The first person who walked in was a middle-aged man in brown attire, indicating he was a Toolcrafter. The man’s eyes were sharp and cold; he exuded a tough, commanding presence that was hard to ignore.

But the shocking thing was the badge on his chest that had three stars. Kale’s expression immediately changed—a Grandmaster rank Toolcrafter.

The next person who walked in wore an easygoing smile and a light green robe; he exuded an air of tranquility that could make anyone who looked at him feel at ease, making him seem almost approachable. He did not look older than thirty, but there were black circles under his eyes, and a few of his hair strands had turned white.

This person was also a Grandmaster Rank Artificer, belonging to the Pillcraft profession.

Yet the last man who came out was perhaps the one with the most shocking presence: a pale, handsome young man, no older than 25, wearing a dark gray attire, exuding a dark, vicious aura. He wore an uninterested, almost bored look. As if being here was a chore.

His cold gaze swept through all the candidates, and the hundreds of candidates could not help but shudder.

However, the strange thing was that the badge on his chest had only two stars. Kale swallowed; his senses told a different story. If the man was just a master, why did he feel like he was much stronger than the two grandmasters?

It didn’t make sense, and his dark gray attire indicated that he was a Fleshcrafter.

To his surprise, there were a few waves of excited cheers around him, unlike what he expected. All the candidates burst forth with a reverent look towards this Master Fleshcrafter. Kale heard someone shout in excitement, "By the Dragons, I can’t believe it. That is Lazek Oberon, the 7th disciple of the Association leader himself."

"What the hell is going on? I was shocked that there were Grandmasters here just for a small test like this. But even the disciple of the Association Leader himself."

"This is too much, I am going to faint."

"What could be the reason behind these many mighty figures coming here?"

More shouts and murmurs continued, strangely, all the Artificer candidates held nothing but respect when looking at the man named Lazek, despite him oozing with dark presence. Kale was confused; this level of popularity among the aspiring Artificers shouldn’t solely be due to the man being a disciple of the Association Leader.

Not to mention, that person should be quite a genius himself; otherwise, why would he have such a terrifying presence surpassing even the Grandmasters? Of course, this was something only he could feel due to his special sensory abilities.

At this moment, the Toolcrafter Grandmaster snapped his fingers, while the other two sat down in the chairs. A small air of shockwave hit everyone, rustling their clothes just from that small gesture alone.

Silencing all the candidates in the process. The Grandmaster placed a wooden box on the table and spoke, his tone strict, as if he were reprimanding a bunch of rowdy children: "Form a line, one by one, come and pick your number."

He did not provide any further explanation. But no Candidate dared to question; everyone hurriedly formed a line, and the bustling place became as quiet as a cemetery.

Eventually, Kale’s turn came. Upon stepping onto the platform, he put his hand into the box, and a token with the number 111 appeared in his hand. But just as he was about to walk down, without wasting time, three heavy gazes landed upon him.

Kale felt it instinctively; the sensation was similar to the first time Kale looked into the eyes of the Dragon. But perhaps it was even worse; cold sweat ran down his back, as if these three powerful existences had seen through him at a glance.

Kale gritted his teeth and forced his body to move, breaking away from the paralyzing feeling imposed upon him.

Meanwhile, the three strong entities were looking at him with varying reactions. The Toolcraft Grandmaster merely snorted. He was initially displeased that a Tamer was allowed to take the test, especially one as important as this one.

As many of the Grandmasters would be taking in personal disciples of their own from this batch of candidates, yet since Kale was able to endure his gaze, there was a hint of approval for the boy in his cold eyes.

The Pillcraft Grandmaster, on the other hand, smiled mysteriously. Surprised that the boy actually managed to walk away under their piercing gazes. At the same time, most other candidates under their heavy gazes would have simply fainted, which would have been the normal result.

The Association Leader’s disciple, meanwhile, held the most scrutiny for Kale. But no one knew what he was thinking, as neither his eyes nor expression changed the slightest. His gaze moved away in the next moment, as if losing interest in him once more.

Kale heaved a sigh of relief. As their gazes receded, he hurriedly walked away from the place, searching for the table with the number 111.

Every other candidate was busy doing the same. When Kale finally found his table, he stood there, looking around, as there was nothing on the table, and he waited.

About five minutes later, all the candidates were standing in front of their test tables. A soft clap resounded from the Pillcraft Grandmaster in the ears of everyone.

The smiling middle-aged man explained once more that three tests will be administered to every candidate from all three professions.

The green-robed Grandmaster Pillcrafter waved his hand, and suddenly, the sound of countless birds chirping resounded throughout the skies. Kale watched in fascination as a flock of hundreds of large, brown-winged creatures came from the top of another building, a bit far away.

They looked like birds from afar, but were not exactly birds; they had four eyes and a flat, white-looking beak. They had two long, feathery tails, which were somewhat whitish.

Every single one of the winged creatures was carrying a large black box that was tied with ropes, so the birds could grab the end of the rope and carry it here.

In the eyes of the dazzled Artificer candidates, each of the birds slowly came down, creating a strong gust of wind, to make everyone’s clothes flutter violently, but the creatures did not fall short on their job; they perfectly placed each of the black boxes on the designated tables.

After that, they flew away at astonishing speed, leaving Kale pleasantly surprised.

The large black box on each table began to vibrate abnormally, making Kale frown, and he was forced to take a few steps back; mirroring his actions, most of the other candidates also did the same.

The rope tied to the boxes magically came undone on its own, then vanished. His attention shifted to the boxes once more, and like a mechanical cube, but through the operation of magic. The box started to unwrap, and it got divided into three smaller, clear glass boxes.

Each contained the necessary items for each of the three tests of Toolcraft, Pillcraft, and Fleshcraft.

At this moment, the rough and muscular Toolcraft Grandmaster spoke, without standing up, his strong voice etching into the minds of all the candidates, "Remember, amongst the three tests, only two are mandatory. Your total time limit is 30 minutes." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The man added after a pause, a warning edge on his voice, "The three tests must be attempted in the sequence of left to right. I believe you all already know the rules of what you can and cannot do."

"The consequences of any immoral acts or even the attempt of it, shall be judged in the same manner, regardless of whether you’re a commoner or the child of a prestigious house. None shall receive any special privileges."