The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Robert Levitt was watching from the control room; several images floating around showed all the students undertaking the trial. Somehow, he could see all the images simultaneously, and after hours passed, his closed eyes perked slightly. He strode toward a particular image, showing Oscar being saved by Frederick and throwing his token at him.

"This boy is quite honest. He could have kept the token to himself but given it up based on his principles. The other also saved the boy, but from his face, it seems not to be out of pure kindness."

He watched with interest as Oscar and Frederick separated, reaching the moment Frederick fought with Samuel and Greg. He wore a small frown on his elderly face, but he sighed and shook his head, "To be able to have someone else follow you is also a talent, but this child seems very vengeful. Oh?"

The image showed Oscar moving ahead toward Frederick's location. Robert rubbed his chin and witnessed Oscar saving Frederick and running off together. "How interesting. This can be the start of a good team."

…….

As the night settled in, Oscar started a fire and ate some of his food. He thought of something and asked, "Does one of your relatives work here? I ran into a lady with the same hair and eyes as you."

"Oh, you must be referring to my aunt. She used to be one of the students here until she graduated. She became a Knight Exalt at the age of 27. She's been working as a Judge for the past four years." Frederick was also munching on his food with

Oscar remembered what the book about the Blue Ocean Pavilion said about Judges. They were one of the most important roles in the Pavilion and were reserved only for graduates. Proctors like Lewis and Stan were mainly the ones who failed to reach Knight Exalt before 30.

"Your aunt must be an incredible genius." Oscar praised.

"Well, that's a fact. Our Klein family is a small baron family. So her graduation was a big affair that propelled our family's status." Frederick did not sound too excited about talking about his family.

A noble family. The Brilliant Drake Empire was divided into different social classes. At the very top was the Emperor, followed by the Dukes, Counts, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons.

Oscar and Isabella were just the bottom-of-the-barrel commoners with no social standings. They might be higher up on the ladder if they were merchants or in some other specialized trade.

"That's amazing. I'm a commoner, so I wouldn't know how it is."

"As long as you become a great Exalt, you'll be given lands and a title. But who knows if that's worth it." Frederick grumbled.

Indeed, Exalts were a precious resource for any group or power. They could be the best soldiers, researchers, and leaders. Empires and nobles would entice powerful Exalts to their fold with promises of great benefits.

Even if someone failed to graduate from Blue Ocean Pavilion, someone would most likely want to hire or invite them if they were skilled.

"You don't seem very enthusiastic about it."

Frederick remained silent and munched on his food. Then he said, "It's better to be free. Go out and enjoy the freedom and girls."

Oscar was taken aback, but Frederick had unkempt hair and loosely buttoned clothing. He seemed to be a delinquent.

"What, you never had a girl before? I heard all kinds of beauties are at the Pavilion." Frederick laughed out loud and teased Oscar. The previous somber attitude about nobles was gone as if it was an act.

Oscar tilted his head and thought that Frederick might have a bit of a screw loose in him. The change in behavior was very strange.

"I have a childhood friend who came here," Oscar said. "But we're not together at all."

"Oh?" Frederick stepped closer with interest. "Tell me."

"Well, she came here with a Grade Eight Exolsia. Everyone could not believe it."

"Grade Eight?!" Frederick shouted. "Holy mother of god. You only see the high kinds of grades in the big noble families. Guess it's true that a genius can come from anywhere." His face slowly shifted back to his slightly downcast face as he sighed, "If only that could have happened for…."

"For who?" Oscar asked.

"Nevermind." Frederick ignored the topic. "Grade Eight is incredible. There are others in our year."

"Really? How rare are they?"

"Most big noble families have a large tendency for Grade Seven and Sixes. By mixing more powerful Exalt bloodlines, they have a higher chance of better Exolsia cores in their children. You can say they are Exalt families."

"My Klein family is a recent addition in the past hundred years. Our ancestor was only a Grade Six but was a powerful Knight."

"So your family was commoners before?"

"Yup, we're known as upstarts, and many despised us. But my aunt becoming a Judge put a damper on their complaints."

Frederick smiled maliciously, thinking about the idiots who suddenly had to act respectfully. Oscar did not want to know what happened to those offenders.

"I don't know all the Grade Eights because who knows if there are more like your friend, Isabella. The ones I do know of are from terrifying backgrounds." Frederick went back on topic.

"First is Celestina Lovre Dragnar, the princess of our Brilliant Drake Empire. The Royal Family has a King Exalt, so it's not surprising that they produced such a genius."

"King Exalt!" Oscar lost his breath hearing this. That was a place so far from his reach, but he was curious how it felt to be so powerful.

"Second is Aurora Bellwood, and she is not from any noble family but rather the daughter of the branch head of the Alchemist's Guild branch in our Empire. The Alchemist's Guild is the holy ground for alchemists."

"Alchemists?" Oscar did not know what these were.

"There's more to Exalts than just fighting. They can create Elixirs which help speed up the process of training. You'll learn more about it later once we're inside."

Oscar nodded and expressed for Fred to continue.

"Lastly, there is a Grade Nine…."

Oscar unknowingly slammed his hand on the floor, ignoring the slight bleeding it caused.

"A NI-" Oscar almost screamed in shock before Frederick clamped his mouth shut.

"Don't make too much commotion. You'll attract attention." Frederick was careful and did not want any unwanted attention. Attention bred trouble.

Oscar took deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Grade Nine? Who?"

Frederick responded solemnly, "It would be Gilbert Lockwood from a Baron family."

"Grade Nine, that's crazy. Even more so from a baron family."

"But strange too." Frederick crossed his arms in deep thought.

"Strange?"

"I know Gilbert since our families were barons. He was always pale and sick. He rarely came out unless the family had to bring him out for formal social events. I heard they put him in a shed away from the rest at home."

Frederick remembered his peer with blue hair and blue eyes that tried to hold in his coughs and walk around with shaky legs.

"Then, suddenly, he got healthy and strong. Later, he overpowered his siblings in martial combat. Once they tested his Exolsia, it turned bright gold signifying Grade Nine. The news spread like wildfire all over the empire, except remote places like your home."

"That…is odd," Oscar mumbled.

Can a person change that drastically? Even if they recovered from sickness, immediately defeating others in combat was strange.

"I got a weird feeling about all of this. So I'd rather not interact with the guy. You too. Avoid him at all costs. I caught a glimpse of him, and it's a complete difference from his sickly past." Frederick huffed in anger.

Silence engulfed the two as the air became stuffy with worries.

Oscar stood up and stretched his back, "I don't think we'll have too many chances to see him. After all, if you and I both fail here, then that's something we don't have to worry about."

Gilbert was not on Oscar's mind for today. They needed to focus on what lay ahead.

What an oddball. Frederick thought Oscar was an interesting person to give him a token and save his life. Completely different from Gilbert. Without knowing, Frederick had a smile on his face.

"Here." Frederick tossed something to Oscar.

Oscar grabbed it and saw the golden token in his palm. "Why are you giving this back to me?"

"You saved me. This is thanks for that. Besides, I found one as well." Frederick revealed his token. "We're both at one token a piece, so that's fine."

"What if you fail because of this?" Oscar joked.

"Ha? How would I fail? You should be worrying about yourself." Frederick quipped back at Oscar.

Oscar laughed and said, "Let's become Exalts."

Frederick extended his fist out to Oscar.

"Obviously, Os. Let's win this."

Oscar bumped fists with Frederick.

"What kind of name is Os? But yea, Fred. We're going to pass."

…….

"What kind of horseshit is this?" Frederick shouted. He kicked the boulder but soon regretted his decision and rubbed his foot with a pained expression. He was quite distanced at the start but began to act more unhinged and wild around Oscar.

Oscar looked at Frederick as if he were an idiot for hurting himself. "Fred, that's enough. A fake token is a fake."

Earlier they found another token in a cave, but it crumbled into dust when they touched it. Frederick lashed out in anger while Oscar shrugged it off.

"Os! The Pavilion is full of sadistic overlords who love to toy with us." Frederick hissed.

"That's….plausible," Oscar thought about it; the Pavilion was quite torturous. It suddenly hoisted them into an unknown wilderness to find tokens that could only be found by finely combing through each crevice but left behind some fakes.

"You and I both have two tokens, but I didn't think finding a third was this hard," Frederick said. Even though he said that, finding the second tokens were much harder. They had to go into dark caverns or find a way across raging rivers to find some.

As they wandered around, Oscar and Frederick froze when they saw another person sitting on a large boulder. She was a beautiful girl with orange hair and orange eyes dressed in garbs made of fur. Her face was exquisite; Oscar felt it might be on par with Isabella's.

The girl stood up and stared at the pair.

Oscar and Frederick tensed up and readied themselves for a fight. But Oscar felt like a large predator was staring him from down those fierce orange eyes.

"Who are you?" Frederick asked.

"Shouldn't you be introducing yourselves first?" The girl asked back. "Or are you just here to stare like a pair of chicks?"

"....." Frederick remained silent and was about to move, but Oscar held him back. "Os?"

"Let's go." Oscar shook his head.

As they left, the girl didn't follow. But she slumped back on the boulder with a downcast face and cursed, "I did it again…."

Oscar was still dragging Frederick away.

"Os, what was that? We could have taken her."

"She stood on the boulder, looking down at us like we were prey. What do you think would happen? Let's find a safe way to get tokens."

Frederick clicked his tongue. He agreed with Oscar's conclusion, but he still didn't like the attitude of that orange-haired girl. "She was beautiful, but I prefer more open and adorable girls."

"Yea, yea. You mentioned your preferences many times." Oscar sighed and stopped tugging on Frederick.

They walked a considerable distance away in search of more tokens. The two suns were setting again.

Oscar said, "We still have another day after this. We should keep looking."

However, Oscar found no other tokens today and had no luck for half the third day. At this rate, he would be relegated to the Minor Hall.

"What's with the tokens?" Frederick complained. "It's almost as if they're running away."

"Running away?" Oscar pondered about the previous tokens they had found. The first was found very easily, but the second was in slightly more inconvenient or unsettling places. "Maybe the tokens only show when we go to more places like the dark cave and river."

"Now that you mention it, that seems likely." Frederick realized it as well.

"Then I think I know where one can be." Oscar stood up and pointed at the large mountain only a few minutes away. "Let's climb."

…….

"So he realized it. Indeed, the first tokens are given as a gift and a tool to incite conflict if the need arises. But the next tokens are more dangerous to obtain. Only with the resolve to pass can you find them." Robert Levitt smiled.

The trial was set so the tokens would spawn at a place the person could only get to if they truly pushed themselves. What was required was courage and the drive to push past their limits. Of course, the other action was to fight and steal from another person.

Naturally, if the person showed some grit in a fight, the elders may give them an easy token nearby as a reward. That was why Oscar's and Frederick's second tokens were only in a shallow cavern and across a fierce river right by them; they had shown their tenacity and courage in the bout against Samuel and Greg.

The other images all showed students trying their best to dive into the depths of a lake, climb high on trees, run into deep caverns, or fight each other.