The Spirit World

Chapter 313

"name."

"Jack Nyman."

"Group."

"Swordsman Team."

"We are going to help you draw a colored picture now, and you can try to pose."

"modeling?"

"Yes, so that the judges can get to know you."

"Is this okay?"

"of course can."

A hand-painted image of a pair of scissors making the shape of a "yeah" appeared in the Wenti County Square. He was wearing a black suit with red patterns that looked particularly deep against the black background. His slightly raised mouth was full of confidence, and his deep black pupils were looking straight ahead. His trimmed eyebrows were long and slender, and it was obvious that a lady had helped to trim them. His blond to white hair was actually very long, and he might have left some of his hair a little longer when trimming it.

The person in the painting smiled slightly, tilted his head slightly, and made a "yeah" gesture. The entire painted image is just a simple action.

His name is at the bottom of the image, written in an old Ducal script that is now discontinued as too complex and is used only as the official name.

Looking from Chang Yufeng's color image, there are hundreds of color images of participating children connected together and arranged around a huge arena. The arena built in the air covers the entire Wenti County Square and expands in the shape of a circular silver cup. Below the arena, the original Wenti County Square has become a rest area and waiting area under the platform. The "Silver Cup" is arranged with audience seats, judges seats and commentary seats. The three seats are facing the super spacious official stage.

Different competition areas are divided into different square rooms by high walls.

A total of 308 six-year-old children will participate in the Dragon Race. There are 64 areas. No one knows each other in the preliminary selection, and the participating children will directly draw lots to compete in groups.

But not today.

In addition to registration today, the pre-match evaluation and scoring will be conducted. The scorers are all judges appointed by Fran, who are the absolute authority. The audience may not know all the children, but the judges must personally deal with these children one by one.

The supervisory body is the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In fact, the complexity of this is somewhat obscure. For example, the judges' preferences, the judges' approval, and even the judges' arbitrary personality will become the "luck" factor in the contestants' mouth, that is, the right time, the right place, and the right people.

After all, it is people who do the evaluation. Apart from the fact that the strength and ranking of the duel matches cannot be deviated, there is a possibility of a very obvious error.

It can only be said that it is relatively fair.

The same judge will naturally have different views on different children.

Therefore, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as the supervisory body, has a heavy responsibility. Everything from the judges' information to the evaluation criteria must be kept strictly confidential.

So why do we conduct pre-match and post-match evaluations instead of directly relying on a showdown of strength to determine the winner?

There are actually many reasons. In addition to screening out those who meet the requirements of Flandre Royal Academy, another most important reason is the need to avoid the culture of judging heroes by their strength.

this point is very important.

If strength is simply summarized as combat power, then intelligence as a part of strength will make the evaluation of a person's talent too extreme.

If everyone pursues powerful strength, there will be no stable environment for people to live well and enjoy the fun of life.

Just like whether people who know magic should become farmers to produce food is a topic that has been debated for ages, the question of what is the value of people who cannot learn magic and cannot engage in other professions is also a topic that is debated endlessly in every corner of the Principality and the Empire.

So... as one of the most open cities, the first thing Fulan did was to try to think and solve the problem. This was not a question of fairness or unfairness, but a step-by-step approach in exploration.

Back to Chang Yufeng, they have already registered and are now going to the judges for evaluation.

Chang Yufeng's painted portrait is at the end of the circular "silver cup", and there is a little space left. There are also many children's portraits next to his painted portrait, but in comparison, Chang Yufeng with Amina's makeup is as delicate as a small flower egg.

To be precise, it's a little black egg wearing black clothes.

"So... why is Zaizai's portrait in such a remote place?" Amina looked at the portrait on the blue screen with her hands on her hips unwillingly.

"Mom, isn't it that whoever is prettier goes to the front?" Erica asked this while adjusting the hem of her long dress.

"Of course not!" Amina angrily took Erica's hand and rushed to the entrance of the stadium. There were many parents who came to see their children. Although they were talking and laughing, they all sighed without exception.

This is the end of the "Silver Cup", which is naturally a very bad position. It takes some time to walk here from the beginning, and Aminna's face became worse as she looked at it.

"There are obviously so many positions ahead!" Amina walked outside the stadium, looking at the vacant positions, anger already on her face.

She naturally knew what this meant, but Erica just followed her here, and Erica's colored image was very close, so she could see it at the end of the "silver cup" at once.

"Let's go meet up with your dad." Amina still shook her head and said, "Let's see if we can fix it."

When he said this, Rajel and Chang Yufeng had already come out. But Rajel also looked very angry. Behind them were Allen's family.

"How about it?"

"Not so good... This is the only way to name it Nieman." Rajel held a small sign in his hand and showed it to Amina.

It was a very ordinary sign with [258] engraved vertically on it, without any special patterns.

"Is there no way to communicate?" Amina shook the sign in her hand, as if this could change the number on it.

There is no doubt that this kind of thing must be encrypted and will be detected once it is changed.

There are 308 children whose information has been collected, and more than 340 are participating in the competition.

"You will never imagine that the village chief has been very considerate and promoted Zaizai by as much as 30 ranks." Rajel covered his face and shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Huh?" Amina looked at Chang Yufeng who spread his hands, not knowing what to say.

"Hey...it's okay!" Allen came to Rajel and patted him on the shoulder: "What does it matter? Jack's goal is Fran, right? If he goes to Fran, he has to defeat every opponent! These rankings are fake."

"Well... but this is really difficult to deal with..." Rajel still smiled and glanced at Amina: "Doesn't Erica have a good initial ranking either?"

"Rui Rui is 235, but Rui Rui is in the summoning group...it doesn't matter to anyone...there's no need for her to take action anyway." Aminna was still looking at the sign, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"That's the right way to think!" Allen laughed happily: "Although I know that our Serena can't beat that girl named Lily, I still encourage her to face the strong enemy bravely."

"Selina... vs.... Lilia?" Amina looked at Selina in surprise who was standing not far away. The mother and daughter stood there quietly waiting for their husband and father Allen.

"Isn't it Lily?" Alan looked at Amina with some confusion.

"It's Lilia, for sure. But now is not the time to talk about this. Is Selina really okay now?" Aminna also had a worried look on her face. It seemed that she had been having bad luck since she took Zaizai to the hospital today.

"It doesn't matter... Selina should have no problem studying in Wenti County. It doesn't matter." Alan touched his chin, his eyes still on Chang Yufeng.

"Does Zi Zi have any opinions?" Rajel shook Chang Yufeng.

Chang Yufeng was so distracted that he hadn't spoken a word since the beginning.

"It doesn't matter...it doesn't matter who the opponent is." Chang Yufeng raised his shoulders. He had been paying attention to the people coming and going here. Although they were all children, most of them had certain strength. In order to cope with this Dragon Conference, people without strength would not be able to participate at all. Even novices with swords and wands had suffered serious injuries.

Those who are forced to do something will basically suffer losses, and this situation is actually very normal.

I am number 258, and when the draw is made, I will draw the first half of the children to compete. If there are 340 six-year-old children participating in the competition by the end of the registration period, then the names before 170 will be drawn.

The normal logic is that there is a showdown between the Eastern and Western half zones. When registering for the assessment, the half zone is determined by artificial ranking, and then a draw is conducted within the group. In order to avoid the appearance of odd groups, the character who ranks first in the assessment will be drawn to change groups.

But since the draw is done without knowing the specific circumstances, it doesn’t matter which group you’re assigned to.

Anyway, only the first place in the final group will be eligible to go to Flandre Royal Academy.

However, there is something mysterious here. Most of the children with strong abilities will be assigned to the top places, just like the privileges of the first place in the evaluation. Why does the first place in the evaluation have privileges?

If you ask, their answer will definitely be: this thing cannot be explained, this is the rule, according to the Dragon Contest rules. Otherwise, how can you say that pre-game evaluation is important?

The first place in the Dragon Assembly evaluation is [Hall Theatus]

The colorful image of Howl drawing his sword and looking down at the world is at the very beginning of the silver cup. Judging from Howl's golden hair and his armor, one can't tell that he is only six years old. His equipment is obviously incomparable to other children. However, it would be more accurate to describe it as completely different from other children in strange costumes. His roaring gaze like a lion is enough to eliminate a group of people.

Such early maturity is naturally related to his family. [Theatus] is an absolute aristocrat, which is not comparable to the Nieman family who are farmers.

I can only say that in order to avoid psychological damage to children, it is understandable to exclude the first place in the first round. The image next to Hall is [Lilia Caroline]. Lilia has white hair with bangs, and in the image, the corners of her mouth are raised, blinking forward, her left hand is pushed forward with her palm flat, and her right hand is holding the wand straight back, but because of the playful blinking, she is more approachable than the former, she looks relatively petite and cute.

The biggest difference between one and two is not that one plus one equals two.

But one is one and two is two.

The Carolingian family is also a very prestigious family. In fact, Rajel and Emina are no longer surprised by such pre-match evaluations. It’s just that Chang Yufeng has a stress reaction to being “underestimated” because of his identity as a farmer’s son, or in other words, to the “extremely normal” evaluation.

Although not every parent thinks that their children are unique and irreplaceable, Rajel and Aminna really hope that Chang Yufeng and Erica can get rid of the nail-like surname of [Nieman].

Because this surname is made up by ourselves and it doesn't exist in the first place.

Rajel Niman and Aimi Naniman are both things that do not exist at all.

[Alia Elizabeth] and [Ralph Reed] are the real people in front of him.

"It doesn't matter who the opponent is." Chang Yufeng repeated: "Uncle Allen is right. As long as my goal is Fran, I must defeat these opponents and get first place. There is no difference in essence."

The difference in evaluation scores is actually not that exaggerated. The purpose of setting up such a serious Dragon Conference is definitely to attract young talents, but the people from large families do have a good education and pass the evaluation. Even if there is no so-called black force involved, just the food that people from large families eat can replenish their magic capacity. It seems that children from ordinary families really cannot conduct actual evaluations and comparisons with them.

If you say with your eyes closed that children from ordinary families are stronger than children from noble families, I'm afraid there will be even more uproar.

If you can't beat innateness, try nurture; if you can't beat nurture, try chance; if you can't beat chance, try mutation. It's normal, right?

"Jack isn't worried, so your worries as parents are really unreasonable." Allen patted Rajel on the shoulder and said, "Since your child is so confident, you should trust him. I have no hesitation in trusting my Serena when Serena is playing against Lilia, because only by trusting her will she really think about more things. There can be gaps, but we must make progress, don't you think, Jack!"

Alan gave a thumbs up to Chang Yufeng, who was much younger than him. In fact, he talked about Selina versus Lilia every other sentence and he felt it was a pity that they were going to be eliminated in the first round. But Alan really loved his family, so, as he said, Lilia was famous for being powerful, and as long as Selina gave her all and did not back down, it would be of great help to her growth. Although, maybe he liked Jack a little more.

"Yeah!" Chang Yufeng also responded by giving him a thumbs up.

To be honest, my opponents are all kids, and I don't really have the heart to defeat them. This is also their only way to go to Fulan, isn't it? Everyone is the same, but Chang Yufeng himself knows that as an [intervention body], those of them who could have gone to Fulan may never be able to go to Fulan in this lifetime.

"Well... I just think it's a pity... Our son is really more than 258..." Rajel sighed and touched Chang Yufeng's head: "Although I can only accept it, I still hope he can get a good ranking."

"It's okay! Dad won't worry!" Chang Yufeng pointed his thumb at Rajel and smiled with his head up.

Seeing him like this, Aminna didn't know what to say and could only clench her fists and encourage him: "Zi Zi! Come on!"

"Yeah! Come on!" Chang Yufeng responded.

There are a lot of people walking around here, coming and going, all of them are discussing tomorrow's showdown, there are sighs and excited voices.

"By the way, why is Ruirui ranked higher than Zaizai?" Rajel took Chang Yufeng to sign up for the evaluation, and Aminna took Erica to the evaluation. The difference in ranking by 30 places was what he least expected.

"Ah?" Erica held the drowsy Elaine and lifted her up: "I don't know either..."

"What did Rarity say when they asked you why you were attending the Dragon Rally?"

"I...think it's fun..."

"So...what did you say when they asked you if you wanted to get first place?"

"I said... I forgot..." Erica scratched her head, feeling a little embarrassed.

"She said she wanted to finish early and go to Fran to eat dragon meat." Elaine kicked her little paws in the air unhappily.

"Maybe it's because they think Rarity is a hidden talent..." Elaine added.

"Hehe..." Erica smiled embarrassedly.

"What did Zaizai answer?" Amina glanced at the people who walked past. They were also wearing fancy clothes and probably wanted to make a good impression.

"I said I wanted to go to Fulan, and I would definitely get first place."

"That's understandable. They don't like kids who are too confident. Even if it's true, they'll think you're too conceited."

【Fifty minutes ago】

Rajel brought Chang Yufeng to the evaluation point. According to the rules, Rajel had to stay on the lower level of the evaluation area, which was the lowest level inside the entire arena. Chang Yufeng went up through a magic carpet that could be raised and lowered.

The room under the magic carpet is where people are waiting, lined up densely, and the children who have finished the evaluation will also come down on the lift carpet.

The entire review is under the arena. Many people are now waiting under the constructed "Silver Cup" arena.

There were onlookers, vendors, many Crow Language security guards, and patrol teams, all of whom were already bustling about before the official duel began. In addition, after each person was evaluated, a colored image of that person would appear on the circular blue screen of the "Silver Cup", and every time a person's image appeared, the onlookers would have a long spontaneous discussion.

From background to strength, all the reviewers' preferences and gossip will be discussed, and some even speculate why a product is ranked this way instead of that way.

I don’t know who is real and who is fake.

Chang Yufeng went upstairs and came to the evaluation room, where there was a surveyor and a row of evaluators.

Facing the reviewer, Chang Yufeng sat upright on a specially made stool. The stool was very soft and he couldn't move his butt once he sat on it.

They didn't ask any questions, just watched Chang Yufeng's every move.

Chang Yufeng sat there... with nothing to do... and could only look at those serious evaluators one by one. In front of them were the materials submitted by Rajel.

There was silence for a long time, and Chang Yufeng just looked at them. He didn't know the evaluators' names, nor did he know what they wanted to do by working together. He could only wait for them to ask questions.

But for a long time, they didn't ask any questions, they just stared at Chang Yufeng. It was bright here, and the faces of the reviewers turned even paler. But no matter how long they were stared at, the children would be scared. And Chang Yufeng just stared at them, sitting upright, like a piece of wood that would look at them.

After watching each other, they finally started asking questions. These questions were actually not very meaningful. A person's true thoughts would change with age, and there would be no standard answers. So they asked some simple questions.

But after answering, some of them shook their heads.

Before leaving, Chang Yufeng heard someone comment on him: "If a six-year-old child loses his fear of people, he can no longer be called a child. He should be called a machine. Even adults would be scared if they were stared at like this, but this child didn't feel the slightest bit of fear. Not being timid means he is very calm. He deserves a high score from me."

"But... I think he might be too mature. It gives me a bad feeling... I think he was forced into this by his parents." The person next to him said: "Can a child who has been deprived of his childlike nature really go far in Fran?"

"I agree with your point of view, so the score I give is not high. Going to Fulan will only lead you astray." Another person also said this.

"I don't mean to belittle farmers. It's not easy for a farmer to raise a child like this. Didn't you see the sincerity in his eyes? Even though he is unusually calm and doesn't look like a child, it's a good thing to have such a quality."

"So... Marlena gave it a high score?"

"Yes, this kind of calmness cannot be faked. He is a person with this quality. I believe he will be a promising talent. Not everyone can remain calm in the face of danger."

"Marlena, do you take our gaze as a danger?"

"Hahaha, of course not, Professor Shore. You know what I mean."

"I think so too. He can study archaeology with me. I need a young man who can remain calm in despair. You know that fat boy I taught? He was completely frightened by what was underground. And he said above that he is quite capable, so I think he can definitely give him a high score."

"Thank you for your recognition, Pyros."

"Although you two have reached a consensus, others don't seem to think so... 288 people."

"It's a bit unbelievable that you gave such a low score, Professor Shore!"

"Quiet, that's everyone's comment. Marlena."

"Well, I respect their opinions. Principal Philip, but this is too strange. The purpose of our coming to Wenti County is to take a look at the child that Longxu Gong mentioned. Although we don't know how plastic he is, I think he is completely capable at the moment. His conversation is gentle and elegant, just like he is chatting with us, not like an evaluation."

"This is his valuable quality, but if it was really a chat, his score would probably be lower in the eyes of the instructors."

"Well... I have nothing to say."

"Don't be like that, Marlena. The principal is not an absolute authority! I'll send Ross to give him a perfect score today."

"Pyros... this is no joke..."

"I know, Headmaster, I know."

Go to the Red Envelope Square to grab my red envelopes, that’s enough…at least that’s what I think. It doesn’t matter if you are VIP or not (I don’t know if I think this way. Actually, I think it shouldn’t matter. I wrote a 65-word free plot, and there is actually a closed-loop story there. I may not write as well as you guys think, this may just be a “possibility” that I wrote, and your “possibility” will definitely have something outstanding.)
The "possibility" that I set up is also a "possibility".

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(End of this chapter)