Either that, or they would all die, and then the point was moot anyway.
It would be a steep hill to climb, but Logan agreed. Part of him, though, wanted to tell the headmaster or another professor, maybe Arketa. But what proof did they have? Tet wouldn’t want to get involved.
Shadowcroft raised his hands, and the entire hall quieted. He said what he always said. “Welcome! You’ve all come a long way. You’re not dead, and so you can continue to do wonderful things!”
That basically summed up the academy: don’t die and do wonderful things.
Well, Chadrigoth’s attack hadn’t killed them, so wonderful things Logan would continue to do.
A light gleamed under Shadowcroft’s robes, bleeding from his gem, and he threw that light out across the room to show a large display. Each of the four clans was listed:
The Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Phoenix, the Crystal Tiger, and the Onyx Tortoise. Underneath the names were numbers, all swirling around.
Marko made a face. “What’s this? It looks like a combination of unhealthy competition among our fellow students and math. So much math.”
Inga’s antennae stuck straight out. There was fury in her black eyes. “Marko, you have to pay attention. That’s the leaderboard.”
While Shadowcroft praised various students, cohorts, and clans, Inga went over the basics in a muted whisper. For Logan, it was a review. Then again, he hadn’t been out drinking in Vralkag with GK most every night up until recently.
There were four parts to the leaderboard scores, each worth roughly a quarter of the overall score.
Twenty-five percent were teacher evaluations—sometimes referred to as the intangibles. This could really help you or hurt you. For example, Arketa loved Marko, and so that helped him, the Terrible Twelfth, and the Azure Dragon Clan as a whole. However, both Rockheart and Crucible couldn’t stand the satyr, to say nothing of Rockheart’s loathing of Logan. This was the most subjective aspect of the leaderboard, and professors were watched carefully. If Rockheart had given Logan glowing marks just because he was in his clan, Shadowcroft and the other professors—especially the clan leaders—would put a stop to it in an instant. Thankfully, no one would be accusing Rockheart of playing favorites with Logan.
The other parts of the score were far more objective.
Twenty-five percent of the leaderboard score was based around a category called the Raw Strength Index, which took into account overall strength compared to the other guardians in your year. Each level of cultivation was worth ten points. Each rank was another point. For example, Logan was an Iron Trunk cultivator, Rank 8, which meant he himself was worth twenty-two points. Once he was Rank 7, he would be worth twenty-three points. A bruiser like Chadrigoth was worth almost twice that, since he was a high-ranked Azure Branch cultivator.
Chadrigoth had started out at the top of the leaderboard, and his position hadn’t wavered even a little.
Another twenty-five percent of the leaderboard score, however, was based around a category called the Improved Strength Index. Logan never stood a chance in the Raw Strength Index, but in this category, he shined like the rising sun. Each level gained gave you double points, then triple, then quadruple, and so on. Logan had started as an E-Class, or Deep Root cultivator, Rank 10—the absolute bottom of the barrel. He’d leveled up twelve times to get to be an Iron Trunk, Rank 8.
Shadowcroft was quick to point that out. “Ah yes, and one of the most powerful examples of optimism meeting grit is our resident fungaloid, Logan Murray. He started as little more than a Dirt Digger, and yet look at his progress.” The tree man beamed in satisfaction. “Why, he has earned the Azure Dragon a hundred and ninety points through his relentless efforts at self-improvement! Most impressive.”
The Terrible Twelfth clapped, as did a few of their friends from other cohorts in the Azure Clan, but very few added to the applause. Rockheart himself was scowling, and he shouldn’t have been, since he was the Azure Dragon clan leader.
Shadowcroft smiled so much he grew a few new skull flowers. “Yes, it is amazing how determined the Terrible Twelfth are. And yet they are no longer at the bottom of the barrel, so to speak. They are ranked eleventh in the Azure Dragon Clan and one up from the bottom across the school. Perhaps they might need a different name.”
“Never!” Inga shouted in an unexpectedly loud voice. “We’re terrible! Terrible for raiders! Terrible for our enemies! Terrible for anyone who crosses us!”
Marko and Treacle sat with their mouths open.
Logan laughed. “That’s right. We’re the Terrible Twelfth, and we’re here to stay!”
“Perhaps.” Rockheart stepped forward. “And yet, twenty-five percent of your grade—of our standing, of the leaderboard—is your performance in the Winnowing. As you know, the four worst students, in each clan, regardless of cohort, will be expelled. These wretches will be forced from our vaunted academy. Relegated to wander the endless worlds as dungeonless monsters. An outcast. A creature too weak to serve the Tree of Souls as a true guardian. True, you will still be able to do your part in stopping raiders, and yet you will do so with only a fraction of your power—with a gem easily taken, destroyed, and cultivated.”
Shadowcroft threw up his hands. The display showing the various numbers and clan ranking winked off. “Please excuse me, students. It appears I have a bit of a crisis I must attend to. Rockheart will take it from here. Again, my dear students, as long as you live, you can do wonderful things.” He promptly turned on a heel and hurried off the dais and out the front door.
Rockheart’s own gem winked on. He took over seamlessly. “As you can see, the Azure Dragon is ahead by two hundred points. However, that can all change with end-of-the-year evaluations and poor performances in the Winnowing.
“As of now, here are the standings:
“The Azure Dragon = 2158
“The Vermilion Phoenix = 1909
“The Crystal Tiger = 1856
“The Onyx Tortoise = 1855”
Logan liked that his clan was at the top, and that his cohort wasn’t at the bottom. Actually, the last-ranked cohort in the Azure Dragon was known as the Franklin Four, and it was full of dungeon cores Logan didn’t know. A Brood Witch with eight spidery legs jutting from her back, a Pyro Ifrit known as a Wishcaster, a green-skinned Toad King, and some sort of iron golem with wards inscribed over every inch of his metallic skin. Logan had no idea which one was Franklin. They had slipped into last place, mostly because Logan had been leveling like crazy.
“There are two parts of the Winnowing,” Rockheart continued. “There is the Placement Exam and the Final Exam. The Placement Exam will take place in the Tartarucha Cells. You will have six hours to set up a simulated dungeon, which will be proctored by myself and Zhen Ikgix, the venerable Threshing Tortoise. The exam is straightforward and rather simple, though it will put everything you’ve learned this year to the test. You will be facing a classic raiding party of five: a standard tank, another fighter class, a cleric, an unspecified variety of spell-caster, and a rogue. Those are the basics, but the actual character levels will be randomized. There will be three C-Class raiders and two B-Class raiders. You will have to destroy them to pass. Who here has booked time in the Tartarucha Cells?”
Everyone in the room raised their hands except for Marko and the Gelatinous Knight. That wasn’t so promising. Logan could have sworn Marko had logged some time in the simulation dungeon.