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Her long hair cascaded softly over her shoulders, free of any elaborate hairstyle, and her unadorned dress was unembellished, but the smooth fabric was held taut by her straight spine and confident posture, outlining her petite yet graceful curves.
What was most captivating was the expression on Carlen’s face, her beautiful features radiated with a pair of emerald eyes that seemed to contain a miniature sun within, warm, intense, and dazzling.
She appeared to look down on everyone, exuding an innate, understated pride and vibrancy.
"This painting is steeped in modernist hues, employing the simplest of realistic techniques to create a fantastical effect."
Lanci, holding a magic device tablet, commented on the painting with a flicker of a smile.
[Portrait·Purity Unblemished]
[Type: Artwork]
[Grade: Sacred]
[Tier: 1]
[Beings who appreciate this painting have a chance to recover a small amount of mana and to decrease their resistance to spiritual magic slightly, and there’s a small probability of developing feelings of love for the woman in the painting.]
The audience was quite astonished when they saw the identification results on the screen.
Being able to produce a sacred-grade painting on the spot indicated the possibility of rivaling the demonstration piece [Portrait·Snowfield].
An in-depth multi-dimensional evaluation still required the judgment of the chief examiner.
Generally speaking, to create a sacred-grade painting with minor imperfections under time constraints and impromptu conditions was already quite impressive; an immaculate sacred painting was inconceivable.
But to strive for anything higher was nearly impossible.
There was a chasm between the sacred and epic grades.
Even the greatest of historical painters, over a lifetime, would only leave behind a handful of epic-grade masterpieces.
It is not a work that could be completed with on-the-spot execution or meticulous planning alone; often, it required serendipity to bring it to perfection.
In the end, the chief examiner awarded her a score of 88.
"Crazy, utterly insane."
"He really dares to score."
A wave of amused murmurs rippled through the spectator seats.
According to the audience outside who were connoisseurs of appraisal, Carlen’s painting was indeed not bad, giving a score between 75 and 85 was actually quite reasonable.
A score above 85 was somewhat disrespectful to Lockins.
When the real-time reviewer Lockins saw the score, the pen in his hand emitted a faint cracking sound.
「...」
Lockins now felt that this Lanci might truly be ignorant of his doom, for he dared to assign a score close to that of his own thoroughly prepared painting to a mere piece created by a Gold-level Card Maker examinee on the spot.
"Examiner, could you share your thoughts on my painting?"
Carlen smiled at the chief examiner and asked.
Although the examiner seemed a bit simple-minded and somewhat incompetent in the first round, the score he gave her showed he indeed had no prejudice against her, even higher than she had anticipated.
"...If the essence of avant-garde art is to break through conventional visual presentation with the simplest forms and strokes, then without a doubt, this work can be listed among the pantheon of contemporary masterpieces."
The chief examiner praised.
But he didn’t overpraise her.
So Carlen bowed to him and then turned to leave.
There was a hint of mirth in her eyes.
Whether it was exams, gambling, or men, they were all easy to handle.
She now confirmed that this examiner was indeed incompetent, understanding nothing. He had barely managed the first round, and here he was, clueless again in the third.
However, as long as he gave her high marks, she had no objections.
...
The meeting room in the Shadow World quieted down for a moment. 𝑛𝘰𝑣𝑝𝑢𝑏.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Lanci, still holding the tablet, hadn’t put it down for long before Countess Rosalinda beside him signaled for him to look at a painting.
Up to this point, Countess Rosalinda had finally completed her painting as the assistant examiner.
"Please give me a score, chief examiner."
Rosalinda imitated the humble tone of an examinee as she spoke to Lanci.
"Of course."
Lanci smiled.
Even Countess Rosalinda feigning youthfulness was more natural than that other one.
Today’s examination for the Platinum Level Card Makers in the eastern region, the score given by the chief examiner would set the passing mark for this exam, so it was also the most critical assessment.
Both inside the meeting room and in the spectator seats outside of the Shadow World, many attendees sat up straighter, attentive to the work presented by the assistant examiner.
The painting depicted a windowsill, and behind the glass was the figure of a woman holding a wine glass by herself, gently pressing her other hand against the window, while the drizzling rain fell upon the glass, seemingly veiling her face, making it unclear whether those were droplets on the glass or tears on her cheeks.
Although her image was somewhat blurred by the misty rain, it was evident that she bore an expression of mixed joy and sorrow, both evoking compassion and showing that she was emotionally full.
[Portrait·Rainy Night Reflection]
[Type: Artwork]
[Grade: Sacred]
[Tier: 1]
[Beings who appreciate this painting have a chance to deepen their understanding of "wine" and to gain a slight improvement in their wine making and tasting skills.]
Lanci glanced at it, and without hesitation, immediately scored it a 97.
Suddenly.
The entire audience at the Sacred Silvervine Venue shifted their focus from the painting to the chief examiner.
If the reference pieces provided by headquarters only scored 95, and Rosalinda’s hastily made painting scored a 97, then it suggested that the reference pieces were nothing special.
More importantly, even if he used his examiner’s authority to make a discretionary adjustment of -10 points, the passing mark would still be 87.
This would mean that in this third round of the Eastern Region’s assessment, there would almost be no successful candidates except for Carlen from the Arolan Kingdom who just barely made the cut with 88 points.
"Don’t make it impossible for everyone to pass."
Rosalinda too became somewhat flustered.
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