At the embassy…
Liang Taibai, who had received some news ahead of time, had been waiting in his room for a long time. Ibeiya and the old man had left under the cover of the night after dropping Xiao Lin off part of the way. They did not seem to want to interact with those from the embassy.
The staff within the embassy quickly brought everyone into the embassy lounge, and Liang Taibai located doctors to treat everyone. In truth, the monitors were not really injured, and Xiao Lin had woken up halfway through the journey as well. Therefore, Liang Taibai arranged for a meal for everyone, followed by hot baths before they all went to sleep.
“We can talk about everything else tomorrow. Don’t worry, the embassy is Dawn Academy’s land, and no one would dare do anything here!” Liang Taibai’s words put everyone at ease.
Of course, some of them asked for Liang Taibai to send the Rosa Kingdom’s troops over to exterminate the Argos clan for daring to do what they did. Liang Taibai entertained them for a bit before sending them all away.
Xiao Lin remained in the lounge, still weak from using his Ruin state, but he felt much better already. Liang Taibai knew he had things to say, which was why the others had been sent away.
When it was just the two of them, Liang Taibai looked at Xiao Lin seriously, and the former was deep in thought before he asked, “Ambassador Liang, do you have the equipment to calculate attributes?”
“Huh?” Liang Taibai was surprised. He thought that Xiao Lin had some important information to share, and was not expecting the question, but he still answered, “Of course I do. Hold on.”
Liang Taibai quickly retrieved the equipment. The testing equipment was very portable, and looked like a round plate. On the round plate were fine lines that connected to ten different round gems. Liang Taibai explained, “There is no central computer here, so the testing numbers will have some margin of error. The higher your attributes, the greater the error will be, so this is just for reference.”
“That’s fine.”
Under Liang Taibai’s guidance, Xiao Lin hurriedly placed the gems on the important places on his body, such as his heart, lungs, temples, and such. Then, he stood still and relaxed his body. Liang Taibai then activated the round plate and a wave of heat passed through his body.
The simple mechanism was obviously not as efficient as the one in the academy. It took ten minutes before Liang Taibai said it was done. Xiao Lin then took off the gems, and the numbers took about half an hour to calculate before they were displayed on the plate.
[60, 60, 60, 60]
Four of the same number. Liang Taibai was surprised, and smiled as he said, “How rare it is to have it all the same. These four numbers represent the basic attributes.” Since they were all the same, there was no need to explain which number was which.
Liang Taibai praised, “With a total attribute score of 240, you’re only 60 points away from Bronze. You’re still in your first year, so this is very good. At your rate, you’ll probably be at Bronze at the end of the semester with no issues.”
Xiao Lin had a strange expression on his face. He definitely would not tell Liang Taibai that his total attributes were only at 120 when he left the academy.
Xiao Lin touched his forehead. Since the fused Shard of Creation entered his body, he felt like he was much stronger, especially with that Dragon Breath Sword he used in the castle. It had been way above his expectations. Now he had the machine to prove his suspicions.
With his attributes being improved so much, it could only have been caused by the shard. Xiao Lin had been apathetic toward the Shards of Creation since they did not seem to have a use, basically not living up to a name as cool as ‘creation’. Now, he knew that the earlier shards were useless because they were not complete.
Ibeiya really gave him a really good gift!
“If there’s nothing else, you should rest up.” Liang Taibai put the machine away. He saw that Xiao Lin was very fatigued.
“No, there’s still official business to talk about.”
Liang Taibai waited for him to continue.
The test was just to verify his speculations. Xiao Lin then said seriously, “Do you know a lot about the Argos clan?”
“I’ve been in the Rosa Kingdom for about ten years. I’ve naturally had some interactions with Argos’s leader, but as for Valen Argos… Frankly, I don’t know too much, but…”
Liang Taibai stopped there, seemingly having his own difficulties, Xiao Lin chose to help him finish the sentence, “But you feel like I had way too much of an easy time getting out, right?”
Liang Taibai paused, nodding. “That’s right, the Argos clan is not as simple as you think. I’ve never been to their ancient castle, but I’ve heard a lot about it. It’s a necromantic grave they used close to a thousand years to cultivate. It’s a special presence within the royal city. Truthfully, with your skills…”
Xiao Lin smiled bitterly. “So it’s just like I thought? I feel like they were just taking advantage of the situation, and allowed me to take everyone out.”
“They might be afraid of Dawn Academy, or maybe it’s a sign of peace.” Liang Taibai analyzed it from an outside perspective. It was not illogical, which was why he did not want to mobilize the local troops just yet.
“Basically, it’s all okay as long as everyone is safe. I’ll make arrangements for your departure,” Liang Taibai finally said.
“Let the rest of them go first. Also, the assignment for the monthly examination, the people we need to escort will be leaving with us, right?” Xiao Lin thought for a moment before adding, “I need to stay for some private matters.”
“Monthly examination?”
Liang Taibai furrowed his eyebrows when he heard that, “With things the way they are, the monthly examination doesn’t matter anymore. Your safety is the most important.”
“Have you already reported this incident to Dawn City?” Xiao Lin asked.
“Yes.” Liang Taibai did not understand what he was getting at.
“Then you’ve definitely received a reply.”
“That’s right.”
“Then, did the reply say that the monthly examinations have ended?”
“Ah, it did not, but the higher-ups have repeatedly emphasized that I need to ensure your safety, and they would send people over in two or three days at the most.”
Xiao Lin sighed silently; it was as he expected. The military was making things harder on them deliberately. If they really wanted to, they could just take the griffins over. Why would it take two or three days?
Half the duration of the monthly examination had lapsed. If they really waited for the military, and if there were any delays, then they would not be able to make it. Even if their safety was still important, they were still students. The monthly examination results would be in their records. No matter what reasons and explanations they could give, not finishing the task was still not finishing the task.
“Ambassador Liang, I’ve heard at the academy that we’re considered reserves, and would need to fight in the wars in the future.”
“That’s true.”
Xiao Lin said, with some nerve, “Then the monthly examination is basically an assignment. Soldiers need to finish their assignments unconditionally in war. Any reason should not be used as excuses for failing. So, unless we have documents to show that the monthly examination has ended, we definitely need to complete our escort mission!”
