Eternal Freedom's Ascension-Chapter 77: Ariel’s Analytical Mind

|Class-A - 972 points|

|Class-B - 900 points|

|Class-C - 799 points|

|Class-D - 791 points|

|Class-E - 700 points|

The other classes had switched positions, shocking the students of Class-E. Iruca’s class had become Class-A, while Adela’s class had been demoted to Class-B.

Apollo’s class had already become Class-C, although the difference between them and the new Class-D was very thin.

"A mere eight points..."

Kaiser observed, his eyes curved in amusement. It was a very fragile win, as Austin’s class could return to being Class-C if any chance came up.

"This is intense." Hazel’s jaws tightened. Although the result of Class-E wasn’t enough to make them change ranks, it brought them closer to the upper ranks.

Each student realized that the competition had already started, and felt an inexplicable form of pressure.

"That’ll be all for the evaluation results." Instructor Rina said, packing her stuff and preparing to leave.

At the door, she paused to give the class a glance. ’This set of students are outstanding. With four classes changing ranks in the first semester of their first year, I have no doubt that further competition would be chaotic.’

Her gaze stopped on Kaiser for a few seconds, then she walked out of the class.

As soon as she left, Hazel climbed up the podium. Although a few still disliked her attitude, they were at least willing to listen to her.

"I won’t sing praises about us getting second place in this competition." She started, "This is just the start, and we have a lot to cover. The difference between our Class-E and Class-D is 91 points. We need to gather that much just to become Class-D, one of the bottom classes."

They all listened to her words solemnly. She was frank, directly letting them know how far behind they were.

"Now then, we need to discuss our next course of action. The midterm exams are approaching in about a week or two."

A few nodded, affirming her words.

"From the information we got through Liam, our exam is also an avenue to increase our Class Rank Points—although not by much."

Liam nodded. "To be precise, it can only add at most 20 points, provided we have a great academic performance."

"Great! That means we can bridge the gap before another Special Evaluation comes up!"

Ysabella grinned, amazed and excited. Indeed, it was a very good tool to utilize. Relaxed smiles appeared on their faces.

Unfortunately, Hazel and a few others didn’t share their enthusiasm.

The black-haired girl frowned. "Don’t you all get it? Even with this, we’re the weakest class!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kim asked sharply, feeling displeased.

Hazel stared at her coldly. "The other classes are academically better than Class-E as a whole."

The girl flinched, but wasn’t deterred. "What? Are you saying they’re better than u—"

Mordica cut in sharply. "It means a lot of you are dumb with little intelligence."

The class fell silent, and several of them stared at her with shock. Mordica was usually silent, ignoring her classmates and retaining a haughty expression.

Now that she had spoken, the other girls remembered why they disliked her.

Kim turned to Kiera, who took it up from there. "Did you just call us dumb, you onion-head?"

As the most popular and representative figure of the girls, she felt the need to personally subdue Mordica.

Mordica gave her an indifferent glance. "Clown, sit."

Kiera’s temper flared, her red eyes glowing. "Bitch... are you—"

"That’s enough."

Just as Liam was preparing to intervene, a soft voice cut through the heated moment.

It wasn’t loud, but it commanded obedience without enforcement. Kiera’s words died in her throat, her earlier anger snuffed out instantly.

It was strange, but she didn’t feel any grievance towards the one who had spoken.

"Kaiser...?"

Hazel was surprised, as he would usually ignore stuffs like this. Why did he stop the argument?

As if hearing her unspoken question, Kaiser replied. "They’re getting pretty noisy."

His gaze was fixated on the novel he was reading, as if he had merely dismissed two insignificant flies by his ear.

While the others might have not noticed, Ariel noticed a very important detail.

’This guy...’ His pupils shrank. ’Was that forced command? No, it didn’t look like one.’ 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Normally, from his understanding of Kiera’s character, she’d at least retort or scowl at him. However, she accepted his chiding too easily.

’Could it be a manipulation ability? But the limiters are working perfectly.’

He glanced at Kaiser’s hand, noting the regular yellow glow—it was activated.

His mind worked rapidly, coming up with simulations to explain what had just happened.

From President Anthony and Instructor Rina’s words, the limiters blocked the usage of abilities by restricting essence flow. However, that didn’t mean they could block other things like... Soul Traits.

A sharp glint passed through his green eyes.

’What is the probability of Kaiser possessing a soul trait capable of controlling a person’s mind?’

His eyelids dropped, almost covering his eyes. A few seconds passed by in abstract silence, and he opened his eyes.

’A solid 80% based on evidence gathered and his possibility of being stacked specially with different abilities.’

Coming to that conclusion, Ariel’s heart turned cold. Kaiser’s figure had suddenly become more dangerous, and he wondered how much effort it’d take to subdue him.

Perhaps, he might have to risk grave injuries or his life.

While Ariel was busy thinking, Kaiser continued reading the novel in his hands. It was one of the mystery books that Maya had suggested he read.

At some point, he felt a faint, almost imperceptible gaze on him. He didn’t react in the slightest, giving the illusion that he hadn’t noticed.

’It must be that Ariel machine again. Did he notice that I used my Cursed Voice? Not bad for a programmed article—a fake among fakes.’

Although he didn’t have much of an impression of Ariel, he saw that silver-haired boy as a person who could never have his own color. Why? Because the boy had willingly embraced the restrictions put on him, allowing them to shape his mind and personality.

He was a perfect puppet for a devious puppeteer.