Chapter 2: The Magic Association

Pfft!

As soon as Liu Xing’s "Truth" was announced, a ripple of laughter broke out among the crowd below. It was hard to blame them for being cynical; the Truth was so bizarre that it was difficult to imagine what kind of ability it would grant an Awakened—self-motivation, perhaps?

Despite the widespread laughter, Liu Xing shot a fierce, glaring look directly at where Zhou Ke and Li Hua were standing.

"I mean, just hearing the name is pretty inspirational, isn't it?"

Zhou Ke didn't laugh. With a deadpan expression, he pushed his hands forward in a comical gesture, pointing toward Li Hua like a guide ushering a VIP.

"Haha, honestly, it would be better named 'The Kid Without an Umbrella, Scrambling Through the Rain'… I keep telling Liu Xing to stop watching so many toxic motivational videos, but he never listens!" Li Hua slapped his thigh, his laughter erupting uncontrollably.

Liu Xing was a classmate of theirs. They had been at odds ever since Liu Xing was bullied by a foreign exchange student from Africa, and he and Li Hua had stepped in to intervene. The verbal confrontation had escalated into a physical scuffle, eventually leading to their parents being called in. After the incident, they had expected Liu Xing to grow a backbone and stand tall. Instead, he had only become more sycophantic. Where he once silently endured the bullying, he now actively groveled before the student.

"Stop laughing! At least I awakened a 'Truth,' and my aptitude is mid-tier!"

Liu Xing’s face on the flag-raising platform was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He had never liked these two. Possessing a fragile ego, he kept trying to comfort himself with the fact that his aptitude was the highest seen so far. That was correct; out of the thousand-plus seniors undergoing the collective testing, only about ten had awakened a Truth, and he was the only one with at least mid-tier aptitude. Liu Xing considered himself the tallest among pygmies, a one-in-a-hundred chosen one. For all he knew, mid-tier might be the highest aptitude in the entire school. Thinking this, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl upward.

Just as he was lost in these thoughts, an outcry erupted from the second testing zone in the plaza.

"Examinee Su Wumi, Power of Reason grade nine, high-tier aptitude, awakened Truth... 'Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica'!"

The students and teachers on the playground were in an uproar.

"Isn't that the work of the 'Apple Deity' Newton? She awakened Newton's Truth?!"

"Doesn't that mean our school is about to produce a 'Father of Mechanics' who can manipulate gravity?"

"Don't celebrate too early. My uncle says that awakening a Truth is one thing, but how much of it you can interpret is quite another."

All eyes were fixed on her, like moths drawn to a flame. The gazes contained wonder, worship, and envy, but mostly, they were filled with jealousy.

Curious, Zhou Ke looked over as well. From a distance, he saw a cool, collected girl with a wolf-cut hairstyle stepping down from the platform. Her outfit—a crop top, jeans, and combat boots—gave her an air of wild, effortless dominance. Especially now, with the results of her awakening made public, she seemed coated in a layer of prestige. As she walked, people instinctively stepped aside, clearing a path for her.

"I can go now, right?"

Su Wumi suddenly stopped, tilting her head to glance sideways at the examiner. Extraordinary spiritual energy radiated from her, and the reflection in her cold eyes seemed to shift constantly. White lines of chalk crisscrossed in her pupils, sketching out countless coordinates and images. Numbers and letters danced together, forming strings of mystical magical formulas.

"Uh, yes. We will notify you to attend the trial in a week."

The examiner, who was younger than the one known as Whale-Eye, clearly did not want to offend someone with such a promising future.

After receiving the confirmation, Su Wumi said nothing. With her hands in her pockets, she walked straight out of the school gate, leaving behind the crowd that stood whispering in shock.

"That's quite arrogant..." Zhou Ke remarked.

"For sure. If I had awakened Newton's Truth, I'd be ten thousand times more arrogant than her. I'd help every grandma cross the street today, and I wouldn't eat beef tomorrow!" Li Hua said, brimming with a mix of envy and bitterness.

"Fang Daowang, no aptitude. Next."

"You Yongci, no aptitude. Next."

"..."

Following Liu Xing, several students failed to awaken any Truth at all.

"So the probability of awakening a Truth is about two percent..."

Zhou Ke noted it in his mind; it took about fifty people to see one successful awakening. The probability wasn't particularly high, but it wasn't low either. With over a thousand seniors, at least twenty were bound to awaken a Truth.

Looking at the Central Province, that was a base of nearly thirty million. Looking at the world, it was 140 million. If it weren't for the oversight of organizations like the "Magic Association," the Blue Planet would likely be trapped in a state of perpetual chaos from magical riots.

"Next, Antonini."

At that moment, the foreign student whom Liu Xing usually fawned over was called onto the platform. He placed his hand on the globe-shaped stone carving, and three faint planetary rings lit up.

"Power of Reason, grade three. Low-tier aptitude."

Li Hua grew interested, leaning over to whisper in Zhou Ke’s ear, "Yuanfang, what do you think?"

"I think you should look at it with your third eye," Zhou Ke replied, glancing at Li Hua with an expressionless face.

"Shouldn't that be an earth-eye?" Li Hua retorted, then waved a hand. "No, don't distract me. I’m saying, let’s make a bet. The loser buys McDonald's after school!"

"Fine. What’s the bet?" Zhou Ke nodded.

These two idiots had almost no overlap in grades, hobbies, or family background; they only got along because they were both equally devious. As the saying went: birds of a feather flock together, and they shared the same stench.

"I bet the black kid's Truth is 'How to Sell Yourself to Others'," Li Hua said, pointing at Antonini on the platform with a sly grin.

"That’s a hellish joke, isn't it?" Zhou Ke waved him off, pondered for a second, then added, "I bet it’s 'Where Are We Going, Dad?'"

Li Hua was momentarily stunned, thinking this guy was far more vicious than himself.

Antonini, unaware that he was being used as a toy by two despicable people, was deeply dissatisfied with the "low-tier" label. Swaying his dreadlocks as if he were rapping, he said to the examiner, "Yo, I'm an international student. Please raise my aptitude to the maximum."

"Place your hand on the second stone carving."

The examiner in charge of Antonini was Whale-Eye. He acted as if he hadn't heard a word, his tone cold and indifferent.

Antonini was displeased. "That won't do. Your attitude will damage racial harmony. I feel like I'm being discriminated against."

"I told you to put your hand on it."

Whale-Eye didn't even look over, repeating the command in the same flat tone. The ether radiating from his body turned aggressive, and a formless pressure, like a thousand-pound shackle, bore down on Antonini.