NOVEL WEB Chapter 29: Failed?
Evelyn had been nervous and on edge ever since the test began. Perhaps it was because of all the stares from the crowd, or perhaps because of the mishap right before the test, but in either case, she had considered the worst possibility every time.
And when her grandfather told her to be careful, she was already on high alert against the box.
It was a good thing she was so cautious, because otherwise she might not have caught the strange furry earthworm looking thing in her hand.
Perhaps calling it a furry snake would be more appropriate, but it did not have a head like a snake.
Remembering her grandfather's words, she started channeling spirit power through the worm.
Unlike with the stone slate earlier, this time she could clearly feel that some of her spirit power was lost, and it would take some time to recover. Thankfully the amount wasn't much, and she still felt confident in her reserves.
The strange furry worm's body was divided into ten ridges, and they started glowing one by one as her spirit power was slowly absorbed.
Within moments, seven out of ten of the ridges were glowing brightly, while the last three remained dull.
There was once more some hushed discussion between the elders, but her results were quickly announced.
"Evelyn's affinity for the earth element is seventy percent! A standard among the blessed spirits! Pass!"
Bree and her grandfather finally seemed to breathe a sigh of relief once they saw everything with the first affinity test went well.
If Evelyn had panicked and become scared of the creature, it would have been far more difficult for her to channel her spirit power through it, and her affinity would have appeared worse than its actual value.
The next few affinity tests weren't as nerve wracking for the pink haired girl, and she easily breezed through them.
It became a routine to her. The box opens, catch the thing inside, channel her power through them, and watch them glow. Once the results are announced, move to the next one.
"Evelyn's affinity for the water element is eighty percent! Outstanding among the blessed spirits, pass!"
"Evelyn's affinity for the lightning element is ninety percent! Top tier even among the blessed spirits! Pass!"
"Evelyn's affinity for the wind element is fifty percent! She should avoid the use of wind element unless necessary, fail!"
The matriarch's voice was slightly hoarse by the time she announced the results of the last affinity test.
"Evelyn's affinity for the fire element is thirty percent! She's unsuitable to channel the fire element, and should avoid trying to use it in the future, fail!"
The pink haired girl felt her heart thump a little erratically. After getting a clear over seventy percent evaluation in earth, water and lightning, she had been quite confident already.
However, her results for wind were only fifty percent, while the worst by far turned out to be her affinity for fire element, which was only thirty percent.
She hoped that there would be a few enhancements similar to Vivian's that would boost her affinity with an element in the future.
She didn't know how much her fire affinity would actually improve after obtaining the 'Pyromaniac' enhancement from the younger Gilmore girl, but she couldn't let any chance to get stronger go.
And… even if she already knew only three out of the five elements needed her to 'pass', it still felt bad hearing 'Fail!' two times in a row.
"Evelyn has passed the requirement for spiritual affinity with three elements, and she is fit to move on to the next test!"
Evelyn felt slightly disappointed that there was no test for spatial control or affinity.
Her grandfather and the elders collected the boxes and had them sent away as Bree patted her on the shoulder to ease her mood.
"Don't be nervous for the next part. Keep your mind empty."
Evelyn gave her aunt an understanding nod, already trying to clear any distracting thoughts with little success.
The matriarch of the Fulbright family took out a strange looking black disk from her spatial necklace, and placed it on the ground.
Shortly afterwards, a circular spiritual array appeared on the ground with a single central spot surrounded by five circles in a star pattern.
"Certain gifted children are born with innate abilities, while most acquire them as we grow up either through luck or hard work! We shall now proceed to explore her innate abilities! As a future princess, having at least a single innate ability is a must in order to prove her talent!"
Evelyn was nervously made to stand in the central position as the elders each took one of the outer ring spots, except for Bree, who remained outside the array.
The pink haired girl felt something was wrong the moment they started channeling spirit power, but since she had been told to keep her mind clear of distracting thoughts, she could only helplessly force herself to remain calm and not think about it.
And then, a tremendous force impacted her chest. Evelyn felt as if she was hit by a truck, and a collapsed immediately on the ground while coughing out blood.
"Aaaaahhh!"
The crowd began clamoring as the elders instantly stopped channeling their spirit power in confusion.
Bree had already dashed into the array and took the pink haired girl in her embrace, examining her in distress.
"Evelyn! Evelyn?!"
"What happened?"
"The probe failed?"
"This is a high grade array, right…? How could it fail? Even if a rank S ranger was standing in the center, the array would bridge the gap in our levels and allow us to feel out their abilities, right?"
The Fulbright matriarch's expression changed. "Unless…"
The other elders all seemed to focus on her.
"I think… her innate skill might be a 'shield'!"
"Impossible!"
The matriarch didn't fault the other elders for not believing her. After all, shielding against probes was a skill that was exclusive to high grade items!
And they had already made sure that the little girl wasn't carrying any items on her body. It was against the rules for the test, after all.
But although the elders firmly believed their judgement, the atmosphere among the audience was quite different.
"What happened?"
"The ability probing array failed?"
"Did she use a concealment or defensive item?"
"So she's cheating!"
"But is the Knox family so stupid? Why would they do this when it would clearly be exposed, doesn't that make things worse?"
And in among the ancient family's descendants, 'uncle Ryan', the young blond boy who had been mocked by Cecilia before, was now mocking her back.
"Who looks like a monkey now, Cecilia? Just because you passed the test while we didn't, does not mean you're so smart! Look, you thought I was being jealous, but she's cheating as expected!"
Cecilia's face was twisted into a frown. How was it her responsibility whether the little doll was cheating or not?
"Idiot Ryan, why are you always jumping around like a monkey? Did I talk to you?"
"You!"
Their argument was abruptly cut off by the announcement from the elders.
"We have determined that Evelyn has passed the test, and from now on shall be known as one of the ancient family's princesses! She is now qualified to inherit the position of a matriarch of the Knox family!"
There was a huge uproar from the crowd, who had all but concluded that whether or not the little girl cheated, she had definitely failed!
"Even if she had a huge amount of spirit power, she barely passed the affinity test, right? And then she clearly failed the last one!"
"Bleh, I guess the standards for the ancient families have fallen quite low."
Perhaps the elders were aware of the sentiments brewing in the crowd.
"Evelyn's innate skill is 'shielding', which is why the probing array failed, and she suffered a trauma from blocking the energy in the array!"
There was another uproar from the crowd, this time far larger than the one before.
"A shielding skill? Humans can have a shielding skill?!"
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Far from the arena, the pale green haired man had arrived back at one of his clubs.
"Master Blaise, we have already investigated this matter. There are really only three protectors left in the Knox family, along with three elders. The strongest among them is the patriarch, whose strength should be at the peak of rank A, and is only slightly weaker than an S ranked ranger."
"Tell me then, who was the blonde bitch at the gate today?"
The subordinates looked at each other nervously. None of them could figure out the threat that Bree possessed, and so they couldn't understand why their master was so obsessed with the girl.
"Master… maybe she was one of the guests? We haven't investigated all the other ancient families, and… there was a sighting of the carriage of the royal family heading into the Knox estate today!"
"The royal family!"
Blaise wiped some nervous sweat that had started forming on his forehead at some point, and thanked his good instincts for leaving early.
"Those bastards… If she's with them, I guess it makes sense."
But he chuckled shortly after. "But that just means she'll leave once the show is over. Tell the boys be ready to go at any moment. Our hunt… is not over yet!"