Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

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The examiners watched next as the two orbs disappeared.

They weren't too shocked seeing this. While the space element was one of the rarest things to come across in the universe, space treasures were common commodities in both the Federation and the Primordial Expanse.

Thankfully, one didn't need the space element to craft such artifacts. One only needed the combined effort of a formation master and a master blacksmith to create a decent space treasure.

It was expensive, but worth the exorbitant price to most awakened.

Mira raised her brows when she saw the two silver orbs disappear in front of her eyes.

She was surprised Alex was able to afford something like a space treasure considering his background.

Now that everything was over, the two looked lost.

The tiger was gone, the beast horde was completely dealt with, and the exam had ended early.

'We didn't even get that many points…'

The thing that hurt them the most was the fact that they had no more time to gather points due to the exam ending early.

Instead, Alex just plopped to the ground in exhaustion.

"Might as well relax while we wait for the examiners to come pick us up." Alex sighed as he spoke, they had spent the last 5 days toiling away without rest, striving to obtain as many points as they could to reach first place.

But now they didn't need to do that anymore. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The realisation of this had settled in and the exhaustion they had built up all released at once.

Whoooom!

After 10 minutes, the sound of a shuttle breaking through the atmosphere sounded above them.

Alex and Mira slowly stood up, stretching their arms and legs.

"Wow I think this is the most tired I've been ever since I became an awakened!" Mira let out a satisfied groan as she stretched her limbs.

Their muscles were aching from the constant fighting.

***

Half an hour later, on the mothership.

"It seems all living applicants have arrived." Instead of Professor Will, a much more scholarly looking old man was addressing the group of applicants this time.

Alex looked around.

'226'

When he counted the number of applicants, his face fell when he saw that the original number had more than halved.

The fact that the scholarly man at the front of the hall said 'all living applicants' could only mean that the remaining majority that weren't in the hall were dead.

'This leaves a bad taste in my mouth.'

Alex was unsettled by this fact, but he couldn't speak up about it.

After experiencing how truly horrifying and devastating Floodgates were, his low opinion of the Federation had relaxed a little.

He understood, after experiencing it first-hand, that fierce competition was needed between awakened to motivate them.

The disparity in strength between humans and beasts was only made more evident by the events he had seen today, and although he didn't particularly agree with it, he knew the hard handed method the federation used to temper their awakened was a necessity to tackle the beasts.

The constant threat of beasts was the best motivator for awakened to work hard to grow their strength and defend the federation.

Unfortunately, resources were limited, so the more talented awakened were favoured.

This led the federation to adopt the all or nothing approach.

If you had the strength, then prove you were worth the investment. If you didn't have the strength, then you got nothing. At most you'd end up as tempering for someone stronger.

Of course there was always the third option of exploring the Primordial Expanse yourself to work for your own resources.

But this was the most dangerous option that many awakened opted not to go for.

The sad reality was that after their first journey into the Primordial Expanse, most awakened never dared to enter again.

"Since everyone is here, it's about time we do some explaining." Alex was brought out of his thoughts by the deep voice of the scholarly man.

"Unfortunately, the exam had to be suspended early due to the appearance of a Divine beast from the Floodgate, which is the first time this has ever happened in the history of the federation." The scholarly man revealed.

Murmuring started amongst the applicants.

"Divine beast? What is that?"

"I've never heard the term 'Divine beast', this old man must be covering up the real reason the exam ended early."

"Wow, that name sounds imposing! I'm just glad I made it out alive…"

Instead of shock, horror or relief, the students wore confused expressions when they heard the term 'Divine beast'.

"That's all I can tell you regarding what happened. If you want to learn more about Divine beasts, then you better hope you make the quota for university. All will be explained to you about the classification of beasts when you enter university. That is all about that for now."

The old man stopped any further discussion on the subject, and changed to another topic.

"Now it's time for the reason you're all here, the rankings." As he spoke, the old man tapped on his watch and a hologram appeared above him, big enough for everyone to see.

"As previously stated, only the top 50 will be enrolled. If you are not within this group, then I am sorry. You can try again next year or you can enrol in a university outside of the top 5."

"Now, starting at number 50, with 89 points, is…"

When the old man started listing off the top 50, going in ascending order, Alex felt elated.

'Number 50 only had 89 points! That means not only have I met the requirements, but I'm pretty high up in the rankings!'

The applicants and staff on board the ship applauded.

11:35

"In second place, we have Malachi Promoti, also from Planet Hortus. Amassing a total of 196 points, congratulations!"

Alex looked over at Mira from across the hall and she was looking at him too, with just as joyful a smile on her face.

'This at least solidifies a spot at a top 5 university for me, but I'm not just aiming for the top 5…'

Both Alex and Mira's goals were Capital Prime University, the number 1 university in the whole federation.

Soon, the scholarly old man reached the top then, but Alex and Mira's names still hadn't been called out yet.

Their excitement grew more and more as he read out name after name — neither of theirs having been spoken yet.

"Congratulations on all who made it into the top 10! You'll each receive a chance to enter the elite class when you arrive at your university of choice."

"Now, it's time for the top three."

"In third, we have Kiara Meriaum from Planet Hortus. With a total of 181 points she has exceeded all expectations by coming this far. Congratulations!"

The applicants and staff on board the ship applauded.

"In second place, we have Malachi Promoti, also from Planet Hortus. Amassing a total of 196 points, congratulations!"

Upon hearing who had earned second place, Alex recognised that name instantly.

'Malachi… So you actually made it this far.'

It was the same spiky haired boy who had escaped into the swamp after his two teammates had been killed by Alex and Mira.

Alex made a note of him and moved on.

A huge smile was plastered across his face.

He knew what was coming next.

"In first place, we don't often have situations like this but we actually have a tie!"

This basically confirmed Alex's thoughts.

"In joint first, we have Alex from ARC colony 481, and Mira from unknown origins. Congratulations to you both for amassing 225 points each and achieving first place!"

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