Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Every ranker would have a tattoo imprinted over the back of their right hand when they entered Minerva's Utopia for the very first time. This was a dark blue, circle-shaped tattoo with runic details inside it that made it look like an array.

The magic of the separate dimension etched this tattoo onto rankers' skin. Within the separate dimension, it was used for a variety of purposes.

Arizihana and Marie entered the teleportation array located at the northern gates of the pro-green town. While waiting inside the same array, other rankers conversed among themselves.

Soon the teleportation array lit up and the rankers waiting inside disappeared from their current position. They appeared 300 miles away from their previous position at the site reserved for the test of wisdom.

Over 4000 rankers of various races and backgrounds arrived at the testing grounds. They all saw a giant potion lab waiting for them that was in the middle of dense vegetation.

Despite the surrounding forest looking untamed, the lab did not appear to have been left to its own devices to be overtaken by nature. The lab as well as the area around it looked well maintained.

The ground on which the rankers were standing looked like a well-groomed lawn. There were various garden spaces arranged in large blocks around the lab, making it seem like there was a caretaker in charge of this place.

The rankers soon found out who that caretaker was.

"Welcome participants."

A soft yet firm voice sounded all of a sudden that was coated with mana. The rankers who had come here to attend the test of wisdom turned their heads to the source of that voice and saw an elf-looking child had appeared at the entrance of the giant lab out of nowhere.

The caretaker had a bit of a mature face for her childlike height of 4ft. She had a curious gaze with her dark green eyes. Her stout nose looked odd with her relatively large nostrils. Her lips were also exceptionally prominent and puffed up for her facial features.

With a measurement of up to 15cm, the girl also had longer-than-usual ears. She had a slim build that made her look delicate.

This child was dressed in peculiar attire. She was donning a helmet with an eagle's motif on it. A blouse that was made of vines and worn-out leather. She had worn shorts made of the same combination. She also wore an armguard in her left hand. And she was holding a wooden staff that was longer than her stature.

The wooden staff she was holding looked to be a very special artifact. It had snake-like green energy coiling around it continuously as she held on to it.

The caretaker had also worn leg guards made of green vines and leather. Even though it looked weird to most rankers, the girl herself was very comfortable and seemed to be in her element.

When she confirmed that she had the summoned rankers' undivided attention, the caretaker smiled and raised her free arm in a welcoming position before addressing them once again.

"I welcome all of you to my master's humble abode. Your wisdom for potion concoction will be tested on this testing ground. The participants are meant to be potioneers. But it's not a hard and fast rule. Even normal rankers can try their luck."

Meeli spoke in her soft and firm voice that sounded clearly in every ranker's ears no matter how far they were from her. She looked at the crowd carefully before speaking again.

"You must already be aware of some or all of the rules. But I'll mention them again anyway. I'll divide the rankers according to their ranks and send them to the floor that is suitable for their respective rank.

The first floor is reserved for the Novice rankers, and the last floor is reserved for the Expert rankers. The rest of the rankers will be sent to the middle floors. I'll assign the test as per the floors and their difficulties would be adjusted to the rankers' ranks."

Arizihana listened carefully as Meeli the caretaker of the separate dimension explained the rules. She had confirmed that the rankers would be assigned a task to concoct a potion using the ingredients made available to them in a set time.

They could use any recipe they knew of or use any processing method they were familiar with. The concoctions would be collected and judged simultaneously at the end of the test.

The top three placeholders who had performed better than the rest would receive special prices. All those who had successfully concocted the required potion would be given a potion or two as rewards.

There were points to be gained from each testing ground. Each testing ground would allow rankers to score points out of 100. It was said that those who scored 100 on all of the testing grounds would be allowed to take a special test by Meeli. Clearing the test would make the ranker who had cleared it the inheritor of Minerva's legacy.

The rules were simple. Almost all the testing grounds inside Minerva's Utopia were favorable for potioners. The northern testing ground was especially so. As such, most of the rankers that had chosen to come here were potioners.

Lady Zee's group and others like her who were no potioners or barely knew anything about concocting them had come here to check the place out. Lady Zee wanted to finish her recon on other testing grounds first before she focused on the southern testing ground which was meant for rankers like her.

However, for rankers like Marie who had come here for potioneering opportunities, the test of wisdom was their center of focus. The halfling looked at her partner before commenting.

"Ma Cherie, I don't think you should waste time participating in this test. You can head out to the other testing grounds. I'll meet you there once I'm done here."

Arizihana nodded at Marie's suggestion and watched her back as she started walking towards the array meant for her rank like the rest of the participants.

The halfling had decided that she would perform her best in the test of wisdom. She soon disappeared from Ari's sight and appeared inside the lab.

Meeli's visage appeared on each floor simultaneously when the rankers for the test across all ranking statuses were finalized. She clapped her hands before announcing with a smile on her face.

"Let the test begin."