Chapter 79: The Event

“Everyone, please be quiet!” The armored knight Evis announced in a deep voice, his exoskeletal armor amplifying his speech.

All the young people present ceased their conversations, their eyes turning toward Evis.

“The auction hosted by the Titan Consortium will begin in three hours. As is customary, there will be some entertaining activities beforehand, and you are all welcome to participate. The prizes, of course, are quite generous!” Evis spoke as he clapped his hands.

Staff members brought out three exquisite wooden boxes and placed them on a table to the side.

“These three boxes contain, respectively, a voucher for a Grade-One weapon, a third-class sponsorship contract from the Titan Consortium, and a consortium recommendation quota, which can help you secure better positions when entering government, corporations, or the military.” Evis gestured at the boxes as he explained.

His voice was calm, but the young people in the room were visibly excited.

“Jim, what exactly is a third-class sponsorship contract?” Myron asked quietly.

“Myron, that’s not meant for people like you or me—only true geniuses get it. It provides a million credit points per year before becoming an armored knight, then three million a year after, until the age of thirty.” Jim shook his head with a sigh.

“David, that sounds great—go for it!” Myron said to David, his voice full of excitement.

“I prefer the Grade-One weapon voucher,” David replied, uninterested in the third-class sponsorship. Tying himself to the Titan Consortium for a million credits a year seemed hardly worth it.

Even the three million credits a year after becoming a knight did not tempt him.

He didn’t notice the confidence in his tone as he spoke, nor did those around him. It all seemed perfectly natural.

“If it were up to me, I’d choose the recommendation quota,” Daly said softly from the side.

Jim nodded in agreement. He felt the same. For people like them, not quite geniuses, they would likely seek work if they couldn’t become armored knights.

The recommendation quota was the best support they could get, giving them a much better starting point than most.

“Let’s see what activities there are. I bet it won’t be easy to win any of those prizes!” De Quincy said soberly.

In truth, everyone here understood that these prizes would not be easily won. Their hopes were slim; only David had a real chance.

Evis paused, allowing the young people to discuss for a few minutes before clearing his throat.

“There are three activities. The first is a rapid-fire quiz consisting of high school-level questions—nothing above that. Whoever answers the most questions correctly within the allotted time wins.

“The second is a squash challenge. In a closed, sixteen-sided room, the longer you return the ball without a mistake, the higher your score.

“The third is to fight me. The longer you hold out, the better your result!

“You may participate in any or all activities. The top performer in each category earns the right to choose a prize, and the choosing order is determined by your overall results. In this, the Titan Consortium is fair and just.”

When Evis finished speaking, the room once again buzzed with noise.

“Mr. Evis, you’ll be using exoskeletal armor. We wouldn’t be able to take a single blow from you!” the local Hector said in a low voice.

As a prospective knight, he naturally wanted to win a prize through combat, but the challenge seemed overwhelming.

“I’ll use only a tenth of my strength and will not employ any graded weapons,” Evis replied in a measured tone.

Hector nodded, signaling his understanding.

“Mr. Evis, will there be weapon restrictions? If someone uses a Grade-Two weapon, the advantage would be too great!” Bruno called out.

“Bruno, weapons are part of one’s strength. If you have the skill, get yourself a Grade-Two weapon!” Jim retorted before Evis could answer, his voice tinged with annoyance.

But this time, no one supported Jim. No one wanted David to use his pair of Grade-Two longswords; the advantage would be overwhelming.

If Evis didn’t use a graded weapon, he’d be severely limited in combat.

“To ensure fairness, all weapons used must be provided by the consortium!” Evis declared with a wave of his hand.

“Good, that’s fair!” many young people shouted.

“Jim, don’t worry. I can fight without my Grade-Two swords,” David said with a smile, patting Jim, who looked ready to protest.

“Exactly! David, show them what you can do with a warhammer!” Myron chimed in.

“Have fun, everyone!” Evis announced, and a platform beneath his feet began to rise.

To the side, a sixteen-sided transparent room emerged for the squash competition.

The rapid-fire quiz could be accessed directly using their identity bracelets—just connect to the quiz system.

David was quite curious about the squash game. He’d played it in his previous life, but never anything this complex.

Someone had already signed up for squash—a thin young man who seemed quite confident in his reflexes.

After receiving a racket, he stood at the center of the sixteen-sided room. A gap opened in the floor, and a ball about the size of a tennis ball shot out.

The ball moved extremely fast and at unpredictable angles.

The young man managed five returns, but after that, the ball sped up noticeably. On his sixth attempt, his racket only brushed the side of the ball, sending it into an erratic trajectory.

He couldn’t track the ball’s rebound, and the room lit up with red lights.

Disappointed, the young man walked out. He was clearly dissatisfied with his performance, but there were no second chances.

“David, you’ve never played squash, have you?” Myron asked quietly.

“No, I don’t think it was offered at school,” David replied, shaking his head.

“Squash is only practiced at the university level. And you never go to the upscale clubs, so you wouldn’t have had the chance,” Myron explained.

“It’s a great sport—should do wonders for one’s reflexes!” David said, quite interested.

“I’ll take you to play when we get back. Too bad you can’t participate this time. I’m signing up—watch me get a good score!” Myron patted David’s shoulder, feigning regret, though his expression seemed more mischievous than sympathetic.

Over at Evis’s platform, no one had challenged him yet, but Hector was speaking with the staff, probably choosing a weapon.

David, with nothing else to do, connected his identity bracelet to the quiz system.

Talent wasn’t limited to martial prowess; the Titan Consortium included the rapid-fire quiz to encourage the knowledge-driven elite as well.

If a knowledge-based candidate chose the third-class sponsorship, some terms would be adjusted accordingly—another sign of the consortium’s regard for such talent.

In fact, all the young people in this hall who held invitation cards came from powerful backgrounds in their respective cities.

Those brought by invitation card holders were each city’s elite—thus, the event attracted nearly all the local prodigies.

Among them were those aspiring to become knights and others gifted in academic pursuits.

The quiz system was straightforward: all multiple-choice questions, each with five possible answers.

But the quiz moved quickly—five seconds per question before switching automatically.

Of course, if you were fast enough, you could move to the next question yourself.

After reading the instructions, David focused his mind, shutting out the surrounding noise. With a mental acuity of 3.73, his concentration was unrivaled.

He took three seconds to answer the first question, but soon his speed increased, switching through questions rapidly. Five seconds per question was far too slow for him.

Jim, noticing Myron’s squash game was about to start, was about to call David to watch, but saw David answering questions at lightning speed.

He patted his own head in disbelief—could David be a knowledge-based talent, too?

David didn’t seem to be guessing randomly. Jim glanced around, then decided not to watch Myron’s match, choosing instead to guard David from any distractions.