The military had plenty of reasons to make Xiao Lin’s life hard, such as the fact that Xiao Lin was someone who the dean looked favorably upon, or even the fact that Xiao Lin had foiled the military’s plot to kill Lilith just recently. Basically, no matter how one looked at it, the military currently had a lot of bones to pick with Xiao Lin. Even if they knew his skill meant the tests would not be an issue, they probably wanted to make it so he would not have it that easy.
Everyone else cast curious gazes over; some of them had realized the officials did not seem to have good intentions, but the other party’s status meant they could not interfere as new students. A few of them who had a decent relationship could not help but feel some worry, and there were also some who just wanted to watch the show, of course.
“It’s fine.” Xiao Lin greeted Cheng Ming and a few others with a smile as he followed the officials into the training hall. Since they did not allow spectators, they closed the door behind them.
The training hall was empty, and there were six officials including the male from outside, split into five men and one woman. Even though they were wearing casual clothes, the aura they exuded was hard to cover up. It was the sort of aura that only appeared after tremendous amounts of experience in battle.
Even just sitting there with their observant gazes intended to make Xiao Lin feel more comfortable radiated the feeling that the officials could spring into battle at any moment. It was an innate trait that could only be cultivated through bitter battles.
Despite the fact that the military was trying to make his life hard, the ones present in front of him were not people he could underestimate. Xiao Lin immediately got serious, but even so, he still maintained utmost confidence in himself.
“You are Xiao Lin?” The question repeated itself, but it served to show that the ones in front of him did not know who Xiao Lin was at all.
Xiao Lin nodded.
The officials exchanged glances, their hands grasping thick books. What was on the books should be the basic information on every examinee. Of course, vital information such as their talents were definitely out of their clearance.
“The information states that you are already at Black Iron-rank.”
“That’s right.”
“Normally in the academy, for those at the Black Iron-rank, the basic tests are just a formality; it would not even be unusual to exempt you…” The man from outside was the one who spoke; he was the only one not in casual clothing, but instead in black leather armor.
Xiao Lin raised his eyebrow, interrupting the man’s words rudely. “There are still a lot of examinee’s behind me, so you should just start with your ‘however’ and save everyone’s time.”
“However…” The man seemed to say the word at the exact same time as Xiao Lin’s mockery, which caused an awkward pause in his words.
The two of them looked at each other, but the man quickly composed himself, saying, “However, we’re at an abnormal time in Dawn Academy, and we have much higher expectations for the new students, especially those who are class monitors…”
Pausing for a moment, he stared at Xiao Lin’s mocking gaze. No matter how shameless the man was, he could not help but avert his gaze. Coughing dryly, he decided to get straight to the point. “Basically, from our research two days ago, we think that class monitors will need to go through higher requirements to pass their tests.”
“We believe that after four months of study, your Basic Swordsmanship should at least have advanced to Elementary Swordsmanship LV1, and based on the information we have, your current swordsmanship skill is at Basic Swordsmanship LV9. Am I correct?” the woman said.
Xiao Lin gaped. His Basic Swordsmanship was at LV8 before he left for the New World, but the Holy Soul Sword allowed him to reach LV9. However, his Holy Soul Sword had already been broken by dragon breath, so he quickly realized something in excitement. His swordsmanship had actually reached LV9, which was the maximum rank for the basic level. Of course, that was thanks to the battles he fought in the New World, which definitely helped enhance his swordsmanship.
However, the woman said that the target was Elementary LV1, which might not be that far away from Basic Swordsmanship MAX, but it was still an entire rank apart. With how fast he was improving, Xiao Lin felt like he could get to that level in no time.
However, the test was that very day, at that very moment!
Xiao Lin finally understood how his opponents planned to make things harder for him. They were intentionally raising the difficulty of the tests to delay his advancement. It looked like they were just making him retake the test, but looking at it deeper, if he did not pass the test, the military would have enough reason to stop him from entering the Inter-academy Tournament, which was coming up soon, and they could even temporarily remove him from being a class monitor.
Xiao Lin managed to think of a few despicable schemes in such a short time. He trusted that the military would definitely not have missed it.
After the examiner made the announcement, Xiao Lin fell silent as he predicted, but he still kept his calm. The man nodded in approval. No matter what, that young student was very composed, even if it would not help him at that moment.
“Do you understand now that you can’t possibly pass this test.” The man maintained a neutral expression. “Go back, come retake the test after you raise your swordsmanship to Elementary LV1. As a new student, you should study earnestly. Your lecturers are all seniors with a lot of experience. Don’t keep overextending yourself. We’ve looked into your information, and your attendance is really bad!”
The last words had quite a heavy tone. It was hard to refute that point, because Xiao Lin really did not attend many classes usually. He had the freedom to choose his own classes, but that was something the dean had given him, not the military!
“What if I insist on taking the test?”
“Since you understand, just go back. It’s not that we’re making things hard for you…” The man nodded as he continued talking before realizing something was off. He raised his head, looking at Xiao Lin with a strange expression. “What did you say just now?”
“I said, what if I insist on taking the test? I doubt you’d judge me to have failed just with some data? Are you telling me that when our military goes to war, we just determine our victories with a few statistics?” Xiao Lin’s tone got more and more imperious.
“Young man! You best understand who you’re talking to! No matter how powerful your backers are, the military isn’t something you can play around with. I remember you’re an officer as well!” Another examiner said coldly, his words full of ridicule, obviously taunting Xiao Lin for having to rely on the dean to gain his position.
“You wanna try?”
“That’s right!”
“Do you know what our standards are?”
“I’m willing to hear it out.”
This time, Xiao Lin stood in front of the man, locking gazes with him without a care. Even if the other party unleashed a bit of his aura, Xiao Lin refused to back down.
After a few minutes, the man looked away, saying without much feeling, “Fine, if that’s what you want. I’m curious if you’re actually confident or just being cocky!”
