The top two hundred and fifty vestiges of Bands City were announced at the auctions, and the list was uploaded to the official site. As vestige-smiths, staffs, and corporation leaders nced at it, some rejoiced while others felt down. There were a few who didn''t have any reaction to it, but they were mainly the toppanies who felt the results were expected.
Although the rankings only judged vestiges, many used it as a way to rank vestige-smiths and vestige-smithpanies; after all, if one''s best work was ranked high, it meant that their skill was stupendously remarkable.
The top 250 had a couple of changes as those ranks were easy to subvert. In the top one hundred, there were still significant changes in some spots, but it wasn''t as much as with the top 250. The top 20 had even fewer changes, especially concerning new entries. Most on the list were all familiar names in the vestige-smithmunity. However, there was one new entry to the rankings this year.
Brown Shield by Seven Sparks Forge.
"What''s that?"
Many questioned as they found the name of the creator, Seven Sparks Forge, to be unfamiliar. Only those in the West Wing district knew of the name and couldn''t help but be astonished.
Many of them in the West Wing district had expected Lucas'' vestige to gain an auction qualification after beating Nichi, and, in turn, get ranked. But this was only in terms of the district ranking, and not the city ranking that was being announced.
"How, how did he do it?"
At the same time, the district rankings were also dropped. When those in the West Wing district went through it, they found out that Lucas'' ck shield somehow took the seventh position. It didn''t just beatst year''s eleventh ce, Nichi, but proceeded to defeat the tenth, ninth, eighth, and seventh ces. For a debut, that was a spectacr achievement that even the media took notice of.
However, while this urred, Lucas was unaware and faced the second exam-the practical exam.
. . .
Just like the first exam, the second was also done on a mental ne. This was not only cheaper, but it could also ensure the uracy of the exam and prevent cheating.
For this round, the examinees were given special VR headsets. Upon activation, their consciousness would be transferred into a virtual ne where the exam would be conducted. Since it was a virtual world, every material needed could be provided without consideration of cost, and time wasn''t an issue.
A procedure that may take four hours could be shortened to take only thirty minutes, thanks to the time management system in the virtual world. In simpler terms, time moved faster in the virtual world.
To ensure the uracy of the exam, the examinee''s physical condition was mimicked close to perfection. This would ensure that the integrity of the exam in the virtual world was sustained, and there would be noints right after.
Looking at the vast expanse of white space, Lucas couldn''t help but admire this futuristic technology. In this white space, anything can be created. The dead can be brought to life, the fabric of reality torn apart, and more, as long as one could imagine it, it would be so in this world.
However, for the exam, limitations were put in ce, otherwise, there would be no need for an exam if the examinee could just imagine the right answer.
"Applicant," a voice sounded in the white world.
"You are to attempt creating a Grade 1 vestige. The closer your attempt is to an actual vestige, the higher your score."
"So I just need to make a vestige." Lucas was surprised. He never thought it would be that easy; however, on second thought, it wasn''t.
The exceptional basis exam was made for two types of people. The first was the younger generation, who were potential geniuses. As they were yet to fulfil the criteria to join the EVL, the exam was made for them as a means of early ess to the EVL''s resources. However, some under this age group were already qualified as vestige-smiths, but had yet to register under the EVL or graduate from college.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
The second category of individuals were those, who, for one reason or another, didn''t reach the requirements of the EVL, yet were still very skilled. Most under this category were skilled cksmiths and engineers, whocked the necessary and final push to be a vestige-smith.
Usually, candidates from both categories weren''t vestige-smiths, so the exam was to make an attempt at vestige-smithing, which was very difficult. The closer one''s attempt was to a sessful vestige, the higher their score. This score would then be calcted alongside the theoretical exam scores and their age—since the point of the exam was to find geniuses—to give the final exam score.
As long as one passed the cut-off mark, they would be epted into the EVL on exceptional basis.
Despite supposedly being difficult, for Lucas who had already made a few grade 3 vestiges worth calling a masterpiece, it was too easy. Nheless, there was a problem.
"System," Lucas called out. Since it was his consciousness that was brought into this world, Lucas believed that the system has tagged along as it was rooted within him and could even ess his subconscious thoughts.
"Everly present." The system sounded.
"Can you make the security system here fail to identify my techniques?"
Lucas'' method of making vestiges was different from mainstream ones as it could allow even a powerless human to be a qualified vestige-smith. However, this would bring trouble to him once it was discovered, so Lucas had to do his best to keep it hidden.
In this situation, the system that had brought him back to life twice, and given him superpowers, was his strongest support. For the system, invading a virtual world shouldn''t be a problem. It was more of whether or not it would do so, but Lucas wasn''t worried about that as he believed it would.
"Initiating the protection sequence for the host."
After a short while, the system''s voice sounded again.
"Sessful. Host is free to move as you please."