Well, wonders never cease and for the first time, there was true silence. Never in the history and the testing orb ever been destroyed and it was going to take more time for the crowd to digest this fully. The two, Kaelen and Sera, stood on the platform, very confused. Their gazes fixed on Lyren.
The headmaster had a grin on his face but there was also a sense of seriousness. Claire besides him was in an even worse situation. She seemed to be terrified by what had happened and many people in the crowd were like her. She had her fist clenched because she was already thinking of how Lyren was going to get punished.
The mayor probably was the most shocked. He clenched his fists so had his nails dug into his palms drawing blood. He wore an ugly look and anger took over him. He knew that the academy had played him but to dare play such a trick on him. It was obvious to him that the academy had plotted to make him lose face.
He stood up on his feet and started clapping.
"Is this your final trump card? You even went ahead to destroy the orb just make me lose face. You really are something, headmaster," he said out loud.
Well, many people had their own speculations but they had all come to the same conclusion. It was impossible to destroy the orb when testing unless someone had tampered with it. Many guests went by this logic and there were whispers all over.
"Very shameless…"
"To use such cheap tricks…"
"Just how far has the academy fallen…"
Critics all around and the mayor actually smiled and smoothed his robs. He sent a glance to the headmaster who stood up lazily. He even seemed to yawn and stretch and he could not believe the headmaster was pulling such a stunt at the last minute. Just how shameless could one get?
"I have heard all your grievances and it is very understandable that none of you has ever seen an SSS talent. The fact that you all think that the A grade is the limit just shows how poor your exposure to the cultivation world is. It is also my first time seeing an SSS talent and I must say that I am impressed.
"Those ancient scrolls were right. A normal testing orb cannot fathom the power of such a talent and when its limits were exceeded, it could only do the most logical thing. Breakdown and turn to dust.
"I owe none of you any further explanation and anyone who is going to target the SSS grade talent is going to have to face my consequences. He is one who has the capacity to become the next headmaster of our academy. Our ancestors must be very proud that we have finally gotten such a talent after a very long time.
"Lyren boy, you ought to work hard and prove to them all what an SSS grade talent does. Being in the seventh stage at thirteen without any guidance is peak talent. Everyone of u can only dream of that but you have proven that it is possible. I know that you will not disappoint us and you shall be claiming the status of a core disciple in no time. You have my blessing," The headmaster's speech was heartfelt.
Mentioning an SSS grade talent was a huge blow to them. They could not believe that such a talent existed before them and in no time, there was a sense of pride when the headmaster mentioned about making the ancestors proud. If anything, they all revered the founders so much that they actually felt proud that such a talent had finally joined their academy.
All eyes turned to Lyren who was still flabbergasted by all that praise. What SSS grade talent? He was nothing like that. He only had one agonizing energy channel in him that he could use to advance recklessly. He had no backing at all and all that bullshit about SSS grade felt made up to him. If it was the case, the sect mistress would have told him about it.
He could recall when she told him about his talent when he entered the ruins. She had said that t was beyond mediocre and the array pattern on his palm had actually saved him from such a fate. If just one channel was called a SSS grade, then just how far had the standards deteriorated? As far as he was concerned, his cultivation talent was not beyond mediocre anymore. It was just mediocre.
He wanted to retract his hand but he felt like it had been stuck. His mind's eye was still open and thumping. Why had it not closed yet? He could not control it yet and he could not even use it. He felt a surge of a cool breeze through his palm and he had a bad feeling about it. His mind's eye had obviously destroyed the orb but what was the reason?
A cold sensation washed through his left hand and he closed his eyes and somehow, his sight switched to that of the mind's eye. He saw a light blue almost chilling energy going through his arm deep in the bone. His hand went numb but the energy did not stop. It seemed to be drawn to something but he was a second late in his realization.
The pale blue chilling energy shot towards his mind's eye and in no time, it was already surging through the pupil into the eye. Lyren waned to scream but he could not because there were no pain and the cool sensation in his mind's eyes seemed to calm down the thumping it had. All the blue energy entered his mind's eye and his hand lost its numbness.
Lyren was confused because that energy had obviously hurt his hand and every place it went through but it had not hurt the mind's eye. Instead, it felt … good? How was that possible? The mind's eye was different but its logic now felt flawed. He slowly felt the pain in his mind's eye fade away and suddenly, it closed on its on forcing him out.
This left him deep in thought. What had just happened? Where had that energy come from? He did not have to think for a longer period as he actually realized that it had come from the orb. The mind's eye had actually attacked the orb and stolen the energy it had stored in it. This did not make sense at all. The fact the energy seemed to be fatal to other organs and not the mind's eye left more questions.
But he did not have to think much because the answer was right there before him. Mental energy was not easy to replenish but that did not mean that it was impossible. After all, it was replenished naturally. To replenish it unnaturally, the sect mistress had not said anything about it and he had assumed that there was no way other than to exhaust it and let it replenish itself.
Lyren felt some clarity in his mind and he had come to realize that the mind's eyes and mental energy were interdependent to each other. An increase in his mental energy meant an increase in the mind's eyes prowess. The fact that now after the mind's eye absorbed the orb and his mental energy seemed to increase answered a few of his questions.
The mind's eye was hurt but it appeared that he was not going to have to spend a long time without it. He could not access it again no matter how much he tried and that proved that he was right. It was going to be back and he could tell his mental energy was also going to have increased severalfold by then.
As for the moment, he had just discovered a way to replenish his mental energy. He opened his eyes and he looked at the headmaster and everyone who was awaiting him to acknowledge that he was going to do his best.
"I will certainly not disappoint the headmaster," Lyren said and bowed.
As of now, he wanted more testing orbs.