Thanks to the Griffin blood running through my veins, I could enter Imperia Academy as well. Mostly to stay within arm's reach of the family's next head. Jullius was in Class A for the high-tier nobility, while I was stuck in Class F for the bottom-feeders. Still, the curriculum wasn't all that different.

  Imperia was unusually lively today. Even though this had been anticipated for days, it was still a bombshell once it actually happened.

  Across the academy, 17 people had received the Candidate’s Mark. The youngest was 14, and the oldest was a 22-year-old.

  When Jullius arrived at school, he received exactly the passionate attention he craved. It's pretty hard to ignore someone when they’re literally glowing like a radioactive banana. If I remember correctly, this "light bulb" effect won't turn off for another three days.

  For me, the guy who has to be glued to his side 24/7, that light was more of a nuisance. I mean, who wants to hold a conversation while staring directly into a high-wattage LED bulb.

  But I was about to be put out of my misery soon enough. As we ventured deeper into the campus, a massive hoard of curious onlookers swarmed Jullius. A lowly little servant like me was shoved aside, which actually allowed me to observe my surroundings a bit more.

  "Jullius, you received a Holy Mark too? Where exactly is it?"

  "I knew you’d have one, I just knew it!"

  "How does it feel? Any noticeable changes in your body?"

  Jullius was trying his best to play it humble, but he couldn't hide that look of pure satisfaction. He waved a hand dismissively:

  "Eh, I don’t feel much of a difference. It’s just this light, bit of a glare, isn't it? What? Did I see this coming? Well, in a way..."

  The chaos surrounding Jullius wasn't the only show in town. I spotted another commotion approaching from a distance, centered around yet another source of radiance.

  "Hmph. If even he got chosen, then this Holy Mark isn't as prestigious as they say."

  The speaker was another "old friend" of mine: Andrew Matthew, one of the five future Heroes.

  The Matthew family carries the magic of fire manipulation in their blood, so Andrew had been groomed for the Hero position from day one. In novel terms, the relationship between Jullius and Andrew goes from "bitter rivals" to "best buds." Though, that "best" part cost me a hell of a lot of mediation saliva, since I was usually the designated punching bag for their arguments.

  Sure enough, the moment Andrew showed up, the smile vanished from Jullius's face.

  "Hah? What was that, you pea-brained idiot? You dare question the choice of Goddess Halunar?"

  "Even Gods make mistakes. She probably mistook your name for someone else's, like your cousin Asher, for instance. You both share the same last name, after all."

  It was the start of a verbal sparring match that eventually bored the onlookers into drifting away. I was silently agreeing with the sentiment that Halunar was a bit unreliable when I suddenly heard my own name being tossed into the mix.

  I feigned a startle.

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  "What are you saying, Young Master Andrew? How could I possibly compare to Young Master Jullius?"

  Seeing my timid act, Andrew lost all interest in teasing me.

  "Just a joke. Everyone knows you follow Jullius around like a loyal dog anyway."

  With that, the conversation quickly shifted away from me.

  However, Andrew’s words reignited my doubts about the criteria for selecting a Hero. That blonde Goddess’s powers were truly suspicious.

  She calls herself a deity, yet these so-called "deity’s choices" weren't even personally handpicked by her. Given how much she fretted over the Heroes' incompetence, it seemed this crusade against the Demon King had a much more complex mechanism running in the background.

  But that was just a theory; there wasn't much I could do about it yet. First, I had to find a way to gain more power for myself. Only then could I determine if that goddess was actually a threat I needed to eventually overcome.

  Halunar had mentioned she didn't have the right to choose directly and had to rely on some other form of evaluation. If it wasn't based on divine whim, there had to be a fixed system of criteria.

  The moment that thought crossed my mind, my left eye suddenly flared with blurriness. I blinked a few times, and when my vision cleared, a blue status board had manifested out of thin air.

  I rubbed my eyes and shifted my gaze toward Andrew. The information panel before me updated instantly.

  It didn't take long for me to grasp what was happening. These were clearly the stats for Jullius and Andrew. This must be what Halunar meant by "seeing things mortals can't." As for why it manifested in an RPG-style interface, the divine power was likely just adapting itself to fit my world view.

  This panel provided a wealth of vital data, but one specific detail caught my eye: The Rank.

  2/28.

  There were a total of 28 Hero Candidates. Does this mean Jullius is currently ranked 2nd out of all 28 of them?