Silence had overtaken the Association Head's office. Molly turned to leave, but she was suddenly stopped by a voice.
"Who was that child, Molly?"
"Replying to Association Head, I am unsure. He only seemed interested in acquiring a Valor Honor Card. At first he planned on spending ten million gold coins before he realized it was impossible and learned that this was his only method."
"'Replying to Association Head'? Is that how you speak to your grandfather?"
If Ryu had been here, he would have nodded in understanding.. Why else would someone in such an esteemed position know the name of a mere receptionist? Though… It was odd that a woman with such an esteemed background was relegated to such a role in the first place. But, considering the cold attitude she had toward her grandfather, maybe that made more sense than not.
"You overstepped your bounds today, Association Head. It was unnecessary to provoke a young genius in such a way just because your research isn't going the way you'd like it."
Those words stung the Head into silence. She seemed to be referring to Ryu, but at the same time something completely different.
Eventually, the Association Head snorted. "That child was too arrogant. He lowered his head, but it's clear he's not used to hiding his emotions because I could read him like an open book."
Why would Ryu be used to such a thing? He was a Scion of the Tatsuya Clan. He had had the qualifications to wear his heart on his sleeve for the whole of his life. There's no way he'd be comfortable with swallowing his reflexive reactions so soon. It seemed it was something he would have to work on.
"I hope you don't regret it." Molly's cold response was nothing like the flustered attendant she had been moments ago. "Geniuses on his level capable of swallowing their pride and burying their grievances are few and far between. If there comes a day where he stands above your head, it'll be too late. Or… Maybe it's already too late."
Molly left the office without another word. She knew her grandfather wouldn't take her words seriously. He had always been this way. He was probably sneering at the idea of Ryu ever standing above him. Sometimes, older individuals lost proper perspective on things after having had their heads in the clouds for too long.
The Association Head shook his head as Molly expected. 'The eyes are too important for a herbologist, especially on a test where your sense of smell and touch are taken away from you. His Spiritual Sense isn't refined enough to pick up the small details the eyes can. Plus, even if he had his eyes, since when was becoming an herbologist so easy? What a joke. Even the Inner Ring geniuses are at least fifty years old.'
Soon, the Association Head had thrown these matters to the back of his mind, burying his head back into his piles of research paper. He forgot all about the young man named Ryu.
**
Ryu had no idea what the Association Head was thinking, nor would he care if he did. He was more interested in the proceedings of this exam. This looked more like a battle ground than an exam room…
Ryu debated with himself. His Spiritual Sense had grown an astronomical amount during his deep sleep. In fact, it had doubled in size from thirty to sixty meters. Unfortunately, true geniuses worked on orders of hundreds of meters after stepping into the Spiritual Entrance Realm.
Ryu's understanding of the Small Realm he was in was limited to just sixty meters. Considering its scale, this was truly too small. But, at the same time, this wasn't a projection of his body, it was his true body. Meaning, if he opened his eyes, there was a chance others could understand that he had Heavenly Pupils which might cause him trouble later on.
Ryu sighed. 'Is there really nothing in this world that can protect my eyes from detection?'
Of course, there was an answer: his Mental Realm. By shrouding his pupils in a layer of Spiritual Sense, he could block all those with weaker Mental Realms than himself from observing the true abilities of his eyes. With the [Immortal Sakura] as a visualization technique, Ryu's Mental Realm would have great defensive properties as well, which would only help this. It was just that Ryu had a hard time trusting his own Mental Realm after he came to understand just how poor his Mental cultivation talent was.
'It's better to be cautious. I'll diligently practice for now. Once I reach my limit, I'll use the Gold Vein Lilies to push myself to the realm of geniuses before entering the Spiritual Endowment Realm and repeating.'
"Oh? That's a new face." A voice coming from Ryu's left caught his attention, likely because Ryu guessed it was referring to himself.
"Mm. It is quite rare for new faces to appear here. They only put us youths in here and send the old fogies elsewhere. If he's here, he must be less than a hundred years old."
Ryu picked up a few things from this conversation the least important of which was the fact this was a youth exam. Actually, Ryu was more interested in the fact they were guessing his age. Much like reading someone's cultivation, it was somewhat possible to read another's age as well. Though, sharper senses were required the higher that person's cultivation was considering almost all cultivators looked young.
"Hey you!" The voice called out to Ryu. "I'm Edward Basteel from the Inner Ring's Basteel Clan. May I ask who you are?"
Ryu's head shifted over toward the voice. "My name is Ryu Tatsuya."
"Tatsuya?!"
Ryu heard something odd in Edward's voice. But, he soon understood. Names held incredible power, especially ones as strong as Tatsuya. If Ryu could boldly proclaim that his name was Tatsuya without being struck down by Faith… It meant he was powerful! Almost too powerful!
No one dared to ask Ryu where he was from. Even if he said he was from the Outer Ring, they would probably never believe him.
Ryu smiled. 'Great Grandfather, you must still be alive right?... If no one has dared to snatch up the Tatsuya name after so long, you must be. I'll find you too. Then I'll drag you back for daring to leave our Clan in its time of need.'
It was clear by Ryu's smile that he didn't blame his Great Grandfather too much. But, he didn't have much time to think about it as flickers of energy caught his attention. The exam was beginning.