The arena grounds had never been this silent before.
Not during the opening ceremony.
Not during the announcent of the trials.
Not even when Captain Varos released enough mana pressure to force hundreds of talented children to their knees.
Yet now—
Silence dominated the entire field.
Every noble.
Every servant.
Every examiner.
Every candidate.
All eyes were locked onto the twins standing before the platform.
Eternia Sinclair.
Etherius Sinclair.
The two monsters of the Sinclair new generation.
Captain Varos slowly stepped forward, his heavy boots grinding against the stone platform as the pressure of his mana spread subtly through the surroundings. Unlike before, however, nobody paid attention to his presence.
They were waiting.
Waiting to see who had won.
The captain’s sharp eyes swept across both twins before stopping on Etherius first.
"...Present your monster cores."
Etherius moved calmly.
Without hesitation.
Without arrogance.
As though victory was already expected.
His spatial pouch opened slightly before dozens of monster cores spilled onto the stone table one after another.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
The sound echoed repeatedly.
The pile continued growing.
Murmurs spread instantly throughout the arena.
"...That many?"
"...Impossible..."
"...How long was he hunting inside the dungeon?"
Even the examiners looked surprised.
Captain Varos narrowed his eyes slightly as he counted them personally.
After several monts, he finally spoke.
"...Forty-seven low-tier monster cores."
The arena exploded into commotion.
"FORTY-SEVEN?!"
"That’s insane!"
"He practically cleared the entire dungeon himself!"
"As expected of the pureblood heir!"
"Monster..."
The younger candidates looked pale.
So of them had struggled just to survive.
Others barely managed to collect ten.
Yet Etherius alone had gathered forty-seven.
An absurd number.
An overwhelming result.
Even so elders observing from the higher platforms slowly nodded in approval.
Dark mana users were already rare.
But a genius like Etherius?
That was sothing else entirely.
Etherius himself remained expressionless.
He simply stood there quietly with his hands behind his back.
Calm.
Composed.
As if none of this mattered.
His gaze drifted toward Eternia briefly.
Not mocking.
Not prideful.
Just waiting.
Waiting for her answer.
Captain Varos looked toward Eternia next.
"...Present yours."
Many people already assud the result was decided.
Forty-seven cores was ridiculous.
Especially considering the chaos inside the dungeon.
Even surviving the Minotaur incident would have been nearly impossible.
So candidates had already begun whispering among themselves.
"...There’s no way she beats that."
"She probably only survived because of luck."
"The winner’s obvious."
"She was impressive, but against Etherius..."
Eternia ignored them all.
Her face remained calm.
Cold.
Unreadable.
But internally—
She finally allowed herself to breathe.
"...I won."
Because unlike everyone else—
She already knew the value of her cores.
Slowly, she opened her storage ring.
The motion alone drew attention.
A storage artifact was already expensive enough to shock many outer family mbers.
But what ca next silenced the arena completely.
Monster cores began appearing one after another across the table.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
The count slowly rose.
Five.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty-one
Captain Varos frowned slightly.
"...Thirty-one low-tier monster cores."
Instantly, whispers spread again.
"She lost."
"Close, but not enough."
"Still impressive for an illegitimate child..."
Then—
Eternia placed one final core onto the table.
The mont it appeared—
The atmosphere changed.
The core was massive.
Dark crimson lines pulsed beneath its surface while dense mana radiated outward like heat from molten steel.
Several candidates instinctively stepped backward.
An elder observing from above stood up abruptly.
Captain Varos’s eyes widened for the first ti since the exam began.
"...That..."
The arena fell silent again.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Captain Varos slowly picked up the core.
His expression darkened.
"...A Mid-Tier Minotaur core."
The words landed like thunder.
"What?!"
"A MID-TIER MONSTER?!"
"That’s impossible!"
"How could sothing like that appear in a beginner dungeon?!"
"That monster alone is worth over one hundred low-tier cores!"
The crowd erupted into complete chaos.
Even Etherius’s eyes sharpened slightly.
Not in disbelief.
In interest.
anwhile Eternia simply stood there quietly.
As though presenting a monster core worth over a hundred low-tier kills was completely normal.
Captain Varos stared at the core for several long seconds.
His grip tightened slightly.
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