Free Web NovelChapter 15: Chapter 15: Assessment Reward
The breakfast in the cafeteria was served buffet-style.
However, the selection of dishes was pitifully small.
The most abundant item was bread, piled up like a small mountain and occupying an entire long table.
Behind the serving counter stood two motionless, humanoid figures.
They—yes, "they" was the only way to describe them—were carved from a single piece of some dark, fine-grained wood, with exquisite mortise-and-tenon joints reinforced with metal.
Their forms were roughly human, but their faces were smooth expanses of wood grain, with only a few indentations vaguely outlining the positions of eyes and a mouth. Their expressions were eternally blank.
These were Witchcraft Puppets!
Mo Ning couldn’t help but take a curious second look.
Within the vast Witchcraft system, Puppetry was a massive, sprawling branch.
Countless Wizards could spend their entire lives and perhaps only achieve minor accomplishments in a single subfield.
The Black Tower Academy’s list of expensive, paid courses was not lacking in subjects related to puppets either.
The strength of different puppets varied immensely.
Weaker puppets could only execute fixed commands, performing menial tasks like cleaning and carrying items.
Meanwhile, the legendary High Tier War Puppets created by masters possessed power sufficient to rival official Wizards.
The two before him clearly belonged to the former category.
Just as Mo Ning approached the food service area, the head of one of the stationary Black Wood Puppets turned toward him at a slightly stiff angle.
A flat, mechanical voice, like grinding gears, emanated from its mouth:
"Serial number 7-118-256, Mo Ning. Identity confirmed. Welcome to the newcomer cafeteria."
It extended a wooden hand, carved into the shape of five fingers, and precisely picked up a plate from a nearby stack.
Almost simultaneously, the other Black Wood Puppet activated. Its five wooden fingers arranged several food items onto the plate with dazzling speed.
The entire process was smooth and efficient, without a single drop of soup spilled or a single wasted movement.
Mo Ning watched without blinking, making a silent comparison in his mind: ’Their precision is even greater than the advanced industrial robotic arms from my previous life. It seems they also possess a degree of autonomous decision-making ability.’
He naturally added "Witchcraft Puppets" to his list of fields worth exploring in the future.
Ordinary Wizards, limited by the boundaries of their energy and talent, could usually only choose one or two main fields to delve into deeply.
But Mo Ning felt that with his Eye of Truth, he might just be able to become a "polymath" Wizard, proficient in multiple fields.
He picked up his heaping plate, walked to a corner of the cafeteria, and sat down at a table next to a wall of water.
Most of the other newcomers were also sitting in corners; it was a shared, unspoken understanding among the weak.
Rippling light filtered through the transparent barrier, flowing slowly across the wooden table in front of him. A few small, translucent, faintly glowing fish swam closer, curiously staring at him through the "glass."
Mo Ning first cut off a small piece of roasted Snore Beast rib, popped it into his mouth, and chewed a few times, his brow furrowing slightly.
The meat was fibrous and tough, with a strong, gamey smell. The spices clashed with the meat’s natural flavor. It was barely edible.
Wizards’ enthusiasm for fine dining was even lower than he had anticipated.
However, he had spent the entire previous day studying the art of Secret Divination, which was mentally exhausting. The intense hunger soon overwhelmed his picky palate.
He stopped savoring the food and began to wolf it down.
Mo Ning picked up a hard, thick piece of bread. With the first bite, he could immediately feel the coarse bran.
A thought flashed through his mind: ’If I ever gain some real influence in the academy, the first thing I’m going to reform is this god-awful cafeteria.’
As time went on, newcomers entered the cafeteria one after another, their faces etched with terror.
Few people spoke in the cafeteria. Everyone looked grim.
On their very first day, the academy had given the newcomers a harsh welcome.
It was as if to say—’Rookies, if you want to make a life for yourselves in the academy, it won’t be as easy as you think!’
When the forty-eighth newcomer appeared, the second person to pass the assessment finally emerged.
Of course.
To the newcomers, this was the "first" person to have passed the assessment.
An exceptionally burly and muscular figure in a blue robe, still breathing heavily, strode into everyone’s view.
The man scanned the room and asked with a hint of pride, "Hey guys, I just passed the assessment. Has anyone else here passed?"
The cafeteria fell silent.
The burly newcomer snorted derisively and mumbled under his breath, "All these people, and not a single one of you made it."
Without looking at anyone else, the man strode toward the food counter.
As Mo Ning chewed his bread, he caught the hushed discussion of two nearby newcomers:
"It’s Saqi! Serial number 021!"
"Saqi’s Spiritual Strength is 0.86, right? No wonder he could withstand it!"
"As expected, high talent makes all the difference!"
Mo Ning glanced quickly at Saqi’s back and let out a huge sigh of relief inwardly.
’It seems Goblin Fodder is tight-lipped and didn’t reveal the assessment results to the newcomers.’
This meant he could continue to keep a low profile and not become the center of attention on his second day.
According to the information he’d obtained from Lakefront Manor, the academy didn’t announce the results for the vast majority of its assessments.
The academy didn’t seem to have much interest in things like "rankings."
Mo Ning liked this approach.
In his past life, there was a saying: "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."
Although he had gained the attention of the Rose Council, he hadn’t actually mastered any form of Witchcraft yet. In an academy fraught with danger, keeping a low profile was the best strategy.
「Ten minutes later.」
The last newcomer entered the cafeteria.
The first group assessment was over.
To the newcomers’ surprise, Sitt, the recruit with serial number 001, was not the one with the highest evaluation, even though he had passed Goblin Fodder’s Spiritual Intimidation.
Vino, the female newcomer with serial number 014, was the one who came out on top.
According to information she voluntarily shared, she had been practicing a Secret Technique passed down in her family since childhood, which allowed her to effectively resist Spiritual Intimidation.
Goblin Fodder had given her an evaluation: "Not bad!"
As for Sitt, although he had passed the assessment, he refused to reveal Fodder’s evaluation.
That alone spoke volumes.
Listening to the gossip circulating among the crowd, Mo Ning gradually realized something: ’From the very first day they step into the Black Tower, the intense internal competition among newcomers begins.’
It was cruel, but it made sense.
Back during their days waiting at Lakefront Castle, a piece of information had already spread: the resources the academy allocated to each batch of newcomers were fixed.
Whoever stood out more in assessments, missions, and even daily performance would get a larger slice of the "cake."
This meant that the resources of newcomers who performed relatively poorly would inevitably be squeezed.
Thus, the competition among the "Strong Persons" with high-ranking talent serials grew increasingly fierce.
Just then, the rewards for the first group assessment finally arrived, fashionably late.
A familiar, cool sensation came from the Guiding Ring on Mo Ning’s index finger as a line of information was silently etched into his consciousness:
[Reward Notification: Serial number 7-118-256, Mo Ning.]
[You performed exceptionally in the first group assessment, "Willpower Test," and have been awarded 30 Black Tower Points. Current balance: 405 Black Tower Points.]
Mo Ning quickly lowered his head, using the motion of scooping soup to perfectly hide the flash of surprise in his eyes.
According to the "experience" passed around at Lakefront Castle, the top performer in this kind of simple, entry-level assessment usually received a reward of between 10 and 20 Black Tower Points.
points!
This far exceeded his expectations and was clearly above the normal standard.
An uproar erupted.
Evidently, the others had received their assessment rewards at the same time.
Mo Ning’s joy had yet to subside when he felt the Guiding Ring on his finger grow cool once more.
