eaten by Ray."

Seraphina fell silent, her eyes narrowing slowly, a strange light flickering within them.

Seraphina remained silent for a long while, her fingers tapping lightly against the armrest of her chair. Only after several breaths did she mutter, half to herself, "It seems I won't need to secretly slip them any extra points after all. At this pace, they'll claw their way to sixty on their own." A faint crease formed between her brows. "Hmph. That brat's strength… it might really have something to do with his stomach. Where did that Alfred even dig up these little monsters? Especially that Ray, and that Lily…"

*

The first trial had tested spiritual power, the second combat ability, and the third adaptability and courage. The fourth, fifth, and sixth trials examined talent, a second profession, and willpower, respectively. Now came the seventh trial, and it was a brutal one in its own right: endurance.

This trial pushed the body to its absolute limits.

When Ray and the others arrived at the site of the seventh trial, they were surprised to see that other examinees were still present.

Unlike the previous tests, this one did not strictly penalize time spent waiting. It was structured as a series of physical challenges, divided into three parts: a ten-kilometer run, one thousand squats while bearing fifty kilograms of weight, and one thousand chin-ups.

Any examinee who completed all three would receive six points. Completing everything within an hour earned full marks, while every additional ten minutes deducted one point, down to a minimum of six.

The requirements were identical for every participant, regardless of martial soul type.

It was obvious who held the advantage. Power-type soul masters were naturally favored here.

Fairness had never been Central Academy's concern.

If fairness truly mattered, the very first trial would not have tested spiritual power, an area where power-type soul masters were notoriously weak.

Just as the first trial eliminated large numbers of examinees, this endurance test would also claim many victims.

No soul master could excel in every field, and every trial was designed to highlight different strengths and expose weaknesses.

This was precisely why Central Academy's acceptance rate was so low.

Even so, this trial was comparatively merciful.

There was no strict time cutoff that meant immediate elimination, and as a result, even hours after the exam began, some examinees were still grinding away, desperately fighting for those precious six points.

After listening to the explanation, Ray's gaze flicked instinctively toward Lily and Violetta. His heart tightened.

He and Raziel would have no trouble with these tests, but for the two girls, especially Violetta, this was far from ideal. They were not physical-type soul masters.

They had already lost twenty points across the fourth and fifth trials. To make up for that deficit, they would need to score well in the remaining trials. Unfortunately, this endurance test was inherently stacked against Lily and Violetta.

Suppressing his unease, Ray turned to Giselle. "Teacher, how many trials are there in total? And how many points do we need to pass?"

"There are ten trials," Giselle replied evenly. "Sixty points are required to pass."

Ray's mind immediately began to calculate. Ten trials meant a maximum of one hundred points, so there were forty points of leeway overall. However, with how unevenly their points were distributed, the margin for error was much smaller than it appeared.

"Can you tell us what the remaining trials will test?" he asked.

"I can't," Giselle replied without hesitation.

Ray nodded and changed tack. "Then how many points is each of the three endurance tests worth?"

"Two points each," Giselle answered.

Ray exhaled quietly, then turned toward Lily and Violetta. His expression was firm and decisive. "You two will only do the ten-kilometer run. Raziel and I will complete all three tests. That's the plan. Let's begin."

The girls did not question him. They trusted his judgment completely. After all, if there was one thing Ray never miscalculated, it was numbers and resource management.

They stepped onto specialized soul-powered treadmills rather than running outdoors. Ray started running immediately, his pace steady yet deceptively fast.

Raziel, as an agility-type soul master, could explode with even greater speed on a straight path, but in a long-distance run, Ray's stamina allowed him to keep pace without falling behind.

Giselle walked over, her eyes widening as she watched the numbers climb on Ray's treadmill. "Why are you only letting them aim for two points?" she asked quietly. "Aren't you worried they won't be able to make up enough points later?"

Ray replied without breaking his stride. "Their bodies aren't suited for squats and chin-ups. Forcing them to attempt those would only waste time and stamina, which would hurt us in the later trials. I'd rather conserve their strength and bet on the final three tests. We've already scored well where we could. This gives us the best chance overall."

Giselle's lips curved into a faint smile. "Excellent analysis."

Ray and Raziel finished the ten-kilometer run in roughly ten minutes, then immediately transitioned to the second test.

For Ray, fifty-kilogram squats were effortless, his movements smooth and unbroken. Raziel, though slightly slower, also handled them with ease thanks to his well-trained body.

Unlike the eating trial, soul power was not restricted here, making things far more manageable.

It was during this stage that the terrifying endurance of Ray's Golden Dragon King bloodline truly became apparent. In less than ten minutes, he completed one thousand squats and moved straight on to the chin-ups.

Before half an hour had passed, he had finished all three tests.

Lily and Violetta completed their ten-kilometer runs in about twenty minutes and rested quietly nearby. Raziel lagged behind Ray, but still managed to finish all three challenges within forty-five minutes, more than enough to secure full points.

Rather than rushing onward, Ray had everyone rest for another fifteen minutes. As long as they finished within an hour, the full-score conditions were met. The girls had already made the correct decision by stopping early.

"Teacher," Ray asked, "how many points do we each have now?"