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Chapter 631 - Examiner
🕑 Added 2025-06-01 08:49:53 +0000 UTC“What do you mean by that, Assistant Professor Gwyn?”
“Exactly what I said. I do not think you are a Candidate, Ari.” I say. More than anything, I think Ari would be killing many more people if she were a Candidate. Only Examiners are restricted to Candidates if they don't want to die.
She looks around, and because we stand in the middle of the garden, there are some students, servants, and even a few Assistant Professors passing nearby. So far, no one gives us much attention, but I can see how much it irks her to break her schedule this way and to lose control.
Even then, she just smiles with her hands playfully put behind her back. “Let’s talk about this later, okay?”
As she moves to leave, I let my mana seep out to the point where even people around us notice and start looking our way. That makes her stop.
She is still smiling as she says it, but her voice is quiet and sharp. “We made a deal.”
“I would probably keep it if you weren’t such a liar. So, Ari, if that is your true name, tell me. Was there ever more than one Examiner?”
Gradually, her expression changes from blank to a smile, and she sighs. “You know it is rude to meet me so early after the start of a loop without giving me a chance to prepare any countermeasures, especially for situations like this, right?”
"You’ve got a few days. Besides, I was told by reliable sources that I’m what some people might call an asshole."
“Indeed,” she nods. “So what now?”
“I’m a curious person, so I will let you continue preparing that array you want to use to kill me or escape. In exchange, keep telling me interesting things about this record. If you lie, I will kill you.”
“So rude. You’d really kill a young girl like me?” She gives a cutesy smile and adds a quick, playful bow that somehow still looks elegant.
“I don’t think you are that young.”
Her eyebrow rises, and I can almost hear her calculating how far she can push me and stretch this conversation. The entire time, she weaves arrays around her.
When it comes to skill levels, mana, stats, and traits, she has nothing that could compare to me. She doesn’t even have that many items on her, since this is not that far into the loop. I'm sure just a bit later, she would acquire some powerful ones. But so what, even if she did? I could still face her.
Instead of using items, Ari uses the little mana she has and years’ worth of knowledge and preparation to create incredible arrays. Even now, I'm getting lost in them. They are stunningly mana-efficient, and I'm sure her skills are leveling up like crazy as she keeps weaving them.
“Like you said, I’m an Examiner, the only one. My master sent me here. Just like the Ruler’s Candidates, I’m being tested too.”
“Oh?”
“Oh, yes. My master is the Absolute who worked with the Ruler. Twisted little shit, isn’t he? Don’t you think so? But can even he compare to the Ruler who threw kids without proper training into a record like this for me to hunt? Wouldn’t you agree it’s a terrible way to find a successor?”
“I agree.”
At this point, some of the students notice something strange, and even two Assistant Professors nearby seem aware of the arrays Ari is weaving. Still, they don’t react. It most likely looks like I am testing one of the students.
“Did you find out who the remaining Candidates are? I didn’t lie about the number, but I think a few loops ago, someone killed the eighth. I promise it wasn’t me.”
I nod. “I think the remaining ones had enough and decided to push and end this.”
Ari sighs. “And you ruined it. Me and them could’ve had a halfway decent clash of wits, even if I didn’t expect much, since they spent most of their time hiding.”
“You think so?”
“Is it not true?” Two of her arms spread wide, while the other four twitch their fingers in a way that seems to help her focus on the arrays she’s weaving. “I was the one who hunted them down like mindless animals.”
That wild smile stretches across her face. “Ah, if you knew how much fun I had. One tried to use a ‘bug’ against me, but I used that same ‘bug’ back on them. Another one found out my identity and tried to connect with another Candidate he had located. Only later did he find out I had found her first and cooperated with her. We killed him, and then I killed her as well.”
She giggles, and her speech quickens along with the twitching of her fingers. “Then there was that little trash who kept hiding. I knew he was from my class, but I couldn’t tell who it was. And you know, I really didn’t want to die. Can you guess what I did?”
“I don’t. Please tell me.”
“I pretended to break down and started crying in class. I kept mumbling things only the Candidate would understand. I made myself look small and weak. Scared.” She laughs again. “It was a risk, but I’d become quite the risk-taker about a year into the loops. Still, it worked. He found me after class and revealed himself. He pitied me. After a year alone, he was just glad to find someone else like him.”
She steps from side to side, almost dancing as she remembers what happened.
“Back then, I wasn’t as strong as I am now, and he was careful even after revealing himself. But slowly, I made him fall for me. Would you believe that?” She chuckles out loud and covers her mouth with two hands. “THAT DUMBASS FELL FOR ME.”
When she puts her hands down, the smile is gone. “I killed him during that loop.”
“You seem to have had a lot of fun, Ari.”
“A bit,” she nods. “Do you enjoy my information, Assistant Professor Gwyn?”
“Somewhat. Anything else?”
“May I ask who the remaining Candidates are?”
“Oh? You think you might kill me and want to find them after?”
“Yes."
“Wouldn’t killing me kill you too, as the Examiner? Or is that something you lied about?”
“Please don’t worry. Bugs are excluded from that rule. While you are looping, you are fair game.”
“That’s good for you,” I say.
“Yes. So, please? Who are your suspects?”
“I wouldn’t call them suspects. I’m sure of who they are. I also wouldn’t say I’m the smartest person, but it’s quite funny that I found them before you did, even though I messed around. But I guess I did have a lot of help.”
For the first time, her array weaving falters, but she quickly recovers and continues as if nothing happened. But I noticed.
“Do you know Vance?”
Ari blinks. “I was fifty-fifty on him. What gave him away?”
“Well, he wanted to blow up the entire Academy to wipe out all the Candidates and you at once. It's possible he was trying to set something up that would bring all of you into the Academy in case some are around the region, but we forced his hand and he rushed.”
“That’s surprising. How was he planning to do that?”
“That’s partly my fault. The guy’s a kleptomaniac and kept stealing from me. Even so, it’s impressive what he managed. All this while acting like a cliche young boy spying on girls, just so he could keep making items to hide himself, sneak around, and try to track down the other Candidates.”
“I would have dealt with him.”
“I agree with you on that. And by the way, impressive array. Honestly, even as it is now, it's probably enough to kill me. But I don’t get that other thing you're doing in the background. The part you're using the array to hide. Are you searching for something?”
“Thank you. I worked on it for years and used a lot of drachen, along with help from many people, to develop it. Yet, you seem confident. Are you not worried?” She ignores my question.
“Not really.”
“I think we could have been good friends if we met outside.”
“I don’t think so.”
"So, who is the last Candidate?" she asks.
"You are doing a good job at making me monologue."
“I know, but you're enjoying it too, aren’t you? Please, don’t lie. I can see that you're the same as me in that way. So, where is your pride? Show it to me. Give me all the cards. Allow me to try my best and still defeat me.”
"What Ruler is messing around?"
"I don’t know."
"I see. You know what’s funny, Ari? You would lose in the end." Her eyebrow twitches, and the rhythm of her heart shifts a little. I continue, "It’s Tyven."
She stops entirely, no longer working on the array, and instead takes a step forward. "There is no way."
It almost makes me laugh, and I can see she has noticed it.
"There is no way," she whispers, her eyes hazing over. She snaps back to reality. "There is no way HE IS A CANDIDATE. THERE IS NO WAY I WOULD LOSE AGAINST SOMEONE LIKE HIM."
She makes quick changes to the array. It becomes less stable, but more dangerous at the same time. Damage starts piling up on her body.
Somewhere in the distance, I notice the Academy arrays twisting into a defensive cupola around the place where Vance was working on the thermonuclear warhead. An alarm reverberates through the Academy.
The movement of mana around Ari stops, and she looks at me. "I finally found it."
Her killing array fires at me, and while I’m busy blocking it, she does something else. Then the loop resets, and I find myself back in the starting room with the rest of Group 4.
Without hesitation, I break the wall of the room in a blast of kinetic energy. As debris rains to the ground, I fly through it and lift into the air. I send a pulse of detection through the Academy and push against the first attempts of the Academy array to suppress me. Within seconds, I locate Ari heading toward the library.
A javelin I form shoots at her, but it is blocked by one of the Professors who appears. Ari continues heading toward Tyven, mana twisting around her and damaging her body as she overextends her limits, and prepares to kill him.
The Professor, one I haven’t met before, uses his skill, and I feel myself pushed back, constantly being restricted. Another Professor starts twisting the Academy arrays to aid them.
I create an [Empyrean Lance] and shoot it at Ari again, piercing through the barriers and nearly catching her. At the last moment, she turns her eyes toward me, and the loop resets again.
I send the message to everyone, break the wall again, and fly into the air. An orb of black mana forms ahead of me. I feed it a good chunk of my mana and shoot it forward to distract the Professors.
I spot Ari again and start heading her way, but I stop mid-flight as that pressure fills the area.
Slowly, I turn my head and look toward its epicenter.
In the air, near my orb, stands a figure. The selari Champion who moved there from miles away in less than a second. With curiosity, he observes the black orb that keeps sucking in surrounding mana and tearing apart the defensive arrays.
Then he grabs it in his hands and closes it into a tight fist.
An audible thump echoes through the academy, breaking all the windows and blowing away the arrays as if they were normal spider webs caught in a hurricane.
Champion Dion turns to me and opens his fist, from which tiny black particles fall like sand.
All of my defenses are blown away as if they didn’t exist. I watch that incredible mass of mana head my way.
Lily reaches Ari, and the loop resets again.
I blow the wall of the room again and continue on foot, sending a quick scan to locate Ari. The rest of Group 4 follows. Tess acts as a distraction and flies to the tallest tower, her primordial lightning cracking around her.
Finding Ari, I notice she’s searching for something. The way she does it is extremely specialized, unlike anything I’ve seen before. I halt for a moment as her senses lock onto a small pen in one of the classrooms. She immediately places some sort of mark on it.
When I break through the window and stop in front of her, Lulu appears nearby, flying in through another window. I hear the footsteps of the Vice Director behind me as her arrays and mana spread through the area.
My teleportation fails, disrupted before I can even move, and the Vice Director´s mana pins me in place. Tess´ lightning javelin then pierces through the wall and strikes near the Vice Director, and forces her to defend against the next one.
I push against the restriction and move toward Ari.
She triggers that mark and destroys the pen.
The loop resets.
We rush out of the room again, some toward Tyven, others to distract the Professors. I go after Ari. She once again searches for the item, which I realize must be the core of the Record. Her constant search for it must mean it keeps changing, and it does. This time, it is a necklace around the neck of one of the students, and she places a mark on it as well.
In an entirely different area now, Ari stands not far from where we appeared, but as I reach through the air toward the mark she placed, something disrupts it.
From behind the trees, Professor Elian appears. His Mana Wavelength Iris glows deeply.
"Assistant Professor Gwyn, what is the meaning of this?"
I ignore him and shoot an orb of black mana at him while simultaneously using Wraith Dance to reach Ari. Using speed against mana-specialized opponents like him should...
My body slams against a barrier in front of Ari, and it doesn't even budge as I throw the full power of my disruption against it. Ari grins widely from behind it.
"Student Ari, what are you grinning at?" Elian snorts beside her and keeps reinforcing his barrier as I turn to my left. "You have a lot of questions to answer. Both you and Assistant Professor Gwyn."
There, the black orb I shoot at him floats in the air, surrounded by a spinning square cage of multilayered mana.
An overload of information makes me stagger. My Mana Wavelength Iris deactivates, and I fall to my knees.
"What an interesting thing," sounds a voice from behind me. When I turn back, selari Champion Dion is standing there as well, placing me between him and Professor Elian.
A chuckle escapes my mouth at the insanity of the situation. Before my connection to Group 4 disappears, I send information about the necklace on one of the students.
"Dion, may I ask what you are doing here at this time?" Elian asks in his usual nonchalant, arrogant manner.
Instead of answering, Dion points at the black orb trapped inside the cage, “That orb.”
"All of this has happened on the grounds of the Academy, so please exclude yourself from the situation."
"In that case, keep that thing. I will be taking this guy with me," Champion Dion says, and the pressure around me disappears as he steps forward and counters the Professor.
Elian doesn’t even blink. The golden circles around his pupils seem to burn a hole into reality itself as mana rises around him, sending a shockwave through the area. Above him, three cube-shaped objects appear, glowing with a bright mix of golden and white light trapped inside each of them.
And I realize that any one of those cubes is enough to destroy not just the Academy, but the entire region the 8th floor covers.
Then Dennis catches up to the girl and breaks the amulet, and the loop resets.
Reappearing again, I search the area the same way Ari did. I mimic it. I remember those waves. That weird frequency spreads through the area, nearly undetected, and I locate an apple. I extend toward it, place a mark on it, and teleport it into my hand just as Ari finds it as well.
Her run slows into a walk, and she changes direction. Tears begin to fall from her eyes as she grabs a passing Professor by his jacket and points at me as I enter the same hallway.
Wraith Dance brings me closer. Before the Professor can even move, I slam my palm against his chest, releasing a blast of kinetic energy. His chest bulges open and explodes, spraying the wall with blood and his insides before he collapses.
Behind me, I sense more presences coming.
Ari opens her mouth to say something, but a shimmering blue lance with a core of white and golden light pierces her chest and pins her to the wall.
She coughs up blood, but as her eyes begin to lose their light, she says with a smile, "So rude, Assistant Professor Gwyn...."
I release thermal energy around me just to be sure. The entire hallway burns, along with the arrays and the mana in the air. My body takes damage in the process as I lift two seals on the Ignition Heart. Then I squeeze the apple.
The loop resets, and I appear in the same starting room, surrounded by everyone else.
Congratulations! You've successfully completed the 8th floor's main quest. An entrance to the ninth floor has been created.
***
Comments
JJB4345_80_815
Thank you for the chappy! So, after reading this chapter I feel compelled to bump up my tier. It was that good. Not only was the action fast paced and the ending stellar but the entire interaction between the Champion Dion and Professor Elian (I'm horrible at spelling names or just spelling in general) and with those mana cubes that could destroy the academy... Yeah, this chapter is so juicy that it has me salivating for more.
Brandon Coursey
I think Kim figures it out. His subclass was envy right. Rearrange the letters in tyven and you get envy t. Also his spider is probably the one on the moon.
Carl Labanz
What was the evidence that the last candidate is Tyven?
Christian M
Thanks for this amazing arc! Loved every minute reading it!
ShrewdReader POV
Jesus , I think the author has some of the best fast paced actions scenes to ever be written, like I can seriously imagine everything happening. And like someone else said, golly elian really squared up like that 😞😭😭
Audrey WJ
So Professor Elian was indeed a badass and not a fake as Nat started to believe.
Alex O'Connor
This was amazing 🤩 thanks for the chapter
Lowph
Holy shit, what a chapter. well done author
Nerø
They only have to protect one candidate. And I think they already figured it out somehow that Tyven is a candidate too. They had to kill Vance because that kid modified and was about to blow up the whole academy with that warhead lol
11335577
No?
Rodmin
Haha I loved the quick paced nature of this chapter.
Meowgrr
So, I don't understand why they would kill Vance though? I mean, how could they be sure he wasn't the candidate that they needed to protect?
GloinJr
I think he was introduced as a son of a champion or something like that, he inherited the wavelength eyes from one of his parents and just went all in on studying mana
Vinnie
I haven't watched JoJo in years. So no, I did not.
Vinnie
Amazin! Thanks for the chapter!
Dray Kruesi
Anyone else just see the JoJo motife during Nat and Ari's dialogue? Dio and Jotaro energy?
Moon Winchester
What a wild ride absolutely loved this fucking chapter and this arc of the story. I can’t wait for you to show us that the skill Nate eventually landed onto the combination is one he didn’t show us. But when he created in the spontaneous moment of infinite loops, trying to kill Ari.
Brendin Olsen
It sounds like Elian is either. A champion or something that is very close to it. Maybe a. Combat specialist who fought in the war
jax rammus
Holy shit this was a wild ride.
Forrest
This chapter was amazing! Thank you.
facetiousk
Time for some side-quest action!
Lonnie
I wonder how Nat is going to get Elian to teach him? Get him to fight so he can learn?
mulchymulcher
I KNEW she was pretending to be a teenager!
Zaim İpek
He observed it many times, and the very first time he got a very close look at her slowly assembling her detection method.
Anders Budaj
Ngl, this chapter was amazing. Truly showcasing some of the power in the verse compared to Group 4. I’d have to say my favorite part is seeing just how insane Nat is with mana, to be able to copy Ari’s technique after seeing it once
Zaim İpek
Ari was trying to kill all the candidates. They killed Ari. That fullfiled the floor quest. Tyven, the library spider boy, is the last remaining candidate after the pervert boy was killed "off screen" in this chapter. If they choose to continue more loops, he will be the only NPC with memory of previous loops. That's all the relevant information. Everything else doesn't really matter, and it got reset anyway, so it is doubly unimportant.
Sargon Yami
I don't think it was him.
Sargon Yami
It appears that black mana itself us well known by the powerful. But no one actually has it just a few in history.
Zaim İpek
It's ok. Most of this chapter was unimportant. All you need to know is that Ari was the big threat to the ruler candidates. They killed her, and therefore saved the ruler candidate. Mission completed. Everything else in this chapter doesn't really matter much, so as long as you understand that important part, the rest of the story should still make sense. Also, Tyven, the Library boy with the spider, is the surviving ruler candidate. Since he is the only NPC left with memory of previous loops, that's probably a relevant detail to keep in mind in case they choose to linger on this floor before continuing on to the next.
Jinaden
Wow! My heart is still racing! I have so many questions. Elian and Dion are the shit. We need more
Sean Andrews
👏
John Doe
They have to at least empty the library or Min Jae might not go with them.
TBONEMAN
Now nat just has to kill tyven for poisoning him all the time
Zaim İpek
He still can be.
Zaim İpek
Well, hopefully they are smart enough not to immediately take that portal and spend more time learning everything they can on this floor.
WhiteLeeopard
When he appeared in the middle of the fight I considered he might be the Absolute or Ruler. Unlikely, but there is a slight chance?
Terri Harris
Looking forward to the explanation chapter. "Ya, see Timmy... " Because as it is I am very confused. But it was exciting. Thanks for the chapter!
Josh Cothran
So Elian is at least champion level, interesting.
arnumart
So now to loot the floor for everything not nailed down.
13L00D13ANE
PLEASE say next chapter that he tells group 4 to go on ahead, and then confronts the selari champion about black mana (then again, from how he spoke it doesnt seem like he actually knows what it is, more like he is incredibly intrigued by it so idk)
Goblin
Holy shit hell of a chapter
Derze
Damn
venkata siddhardha yarlagadda
Ari probably tried to kill them. The old war group definitely killed the champion. Elian is insane. The weapon is just a blueprint that they wanted done. They memorised that. I don't know about the minjae and tyven thing. Or maybe it's due to minjae that nat knew it was tyven? Yep, I already thought he needed to learn from him before this but this makes him so much more interesting!
Blooper
You know, I thought that too, but there is also a minimal chance that Nat is wrong about Tyven. He was clearly right about Ari, since killing her means he protected rhe candidate and completed the floor. But it doesn't mean he was 100% right on who the candidates were...
Sergei Hartwig
Just amazing! Thanks for the Chapter!
Lizy Flore
Thinking about it, I don’t think this floor is over yet. There’s still a lot of unanswered questions. Who tried to kill Nat and Tess ? How did the Champion died ? What’s up with Elian ? What’s up with the faculty members, as well (trait grandpa, vice headmaster, etc) ? Also the weapon Nat commissioned the Head Crafter to do. Then this whole thing with Min-Jae and Tyven. I probably missed more questions, and also, it would be such a waste if Nat learned nothing from Elian.
WhiteLeeopard
Im also not sure who the assassin was. They can probably think up something to the library, maybe Nat and Tess make a distraction while the twins carry the books across, then reset the loop once the rest of the team is at the next floor.
Venno
Wowwwwwwww
WhiteLeeopard
Dang, didn't expect it to wrap up in one chapter. Question, can they keep resetting the loop a few extra times to try some more combos before going through the door? This floor was complex but doable, maybe floor 9 will be a chance for the Beyond group to go to Beyond and leave the rest of the team to do the floor on their own, would be good practice for all to step up.
TreeReader
Lol i would love some side stories about liorens past haha
Handholding Slut
Damn. What a chapter
SkeletalDragon
wow. damn good chapter right here. also, we all pretty much knew it was Tyven, right? love it when i’m actually right for once.
Apollo Greed
So cool
Val the mysterious Jedi
💵💰🤑
Val the mysterious Jedi
Nat knows how to find the reset buttons, depends if the system lets them cheese the floor.
Val the mysterious Jedi
Na that choice leads to death, it's like telling a scientist you know how to make a nuke but not how it works
Val the mysterious Jedi
That's how you do a badass time skip fight, damn cerim knows how to do write badass fights, this one is in my top three, along with the 5 king battle and Lioren's final blaze of glory
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
Andrew
Thank you!
firte
TFTC Tyven the last man standing and the epic showdown 🔥🔥
Sargon Yami
I think the actual ruler is the little girl disiple from dion and it is wrath
Krzychu0304
I think Elian could be the director of the Academy.
Death56
I feel like nat is going to use black mana and get the champion to tell him some stuff about it
Emmanuel Martinez
Crazy theory: Tyven was a Ruler Candidate of Envy, isn’t it? From what Liss have said, they either become a very good ally to have behind your back, or the worst traitor that would stab the person in front. Ari finding out that Tyven was a Ruler Candidate and her «merely» an Absolute apprentice pissed her off, and Nat goading her by telling her that she would lose in the end.
Rentaro Black
I think he might be very close to one.
Bob
Ellian would have been a great teacher for Nat.
Ansordia
OMG.... So black mana is EVEN more special then we thought, there is no way Dion would leave his disciple for it... If it wasn't suprr special... Well seems like they can't steal the libabry as they planned because I would think the door to the ninth floor should open in their original room.... Also am I stupid but was Ari supposed to be the assassin? If yes, did she steal or borrow Tyven's pets poison? Anyway! Amazing chapter Cerim!
Adrian Rake
Finally it is over 🙂👍
Aoth the Arcane
Tftc cerim, wonderful wrap up of the arc
Aoth the Arcane
That boy is patience incarnated
Oaktree
So is elian a champion???
Nerø
Holy shittt that was one hell of a chapter to read
Greg Lambert
I think I’m still confused
vEnviouz
TFTC!!!
TheOne320
Damn, that ended quickly.
XPDev
Tftc, oof gonna miss Ari
Lizy Flore
Did I hold my breath without noticing the entire chapter ? Yes. Tyftc
Seamus Harley
I wonder what will happen now, I bet they won't leave straight away, still more shenanigans
Ken Horne
Thanks! Poor broken Ari
Charles Ryan
Amazing chapter
frankie doerr
No they’re going to abuse the loops
Dr.Awkward
Tftc! Damn.....that was so cool
Claro reyes
Damn.
Gravitea
GAH! Amazing!
Niclas Elmers
Tftc
Jamarus Jenkins
First
