The four people who were able to make it to the 3rd step were all Middle-Stage 1st Circle Aura Knights. There was some correlation between the aura level of the candidates and how far they were able to get, but it wasn’t the only reason they were doing better.
Some Middle-Stage 1st Circle Aura Knights were still stuck on the second level and couldn’t move up. There was a difference between those two people. Another thing to consider was that the test was to see how good their body was to train aura.
So it made sense that people who got further were better than others when looking at their aura level. The main thing that Leo noticed was that everyone was using their aura from the second level onward, so he figured that it was also a reason why 1st Circle Aura Knights had an advantage.
The second batch ended with around 70 candidates left. Leo figured that the reason the 1st Circle Aura Knight didn’t even get past the first stage was that he forced his way into the 1st Circle using pills.
Leo was suddenly doubtful about whether or not he was going to fare well in the test. What if he faced the same fate because his entire aura level was achieved using pills?
Leo stayed back as the third round of candidates stepped forward. Almost all the Apprentice Aura Knights went on this round, leaving just 4 or 5 for the last round. Along with them, there were around 80 1st Circle Aura Knights.
At the end of the round, most of them passed while 5 didn’t. In total, there were 100 people from the third round who qualified for the next test. However, no one ever got close to getting to the 4th step.
Leo looked at Marcus who was waiting with him to go onto the platform. Unlike him who was nervous, Marcus was excited. After all, Marcus knew he was talented in using aura. He was very sure that he would get by the first level.
The remaining 250 people stepped forward.
“You can start,” Maria said. The entire time, only she talked while her partner didn’t say a word. Leo looked at the platform in front of him and took a deep breath. He looked around and saw that everyone had already started, so he decided to go for it.
The minute he got onto the platform, he realized why everyone was struggling. He was bombarded with pressure that forced him to the ground. His body, however, held on pretty well.
Leo’s mouth curved into a smile. He knew that he wasn’t going to fall in the first level, at least. He looked around and saw Marcus speed through the first level onto the next one. He decided to walk along with him.
As he walked forward, the pressure increased little by little. Even though he was able to recognize the changes in pressure thanks to his perception, his body didn’t care about it. The pressure didn’t seem to affect him greatly, so Leo thought he would be able to at least get to the second level.
The minute he went to the second level, the pressure on him doubled. He quickly released a layer of aura from his body to see if it would help. He only needed a small amount of aura to do this, and it helped a lot.
Everyone around him was also using their aura to shield themselves too, but they were using too much aura at once. He didn’t need to use as much aura because he felt that the pressure wasn’t too much. Marcus was also in a similar state and was breezing through the second level.
Leo stayed to the back and slowly walked forward while a few people got to the third level in a minute. He saw Marcus and the silver-haired girl both walk in front of everybody. He slowly got to the third level and walked up the platform.
When he got onto the 3rd level, he realized that the test wasn’t as hard as it looked. It was not that hard once he got onto the 3rd level, so he walked forward.
Once Marcus got onto the 3rd level, he looked around to see who was with him. He saw the silver-haired girl keeping up with him and three others behind him. Everybody else was on the second level. He saw Leo just get onto the 3rd level and saw him closing in slowly.
He looked back forward and saw that the girl had walked ahead while he was looking back. He gritted his teeth and walked forward. Even though it was starting to become hard to walk forward, his competitive spirit made him blaze through the pressure.
He took a deep breath and stepped forward to the next level. The pressure on his body increased greatly as he got his second foot onto the ground. He started panting heavily and looked forward. The girl was only two steps away from him, but those two steps were incredibly difficult to take.
He tried to take the first step and almost collapsed onto the ground. He decided to wait a minute to recover his breath before trying again.
The two examiners watching this were incredibly surprised. Maria, who was watching in her chair quickly noted down what she was seeing on a piece of paper. On the other hand, the second examiner, Lisa, was watching quietly like she did the entire time.
They didn’t expect such a result to happen at the last minute. Till now, not a single person had taken more than a few steps into the 3rd level. The maximum that the previous batches had gotten to was 4 meters into the 3rd level. But now, 2 people had reached the 4th level.
They were both only hoping for a couple of candidates to reach as far as 7 or 8 meters into the third level, so this exceeded their expectations.
The silver-haired girl who was in the front was unable to move forward. She knew that she was very close to her limit. But she didn’t want to stop where she was. She knew that she was so much better than everyone else there, and her current position would be enough.
But the one boy who also made it to the 3rd level as fast as she made her feel like she couldn’t stop. She didn’t want to just qualify for the next round. She was the only 2nd Circle Aura Knight there. She wanted to be the best candidate to qualify. She
She looked behind her and saw that Marcus had already come to the 4th level. He was still 2 meters away from her, so she had time. She decided to rest for a while before attempting to take another step.
After a minute passed, Marcus decided he rested enough. He released his aura and took a large step forward.