ã€ŠTragedy of the Greatest Heroesã€‹


 Chapter 1: Our Life and My Future

    Background (optional although recommended):

    In the beginning, there was insanity. A vast sea of chaos of which coexisted an infinity of reality and fiction, of sentience and imagination, of existence and non-existence. Inverse and opposite concepts fought each other for an eternity before the dominance of time across an infinite expanse before the rule of space.

    One day, however, the chaos was forced back by a force of order and restriction. The chaos screamed as the gods, the creators of all things, and the beings who existed before the chaos descended. They created the universe and all its majesty as the concepts separated. Order finally reigned supreme over existence and upon a small grain of dust the gods made life.

    In the bones of all their species, they decreed that they would provide a gift to the species that proved themselves to dominate over all the others. It permeated the subconscious of all known beings, inciting competition among them. After 5 billion rotations around the sun, a species of primates invented agriculture and thus proved themselves to be the pinnacle of mortals.

    The gods provided them with a gift, psychic powers. With it the species that would become known as humans were given a fraction of the power of the gods. They could wield the elements, chop down forests, and crush mountains with their newfound powers. They formed complex societies and dominated nature, creating a world dominated by the human race.

    But, humans were selfish creatures. Unlike the gods they were flawed from the start, full of greed and hatred. Those who had naturally stronger powers than others abused their strength and so began wars and conflicts across the planet. So came the group of people known as heroes. These heroes would fight tooth and nail against these ¡°villains¡± to protect the weak and ensure peace throughout society.

    22 thousand years after the advent of psychic powers and 20 thousand years after the appearance of the first heroes would begin the new age of heroes, during which the greatest heroes and the darkest of villains would wage war. Among the heroes, two would stand out in history. One would lead the world into a war where billions would die and the other would destroy all that they had worked for.

    Volume 1

    Chapter 1: Our Past and My Future

    ¡®Never. I will never let you out.¡¯

    ¡®¡­¡¯

    ¡®You know why we can¡¯t. Stop asking. No matter how often you ask, I will never let you out.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®I don¡¯t care. Just shut up and leave me alone.¡¯

    ¡­

    The sun was shining through the window of my bedroom. Well, more specifically the light was bouncing off my neighbor''s window and shining into my face. How annoying. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around groggily.

    ¡®I couldn¡¯t get any sleep tonight.¡¯

    His words kept ringing in my ears. I felt slightly bad. He seemed to genuinely want to help me. But I couldn¡¯t trust him anymore. We just couldn¡¯t take the risk.

    ¡®The fact that He keeps trying despite knowing what would happen. What an asshole.¡¯

    I sat up in my bed and gave a large yawn before looking around. If all went well I wouldn¡¯t be seeing this room for a long time. I was sleeping on a queen-sized bed, larger than anything I needed. In front of it was a desk with writing utensils, a laptop, a monitor, and a gaming pc. Next to me, there was a closet and a bathroom. The closet was almost empty, only some dust bunnies, a suitcase, and toys from when I was a kid remained. Around my room, there was also a collection of headphones and a series of posters from my favorite shows and movies.

    ¡®Take it all in man, you won¡¯t be able to bring any of this stuff with you.¡¯

    I entered the bathroom, the cold tiles on the ground helping wake me up. After brushing my teeth and changing my clothes I grabbed my suitcase I stuffed in the closet and headed downstairs for breakfast. The aroma filled the air, the smell of eggs, bacon, shrimp, and more enveloped me. I began salivating at the mouth. In front of the dining table stood my younger brother, sister, and my mom.

    ¡®They really did go all out for me. I suppose it is a potential farewell ceremony for them. The gods have blessed us with a beautiful breakfast.¡¯

    I eyed all the food hungrily. But it would be unkind to just sit down and start eating. I looked around at my family. I definitely didn¡¯t start tearing up.

    ¡°Thank you so much. This is the most beautiful breakfast I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± (I was definitely tearing up now)

    My family stood there looking at me. My mom''s eyes were red and tears were already streaming down her face. She had been preparing herself for this day for a long time but I suppose no amount of mental training can prepare a parent to say goodbye to their child.

    ¡°Honey, I¡¯m gonna miss you a lot,¡± she said through her sobs. ¡°You had better come to visit us every single weekend you can or else I¡¯ll take you out of school. Do you understand that Mark?¡±

    ¡°Yes Mom, I promise you I will.¡± Yep, I was definitely crying by this point.

    My mom came over and hugged me and she buried her head into my shirt as she held me for several seconds. When she stopped there were wet spots on my shirt where she had buried her face.

    My little sister and brother came running to me. My brother was a little teary but my sister was bawling her eyes out. I understood why, I had served as a role model and protector for years with them. For their entire lives, they could look to me for help and I would be able to fix their problems. But those days could be ending today.

    ¡°Mark, I really want you to do your best and everything ok? You''re the best older brother in the world.¡± My sister was barely breathing at this point. Admittedly I wasn¡¯t fairing much better.

    ¡°GO BEAT THEM ALL UP MARK!!! I BELIEVE IN YOU!!!¡± As always my little brother was adorable. He was always loud, likely as a result of his social disability. But I knew he always looked up to me. Whenever his friends came over I would always hear him at least once talk about the things I had done or how cool I was.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my absolute best to destroy them all you two. I love you both.¡± I looked at my little brother, ¡°Tyler make sure you do good in school and be sure to protect your older sister.¡± I turned to my sister after kissing Tyler on the forehead and said ¡°Make sure that Tyson stays good when I¡¯m not around. And also be sure to tell me if you get a boyfriend so I can make sure he doesn¡¯t hurt you.¡± My siblings laughed at that. Little did they know I wasn¡¯t joking.

    They both gave me a tight hug. My sister''s sobbing caused her face to dig painfully into my side while my brother''s arms began to constrict around my body. I began to hear a cracking sound, seemingly originating from my ribs, and forced my two siblings off of me.

    After a short 3 minutes of consecutive crying, I sat down and ate breakfast. It was incredible. A variety of flavors packed into my mouth and melted my taste buds with their taste. I had never had such an incredible meal before. I was practically drooling while eating my food. It didn¡¯t take long for me to finish everything on the table. I gobbled down benedicts, salads, shrimp and grits, and more in just a few minutes.

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    ¡®Hehehe. I think I might have eaten too much. My stomach is stretching out my shirt.¡¯

    ¡°So when is Dad coming Mom?¡±

    ¡°He will be here soon to pick you up. He had to go into work for an emergency call at the hospital.¡±

    My dad was a kind man. I didn¡¯t feel mad at him not being here to see me eat breakfast. After all he was a doctor, there were more important things for him to take care of. Luckily my mom didn¡¯t have any emergencies at the hospital to take care of either, or this would have been a completely different breakfast.

    Soon enough the food in front of me disappeared, consumed by my family and I. We began to clean up, everyone throwing in a hand in cleaning the dishes. ¡°May the gods bless us¡± my mom said. Me and my siblings nodded as we focused on scrubbing off yolk stains from plates and crumbs from the pans used to cook the food.

    An hour passed and we heard honking at the front of our house. My dad had finally come back and was honking to grab our attention. My mom rushed outside and I quickly followed, carrying my large suitcase. I stuffed the suitcase into the trunk of the car and sat down in the passenger seat next to my dad.

    ¡°So Mark, are you ready for your application?¡± my dad asked excitedly.

    ¡°I¡®m more ready than I¡¯ve ever been for anything else in my life.¡±

    Yes, the application. The reason everyone was crying so hard and the reason I got the special breakfast today. I was applying to a hero academy, specifically to a school called The Academy of the Greatest Heroes or AGH as it was most often referred to. Considered one of the top 5 most prestigious hero academies in the world, it lives up to its name as The Academy of the ¡°Greatest Heroes¡±. AGH had been responsible for 98 of the world''s current 400 S-Rank heroes and 12 of the current 57 SS-Rank heroes. It was one of the best and most rigorous training academies on the planet, proven by a successful track record, as such, it was extremely difficult just to qualify for the application process. Going here has been my dream since I was a kid.

    The application happened 4 times a year and it lived up to the standards of AGH. Just to qualify to apply for the school an individual had to reach B rank by the age of 16, something that would make one considered a genius by most of the world. On top of that the only available age that an individual could apply for was 16 years old and they didn¡¯t accept transfers from any other schools. Any older or younger than 16 and there was absolutely no chance to get into the school. Even then, the application process itself eliminated most of those that qualified to take it, with only about 5% of the applicants per year getting accepted and it took a full week to complete.

    While on the way to the application grounds my parents and I talked about all the things we had done in the past as a family. We talked about how I used to cry all the time as a baby or how I, unlike my siblings, had never once tried to eat anything I shouldn¡¯t have. We talked about how I used to be scared of the dark and of dogs. We talked about how I was so excited after breaking through B rank at the age of 15 and a half, qualifying me for the application for AGH. We became so immersed in our conversation we nearly missed multiple exits.

    I looked outside of the window. The city passed by me in a blur. Every now and then I could make out a person wearing a colorful suit, almost certainly a hero, doing their part to better society. They patrolled everywhere, anywhere, anytime, all the time. It was more difficult to not find a hero than it was to find one. Of course, most heroes were only Mid to High C-Rank, the jump towards B-Rank was a rather difficult jump that most people couldn¡¯t pull off.

    Soon the towering buildings disappeared as we approached the outskirts of the city. While still in the city, the application center was in a much less bustling environment. This way the builders had enough space to add anything they wanted. I was well aware, the building I would see would only be the housing area, the applications itself would probably take place nearby in more AGH owned land. Being within city boundaries also meant that all AGH owned land in the area was entitled to protection from heroes, preventing petty crimes and maybe even large scale attacks on potentially elite future heroes.

    ¡°Alright here we are Mark.¡± my dad said with a smile.

    There were about 78 other applicants outside the building already, with a whole lot more to follow considering I was a whole 30 minutes early. The building itself was a giant covered stadium, at least twice as tall and long as the stadium for a football field. It was made seemingly out of metal and painted blue. Statues of some of the greatest heroes to ever come from the school were in front of the entrance, along with plaques detailing their school and career achievements.

    I got out of the car, the sun shined down on a beautiful day with clouds few and far between. My mom and dad went out of the car and gave me a hug. My mom had begun to cry again. She squeezed me even tighter and for a moment I thought that she had caused a fracture in my spine.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you.¡± She kissed me on the forehead and squeezed me even tighter than before.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you too mom. I love you.¡±

    ¡®And please stop squeezing me so tight.¡¯ I thought to myself.

    She let go of me and I turned to my dad who also gave me a hug. He didn¡¯t start to cry or even get teary eyed but I expected that from him. He tried not to cry as much as possible. I told him he should be willing to be more emotional but I don¡¯t think he really cared about that.

    ¡°Mark, remember what I always told you?¡±

    I nodded, it was my dads favorite thing to tell me. He adopted it soon after becoming a doctor.

    ¡°Always do the things others won¡¯t, because if you won¡¯t then nobody else will.¡±

    ¡°I promise I will dad.¡±

    With that he let go of me and after a few photos my parents left in the car. I turned around and faced the building in front of me.

    ¡­

    ¡°I was worried about him for a long time.¡± the woman said.

    ¡°I know honey. I know.¡±

    ¡°When he turned 13 he just had a complete emotional shift. It¡¯s like he became a different person all of a sudden. He did look happy though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah he did.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m proud of him. I¡¯m really really proud of him. He¡¯ll grow up to do great things won¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    The woman turned and looked at the man. Tears began to form on the man''s face as he entered into a silent cry.

    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re crying after all.¡±

    ¡°... yeah¡±

    ¡­

    There were now about 100 total other applicants here with me. They came from all over the world it seemed. Understandable, many would kill for a chance to go to this school. I walked towards the building and examined some of the statues and plaques. The statues were extremely detailed, almost lifelike, no doubt crafted by a master artisan. I wondered how long it took to create these statues. One statue in particular caught my eye, it was a statue but the face was smoothed over. I looked down and read the plaque.

    The Unknown Hero

    Unlike other heroes this one wishes to remain anonymous. He has spent many years as an undercover hero, traveling through the criminal underworld and eliminating targets or providing intel from within. While he was at school he proved himself to be one of the brightest students but also a prankster and as some would call him, ¡°a scam artist¡±. He is still currently active with only certain individuals being aware of his current status.

    Current Rank: S

    Interesting¡­ for such a strong hero to remain anonymous to the public they usually had to apply for it. Heroes were a symbol of hope, something which got more true as a hero got stronger. By A-Rank they would already be an inspiration to potentially millions of people and a celebrity in their main city. That being said, this country, Panaj, was one of the stronger countries in the world and it wasn¡¯t uncommon for strong countries to keep some of their power hidden.

    I continued moving towards the entrance where most of the other applicants had gathered. I stopped looking at the statues and began to observe some of the applicants. It was an extremely diverse group of people, all of them likely having come from different countries of the world to meet at this school.

    ¡®I¡¯m glad we have a standardized language now.¡¯ I thought to myself.

    2000 years ago language wasn¡¯t standardized and as such communication between different countries could be nearly impossible. While accents sometimes made it hard to make out certain words, at least now everyone could communicate pretty effectively.

    Some of the applicants caught my eye. One applicant was almost 7 feet tall and radiated confidence. Based on appearances alone I¡¯d definitely have to be cautious of him during the application. Another applicant seemed to be as light as a feather, with their feet only just barely touching the ground every step they took. Another had bulging muscles and looked at least 10 years too old to take this application, one had hair that dropped all the way down to their feet, a different one had tattoos all over their body and another came dressed in pajamas.

    ¡®Actually, looking at them all, I might be one of the few that are dressed or look ¡°normal¡± around here.¡¯ I thought to myself privately.

    I sat down at a bench on the outskirts of the crowd and began to daydream. What would my future be like? Would I end up becoming a powerful hero? How many lives could I save? What kind of villains will I face? These questions flew in and out of my head as I envisioned my ideal future in silence. I felt a smile begin to form itself on my face as I pictured my future life.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    The voice startled me out of my daydream. In front of me was a girl, seemingly Korean, wearing a gray jacket, a pink shirt and some blue shorts. She was pretty short, likely almost ? of a head shorter than me. She carried with her a purple suitcase and a gray bag full of art equipment including brushes, different colored markers and a whole lot of paper. Her hair was somewhat frayed, as though she was in a rush to do it this morning. But what caught my attention the most was her face. Despite her showing no emotion whatsoever she was one of the most beautiful girls I¡¯d ever seen. Her lips were a perfect red and her skin was smooth with no visible acne or pimples. Her face was perfectly proportioned and her ears, lips, nose and eyes were each placed perfectly on her face. For several moments I sat in stunned silence looking at her.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡± she said with an emotionless tone.

    ¡°OH yeah sorry. What do you need?¡± I was so stunned by her appearance I had forgotten to respond to her.

    ¡°I just wanted to know if I could also sit here. Everywhere else is taken.¡± she said, once again, without a hint of emotion in her voice.

    ¡°Yeah sure.¡± I scooted to one side of the bench and allowed her to sit down.

    She placed her bag down on the side of the bench and placed her suitcase in front of her.

    ¡®Shit. I forgot to grab my suitcase. Well I¡¯m sure it''ll be fine. My parents can probably just send it to the room I¡¯ll be staying in through the school somehow.¡¯ I turned back at the girl, I wanted to start up a conversation. Sitting in silence next to someone always made me uncomfortable.

    ¡°I¡¯m Mark, what''s your name?¡± I said with a smile and a warm tone.

    She looked back at me with her emotionless face again. Looks like she wasn¡¯t someone who enjoyed revealing her emotions a lot. She sat for a few seconds, seemingly contemplating a response. For a split moment, I saw a hint of warmth in her eyes as she responded to me.

    ¡°Violet Woo.¡±

    End Chapter 1

 Chapter 2: Shadows Beneath the Surface

    Chapter 2: Shadows Beneath the Surface

    0%

    ¡°Ms. Woo, you must get up. You are going to be late for the application.¡±

    Jewon slowly opened her eyes. She was exhausted. She always woke up exhausted, it was a requirement of her sealing. She turned towards her maid who had woken her up. Her maid was dressed in a long black cloak with a white apron in front. She was rather tall for a woman, being 5¡¯ 8.

    ¡°How long were you trying to wake me up?¡± Jewon asked.

    ¡°Almost an hour this time.¡±

    Jewon looked at the ceiling. An hour was pretty standard for her. It would be difficult to figure out how to deal with it while at AGH. If she didn¡¯t learn how to control it, she could very well end up expelled from class absences.

    ¡°How much time do I have to get ready now?¡± Jewon knew that she was likely late for the application process. Unfortunately, she wouldn''t be able to have an easy morning.

    ¡°You have 20 minutes to be down at the car, after which we will transport you to the application building Ms. Woo.¡±

    20 minutes. Not enough time at all to get herself ready. Despite the small amount of time, Jewon showed no signs of panic on her face. She quickly got out of bed and left for her bathroom. Her bedroom was massive, filled with ornate items and detailed designs across the wall. Gold lined a large amount of it. The bathroom was also spacious. The entire bathroom was filled with marble, the shower was larger than a king-sized bed and the sinks were all hands-free and automatic.

    Jewon began brushing her teeth. Back and forth, left and right, in and out, forwards and outwards. A repetitive dull motion for a repetitive dull life. But this life was ending. Soon, everything would change. Life would become a story of excitement and action.

    ¡®Soon I¡¯ll be able to escape this life.¡¯

    Jewon was going to apply for the Academy of the Greatest Heroes. She had been waiting for this day since childhood. It was a chance to escape her life, a chance to escape the same life she always lived day in and day out with her family. It was so restricting all the time, living with such a family. It had been over 10 years since she was allowed outside without a bodyguard present or attended a school where she could even talk to people her own age.

    About 20 minutes later Jewon was outside of her mansion. Due to being rushed she was only able to do her hair slightly and had to skip breakfast. Her hair was frayed around her, making her look lazy and tired. In front of the door was a massive courtyard, large enough to be a small sports field. There was a road that looped around a giant fountain the size of an apartment. Sculptures of fish and people sprayed out water and on top was a powerful geyser, shooting water into the air. There was a car in front of her, its chaperone already holding the door open for Jewon. The man quickly bowed to her.

    ¡°Ms. Woo, your vehicle is ready. Your father has asked me to remind you to visit when possible and to remain in touch. He will also be sending a guard to monitor you while you are there, although they will not be allowed inside the dorms and will not be able to monitor you during the application. Also, he says to not reveal your true identity to anyone who doesn¡¯t pass the application process. Such an act would be unbecoming of someone of your status.¡±

    ¡°I understand. Thank you for the information. Please tell my father I shall be contacting him daily.¡±

    ¡°Understood Ms. Woo.¡±

    Of course, this is how it was. Her family couldn¡¯t even be bothered to come to see her in person or give her a call. In fact, it was likely that her father didn¡¯t even really ask that, it was probably some servant who did it to keep up appearances with others in the family.

    The drive was smooth, not a bump felt in the road and not a hard stop across the entire way. The driver was incredibly skilled, easily navigating through the toughest of traffic and making the entire journey smooth. But it was silent. Jewon had no words to give the driver, she didn¡¯t care about anything at the moment. If anyone had seen her face, so emotionless and still, they might¡¯ve thought she was a statue.

    It wasn¡¯t long before she arrived at the application building. She was about 15 minutes early, largely in part thanks to the driver having wormed his way through all the traffic. Jewon exited the car and opened up the trunk. Inside was a large suitcase and a gray bag with art materials. Jewon was a rather successful artist online, having quite a few followers. Of course, all her posts were audited by servants of the family.

    As the driver departed she looked around. Most of the places to sit were taken and the entrance was crowded. She moved to the outskirts, hoping to find an unoccupied bench. She was surrounded by statues and plaques of famous heroes who had graduated from AGH. She was uninterested in them. She felt almost no emotions at all.

    ¡®This is a good time to use Soul Seer. There might be some useful information I can use.¡¯

    Soul Seer was a Unique Power. While simply named, Unique Power summarized the main concept of such powers perfectly, it was a power that was almost completely unique or extremely rare and it was impossible to teach or pass down. One simply had to be born with it. In Jewon''s case, Soul Seer allowed her to see a person''s soul. It revealed their hidden desires, thoughts, and deepest secrets that one might have kept deep down.

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    She began analyzing the applicants around the field. An especially nice positive is that it allowed Jewon to see through walls to look at the soul. She activated Soul Seer and her eyes turned a dark purple. Her vision became filled with black human-shaped silhouettes, inside of them was a small white orb, the soul. As she looked at the souls she could sense their desires. One applicant was extremely desperate for attention, wanting everyone to look at her. Another was smug and wanted everyone to see his superiority. Most of them, however, had small black marks covering the soul, preventing Jewon from seeing further than these superficial desires.

    It was extremely common. Those black marks indicated a dark secret, something that an individual wanted nobody else to know. While it required more focus, it was possible for Jewon to forcefully peer deeper, allowing her to hear such secrets. She began looking at those who had the largest black marks.

    ¡®I want to apologize to the family of that man. I killed him.¡¯

    ¡®I want to take all of them as my wives, and live in pleasure forever.¡¯

    ¡®I want to kill these damned pig-headed brutes.¡¯

    These desires flowed into Jewon''s brain. Her head began pulsing and her eyes started to build up pressure behind them. She was absorbing too much information. She wasn¡¯t very surprised by these desires. A decent amount of the applicants would come from conflict-ridden countries where strength was needed to survive, such places weren¡¯t exactly known for having the most morally upstanding citizens. Quickly, Jewon deactivated Soul Seer and began to look around for a place to sit down again. She came to a spot far away from the crowd.

    ¡®There.¡¯

    She noticed a bench with only one person on it. He was somewhat handsome. His skin was tan and his hair was black. He wore a dark blue jacket, a plain white shirt, and some black sweats. He seemed to be an applicant but he had no suitcase or bag with him. His eyes were closed yet he seemed to be in deep focus, as though he were picturing all the possibilities the future held for him. A small smile crept around his face.

    She began to approach him, hoping that he would let her sit down on the other side of the bench. He gave off a strange sense that Jewon couldn¡¯t quite identify. It seemed to almost be lightly pushing against her, it was just barely noticeable. Ignoring this she walked over to the bench.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± she said to the boy.

    The boy, startled, jumped slightly as he looked around. His eyes focused on Jewon''s face and his face went blank. Oddly enough he remained silent. Or actually, not that odd. Jewon knew that she was considered extremely attractive by a majority of men. It wasn¡¯t the first time that someone had been struck dumb by seeing her face. She stared back at him, her face cold and dead.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡± She said after several seconds of silence. She added a slightly annoyed tone to her voice although in truth she felt nothing at all.

    ¡°OH yeah sorry. What do you need?¡± the boy answered. Despite the embarrassing situation, he didn¡¯t look embarrassed at all. Rather abnormal for someone who had been awestruck just a moment ago.

    ¡°I just wanted to know if I could also sit here. Everywhere else is taken.¡± Jewon said, this time without even the slightest tone of emotion or feeling.

    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± The boy scooted to one side of the bench and allowed Jewon to sit down.

    Jewon placed her bag down on the side of the bench and placed her suitcase in front of her. The boy slightly fidgeted.

    ¡®Looks like he¡¯s uncomfortable. Is it my appearance or is he just someone uncomfortable sitting in silence when someone else is around?¡¯

    ¡°I¡¯m Mark, what''s your name?¡± the boy asked, his face, holding a warm smile.

    ¡®My name?¡¯ Jewon thought to herself. Having not been in normal social situations since she was young, Jewon was somewhat shocked by this question. Everyone around her knew her name, her parents made sure of that. She was surrounded by people who knew her name, face, habits, personality, and nearly everything about her. It would be no exaggeration to say that some of them knew Jewon more than Jewon did.

    Jewon considered revealing her identity to Mark. Unfortunately, her father had asked her not to reveal herself. But, he didn¡¯t tell her how much to not reveal. She was well aware of her family name and the influence it had on the world. It was why she was constantly monitored, it was why she wasn¡¯t allowed to interact with other people her age. She decided to reveal a part of her identity to Mark.

    ¡°Violet Woo.¡±

    7%

    ¡®It went up¡­¡¯ Violet thought to herself.

    The boy''s jaw suddenly dropped for a moment before snapping shut again. It was understandable, the Woo family was famous worldwide. While Woo was originally an extremely common last name, in the Great War, the most widescale and destructive war in history, the name had nearly vanished. The remnants of them led Rokea through the War and the leaders of them became the Woo family almost 2000 years ago. All others abandoned the name out of respect for their leadership.

    In the modern day, the Woo Family was one of the most powerful families in the world. They had a net worth of almost 7 trillion dollars and across their multiple branches, they had almost 10 S-Rank psychics and even an SS-Rank. In Rokea especially they had an incredible amount of influence and power, often having high-ranking roles in the government. On top of that, branches of the Woo Family did not use the Woo name. It was exclusively used by the head family who were almost always the most powerful and wealthy of them all. The fact that Violet had used the last name Woo, indicated that she was a member of the head family!

    Mark averted his eyes downwards towards his lap and began to shuffle uncomfortably. He fidgeted slightly with his hands.

    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you, Ms. Woo. I¡¯m sorry if my previous behavior was disrespectful.¡±

    Violet looked at him, unsurprised by Mark''s reaction. It was something she had come to expect from meeting people who knew her identity. Unless they held a similar social standing they were often just as uncomfortable as Mark.

    ¡®At the very least though, this is a good time to use Soul Seer on him. The more information I can collect on my competition the better.¡¯

    Violet''s eyes once again turned purple as she peered into Mark''s soul where she saw¡­

    ¡®This can¡¯t be right. What is this?¡¯

    Mark''s soul had a black mark, but it was massive. Usually, black marks only covered about 5% of a person''s soul, with the most she¡¯d ever seen being 15%. But an entire 50% of Mark''s soul was covered by a singular black mark. Even more, this mark felt different from all the others she had seen, it felt almost alive, as though it was fighting to keep whatever was hidden concealed forever. Violet couldn¡¯t see any actual movement but she nonetheless felt as though there was a creature underneath desperately crawling for a chance to escape the prison Mark had entrapped it in.

    ¡®What secret is he hiding that requires so much protection? This guy could be dangerous, I have to know more.¡¯

    Violet began to once more pull back the black mark. The black mark on Mark¡¯s soul began to fight against her, refusing to relinquish protection. It pulled back hard enough to force Violet to let go despite her power granting her incredible strength over black marks.

    ¡®This has never happened before. This guy is definitely hiding something big.¡¯

    She poured more psychic energy into her eyes and forced back the black mark at last. She caught a glimpse of what was beyond Mark''s black covering. For a moment a voice of unimaginable power seemed to cry out from inside of her head.

    ¡®r???????????????????l?????????????????????????????s????????????????e?????????????????????????????? ????????????????m???????????????????????¡¯

    However, the words were unintelligible. She attempted to see more but before she could sense anything she suddenly blacked out, falling to the ground as blood seeped out from her eyes and nose. The last thing she saw was Mark, one side of his face radiating extreme hatred, the other side filled with utter horror.

    52%

    End Chapter 2

 Chapter 3: Blinded Eyes and Origin Story

    Chapter 3: Blinded Eyes and Origin Story

    I watched in horror as Violet suddenly fell to the ground. Her head tossed backward as though someone had punched her in the face. She fell limp and unconscious onto the ground. Blood began to seep out of her nose and closed eyes, common signs of a powerful psychic mental attack.

    ¡®SHIT!!! If she gets hurt here I¡¯ll definitely be the one blamed for it. AND WITH EVERYONE WATCHING FUCK! I shouldn¡¯t have yelled out so loud. If the Woo family blames me for their daughter''s death like this, I''m a dead man.¡¯

    I knew what she had done. I could feel it deep down in me. I didn¡¯t blame her for trying, I would also be curious if I saw something so unusual.

    ¡®Quickly, check for pulse and breathing. Just like how Mom and Dad taught you. Every second counts.¡¯

    I placed my head over her with my ear directly above her mouth to listen for breathing. Two of my fingers touched her neck where I would be able to feel a pulse. I carefully looked at her chest to see if it was rising and falling. I would usually be embarrassed for doing such a thing but I had other things to focus on right now. However, before I could be certain of anything I felt a kick to my ribs force me away.

    ¡°GET OFF OF HER!!!¡±

    The one who had kicked me was a tall man in a suit. I couldn¡¯t get a look at his face though, I was preoccupied with the intense pain I felt. I knew that getting kicked in the ribs could hurt but this was unnatural. I could barely breathe.

    ¡®Did he use some sort of technique to keep me incapacitated?¡¯ I thought to myself.

    I looked down at myself and sensed a strange amount of energy gathered in the place where the man had kicked me. He had sent some psychic energy into my body to increase the pain and was sustaining it there to keep the pain going.

    As I was on the ground keeled over in pain the man dragged his hand across Violet''s face. It glowed a strange green, a sign of a healing technique. Such techniques were usually quite difficult to master, this man was likely A-Rank or higher. He was probably a bodyguard for Violet, a member of the Head Family of the Woo¡¯s would have a bodyguard protecting them almost constantly.

    He suddenly vanished before my eyes, leaving Violet behind. Her face was once again spotless, she was no longer bleeding at all. I felt the pain quickly dissipate away and I stood up.

    ¡®There''s no doubt, that man was definitely strong. I might be out of my league here.¡¯

    I may have been a genius, having reached low B-Rank status while young, but I was inexperienced and there were plenty of people stronger than me. It would be a long time before I could even think about fighting against that man.

    Violet started to wake up. I grabbed her hand and propped up her head with my other hand. She was truly beautiful. I could feel her hair brushing against my hand. Aside from the frayed parts, it felt smooth and soft.

    ¡®She really is beautiful¡­ DAMNIT stop. This is not the time to be thinking about that stuff.¡¯ I began to berate myself in my head.

    Violet opened her eyes and looked at me. Her face began turning a shade of red as she realized what position she was in. She looked around slightly nervously. I followed her gaze and realized that we were being watched. Almost every other applicant was looking at us.

    ¡®Shit¡­ I¡¯m so fucked.¡¯ I thought privately to myself. Becoming the center of attention was not something I wanted.

    Violet suddenly got up out of my arms and grabbed her bag and suitcase. She quickly walked away from me, out of sight of the other applicants. I quickly left in a different direction than her, escaping the judging gaze of my peers.

    ¡®Well, this is certainly quite the start.¡¯ If this was any indication of what would happen then I was failing the application.

    After calming myself down I reflected on what happened right before Violet suddenly went unconscious. I bowed down in front of her and started yelling. For a few moments, I was looking at the ground when all of a sudden I felt as though someone were gazing through me. Not at me, through me. It was like they were trying to see who I really was.

    But that¡¯s not what caused the sudden attack on Violet. She had done something she shouldn¡¯t have done. Tried to look at something that shouldn¡¯t have been looked at. She touched my soul and¡­ I sighed a tremendous sigh. She had nearly died. If she had or if she were injured then I would have become an enemy of the Woo family. My life would have been as good as over.

    ¡®That bodyguard is probably looking at me right now. He shouldn¡¯t have seen what happened, what Violet used was definitely a Unique Power. It¡¯s best if I just don¡¯t interact with her for a while. Also, I don¡¯t remember anyone in the core family being named Violet. Strange¡­¡¯

    I looked at the sky, hoping for it to cheer up my mood after that heart-stopping event. The gods did bless today with beautiful weather after all. My breathing and heart rate slowed back down to normal. I felt the heat of the sun on my face and a light breeze brush against my skin. After about 5 minutes there I had completely relaxed once more.

    ¡°Attention all applicants, please make your way to the front door.¡±

    It was starting, at last, the first chapter of my new life. I got up and walked back to the front door. Violet was deep in the crows, people avoiding her gaze. She was a core member of the Woo family after all, it would be more strange if people didn¡¯t act awkward around her. I looked at the other applicants, of which, there were now about 200. Their gaze seemed to weigh on my mind.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡®I¡¯ve really messed up. Fuck. There go my chances of AGH.¡¯

    I looked down to avoid their gaze and walked towards the front door. I could hear others around me, whispering about what I had done.

    ¡°Why is everyone looking at him?¡±

    ¡°He just attacked a member of the Woo family.¡±

    ¡°No fucking way seriously?¡±

    ¡°What a shame, he¡¯s kind of handsome.¡±

    ¡°Better stay away from that guy.¡±

    I kept my head down as I pretended to ignore all these voices. This was so embarrassing. I saw Violet standing near the front, people were talking about her too but she didn¡¯t even seem phased.

    ¡®She is so stoic. It¡¯s like she doesn¡¯t care about anything. Actually, wait¡­ she did look pretty embarrassed when she woke up.¡¯

    As I came to the front of the crowd the speakers made another announcement.

    ¡°We have received word of two applicants attacking each other. As neither was harmed we will not be barring them from the application but any further fighting among applicants unless explicitly given permission will be cause for an immediate rejection. With that being said, welcome to the AGH application.¡±

    I heard all the applicants turn their bodies. I couldn¡¯t see any of them but I knew that they were looking at me.

    ¡®Welp, I¡¯m fucked. Gonna work at a fast food restaurant for the rest of my life I suppose. I wonder how much Mc is paying first-time employees¡­¡¯

    The doors in front of us opened up. They were massive, at least 14 feet tall, and 5 feet wide each. The other applicants and I walked through a dark tunnel before coming out to a large room shaped like a big college lecture hall. It was dark inside, and the walls were dark blue. The seats were also a dark blue¡­ Pretty much everything was a dark blue except for the railings and the speaker podium in the front of the room.

    ¡°You all have assigned seats. Identify yourself at the check-in poles for a badge telling you where to sit.¡±

    A door to our left suddenly opened and a series of poles with red lights on top. I walked over to one of them, placed my thumb on the fingerprint scanner, and took a photo of my face with the pole. A small card slid out of the pole.

    Name: Mark Tran

    Birth Date: 6/14/2007

    Seat #: E1

    Room#: B49

    Beneath all the information was the photo of my face. I quickly found my seat and waited patiently for the application process to begin. Being on the edge of the stadium I was sitting next to only one person.

    I looked at him, his hair was blonde and he looked caucasian. He had light-toned skin and slightly toned muscles. A light blue jacket was tied around his waist and he wore dark green cargo pants and a black shirt.

    ¡®Let¡¯s see if I can strike up a conversation while waiting.¡¯

    ¡°Hey,¡± I said.

    ¡°Hey.¡± He replied.

    ¡®Let''s go, great start Mark.¡¯ I did some imaginary arm pumps in pride. Better than with Violet at least.

    ¡°My name''s Mark, what about yours?¡±

    ¡°My name is Roland. It¡¯s nice to meet you, Mark.¡±

    He offered out his hand for a handshake, something I readily agreed to.

    ¡°So where are you from Roland?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m from Ameriac. How about you?¡±

    ¡°I was born and raised here in Panaj.¡±

    Ameriac was one of the world''s three greatest superpowers. Out of the 304 countries officially acknowledged by the United Globe, Ameriac was easily the most famous of them all. With a population of almost 8 billion people, it was the 3rd most populous country in the world. It was also widely believed to have the strongest military in the world. Their influence globally was no joke. While Panaj was by no means a small and weak country it certainly wasn¡¯t anything like the absolute powerhouse Ameriac was.

    ¡°Well Roland, it''s a pleasure to meet you. I hope you do well in the application.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Mark. I wish good luck to you as well.¡± He said with a bright smile on his face.

    At that moment a man walked out onto the stage and stopped in front of the podium, in view of all of the applicants. He wore a suit, his hair was black with some strands of white on the sides. He appeared to have a strong build with broad shoulders and large arms. His face was clean shaven and he had a strong jawline.

    ¡®There is no doubt about it. That¡¯s the principal, Sever Foul.¡¯

    The principal of AGH was also its founder. He was an SS-Rank psychic, making him one of the 99 most powerful individuals in the world based on ability alone. He didn¡¯t look it but he was almost 80 years old, his aging slowed considerably by his massive quantity of psychic energy.

    Even from here, I could feel the power he walked with. A psychic aura lightly coated his body, perfectly refined and controlled. Releasing a visible psychic aura could only be done by Mid A-Ranks and above and even then, only S-Ranks would be able to release it constantly.

    ¡®Principal Sever really is deserving of his status.¡¯

    The entire room held its breath as the principal grabbed the mic and began to speak.

    ¡°Hello, future stars.¡± The tension finally relaxed as he spoke. His voice was deep and powerful but also warm and kind.

    ¡°You have all come here today as the best of the best, every single one of you a genius. You have proven yourself in the evaluation tests and even the weakest of you received top marks during the newborn evaluation.¡±

    The psychic evaluation tests were tests done by every person in the world to calculate their rank. By measuring quantity, the amount of psychic energy, and refinery, the control of psychic energy, the machine gave each citizen a rank ranging from F to SSS Rank. As it stood now, I was a low B-Rank nearly to Mid-B Rank. This left me as one of the underdogs in the application. Being a low B-Rank I was likely in the bottom quarter of applicants and the differences between just Low B-Rank and Mid B-Rank were rather large. That isn¡¯t to say that a Low B-Rank would never defeat a Mid B-Rank or even a High B-Rank, just that it would be extremely difficult.

    ¡°Today I¡¯ll be telling you about the application process you will complete.¡± Here it was¡­ everyone in the room sat on the edge of their seats, waiting to hear what the application this year would consist of. With the application changing every year, applicants had no way to prepare except to train their bodies and powers.

    ¡°This year the application will be split into 3 different parts. The first part will be a multiple-choice exam. It will have 100 questions on it. This will be done today in approximately 30 minutes. It will be a 2-hour exam.¡±

    ¡®... ah fuck. I didn¡¯t study for this shit.¡¯ I looked around the room and saw many other applicants worried about this application. None of us studied after all, we wouldn¡¯t even know what they would test us on or even that there would be a test.

    ¡°The second part will be an obstacle course race taking place 3 days from now. More information will be given on that day. The final part will be a tournament between all remaining applicants that will take place 7 days from now. More information about it will be given after the second part.¡±

    Everyone in the room collectively breathed a sigh of relief. At least the other parts were more in line with what we expected.

    ¡°The application works with a point-based system.¡±

    ¡®Shit looks like he is still going.¡¯

    ¡°Individuals will receive a certain amount of points for everything that they do here. During this week-long application process, we will monitor your actions everywhere excluding bathrooms and dorm rooms. We will add or deduct points from your total based on your actions. Go below a certain score and you will fail the application and be forced to leave. At the end, the 20 highest scores will be considered for acceptance with 10 of them being chosen to join AGH.¡±

    ¡®Interesting. I¡¯ve never heard of something like this before. They really do have high standards too. Only 5% accepted this year again.¡¯

    ¡°The exam you are about to take will be worth a total of 100 points. Any answer that can be considered wrong will deduct you a point, anything else will gain you a point. Be careful how you select your answers. Good luck future stars.¡±

    The principal vanished with a puff of smoke, not even a slight trace of him left.

    ¡®So, it finally begins.¡¯ I stared at the ceiling with a smile on my face. Despite my nervousness, I was also more excited than I had ever been.

    ¡®This will be my origin story.¡¯

    ¡­

    A man in a suit watched his master''s daughter walk through some doors before disappearing into the darkness. As the doors closed he pulled out a specialized radio.

    ¡°Sir, she¡¯s gone through the entrance now.¡±

    ¡°Good. Any issues?¡± A gravely old voice came from the other side of the radio.

    ¡°Yes. She tried to use her Soul Seer on a boy, somehow it backfired and she received a mental attack. I healed her quickly but I was surprised by the amount of damage. The boy is definitely a strong psychic.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I see. Be sure to keep an eye on him for me when you can then.¡±

    ¡°Understood sir.¡± With that, the man blended into the air, disappearing from view.

    End Chapter 3

 Chapter 4: Strange Secrets and an Impossible Test

    Chapter 4: Strange Secrets and an Impossible Test

    As the principal finally left, Violet heaved and looked towards the ceiling. She was thinking about what had happened with Mark.

    ¡®What was that thing?¡¯

    Violet couldn¡¯t remember anything past getting the first glimpse of Mark''s hidden soul. She felt like she had forgotten something but couldn¡¯t think about what it might be. All she knew was that when she saw it she had blacked out and woken up in Mark''s arms.

    ¡®The bodyguard told me it was a mental attack. But Soul Seer offers protection from mental attacks my target might try. To pierce through it, along with my mental barriers, would need at least a Mid A-Rank level attack. On top of that the bodyguard, Lucian, an A-Rank himself, couldn¡¯t even sense the incoming attack. It happened right under his nose.¡¯

    Violet sighed again. She just couldn¡¯t figure out how that could have happened. While everyone here was considered a genius, to so easily piece through her defenses without even giving her enough time to see Mark''s soul was something above what anyone else here could do. The information itself would have had to attack her or Mark was a secret Mid A-Rank, which would make him the youngest one in history.

    ¡®Whatever he¡¯s hiding, it¡¯s definitely something huge. Based on how strong that attack was he¡¯s probably the strongest one here. Yet I couldn¡¯t feel a sensation of strength from him. I felt a minor pushing force while approaching him but it was far from the level of strength some of the other psychics here exhibited. Is the information he¡¯s hiding just that sensitive that his soul launched an unconscious attack against me?¡¯

    63%

    ¡®Even worse, it caused a lot of my mental barriers to break down. The counter has gone up way too much for such a short amount of time and is still going. At this rate, I won¡¯t be able to hold myself back by the third section.¡¯

    Violet began to recall how she had woken up. She felt a warm hand on the back of her head and her right hand was firmly grasped. The hands were smooth, warm, and large, completely wrapping around her hand. It was oddly comforting, for a moment she just wanted to lie there and fall asleep like that. Yet when she opened her eyes she noticed that boy looking back at her. Her previous emotional self was long gone now, the counter had gone above 50%. She immediately got embarrassed and walked away.

    In the room now, Violet slouched forward onto her desk, feeling once more the embarrassment she had felt at that moment. If the bodyguard reported what happened to her father or mother she would surely receive a firm reprimanding and punishment. Not only that, her brother would make fun of her for that for a long time. She wasn¡¯t going to live this moment down for a very very long time.

    ¡°Attention applicants, the exam is starting in 30 seconds. Please prepare yourselves.¡±

    Violet immediately propped herself up and quieted her mind. Soon enough, from the podium flew 200 tests, 200 pencils, and 200 pens, each landing perfectly in front of the applicants. The tests were turned over so applicants would be unable to start yet.

    ¡°You may flip over your sheets of paper in 3¡­ 2¡­ 1... You may begin.¡±

    Violet quickly flipped the paper over to the other side and read the first question. She was extremely confident.

    Whether it''s math, English, history, or some other subject, I have some of the highest scores in Rokea. I¡¯m not losing to anyone here.¡¯

    As she read the first question she paused for a moment. She might be in trouble. She read the next question, and the next, and the next. There was no doubt, that not a single one of these questions was academic based!

    Question 1: A female teenager and a small male child are trapped underneath rubble. The rubble is unstable and the two of them will likely be crushed. You can only save one of them. Who do you save?

    <ul>

    <li>The small child</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>The teenager</li>

    </ul>

    ¡®How am I supposed to answer this?¡¯

    These questions were entirely subjectively based and tested morals instead of any academic subject. Violet was completely puzzled by this sudden development.

    ¡®No matter how I answer it would be easy to argue for the other side. These questions don¡¯t have right answers.¡¯

    She looked around her. All of the other applicants were looking down at their papers although some of them had the same look of confusion Violet had. She also noticed a new group of people in the room. Sometime while she was reading her paper a group of proctors appeared. There appeared to be 20 of them, 2 of them for each row of applicants, silently watching. For a moment Violet considered using Soul Seer on them but decided against it in the end. The chance of her getting caught was simply too large and she was certain that if she was caught she would be deducted a massive amount of points or even receive potential backlash like she had with Mark.

    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    Looking back down at the questions again Violet pondered for a moment.

    ¡®Looks like I¡¯ll have to answer this anyway. The best choice then would be to try and choose what the school would probably want you to choose. In this case, the small child is probably the best choice.¡¯

    She circled answer A and moved on to the next question.

    Question 2: An old man and old woman are being held hostage with a gun held to each of their heads. They both appear to be healthy and in good shape. They are the same age. You only have enough psychic energy remaining to block one bullet. Who do you choose to save?

    <ul>

    <li>The old man</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>The old woman</li>

    </ul>

    ¡®This one is even worse than the last one. At least the last one had an age difference now the only difference is in gender. This is impossible to answer.¡¯

    Violet began to tightly grip her pencil in frustration. There wasn¡¯t a right answer to this one she was sure of it. How could she decide how two different human lives were weighed? Violet thought about her past, monitored and always watched. She felt so restricted and desperately wanted freedom, the freedom to choose how she wanted to live her life. She had finally found a chance to do so in AGH but is this the type of life she would have to live if she chose such freedom? Violet may be socially inept but she was well aware of the value of human life, there was little more that she valued more than her own life, something she believed would apply to everyone. Even while emotionless, while she may not care for others so much, Violet felt the urge to live and survive.

    ¡®I can¡¯t do it. I don¡¯t know how to answer this question.¡¯

    Violet decided to circle this question and come back to it later.

    ¡­

    One hour and 48 minutes later the exam ended and all the tests, pens, and pencils flew back to the podium.

    ¡°Thank you for your submissions, everyone. We will return to show the scores and current point rankings in a moment.¡±

    Violet slumped in her seat. It was easily the most stressful test she had ever taken. On top of that, she was extremely frustrated.

    ¡®These were impossible questions to answer. They only kept getting harder and harder.¡¯

    In the end Violet ran out of time, unable to choose answers for many of the questions. Choosing between human life, to Violet, was something simply too difficult to do. Violet turned to look around at the other applicants. It seemed like all of them had similar experiences to her.

    She looked at the person next to her, being at the end of the room there was only one person next to her. She had dark brown hair and red lips. Her face suffered from some amounts of acne and there were pimples but overall she could be considered quite cute. She was wearing a sweatshirt and black jeans with holes in them. Her arms were small without muscle but she wasn¡¯t skinny. Violet looked at the girl''s chest, careful not to let the girl notice. They were small. This was something Violet was rather self-conscious about. While she didn¡¯t care when the counter was beneath 50% once it got higher than that she began to feel insecure about it. The girl''s chest was small yet still bigger than Violet''s own.

    The girl suddenly turned around and Violet quickly looked away before she was caught. She did a quick check on the counter to see where it was.

    66%

    Looks like her mind had recovered from the earlier attack. Her counter was no longer going up nearly as fast as before. She turned back to the girl once again. With her status now being known as a core member of the Woo family it would do her good to make some allies before the obstacle course and tournament. They could prove to be extremely useful.

    ¡°So how did the test go for you?¡± Violet asked, a comforting false smile on her face.

    The girl turned around and looked at Violet for a moment before answering.

    ¡°I¡¯m uh¡­ I¡¯m sorry Ms. Woo I don¡¯t know if I am deserving of you talking to me.¡± The girl responded with a look of fear on her face.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯m not gonna send a hitman after you if I find your presence rude or something like that.¡±

    ¡°OH¡­ thank you Ms. Woo.¡± the girl breathed out in relief that Violet seemed pretty normal.

    ¡°Please, call me Violet. So how did the test go for you?¡±

    ¡°I did horrible. It was practically impossible for me to answer a lot of the questions, to be honest.¡±

    ¡°I know right? I didn¡¯t know what to choose for a lot of the questions.¡± Violet said while giving a small laugh.

    ¡°Same. It was way too hard.¡±

    Violet looked into the girl''s eyes as the girl began to smile, slightly enjoying the conversation. Violet reciprocated with a warmer smile and a small giggle. What the girl in front of Violet didn¡¯t know was that Violet was using Soul Seer to figure out how the girl wanted Violet to respond. While it was rather taxing on Violet to constantly keep Soul Seer active and have a conversation, Violet was in a rather precarious situation potentially being targeted, and with no challenges coming soon, the rewards outweighed the risks. Plus, without it, she didn¡¯t understand how to interact in most social situations.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Violet asked.

    ¡°My name is Vivan, how about you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Vivian.¡±

    The two of them looked at each other with friendly eyes. Violet''s plan was working great.

    ¡°Say, isn¡¯t the grading process taking a while?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Violet was confused for a moment as Vivans soul suddenly switched focus, leaving Violet unable to know the correct response with Soul Seer. She began to slightly panic without a roadmap to help her. At the same time, Violet pondered the girl''s words, she was right. A few minutes had already passed since the last announcement. What was taking so long? Right on cue, the speaker system turned on once again.

    ¡°We apologize for the short delay. We had to double-check one of the scores to make sure that it was accurate. The mean score is -88/100.¡±

    ¡®Thank goodness, looks like I won¡¯t have to answer her. Wow, they really did deduct points instead of just giving a zero. But still, that''s insanely high. How did everyone get so many questions wrong? I should have gotten about half the questions correct at least.¡¯

    Violet quickly looked around the room to see if she could spot anyone who believed they got a high score. Unfortunately, all the other applicants were just as worried as she was.

    ¡°Here are the current leaderboard results.¡±

    A screen popped up in front of each of the applicants. It showed their scores and identification. Violet quickly read hers to see her score.

    Name: Jewoon Woo

    Birth Date: 4/6/2007

    Seat #: B20

    Room#: G49

    Test Score: -84/100

    Ranking: #97

    Total Points: -84

    ¡®I guess the points start at 0. How did so many more people than me get worse scores when I didn¡¯t even answer a lot of the questions though?¡¯ Violet thought to herself.

    The screen then changed to the leaderboard. It first quickly scrolled through 199 individuals, quickly moving past Violet''s name. Violet looked down in shame, if her family discovered this, they would be furious. But her shame was quickly overcome by curiosity. After all, they hadn¡¯t yet revealed who got first place. If she had looked around she would see all the other applicants doing the same thing.

    ¡°Congratulations to our high scorer with a 100/100, Mark Tran!¡±

    Violet immediately turned around and looked towards Mark, something also done by the other applicants. She saw Mark sitting in silence, mouth agape, staring at his screen in shock.

    End of Chapter 4

 Chapter 5: Understanding

    Chapter 5: Understanding

    I looked down at the questions.

    ¡®What the fuck are these!?!?¡¯

    These were all insane questions about morals and ethics. None of this could be answered objectively. How was someone supposed to choose between these answer choices?

    ¡®This is insane. Choose between a teenager and a child? How was I supposed to make a decision here? In fact, I¡¯d go as far as to say that merely answering should be cause for point loss, there¡¯s no right answer here.¡¯

    I began to skim through the questions. As I did I began to grip the pen in my hand tighter and tighter, to the point that a small crack appeared in its plastic shell. Not a single one of the questions could be answered objectively. Page after page, flip after flip, and turn after turn I came across questions that did nothing except challenge one''s moral standing.

    I kept flipping through all the pages faster and faster. I was barely reading the question now. It wasn¡¯t long before I reached the end of the test, all 100 questions, all of similar style. I banged my head on the table, causing Roland beside me to suddenly flinch.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I whispered.

    I kept my head down on top of the table, silently contemplating why the school would assign such a test. Why would they assign something so impossible to answer? Why would they give a test that gave no correct answers?

    ¡®Is AGH trying to see who aligns with their own moral code? No, that wouldn¡¯t make any sense. The heroes that graduate from here are at minimum high A-Ranks and each one of those people would have wildly different experiences that would shape their beliefs.¡¯

    ¡®Making a test where only those that have similar moral beliefs to the school can pass would be disrespectful to all those heroes who have put their lives and given their lives in the line of duty.¡¯

    I then flipped back through the questions again, hoping to find that the questions had magically changed. Unfortunately, no such questions appeared. With a heavy sigh, I turned towards a large timer now hovering above the podium.

    Remaining Time: 1 Hour 34 minutes

    I still had a huge amount of time remaining but I didn¡¯t know what I was going to do with it. I slumped back in my seat and covered my eyes with the back of my hand. To be honest I was mad. The school was asking us to decide the value of human life. They were asking us to play god, whatever we said in this situation would be us saying ¡°I am the judge of the quality of your life, if it isn¡¯t high enough, then I won¡¯t save you.¡± That¡¯s not something a hero should do, it wasn¡¯t something anyone should do.

    I turned towards a proctor standing right next to me. He had long auburn hair tied back into a bun and his otherwise handsome face had a large scar across his cheek. He had appeared sometime during the testing when I hadn¡¯t noticed. My hands began to tighten into fists as I looked at him. I could feel my nails starting to dig deep into my skin, causing a small amount of blood to seep out. My face began to turn hot as I stared him in the eye.

    He stared back at me, his face almost completely unmoving except for his right eyebrow, which began to raise. I knew he could feel my animosity towards this test, and he probably believed that I felt similar towards him, which I did. AGH did not hire anyone for the applications, everyone participating were volunteers. That meant that this proctor believed in this test, he believed in judging human life subjectively.

    ¡°I need to use the bathroom,¡± I said between my gritted teeth.

    The proctor looked at me surprised, he probably thought I was going to attack him.

    ¡°If you need to use the bathroom we will come with you.¡±

    With that, he placed his thumb on my forehead and I instantly lost consciousness.

    ¡­

    I opened my eyes and found myself in a brightly lit, plain white hallway. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all concrete painted white. In front of me, there was a bathroom with two separate paths for men and women. I felt my face beginning to burn hot red and my knuckles were turning white as I squeezed them tighter.

    ¡°What the hell was that!?!¡± I yelled at the proctor.

    ¡°Are you talking about the tests?¡±

    ¡°OF COURSE I¡¯M TALKING ABOUT THE TESTS!!!¡±

    ¡°That is something you will have to do as a hero. You can¡¯t save everyone.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the point! I know you can¡¯t save everyone. I know that sometimes you will have to let someone die. I know that sometimes you have to do something you don¡¯t agree with.¡± By this point, I had begun shaking and was on the verge of attacking the proctor.

    ¡°I doubt that. Or else you wouldn¡¯t be standing here, about to cry over a small little test about the very topics you pretend to grasp. You don¡¯t understand anything about what this job requires you to do.¡±

    I began to fill my right arm with psychic energy. I felt the muscles begin to contract and heat up as an energy source pushed them past their limits. I stepped towards the proctor and pulled back my arm. The next moment I threw it forward, a fist flying towards the proctor.

    BANG!!!

    A crater formed in the concrete wall behind the proctor and cracks traveled up the ceiling and across the floor. My arm had stuck itself almost a full foot deep inside of the wall. I had diverted my fist at the last moment and punched the wall, less than an inch away from the proctor''s face, who didn¡¯t move or even seem phased by my attack.

    I pulled my arm back out of the wall and fell to my knees on the floor. I took a look at my hand and saw it bloody and disfigured. I hadn¡¯t used enough psychic energy to reinforce my fist, concentrating most of it in my arm, leading to my hand receiving serious damage. My hand soon began to feel the aftereffects of my actions, burning painfully as though someone was jabbing every inch of it with a knife.

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    ¡°I know you must be a strong hero to have been accepted by AGH to proctor this test. Maybe you were even a past student here. I know that as a strong hero, you must have made hard choices. You must have made sacrifices.¡±

    I looked towards the proctor, my eyes, now teary from the pain in my hand, showed a seething rage. The proctor''s face now had a look of concern, his eyebrows were slightly bent down and inwards and his mouth frowned.

    ¡°I once heard a story of a young boy¡­ he was forced to choose between saving his sister and saving a random woman. He could only save one, the other would die.¡±

    My voice had softened and my face was cooling down. I was no longer crying from the pain in my right hand as well. The proctor looked at me, this time with a curious look on his face, wondering what I was going to say next.

    ¡°He made the obvious choice that night. His sister survived and the woman died¡­ years later he would sometimes lie awake at night, thinking about the consequences of his actions. What of the woman''s family? What of her friends? What if she had children? He had become a judge on life, and judged her unworthy to live.¡±

    I stood up now and looked directly into the proctor''s eyes.

    ¡°I know that if that boy was given another chance, he would have still saved his sister without hesitation. But his soul would never rest, he would never find peace with himself. Two people died that day¡­ you may not believe me, but I know what it¡¯s like to choose someone else. I know what it¡¯s like to let someone else die.¡±

    The proctor looked at me with new understanding. He nodded his head slightly and a small smile began to show on his face. I took this as a sign of my getting through to him and kept going.

    ¡°It¡¯s eternal torment¡­ there is no rest, there is no peace, and there is no forgetting. Every night you sleep and hear the voices of the dead. You hear the sobs and wails of their parents, of their siblings, of their friends¡­ but worst of all, you can hear their children crying out for their parent. You can practically see them, begging for their mother to hold their hand, carry them in their arms, reprimand them for playing too many games, help them with studying, surprise them with a birthday party, or just give them a hug.¡±

    There was no doubt now, the proctor''s face now had a medium-sized smile. It wasn¡¯t one born of malicious enjoyment of hearing a story of suffering, but one that came from meeting someone who understood their pain, someone who could shoulder a burden alongside them, and walk as brothers.

    ¡°Every night you hear that. And every night, you want to curl up and die for your sins. You wonder if you even have the right to live anymore. After all, you made a choice to not save them when you had a chance, you are effectively guilty of murder.¡±

    The proctor now nodded at me. His face fully grinning as he began to slightly laugh.

    ¡°Looks like you do understand what it¡¯s like. I won¡¯t ask how or why you know, but I fully believe that you do understand. But still, you have to choose, at the very least, you saved one life.¡±

    I sat down on the ground again, the proctor sat down with me. I looked him in the eyes, now feeling compassion and sorrow for this eternally tormented one. His face now radiated warmth and his eyes possessed an understanding. We had bonded over something deeper than words could describe, we bonded over our life.

    ¡°I know. I know that I have to choose.¡± I said, looking at him straight on. ¡°But I refuse to take that test. It¡¯s a test with no right answer, only wrong ones. Only answers that would leave one feeling guilty afterward. I must stand in protest of it. After all, if I don¡¯t then who will? Right?¡±

    The proctor didn¡¯t respond. Instead, he looked at the ceiling, now full of cracks and falling apart. I looked up at it too. We just sat there, in silence, looking at the sky of this small tunnel, filled with cracks that would be easier to replace than repair.

    ¡°Let me ask you, kid, what kind of world do you want to live in? What world do you want to make?¡±

    The proctor had spoken again. I looked at him, wondering if there was an underlying motive behind this question. The proctor however looked at me with innocent eyes. The only thing I saw was curiosity.

    ¡°A world where people won¡¯t have to choose to make decisions like us. A world where nobody has to feel guilty at night because they saved a person''s life. A world where people like you and me no longer exist¡­ I think it would be a nice world to live in.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your name kid?¡±

    ¡°Mark. Yours?¡±

    ¡°Arthur.¡±

    All of a sudden I felt the proctor''s thumb on my forehead again and I fell unconscious.

    ¡­

    I woke up back in the lecture hall room where all the other applicants were. I looked down at the test. There I saw sheets of paper torn in half. My pencil was shattered with wood littered across the desk and my pen was crushed with ink seeping out.

    All of a sudden the pieces of paper, shattered wood and broken pen flew up together along with all the other applicants'' items. They flew towards the podium at the front of the lecture hall before disappearing.

    ¡°Thank you for your submissions everyone. We will return to show the scores and current point rankings in 5 minutes.¡±

    ¡°Mark where the hell were you? You were gone for nearly the entire test.¡± Roland asked, confused and concerned.

    I looked at him and smiled. ¡°I was just getting some therapy I suppose.¡±

    Roland looked at me, his face seemingly saying ¡®Seriously?¡¯. I looked at him back, my face showing nothing but a warm smile and radiating innocence. In response, Roland shook his head as though disappointed in me. But something suddenly caught his attention.

    ¡°Hey, what happened to your hand? Were you wearing that the whole time?¡±

    ¡®Eh?¡¯ I looked down at my hand. It was wrapped in a seemingly unhealthy amount of bandages. There was a small message on it, saying: ¡°Thank you for the talk.¡±

    I looked at Roland and said, ¡°I have no idea when I got this.¡±

    At that moment the bandage slowly came undone on its own. Roland and I watched in silent amazement the whole time as it unwound itself until it completely fell off. My hand was completely healed aside from being slightly red.

    I looked at Roland and shrugged my shoulders. He on the other hand looked at me suspiciously, as if he suspected I was hiding something. I once again gave him a big smile and an innocent face.

    ¡°Mark, stop doing that. You look more guilty that way.¡±

    ¡°Really now? I was told I looked like a saint when I did that as a kid.¡±

    ¡°Well Mark, you aren¡¯t a kid anymore. Now you look like someone trying to proclaim their innocence by smiling too big.¡±

    I gave a small chuckle to what Roland said. At that moment we heard the speaker system go off.

    ¡°We apologize for the short delay. We had to double-check one of the scores to make sure that it was accurate. The mean score is -88/100.¡±

    Roland and I turned to each other simultaneously. Mathematically speaking it seemed basically impossible, most of the questions had only 2 answers with some having 3. That would mean the average should be somewhere between 50 and 60 percent, yet the average was instead 12% correct.

    ¡°I knew the test was hard but¡­ damn that is bad,¡± Roland said to me, shaking his head in disappointment. ¡°I don¡¯t think I did much better though. I couldn¡¯t choose for most of the questions.¡±

    ¡°Heh, you think that''s bad, I only chose one before I left.¡±

    ¡°Here are the current leaderboard results.¡±

    2 screens suddenly popped up in front of Roland and me. On Roland''s screen, it showed some data on him.

    Name: Roland Nordt

    Birth Date: 7/1/2007

    Seat #: E2

    Room#: B49

    Test Score: -43/100

    Ranking: #17

    Total Points: -43

    A smile grew on Roland''s face. It made sense, the only downside to losing points was the potential to be eliminated, but as long as one could stay away from that then the only thing that mattered was having more points than anyone else. With Roland now in 17th place, his chances of being accepted into AGH were very high.

    I gave Roland a high five before turning to look at my own screen.

    Name: Mark Tran

    Birth Date: 6/14/2007

    Seat #: E1

    Room#: B49

    Test Score: **/100

    Ranking: #*

    Total Points: **

    Wait¡­ why was some of my information blanked out? My test scores, rankings, and total points didn¡¯t show anything at all.

    ¡®Wait is this a result of nearly attacking that proctor Arthur earlier? Did I already fail the application?¡¯ I turned towards Roland whose eyes widened as he looked at my screen and back at me. His face was full of pity, probably because he thought I had failed the application as a result of answering practically nothing.

    ¡°Do you think I failed?¡± I asked him. At this point I was just looking for comfort in words, I was fairly confident I had failed the application completely.

    Roland responded, his voice tinged with sadness and pity for my situation, ¡°Yeah I think¡­ yeah I think you did fail.¡±

    ¡®Well¡­ fuck.¡¯

    The screens then changed, showing a slow-moving leaderboard going through all of the applicants. Most of them had horrible scores, concentrating mostly around the -80 to -100 range. The higher ranked a student got though the more spaced out the points were. The top ten all had scores in the positive range except for first place which wasn¡¯t shown.

    ¡®I wonder how high first place got. Second place has 34 points so first place could be a lot higher.¡¯

    ¡°Congratulations to our high scorer with a 100/100, Mark Tran!¡±

    ¡®...what?¡¯

    My screen suddenly changed with my rankings, points, and test scores now showing themselves.

    Test Score: 100/100

    Ranking: #1

    Total Points: 100

    My jaw dropped and my eyes widened. Roland turned and looked at me with a similar look on his face.

    ¡®What the fuck¡­ how?¡¯

    I heard every single applicant in the room turn towards me. Some of their faces showed animosity, some presented jealousy, others presented joy as if they were happy for me, but the most common face was one of confusion.

    Mark Tran, the one who attacked a member of the Woo family and disappeared for most of the test, had almost 3 times more points than the next highest-ranked applicant.

    End of Chapter 5

 Chapter 6: First Family Dinner

    Chapter 6: First Family Dinner

    Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap

    Violet turned back towards the podium where Principal Sever had reappeared. He had a large smile on his face as he looked directly at Mark proudly.

    ¡°Well done Mark. You¡¯ve thoroughly impressed me.¡±

    Soon everyone in the room started clapping their hands for Mark, mimicking the Principal''s actions. Mark meanwhile looked around completely dumbstruck by what had just happened.

    Violet looked at Mark with jealousy. Her face started becoming warm as her jealousy mixed with the shame of her ranking.

    ¡®That settles it, there¡¯s definitely something special about him. He broke past my mental defenses with ease and now he¡¯s ended up as the highest-ranked applicant. Now the question is if I try to make allies with him or not.¡¯

    There were inherent risks to allying herself with Mark. Now that he was the highest-ranked applicant he would undoubtedly become a target during the next examinations, combined with Violet''s status, they would certainly be walking bullseyes. But, it was clear that Mark had incredible strength and, considering his test score, was remarkably intelligent.

    ¡®I will have to think about this for a while.¡¯

    Violet''s attention was drawn back to the podium as the principal''s voice reverberated around the room.

    ¡°Well, hello again future stars. You¡¯re all probably wondering what happened in this test. Why does Mark have such a high score? Why were the questions so impossibly hard? Unfortunately, I can¡¯t tell you that, but, if you end up becoming elite heroes then you will surely know the answer.¡±

    The principal clapped his hands together with a smug look on his face. Meanwhile, most of the applicants murmured amongst themselves, each sprouting their theories and ideas.

    ¡°He was willing to attack the Woo family and he got the highest score?¡±

    ¡°He must be super strong for him to pull all this off.¡±

    ¡°Do you think he comes from a powerful family?¡±

    ¡°Tran is a pretty common last name in Navimet. Is there a strong family with that name?¡±

    Violet herself began to suspect that Mark hailed from an extremely powerful, historical psychic family. But Tran wasn¡¯t an uncommon last name and no powerful families with such a name came up in Violet''s mind.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all tired so I will be introducing you to your living situation for the next few days.¡±

    The Principal smiled with his arms open to the crowd before turning around and clapping his hands twice. A large screen appeared showing a slideshow of the living quarters that seemed to be located within the building they were currently in.

    ¡°You will be living in these dorm rooms. There are a total of 50 of them, 2 boys and 2 girls will each be assigned to a dorm. There will be a common living space in the middle and separate rooms for the boys and girls who will each have their own bathroom. And we do have prevention methods from you sneaking into the other''s rooms, so don¡¯t even try it, you will lose points.¡±

    After a small chuckle to himself at the thought of students sneaking into each other''s rooms the professor now began to walk around the stage as though he were giving a class a lecture in school. He gestured with his hands repeatedly to try and emphasize certain points.

    ¡°There will also be weight training rooms for you to use as you wish, we have any equipment that you could ask for. Included in the gym is also a spa, sauna, swimming room, and rock climbing wall.

    ¡®All of that just for the application? Impressive.¡¯ Violet expressed privately. While she did have such a gym at her home it was only at the main compound which Violet hated visiting as it meant seeing her father and mother. As such she never got to use that gym.

    You may find that some of those will come in handy for the second selection. I would like to remind you, we will be watching almost anything you do while here during the application process, and anything that you do can and will affect your points. With that, I bid you all farewell.¡±

    This time in a flash of light the Principal vanished from the stage, leaving nothing behind except for a burn mark on the floor. The walls behind the stage suddenly slid open to the sides and revealed a large hallway with a series of doors.

    A group of guards suddenly appeared, each one wore a suit and was at least 6 feet tall. Many of them had scars on their face, likely from past battles they had engaged in. One of the ones in the center, a tall woman with auburn hair stepped out and began an announcement.

    ¡°Each one of the applicants is to find one of us and we will guide them to their rooms. We will come with you to not cause any traps within the hallway to trigger. Once you pass into your room the traps will be deactivated but until then you must come with us.¡± A small screen then flashed above each of guard''s heads showing which room they were responsible for.

    Slowly each applicant got up from out of their seat and took a look at their identification card which told them their room number. Violet quickly did the same and saw that her room number was ¡°G49¡±.

    ¡°Hey, we have the same room.¡±

    Violet looked up at Vivan who had just addressed her. Looking at Vivian''s card it was also ¡°G49¡±.

    ¡°Oh uh¡­ yeah, yes¡­ we uh¡­ do.¡± With Vivan having addressed her from out of the blue Violet had no way of responding with Soul Seer, leaving her socially inept and stammering.

    Vivian looked at Violet with some confusion. ¡°Are you alright? You¡¯re kinda talking funny.¡±

    ¡°OH, it¡¯s uh um it''s just it¡¯s nothing. Don¡¯t don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Violet was beginning to panic slightly, she needed a way to divert Vivian''s attention away from her so she could have a moment to gather her thoughts. Luckily that moment had just arrived.

    ¡°IS G49 OUT THERE!?!?!? WE¡¯RE LOOKING FOR YOU!!!¡±

    Violet and Vivan turned towards the source of the voice. There was Mark, his hands cupped around his mouth yelling out. The boy next to him quickly grabbed Mark''s hands and seemed to tell him to stop as it could be embarrassing. The boy seemed to be caucasian, he had blond hair and some lightly toned muscles. After settling his short disagreement Mark locked onto Vivian and Violet and gave them a wave, something also done by the boy next to him.

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    ¡°Well, I guess we know where we¡¯re going.¡±

    ¡°Oh um yeah yes we do.¡±

    Vivian once again looked strangely at Violet before walking down to the stage where Mark and that other boy were. Violet of course followed, worried about what would happen if she were left alone surrounded by people. They weaved their way through the crowds of fellow applicants down to the stage at the front of the room. Mark immediately offered his hand out to Vivian when they arrived.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. Room 49 right?¡± Mark said, his face beaming with excitement at meeting some new people.

    Vivian took Mark''s hand and shook it vigorously. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you too. I¡¯m Vivian and this is Ms. Violet Woo, who are you two?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Mark and this is Roland. I hope we all have a great time together this week.¡±

    Mark then pushed Roland forward towards Violet. Roland appeared to be extremely nervous, his face pale and covered in a shaking nervous smile. His hands were placed in front of him, fidgeting with each other as if to distract him from the woman in front of him.

    ¡®Actually, he looks kind of familiar.¡¯ Violet had a sudden realization. She had met Roland in the past, but she couldn¡¯t quite place her finger on where.

    ¡°Uh hi again. You probably don¡¯t remember me, Ms. Woo, I¡¯m from the Nordt family. We met each other about 10 years ago in a New Year''s party.¡±

    ¡®So that¡¯s why you look familiar¡­¡¯

    ¡°H- H- Hi. It¡¯s nice to meet you again Roland.¡±

    ¡°Um yeah, yeah same. Vivan referred to you as Violet. Did you um uh adopt a new na¨C WOAH!!!¡±

    In a panic, Violet tackled Roland to prevent him from revealing her identity. Unfortunately, Violet''s lack of social experience led to her taking overly extreme action against Roland. They tumbled to the ground with Violet on top, cradling Roland''s head to prevent it from slamming into the ground. She mounted Roland and placed her finger to her mouth and quietly shushed him.

    While this was happening Mark and Vivian looked at each other awkwardly. Every other applicant turned to look at Roland and Violet who were still in the rather¡­ suggestive position. The room quickly became quiet as some people took out their phones and began to snap photos. Murmurs began to permeate through the air, undoubtedly going to start widespread rumors.

    Drawn to the whispers, Violet turned around and saw a few of the applicants had withdrawn their phones and were recording or photographing the situation. Realizing what she had done Violet quickly got up and walked behind the guard who had been assigned to them, her face an extremely bright red. Roland on the other hand simply lay on the ground in a state of utter shock.

    ¡°Well, I think now would be a wonderful time to leave for our room,¡± Mark said to the guard.

    ¡°Very well then. Right this way applicants.¡± Despite the situation, the guard remained completely professional.

    ¡­

    The hallway they were led down was large, over 10 feet between one side of the hallway and the other and it was 5000 feet long, leaving each room with a total of 10,000 square feet. At the end of the hallway was their room, #49. Having now calmed down from the previous events Violet began to look at the hall and noticed a rather pressing issue. After taking several seconds to formulate a sentence in her head Violet decided to voice her concerns.

    ¡°There¡¯s no door on this side of the hall or exit in the middle. Isn¡¯t that a safety risk for people at the end of the hall like us?¡± she asked the guard.

    The guard smiled and said, ¡°Why yes, you¡¯re absolutely correct.¡± Violet suddenly heard a voice in her head congratulating her. It said ¡°Congratulations Ms. Woo. You have earned the first points outside of the competition for pointing out safety concerns. 10 points.¡±

    ¡°I understand your concern Ms. Woo, but fear not. There is nothing to worry about in this building, it¡¯s been very heavily fortified and many A-Rank psychics have volunteered to guard it.¡± The guard replied, a knowing smile on his face.

    ¡®They really are monitoring everything we do here.¡¯

    ¡°Now applicants, without further ado here is your room.¡± The guard opened the door and allowed the applicants to walk inside.

    The room was large, being an entire 10,000 square feet. The main, shared, center area had a fireplace, a television, a dining table, a kitchen, couches, desks, and even entertainment systems like consoles and computers. At the back of the main area, 2 spiral staircases were leading upwards into the ceiling, one was marked ¡°Men¡± and the other was marked ¡°Women¡±. Next to those, there was a door labeled ¡°Gym¡± that connected to a long hallway.

    Vivian and Mark looked around impressed, this single area was as large as their houses and had just as many if not more amenities. On the other hand, Roland and Violet were rather indifferent, coming from famous families they both lived in mansions that covered several tens of thousands of square feet. This area wasn¡¯t nearly as impressive as the houses they lived in.

    Mark and Vivian immediately began to walk around and explore the area, amazed by everything they saw.

    ¡°HOLY SHIT THE SINKS ARE SENSOR ACTIVATED!!!¡± Mark yelled loudly.

    ¡°Really?¡± Vivan responded and immediately tested it out herself. ¡°Oh my gods it is hands-free.¡±

    In contrast to them, Roland and Violet had already begun to walk up the spiral staircase to pack away their items. Violet entered the girl''s room and saw a spacious area with two beds. Their suitcases and items had already been transferred in sometime earlier. The room was well decorated and had 2 desks and a lamp for each person to use. There was a large television and the floors were a smooth wood. The walls were painted a light blue and were at least twice as tall as Violet was.

    ¡®It¡¯s small but I can live with this. Although the beds being only twin-sized is annoying.¡¯

    At the back, there was a bathroom which Violet entered. It was simple but very very spacious, a size almost comparable to the one Violet had back at her mansion in the city. Leaving the bathroom Violet returned downstairs to the main area where Mark and Vivian had already begun making dinner from the food in the fridge.

    ¡°Vivian, do you have the salt?¡±

    ¡°Yeah here. I¡¯ll get started on the salad.¡±

    As Violet watched them she felt slightly jealous. If only her reintroduction with Roland had gone as smoothly as these two. They had only just met and were already working like a machine. Violet saw them practically throwing knives at each other to speed up the process of making dinner.

    ¡­

    ¡°Well Vivian, I think you and I have done an excellent job.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mark. Time for dinner everyone!¡±

    Upon hearing this Roland came down from his room upstairs, his stomach rumbling as he arrived.

    ¡°Yo Roland, did you see my suitcase up there?¡±

    ¡°Uh yeah¡­ did you forget to bring it, Mark?¡±

    ¡°Hehehe¡­ yeah.¡±

    While this conversation was happening Violet had begun setting up the table in the room with plates, napkins, cups, and utensils. Together all 4 of them brought out the meal Vivan and Mark had prepared.

    ¡°Would you like to start us off, Vivian?¡±

    ¡°Sure. ahem¡­¡± Vivian cleared her throat and adopted a funny accent. ¡°Here we have our appetizer. It¡¯s buttered sourdough bread Brushchetta. A dish with tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese topped with olive oil and salt.¡±

    Mark had begun to laugh at Vivans accent which made her sound like an old man who had a tad too much to drink. Roland, who had sat down at the table, was also smiling now and even Violet began to feel the corners of her face begin to twitch.

    ¡®This dinner is¡­ oddly nice.¡¯

    Next up Mark adopted an accent of his own and even strangely gestured with his body. ¡°For our main course, we have a buttered A5 Wagyu Steak and 4 separate Lobster tails. There is also a salad Vivian made with her own recipe for you to enjoy.¡±

    Vivian had begun to laugh loudly at Mark who had begun to hop up and down with a humpback as he explained the main course. Roland, while less than Vivian, had begun to laugh as well.

    ¡®The food isn¡¯t as nice as what I¡¯d usually eat. But I¡¯m having a lot more of an enjoyable time.¡¯

    Violet had begun to smile widely and even blew some air out of her nose in response to Mark and Vivian''s antics.

    ¡®If father saw me now he would be furious indeed.¡¯

    This time, Mark and Vivian spoke simultaneously. ¡°The desert is being prepared. We hope you thoroughly enjoy the meal tonight.¡±

    ¡°But first,¡± Mark said, ¡°a prayer to the gods.¡± Everyone at the table placed their right hand on their chest and looked down at the floor with their eyes closed. Even Violet did it without hesitation, there wasn¡¯t a child in the world that wouldn¡¯t know this exact process. Mark then began to speak, his voice filled with a divine presence as he invoked the god''s presence.

    ¡°Gods thou art the makers. Thou art the saviors. Thou art the pioneers. Halloweed be the great ones who razed the chaos and brought forth the light eternal. The eternal and infinite gods, you creations ask of you assistance. Ensure our lives be sacred, our bodies pure, our mind clear and our souls pure. To thee we pray.¡±

    And with that, the dinner began. As Violet looked around at everyone she felt a warmth come over her. For a moment she could see what she always saw in fiction, a family eating together at a dinner table, talking to each other, enjoying each other''s presence, laughing.

    ¡®This¡­ I would like this in my life.¡¯

    As Violet reached for her fork she felt a teardrop roll down her eye which she quickly wiped away so that nobody would see.

    78%

    ¡­

    A man in a suit took out a specialized radio in his hotel room. For a moment static came through before disappearing into silence.

    ¡°Sir the first part of the application is over.¡±

    ¡°Good good, how did she do?¡±

    ¡°Subpar sir. She was ranked 97th after the test.¡±

    ¡°Tch. She brings shame to her name. What of that boy at least.¡±

    The man in the suit hesitated. He double-checked the information in his brain before giving a response.

    ¡°He ranks first sir. He is the only applicant to score 100% and has 3 times more points than the second highest ranked applicant.¡±

    For a moment all the man in the suit heard on the radio was silence. He held his breath as he waited, terrified of the potential response. He may have been an elite A-Rank but the Woo family had an unimaginable amount of resources and he believed they were not above killing for bringing bad news. They had a reputation as an exceptionally dangerous though well-paying family for bodyguards to work for.

    ¡°I see¡­ I want you to watch that boy extremely closely. It¡¯s clear there¡¯s something special about him. I also want you to get someone to research that boy''s background, and find everything you can.¡±

    The man heaved a sigh of relief, his life was safe, as was his employment. ¡°I understand sir.¡±

    End of Chapter 6

 Chapter 7: The Brighter Stars

    Chapter 7: The Brighter Stars

    While we were having dinner Roland suddenly asked us a question.

    ¡°Hey, how do the rankings here work?¡±

    Upon hearing this Vivian looked at Roland with both concern and surprise. The Ranking system for psychics was standardized practically globally with only a few countries having not adopted it.

    ¡°Roland is from Ameriac where they use a grade system rather than the letter system,¡± I explained to Vivian.

    ¡®She¡¯s kind of cute.¡¯

    ¡°Oh, I guess that makes sense,¡± Vivian said, nodding in understanding. I smiled at her before returning to Roland and said ¡°I¡¯ll explain it to you.¡±

    ¡°The Ranking system starts at F-Rank which usually applies to newborns and babies, the strongest of them can lift fully grown adults. This is where the newborn test comes in, they test you a few days after your birth to check your potential. Their highest level is the 50-pound weight which signifies an extremely high potential. Everyone here should have lifted the 50-pound weight so we were all considered potential future A-Ranks or even S-Ranks.¡±

    Roland nodded. ¡°At least the weight test is used in Ameriac.¡±

    ¡°Mhm. Now the next rank is D-Rank. This applies mostly to young children to teenagers. At this point, the strongest of them could lift a car for a few moments. Most of them though would only be able to lift a few fully grown adults.¡±

    ¡°Next is C-Rank. This is the average where most adults lie. At their strongest, they can lift a medium-sized house. Most however are only capable of lifting an 18-wheeler and this would require a huge amount of effort. The majority of heroes and villains are of this rank since the only difference between a criminal and a villain is that a villain uses psychic powers very often.¡±

    ¡°After that is B-Rank where all of us applicants are. By this point, we can be considered dangerous individuals and are capable of causing decent destruction. The weakest of us could lift a mansion and the earth beneath it.¡±

    ¡°At A-Rank one could be considered truly elite. They can lift and throw skyscrapers multiple times causing massive damage across cities. Out of the 57 billion people that are alive in this world only 1 million of them are A-Rank.¡±

    Roland once again nodded. ¡°So that¡¯s the highest then?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No, although I could see why you would think that. Back in the Great War, it was indeed the highest but after the Great War they decided to add more ranks, and another one was added about 70 years ago for that man.¡± Roland nodded with a morbid understanding on his face. It made sense, that man had changed many things in this world and there was no one more feared than him.

    ¡°The next rank is S-Rank, they have enough power to turn an entire city into nothing but rubble singlehandedly. For reference, most of them would be able to destroy the city of Las Angels, the second largest city in Ameriac. Only 1000 individuals have this rank in the entire world.¡±

    ¡°The next is SS-Rank, the same rank as Principal Sever. They are considered divine beings blessed by the gods. Their power is comparable to that of an entire country and many villains in the past have singlehandedly overthrown a country in just a few weeks. Merely approaching them while they release their psychic aura could potentially cause a person to be crushed a suffocate under their power. There are only 99 individuals with this rank.¡±

    I paused for a moment to let the power of the SS-Ranks sink in. Everyone at the table was silent during this time. After all, the S-Ranks were deserving of incredible respect and fear, and the SS-Ranks were considered divinely blessed, chosen ones of the gods. Even the villains of the SS-Ranks had been given the gods'' blessings to grow to a strength of unimaginable might. And yet¡­ there was still that man.

    ¡°The final rank is SSS-Rank. This is currently held by only one person, that man, also known as The Cursed One. His name is hidden from the public because it began to develop an effect similar to when we pray to the gods, it began to invoke a presence of power. He is the strongest psychic in history and was stated to be capable of challenging the superpowers of the world alone. Currently, he is missing following the battle with 60 SS-Ranks, 40 of which died, 9 of which were left severely injured and 11 of them were permanently disabled. Their battle led to the complete flattening and loss of life of everything in the Himalayan Mountain Range which covered 230,000 square miles. Merely information on his whereabouts is worth several hundred million dollars from the United Globe.¡±

    He was a power that this world had never seen before and couldn¡¯t even comprehend. His mere presence alone was stated to be capable of killing people while only releasing small portions of his psychic aura. There was nobody in the world who was believed to be capable of even challenging him.

    The room itself grew dark as though the light feared the concept of him. No, it seemed to have gotten colder as well. Such a thing wasn¡¯t impossible, he had been a student at AGH in the past before becoming a villain, and some of his latent remaining psychic energy from all those years ago could be lingering and responding to us. While there had been decades for the power to dissipate if there was anyone capable of doing such a feat it was The Cursed One. Many believed he was a god descended, for even the blessed of the SS-Ranks couldn¡¯t even compare to his might.

    ¡°Well...¡± I said clapping my hands together, ¡°That''s enough of a downer. Now it¡¯s time for dessert.¡±

    Vivian and I left to the fridge and pulled out a special cake we had prepared for today. It was covered in colorful frosting, and sprinkles and was made of ice cream. Ice cream cake. Lining the sides were strawberries, set up perfectly straight up, their red skin glistening with juice.

    Placing it down on the table Vivian and I looked at Roland and Violet hopefully. They were certain to live luxurious lives considering their status but we hoped they would at least appreciate the effort we put in. Luckily, we saw them looking at it hungrily, as though they were ready to jump at it at a moment''s notice.

    ¡®Phew. Looks like we did a good job.¡¯

    We sliced up the cake and handed one to each person. We lifted it to our mouth and savored it. The ice cream and frosting chilled our bodies and mixed with the sweetness of the strawberries creating a wonderful sensory experience. The sprinkles provided an extra crunch to contrast with the relative softness of all the other foods as well, there was beauty to be found in contradiction, even in food.

    Following this and a short clean-up session, we all left for bed and slept, preparing ourselves for another day.

    ¡­

    ¡®So, you decide tonight to be quiet huh?¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®Tch¡­ well if you aren¡¯t going to say anything this time then just leave me in peace.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®No, even if I could do that day over again, I wouldn¡¯t have saved her. And I certainly wouldn¡¯t have chosen to not do that thing. If there¡¯s one thing I don¡¯t regret doing, it¡¯s that¡­¡¯

    ¡­

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°ALL APPLICANTS EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY, VILLAINS ARE ATTACKING! ALL APPLICANT EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY, VILLAINS ARE ATTACKING!¡±

    I woke up with a fright from the speaker system blaring throughout the room. However, due to my sleepless night as a result of him, I was unable to correctly process the events happening around me. As I looked around and tried to get a grasp on the situation I felt a pat on the back.

    ¡°Mark we have to go now!¡±

    Roland successfully brought me out of my drowsy state and I immediately got out of bed and began rushing downstairs to the main area. The speaker system was still blaring and there were red flashing lights everywhere.

    ¡®Damnit¡­ who would try to attack this place? AGH definitely has multiple powerful psychics protecting this area, only the strongest individuals and factions would dare to try and attack it.¡¯

    Thoughts began to fly through my head as I thought of the different individuals or groups that it could be. While I couldn¡¯t pinpoint any singular group or person, I knew that they had to have at least one S-Rank and multiple A-Ranks to even consider attacking.

    Downstairs I saw Vivian already up and holding open the door. I looked outside the hallway and saw the door at the end of it closing slowly as other applicants rushed towards it to get out before it sealed them inside.

    BOOM!!!

    Suddenly an explosion happened from a far away distance, but it was still clearly audible. The entire ground shook for a moment and everyone stumbled as the power of the explosion power ran through the ground.

    ¡®There¡¯s no doubt, an attack is happening right now.¡¯

    I looked around at my roommates and was about to tell them to run when I suddenly noticed someone missing.

    ¡°Vivian where is Violet!?!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! She must still be sleeping!¡±

    ¡°In this environment?¡±

    Another explosion rang out and the door at the end of the hall began to close even faster. There wasn¡¯t enough time for us to grab Violet and make it through the door on time. I felt Roland grab me and turn me towards him, his face fully focused as he began to shout orders at us.

    ¡°Mark come with me, you and I will hold the door open. Vivian grab Violet and get to the door as fast as you can.¡±

    With that, Roland ran out the door. With no other plans Vivian left to grab Violet and I followed Roland down the 5000-foot-long hall. By this point, most of the psychics had evacuated so we were able to run directly to the door without obstruction.

    Once there, Roland and I placed our backs to the door and our feet to each other, pushing both of us up against the door without touching the ground. With our legs almost completely straight we channeled as much psychic energy as we could into our legs and began to push against the doors as much as possible. We heard the motors of the door suddenly start making strange noises under the new pressure but it didn¡¯t stop closing, leaving Roland and I in a situation where we could be crushed.

    I saw Vivian charge directly through the door, causing it to fly off its hinges and jam itself into the other side of the hall. She immediately began to run as fast as she could while holding Violet on her back who remained asleep.

    Behind us, the doors themselves began to buckle in the location where our backs were and the walls connected to them began to crack. Yet Roland and I were still getting pushed together.

    ¡®What kind of door is this? It¡¯s pushing both Roland and me together despite us being B-Ranks. Gods¡­ just give us a little bit more time and strength.¡¯

    I began to feel a pain in my spine as Roland and I got closer and closer with us now being able to hold hands. We were forced to begin placing some psychic energy to increase the strength of our backs out of fear that we might suffer a spinal injury, in which case, we wouldn¡¯t be able to push with our legs anymore.

    The last of the other applicants exited through the door but Vivian was still halfway down the door. Roland and I began to feel our limit as the door around us began to completely dent in and the walls around it had begun to shake.

    ¡®Damnit. They¡¯re not gonna make it.¡¯

    There just wasn¡¯t enough time left. With Roland and I about to collapse, we simply couldn¡¯t hold it.

    ¡­

    I felt time slow around me to a halt. I couldn¡¯t move anymore. But my mind was thinking as though nothing had changed. The shadows began to lengthen and the walls distorted. The colors were desaturated and yet were filled with an unimaginable vibrancy. I saw a figure appear next to me and the entire world began to vibrate as he spoke to me.

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®No. I will never use you.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®It doesn¡¯t matter if they die or not here. You are never getting out.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®NEVER!!!¡¯

    ¡­

    I felt a sharp pain in my back and my legs were beginning to buckle. At that moment, I saw a hand grab the door on Roland''s side. Another applicant had begun to pull back against the door. Another one joined my side and began to pull. I heard the motor begin to work even harder against us just as Vivian was only a few doors away.

    ¡®DAMNIT! PLEASE JUST GIVE US A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME!!!¡¯

    Then another set of hands joined me and Roland. Then another¡­ and another¡­ and two more sets. We all began to pull and push as hard as we could against the door and it finally stopped moving.

    Vivian jumped through the door now, sending both Roland and me flying to the ground on the other side. I lay there, my sweat forming a puddle beneath me. My chest rose up and down fast as I struggled to catch my breath. I felt my heart through my chest, palpitating as though it was about to suffer a heart attack.

    I looked around, there were 7 other applicants here with us all of them heavily panting from pulling back the door. I got up and said to everyone through my breaths ¡°We need to go.¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary future stars.¡±

    I turned around in fear that an enemy psychic might have found us only to see the principal standing in front of us.

    ¡°All of you did absolutely wonderful today.¡±

    At his words, the lights, sirens, and the evacuation notice ended immediately. I looked around confused at what had happened.

    ¡°Principal¡­¡± Vivan asked through her panting. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Principal Sever formed a large smile on his face as he began to applaud us. ¡°Future stars this was a test of your heroism. And I¡¯m very glad to say that you passed with flying colors.¡±

    ¡®Huh?¡¯ I looked around some more and realized that besides us applicants who were on stage, the others were inside another room with a one-way mirror. We could see them but they couldn¡¯t see us. Those inside the room all looked confused as they were unable to find an exit, soon however proctors from the first section of the application appeared and calmed them down.

    ¡°You see future stars, this was a miniature test of your heroism. Most of the others ran out without even considering what might happen to the other applicants.¡±

    The principal''s eyes began to twinkle as he said this.

    ¡°But you on the other hand¡­¡± The principal turned towards Roland with a smile.

    ¡°Roland, you effectively took command of your friends and led them through an efficient course of action while putting yourself at risk. I award you 30 points.¡±

    Roland''s jaw dropped in surprise. Now he could be nearly in the top 10 applicants. Roland closed his jaw and began to blush slightly, flattered that such an incredible person would praise him. Now the Principal looked towards me.

    ¡°Mark, you went along with Roland and held open the door, buying valuable time for your friends to make it through while putting your body in harm''s way. I award you 20 points.¡±

    I blushed deeply at his compliment, just like Roland. Never did I expect to have been complimented by someone of his status so warmly.

    ¡°Thank you, Principal Sever.¡±

    The principal nodded and turned towards Vivian.

    ¡°Vivian you allowed yourself to be placed in the most dangerous position, had you not escaped in time you would have been trapped. You showed your bravery and selflessness in this moment in an attempt to save your friend. I award you 30 points.¡±

    Vivian blushed even more red than me as she looked down at the ground and shuffled her feet extremely shyly, her hands placed behind her back.

    ¡®Kinda cute¡­¡¯

    ¡°As for the rest of you,¡± the principal said with his arms spread open, looking at the other applicants here, ¡°You all did excellent as well, choosing to stay behind and assist rather than leave. You should all be proud of yourselves. You all get 10 points.¡±

    Everyone in the room began to give each other high fives and congrats on their performance.

    ¡°Now everyone, it is now 5 am so I¡¯d recommend you head to breakfast.¡± A door opened on the side of the lecture room that showed a giant hall with a large breakfast buffet full of high-quality food.

    ¡°As a bonus to your performance, you all get to go in first. Congratulations future stars. Oh and don¡¯t worry about how hard the door was to resist, ever since you¡¯ve been in here we¡¯ve been suppressing or draining your powers.¡±

    With that and a wink, the Principal once again vanished from view, not a hair left behind.

    ¡®So that¡¯s why the door was so difficult to push back. It must also be why Vivian took so long to run down the hallway.¡¯

    I turned back towards the other applicants and bowed.

    ¡°Thank you for your help. My name is Mark, this is Roland, Vivian, and the one sleeping is Violet. May I ask for your name?¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t bow man. The name¡¯s Tarkif. It¡¯s nice to meet you all.¡±

    I straightened up from my bow, grabbed Takifs hand, and gave a firm handshake. With that, he left for the breakfast hall along with the other applicants.

    Turning back towards my friends I saw Violet begin to wake up from her slumber. She slowly began to stretch out her body, slowly open her eyes, and look towards the ceiling.

    ¡°Ms. Woo.¡±

    ¡°Mark Tran.¡±

    I turned around and found myself facing two men. One of them was the bodyguard who had kicked me earlier. The other was Arthur, the proctor whom I had nearly punched in the face during the first section. The bodyguard began to speak first.

    ¡°Ms. Woo, your father would like to speak with you. You are to come with me now that you have entered your free time. It took quite some convincing for the school to allow me in and my time is limited so please be quick.¡±

    Violet slowly got up and looked at the guard. I was about to say something to her when I stopped. Her face was cold and dead, as though she had never experienced emotion in her life. She walked towards the bodyguard and together they disappeared.

    ¡°Well Mark, it¡¯s me Arthur again. The principal would like to speak with you privately.¡±

    I felt my jaw go slack at the thought of a one-on-one conversation with an SS-Rank psychic. To listen to him talk to me was already amazing but to have him engage in conversation with me privately??? Whole different level.

    ¡°Why? Did I do something wrong?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately I don¡¯t know. But he does seem very excited to meet you.¡±

    I saw Arthur move towards me and he placed his thumb on my forehead, causing me to once again sink into unconsciousness.

    End of Chapter 7

 Chapter 8: Torture

    Chapter 8: Torture

    Violet walked down a simple concrete hall along with her bodyguard. They both walked in silence. The bodyguard observed her closely and the hall around them. Looking out for any potential threats or incoming attacks. They may be in AGH but the chance of getting attacked was never zero, especially for someone of Violet''s status.

    Violet observed the hall in front of her emotionlessly. She felt nothing as she continued to step forward. Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right, left, right, left. Her arms swung in such a way that they felt like they were a robot''s actions rather than a human. Out of habit, she checked her counter to see what had happened to it.

    41%

    ¡®It¡¯s higher than it should be.¡¯

    The counter should have dropped down to at least 30% while she slept. The whole reason she didn¡¯t wake up despite the chaos was because she had entered a trance in her sleep that caused the counter to lower. The fact that it wasn¡¯t low enough meant that something external must have interfered.

    Violet began to comb through her memories in search of the events that transpired and what could have interfered with her state. It was of utmost importance to keep the counter low enough over time to prevent a premature outburst.

    Looking into the past Violet could only remember one scene, yet it was blurry and broken. Violet''s face became puzzled. She had tested it in the past and confirmed that sleeping to reset the counter should end soon after being interrupted by an outside presence and even provide her subconscious memories of the event. Yet this time it appeared that the person who had interrupted the reset process was not only aware of it but also of how to defend against it.

    Violet began to focus her mind on that event, hoping to pull out even some small memories. As she did she began to see something. Two people were there, facing each other, both brimming with animosity towards each other. One of them, apart from appearing blurry, looked relatively normal. The other, however¡­

    As Violet looked at the other individual she suddenly suffered a splitting headache and she saw them turn towards her. Violet immediately stopped recalling her memories and her focus returned to the hallway in front of her.

    ¡®This¡­ it¡¯s kind of like that time with Mark.¡¯

    Violet remembered what had happened when she looked into Mark''s soul. As she looked back at it she suddenly realized that it, and many events before it, were extremely hazy and distorted. It was as if someone had gone into her mind and manipulated her memories themselves.

    ¡®Is this all Mark¡¯s doing? What is he hiding?¡¯

    ¡°Ms. Woo. We have arrived.¡±

    Violet stopped less than an inch away from a door. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she hadn¡¯t even realized that she was about to walk into a door. She stepped away from it as the bodyguard took it and placed the key in the lock. He turned it and opened the door, stepping in slightly to check for any potential dangers, only to stop and suddenly bow.

    Violet, confused, looked upwards. There she saw a small room with a person in it. They were decently tall, at least 6 feet. They had an athletic build and wore a tight-fitting suit around them. Their hair had begun to show the first signs of age as it had become silver along the edges, yet the man''s skin was pristinely excellent. Ignoring the hair, the man could easily be mistaken for someone in their mid-20s.

    Jewon immediately bowed her head and body slightly, although not as much as the guard. The man in front of her was one that she knew very well. It was the man who had defined and trapped her life for so many years. That man was her father.

    Jewon came up for her bow emotionlessly, her face remaining stone cold. Had this been a day earlier she would have been completely panicking at the thought of her father showing up all of a sudden. But, with her counter down beneath 50%, she was easily able to remain in control of her emotional state.

    ¡°Father, I¡¯m honored that you would come all this way to see me. I didn¡¯t expect you to come in person to see me.¡±

    Jewon¡¯s father looked at her. His face too, was an emotionless slate. Yet when he spoke his voice possessed a strange sense of power, one that encouraged silence and subservience.

    ¡°Jewon¡­¡± The man took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He blew a ring of smoke into the air and watched it dissipate. All the while keeping Jewon¡¯s name hanging in the air.

    ¡°Jewon, I heard about your test score.¡± The man suddenly smiled. His face contorted almost unnaturally as he looked towards the girl he called his daughter with joy.

    Instinctively Jewon almost took a step back. Her father was not a man who so easily smiled or showed joy to other people. Her father smiling here, in a situation where he should have been completely disappointed, left Jewon in fear. Her emotionless state was shaken by a sudden fear for her life as her father began to slowly walk towards her.

    She saw her father grab her hand and felt him pull her inside the room. However, he had used psychic powers to enhance his strength, leading to him throwing Jewon across the room and breaking her hand.

    Jewon crashed into the wall, her hand now a mangled mess and her head began to bleed from the impact. Turning away from her, Violet''s father looked at the bodyguard who hadn¡¯t moved from his bowing position this whole time.

    ¡°Keep watch outside. Close the door and make sure nobody enters.¡±

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    The bodyguard quickly performed his duties and stood guard outside the room. Jewon¡¯s father now turned back towards his daughter who had begun prostrating herself on the floor to show her fearful subservience.

    ¡°Father,¡± Jewon said as tears of fear, shame, and regret began to well up in her eyes, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for my failures.¡±

    ¡°Now now Jewon.¡± Jewon¡¯s father placed one knee on the ground before her and adopted a warm, caring tone. He placed his hand underneath Jewon¡¯s chin lifted it, and forced her to look her dead in his eye. In contrast with his warm smile and voice and his soft hands, his eyes were cold and filled with a deep wrath that made Jewon shudder.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so scared. That was just a single reprimand. I won¡¯t harm you any further. After all, anytime I do¡­ it hurts me the most. I love you after all.¡±

    Jewon felt her father begin to caress her cheek. His soft warm hands rubbed her face gently.

    ¡°Yes, father. Of course. Please accept my apology for causing you such pain.¡± Jewon once again bowed her head to the ground as she humbly apologized to her father.

    ¡°Very good. Now, I am disappointed in you. You barely made the top 50% of applicants, and only 5% of you will get in.¡±

    Her father pulled Jewon up by her arm as he supported her side, his grip now humane and firm, rather than the boneshattering grip he had before. Jewon stood up now, yet her head was still down as she didn¡¯t dare look at her father again despite the warmth he had been showing her suddenly.

    ¡°Violet. You can look up you know. I¡¯m not mad anymore.¡±

    Jewon in response to this looked up at her father and instinctively, looked him in the eye. She felt a hand slam across her head as she was slammed to the ground, her mouth bleeding. Jewon began to cry now, not out of pain but moreso fear.

    ¡°I said that you could look up.¡± Her father''s voice now shook with an overwhelming animosity, his disgust apparent. ¡°I never once permitted you to look me directly in the eye. Do you see yourself as an equal to me bitch?¡±

    ¡°No father. Of course not, I would never.¡± Jewon had now begun to cry and once again entered a prostrated position. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably and she felt nothing but fear at the man who had been so warm and caring just a few seconds before. She sensed her counter rising continuously as her father had targeted her head two times now, leading to her brain suffering a concussion.

    53%

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for my actions. I beg you, please forgive me.¡±

    Jewon¡¯s father grabbed his daughter by the hair and dragged her up, Jewon limply allowing it without resistance. He looked at her, disgusted, as though she were a cockroach in his room.

    ¡°Here¡¯s what you¡¯re going to do for me as an apology for your insult. Are you ready to accept it?¡±

    ¡°Yes Father, I¡¯ll do anything. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Her father then smiled again and gently set his daughter on the ground. He once again caressed her face with his soft, warm fingers, wiping away her tears.

    ¡°That''s my good girl. I want you to gather as much information as possible about that boy who had hurt you earlier. If I recall correctly his name is Mark, and he scored the highest on the first section.¡±

    Jewon looked at her father, although didn¡¯t allow her eyes to move higher than her father''s mouth. It made sense why her father would want her to spy on Jewon. The attack she suffered had likely made its rounds in the higher-ups of society and would soon be revealed to the public. The damage to the Woo family''s reputation would be widespread and the main family would be under attack from the branch families at the idea that a daughter of the main family had been so easily hurt. By spying on Mark there may be information they could use as revenge or to rationalize the damage Jewon had suffered.

    ¡°Yes, father. I¡¯ll gather information on him. I¡¯ll do whatever you ask.¡±

    Her father, with his warm smile, kissed his daughter on the forehead. His lovingly warm lips seemingly took away some of the pain of the head injury she had received earlier.

    ¡°Very good Jewon. Now if you fail to do this, I¡¯m sure you are aware of what the consequences will be. Right?¡±

    Jewon nodded vigorously, trying to use her physical movement to convey how deeply she understood the meaning. If she failed she knew that she would be punished horribly, the pain she was feeling now wouldn¡¯t even compare.

    ¡°Yes Father, I understand¡±

    Her father now helped his daughter up again. Gently supporting her body as Jewon struggled to stand up due to her dizziness from her head injuries. She continued to look at her father''s mouth, too terrified to dare look any higher in the case that her father might misunderstand.

    ¡°Very good Jewon. My beautiful daughter. Please remember, I do truly love you. It really does hurt me to give you a lesson like this.¡± Her father pushed some of Jewon¡¯s hair behind her ear and ran his fingers lightly through a part of her hair for a moment. His gentle, slow-moving hands ran through her hair effortlessly. Suddenly he stopped and placed his hand firmly on Jewon¡¯s shoulder. His grip quickly tightened, causing Jewon to wince in pain.

    ¡°I do have one more thing to ask you. Why have I been receiving videos of you tackling a son of the Nordt family?¡±

    Despite her father''s smile Jewon¡¯s eyes quickly widened in fear as she braced herself. Her father kicked her in the stomach. Jewon was sent flying back and crashing into the wall again, this time forming a crater with cracks flowing throughout the wall.

    Jewon fell to the ground now, feeling her ribs broken and suffering incredible pain. Jewon suddenly felt something rise in her throat and she coughed, releasing blood onto the floor and her hands.

    ¡°Why do you make me hurt you like this Jewon? Why do you hurt me this way?¡±

    Jewons father now took out another cigarette and lit it once more. He breathed in deeply and let out a plume of smoke. He looked once more, dead and emotionless inside. He looked at his mangled mess of a daughter one last time before exiting through the door, closing it behind him, and turning off the lights, leaving Jewon in darkness.

    Jewon, despite the excruciating pain, crawled over to a corner in the room and curled up, hiding herself from the world as she formed a defensive shell with her legs and arms. Her shoulders began to shake uncontrollably. Her heaving sobs caused pain in her chest as her broken ribs screamed out, causing her to experience worse sobs in an endless cycle of miserable existence.

    Blood ran down the back of her head, seeping through her hair and down her back, staining her clothes. Her mouth was filled with the taste of iron as blood drooled down, dropping onto her legs and drying there, as though to form an exoskeleton to protect its host.

    ¡®I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.¡¯

    These words repeated over and over again in Jewons head as she sobbed in her pain.

    ¡®I hate you more than anything else in this world. Why? Why was I born into this hell? Why was I born to you people?¡¯

    Blood and tears dropped onto the floor, forming a puddle around Jewon as she now proclaimed her inner thoughts aloud, unable to hide them from the world, even if nobody was around to hear her.

    ¡°I HATE YOU! I HATE THIS FAMILY! I HATE THIS LIFE! I HATE MY BIRTH THAT LED ME HERE!¡±

    Jewon now looked towards the ceiling yet her gaze pierced past it, looking directly at the heavens above. She spoke once again, this time, her voice quiet and shaky.

    ¡°I hate this name. I hate Jewon. Why gods? Why did you give me this life?¡±

    Violet waited for several moments. Begging in her heart to hear a voice, a response, anything. But all she heard was her heartbeat, pumping blood into her head, her pulsating head.

    Violet curled up into a ball again and sobbed some more.

    ¡°I hate you.¡±

    Violet began to look back to the past day. She remembered hearing Mark ask about her name, Vivian laughing with her, Roland stepping up to her as though it were his responsibility to talk to her. She remembered Mark and Vivian cooking a meal together, and then doing a strange and joyous performance to introduce the meal. She remembered Roland beginning to laugh and she remembered herself, feeling that joy along with them. She remembered her grin, feeling the corners of her mouth twist up happily. She remembered, wiping away that tear, that tear which signified so much joy in her life. She had made up her mind.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what love is. I don¡¯t think I can love people so soon after meeting them. But I love them more than I will ever love you, Father. I love them more than I could ever love anyone in this damned family. 10 times more, 100 times, 1000 times, and even more. I will never betray them.¡±

    Violet looked up, her poofy red eyes filled with a rage-filled determination.

    ¡°I won¡¯t betray Mark.¡±

    ¡­

    Outside the bodyguard listened to Violet''s self conversation. He stood motionless, guarding the door, not daring once to set his eyes off the hallway. Yet he felt his heart stir and his eyes water as he looked toward the end of the hallway.

    End of Chapter 8

 Chapter 9: Interrogation Tactics

    Chapter 9: Interrogation Tactics

    I found myself walking down a well-decorated wooden hallway. Left and right of me there were awards and trophies from the Principals time as a student, a hero, and as a principal. They lined the deeply brown wooden walls with their shiny gold luster, drawing in the eyes no matter where you looked.

    Slightly behind me was Arthur, walking beside me with a smile on his face. Looking up at him I felt that he seemed somewhat happy to be walking with me again.

    ¡°Mark, I want you to know that I appreciated talking to you in our last meeting.¡±

    Ah, so that''s what it was. The last time I had met Arthur I had nearly punched him in the face out of rage before sitting down and having a conversation with him. We talked about how it felt to choose between human life, and how it left the chooser broken and forever guilty inside.

    ¡®I guess heroes might not talk a lot about their mental health.¡¯

    I smiled at Arthur now, hoping that I could send warmth to him with just my facial expression. I wanted him to feel happy, living as a hero couldn¡¯t be easy. Civilians would probably never understand the types of sacrifices that must be made, the nights of regret that a hero lives with, and the times when they would wonder about the things they could have done differently.

    ¡°I should be the one thanking you Arthur. I never got a chance to talk about it myself before.¡±

    Arthur and I continued to walk down the hallway in silence for a while more. Merely appreciating the company of the person next to us, another kindred spirit in a world where kindred spirits weren¡¯t cared for.

    ¡°Arthur,¡± I began to ask, ¡°do you have any clue at all why the Principal might want to see me?¡±

    I had been wondering this question for quite some time. After all, an SS-Rank like Principal Sever, who also ran one of the most prestigious psychic hero academies in the world, would have to be busy. For him to go out of his way to meet a student privately he must think something special of them. (Note: ranks explained in chap 7 altho not needed info this chap)

    Arthur looked at me and shook his head. ¡°Unfortunately I don¡¯t have the slightest idea beyond a stray guess. He might want to talk to you about your test choices. After all, nobody expected a single applicant to get even 50%, much less a perfect score. You made a statement back there.¡±

    I looked at Arthur suspiciously. When Arthur had taken me back to the test after our conversation I found all the test materials in front of me destroyed and with no time left on the clock. Thinking about this, I decided to ask Arthur a question I had been pondering for a while.

    ¡°Did you put in a good word for me to change my score?¡±

    ¡°Hah! No. Although if it would have worked I probably would have done it to pay you back. But no. Your answer choices that test gave you 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt.¡±

    I breathed out in relief. I wouldn¡¯t have answered any of those questions even if I were given another 2 hours anyway. In the end, I had gotten a perfect score off my own merits, not the bribing of a staff member.

    Soon enough, Arthur and I came to the end of the hallway. There was a wooden door in front of us, its handle and rims both a bright gold. Around the door were floating candles, lifted by the Principal''s power. A status I could feel even from beyond the door. I gulped in anticipation.

    ¡°Mark,¡± Arthur said, causing me to turn around to him. ¡°Whatever you do, try not to make the Principal upset. He is an SS-Rank after all, none of them get this far without losing a few screws in the head.¡±

    I gave a small chuckle and looked Arthur in the eye. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t.¡±

    Giving me a final smile and a wink, Arthur walked away from me, down the seemingly endless corridor we had just walked through. As I watched him go I smiled, looking at the back of a brother in burdens.

    I felt a presence on the other side of the door beckon me. I could feel my skin tingle and my hair prick as a small wave of energy came out. I turned back towards the door, grabbed the handle firmly, and pulled.

    On the other side, I saw a simple wooden desk in a simple wooden room. On the right, there was a couch and a plant. On the left, there was a mini-fridge. And directly ahead there was the Principal at his desk, spinning a pencil in his hand waiting for me.

    ¡°Mark, I¡¯ve been waiting for you. Please sit down,¡± he said, gesturing to a seat that was in front of his desk.

    As I began to take my seat I asked the Principal ¡°Why is your voice no longer filled with power like earlier? Previously it shook through my chest like it came from a giant speaker.¡±

    The Principal gave a hearty laugh despite the relatively unfunny nature of the moment. Arthur was right, making it to an SS-Rank usually meant a small amount of sanity was lost in the process.

    ¡°Keeping my voice active like that for long periods strains my throat. I¡¯ve been told to not do it for very long for health reasons.¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    That did make sense. Amplifying muscles in the body with psychic energy to provide them a boost in power could sometimes take a strain. For someone of Principal Sever''s age, it could prove to be rather painful if done without breaks.

    The Principal once again gave a hearty chuckle. His face beamed with a warm and beautiful brightness. It was like the sun had decided to inhabit this man in front of me.

    ¡°Now Mark,¡± the Principal said, his face still beaming brightly, ¡°I¡¯m sure you are wondering why I asked for you to be here.¡±

    I nodded my head, feeling the weight on my neck tossing up and down.

    ¡°Yes Principal Sever, I myself have been suspecting it¡¯s because of the test scores. Is that a correct guess?¡±

    The Principal chuckled again, it appeared to be a favorite pastime of his.

    ¡°Not quite that Mark. Although it was a good guess, I was thoroughly impressed by your answer choices. Arthur also spoke very highly of you.¡±

    So Arthur told him about the conversation we had. I felt somewhat embarrassed that the Principal knew of a time of vulnerability from me.

    ¡°Mark, what I brought you here for is to ask you a question.¡±

    I saw the Principal''s eyes begin to twinkle brightly, small stars lined the inside of eyes like the galaxies that dotted the universe all over. His face somehow to brighten even further and I was overwhelmed with comfort and relaxation. This was a man that I could trust. Not only that, he was someone who could and would protect me from danger. He was an SS-Rank after all. I smiled back at him, my back slouching back a bit and my face warming up.

    ¡°Mark, why do you want to be a hero?¡±

    ¡®...¡¯

    I felt myself suddenly pull out of a trance as he asked this question. Sweat had begun to run down my forehead and my back, causing my shirt to drip onto the chair.

    ¡®He was using his powers on me? Some form of mental manipulation?¡¯

    I looked now warily at the Principal. I felt a chill run down my spine and the hairs on my body stood up on end. The Principal''s smile was gone, replaced with a serious face and dangerously curious eyes.

    ¡°Interesting Mark. People usually only break out of that technique when they have something to hide¡­¡±

    I felt my heart begin to race. If he found out here. If someone found out. Especially someone of his power if he found out, things could go bad. I struggled to control the pace of my breathing and calm myself. I did my best to respond to the Principal calmly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir I was just caught off guard. I just want to be a hero to help people in need, sir. I want to do what others won¡¯t because if I don¡¯t then nobody will.¡± I said, confidently repeating my father''s favorite phrase.

    The Principal looked at me, sadness in his eyes. He began to tap his fingers on the table. As he did I felt each tap pierce through my head as though any one of them could end with my heart speared, my head flying or my bones shattered. I felt my breathing begin to quicken and my heart began to beat harder and faster.

    ¡°Mark, it isn¡¯t good to lie.¡±

    The Principal began to glare at me, his eyes like knives, peeling away my skin and finding my true self beneath the surface. I instinctively began to push back away from him but the bottom of the chair I was on suddenly leaned back as I did, causing me to fall onto the floor. When I looked up I saw the chair floating in the air and the Principal looking at me.

    ¡°Mark, what exactly are you hiding from such an innocent question?¡±

    I tried to stand up to talk to him again but soon felt a weight pressing me down on all parts of my body. Confused, I attempted to use psychic powers to push me up again but the force pushing me down completely overwhelmed me and I collapsed. I felt the wood beneath me begin the crack and bend under the pressure before completely shattering and causing me to slam into the concrete floor right beneath it.

    ¡°Mark, tell me the truth now. Why do you want to be a hero.¡±

    ¡®No. I can¡¯t let him know. I can¡¯t tell him about it. If I do then the consequences could be devastating.¡¯

    I felt the concrete floor now begin to crack beneath me and my bones felt like they were being flattened. The Principal put his hand onto the concrete ground and saw him send psychic energy through it, causing it to be reinforced. The pressure pushing down on me then increased and I felt parts of my body beginning to ache and crack from the force. I winced in pain as I tried to focus on the Principal who no longer had any sense of warmth or care emanating from him.

    ¡°Principal I told you the truth earlier. Please let me go. It hurts.¡± I asked, attempting to sound as honest as I could.

    The Principal merely shook his head sadly, disappointed in me for my response and another attempt at deception.

    ¡°Mark, Mark, Mark,¡± he said while shaking his head. ¡°I can tell you¡¯re lying. If you would just tell me then it would be much easier.¡±

    I felt a sharp pain enter my mind. The Principal¡¯s words began to hold a profound truth and authority in my mind.

    ¡®If I tell him no harm will be done. It¡¯ll be easy this way. It¡¯s a good thing to tell the truth.¡¯

    I struggled to keep my thoughts straight. The pressure forcing me to the ground began to increase and I felt my body scream in pain. I gritted my teeth and held in my voice as I focused on using my powers to lessen the physical pain I was in. However, by being split between reducing physical pain and preventing myself from being crushed, my defense against the Principal¡¯s mental attacks became even weaker.

    I once again heard the Principal''s voice, this time piercing through my head and full of the power it had when he was in front of all the other applicants.

    ¡°Mark. Tell me why you want to be a hero.¡±

    Against my will, I felt my mouth slowly open trying to respond to him.

    ¡®NO! CLOSE YOUR DAMN MOUTH MARK!!!¡¯

    I struggled against the psychic mental attack and eventually decided to divert more energy into enhancing my mental defenses. With this, at the cost of extreme pain, I was able to close my mouth shut once more. I felt the ground beneath me shatter all of a sudden and I plunged straight into the second layer of concrete beneath this one, resulting in me slamming my head into it painfully.

    I heard a long and high-pitched ringing sound and my vision spun around for several moments. I felt confused, and lost, as though someone had scrambled up my brain. After a few moments, I was able to regain full cognitive prowess and found that the pressure on my body was completely gone. I looked up again at the Principal, his face back to his warm cheerful self.

    ¡°Mark,¡± he told me, ¡°you¡¯ve done incredible once again.¡±

    With that, I felt someone place their thumb on my head and I fell asleep, sinking deep into the black unconsciousness.

    ¡­

    A young man with auburn hair and a suit approached the middle-aged-looking man, removing his finger from Mark''s head.

    ¡°Sir,¡± the man with auburn hair asked, ¡°are you sure that you felt a presence with Mark? He didn¡¯t respond to spiritual pressure, mental piercings, or even mental coercion.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha,¡± the older-looking man laughed. ¡°I have no doubt about it. When he was pushing that door open for a split moment I could sense it.¡±

    ¡°Sense what sir?¡±

    The older man looked at the Auburn one with a smile on his face.

    ¡°Something of extraordinary power. It has been many years since I felt a power like that. He is undeniably holding something of incredible strength inside him. I currently suspect that he¡¯s a spirit host. I hate to ask considering how much you like him but I need you to report to me his behavior, ok?

    ¡°Yes sir of course.¡±

    ¡°Oh and give him some points. Let¡¯s say¡­ 15 points for his performance and resistance.¡±

    The man with auburn hair nodded and turned back towards Mark. He gently picked Mark up and dragged him away to have his memories of this even wiped from his mind. By the time they were done, Mark wouldn¡¯t even remember a fraction of a second of this meeting. Although they would have to replace the memories if they wanted Mark in top condition.

    ¡­

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®Yes, I know. But we can¡¯t allow us to forget about this time. We can¡¯t let him get so close to finding everything else.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®No. If you had come out here, everyone in this facility would have died in the ensuing battle. We can¡¯t allow that.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®Yes¡­ looks like we can agree on a few things after all.¡¯

    End of Chapter 9

 Chapter 10: Savior

    Chapter 10: Savior

    Violet woke up, her bed was warm and the blanket on top of her was the perfect weight. She wanted to just keep her eyes closed, just rest. She was exhausted mentally after meeting with her father.

    Several minutes later Violet sat up in her bed and opened her eyes. She looked down and saw herself in a hospital bed with a hospital gown. She felt around her stomach and chest and found that the injuries her father had dealt to her had been healed.

    Looking around the room her eyes were instantly drawn to a large window to her left. Outside the window she could see a large city outside, a few miles away, the skyscrapers shining brightly surrounded by small buildings, and bustling traffic swarmed on the ground. People passed each other like ants, an innumerable number of them, each with their tasks in mind.

    ¡°So you¡¯re finally awake.¡±

    Violet turned around startled. She hadn¡¯t noticed earlier, her attention drawn to the cityscape, but Mark was sitting to her right, in his bed, in a hospital gown, with a book and an apple. He smiled softly at Violet, his face bringing Violet great comfort. Unlike her father, Mark''s comforting smile was genuine.

    ¡°Just so you know, you¡¯ve been asleep since yesterday. Including today there are two remaining days left before the second section.¡±

    ¡®How could I have slept for so long? Were my injuries that severe?¡¯

    Violet was no stranger to bad injuries. While training for the AGH application she had suffered numerous ones. But none of them had caused her to sleep for such an extended amount of time. Violet sighed and for a moment sat in silence. Mark continued to eat his apple. Violet recalled her experience. Her father was enraged, more than he had ever been. In fact, Violet believed she might have died by his hands that day. Not to mention, her head injuries had caused her counter to go up.

    ¡®... Oh, my counter. I should check where it¡¯s at.¡¯

    Violet immediately performed a self-assessment on the counter, hopefully it wasn¡¯t too high.

    63%

    Violet subconsciously shook her head. It was an entire 10% higher since the last time she checked. At the very least though, it wouldn¡¯t reach 100% today. Then she could reset some of it by sleeping.

    Turning towards Mark she decided to ask him a question. From what she remembered, he had been called to the Principal for a private conversation. What happened that caused him to end up in the hospital?

    ¡°Mark¡­¡±

    Violet had forgotten something very important. She was socially incompetent.

    ¡°Uh¡­ Um I¡­¡±

    As Violet sat there, slightly panicking, and unable to find her words, Mark spoke up.

    ¡°You want to ask about my injuries right?¡±

    Violet quickly shut her mouth and nodded vigorously. Swaths of hair flinging up and down from the movement. Luckily Mark had said her question for her.

    ¡°Well Violet, while I was returning from the Principal''s office I hit my head on a low-hanging door. At the time I was on a light jog to make it back to breakfast so I hit the door with a lot of force. I ended up unconscious and fell down the stairs behind the door. Now I¡¯m here.¡±

    Violet ended up chuckling a bit at Mark''s story. The thought of him rag-dolling down a staircase after hitting his head on a ceiling was just too amusing to her.

    Mark looked back at her fondly. His face was soft, and his smile small, but his eyes held such a deep joy. Violet couldn¡¯t help but think of what Mark''s life was like. What kind of life did one need to have to possess such a happiness?

    Knock, Knock, Knock

    From the other side of the door, Mark and Violet heard two familiar voices.

    ¡°Hey guys we came to check up on you!¡± Vivian exclaimed.

    ¡°We brought you guys some food for lunch,¡± Roland said.

    They opened the door and walked into the small hospital room where Mark and Violet were kept. With them was a small cart with plates of food. There were all kinds of food like lobster, steak, scallops, sushi, asparagus, cauliflower, and more.

    Violet felt her mouth water as she realized just how hungry she was. She hadn¡¯t eaten since the night before yesterday. Her stomach growled noisily, allowing everyone to realize Violet''s hunger.

    Everyone turned to stare at Violet for a moment. Hearing her stomach make such a noise was not something they expected from a main family member of the Woos¡¯. Then Vivian began to laugh. It wasn¡¯t a large laugh but it was filled with a mischief that quickly spread. Soon Roland joined in, then Mark, and then Violet. They all laughed at the embarrassment of the moment.

    Vivian and Roland gave Mark each a plate, a tray, and a set of utensils for them to eat. As they enjoyed the meal Roland and Vivian updated them on some information.

    The rankings currently had Mark, still at first, now at 135 points. However, someone in second place was rapidly approaching, having gained 50 points in a single day, placing them at 74 points.

    Roland on the other hand had been able to make it into the top 10 applicants with his points and was currently at 8th place with a total of 11 points. He had earned some more following the closing door incident.

    Vivian had made a lot of progress on the leaderboard, moving up almost 20 places to 42nd at -28 points. She wasn¡¯t in an optimal spot like Mark and Roland but she had a decent chance at making it to the top 20, which would grant her consideration for acceptance at the end of the application.

    Violet on the other hand had been asleep for an entire day and had done nothing in the morning yesterday like the other three. She was left in 102nd place with -79 total points.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Violet breathed out a tremendous sigh. She still had several days left in the application but she desperately needed to get more points. No matter how influential and powerful her family was there was nothing they could do that would make AGH change the scores.

    ¡®That¡¯s assuming they would even be willing to help me.¡¯

    After her father''s meeting with her, Violet was certain that the relationship with her family had become more strained than ever. At this point, the chances that they would offer any assistance to her were low, even if she begged for it.

    The stream of information from Roland and Vivian continued. Skipping over less important parts, they found some very important information about the other applicants.

    ¡°There are currently exactly 200 applicants right now. About 75% of them are Low B-Rank and the other half is largely Mid B-Rank.¡± Roland said.

    Violet nodded understandingly. Such a ratio made sense, it was considered genius level just to get to Low B-Rank at this age, the fact that the majority were Low B-Rank served as a testament to how difficult it became to climb ranks the higher one went.

    ¡°However,¡± Vivian said ¡°there are 3 High B-Ranks among the applicants. We weren¡¯t able to find out who they were but there¡¯s no doubt that they¡¯ll be one of the most dangerous opponents for us moving forward.¡±

    ¡®Us¡­¡¯

    Violet pondered this word for a moment. They hadn¡¯t known each other any longer than a day, in fact, less considering Violet was unconscious for most of the time they knew each other, but Vivian already considered them a team.

    ¡®Also 3 High B-Ranks. That¡¯s going to be a problem.¡¯

    With a member of the Woo main family, a son of the Nordt family who was also in the top ten, and the current first-place applicant, Mark, this group of theirs was going to be a massive target. They would likely draw the attention of the High B-Ranks. If that happened, it would take at least two of the group to fight against them.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s all we have,¡± Vivian said. ¡°Mark, the nurse wanted us to tell you that your treatment should be done now. You¡¯re being discharged. Violet, unfortunately, you¡¯ll have to spend a few more hours in here for the healing to take full effect.¡±

    Violet nodded. It was regrettable since she wouldn¡¯t be able to get any points this way, but she didn¡¯t have any ideas on how to get them anyway. This would give her some time to think in peace about what to do.

    About 30 minutes later Mark, Roland, and Vivian left the room. Mark had left behind his book for Violet to read if she wanted to.

    Violet grabbed the book and looked at the title, ¡°Mysterious Vigilantes¡± it said. Vigilantes were a controversial group of people, to say the least. While they usually did the work of a hero, they were often cruder with their ways and far more punishing, often maiming or outright killing villains for comparatively mundane crimes. On top of that many of them had turned to Villainy over the years. But their benefit was undeniable. While heroes were forced to follow strict protocol and keep in line with laws, vigilantes had no restrictions. As such, they often worked in tandem with heroes in situations where legally heroes were in a rather gray area.

    Violet put the book down on a table next to her. She wasn¡¯t interested in reading at the moment, instead, she looked outside through the window and began to brainstorm. If she wanted to be accepted to AGH then Violet would need to build up her points, the only question was how.

    Soon Violet lost herself in a trance. Ideas floated in and out of her head, some unique and some not, some good and some bad, but all of them were considered. Soon enough Violet found that the sky had turned orange and the sun had begun to set.

    Violet sighed. She wasn¡¯t able to come up with ideas that didn¡¯t require an event happening beforehand. She could just be a nice person and attempt to look out for flaws in the facility but those didn¡¯t give enough points.

    ¡®I feel stuck¡­¡¯

    For a moment Violet merely looked through the window at the setting sun. Streaks of orange and red tore through the blue sky. Shadows lengthened to overwhelm the light on the ground, swallowing up the cars and pedestrians beneath them. Buildings glimmered with a brilliant orange as they reflected the sun and sky. It was a truly beautiful sight.

    Knock, Knock, Knock

    Violet turned around to Roland entering the hospital room. Unfortunately, Mark and Vivian were absent.

    ¡°Hey, Violet. Mark and Vivian are making some dinner right now to celebrate your discharge. The nurse said that you can leave now and I just came to let you know.¡±

    Roland smiled. While he didn¡¯t have Mark''s overwhelming warmth and joy, Roland¡¯s smile brought a comforting security. Not that Mark didn¡¯t provide security, but it just felt different.

    ¡®If I had to put it to words, Mark makes me feel comfortable like I won¡¯t be judged. But he doesn¡¯t make me feel safe. Roland makes me feel like that somewhat.¡¯

    Violet pondered as to why this was for a few moments. Was it Roland''s height? He was a fair bit taller than Mark, about 6¡¯ 0. Perhaps it was his voice? Mark¡¯s voice possessed a childlike tone that made one feel an infectious joy while Roland had a much deeper voice. Or perhaps it was because Roland also came from a famous psychic family. Perhaps Violet believed subconsciously that Roland shared some experiences with her coming from such a family. Although the Nordts were known to be a very kind family, unlike the Woos. While Violet brainstormed, Roland decided to ask a question.

    ¡°Um, Violet?¡±

    Violet regained her focus on Roland, his face was now serious but not unfeeling. There was clear concern in his eyes for Violet. A complete contrast with Violet''s father, who held nothing but contempt and rage.

    ¡°Violet, I wanted to ask¡­ how did you get injured?¡±

    Violet looked at him puzzled for a moment. She expected the nurse to tell them.

    ¡°The nurse told us not to ask you and wouldn¡¯t tell us anything. But¡­ your injuries were so severe. I just need to ask.¡±

    Roland''s voice displayed a sense of worry for Violet. His body language, almost fatherly, as though trying to plead with a daughter to share her problems.

    Violet smiled at him. But she couldn¡¯t tell. It could potentially put Roland in danger if she knew of her family situation, even if he was from the Nordt family. After several seconds of silence and deliberation, Violet formulated a sentence and potential responses and her responses to those responses to ensure the conversation would go smoothly.

    ¡°Roland, nothing happened it¡¯s alright.¡±

    ¡°Violet, your injuries were horrifying. Your bodyguard abandoned his post to grab help! When you got here there was blood all over you. You had internal bleeding, your ribs punctured some organs, your skull was cracked and you suffered a severe concussion.¡±

    Roland looked at Violet now, his face a strange mix of concern and anger, as though he wanted to intimidate Violet into telling the truth. But she couldn¡¯t tell him, she didn¡¯t want anyone else to get hurt. She couldn''t tell him¡­

    ¡°Roland. I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m serious, nothing happened.¡±

    ¡°Stop lying, Violet. You might not know this but you¡¯re a terrible liar. I can see it in your eyes¡­ You¡¯re scared. Please, Violet, tell me. What happened?¡±

    Violet looked into Roland, his eyes desperate and pleading. What was this? Why was he so desperate to know what happened to her? Desperate to know what happened to someone he barely knew?

    Roland came up to Violet, kneeling on the ground, and grabbed one of her hands, placing it in between both of his. He looked at Violet, his face full of desperate determination.

    ¡°Violet¡­ when we first met at that New Year''s party all those years ago, I told you a story. You probably don¡¯t remember it. The story was about a boy who was trapped by his family. They meant well, and they loved him. But he was suffocated, he was going down a path he didn¡¯t want to travel.¡±

    Roland''s eyes now began to tear up. Violet could feel his hands tighten slightly, providing a warm, firm, secure grip around her hand. She practically felt his heart through his hands, flowing out into emotion.

    ¡°I asked what would you do if you were that boy.¡±

    Violet now began to remember that day. Roland had come up to her and told her this story and that question. She had pondered it for a moment. She felt a connection with Roland, for her life too was suffocating.

    ¡®At that time, I told him¡­¡¯

    ¡°Be a hero. Because nobody would refuse their children a role so righteous as a beacon of hope.¡±

    Violet spoke this aloud to Roland who nodded his head. His eyes were about to overflow with water.

    ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s right. Violet, you saved me that day. Please let me return the favor.¡±

    Violet felt her heart beat harder, and she began to feel her emotions sway.  Why did she feel this way? Why was Roland so desperate to help her? Violet began to tear up herself a little.

    She realized it. This was the first time in so long, that someone had so desperately wanted to help her. The first time in so long that someone had shown her care.

    ¡°Violet, I can see it in your eyes. Every second, you¡¯ve experienced so much pain. Even now, I can see your eyes shake and widen in fear. Please Violet, just tell me¡­ You¡¯re safe here, I promise, nothing will hurt you here.¡±

    Violet felt tears begin to stream down her face. A place safe? From them? Violet couldn¡¯t even imagine such a future where she could be completely free from her family, but she knew it would be a paradise. And Roland was offering it to her.

    ¡®Can it happen? Can he free me from this life?¡¯

    Violet looked Roland in the eyes. Her flawless face was ruined by the streaming tears and red eyes as she cried. Could this be the moment she had been waiting for all this time? Where she just needed to take the next step?

    ¡®I want to tell him. I don¡¯t want to live like this. But I can¡¯t let him get hurt.¡¯

    As though he could read her mind Roland smiled at her. He wiped a tear off her face and looked at her fondly, clasping her hand with his again.

    ¡°Violet, don¡¯t worry about me. Just focus on you.¡±

    With those words, Violet completely broke down. She told him everything. The suffering she had faced at the hands of her father. The torture, the beatings, the sleepless nights. The way she was treated at home, was so horrible that she was forced to leave her family. How her father asked her to spy on Mark. All the while Roland held her hand and listened carefully.

    A few minutes later, Violet had finally finished her rant. She breathed heavily, no longer crying. Her hair was frayed in all directions from her constant shaking and her hospital gown was soaking wet with tears.

    Then, Roland stood up and wrapped Violet in his arms. He hugged her tightly, his warm breath running down Violet''s neck. Together, they once more began to cry, as the sun fell beneath the horizon and the stars sprinkled the sky.

    67%

    End of Chapter 10

 Chapter 11: Current Standing

    Chapter 11: Current Standing

    ¡°Come on Mark one more, you can do this!¡±

    Roland yelled from above me as I was doing a bench press. I felt my arms shake as I pushed the bar up with all my strength. Ultimately, I was unable to push out another rep and Roland took the bar from me.

    I allowed my arms to drop. My right hand searched for a towel I had placed next to the bench. Finding it, I wiped the sweat off my forehead and got off the bench. Looking around at the gym I couldn¡¯t help but appreciate its quality. Anything I could ask for during a workout was here and the area was large enough that every applicant could be in there and you would never struggle to find a spot to work out in.

    I saw many other applicants around doing their workouts, some running around the track, others engaging in weight training and some even rock climbing. At B-Rank most of us would be capable of quickly healing the microtears that occur during workouts, ensuring that we wouldn¡¯t end up sore the next day. Such a method unfortunately also came at the cost of lessening muscle gains, so it was best to use it sparingly.

    Turning back towards Roland I helped him change out the plates on the bar. Roland was not only an entire 4 inches taller than me, he was also quite a bit stronger. He was surprisingly strong for his muscles being only lightly toned.

    ¡®Of course, they¡¯re still larger than mine. I need to work out more.¡¯

    I observed as Roland began his own set of bench presses. As I did I began to recall what Roland had revealed to Vivian and me last night. He had told us about what Violet was going through. We had discussed what to do but were unable to come up with any ideas at the time.

    ¡°Hey Roland,¡± I said, after he had finished his set, ¡°did you come up with any ideas for how to help Violet?¡±

    Roland nodded at me, looks like he had been able to come up with something after all. It was better than my attempt, I was unable to think up a single solution all night.

    ¡°Yes, I do have an idea.¡±

    ¡°And what are the chances of success?¡±

    ¡°Not sure. I don¡¯t know the Woo family very well. If I had to give a guess I¡¯d say 50% is a decent guess.¡±

    50% was surprisingly high. The Woo family was one of the strongest psychic families on the planet, they were practically a country in it of themselves. Force was not an option and negotiation was unlikely to work considering the amount of resources that they had. Chances were that whatever could be offered, the Woos either already had or could go without.

    Looking towards Roland I planned to ask him what he had come up with but his face signaled to me that he didn¡¯t want to talk about it. Pondering why he would be hesitant to tell me I concluded that it likely involved some rather underhanded techniques.

    The Nordt family that Roland was a part of was comparable to the Woo family in terms of wealth and influence. Roland could be pulling strings behind the scenes to somehow lead to Violet''s release. Concluding this, I decided it was best to switch topics.

    ¡°Roland, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask but what rank are you?¡±

    Roland stared at me suspiciously for a moment, it was only fair considering we still hadn¡¯t known each other very long. Knowledge about someone''s rank could be used as a bargaining chip or help form strategies of attack. Luckily, it appeared that I had gained enough trust from Roland, he quietly told me his rank under his breath, so nobody else would hear.

    ¡°I¡¯m a Mid B-Rank. You?¡±

    ¡°Low B-Rank,¡± I said, mimicking Roland''s lowered voice.

    We continued with our workout for about another half an hour before we returned to our room. Vivian and Violet were there, having chosen not to join us. Seeing us, Vivian immediately got up to greet us as we entered.

    ¡°You¡¯re back. Took you long enough. Why are you working out anyway? With psychic powers muscles become irrelevant.¡±

    I chuckled lightly for a moment. It was true though. Psychic powers at our level invalidated the use of muscles almost completely. Psychic energy flowing through our muscles could increase our strength fivefold or more.

    ¡°Well Vivian,¡± I answered, ¡°there are a few reasons.¡±

    ¡°First reason,¡± I put up my pointer finger as I said this, ¡°you never know when you might have to resort to using no psychic powers. In such a situation being fit and muscular will prove to be quite useful.¡±

    I looked at Vivian as she nodded understandingly. She had asked a genuine question earlier, and now she wanted to learn. I lifted my middle finger to match my pointer and continued.

    ¡°The second reason is it¡¯s healthy and has been proven to potentially increase lifespan.¡± I then lifted my index finger and stated the final reason. ¡°Thirdly, people are usually more attractive the more muscle they have.¡±

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    To be honest that was probably the biggest reason Roland and I worked out. Just making an A-Rank increased the average lifespan by about 25% when compared to a C-Rank. With all of us as prodigies, we were almost guaranteed to hit A-Rank at some point. But not much could improve appearance as some muscles did.

    Vivian laughed at my final statement. She was the type of person to laugh easily in most situations, something she and I had in common. As she laughed I couldn¡¯t help but appreciate her appearance.

    Vivian didn¡¯t have anywhere near the beauty Violet possessed, nor did her looks place her anywhere among the most beautiful women I¡¯d seen before. But her personality was supremely endearing and her face was rather cute.

    As Roland and I got settled down in the room again we all recounted our current rankings.

    I was still in first, but second place had been rising rapidly. They were now at 120 points. If they kept up that pace then I would lose my position. I had only been able to get another 20 points for a total of about 150, basically entirely done by helping out the staff in their menial tasks.

    Roland on the other hand had made it up to 5th place and now had 45 points. He had cleaned nearly the entire gym last night, something which I had regrettably abstained from considering how he earned 15 points from it.

    Violet had made significant progress in advancing, having helped Roland the previous night. She was now in 68th place with a total of -44 points. Looking at Violet I noticed how she now appeared quite friendly with Roland.

    ¡®What turned them into friends like that?¡¯

    Vivian had done rather well in her progression. She was now in 27th place and had -8 points. She was in a great position now to potentially make the top 20 and be accepted into AGH.

    As it stood our dorm was likely one of the highest-ranked dorms overall across all the applicants. With our current standing, we would be targeted if the option arose in the obstacle course section tomorrow.

    ¡®I should ask them.¡¯

    I sat up in the couch I had rested myself on and asked Vivian and Violet about their ranks.

    ¡°Vivian, Violet, what are your ranks?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a Mid B-Rank.¡± Vivian started.

    ¡°Uh, yeah¡­ yeah, same for me,¡± Violet answered.

    It appeared that I was the weakest in the group, being only a Low B-Rank. I gave a hearty laugh inside of my head. If the other applicants knew that I, the highest-ranked applicant, was a Low B-Rank, I wonder how they would react.

    ¡°What¡¯s your rank, Mark? You too Roland, tell us your rank,¡± Vivian asked. It was fair to request such information, it was merely an equivalent exchange. Not providing her the same would show distrust and a lack of camaraderie.

    ¡°I¡¯m a Low B-Rank.¡±

    ¡°Mid B-Rank.¡±

    ¡®It looks like we all know where we stand now.¡¯

    Vivian and Violet were rather surprised at my rank. Assuming I was Mid B-Rank at minimum was fair, after all, I was the highest-ranked applicant. Even if I was in first place because of a test that did not require psychic powers, they had likely subconsciously linked my performance to my strength. Perhaps they even suspected I was a High B-Rank.

    About an hour later we had begun to eat dinner. The conversations we had were largely about the abilities we had. We also made sure to avoid any topic that might lead to Violet¡¯s family or her injuries unless she began to move the conversation that way.

    From our conversations, I concluded a few things about our specific abilities and our tendencies.

    Roland was at elemental manipulation, the ability to control fire, water, earth, air, and potential subsets. It was one of the main reasons that he had been pushed up to Mid B-Rank. He also told us that it was partially affected by his Unique Power, although he refused to tell us what it was.

    Vivian specialized in telekinesis, the power to manipulate objects in space with psychic powers. It was the main determinant of one''s rank up until A-Ranks as it was the easiest area of psychic powers to improve. As a Mid B-Rank, Vivian''s telekinetic powers would likely be far greater than my own.

    Violet was an all-rounder as a psychic, skilled in telekinesis, elemental manipulation, physical enhancement, constructs, and energy projection. However, she wasn¡¯t nearly as good at elemental usage as Roland and not remotely as skilled in telekinesis as Vivian. However, she did tell us her Unique Power. Soul Seer it was called, could allow her to see a person''s inner desires and thoughts. While it could act as a form of future sight in combat it was extremely draining.

    I was also an all-rounder, but, as a Low B-Rank, I was weaker in all categories when compared to Violet. Out of everyone here, I was the most likely to be a liability, unfortunately.

    ¡®Well, can¡¯t do anything about that now. I¡¯ll just have to figure it out.¡¯

    ¡­

    I had fallen asleep at last, only to be woken up by him again. He had been contacting me more and more often recently, likely incensed by the knowledge that I would expend more psychic energy than usual during these next application sections.

    ¡®It¡¯s been a long time since you dragged me in this deep. This had better be important.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®So you¡¯re still asking. My answer remains the same.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®If I did that then hell would break loose. Now stop asking.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡­

    I looked outside the bus window, they were transporting us to the place where the obstacle course would be. It had been almost an hour now and the city was long out of sight for us. Instead, we entered property owned by AGH and were surrounded by nothing but forest in all directions.

    Whatever this obstacle course was, requiring us to be so far from the city, it was either massive, dangerous, or both.

    They had organized us randomly into seats in different buses, leaving me isolated from the rest of my roommates. In fact, I was sitting next to nobody. I happened to be placed in the final seat with nobody else to sit with me.

    As the engine of the bus roared we rounded a corner and I saw it at last. Ahead of us was a large, blue, metallic, rectangular building, and a massive path was behind it. The path curved around a mountain, unfortunately, preventing me from seeing more. However, I did notice some people in the visible part of the course digging out holes in the ground.

    ¡®I wonder what those might be used for.¡¯

    The busses pulled over to the side and opened their doors to let the applicants outside. I heard the steps of 200 eager and hopeful applicants step off the bus, most of them moving towards the groups they had been rooming with.

    I did the same, and quickly located Violet, Vivian, and Roland who had already gathered together.

    ¡°Mark, there you are,¡± Roland called out to me.

    Roland and I gave each other a high five. We immediately began to walk towards the entrance, hoping not to allow people to focus on us. This was something we had discussed last night, the fewer people who didn¡¯t see us, the higher the likelihood that we wouldn¡¯t be targeted early on.

    The doors on the front of the building opened up and applicants began to flood through them. Inside was a stage lifted off the ground and a podium, brightened against the dark room with a spotlight.

    When all the applicants had entered, the room was rather cramped for the sheer number of people that had gathered into the room. We stood shoulder to shoulder in the limited space, pushing against each other to try and gain more space.

    ¡®This is fucking ridiculous.¡¯

    As we were pushing against each other, a man walked out onto the stage. Principal Sever walked out with a wide grin on his face, yet underneath I felt a strange hint of sadism. Slowly the crowd stopped pushing against each other as we looked towards the Principal to explain the upcoming section.

    He came to the podium and his voice boomed throughout the room.

    ¡°Hello, future stars. Welcome to the second section.¡±

    ¡­

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®Yes, I do remember what he did to me.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®No, I don¡¯t think the Principal is a threat. Now let me focus.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®If I told them the truth about my injuries I have no doubt that some staff would have heard it in secret. For now, it¡¯s best to remain quiet.¡¯

    ¡­

    End of Chapter 11

 Chapter 12: So Begins the Second Selection

    Chapter 12: So Begins the Second Selection

    43%

    Violet struggled to focus on the Principal walking up to the podium as she felt herself being jostled by the applicants around her. The room was far too small, AGH should be able to have a far larger room than this.

    AGH had an insane amount of funds, just the salary of an SS-Rank like Principal Sever alone was potentially over a billion dollars a year from the government. He alone would be able to pay for the operations of AGH and have millions left over to himself.

    ¡°Now I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all excited for the upcoming se- and that y-¡±

    The constant movement of the people around her prevented Violet from hearing anything the Principal said. However, she soon felt the movement around her fade away. She turned around and found Roland had blocked off most of the crowd behind Violet, giving her some much-needed space.

    Violet gave Roland a polite smile, which he gladly reciprocated, before returning her attention to the Principal.

    ¡°Now allow me to explain how the Second Selection shall work.¡±

    The Principal clapped his hands and a bright projection shined on the wall behind the Principal to provide a visual for the applicants to read along with.

    ¡°As a result of applicants doing surprisingly well this year, we¡¯ve decided to change things a bit. Every individual who does not make the top 100 applicants will lose a total of 100 points.¡±

    There was an immediate uproar from the applicants all over the room and Roland was nearly thrown into Violet as everyone surged towards the stage.

    ¡°That¡¯s so harsh!¡±

    ¡°Most of us are still in the negatives!¡±

    ¡°We might get kicked out!¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t fair!¡±

    Violet began to feel once more crushed as her fellow applicants continued to approach the stage until¡­

    The Principal let out an incredible increase in psychic aura and the stage beneath him, made of concrete, cracked under the immense power it was suddenly put under. As the Principal raised his hand the pressure began to spread around the building.

    Applicants who were closest to the Principal were affected the most, the majority of them collapsing completely onto the ground and only a few able to remain on their knees.

    The pressure soon extended throughout the entire room and Violet felt herself begin to suffocate. The air became thick like syrup and her head felt heavy. Violet began to lose her balance and nearly fell. The Principal meanwhile stood in front of them, completely casual as though this weren¡¯t even an action that required effort from him.

    Looking around, Violet tried to keep an eye out for individuals who might be dealing with the pressure better than others, they might be the High B-Ranks. However, she saw no such individuals.

    After a few more seconds the Principal lowered his psychic aura, returning it to a small glow around his body, yet wriggling around this time, as though it were ecstatic that it had been used offensively to such effect.

    No applicant dared move towards the stage again, instead Violet felt herself once more get squeezed as all the applicants moved away from the Principal apprehensively.

    51%

    The Principal meanwhile gave a hearty laugh and looked at the applicants like they were adorable children.

    ¡°Future stars, you may be all geniuses, but you are at best 10 years too young to even think about challenging me. Next time, I¡¯ll let the proctors get involved, I¡¯m sure that they¡¯d love to teach a few lessons.¡±

    The Principal''s words and actions shut the mouths of all the applicants as they stared at the Principal apprehensively. He was moderately insane, as most of the SS-Ranks were.

    ¡°Now, I heard a future star out there scream out ¡°This isn¡¯t fair¡±.¡±

    The Principal began to shake his head like he was reprimanding a small child.

    ¡°When you fight a group of villains, do you think you will get to play fair? NO!¡±

    The Principal began to speak with passion in his voice, as he taught the 200 genius children the nature of combat.

    ¡°When you battle a villain, it¡¯s a battle until incapacitation and often times, death. The villains don¡¯t play fair in these battles, they will team up on you, they will use hostages, they will use any available method to force you into an unfavorable position. And you, who will be bound by laws, can¡¯t do the same back to them.¡±

    Every applicant in the room stared in a silent fear and awe as the usually moderately insane, but cheerful Principal, began to talk seriously.

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡®This must be something he¡¯s learned from all his years of experience. What types of mistakes did he make?¡¯ Violet thought to herself.

    ¡°Statistics show that 50% of rescuers that enter into battlefields are killed on their escape outwards from attacks by villains. We¡¯ve decided to penalize you similarly. If you still think that this is unfair, then I suggest that you leave.¡±

    While the applicants turned towards each other, to see if anyone would actually leave the application process, nobody did. The Principal had taught them very well.

    With a sigh, the Principal regained his usually cheerful complexion as he smiled at the applicants once more.

    ¡°Now, as for the rest of the second selection, it will be a free-for-all obstacle course race. You are allowed to team up but points earned will only count towards the individual. First place will earn 100 points and each following place will earn one less point than the higher ranked one.¡±

    Violet nodded her head to herself in understanding. This was a massive opportunity for her to make a huge advancement forward in the rankings. Of course, it was equally dangerous that she would instead lower her ranking so much that she would be kicked out of the application process.

    ¡°Now before we let you out, a few rules.¡±

    The Principal clapped his hands together, likely excited at having finally gotten the applicants to listen to him.

    ¡°The first is that you may not directly attack any other applicant for any reason. Any applicants caught doing so intentionally will be removed from the application process immediately. Any applicant that does it unintentionally will lose 10 points.¡±

    ¡°The second is that you must stay within course boundaries at all times, in other words, between the two walls. If you leave at any time of your own free will then you will be removed from the premises. If you force an applicant out of the boundaries then you will give up 15 points to the applicant you forced outside.¡±

    ¡°The third rule. You are allowed to use psychic powers in any way. This course will be 10 kilometers long, so prepare yourselves.¡±

    ¡°That should be everything important regarding the rules. I¡¯m sure that you can all figure out the rest. But now it¡¯s time for a disclaimer.¡±

    ¡®There¡¯s still more after this?¡¯ Violet thought to herself, somewhat annoyed at the length of the speech. Her anxiety was reaching a breaking point very quickly now that her counter had moved past the 50% mark. She was itching to begin the section.

    Violet saw the Principal''s already wide grin expand across his face even further to the point of almost being unnatural. She felt uncomfortable, she didn¡¯t trust that his enjoyment implied her enjoyment.

    ¡°This obstacle course isn¡¯t filled with walls, rope climbs, ground crawls, or small things like that. I warn you, this course, from its very start, is extremely dangerous.¡±

    The applicants looked at each other in fear. They did not doubt that the course would prove to be difficult but dangerous as well? It was an undesired reality.

    ¡°Now, none of you will die, we have medics on hand to ensure that. However, not all of you will finish, those who don¡¯t will be removed. And many of you will be injured. So, I¡¯d suggest being careful out there. Good luck, future stars.¡±

    Violet saw the Principal vanish before her very eyes, leaving nothing behind but a deep fear in the minds of most of the applicants. They understood that even if all of them attacked an S-Rank at once, they would almost certainly lose. That was even more true for an SS-Rank. Yet even then, they couldn¡¯t imagine that the Principal would so easily overwhelm them.

    As Violet looked around she noticed many applicants visibly shaken by the unimaginable force displayed by the Principal. Luckily, her roommates were faring better than most. Mark supported Vivian as she shakingly straightened her back and quickly calmed down while Roland appeared completely fine afterwards.

    Violet herself was able to recover fairly quickly, the abuse she received at her family''s hand had trained her to deal with such terrifying events.

    ¡®Still though, to think that the top of this world is so unimaginably strong.¡¯

    Unfortunately, none of the applicants would receive much of a break as the speaker system rang out.

    ¡°Applicants, prepare yourselves for the second section. It will start in 30 seconds. The first obstacle is in this very room.¡±

    ¡®It¡¯s in here?¡¯

    Violet looked around, hoping to find whatever was supposed to stop their journey so soon. Yet all she found were applicants and walls.

    ¡°Guys, look at the stage!¡± Mark exclaimed.

    Looking towards it, Violet noticed it had begun to sink into the floor. The four friends all had the same thought and began rushing over there. Unfortunately, all the other applicants did as well. Based on the location of the path they had seen from the bus and the orientation of the building, the wall next to the stage would be where the course would start.

    Sure enough, the walls opened up for them¡­ by exploding. Immediately tens of applicants were thrown into the air backward, landing in the middle of the crowd.

    Panic began to spread among many of the applicants and they surged toward the entrance of the course as the Principal''s voice rang out over the speaker system.

    ¡°Explosions from the outside kill several heroes a year who are performing in building rescues, learn to keep your body reinforced and an energy-projected shield up at all times until you leave the building.¡±

    Applicants began to crush each other as they swarmed towards the entrance. As Violet was crushed she realized something.

    ¡®The first obstacle wasn¡¯t the wall explosion, it was us.¡¯

    The bodies of the applicants became a blockade as they shoved against each other in a mad panic to pierce through the door. Violet saw several applicants fall and end up completely trampled under the feet of their peers. It was a fate that surely awaited Violet if she didn¡¯t escape this situation.

    Looking around Violet saw several applicants jump to the ceiling and begin moving towards the wall unobstructed. Violet quickly searched for and found Roland, calling out to him immediately.

    ¡°ROLAND! JUMP TO THE CEILING¡±

    While usually Violet would have been mentally crumpled from this situation as a result of her lack of social skills, she had built up a friendly trust with Roland recently and this was a situation where social interactions weren¡¯t a large priority for her.

    She saw Roland immediately leap to the ceiling, far above many of the other applicants, something Violet soon replicated. At the top she saw Mark and Vivian do the same, landing next to her and Roland.

    Violet used energy projections to stab the ceiling with spikes coming out from her shoes and keep herself connected from her feet. She unbent her legs and allowed herself to hang, feeling herself remain attached to the walls. Energy projections were the power to create constructs of pure energy that could be formed in any way the user wanted, the variety, power, and overall usefulness of the constructs would increase with time skill, and experience.

    ¡°Everyone move towards the wall! Based off of that jump they must have stopped draining our powers while we were here!¡± Roland yelled out to be heard above the applicants on the floor.

    Violet looked back at the applicants on the floor, the vast majority of them were too blinded by their fear to realize the safer area. Numerous unconscious and mangled bodies were on the floor, already being healed by volunteers for AGH. From her vantage point of about 40 feet off the ground, Violet could see all of this with ease as she walked towards the wall.

    When they got there she saw that many other applicants had already broken through the wall and had begun to run on the course. Unfortunately, the walls seemed to be repatching themselves quickly, not allowing any other applicants to enter. Most though, were slowly moving through a corridor that led outside, still blinded by the panic that had ensued from the explosion.

    Violet immediately stepped forward, as an all-rounder and a Mid-B-Rank she was the one who could break through the wall the fastest. Violet felt her left arm flood with incredible strength as psychic power flowed through her muscles. She felt her arm become warm and begin to twitch slightly, as though it begged to be used. As Violet pulled back her arm her teammates stepped away from her.

    Violet swung and upon impact shot psychic energy out of her arm and through the wall, causing a cylindrical hold to explode outwards to the other side. She and her teammates immediately began to run through the tunnel she just made.

    When they reached the other side they saw it in person at last, the path of the obstacle course. It was asphalt like a road but on the sides, there was white concrete shaped for a sidewalk. There were lines on the road and lanes marked bike lanes, and on the sides, there were even buildings, cut off at the top to not go above the walls.

    ¡®AGH¡­ they¡¯re testing us like it¡¯s a real scenario we could encounter as heroes.¡¯

    For less than a second the quartet took in the view of what they were seeing, then they leaped out, landing far away from most of the contestants exiting through the small door. Landing, they rolled on the ground to reduce impact and then immediately broke into a full sprint. Violet heard the voice of the Principal echo throughout the course from hidden speakers all across the area.

    ¡°When performing rescues, the common and obvious exits will be swarmed and likely even trapped by more intelligent and malicious villains. But if you¡¯re smart, you would leave through a back exit. Or even better, make your own.¡±

    With that, the quartet ran, through the testing area, steeling themselves for the trials ahead. As they looked forward, they saw a group in front of them, waiting, all in combat-ready stances.

    ¡®So it begins.¡¯ Violet realized. This was the second section.

    End of Chapter 12

 Chapter 13: The Sight of Death

    Chapter 13: The Sight of Death

    We had run for about two miles by now. Looking forward I made quick calculations inside my head of everyone before us. There appeared to be 20 other applicants in front of us, a few in groups and some alone. However, a group of 5 had gathered in front of us, each one taking a stance to prepare for combat.

    ¡®But they can¡¯t attack, what are they gonna do?¡¯

    In front of all the applicants are saw a familiar face, Tarkif, the guy who had helped Roland and I prevent the the massive door from closing a few days prior.

    ¡°IT¡¯S NOTHING PERSONAL, SORRY!¡± He yelled at us.

    ¡®You son of a bitch.¡¯

    I saw one of the applicants next to him slam their hands into the ground and the ground began to shake. I saw the ground split in a square around us and 4 walls on all sides popped up. Up above us, another applicant covered the open top in a wave of flames, sealing any escape.

    ¡®I see. I suppose this isn¡¯t a direct attack.¡¯

    I then heard a muffled voice just barely sounding out above the noise of roaring flames above us.

    ¡°The most efficient way to keep villains from fighting is entrapment, not combat. 10 points to Tarkif, Laxin, Margot¡­¡±

    ¡®They¡¯re judging us even now?¡¯

    I looked around at my roommates. We had to admit, that we didn¡¯t expect to be targeted so soon into the section, especially after the first obstacle had restricted the movements of so many other applicants.

    ¡°Is everyone ok?¡± I asked.

    Roland, Violet, and Vivian all nodded, they were indeed all unhurt. I sighed in relief and began to look at the box that had trapped us.

    I began to run my hands along the wall as I observed its features. The other three did the same. I estimated that each wall was about 30 feet tall and as solid as a rock. I pushed some psychic power through it to try and measure the thickness. However, I felt a pushback from the wall and was unable to find any information. It was being reinforced with psychic energy.

    I placed my palm on the ground and attempted to push psychic power through again, only to receive the same result.

    Looking upwards I saw the wildfire raging above us. There were no openings available for us to leave through in it. I wiped some beads of sweat off my forehead, it was starting to become unbearably hot inside. We could only last maybe 10 minutes in here before we would need to use psychic powers to keep ourselves functional under the heat.

    We could break through the wall, however the group outside had almost certainly prepared for that. They wouldn¡¯t stay for very long, but they didn¡¯t need to. When the other applicants finally escaped through the door the entire path in this area would be flooded. They would slow us down and many would likely attempt to target us to reduce our positions.

    ¡°Do you guys have any ideas?¡± Roland asked us.

    I shook my head, without knowledge of their plans we wouldn¡¯t be able to take effective actions. It would be exhaustive, long work to try and escape, leaving us drained for the rest of the course. It would be better just to wait until the group outside left.

    Vivian also shook her head.

    ¡°At best we could try and dig out from under but there¡¯s no way they wouldn¡¯t have thought of that.¡±

    Roland nodded, taking in the information. His face seemed to be contorted strangely, oddly enough giving off the effect of someone thinking.

    We all turned towards Violet hopefully, none of us had any ideas but hopefully she would.

    Violet looked at the ground to avoid our gazes slightly, focusing on our feet.

    ¡°I can try and use Soul Seer to look outside the walls maybe.¡±

    We all nodded, at the very least it could provide some very useful information.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s worth a shot,¡± I said

    ¡°Sounds good,¡± Vivian said, bobbing her head up and down in support.

    Roland agreed with us, ¡°Alright then Violet, do what you can.¡±

    At Roland¡¯s words, Violet grew a small smile and quickly moved towards one wall. She closed her eyes for an extended moment and I began to sense a slight shift in aura around her. When she opened her eyes again they were now a hypnotic violet color and she began to stare at specific points in the wall. First the left wall, the right wall, the front, the back, and the ceiling.

    I began to twitch uncomfortably. About 3 minutes had already passed and the rest of the applicants would start to flood out of the building. The blown-up hole in the wall was small, only about 3 applicants could fit through. But, more and more applicants would begin to calm down as time went on and use the ceiling to try and escape.

    ¡°There¡¯s 5 of them total. 4 for each wall and one for the fire ceiling.¡±

    Roland¡¯s face brightened up. This meant that nobody was solely focused on preventing underground movement. While they had reinforced it, there was no way they could focus on both the wall and the ground with enough strength to stop Roland, a Mid B-Rank specialized in elemental manipulation.

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    In their defense though, elemental reinforcement requires significantly less psychic energy than manipulation or destruction. And, unlike the rest of the elements, Earth, once in place, did not need constant psychic energy to maintain its shape and position.

    On top of that, elemental specialists were the second-rarest group of specialists. Along with the chances of a Mid B-Rank being only 25%, their plan was statistically very likely to work.

    Roland walked to the center of the trap and placed his hands on the ground. For a moment the ground shook as two opposing sides, reinforcement and manipulation, began combat. However, Roland was victorious and soon the earth melted away like liquid, forming a small tunnel leading several feet down.

    ¡°Everybody in,¡± Roland said, leaping into the hole first to expand the tunnel.

    The rest of us followed, with Violet taking the back and Vivian and I in the middle. Roland placed his hand on the side of the tunnel and, after another brief tug of war, the wall melted away, a new tunnel carved into it.

    We walked for a few seconds before Roland stopped and stabbed the earth above him, a tunnel to the surface appearing.

    ¡°Wait! Won¡¯t they see us as they go up?¡± Vivian asked. She had a good concern. Even if we got out, it would be relatively easy to entrap us again the moment a single one of us appeared. The rest of us would merely be trapped in a hole once more, and this time they would focus on reinforcement even more than previously.

    Roland smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that.¡±

    With that he began to climb upwards, followed quickly by us. When we reached the top we saw the applicants that had trapped us, Tarkifs group, still focusing on the trap. Behind it, the applicants had quickly begun flooding out, at least half were now outside and rapidly approaching our location.

    As I climbed out of the hole I saw one of Tarkifs group members turn around and stare right at us. I froze for a moment and was about to form a barrier when Roland grabbed my shoulder.

    ¡°Wait. Don¡¯t worry, he can¡¯t see us.¡±

    What? Looking back at Tarkifs group members I did notice something odd. It felt like he wasn¡¯t looking at us but beyond us. He soon turned back towards the trap he thought we were in.

    Confused, I looked down at my body and noticed it appeared hazy, almost like I was looking at it through a dirty lens.

    ¡°It¡¯s my unique power. Light manipulation. I¡¯ve been able to do it since birth.¡±

    Roland smiled in pride. While light manipulation was possible without a unique power by mixing multiple different aspects of other elements, it was extremely difficult to use and even S-Ranks could only do some minor tricks with it. Meanwhile, Roland was able to make us completely invisible. Such natural proficiency was truly strong enough to be a unique power.

    ¡®That explains why you¡¯re so skilled at elemental manipulation. What abilities could something like this provide?¡¯ I wondered to myself.

    With us now out of the trap we immediately ran off, covered by Roland¡¯s unique power. We were still about a quarter mile ahead of most of the other applicants, although there were now quite a few more applicants ahead of us than previously.

    I looked behind us and saw Tarkifs group realize we had escaped as Roland undid the invisibility. Unique powers were always draining to the user, keeping it active for too long would exhaust Roland.

    ¡°Sometimes you need unconventional methods to escape from danger. Mark, Roland, Vivian, Violet, you each receive 10 points.¡±

    I smiled at the principal''s words. If this kept up then I would be able to maintain my first place position and my roommates could rise in rank.

    I began to pour more psychic energy into my legs to allow to to run faster and faster. 20 miles an hour, 25, 30, 33. I felt myself speeding through the fake city environment. Miniature buildings passed us constantly in a blur.

    I looked around to check if everyone was keeping up, only to find them starting to pull ahead of me.

    ¡®Heh, shit. I forgot I¡¯m the only Low B-Rank.¡¯

    I utilized a tad bit more power to keep propelling myself off the ground, now I could feel it begin to flex ever so slightly when pushing off of it. I had to be careful, too much power, and I¡¯d break right through the ground without being able to push off, too little and I¡¯d trip from the sudden speed change.

    ¡­

    About 15 minutes later we passed the 10-mile mark. We had caught up to some of the applicants that had passed us, it appeared I was now in about 50th place. By this point, Tarkif''s group had long given up trying to trap us. It was simply no longer worth the effort.

    Suddenly I heard a loud explosion and felt the earth shake. I lost my footing and was sent flying at 35+ miles per hour down the path. I activated a barrier to shield myself from the ground as I was rolling, barely preventing my head from colliding with the pavement.

    I stabilized my position and dug my heels and hands into the ground, tearing through the asphalt for a few feet before stopping. I looked towards the source of the explosion, located in front of us. The path expanded significantly, almost doubling in size. In the middle of the path, there was a large crater with smoke billowing out from the ground.

    I turned to look at my teammates, who were unharmed, it appeared I was the only one to have lost my footing.

    ¡®Why am I the only Low B-Rank¡­¡¯

    ¡°Well, I think we found where the second obstacle is,¡± Vivian stated.

    I nodded and recalled what I had seen while traveling here on the bus. On the path, there were groups of people digging out holes. Is this what they were preparing for?

    ¡°AAAAAH!!!¡±

    I terrifying scream broke through the air. I turned towards the source of it, wondering what had happened. I saw the smoke from the crater begin the clear and saw something crawling out of it.

    I nearly vomited on the spot. A person crawled out of the hole, their body completely mangled. Their legs had been torn apart and strewns of muscle, flesh, and skin covered the entire crater. Even their bones had been shattered by the explosion.

    Their arms had been eviscerated, their hands dangling by threads off of their arms, and their bones showing in numerous places. Horrific burn marks covered their arms, undoubtedly causing what I could only imagine to be indescribable pain. Their clothes were still on fire, and actively burning the applicant''s chest, who immediately tore it off to reveal the bleeding chest and disfigured body underneath. Their body was twisted and full of puncture wounds from shrapnel that had been launched from the explosion.

    But the most horrifying view was their face. There must have been a fire on it as it was now completely burnt, with holes across its now purplish black flesh and its entire jaw visible. The remaining skin had begun to melt down their face, falling towards their mouth. I saw the applicant''s nose suddenly tumble down into his mouth and they vomited it out. One of their eyes had become squished, and was no more than a goopy unusable mess now, while the other was bloodshot red.

    I heard Vivian behind me suddenly fall to the floor and vomit from what she had seen. I nearly joined her as I forced the reflex back down into my stomach.

    ¡®This is insane. This is supposed to just be an application.¡¯

    I saw a man run to the applicant. He wore a gray suit and had bright orange hair along with a blue tie. He immediately kneeled and began the healing process. The applicant''s body quickly began to regrow, his bones reformed, his skin reappeared and his burn marks faded.

    ¡®Such healing¡­ that guy¡­ he must be an S-Rank.¡¯

    A-Ranks were more than capable of healing severe injuries, broken bones, severe bleeding, and even dismemberment of fingers or toes. However, to heal someone from the brink of death, recreate their limbs, heal permanent burns, and restructure someone''s chest. It was something that could truly only be done by an S-Rank or higher.

    I watched as the S-Rank completely healed the applicants back to prime form, before grabbing them and leaving the path.

    I looked at the crater nervously, that was what could be awaiting us up ahead. Our bodies, are in complete and utter shambles, suffering from horrific pain. I shuddered at the thought, and I wasn¡¯t the only one. Multiple applicants began to voice their disapproval of such a violent and extreme section.

    ¡°This is insane!¡±

    ¡°We could die here!¡±

    ¡°Give us something else!¡±

    The speakers turned on once again in response to the applicant''s protest, and I heard the principal fumbling with the microphone before responding.

    ¡°Ahem, well aren¡¯t you all a rowdy bunch. First of all, you are not going to die here, we assigned an S-Rank to watch this portion to be sure of that.¡±

    ¡®So he is an S-Rank then.¡¯ Looks like I suspected correctly.

    ¡°Second of all, we can¡¯t give you something else, because all previous AGH-accepted students passed a section like this.¡±

    That shut the protestors up immediately. With that knowledge, complaining about the obstacle was admitting to being unworthy of AGH completely.

    ¡°Villains commonly lay traps for heroes when they¡¯re rescuing civilians. In this case, we¡¯ve used land mines. You should always keep a shield up to minimize the damage. For B-Ranks like you all, you should be able to make it through these land mines. Now good luck future stars.¡±

    The principal sounded off once more and the applicants began to murmur amongst themselves.

    I turned to Vivian, who was now standing up again shakily, supported on both sides by Roland and Violet. A puddle of¡­ previous meals was in front of her. In Vivian''s eyes, a deep seeded fear was now growing, one that begged her to run, to quit, to hide for survival.

    I shook my head subconsciously. She didn¡¯t deserve to see something like that. Nobody did. It was the sight of a man, on the brink of death, clawing for the light of life, yet doomed to fail. He was lucky to have been saved.

    The crater in front of me had stopped smoking, I looked at the bloodstains that had covered it, the sign of death. Bloodstains, craters, and death.

    ¡­

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®No.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®I¡¯ll be fine, especially without you. Now leave!¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®... how could I forget that night.¡¯

    ¡­

    End of Chapter 13

 Chapter 14: Crossing the Minefield

    Chapter 14: Crossing the Minefield

    Violet was on her knees comforting Vivian who had vomited from the sight of the nearly dead applicant. Violet felt Vivian¡¯s body shudder and heave again and another puddle of past meals ended up on the ground. The applicant had already been removed from the area but it still showed clearly in Vivian¡¯s mind.

    Unsure of what to do Violet began to pat Vivian¡¯s back as a form of comfort. Looking around, Violet saw many other applicants in similar situations to Vivian, many with overwhelming fear in their eyes.

    Violet herself was also shaken. She could feel her hands vibrating back and forth out of anticipation and fear of what lay ahead. While she wouldn¡¯t die, she would experience horrible, unimaginable pain.

    Roland appeared to have also been affected by this sight, his body slightly shaking and his eyes wide. He was in a state of complete shock, unable to think, move, or respond to any stimuli. His jaw hung slightly open, as though the applicant that had been blown up was still in front of him.

    ¡°Roland, help me get Vivian up,¡± Violet asked.

    Roland jumped out of his trance and immediately grabbed Vivian''s arm, supporting it over his body. Violet did the same and they slowly lifted Vivian back up, letting her shaking legs slowly settle back to normal.

    As she was lifting Vivian, Violet saw Mark for a moment. His face was strange. It was contorted into a strange mix of horror and rage. While other applicants had such reactions, Mark¡¯s seemed different.

    Mark¡¯s face was broken and twisted, as though two entities were controlling his facial muscles. Half his face left one with a sense of pity, feeling like this poor boy made a horrible, accidental mistake. The other half left one with terror, as if at any moment a demon would release, and engage in a massacre.

    However, it only lasted for a moment. When Violet blinked, Mark¡¯s face had a much more normal reaction.

    ¡®What was that?¡¯ Violet wondered for a moment. However, with the obstacle right ahead of her, Violet disregarded her suspicion for now.

    ¡°Are you guys ok?¡± Mark asked.

    Violet, Roland, and Vivian nodded. While perhaps psychologically shaken, they were perfectly fine other than that.

    ¡°Let¡¯s all take a minute to rest and process everything. We can come up with a plan after that,¡± Roland said, his head tilting towards Vivian.

    Violet and Mark both understood his intention and agreed. The four of them formed a circle and sat down, about 2 feet apart from each other, each processing what had happened.

    Violet¡¯s mind was drawn back to her abuse at the hands of her father. While she had been severely injured by him on numerous occasions, it was nothing like what that applicant had experienced. Entire limbs were destroyed, flames engulfing their body, bones shattered, and skin melting. She could try to shield herself like the Principal had recommended but what if it wasn¡¯t enough? Violet shuddered at the thought.

    After a minute had passed the group of four engaged in conversation.

    ¡°I tried to manipulate the earth in the area to move or gauge the number of mines, but it doesn¡¯t appear to be real earth. So for now, I think it¡¯s best to just observe.¡± Roland said.

    Mark nodded in agreement, ¡°I agree. It¡¯s just too risky to go in with so little information. We don¡¯t know how much energy to use while shielding, so we could easily end up exhausted unnecessarily or not use enough and be instantly eliminated.¡±

    ¡°But won¡¯t the other applicants catch up to us?¡± Vivian asked. She had a valid concern. The longer they waited, the more applicants blew up the mines, the fewer mines there would be to avoid and the faster the applicants behind them would be able to pass this section.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s a risk we have to take. It¡¯s just too dangerous to go otherwise,¡± Mark said.

    Vivian pursed her lips. While she wanted to ensure that she could enter into the top 20 applicants she had to admit that such a horrific sight had left her scared. She didn¡¯t want to continue forward without a higher chance of success.

    Violet nodded her head in agreement, preferring not to speak.

    ¡®I can¡¯t be eliminated here. Father would punish me even more if he found out that I had been eliminated.¡¯

    With a plan of action agreed upon, the group began to watch other applicants make their attempts.

    While they watched, in between the numerous moments of turning away, the screams of pain from dying applicants, and the orange-haired S-Rank in a gray suit, a problem became apparent.

    The mines had been buried in such a way that activating one mine actively launched one into another mine, causing a chain reaction that was nearly impossible to escape from. Once the chain began, the applicant would either find their shield suddenly destroyed from numerous explosions, or end up too exhausted to keep their shield up. While a few applicants made it through, most of them were unsuccessful and were eliminated from the application process.

    ¡®This is bad. I can¡¯t see a way through this. On top of that, the High B-Ranks might have already gotten through. We could try to go over the field but that might count as out of bounds.¡¯

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    A High B-Rank would be able to run much faster than any of the Mid and Low B-Ranks. It was very likely for at least one of them to have sprinted ahead of the rest. On top of that, the mines appeared to reconstruct themselves and their environment after several minutes, making it impossible to judge if any applicants had made it through before their arrival.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s gather around again and discuss what we¡¯ve observed,¡± Roland requested. His face was fixed in frustration he had no ideas on a solution either. With 10 minutes having already passed, it was likely that the other applicants whom they had outran would be catching up soon, likely also influencing Roland''s current irritation.

    Violet thought for a moment about what she had seen. There was just one variable that appeared out of place. After taking a few seconds to formulate a sentence and potential responses, Violet revealed her observation.

    ¡°The S-Rank psychic healing everyone has not once triggered a mine, yet he¡¯s run on the ground numerous times.¡±

    The rest of the group looked at her with realization. She was right, the S-Rank for some reason was exempt from the mines. But how was this? He had rescued multiple applicants at a time, across different locations, and while other applicants were crossing the obstacle. There was no way that a simple turn-off of certain mines would suffice for such a situation without potentially allowing some applicants to move through without an obstacle.

    ¡°How does that help us though?¡± Vivian asked.

    ¡°It tells us that these mines are psychic detector mines,¡± Violet responded to her. ¡°So, the mines won¡¯t explode unless they detect an unfamiliar psychic signature nearby.¡±

    ¡°Ok¡­ I still don¡¯t understand how that can help us though.¡±

    Violet remained in silence for a few moments. She hadn¡¯t expected Vivian to not realize her point by now, and now she was left unaware of how to respond. Luckily, Mark explained it to her.

    ¡°It means that as long as the mines don¡¯t detect psychic energy, they won¡¯t go off. It¡¯s commonly used in terrorist attacks. By setting a threshold on the mines, it¡¯ll only blow up when a certain amount of psychic energy is detected, usually only possibly emitted by heroes.¡±

    Vivian nodded now in understanding. Psychic mines worked by being infused with psychic power. When a nearby psychic approached, the natural energy they released would trigger the psychic power inside the mines, causing it to explode with psychic energy.

    However, it was possible to restrict psychic mines to only unfamiliar signatures by coding them to explode only based on the type of interaction. A mine would experience different interactions based on whether or not it was already exposed to the signature before. This also meant that if a psychic suppressed their powers, then the mines wouldn¡¯t experience an interaction, allowing the psychic to move through freely.

    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t suppressing our powers leave us completely defenseless? If an explosion happens during that time we¡¯ll be eliminated,¡± Vivian pointed out.

    Mark nodded, ¡°Yes that is a risk. If we decide that it¡¯s too risky we¡¯ll have to do what everyone else is doing. I say we take a vote for it, all in favor?¡±

    Violet, Mark, and Roland raised their hands, they saw it as the best course of action based on their observations. Vivian on the other hand didn¡¯t. While she did see the positives in this method, she was still shaken by the scene of the previous applicant and the ones that had come after him. Walking into a minefield undefended was simply too terrifying for her without evidence of its success.

    ¡°It¡¯s settled then,¡± Roland said. ¡°Whose gonna go first?¡±

    Violet looked around at the rest of the group. Vivian was definitely out of the question, she was far too afraid to even consider volunteering. Violet herself was afraid of sudden failure, as it would anger her father even more. With this considered, she had to step down. Violet looked at Mark and Roland, who had begun staring at each other.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go,¡± Mark said, with surprising confidence.

    ¡°You sure,¡± Roland asked, ¡°you¡¯re the only Low B-Rank here. As Mid B-Ranks, we would at least have a faster time to make a shield in the case that an explosion happens.¡±

    Mark nodded in acknowledgment, ¡°That is true. But trust me on this ok? I have a plan. I can¡¯t tell you the plan, but I do have one.¡±

    Roland nodded, despite his worry for Mark he also didn¡¯t want to go first. The four of them had aspirations to be heroes, but building up the selflessness to put oneself in the way of extreme harm, pain, or even death took years to build for most.

    Violet held some admiration for Mark. He might have a plan, but his willingness to go first in such a situation proved his selflessness. Thinking about it more, perhaps it was part of the reason why he had scored so highly on the first selection, a test on ideology and morality.

    Mark walked up to the edge of the obstacle, right before the path suddenly expanded to the sides. The obstacle area appeared to be about 3 Ameriac football fields in length, and without psychic powers, Mark would probably take about a minute to cross the whole section.

    ¡°Mark,¡± Violet said, ¡°don''t uh¡­ don''t get eliminated¡­ please.¡±

    Mark smiled at Violet, his warmth permeating throughout every fiber of her body. Mark always gave off such overwhelming warmth and comfort. To see such a person eliminated, Violet didn¡¯t want that.

    ¡®I don¡¯t want to lose a single friend, not one.¡¯ She thought to herself.

    Mark turned back towards the minefield and broke out into a run. Other applicants were beside him, running towards the other side. Explosions began triggering all around Mark as multiple applicants were thrown around.

    Mark stumbled for a few moments, but he kept running. Violet¡¯s observation held, and not a single mine exploded beneath Mark. Other applicants looked in confusion and astonishment. It wouldn¡¯t be long before they deduced how to cross the minefield.

    Mark kept running, for 20 seconds now.

    25 seconds¡­

    30 seconds¡­

    40 seconds¡­

    Violet¡¯s heart began to beat faster as Mark approached the end. The closer he got, the more nervous she became, even if it was illogical. Violet began to breathe heavily, as though she was the one running. Violet herself wasn¡¯t superstitious, but in such a tense situation, it was tough not to imagine the universe playing a cruel trick.

    Violet saw Vivian clasp her hands in a prayer position as the path in front of Mark narrowed. This was the most dangerous part because other applicants had a chance of flying into Mark, which would cause an explosion that would eliminate Mark instantly.

    45 seconds¡­

    50 seconds¡­

    Mark was now just a few feet away from the end and Violet couldn¡¯t have been more nervous. It was in this moment that the universe would determine whether or not it would play a cruel joke, or allow it to pass. A single trip could cause Mark to activate his powers instinctively, leading to a potential elimination. 2 other applicants began to approach the end as well, followed by a trail of explosions.

    Debris flew out everywhere about 10 feet away from Mark, the shockwave causing Mark to suddenly stumble, but he did not falter. The applicant directly towards Mark, forcing Mark to engage in a roll. At this point, stopping would only increase the chances of that applicant colliding with him. With only a few more steps now, Mark would reach the end of the obstacle.

    This time, the universe did not play a cruel joke¡­

    It was humanity that had. Violet saw a small rock, flying towards Mark at nearly 200 miles per hour. It appeared to be infused with psychic energy and was thrown at Mark by a member of Tarkif¡¯s group who was nearby.

    Violet saw Vivian open her mouth to scream as the rock collided with the ground right next to Mark''s feet, and an explosion triggered.

    As Mark¡¯s figure was suddenly engulfed in a bright flash, Vivian screamed. Where Mark had been standing was now filled with smoke and fire.

    Violet saw Vivian fall to her knees. Her mental state having already been on the edge from the previous explosions, seeing someone she knew vanish before her eyes was simply too much.

    Violet felt a small amount of tears begin to fill up in her eyes. She did not have the experience to understand how connected she felt with Mark, whether or not their connection could be called anything more than a weak friendship, but it was genuine and filled with kindness. It was something she had not experienced for so many years.

    As the smoke cleared, Violet closed her eyes, too afraid to see what Mark would look like after such an explosion. She began to hear murmurs from other applicants, while she couldn¡¯t make out their words, she knew who they would be talking about.

    ¡°Violet, look up. You¡¯re going to want to see this.¡± Roland said, tapping her shoulder.

    ¡®What?¡¯

    Violet refused for a moment until she felt Vivian''s hand on her shoulder as well.

    ¡°Violet, Roland is right.¡±

    With even Vivian encouraging her Violet looked up at the crater. Instead of a burning body, Mark stood there completely unharmed, with only some singes on his clothes.

    As Mark took the final steps towards the end, he gazed back at his teammates and smiled. She didn¡¯t know why, but for a moment, Violet saw the face of someone else besides Mark staring back at her. It was a face, that filled Violet with fear, a face that hid beneath its surface, an undying rage. As soon as it had appeared, it once more vanished, and Violet was left confused as to the secrets Mark possessed.

    End of Chapter 14

 Chapter 15: The Fragile Human Psyche

    Chapter 15: The Fragile Human Psyche

    I crawled up from out of the crater, unfortunately, my clothes had become singed from the explosion. A few small holes were in it now and it was covered in ash.

    I saw the applicant to me, his body heavily injured from the explosion, the one which I had walked out of completely unharmed. The S-Rank psychic quickly came over and began healing the applicant.

    The S-Rank and I stared at each other for a moment. A smile grew wide on my face, I felt my facial muscles contract unnaturally. The S-Rank froze as he looked at me. His healing, for a moment, stopped. He drew back his hand for a moment and on his face I saw hostility.

    My smile grew even wider as he vanished from view, taking the injured applicant with him. I began to feel a strange laughter rise from my chest. I struggled to restrain it, but small creeps came out.

    ¡®Control yourself. Carefully.¡¯

    I turned back and saw my teammates looking at me, confused at how I was unharmed. My smile radiated throughout my entire body. For a moment I saw a possible future, where they never made it across this minefield, their bloodied and broken bodies strewn across the ground.

    ¡®Calm yourself. You have to remain calm Mark.¡¯

    I felt my smile rapidly dissipate and walked to the minefield''s end.

    ¡­

    After assisting the others in crossing the minefield, largely by ensuring nobody would try and throw something at us again, we began our run once more.

    While running I thought about how each of my teammates had reacted when I helped them cross the minefield.

    I was forced to admit to them that I had a unique power that I hadn¡¯t told them about. I didn¡¯t explain the specifics of it and luckily they respected my decision. For now, keeping it secret might prove beneficial in the future.

    Roland didn¡¯t mind that I had kept such a secret from them at all. He had done mostly the same by keeping his unique power under wraps until recently. However, he did ask me to at least mention I had such abilities next time.

    Violet looked at me with heavy suspicion. It seemed she noticed the strange mental state I had entered following the explosion. It was a mixture of multiple factors and a side effect of the unique power, although I didn¡¯t tell her this. She seemed to have pushed it to the wayside for now.

    While running I turned towards Vivian. I saw her arms still shaking even though it had been quite a few minutes since we left the minefield. Her eyes were cold and distant and her lip quivered ever so slightly.

    I thought back to when I had led her across the minefield. She had practically wrapped herself around my arm and refused to leave. Her hand constricted around my own until I felt a cracking inside of it and forced her to relax her grip. Her breathing was heavy, fast, and irregular despite a lack of strenuous physical activity while moving across the minefield.

    ¡®Is she shell-shocked from the injured applicants?¡¯

    Such a possibility was likely. Most people didn¡¯t realize how brutal a hero''s work could be. Most C-Rank heroes, which took up the majority of them, would stay out of dangerous situations. As such the internet was largely filled with relatively safe and easy hero content, made largely by C-Ranks.

    However, B-Ranks and above were the ones that dealt with dangerous villains, as such their missions and duties were more deadly and horrific. While it was largely kept silent so as to not impact a country''s morale, if one searched deep enough, one could find numerous testimonies of the absolute hell that many heroes experienced in the line of duty.

    It¡¯s for this reason that many S-Ranks were often considered slightly insane, having been turned into new people as a result of their brutal environment. It was even more true for SS-Ranks, the principal was a prime example of such. Becoming someone of such strength took years of brutal and horrifying work that could break a person''s spirit and psyche to a point of no return. While some broke worse than others, not one person made it through unscathed.

    I shook my head and returned my thoughts to Vivian. She would likely continue down the hero path, considering how far she had come, but whether or not she could last was entirely different. I couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for her. Nobody deserved to experience something so traumatic ever in their lives. But it was for this reason that AGH was able to consistently produce a large amount of S-Ranks, they were all trained to deal with such stress.

    ¡­

    We passed the 20-mile marker. I suspected now that every ten miles there would be an obstacle for us to traverse since the previous 2 obstacles took place at 0 miles and about 10 miles.

    Sure enough, as we rounded a bend behind a mountain the path ahead opened up and we came to a halt. Catching my breath for a moment I looked in awe at the sudden expansion of the path.

    The path grew out massively, now seemingly as wide as the length of 5 Ameriac football fields. On top of that, across the entire path were the ruined and destroyed remains of what appeared to be a city. The buildings now stretched to be 400 feet tall, towering above our heads. Everywhere we looked fires were consuming any building they found and broken hydrants flooded the streets with water.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    In all directions, there was rubble and destroyed buildings. Parking garages falling apart with cars still in them, houses caving in with wood rotting away, and even the tallest buildings appeared to be leaning and had destroyed windows throughout them.

    ¡®This place, it looks just like a real ruined city.¡¯

    ¡°Hello again future stars.¡±

    I jumped in shock as I heard the principal''s voice ring out from hidden speakers, I even heard echoes of him coming from deep inside the ruined city.

    ¡°Welcome to the third obstacle. The place you see before you is a replica of a portion of a city that was destroyed during a battle between Heroes and Villains. 1 S-Rank hero was involved, 12 A-Ranks heroes, 17 A-Ranks villains, and about 300 B-Ranks on each side.¡±

    I stared in awe at the destruction. This is what happened when elite psychics entered into life-and-death combat. The city would have taken decades to recover from such an event. For just this portion of the city alone, it could have easily taken well over a year to clear out the debris.

    ¡°This was one of the least destroyed sections of the city as the S-Rank did not fight here. In the spots where she did fight, not a single building was left standing, and it was against 12 A-Ranks.¡±

    ¡®What?¡¯

    I stared in shock at the destruction in front of me. This was a less destroyed part of the city? On top of that, nearly vaporized? The power of an A-Rank was already enough to completely devastate a city, the power to throw entire skyscrapers multiple times in a day could easily lay waste to even the largest of cities. Yet an S-Rank took on 12 A-Ranks and the results that the principal described spoke for themselves.

    ¡®This is the power of those that are nearly the gods blessed.¡¯

    I gulped at the thought of potentially facing an S-Rank, someone who could lay to waste an entire city singlehandedly and take on 12 A-Ranks at once. This was the power at the top of the world, the power that gave one the right to change the world. And yet there were even those above them¡­

    ¡°The S-Rank hero involved in this goes by the hero name Aurora. Her title is Queen of Twilight. She was a student who attended this very school.¡±

    I nodded to myself. Aurora was an exceptionally famous hero, as all S-Ranks were. She was considered to be one of the most promising psychics of her age while in school and at only 29, was one of the youngest S-Ranks in the world.

    ¡°Your goal for this obstacle will be to find a volunteer inside this rubble. Only then will you be allowed to progress past this obstacle.¡±

    So, they wanted to train us in our search and rescue skills. Fighting villains was only part of the job of a hero, patrolls, press meetings, search and rescue, and rebuilding were all duties an elite hero A-Rank and above would undertake.

    ¡°This battle actually happened very recently, on a very famous night in this country.¡±

    Suddenly I felt the blood in my veins chill and my face pale. They wouldn¡¯t. They wouldn¡¯t dare use that night. It was the most destructive night in Panaj ever since the Great War 2000 years ago. Such a disaster still rang true for all the people who lived here, even if one was too young to live through it.

    I felt my head grow heavy and I felt the world spin slightly beneath my feet as memories flooded into my mind. I heard screams and crying and felt myself in a woman''s arms, being carried as fast as possible through the wreckage of a city as a magnificent fight occurred in the skies above.

    The woman''s face had streams of tears running down her face as she ran, desperate for life, a man behind her, closely following had the same.

    ¡°This is The Night of the Massacre, an attack on the largest cities in Panaj by multiple villain factions that resulted in the deaths of 100 million people, or 3.3% of Panaj¡¯s total population. For the attacked cities, only 8% of civilians survived.¡±

    Vivian beside me cupped her hands around her mouth as tears filled her eyes. Violet didn¡¯t react as extremely but she wasn¡¯t left unshaken by such an event. Rokea and Panaj were neighboring countries, there was no way she didn¡¯t hear about this event. Roland was the only one who was relatively unaffected. Ameriac was heavily involved in international affairs and Roland likely knew many stories that happened in war-torn countries as a result of his social standing in Ameriac society.

    The fact that the principal had dared to replicate an event from such a night was obscene. Such actions could be shamed by the entire country, Principal Sever might even be punished by the National Hero Committee. This was nearly on par with mimicking the Sholotcau of the Wijesh People or the 250-Year Enslavement of Friacan Ameriacs.

    ¡°Now then, good luck rescuing. Oh, you should know that each volunteer will be grading you on your performance and will give or take points accordingly. Good luck future stars.¡±

    Roland, Violet, Vivian, and I stood in front of the ruined city for a minute or so. Vivian and I struggled to keep ourselves under control from what we had seen. Vivian appeared to be a citizen of Panaj like myself, it would only make sense that we would be so aggravated by what AGH had done.

    ¡°Do we have any plans?¡± Roland asked us after we had calmed down.

    Violet raised her hand, ready to respond to Roland already.

    ¡°I can use my Soul Seer to find volunteers hidden in the rubble.¡±

    Roland nodded, ¡°Yes that could work well. The only problem would be finding out how to get to them without causing potential collapses of other structures. Let¡¯s leave in 3 minutes, the applicants behind us will be catching up soon.¡±

    As of now, we were likely somewhere between 35th and 50th place with many applicants having failed the previous obstacle. We agreed to Roland''s plan and took a short rest. I sat down next to Vivian, whose eyes had gotten increasingly wider since the principal announced the city was based on The Night of Massacre.

    ¡°Are you ok Vivian?¡±

    She curled her legs up into her body and formed a ball, sealing herself from the rest of the world.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she said, her voice muffled through her legs.

    ¡°Do you wanna talk about it?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ maybe¡­? I don¡¯t know.¡± She moved her hands to the top of her head and began gripping her hair tightly.

    I sighed quietly so she wouldn¡¯t hear. What she had seen earlier was affecting her greatly.

    ¡°Vivian, are you scared?¡±

    She now brought her head up and looked at me. Her eyes were slightly watery and she sniffled a little. She looked at me as though I was about to patronize her.

    I gave a bittersweet smile towards her, hoping to let her know I was genuine in my concern.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to insult you, you know.¡±

    Vivian sniffled again and nodded at me. She wiped the tears forming from her eyes, her hands shaking.

    ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯m scared.¡±

    I nodded again and offered my hand out to her.

    ¡°Hold my hand, I¡¯ll help you through this.¡±

    Vivian looked at me strangely for a moment before taking my hand. I filled it with a small amount of psychic power to make it more warm as I felt her cold skin touch me. Her hands were incredibly soft and delicate, almost fragile it seemed.

    ¡°Thank you, Mark.¡±

    I smiled at her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Just keep holding on tight alright?¡±

    I gave her hand a firm but not painful squeeze, something which she returned. We walked over to Violet and Roland who were standing at the edge of the obstacle, hand in hand.

    ¡°Are we all ready?¡± Roland asked.

    We all nodded, affirming our resolution to pass through the obstacle. Violet and Roland looked at Vivian and me strangely for a moment before regaining composure. I didn¡¯t blame them, suddenly holding hands like this was awkward for me as well, but it appeared to provide Vivian some comfort.

    With all of us ready, Roland made his way into the third obstacle, followed by Violet and then Vivian and I, still holding each other''s hand as we walked into the ruined city.

    ¡­

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®You remember it all don¡¯t you?¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®Yes, I do¡­¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®No. I remember it all just fine.¡¯

    End of Chapter 15

 Chapter 16: The Cost of Failure

    Chapter 16: The Cost of Failure

    Violet''s eyes turned a gemlike purple as she activated Soul Seer. Quickly she saw the souls of numerous people across the city, 20 total. She attempted to push out her vision further but nobody else appeared in her range. Among the souls she did see, 4 of them were moving, meaning they were likely applicants.

    ¡°I can see 20 souls, but 4 are likely applicants.¡±

    ¡°Can you tell where the closest one is?¡± Roland asked.

    Violet shook her head. ¡°Soul Seer messes with my depth perception, unless there¡¯s a large difference in proximity I can¡¯t tell the difference.¡±

    Roland nodded, his eyes closed as he thought deeply. Violet began to examine his face closer as he did so.

    His jawline was well-defined and looked strong. He was completely clean-shaven, without even a hint of hair on his face. His blonde hair appeared to be exquisitely well cared for without even a hint of imperfection or uncleanliness as it waved beautifully in the wind.

    ¡®If hero work didn¡¯t go well then Roland could probably do decently as a model.¡¯

    Roland now opened his eyes, unfortunately, this time, no bright twinkle filled it at all.

    ¡°Yeah, I got no ideas. Let''s just head in one direction and see if we can find anyone. Violet, you lead the way.¡±

    Following Roland¡¯s orders, Violet began to walk at the front of the group, followed by Roland and then Mark and Vivian. While climbing across hills of rubble and valleys of destroyed pavement, Violet noticed that not once did Mark and Vivian stop holding hands.

    ¡°Why do you think they¡¯re doing that?¡± Roland whispered.

    ¡°I think Mark is just trying to comfort Vivian, she was pretty stressed after that last area,¡± Violet said, mimicking Roland¡¯s lowered volume.

    Roland nodded in agreement. Vivian had seemed rather disturbed after the minefield, she could be traumatized from seeing such brutality. Hopefully, this section won¡¯t prove to be as damaging to her psyche as the previous one.

    Violet looked around and began to feel a sense of sorrow come over her as she viewed the destruction. Everywhere she looked there were destroyed lives. Homes and stores had been destroyed and were surrounded now by nothing but a firey tragedy and a flooded city. They had done nothing wrong, but they were caught in the crossfire between heroes and villains.

    ¡®How many people does a hero kill unintentionally like this?¡¯

    Violet thought about how she might feel if she killed someone. Even if it wasn¡¯t her intention, even if it saved more lives by doing so, how would she feel? She would always feel some sense of responsibility for that death. Maybe if she had trained harder, or if she had gone to bed at a reasonable time last night, or was a bit more careful, maybe someone could have lived.

    Violet shook her head and pushed the thoughts away. This was no time for self-doubt and depressing thoughts. That could come after the task in front of her.

    Violet activated Soul Seer again to look at her surroundings. She immediately saw a soul beneath them to the left.

    ¡°Everyone wait. Someone is close.¡±

    Violet could feel with confidence that the soul she was looking at was extremely close.

    ¡°They¡¯re beneath us and to the left, but I can¡¯t see a way in.¡±

    The other 3 quickly began looking around for any place that might have an underground portion to their buildings or for a sewage entrance they could use.

    ¡°We can try that parking garage,¡± Mark said, pointing his finger in the air.

    Violet''s eyes followed Mark¡¯s finger and she quickly saw a parking garage that was hidden behind two large collapsed buildings. It was only just barely visible and even with Mark pointing it out it still took several seconds for Violet to realize what it was considering how damaged the garage had become.

    A side of the garage had collapsed and beneath it a large hole was in the ground, likely caused by a collapse from the garage.

    ¡°Nice catch Mark, how did you see that?¡± Roland asked, his facing, beaming with excitement.

    ¡°I have brilliant eyesight. The only one in my family to make it through high school without needing any glasses.¡±

    Mark puffed up his chest and lifted his chin a little as he said this. Clearly, it was something he was oddly proud about.

    The team then began to worm their way through the two collapsed buildings in front of the parking garage. Roland, the largest of the 4 of them, was barely able to squeeze his way through a crawling section and hit his head numerous times as he wormed through.

    Arriving at the hole in the ground, Violet saw a man at the bottom, seemingly carrying something. As Violet looked longer she began to hear small weeps and sobs coming from the man at the bottom.

    ¡°Hold on sir, we¡¯re coming down to help you!¡± Roland yelled out.

    ¡°Hurry, please! My wife is dying!¡±

    It was then that Violet realized that the man was holding a woman in his arms. Their two souls had been layered over so closely that Violet didn¡¯t realize that there were two people.

    Violet quickly lept down the hole along with the rest of the team, filling their legs with psychic power to absorb the shock of the landing.

    The underground area appeared to be an underground section of the parking garage as cars surrounded them. Several pipes had burst and had begun to quickly flood the area with water that reached up to their ankles.

    ¡°HELP! MY WIFE, SHE DOESN¡¯T HAVE LONG!¡±

    Violet and her roommates quickly turned to see the man, he had begun walking to them slowly. His leg appeared to be severely injured and he walked with a lopsided limp. He suddenly fell into the water and Violet rushed over to help him.

    Mark created two floating slabs of psychic energy for them to place the man and woman on. The slabs appeared to be some sort of glass that was tainted a light blue. This was a semi-advanced usage of energy projection. By releasing psychic energy outside of one''s body into the air and then condensing it, one could create solid objects.

    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°My wife. Please, help her.¡±

    Mark took the initiative and tore off the woman''s shirt, which had become blood-soaked. For a moment Violet froze at the sight of the woman''s abdomen.

    A metal bar had gotten lodged into her side and had torn across her stomach. Seeing the applicant who had been blown up was horrifying, but now they were seeing a severe injury up close. In every detail they could see the rust spreading throughout the woman''s body, the torn organs spewing blood, the stomach acid seeping out. A pungent smell quickly became noticeable and Violet wretched involuntarily.

    ¡®Illusions can only affect the eyes. These are real injuries. What is AGH doing?¡¯

    ¡°Vivian, Violet, Roland, take care of the man. I¡¯ll help the woman.¡±

    Mark stabbed his hand into the woman''s wound and the wound began to heal. Smoke began to emit from the woman¡¯s wound as psychic energy flooded into her body, the bones, and organs beginning to reform.

    ¡°You three, tear off a part of his shirt and take a pole from the ground, I¡¯ll tell you how to make a tourniquet,¡± Mark said quickly, his brows furrowed in intense concentration as he continued healing.

    Violet quickly grabbed a nearby smooth metal pool as Roland tore off the man''s shirt to begin making the tourniquet. But Vivian stood frozen, her eyes wide and her arms shaking. Soon Vivian began to hyperventilate and start walking back from the man, terrified at what she was seeing.

    The man''s leg had bone completely visible and it was broken with a large fracture down the middle. The surrounding skin and muscles were burned heavily, with blisters and bubbles forming all across the leg. Even Violet, having seen herself with serious injuries before, struggled to look at the injury before her.

    ¡°VIVIAN!¡± Mark yelled out to grab Vivian''s attention, who quickly turned towards him, her eyes, desperately seeking escape from the horrors around her.

    ¡°Keep your eyes on me and only me. Grab the exact middle of the man''s head and output a tiny amount of psychic energy. This will numb the man''s thalamus and reduce the amount of pain he feels.¡±

    With Mark''s orders, Vivian began to tiny amounts of psychic energy into the man''s brain, directly into the thalamus. Quickly, the man''s wincing face began to relax as he turned to look at his wife.

    ¡°April¡­ just hold on ok? The heroes are here, they¡¯re gonna help you.¡±

    April was in too much pain to respond correctly, instead, she merely groaned in response to the man''s encouragement.

    ¡°Violet, Roland, wrap the man''s shirt slightly above his injury, then slide in the pole and knot it.¡±

    Violet and Roland quickly performed this task, soon the metal pole was knotted above the man''s injury with his shirt wrapping around his leg a few inches above his injury.

    ¡°Now twist the pole to tighten it, then form another knot to keep it in place. If he stops bleeding then you¡¯ve done enough, if he doesn¡¯t then you need to make it tighter.¡±

    The man winced in pain as Violet twisted the pole further, tightening it enough to cut off all circulation to the injured part of his leg.

    Now Violet observed Mark¡¯s healing. She was stunned at his speed, such a severe injury to vital organs would take extended amounts of time for a B-Rank to even begin to heal, yet Mark was operating at the speed of an A-Rank.

    ¡®What secrets do you hide Mark?¡¯

    Suddenly Mark stopped healing. His eyes widened as he looked at the woman¡¯s chest. He then placed his head down next to her mouth and waited for a few moments. His face began to pale rapidly.

    ¡°SHIT!¡±

    Mark removed his hand from the woman¡¯s wound and began performing CPR on the woman.

    ¡°VIOLET! HEAL HER!¡±

    Violet hesitated for a moment before pushing her hand into the woman''s wound. She felt the broken ribs poking at her hand as she slid her fingers into the tight, wet, disgusting injury. She began to pour psychic energy into the wound. She felt the woman''s body begin to move slightly as it responded to Violet¡¯s energy.

    The man on the opposite table got up suddenly and began to move towards his wife.

    ¡°Sir please, stay down,¡± Roland asked him, placing his hands on the man''s shoulders to try and pull him back down.

    ¡°No!¡± The man tore away from Roland and grabbed April, his wife''s, hand.

    ¡°Please. Hang in there. Just a little bit longer. Don¡¯t leave me behind.¡± The man began to cry horribly as Mark and Violet continued healing.

    2 minutes¡­

    3 minutes¡­

    5 minutes¡­

    8 minutes¡­

    This whole time Mark worked tirelessly, shoving down on the woman¡¯s chest over and over and over again before breathing into her mouth. He had begun to sweat significantly and Violet could tell he was physically exhausted. Adding psychic powers while performing CPR without proper training was too dangerous, as a single pulse could potentially damage the heart. As such, Mark had to operate using only his physical strength.

    Violet began to feel herself losing progress on the woman¡¯s wound. It was barely healing in response to Violet¡¯s psychic powers. Despite her efforts to pour more energy into the woman Violet simply couldn¡¯t return to the healing pace she had at the start.

    ¡®Why? What¡¯s going on?¡¯

    Violet felt the woman¡¯s flesh go cold. All movement in her wound ceased completely, no longer reacting to Violet¡¯s psychic energy. Violet began to slowly draw her hand out of the woman¡¯s body and saw it covered in blood.

    ¡°Mark¡­¡± Violet said. ¡°She¡¯s no longer responding.¡±

    Mark stopped his CPR. His eyes were wide and full of a storm of emotions. His arms drooped by his sides, swaying limply as he looked at the woman.

    ¡°What are you doing? HELP HER!¡± the man screamed at Mark as he looked at his wife''s unmoving face.

    Mark didn¡¯t respond. He stood motionless, his breathing, deep and heavy. Sweat dripped down his face and back, half from exhaustion, half from fear.

    The man grabbed Mark by his shirt and lifted him into the air. His face filled with rage and sorrow.

    ¡°HELP HER NOW!!!¡± the man said, his face streaming with tears.

    Mark looked at him. His face filled with an overwhelming sadness as he answered the man.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do.¡±

    ¡°Mark there has to be someth-¡±

    ¡°NO!!!¡± Mark snapped and Roland who had begun to protest. ¡°Her body is no longer responding to psychic powers¡­ her soul is gone.¡±

    Vivian slumped down to her knees and began to silently cry. She completely broke down, no longer able to fight back against the shock that had been building up in the second selection.

    The man''s arms trembled and his lips quivered. When he spoke again, his voice cracked as he screamed.

    ¡°NOT YET! SHE ISN¡¯T DEAD YET! HELP HER NOW!¡±

    He shook Mark back and forth as he yelled this, causing tears that had started to form on Mark¡¯s face to fly everywhere.

    ¡°Sir, please stop.¡±

    The man stopped shaking Mark and set him down, his arms shaking. As the man''s arms fell by his sides his hands clenched in fists as tears fell from his face. They all stood in an unmoving silence. The flooding water now rose to Violet''s shins. The sound of flooding water echoed throughout the otherwise silent parking garage.

    The man''s breathing shuddered as his whole body began to shake. He pulled back his arm and launched his fist towards Mark. Mark could have dodged it or blocked it with ease, but he didn¡¯t. Mark fell to the floor, splashing into the water.

    ¡®This isn¡¯t right,¡¯ Violet thought to herself. ¡®This is supposed to be a test. Why are they doing this? Why is someone dead?¡¯

    There was no doubt in Violet''s mind that these were truly real injuries. These were real people, and someone had died. No illusion could so completely replicate the human body. Someone had died.

    ¡°Damnit, damnit, damnit, damnit, DAMNIT!!! WHY!?!¡±

    The man slammed his fists into the water over and over again as he screamed out his heart through his lungs before quieting down. His voice became nothing but a whisper among the sounds of running water.

    ¡°Gods¡­ why? Why have you forsaken us? Why did you let her die?¡±

    The man collapsed onto the ground and screamed. His aching heart, given voice as a scream of tragedy echoed throughout the garage. One could describe the scream in many ways, tragic, vengeful, hateful, depressing, or sorrowful. But there is no word, no phrase, no writing, no language that can truly possess all the meaning contained in the voice of one heartbroken man. There were a thousand stories contained in such a proclamation of grief, a thousand stories that ended at this moment.

    Violet began to cry as she could almost see the man the stories contained in such a voice. She could see the man and woman, dancing in the sunlight, happily together as the cherry blossoms opened their flowers and showered the world in a world of pink petals. She could see them welcoming their parents into their home for a family dinner, taking their children to school, or attending the marriage ceremony of a young cousin. But that world didn¡¯t exist anymore, it never would again¡­

    ¡®Because we failed.¡¯

    Violet felt tears run down her face as she fully realized the ramifications of what their failure meant, of how their failures affected the lives of others. There was no such thing as one casualty, each casualty was 5, 10, 15, maybe even a hundred people in heartbreak and grief.

    ¡®It¡¯s our fault¡­ it¡¯s all our fault. If I had just studied more on healing maybe she would still be alive.¡¯

    Behind the sound of the crying man, echoes of footsteps began to ring throughout the parking garage. A man in a suit walked towards the group, the water, parting in front of him. He clapped his hands together slowly, as though to insult their vain attempts of healing. On his face was a wide and malicious smile, as if he was entertained by their failure.

    ¡°Are you an examiner?¡± Roland asked.

    The man in the suit nodded, ¡°Yes, my name is Jerricho, and as the examiner, I must compliment you for your performance.¡±

    ¡°Are these real people?¡±

    ¡°Hah. Yes, yes they are. Shame you couldn¡¯t save the woman though. You would¡¯ve gotten quite a few points for that.¡±

    Roland¡¯s eyes immediately lit up with a raging fire. Psychic energy began to release around him and the water rippled from Roland¡¯s output. He began to walk towards Jerricho but only got a few steps in before Mark pulled him back.

    ¡°Mark¡­¡± Roland said, his voice shaking from rage.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Let go of my shoulder.¡±

    ¡°No. I was the one taking care of her, I¡¯m the one that failed. Let me do this.¡±

    This seemed to convince Roland and he allowed Mark to go in his place, although the water around Roland still rippled. At any moment now, Roland could break loose.

    Mark walked deceptively calmly to Jerricho. His face was still as stone and his eyes cold as ice. But there was one part Mark couldn¡¯t keep hidden. With each step he took, Violet saw Mark''s hands clench tighter and tighter until he began to bleed from his palm. Now they were face to face.

    Jerricho smiled at Mark sarcastically, his grin expanding even further as he chuckled slightly.

    ¡°What? Do you wanna quit? I can disqualify you from the application if you want.¡±

    Nobody doubted what Mark would do next, and nobody wanted to stop him. They all watched as Mark condensed a massive amount of psychic power into his arm and attacked the examiner.

    End of Chapter 16

 Chapter 17: The Benefits of a Broken Spirit

    Chapter 17: The Benefits of a Broken Spirit

    I knew it was insane. Jerricho was at the bare minimum a Low A-Rank, likely even stronger. As a Low B-Rank, I was basically a baby throwing itself into a brick wall to try and do damage. Actually, a baby might have a higher chance of actually breaking the wall than my chances of beating Jerricho.

    But I couldn¡¯t hear anything except that man¡¯s crying screams. Jerricho had let someone die, and he had fun watching it. He had a chance to step in and he did jackshit about it. As far as I was concerned now, he was a villain, and death would not be enough for him.

    Jerricho easily caught my first punch, stopping it dead in its tracks. A shockwave blew back a car and waves of water behind Jerricho but I didn¡¯t even see him budge. It was child''s play to him.

    Jerricho began to crush my right hand and I felt my bones begin to crack under the pressure. As I winced in pain I threw a left kick towards Jerrichos side. He didn¡¯t even try to block this attack and my leg bounced off his side harmlessly, blood dripping down my shin.

    ¡®Shit, just how much did he reinforce his body?¡¯

    I felt myself being lifted by my arm upwards before being thrown like a doll through the ceiling and into the floor above. As I tore through the ceiling I slammed into a car directly above me and gasoline poured out onto my eyes. I hooked myself onto the ceiling of the second floor of the parking garage and quickly wiped the gasoline off of my eyes. When I opened them again I had a clear view of the entire floor, unobstructed by cars.

    ¡®Shit. He¡¯s already gone.¡¯

    I searched around everywhere but Jerricho had already disappeared from view. It hadn¡¯t even been 5 seconds. I was about to return down to the underground level of the parking garage when a truck slammed into me from the side. I felt my shoulder dislocate as I got thrown out of the parking garage and crashed onto the ground. The car lodged itself into a surprisingly intact apartment complex behind me.

    I knew I should quit, it was painfully obvious how much Jerricho outclassed me. I had already dislocated a bone but hadn¡¯t even landed a single blow on Jerricho. But every second all I could hear was that man crying, his heart breaking for his wife. Jerricho took pleasure in that, a sick grotesque pleasure.

    Suddenly I saw a shadow cast over the area around me and I looked up. Jerricho had torn off the top 3 floors of the parking garage and was reeling his arm back ready to throw it at me.

    ¡®He¡¯s trying to kill me.¡¯

    A B-Rank psychic like myself would barely be able to lift such a heavy object, yet Jerricho was spinning around half the parking garage like a toy. This was the difference between the ranks.

    Jerricho threw the parking garage at me like it was a tennis ball. I had barely enough time to put up a barrier before the parking garage crashed down on me. The apartment complex behind me turned to rubble and I was sent flying back through 3 buildings, landing 2 streets away.

    I tasted blood in my mouth and felt a stabbing pain in my left arm. I looked over at it and noticed a large metal bar stabbed through, bones and all. My barrier was completely shattered by the attack. I wretched out the metal bar and howled in pain as flesh and bone were broken more from the removal.

    ¡®Damnit,¡¯ I thought to myself in a mixture of rage and sorrow, ¡®why is someone like him so strong? He let her die. He deserves to die! Why did AGH decide to let him work here? Why is he someone who was given so much power?¡¯ Innumerable questions flooded my mind as I looked back towards Jerricho.

    I saw him still, floating in the air, that damned smile still on his face. He didn¡¯t feel any hesitation, any remorse, nothing at all. I reached out to my side and used telekineses to grab 3 cars next to me and threw them as hard as I could toward Jerricho.

    The trio of vehicles flew through the air at over 100 mph, to any C-Rank it would be lethal, and to a B-Rank it would be a dangerous attack, but Jerricho merely swiped his hand downward and all three of them were split in half, flying past harmlessly.

    I saw Jerricho freeze for a moment as he saw the spot I was standing in just a second ago was now empty. When I threw the cars I deliberately through them directly in front of me so I would leave his vision for a moment. While hidden from view I used my powers to solidify a cord between me and the underside of one of the cars, allowing it to pull me along. Now a few feet behind Jerricho, I pushed off the car and detached myself, sending me flying towards him. Flight was impossible for anyone weaker than an A-Rank, so movements like this were the only way to engage in aerial combat for me.

    As I flew I began to condense psychic energy in my arm. Rage fueled my power as more and more energy flooded in until I felt my arm begin to swell painfully. I had enough psychic energy to destroy a medium-sized house in a single punch.

    I threw my fist forward, the speed at which it traveled causing the air around it to ignite as it approached Jerrichos face. This time, he had no chance to react and my fist approached with inevitability toward Jerricho¡¯s face.

    2 things happened next. First, a flock of birds 10 feet behind Jerricho was slammed into a building from the shockwave of my punch and splattered into puddles of blood. Second, I crashed down into the underground level of the parking garage again, barely able to even see what happened.

    I felt my head ring painfully and my vision began to blur. The whole world spun and water filled my eyes and ears. I sat up and immediately felt numerous bones in my body creak painfully along with a warm liquid trickling down the back of my head.

    I saw Roland run toward me and felt him lift my head onto his leg. As I observed his face I could see his eyes, strangely cold and distant, as though he were disconnected from the world.

    ¡°Shit, Mark where are you hurt?¡±

    ¡®Would you like me to start with the arm with a hole in it, the dislocated shoulder, or the bleeding head?¡¯

    I shoved down my thoughts as I said ¡°My head.¡± Psychic powers were partially connected to the brain, healing my head wound would allow the rest of the healing process to go much quicker.

    Roland quickly placed his hand over my wounded area and I felt a burning sensation as it slowly began to heal. I looked around but Jerricho didn¡¯t seem to be following me.

    I recalled what had just happened. I barely saw his movements, but I had noticed just enough to try and guess what Jerricho had done. Before my fist even moved his head an inch, Jerricho grabbed my wrist and threw me down through three stories of the parking garage. I crashed into the bottom of the parking garage before I could even register that I had actually landed a full punch.

    The man who had been crying earlier hobbled over to me, Violet supported his shoulder as he walked to help move him along.

    ¡°Sir, you shouldn¡¯t be walking right now,¡± Roland said.

    ¡°Call me Carson,¡± he said, his voice dry from his earlier weeping. Even now I heard a lingering sense of sadness in him, but his eyes seemed glazed over slightly now.

    ¡®Did they put him under a minor hypnosis to make him feel better?¡¯

    ¡°Why did you do all that for April? You didn¡¯t even know her,¡± Carson asked me.

    I shrugged in response. ¡°I just felt like I needed to do something. I suppose that guy provided an easy target. I¡¯m sure Roland can relate to me.¡±

    I saw Roland nod at my mention of his name. It appeared we thought in very similar ways to each other.

    ¡°Well, in any case, thank you,¡± Carson said. Suddenly his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body went limp, forcing Violet to catch him.

    I saw Jerricho descending from the holes he had made by throwing me through the parking garage. Sunlight beamed down with him, as though the gods were showing their support for someone as cruel as him. If this were any different situation I would have thought an angel had descended from heaven.

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    I felt anger surge in me once again and started to get up when I felt a wave of psychic pressure begin to push me back. It wasn¡¯t overly forceful or painful but it was enough to make me hesitate for a moment.

    ¡°Now now, I was hoping we could have a chat,¡± Jerricho said, this time the smile on his face, while filled with smugness, was no longer malicious.

    ¡­

    We all sat outside at a circular stone table Jerricho carved out of the ground. Vivian was sleeping nearby along with Carson. She had fainted soon after my fight with Jerricho commenced.

    I stared down Jerricho, while I had calmed down I certainly didn¡¯t find him to be any less cruel or deserving of punishment. But it was clear that nothing I could do would even be able to phase him.

    Jerricho stretched his arm out into the air and from nothingness, pulled out a teapot and 4 cups. He placed a cup in front of himself, Roland, me, and Violet and poured for each of us the liquid from the teapot.

    ¡°It¡¯s my unique power, I have access to a dimensional storage space about the size of a small garage,¡± Jerricho explained, still smiling smugly.

    I hesitantly took the cup and looked inside it. The drink appeared to be water, not tea, but it also had a strange reflective quality to it. I swished it around slightly and saw light refract in innumerable directions, like an infinite series of bounces that had no end.

    ¡°It¡¯s a healing liquid. It¡¯ll help replenish any psychic energy you might¡¯ve lost throughout the second selection. I¡¯ll leave you some for the sleeping girl over there too.¡±

    ¡°Her name is Vivian,¡± I said to him. For some reason, his voice seemed to have a newfound calming effect on me and I no longer spoke to him angrily.

    Jerricho took out a teaspoon and began to stir his drink, staring at each of us expectantly. He waved his hand at us, gesturing to the cups he had filled with the healing liquid.

    I grabbed the teacup and brought it up to my mouth. I took a sniff of it first. I felt the heat coming from the liquid caress my face as the smell of eucalyptus and mountain pine trees filled my nose.

    Feeling that it was safe I decided to take a sip from the cup. Immediately I felt the liquid flow down my throat and spread its warmth throughout my entire body. It felt like every vein in my body was suddenly filled with warmth as psychic energy filled my body once more. I had used more psychic energy in the fight with Jerricho and while running down the second selection path than I realized.

    ¡°Well, now that you all seem to have calmed down, allow me to explain this test.¡±

    Jerricho took a long sip from his teacup before beginning. He closed his eyes and a wonderous smile grew on his face. When he stopped he looked at us 3 with a comforting warmth.

    ¡°You see, the couple here are criminals.¡±

    ¡®What?¡¯

    ¡°April was on death row for murder, premeditated, and quite a few of them. Carson was arrested for rape and assault, mostly of young girls. He has life imprisonment. Of course, they were a real couple though. They were quite loving to each other according to the prison guards.¡±

    I sat silently, contemplating his words. Indeed, that did change things slightly. One could even argue that they got what they deserved. But I still hated it.

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make you any less wrong in your actions,¡± I told Jerricho.

    Roland nodded in agreement. ¡°Mark is right. Even if they were hardened criminals this is well beyond torture, two wrongs don¡¯t make things right.¡±

    Jerricho smiled at the two of us and shook his head.

    ¡°If they were going to do nothing the rest of their lives, we could at least put them to use for society¡¯s benefit.¡±

    I felt the urge to fight Jerricho rise again. His reasoning wasn¡¯t wrong but it was cruel. It was the same type of reasoning that dictators would use to justify internment camps back in the Great War.

    Jerricho shrugged his shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m never going to be able to convince you. Even the principal needed several weeks of convincing before he allowed me to do this, and he was already crazy.¡±

    Jerricho began to readjust himself in his seat, now placing himself in a more serious position as he looked at each one of us carefully. He observed Violet, his gaze looking up and down her body until she shifted away uncomfortably.

    Roland walked up to him and grabbed his shoulder, ¡°Hey,¡± he said. But Jerricho merely flicked Roland¡¯s forehead and Roland was forced back down into his seat.

    ¡°Calm down kid, I¡¯m many bad things, but I¡¯m not a pedo.¡±

    He then observed both Roland and I, looking up and down our bodies over and over again, as though he were a farmer picking out the most ripe fruit to ring to the market. He then looked at Vivian, who was still sleeping. As his gaze drew over her I felt similar to how Roland likely felt when Jerricho looked at Violet. I struggled to keep myself under control as Jerricho examined Vivian.

    I saw his eyes wide, slowly taking in every detail about Vivian. Her hair color, smoothness, skin tone, acne, arm size, length, chest size, shoulder width. It was difficult to not think of him as a predator as he did this, if he had done such a thing to my sister I would¡¯ve attacked him without hesitation.

    Jerricho finished his examination of all four of us and smiled.

    ¡°You all pass.¡±

    I tilted my head slightly in confusion. How did we pass? This section was supposed to test for search and rescue objectives, and we had failed to rescue one person.

    ¡°When you came in here the principal told you that your goal was to find an examiner right?¡±

    I nodded in response to him. That was indeed what the principal had said.

    ¡°This wasn¡¯t a section dedicated to search and rescue, it was a test given by examiners. Each examiner was told to come up with a test that would test the skills, mental fortitude, and intelligence of the applicants. Your little group,¡± he said, pointing at us with a spinning finger, ¡°you guys satisfied me.¡±

    He looked at Violet first, ¡°You little Ms, remained exceptionally calm considering the situation. Adding onto that your unique power you used while finding this place, and your Mid B-Rank status, I decided to let you pass.¡±

    Now he turned to Roland. ¡°You sir have shown your skills as a leader ever since the door closing on the second day of the application, yes, I was watching. All examiners have been watching any major events. You also know when to step down and let more qualified people take charge, like when Mark led you all in providing medical aid.¡±

    He turned his head towards me now, his eyes examining me once more. ¡°You impressed me the most. You displayed healing abilities on par with a Low A-Rank and had decent knowledge about first aid. Not only that, your strong dedication to your moral code was displayed when you decided to fight me, although that could easily be put up to stupidity instead.¡±

    I felt myself redden angrily at his words. The damned bastard was calling me stupid.

    ¡°I must ask you kid, where did you learn first aid and such healing prowess?¡±

    ¡°My parents are doctors,¡± I said. ¡°They made me take first aid classes and taught me up to intermediate healing techniques.¡±

    Jerricho nodded, ¡°Yes that explains it,¡± he said, satisfied with my answer.

    Jerricho suddenly spun in his seat and pointed at Vivian. ¡°She unfortunately was rather unimpressive. She displayed great control of her psychic powers when reducing Carson''s pain but her mental fortitude is completely lacking for AGH.¡±

    ¡°She reacted the same way most people would!¡± I protested.

    Jerricho shook his head. ¡°This is AGH, do you think that we¡¯re just gonna let people in all willy-nilly like that? I¡¯m letting her pass because she¡¯s part of your group and I want to see what kind of influence you might have on her, nothing more.¡±

    I saw Jerricho create a backrest for his chair as he leaned back. He crossed his legs and placed them up on the table as he looked towards the sky. He gave a heavy sigh as he let us consider his analysis of us for a few seconds.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been officially relieved from hero duties for years because of my brutality,¡± Jerricho suddenly said.

    I felt a wave of shock come over me. That would mean Jerricho wasn¡¯t even an official hero. Why would AGH allow someone like Jerricho, who wasn¡¯t even an official hero anymore, to become an examiner?

    ¡°But each year AGH calls me back, do you want to know why?¡±

    I hesitated for a moment before nodding my head, indeed I was curious.

    ¡°It¡¯s because every applicant that became a student at AGH after taking my test has become an S-Rank.¡±

    It made sense for AGH to do something like this then. Despite supplying a truly incredible amount of S and SS-Rank psychics to the world, only about a quarter of all AGH graduates became S-Ranks. To have what seemed to be a guaranteed method for raising new S-Ranks would keep AGH among the top hero academies in the world.

    ¡°Tell me, do you hate me?¡± Jerricho asked us.

    I looked at Violet and Roland, confused at Jerricho¡¯s question. Thinking about it, with the knowledge that the couple Jerricho had used for his test were hardened and cruel criminals, I couldn¡¯t hate Jerricho. But¡­

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t hate you. But I do think you deserve jail time for this test. This isn¡¯t just about the couple.¡±

    I stood up and began to yell at Jerricho as I recalled how Vivian had broken down completely when April had died. The couple weren¡¯t the only people hurt here.

    ¡°You tortured Vivian just as much as you tortured them,¡± I said, gesturing to the sleeping Carson. ¡°Vivian might never recover from this! You went too far!¡±

    Jerrichos hand moved too fast for me to even notice as he slapped me across the face. It didn¡¯t have any psychic powers imbued but I hadn¡¯t made any shields, leading it to sting painfully. Roland and Violet stood up as well but a single hand motion from Jerricho forced us back into our seats.

    ¡°I showed her what it would take,¡± he said. ¡°I showed her what it¡¯s like to fail. I showed her the cost of being a hero.

    Jerricho now walked around the table like he was giving us a lecture. His face was a confusing mix of disappointment and neutrality.

    ¡°You want to apply to AGH, meaning you are likely to become future S-Ranks. Do you think you can make it that far without suffering loss? Without your failures weighing on your soul and your heart breaking? I taught you what would happen, and in the future, you¡¯ll be thanking me.¡±

    I faltered at his reasoning. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. If we did end up graduating from AGH, our nightmares were just beginning. As A-Ranks and higher, we could be placed in charge of leading an entire city''s worth of heroes and every potential failure could be blamed on us.

    Roland, Violet, and I all looked down at the stone table in front of us. I wanted to deny it, to deny what Jerricho had said. But the fact of the matter was that there was truth in what he said.

    ¡°A large amount of applicants are beginning to flood into the city now. I need to make a new test. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t use the same one. I could only get permission to use it one time.¡±

    Jerricho held out his hand to stop me from protesting. The moment he said he needed to make a new test I was going to slap him. At the very least now though, nobody else would have to go through what Vivian did.

    Jerricho waved his hand at us, ¡°Get going now. You guys took quite a long time in this section, it¡¯s been 45 minutes since you entered. If you get going now though, you can still keep your position, I would like a few more S-Ranks to my name.¡±

    With that, Jerricho grabbed Carson and flew away in the sky, too fast for us to catch him even if we wanted to. We all watched his body vanish into the sky for a few moments, turning from a dot in the sky to a point, to a speck, before disappearing altogether. I got up and walked over to Vivian and grabbed her hand. It was cold and clammy, but its soft delicate feel remained.

    ¡®She looks so fragile,¡¯ I thought to myself.

    Her face was still pale and her eyes were tightly shut, as though she were still trying to hide from what she had seen earlier. I wrapped my arms around her body and picked her up in a bridal carry position.

    ¡°Are we ready to continue going forward?¡± Roland asked with a small crack in his voice. I sensed hesitation and fear in his voice. His arms swung by his side, his hands shaking ever so slightly. He no longer stood as tall and strong as he did before.

    Violet merely nodded. She had become practically mute since the test. Her eyes were cold and distant, even from Roland. She shuffled her feet slightly, dragging them across the ground, and folded her arms inwards as though to shield herself from the world.

    I was no exception from the rest of them. I shuddered slightly as I recalled seeing April''s last moments before her heart stopped. Her lips shuddered and her eyelids loosened. It was as though her final breath had been drawn out of her by death itself.

    ¡®So he has only ever made S-Ranks¡­¡¯

    Slowly, we began our trek through the remains of the destroyed city to complete the second selection. Around us on all sides were destroyed buildings, destroyed dreams, and destroyed lives. Each one was the cost of failure, and each one we saw weighed on our spirits as we dragged onwards.

    ¡­

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®You are no better.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®So¡­ the benefits of a broken spirit.¡¯

    End of Chapter 17

 Chapter 18: A Newfound Determination

    Chapter 18: A Newfound Determination

    Violet slowly traversed the ruined city, carefully navigating past the fires and floods towards the border.

    ¡®2348, 2349, 2350, 2351¡¯

    At some point, Violet had begun counting numbers in her head to distract herself. Around her, Roland and Mark walked in their pitiful silence.

    Roland¡¯s eyes shifted constantly, looking side to side as though he were searching for someone with no end. His previous height that once towered over Violet now seemed meek and small. His eyes, once blue, now dimmed into a dusty shade.

    Mark carefully held Vivian in his arms. Compared to Roland he seemed to be faring rather well. Every step he took he carefully eyed Vivian, ensuring her the best possible comfort on their journey to the border of the ruined city. Yet Violet couldn¡¯t help but feel that Mark swayed unnaturally as if his very soul was imbalanced.

    Violet checked her counter, something she hadn¡¯t done since she entered the ruined city.

    75%

    ¡®It went up¡­¡¯

    The counter only went up for three reasons. The first was that the counter naturally went up as a result of how the sealing method operated. The second was when Violet received brain damage or suffered from a mental failure. Depending on the severity, the counter could barely rise or jump massive amounts upwards. The third, was whenever Violet suffered a moment of emotional distraught.

    Violet looked at her hand, still covered in dried blood from April¡¯s abdomen before she died. As she lifted her hand she felt her arm shake, as though bearing its weight was the limit of its strength.

    Violet began to closely examine the blood. It wrapped around her hand nearly perfectly, with only some spotted parts of her skin peeking through. The dried blood had made it hard for her hand to move as she began to curl her fingers inwards. The blood flaked and cracked, causing some petals to float down to the ground.

    Violet could still feel April¡¯s body, cold and lifeless. She could hear Carson¡¯s screaming cries. She could hear his questioning of the gods will. She had done the same thing not so long ago.

    ¡°In the future, you¡¯ll be thanking me.¡±

    Jerricho¡¯s words still rang in Violet¡¯s ears. Each word held a monumental weight, each word acted like a breaking straw on the camel''s back.

    ¡®It¡¯s my fault.¡¯

    Violet knew that nobody would reasonably blame her for April¡¯s death. But she had wanted to be a hero, she knew that healing was an essential part of a hero¡¯s skillset. Yet she had barely trained in it before the application. Maybe if she had Mark¡¯s skill level, or just a tiny bit more than the skill she had, April could still be alive. Knowing that April was doomed to die on death row provided no comfort to Violet.

    She didn¡¯t cry, Violet simply didn¡¯t feel like crying. It was slow, but Violet realized her sadness was being replaced. She looked at her hand again, and she felt nothing but contempt.

    ¡®It¡¯s my fault.¡¯

    Violet pushed psychic energy outside of her hand and the blood shattered. Her hand was now clean again and she could move her fingers once more. Violet gripped her hand tighter and tighter and soon blood began to pour out of her hand.

    ¡®It¡¯s not enough. It just isn¡¯t enough¡­ Not again. Not again.¡¯

    Violet¡¯s vision began to blur with water as she continued to push her nails into her hand further and further until she was left with a horrific bloody gash across her palm.

    ¡­

    ¡°We¡¯re here¡­¡± Roland said.

    Violet stopped on the edge of the city. The destroyed buildings behind them vanished and were replaced with small buildings acting like walls. In front of them, the path curved into the distance out of view.

    Violet let her hand finally hang down by her side and allowed her fingers to relax. She felt her bones crack after having been placed under strain for so long. She allowed her wound to heal but the psychic power she used was limited. When the wound healed a soft textured gray line ran across her hand. An impossible-to-repair injury that tainted her otherwise nearly imperfectionless body.

    Mark set Vivian down on the ground and began to rouse her. He gently shook her and Vivian began to open her eyes.

    In Vivian¡¯s eyes, a dead glass reflection shined. Her jaw hung slack and she slowly stood up. As she stood, Vivian¡¯s legs began to shake weakly and her mouth quivered.

    Violet saw the world darken as the sun was blocked by an oppressive cloud. Drops of water began to rain from the sky as the four teammates stood together silently.

    Violet saw Roland look forward, away from the city. The path turned a deep black as water seeped in. He then looked towards the sky and held himself in a position of reverence, his arms stretched open as if to beg the sky to take him away. He began to pray, his voice filled with an unnatural strength as the presence of the gods was invoked. Roland spoke the Prayer of Guidance.

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    ¡°Gods, give us the strength to continue forward. Show us the the truth of the world, show us the way we must go, whether it be the most traveled or the hidden path yet unseen. Hallowed are those, creators of all, the ones infinitely present, the ones that witness all. We stand before you, your humbled servants, and ask for your help.¡±

    Roland¡¯s voice boomed in the air, given an unnatural reverberation. Yet nothing happened. The rain came down from the sky the same, drowning the four of them in the tears of the sky.

    Violet shook her head. The gods rarely responded to prayers asking for help. Across all 58 billion people on earth, each of them praying to the gods, the Holy Church estimated only 10,000 prayers a year were deemed worthy of granting by the gods. Other than that, the gods interacted with humanity in only a few ways.

    Roland set his arms by his side once more and the rain began pouring with an oppressive might. It bore down endlessly, a torrential proclamation of their failure.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Roland said.

    Violet saw Mark once more grab Vivian¡¯s hand, this time, seemingly as much for his comfort as hers. The four of them broke into a run, continuing down the path and leaving behind the ruined city.

    ¡­

    Up ahead Violet saw a sign marking the 30th mile. This meant another obstacle or test would be up ahead. Violet began to pray in her heart that it would be easier than the previous obstacle. She looked at Vivian whose mental state had improved slightly, but it was only slightly. If the next obstacle pushed her too far, it could be the end of Vivian¡¯s goal to become a hero.

    Violet herself worried that if she experienced anything more then she might very well drop out of the application process voluntarily. If that happened though, there was a decent chance her father would kill her for bringing such shame to the Woo family.

    As the group rounded another bend Violet saw the course widen once more. The path turned into a massive circular arena and inside multiple applicants fought against¡­

    ¡®Are those evil spirits?¡¯

    Roland stopped the group some ways away from the arena. As Violet looked longer she was able to confirm that the applicants were indeed fighting against evil spirits. The spirits took all sorts of shapes and colors, glowing brightly as they ran all over the arena. However, most of them were at least vaguely humanoid.

    Villains were not the only dangerous group of psychic beings in the world. Evil spirits, ghosts, cursed spirits, whatever one wished to call them, also existed. An evil spirit is formed when a person dies full of negative emotions. If their will was strong enough, their soul would return to earth and become an evil spirit.

    Evil spirits that came from a person who was only C-Rank would be weak and the average person could kill one with some struggle. However B-Rank evil spirits could recall the powers they had in life to a much greater effect and while their capacity couldn¡¯t grow, their skill could. At the highest level, evil spirits were as intellectually capable as humans and could be considered as strong as S-Ranks. There was only one SS-Rank ever seen though and it was killed during the Great War.

    ¡®How did they get so many?¡¯

    Evil spirits, while not extremely rare, weren¡¯t exactly common. To find hundreds, no thousands of evil spirits and move them all into an arena was insane. It would be impossible to find so many of them in anything less than a year.

    ¡°Hello, future stars.¡±

    The principal''s voice boomed through hidden speakers in the path, distracting some of the applicants mid-fight and nearly costing them.

    ¡°As you can see there are hundreds of evil spirits in this area and we have thousands more to make sure you don¡¯t run out of any to fight. Your job is merely to make it through the course and don¡¯t worry, we have several A-Ranks here so you don¡¯t die. Good luck future stars.¡±

    Violet observed how the other applicants ahead of them were doing. If she had to estimate, she was likely in about 40th place again. However, there were almost 20 applicants inside the arena actively fighting and many of them were unable to move forward. If they could get past this obstacle quickly then they could jump up 10 or even 15 places.

    Violet started observing the battles between the applicants and the evil spirits. Beams of light and explosions rang out as evil spirits were killed. But for every one that died, there seemed to be at least 10 more ready to take its place. They weren¡¯t strong but there were an insane amount of them.

    Violet saw one applicant receive a direct attack from an evil spirit, their shield shattered and soon they were swarmed. Instinctively, Violet looked away, fearful of seeing any more horrific scenes. However, when she looked back she found that an A-Rank had eliminated all the evil spirits. They picked up the defeated applicant and took them off the course unharmed.

    ¡®I see. They aren¡¯t going to let people get seriously hurt here.¡¯

    Evil spirits could infect people with their psychic power if they landed a near-lethal blow, possibly causing a person to become a new evil spirit when they died. The knowledge that A-Ranks were preventing this greatly comforted Violet who was still mentally affected by the previous obstacle. In this case, it was simple fighting and nobody would get hurt.

    Roland turned around to the rest of the group. His face set with a solidified determination.

    ¡°Are we ready?¡±

    Violet clenched her hand into a fist and felt the scarred tissue in her palm. She closed her eyes for a moment and pictured herself, pathetically healing April at less than half of Mark¡¯s pace and failing pitifully in the end. Violet opened her eyes with a new hate-filled determination. She looked around at the others and saw that all four of them had the same look on their face.

    They didn¡¯t even need to speak as Roland understood everything from a single look on their face. He turned towards the arena ahead of him and began to walk forward, followed closely behind by the rest of the group.

    The moment they crossed the line between the path and the arena a group of evil spirits locked onto them. They began sprinting, their strange colorfully glowing bodies, all of different sizes sprinted over. Some were as small as dogs while others were almost 12 feet tall.

    Roland broke out into a sprint and led a charge directly into the swarm of approaching evil spirits.

    Violet pushed psychic energy out from her hand and formed it into a sphere. It glowed brightly as Violet aimed it towards the army of evil spirits. A bright beam of purple psychic energy shot out and sliced the spirits in half, killing 7 in a single attack.

    Violet smiled to herself. This wouldn¡¯t be like the previous obstacle, this time Violet could take a starring role. As an all-rounded Mid B-Rank, this was a situation where Violet could shine. Mark¡¯s capacity and strength were too low while Roland and Vivian were too focused in specific categories. But Violet was equally skilled in all categories and had the capacity and strength to match with it.

    A purple sword formed in Violet¡¯s hand as she sliced down 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 12 different evil spirits singlehandedly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Roland look at her with a surprisingly impressed look on his face.

    Violet felt herself blush a little as she jumped to the front of the group and began to cleave her way through the waves of evil spirits. She hadn¡¯t focused enough on healing, but this time it was something she did focus on during training. If there was one thing all of the strongest Woo family psychics were known for, it was combat.

    Violet stabbed her sword into the ground and pulled it out again, along with a large chunk of earth. She wriggled her fingers and the earth whittled down into sharp spikes she then threw at the evil spirits, riddling them with holes. 4 more down.

    Behind her, Roland had wrapped his body in flames as he began to burn the evil spirits in a raging wildfire. Vivian crushed numerous evil spirits with her telekineses and threw them into each other with enough force to cause them to splatter into beams of light. Mark offered support to them all, while he wasn¡¯t as capable as the other three, he was still strong enough to assist.

    Dozens of evil spirits fell to the ground, their bodies disappearing into particles of light before vanishing completely. Since they didn¡¯t have actual physical bodies they didn¡¯t bleed and would vanish completely after they died.

    Unlike most of the other applicants, they were a team. The others had gotten stuck because they didn¡¯t have enough firepower to make it through single-handedly.

    Suddenly the large series of evil spirits stopped coming. While all around them numerous other applicants were struggling with their battles, Violet and her teammates were left alone.

    ¡°Get ready, AGH might be trying something on us!¡± Roland yelled out.

    Violet reinforced her body with psychic energy. She saw ahead of her a hole in the ground open up and from it came several more evil spirits. However, these were different. Violet could sense a small amount of psychic energy emanating from them, they were B-Ranks. The evil spirits roared and began to charge Violet, coming at terrifying speed.

    Violet smiled, at last, she could show her competence to AGH. She sprinted towards the incoming evil spirits, followed closely behind by her three teammates.

    ¡®This time, I¡¯ll be the leading force.¡¯

    77%

    End of Chapter 18

 Chapter 19: Teamwork of 4 vs 1

    Chapter 19: Teamwork of 4 vs 1

    I pulled my arms in front of my face in an x position as a fist larger than my head slammed down on me. The earth beneath me shattered from the force of the impact. 4 evil spirits at the B-Rank had appeared from a hole in the ground, and each team member took one on.

    I pushed back against the fist and sent the evil spirit stumbling back. Leaping into the air I spun around, wrapping my leg in psychic energy, and kicked the evil spirit in the face. It was sent tumbling away several feet but appeared to be unharmed. It got up once again and roared at me, the inside of its mouth full of tentacles, each with its own mouth snapping on the end.

    I stretched out my hand and the air in front of me ignited, fiery snake-like worms of fire flying out and burning away the spirit''s many tentacles. The creatures screamed in pain and began slamming the ground, each crack shattering the ground, and leaving debris floating.

    The spirit spread its arms and the debris collapsed into a sword. The spirit gripped the handle and swung it a few times, its skill clearly displayed.

    ¡®Was this guy a swordsman in life?¡¯ Spirits oftentimes still possessed certain traits and abilities they had in life, even unique powers could be kept.

    The spirit charged forward at me and swung its sword with tremendous force. I dodged to the left, narrowly swinging past the blade by mere inches. All of a sudden the sword suddenly changed shape and a blade came out from the side, directly towards me.

    I braced for impact by shielding my body with psychic energy but there wasn¡¯t enough time. The blade cleaved through my unfinished barrier easily and collided with me, slamming into my arms that were blocking my body. I felt small fractures in my bones form as I was sent flying almost 20 feet away. I was lucky, if the spirit had been better at earth manipulation then the blade would have been sharpened and cut through my arms.

    As I was in the air I saw that Violet, Vivian, and Roland were completely pushing their opponents back. I snorted to myself when I landed, dragging my hands through the ground to stop myself from sliding back.

    ¡®There really is quite the difference between Low and Mid B-Ranks.¡¯

    I quickly poured psychic energy into my bone fractures and they healed in just a few seconds. However, healing was a taxing ability, I couldn¡¯t use it too much or I would soon be left exhausted.

    Turning my attention back to the evil spirit I began to formulate a plan to take it down quickly. We appeared to be about the same rank so in terms of capacity, I would be a little higher. This was because a decent chunk of the spirit''s power was spent sustaining its existence. However, its sword was troublesome and I didn¡¯t have any weapons experience so close combat would be a dangerous choice. I could try and fight long-range range but using energy projection attacks would cost more psychic energy and I definitely didn¡¯t have good accuracy.

    ¡®So, what to choose.¡¯

    This time though it appeared the spirit decided for me. In just a few moments it had gone from 20 feet away to within sword distance. As the sword came around from the spirit''s side I jumped into the air, passing 5 feet over its head. In my hand was a concentrated orb of psychic energy. I released it and a light blue beam shot out as I traveled over the creature''s head, carving a line across the spirit.

    I couldn¡¯t deal with the sword in close quarters for long and I couldn¡¯t rely on long-range abilities. Therefore a mid-range attack keeping me away from the sword that started from close-quarters to grant me easy accuracy was the best course of action.

    When I landed behind the spirit I released a powerful blast of psychic energy and blew a hole through its back. The previous attack had caused it to focus a barrier on its head, leaving the rest of its body exposed. Until a spirit reached A-Rank, it would somewhat be confined to human anatomy weaknesses, which meant a dead head was a guaranteed dead spirit. By abusing this weakness and the fact that the intelligence of spirits was low until S-Rank I could put myself in a winning position.

    The spirit fell over and I climbed over it, stomping on its head to land a final blow. The head exploded into beautiful rainbow colors and the rest of the body began to melt away. Soon the entire spirit turned into beautiful rainbow lights. I heard one final, weak roar, and then the lights disappeared.

    I turned back towards my teammates who had already regrouped. They waved at me to meet them slightly up ahead, we likely only had a little bit of time before another group of spirits attacked us. We needed to get ahead while we could.

    I nodded at them and waved forward to signal my understanding. I saw them begin to move towards the exit of the arena as I pushed off the ground. I rushed towards the end as fast as a car, at almost 80 miles an hour. It wasn¡¯t a sustainable pace but just to get to the end of the arena, it was sufficient.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t think it would be that easy did you?¡± The principal said through the speakers hidden in the arena.

    ¡®This fucking guy¡­¡¯

    In front of the exit, a massive hole opened and a singular evil spirit emerged. Immediately I could tell something about this one was different. While extremely large, the size of a two-story house, and still very colorful, its body was identically shaped to a human''s. Their hands, glowing hair, bright eyes, everything about them looked like a human.

    ¡®This¡­ it¡¯s a high B-Rank.¡¯

    It opened its massive mouth, its jaw unhinging further than what traditional human anatomy allowed, and gave a tremendous roar. A blast of wind collided with me and I lost my footing, sending me tumbling directly into Roland. Our heads collided and my world spun for a moment as I struggled to figure out whether I was on top of or beneath Roland.

    ¡°Marm, ger ohf mmme,¡± Roland said, muffled by my body.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said as I stood up again. I offered my hand to Roland and helped him back on his feet.

    ¡°How was your fight, Mark?¡± Roland asked me.

    ¡°It was alright. If these spirits were as smart as us then it would¡¯ve been a lot harder. How about you?¡±

    Roland shrugged. His body language told me he felt neutral about his performance. I turned around and gestured to Vivian and Violet about how they felt about it. Both of them gave similar responses to Roland.

    ¡®Damn you guys, all acting so relaxed after beating them so much faster than me.¡¯

    I smiled shyly, as tiresome as this fighting was, I was enjoying myself. A simple, straightforward, easy-to-understand challenge without any extreme danger to ourselves.

    However, I still felt April¡¯s death inside. It looked like the others did too. Vivian especially, still had a slightly panicked look on her face despite her being relatively safe.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    ¡°Well, looks like we¡¯re gonna have to deal with this guy,¡± Roland said.

    Turning back towards the massive evil spirit I saw it begin to beat on its chest and slam the ground like a fighting ritual. As a High B-Rank spirit its capacity would be higher than any of ours. However, its intelligence would make a baby seem smart and we had the benefit of numbers.

    ¡°Mark, you and I will take out its legs. Vivian, you distract it with long-distance attacks. Violet, you¡¯re the strongest combatant here so I want you to try and kill its head,¡± Roland said to us.

    I nodded and felt a sense of respect rise in me. Roland was gifted as a leader, it had been such a short time but he had already come up with an idea to try and give us a quick way to victory while also considering two specific points.

    The first, Violet was the strongest combatant. Her status as an all-rounded B-Rank meant that in all but the two categories Roland and Vivian specialized in, she would almost certainly be the most powerful psychic. As such, she would be the one most likely to be able to kill the evil spirit in a single hit.

    The second thing was that Vivian had yet to recover from April¡¯s death. Placing her on the front lines against a stronger opponent could prove to be a bad idea if she froze up, in which case she would potentially be a liability rather than a help. Not to mention, with her telekinesis specialty, Vivian was especially suited for long-range attacks with any objects in the area.

    His role assignment made use of our strongest unit in the best way possible and ensured that our weakest would remain out of harm''s way while still using them effectively.

    ¡®Well done team leader.¡¯

    ¡°Are we all good with that plan?¡± He said.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Uh, yes it sounds good.¡±

    With everyone confirming the plan Roland and I stepped to the front, followed by Vivian and finally by Violet.

    ¡°3¡­¡± Roland began a countdown, ¡°2¡­¡± Here we go, ¡°Go!¡±

    Roland and I pushed off the ground, immediately springing forward and ending up close to the spirit in mere seconds. The spirit had begun to open its mouth to roar once more, but there wasn¡¯t enough time for it to do so.

    Realizing this the spirit poured psychic energy into its arms and slammed the ground, a massive crater forming as Roland and I were forced to divert our paths away from it.

    ¡°Vivian!¡± Roland yelled.

    ¡°I got it!¡± she responded.

    The spirit''s attack had left a large amount of rocks in the air which Vivian now took hold of. She formed a large halo above the spirit and began throwing rock after rock at it. The spirit turned towards the sky and began trying to swipe down the rocks but Vivian skillfully maneuvered each one of them from harm''s way.

    With the spirits focused on the sky Roland and I charged back towards the creature. I filed a large amount of psychic energy into my legs and threw myself, legs first, horizontally at the spirit while Roland performed a simple tackle. We successfully took the spirit off of its feet and saw it begin to fall.

    Violet immediately rushed over and before the creature''s head even hit the ground unleashed a massive punch on it. The force of the punch was so powerful that I was nearly thrown off of my feet from the winds produced despite most of the power of the attack being directed elsewhere. I dug my hands into the ground to prevent myself from blowing away.

    ¡®Incredible. I barely even saw any charge-up time.¡¯

    However, the spirit''s head didn¡¯t completely disappear. Only half of it was blown off, it appeared to have known it couldn¡¯t take a full hit so it allowed half of its head to be blasted off to direct more shielding power into the other half.

    The creature quickly recovered and backhanded Violet away, luckily Vivian caught her. However, her eyes were no longer on the creature, so no more distracting rocks were raining down on it. It turned its attention towards the closest person, me.

    ¡®Ah¡­ well this is sub-optimal.¡¯

    I instantly brought up a shield as the creature launched a beam of energy toward me. The moment it hit the shield I felt myself moving back several feet from the force of the attack and I extended the shield into the ground to prevent myself from moving back further.

    ¡®I need to get out of this or he¡¯ll just overwhelm me with sheer force from this one attack.¡¯

    It hadn¡¯t even been two seconds but the outer edges of my shield were already being chipped away. This spirit I had fought earlier wasn¡¯t even on the same level. I expanded the shield to become larger than the area the beam covered and pushed it forward. For a moment the shield fought back against the beam before losing pitifully less than a second later. However, it was just barely enough time for me to roll out of the way of the blast. Well, most of me, my shoulder was grazed.

    I winced in pain as I ran towards Roland. Alone I would almost certainly lose against the power of a High B-Rank spirit. But together with Roland, we stood a good chance. I saw Roland form a massive earthen wall as the spirit roared once more, this time bouncing away harmlessly.

    ¡°Mark, are you ok?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Just a little burn on the shoulder.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry man, the spirit is smarter than I thought.¡±

    It appeared Roland blamed himself partly for the failure of the plan. I shook my head and patted him on the shoulder.

    ¡°We couldn¡¯t have known Roland, it¡¯s not your fault.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mark.¡±

    Suddenly, I heard the spirit charging up an attack from the other side of the wall. Roland grabbed my hand and pulled me away as we broke into a full sprint once more. Another burst of energy impacted the wall, carving right through it.

    ¡°Get down,¡± Roland yelled. He pulled me onto the ground next to him as the beam passed above our heads. Roland then slammed his hand on the ground and the earthen wall returned to the surface earth.

    ¡°Mark, run at him now!¡±

    I got up again and immediately broke out into a full sprint, this time hitting a top speed of 120 mph. I charged up a huge amount of psychic energy into my arm, almost 10% of my total, and leaped into the air with Roland on the other side of me. Our fists collided with the fists of the spirit and a shockwave blew out. A loud bang rang out across the arena which made a gunshot sound quiet. However, the spirit was stronger than we were. Its status as a High B-Rank was truly deserved.

    The spirit pushed us backward and Roland and I were sent flying back through the air. I landed on the ground and tumbled away. When I finally stopped the spirit was charging up another attack. I looked behind me and saw the exit, just 10 feet away, but the spirit''s attack would still hit me.

    My eyes widened in fear as I realized the spirit began to fill itself up with a tremendous amount of psychic energy and a huge spiraling orb formed in front of the spirit''s face. This attack could kill me.

    ¡®SHIT!¡¯

    I braced myself to receive an attack as the spirit roared one more time and then¡­

    The spirit exploded from the waist up and I felt myself get flung hundreds of feet backward, past the entrance, tumbling on the ground painfully. I felt numerous fractures and broken bones form onto my body painfully as I rolled away uncontrollably.

    ¡°AH FUCK! SHIT!¡±

    I swore out in pain from the numerous injuries I had. I saw Violet hundreds of feet away standing in front of the dead spirit, her hand smoking from the attack she had launched. She must have used a stupendously huge amount of psychic energy to pull off such an attack. Honestly, it was overkill.

    ¡®I see, that¡¯s why you lowered the wall and charged at it, Roland.¡¯

    Roland had realized that we were drawing the attention of the spirit, keeping it away from Violet. However, if the spirit determined that it couldn¡¯t attack us then it would attempt to go after the individual that nearly killed it earlier, Violet. By keeping the spirit''s attention on us, Violet was able to build up an incredible attack to kill the spirit in one blow.

    ¡®But that was completely overkill.¡¯

    I groaned in pain as Roland came over and began to heal me. He was smiling proudly at himself. This was a successful battle largely because of his leadership, it was reasonable for him to be happy.

    ¡°Violet really went all out there didn¡¯t she.¡±

    ¡°yeah,¡± I said weakly as my ribs were being painfully returned to their original positions.

    After Violet and Vivian came over to help we were able to finish my healing in just under two minutes.

    ¡°Thank you, everyone,¡± I said smiling.

    They all nodded at me and Violet blushed a little out of embarrassment.

    ¡®You better be embaressed considering you caused this¡­ NO Mark don¡¯t be mean. Think good thoughts.¡¯

    ¡°Well done you four. That¡¯s the fastest completion we¡¯ve seen today. 10 points to Roland for his leadership and 10 points to Violet for the display of her combat abilities and power.¡±

    The principal''s voice echoed throughout the path again, full of heartwarming praise. I gave Roland a pat on the back and Violet a high five as a congratulations.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s get going. There¡¯s still a few more obstacles left,¡± Roland said excitedly.

    We all responded reflecting his attitude. After this obstacle and hearing that we had done so well, it was difficult not to allow our spirits to get up, especially considering how much of a downer the previous obstacles were.

    We began to run towards the final obstacles, this was it, our second wind. My heart still weighed from the previous obstacle, but I had found a place to use it. It is that death that would drive me forward now.

    ¡­

    A man in a suit pulled up a radio and began to call in to notify his master of the information he had collected.

    ¡°Sir, I¡¯ve discovered some information on that boy, Mark.¡±

    The voice of the man''s master came from the other side of the radio. He flinched instinctively as he recalled the punishment he had received for leaving his assigned post earlier to help the daughter of his master receive medical care.

    ¡°Good good, what did you find? Is he from an old psychic family by any chance?¡±

    ¡°No sir. Despite my best efforts, I couldn¡¯t find anything about his family being anything but ordinary.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I see. I guess it was just a lucky kid then¡­¡±

    ¡°That is the most likely possibility, yes sir.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ it is. Hmm¡­¡±

    A long silence pervaded the conversation now. The man was too afraid to hang up the radio as his master had yet to permit him to do so nor had he confirmed that their conversation was over. If he hung up the radio then it could be considered a sign of great disrespect.

    ¡°Do you have something else to say sir?¡± the man said nervously.

    ¡°No, nothing at all. Just report back to me if he does anything exceptional again.¡±

    The man silently gave a sigh of relief. He was worried that his master might still be angry following the last punishment he had received. While he wasn¡¯t attacked he did lose quite a bit of his pay and was forced to extend his contract for free.

    ¡°Understood sir.¡±

    End of Chapter 19

 Chapter 20: Affection and Regret

    Chapter 20: Affection and Regret

    In front of Violet, a sign came into view. Strangely enough, the 40th and 50th mile marker had no obstacles. This meant that the final obstacle was likely up ahead of them. Violet¡¯s heart gave a small leap of joy, at last, the second selection could end. She forced back some tears that had entered into her eyes, it had been long, hard, and mentally brutal, but it was ending at last.

    Leading the group, Roland held up his hand to signal everyone to stop. Violet allowed psychic energy to leave her legs, reducing her speed slowly. Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t see the obstacle yet as the path curved around a mountain.

    Violet took a look at each member of the group. She immediately noticed Mark panting heavier than the rest of them. He had less capacity than Roland, Vivian and she did, keeping up with their pace was likely taking a toll on him.

    ¡°Mark, are you ok?¡± Violet asked him.

    ¡°Mostly¡­ you guys are moving pretty fast. After the fight with those spirits, I¡¯m a little drained.¡± Mark said through panted breaths. He rubbed the back of his head and gave a nervous laugh.

    Violet saw Roland shake his head with a smile on his face. He turned towards Mark and placed his hand on Mark¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Mark, we can¡¯t have you getting exhausted on us. Because of you, we¡¯re going to take a longer break than I originally planned now,¡± Roland said with a brilliant smile.

    Mark¡¯s face paled slightly, ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that man.¡±

    ¡°No! I insist,¡± Roland said, placing his hand up to Mark¡¯s face as if to block him from speaking.

    Mark weakly protested before accepting the circumstances and sitting down on the ground. He used his arm to rub off beads of sweat coming down from his forehead. Vivian sat next to him and they began to talk. Deciding to give them some privacy, Violet chose to stand next to Roland.

    Violet saw Roland shifting slightly uncomfortably as they stood side by side staring forward. His face appeared ever so slightly red and his eyes shifted constantly, as if he were hiding something.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡± Violet asked him.

    ¡°Ye- yeah. I think I am.¡±

    Violet felt Roland¡¯s voice stutter and shift uncomfortably. Something was eating away at him.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Roland sighed deeply and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Violet felt a strange sensation towards this nervous side of Roland she hadn¡¯t yet gotten to know. But she couldn¡¯t quite define what it was.

    ¡°Violet would you¡­ wouldyouliketocometoAmeriacsometime?¡± Roland said suddenly. He spoke so fast that Violet almost couldn¡¯t understand what he said.

    ¡°Sure. I didn¡¯t get to see much of the country last time,¡± Violet said. She attempted to give a warm, comforting smile, as Mark usually gave. Roland however, struggled to make eye contact with her. It didn¡¯t seem like he was hiding anything too important but he had something he wanted to say.

    ¡°Then how about you come to¡­ visit me some time while there,¡± Roland said, his hands fidgeting with themselves. Violet tilted her head to the side, confused at what was making him so nervous. She had grown more and more comfortable with talking to Roland and had begun to adopt her own body language while conversing with him. The type of body language that could hold an entire paragraph of words but could only be understood by a close friend.

    Roland blushed overtly, his face turning a bright beet red as he began to stammer over gibberish. Violet gave a politely small laugh at Roland¡¯s reaction as she felt a wonderful sensation come over her, although what that sensation was she didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Sure, if I¡¯m in the area I¡¯ll visit you,¡± Violet told him happily. While she was greatly amused by Roland¡¯s reactions, Violet¡¯s lack of social understanding prevented her from understanding why Roland was reacting in such ways. As such, when Roland blushed even harder at her words, Violet burst out laughing in surprise and amusement.

    Unable to contain herself anymore Violet clenched her stomach as she continued to laugh. Roland on the other hand hid his face behind his hands, too embarrassed to look at Violet. Of course, this only helped to make Violet laugh harder and it took several seconds for her to restrain herself.

    Violet grabbed Roland¡¯s shoulder and forced him to turn face-to-face with her, but his hands remained blocking his face. She gently reached out, wrapped her fingers around Roland¡¯s hand, and pulled them away from his face. She brought his hands down in front of her and continued to hold them softly. Roland¡¯s jaw hung slightly open as he looked into Violet¡¯s eyes. His bright and beautiful blue eyes seemed to show an ocean of incomprehensible emotions.

    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it if you would show me around when I come over,¡± Violet said, staring back at Roland.

    ¡°I¡­ Uh¡­ Violet your hands.¡± Roland responded stuttering.

    ¡®My hands?¡¯

    Violet suddenly realized how it would look to others around them. A boy and a girl, holding each other''s hands, looking into each other''s eyes for a long period. There was only one possible conclusion to such an image.

    Violet relaxed her grip and felt her face immediately heat up. Now Roland laughed instead as Violet hid her face behind her hands the same way Roland had done earlier. Violet peeked through her fingers and saw Mark and Vivian now looking at Roland, but neither of them seemed to see what had happened earlier.

    ¡®Gods¡­ this is so embarrassing.¡¯

    Yet, Violet was surprised to find that despite her embarrassment, she didn¡¯t feel any negativity towards Roland. Rather, as Roland laughed, despite a growing urge to hit him, she couldn¡¯t help but find his actions somewhat¡­ endearing?

    ¡°Well, I think that it¡¯s been a long enough break now. Let¡¯s head out.¡± Roland said, recovering from his fit of laughter.

    Violet finally brought her hands down from her face and saw Mark and Vivian stretching out to get ready. Violet sighed in relief, her embarrassment could end. Within a few seconds, they began to run once more, rounding the mountain and finally seeing the last obstacle.

    In front of the group was a large building. It was extremely dull, made entirely out of gray concrete with no windows and with a few doors at the bottom. It stood out like a sore thumb in the environment around them considering a mountain full of trees was nearby.

    ¡°Hello again future stars.¡±

    ¡®It¡¯s the principal again,¡¯ Violet thought to herself.

    Welcome to the final obstacle. Walk through the doors to begin. If you pass this obstacle then you will officially pass the second selection. You are allowed to challenge this as a group or alone, whichever you prefer. Your current placements are 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th. Good luck, future stars.¡±

    With that, the principal clicked off and the team was left with just themselves and the building. Roland turned back towards the members of his group, eyeing each of them carefully.

    ¡°Well, I think we should leave this up to vote. All together or split up. All for together, raise your hands.¡±

    Immediately all four of them raised their hands. They had made it this far together, they weren¡¯t going to split up now. Each of them smiled affectionately at each other, over the second selection they had bonded greatly over their shared hardships. Calling them anything less than friends would be inaccurate now.

    ¡°Well then, in that case, which door should we take?¡±

    Violet observed each of the doors. Aside from different locations in the building, each one was perfectly identical. She couldn¡¯t decide which one to take.

    ¡°Well the middle would probably be the most common answer, followed by the right since most people are right-handed, so I say we go to the 3rd one on the left,¡± Mark said.

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    Violet and the rest of the group nodded. They felt it was unlikely for AGH to change difficulty based on the door applicants went through, but at the same time it was AGH. It had become increasingly obvious from the past obstacles that they bordered on if not completely crossed the threshold of insanity and tested every applicant on even the most minute of reasoning.

    ¡°Well, in that case, let¡¯s go,¡± Roland said, clapping his hands together as he led the group into the building.

    Inside was a plain room with a singular light on the ceiling. There was a screen on the wall and a hole in the wall that had a basket with several wristbands in it. Strangely enough, the room was very small. Only large enough to fit about 8 people, whatever was inside the rest of the building was hidden away.

    Violet¡¯s attention was drawn to the screen as a set of words appeared. A computerized voice spoke them out for everyone to hear.

    ¡°Every applicant, please attach one wristband to yourself.¡±

    The group did as they were told and grabbed one wristband each. The wristband automatically opened when Violet grabbed it. It was deceptively light for its appearance, despite seeming to be entirely metal it was as light as a feather. Violet slid her hand into the opening and it snapped shut, trapping her hand inside. Immediately she noticed a strange change, the band had somehow increased in weight. She looked around and found the other members of her team equally puzzled.

    ¡°Every applicant, please stand in one designated spot in the room.¡±

    A series of lights appeared on the floor, each one was shaped like a foot and spaced out so applicants could stand apart from each other comfortably. Roland gave the team his approval and they all followed the screen¡¯s orders.

    ¡°4 applicants. 2 male, 2 female. Beginning transporation.¡±

    ¡®It can tell our sex? Actually, why does it need to know our sex?¡¯

    Violet suddenly felt the room lift upwards and she stumbled to catch her footing. Before she could even stand up straight again the room moved to the right and Violet nearly slammed into the wall. The speed at which the room moved was astonishing and Violet saw the rest of her team get thrown around as well. After one more direction change forward the room finally stopped moving and a door opened up.

    Roland walked out first, leading his team through the room in front of them. It was a well-lit room, an entirely concrete room with an impressive height. The room itself was about 15 feet tall and painted entirely white. Without looking closely one could almost be fooled into thinking the room was an infinite plane of white.

    ¡°Greetings applicants.¡±

    A voice called over Violet¡¯s attention and she saw a group of adults standing side by side. Two were male, two were female, and they all appeared to be examiners for this obstacle.

    Suddenly, Violet felt her arm with the wristband go limp and a tingling sensation lit up on her body. She felt herself grow weaker and weaker at a terrifying rate. She turned and saw the other three suffering from the same event, all of their psychic powers were being drained alarmingly fast. The wristband now glowed a bright green as Violet collapsed onto the floor.

    Beads of sweat ran down her face in vast quantities. While she physically didn¡¯t feel tired at all, the absorption of all of her psychic powers into the wristband had caused her to break out into a cold sweat.

    ¡°Now then applicants, line up side by side in the middle of the room,¡± one of the examiners said.

    Violet shook slightly as she stood up, her whole body shaking from the abnormal event that had just happened to her. She observed her teammates and found that all of their wristbands had begun to glow green as well. Strangely enough though, Mark¡¯s appeared to be brighter than the others, and it was still increasing. Violet opened her mouth to ask Mark about his wristband when he pulled his sleeve over it.

    ¡®Does he not want anyone to know about it? What is he hiding?¡¯

    However, Violet decided to respect Mark¡¯s secrets for the time being. She had her own secrets after all, like her fake name. It was only fair to Mark that if she didn¡¯t reveal to him all of her secrets, then he shouldn¡¯t have to do the same.

    The four teammates now stood in front of the examiners, Violet and Vivian faced the women while Mark and Roland faced the men.

    ¡°I¡¯m Eric,¡± the man on the far right said. ¡°The man next to me is Kione, the two girls are Hadley and Lin. You may have noticed your psychic powers are being drained by that wristband. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s the same for us, although ours have a much higher capacity than yours.¡±

    Violet followed along carefully. Since they had higher capacity wristbands than the rest of them it was ensured that they were at bare minimum Low A-Rank psychics.

    ¡®Not only that¡­¡¯ Violet thought to herself.

    The examiner women wore a sports bra and leggings while the men wore tight-fitting tanktops and their own set of leggings. What was immediately obvious from this was that each one of the examiners was exceptionally fit. Their tight-fitting clothes revealed the examiners¡¯ muscular arms and legs and their astonishingly visible abs. Even the women had large muscles, they could easily be mistaken for the arm of a fit high school boy.

    Violet saw out of the corner of her eye Vivian constantly eyeing the male examiners, whose arms appeared to be more comparable in size to a bear than a human. Violet herself felt her gaze be drawn slightly before turning back quickly. Her lifestyle as a member of the Woo family refused to allow her to look at men in such a way. She couldn¡¯t see Mark and Roland but she was sure they would be struggling to focus as much as she and Vivian were.

    ¡°The final obstacle is simple, impress us. We¡¯ll engage you in regular combat, no weapons, no powers, just fists,¡± Eric said, cracking his knuckles.

    ¡®Wait, what?¡¯

    Violet hadn¡¯t trained in the slightest in non-powered combat. To her knowledge, it wasn¡¯t something heroes had to be especially proficient in since psychic powers would be the usual determining factor. Violet now began to recall some words Mark had mentioned the day before the second selection.

    ¡°You never know when you might have to resort to using no psychic powers. In such a situation being fit and muscular will prove to be quite useful.¡±

    Violet felt herself immediately grow regretful at having dismissed Mark¡¯s words at the time. AGH, Roland, and Mark agreed on the usefulness of fitness.

    ¡°We¡¯ll start in 5 seconds¡­¡±

    ¡®Wait already?¡¯

    ¡°5¡­¡±

    Violet looked at the woman in front of her. She was 2 inches taller than Violet and based on appearance alone, at least twice as strong. Violet on the other hand didn¡¯t have an ounce of muscle on her body.

    ¡°4¡­¡±

    Violet turned to look at Mark and Roland. Mark had already entered into a fighting position with his fists up and his body turned to the side. Roland quickly emulated it.

    ¡°3¡­¡±

    Violet turned her body into the same position as Mark and so did Vivian.

    ¡°2¡­¡±

    Violet felt herself begin to panic, even if the woman in front of her had no skill at all, the sheer muscle difference would leave Violet completely disadvantaged.

    ¡°1¡­¡±

    ¡®Gods help.¡¯

    ¡°Begin.¡±

    Violet saw the woman charge towards her and immediately throw a punch at her face. Violet, who had no prior training in martial arts, failed to block the attack entirely. She felt the fist slam into her face and force her backward.

    Without even wasting a single breath, the examiner, Lin, tackled Violet onto the floor and Violet felt her head slam into the ground. Her world began to spin and ring uncontrollably as the woman mounted her.

    78%

    ¡®This is bad.¡¯

    Violet felt hands begin to wrap around her neck and squeeze painfully. Violet attempted to breathe but all that came out were weak squeaking noises. She grabbed at Lin¡¯s wrists and attempted to pull her hands away, but Lin was far stronger and only tightened her squeeze. Violet began to dig her nails into Lin¡¯s skin and blood started to come out, but Lin didn¡¯t do anything but wince slightly. Violet felt her arms begin to grow heavy and weaken. The world started to darken and everything felt so far away. The blood pumping into her head began to echo away distantly.

    ¡®No¡­¡¯

    Suddenly Lin was thrown off of Violet. Violet immediately took a massive gasp of air and felt her mental faculties return to her. Roland had tackled Lin and now began beating Lin¡¯s head into the ground until Kione came and pulled Roland back.

    Violet looked around and saw that Mark was on his feet still fighting with Eric, however, Eric was landing every hit while Mark couldn¡¯t even hit Eric a single time.

    On the other hand, Vivian had been pinned down face first and was being easily overpowered by Hadley. Violet got up to help when she was tugged back and trapped by Lin again. Lin wrapped her legs around Violet¡¯s and lifted them, preventing Violet from touching the ground with them. Violet attempted to break away but without being able to push off the ground and with Lin being so much stronger, all Violet could do was squirm around.

    Violet saw Eric finally take Mark down onto the ground and slam his head into the floor, putting Mark into a daze. Roland too had been pinned down, Kione easily overpowering any struggle Roland put up. Roland was 6 feet tall and had some muscle, but Kione appeared to be almost 6¡¯ 4 and had far more muscle than Roland did.

    ¡®This is bad, this is really really bad.¡¯

    All four of them had been completely overwhelmed in less than a minute by the examiners and were now completely helpless. In a real fight, knocking out or even killing all four of them in this state would have been easy.

    ¡°Well I¡¯ll say this, I think Mark here did decent in our fight. But from what I saw the next best feat was Roland running away to tackle a woman with half his muscle mass. Looks like this obstacle isn¡¯t over yet.¡±

    Unfortunately, Violet acknowledged, that Roland saving Violet from Lin was barely a feat on his part. There were undeniable biological differences between men and women. While psychic powers made these physical differences largely irrelevant, now, in a situation where everyone had no powers, the difference was clear. Over the past 20,000 years since the advent of psychic powers humanity hadn¡¯t changed much physically at all and men were still physically stronger and taller than women were. It was obvious that Roland, who even had to rely on a surprise attack, was able to overpower Lin who was caught off guard.

    ¡°Well now, do you all quit?¡± Eric asked.

    ¡°Like hell we do.¡±

    Eric slammed Mark¡¯s head into the ground to silence him and blood began to drip out of Mark¡¯s nose. Eric looked around but nobody seemed to surrender. Violet saw him shake his head and look down to the ground with a regretful look on his face.

    ¡°I had hoped it wouldn¡¯t come to this¡­ Hadley.¡±

    The woman holding Vivian turned towards Eric and pinned Vivian harder onto the ground. Despite Vivian¡¯s struggling, Hadley barely budged.

    ¡°Which one Eric?¡±

    ¡°Left arm elbow.¡±

    Hadley took out Vivian''s left arm and placed her knee on Vivan¡¯s elbow which was facing upwards. She reached out with one hand and grabbed Vivan¡¯s wrist while the other kept Vivian¡¯s head pinned down. Mark began to yell as he realized what was about to happen.

    ¡°Wait no! Don¡¯t do it!¡±

    Violet and Roland soon came to the realization as well and Hadley began to lift Vivian¡¯s hand upwards while the rest of her arm remained pinned.

    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt her!¡± Violet yelled.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t!¡± Roland said.

    Violet, Roland, and Mark all began to fight harder against their opponents but they simply couldn¡¯t escape. For all of Violet¡¯s struggles, without any martial arts experience, she was completely helpless.

    Violet felt the scar on the palm of her hand. It was just like that time, she was helpless. Someone in front of her was in danger and Violet couldn¡¯t do a single thing. She was weak.

    Violet¡¯s eyes widened in horror as Vivian began to scream out in pain. Hadley continued to slowly move Vivian¡¯s hand upwards, her arm now bent backward unnaturally. Yet it continued to rise more and more until¡­

    ¡®Crack¡¯

    Hadley suddenly pulled back hard. Mark, Roland, and Violet all froze and stopped screaming. Vivan¡¯s cries grew louder and her arm fell onto the ground. Her elbow had finally snapped and was now bent unnaturally backward completely limp.

    Violet felt rage begin to burn in her as she struggled harder against Lin, only to be choked more and be forced to stop. Similar things happened with Roland and Mark as well. Meanwhile, Vivian cried out harder as her unusable arm flared in horrific pain. It was as though a fire had been lit and was consuming her arm.

    ¡®I¡¯ll kill them, I¡¯ll kill all of them,¡¯ Violet began to think to herself. What they had done was unforgivable. They would pay, all of them would pay for what they had done to her friend.

    Eric looked to the ground, pain etched onto his face. Every one of the examiners had flinched and looked away when Hadley broke Vivian¡¯s arm. As brutal as their line of work was, they were still human and they still had human emotions. But this was AGH, there were reasons graduates were always so impressively strong.

    ¡°Would anyone like to surrender now?¡± Eric said.

    ¡°GO TO HELL BASTARD!!!¡± Roland yelled.

    ¡°YOU SON OF A BITCH I¡¯LL KILL YOU!!!¡± Mark screamed.

    Eric sighed and shook his head once more. When he spoke again his regret was audible in his voice.

    ¡°Kione¡­¡±

    Roland began to struggle again as Kione brought out Roland¡¯s left arm. Violet felt an overwhelming fear come over her as she realized what was happening.

    ¡®They¡¯re going to torture us into submission¡­¡¯

    End of Chapter 20

 Chapter 21: A Creature of Hatred

    Chapter 21: A Creature of Hatred

    I saw Roland¡¯s arm get bent further and further backward by Kione. Roland struggled, fighting back against Kione and the rising pain in his arm. But the physical difference between them was far too great for Roland to be able to fight back effectively. I heard an audible crack and Roland¡¯s arm snapped in half like a twig. His arm flopped around like a rag onto the ground.

    Roland screamed out in pain and attempted to fight back against Kione more, only to be stopped when Kione twisted his arm. It was a simple and effective but brutal method of suppressing opposition through pain. Roland¡¯s arm hung limply in its now disfigured form. I could see his eyes turn red as the sting of the injury began to increase. A glistening shine from water began to glow from his eyes.

    ¡°Any surrenders,¡± Eric, the man keeping me down, asked.

    This time I didn¡¯t say anything. Anything I had said previously only resulted in Eric slamming my head into the ground. My nose was already broken and bleeding all over my face. Saying anything more wouldn¡¯t do anything.

    Eric shook his head and grabbed the bridge of his nose. His face scrunched painfully as though he had just eaten a sour lemon. When he spoke I could make out a sense of regret in his voice.

    ¡°Lin, same thing,¡± he said.

    ¡°NO!¡± Violet yelled, only to be flipped onto the ground.

    ¡®Damnit. There has to be a way out of this. Are they just testing our mental willpower?¡¯

    Violet put up the best struggle she could, but the difference between her and Lin was even larger than the difference between Roland and Kione. It was like a toddler trying to fight back against an adult. Unlike the rest of the examiners, Lin broke Violet¡¯s arm instantly. Violet¡¯s arm was smaller and so much more easily broken than the rest of ours. Lin pulled back as hard as she could and instantly Violet¡¯s arm flailed around as though her joints had vanished.

    I heard Violet scream and saw tears begin to enter her eyes. Lin looked away from Violet, unable to meet her eyes. It would be my turn next. I struggled with all my might. Trying to twist, turn, wiggle, squirm, anything I could do to try and get Eric to shift off his weight even a little. But all that happened was Eric slamming my head into the ground again. My already broken nose was practically shattered by this point and a dull mixed with sharp pain radiated from it. Blood had begun to spread all across the lower half of my face, if anyone looked at me now they might think I was a cannibal who had just finished a meal.

    As my entire world spun I couldn¡¯t help but think about why this was happening to us. This wasn¡¯t an exam, this was torture. This was merely performing torture on us. Even criminals wouldn¡¯t be subjected to something like this. This wasn¡¯t fair, this wasn¡¯t right.

    ¡®You¡­ all of you fucking examiners¡­¡¯

    ¡°Please, would anyone like to surrender now?¡± Eric said.

    I turned my head and looked him in the eye. I could feel my heart pumping and my face grew both hot red in rage and pale in fear. Eric looked back at me before shifting his gaze away uncomfortably. This son of a bitch refused to even look me in the eye.

    I felt Eric drag out my left arm and begin the process of breaking it. I attempted to pull my arm back down but couldn¡¯t do anything except barely slow Eric down. Like the others, I was physically no match for Eric. An aching pain began to creep up in my elbow, turning into a horrendous, dull, neverending pulsation. It was getting closer and closer every second.

    I closed my eyes as I braced for the inevitable pain. All in an instant I felt it. An unimaginable, piercing, burning pain. It was like a knife was being plunged into my arm over and over again relentlessly without allowing me even a moment of peace. Eric let my arm fall to the ground, releasing his grip on my broken arm. Each impact that my arm made with the ground sent shockwaves of rolling agony throughout my entire arm.

    ¡°FUCK! DAMN YOU ALL!¡±

    I continued to scream to distract myself from the experience. My skin, muscles, my entire arm were overwhelmingly sensitive to pain. Even a touch from Eric would send my mind reeling into a world of hurt. Any distraction, anything to focus my mind elsewhere but the pain. I felt blood run down my face and began to taste iron in my mouth. I latched onto the disgusting taste. I examined its every subtlety, every sensation, every moment of it in my mouth. Anything to dull the pain, to distract me from this nightmare.

    I recalled how earlier in the application I had severely injured my hand by punching a wall but this was on a whole other level. The pain wasn¡¯t just concentrated in one spot now, it spread throughout my entire arm. It was as if my arm was splintering across every section.

    I felt the world begin to chill and my body go cold. I recalled lessons from my mom and dad about what would happen to the body when it received severe enough injuries.

    ¡®I¡¯m going into shock.¡¯

    I felt myself start struggling to breathe yet nothing was preventing me from doing so, my body simply began to struggle. I could feel my heartbeat, rapidly thumping like a drummer. It pulsated with an unnatural strength in my chest. My right hand felt clammy and my face felt unnaturally numb. The blood warmed the space between my lip and my nose, providing me with a small amount of comfort. I embraced the warmth, disregarding the usual discomfort I would feel from it, providing me with an escape.

    ¡®Damnit. I¡¯ll kill all of these bastards.¡¯

    ¡°Now, please¡­ anyone?¡± Eric asked.

    I observed each of my friends. We were all a mess of tears with broken arms. Each of us was completely helpless to our examiners. With how things were going so far, it was easy to know what would continue if we didn¡¯t surrender. They would break more bones, over and over and over again, until we had either satisfied some standard of theirs or surrendered. Yet none of us said a word or even nodded.

    Eric slammed his fist into the ground and looked around painfully.

    ¡®If it hurts you so much then let us go!¡¯

    ¡°Hadley¡­ her right leg.¡±

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    Vivian began to cry even harder realizing that she was now going to also have to experience the pain of a broken leg.

    ¡°Please, don¡¯t. Don¡¯t hurt me more. I¡¯m begging you,¡± She said through her pained whimpers.

    I turned away as Hadley began to pull back on Vivian¡¯s leg. I heard her scream out in pain and a crack shot out into the air. My eyes watered in equal amounts for my pain and my sympathy for my friend. I saw her leg red and bent unnaturally to the side. Her knee practically didn¡¯t even exist anymore.

    I looked at Vivian¡¯s face and we locked eyes with each other. When we had first met I had thought for a moment that her eyes seemed filled with an odd brightness. A glimmer of curiosity and excitement as she stepped into a new world. Her heart burned with a fiery passion. Those thoughts had been replaced by an appreciation for her appearance.

    But now, those thoughts resurfaced because I could no longer see that bright glimmer. All I could see was a girl, screaming in pain and fear. Her eyes were consumed by sorrow and fright. Tears streamed down each one a representation of a fraction of how she felt. I saw in my mind the faces of each examiner flash by and I clenched my jaw. Harder and harder I clenched until I felt my teeth begin to ache.

    ¡®You¡­ you bastards.¡¯

    I began to feel the pain in my left arm flare up even more as I began to tense each muscle. Yet despite the pain I continued to push through, trying to distract myself from the growing emotion in my heart. I turned towards Eric and felt my breathing begin to move out of my control.

    ¡°Girl, Vivian I believe, why are you not quitting? Out of everyone else here you are the one taking it the worst,¡± Eric asked. The more he spoke the more I began to tense the muscles in my body.

    I looked at Vivian. Her eyes flooded with regret and sorrow. Her face was cute, beautiful, full of life and energy, broken and shattered. I remembered how she acted when we made dinner together, sharing jokes and presenting the meal with enthusiasm. I felt admiration for her, that she was able to act so happily. I wanted to get to know her better, to know the girl of light in front of me. That wasn¡¯t the Vivian I saw before me.

    ¡®They took her¡­¡¯

    ¡°Because,¡± Vivian responded, ¡°then April will have died for nothing.¡± Vivian struggled to say anything now as she began to cry uncontrollably.

    ¡®They took her away from me¡­¡¯

    ¡°I see¡­ you must¡¯ve met that bastard Jerricho,¡± Eric said shaking his head. ¡°He is an outlier among us all. I¡¯ve always wanted to see how effective his methods were though.¡±

    My breathing grew heavy and began to shake. No matter what I did I couldn¡¯t control it anymore.

    ¡®Don¡¯t you dare¡­¡¯

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this. But I need to teach him that his methods aren¡¯t perfect, or else he¡¯ll do it next year too. Hadley, the other arm and leg please.¡±

    ¡°NO!¡± Violet screamed out. ¡°PLEASE, DON¡¯T DO IT!¡±

    Roland and Violet began to scream out in their protest but there was nothing they could do. Vivian closed her eyes and turned her head towards the sky, praying, and begging for help. But there was no response, the gods did not deem her worthy.

    ¡®YOU¡­ YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!!!¡¯

    When Vivian¡¯s other leg snapped Roland and Violet screamed with her. They exclaimed in hatred, and Vivian yelled out in pain and fear. Her two legs were swollen, red, and unusable now. Soon they would be joined by another broken arm.

    ¡®I WON¡¯T ACCEPT THIS!¡¯

    Hadley dragged out Vivian¡¯s right arm without resistance. Vivian had no strength left in her body, there was only pain. Slowly, Vivian¡¯s arm was bent backward. This time Vivian could only let out a moan as she had become overwhelmed by pain. She didn¡¯t even have the strength to scream. Her head bent downwards as she began to fade off into unconsciousness.

    ¡®I¡¯LL KILL ALL OF YOU!¡¯

    It bent back further. I tensed my left arm and began to move it. My heart filled every vein in my body with a fire. Every section of my arm screamed out in an exploding agony but I couldn¡¯t even feel it anymore.

    ¡®EVERY LAST ONE OF Y?????????????OU WILL DIE!!!¡¯

    Vivian¡¯s arm snapped and fell to the ground.

    ¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry-¡±

    Violet saw Eric suddenly stumble off of Mark holding the side of his face. He was bleeding from his lip and looked around in surprise.

    ¡®Mark got him off?¡¯ She thought to herself.

    Violet turned to look at where Mark was standing, only to be met with fear. Violet attempted to shrink away from the sight she witnessed. She felt nausea wash over her instantly. The tears running down her face stopped instantly.

    Mark now stood. His broken arm had a bone peaking through the side, piercing through his skin. He had used it to punch Eric in the face despite the pain and this was the result. Mark¡¯s shoulders rose along with his chest expanding. Each breath taken shook his entire body yet was also slow and deliberate, as though he were attempting to calm himself. His legs shook slightly and his arms were barely held up into a fighting position. Despite his broken arm, he was still willing to fight. But that¡¯s not what surprised Violet the most.

    Mark¡¯s face was smeared with blood that had come out of his nose. It fell across his mouth and all over the lower half of his face and yet more still came. It made him look completely mad like he was someone who had long gone past the threshold of insanity. His nose was shattered to the side making him appear oddly inhuman. His jaw hung open, trembling uncontrollably, shaking even more every time he breathed in or out. His now disheveled hair hung down in front of his eyes, largely covering them. But¡­

    From the small windows, the tiny openings, the gaps in between Mark¡¯s hair, Violet could see through to his eyes. They shook and burned with tears, rage, and incomprehensible resolution. Violet turned away, unable to look at them. She didn¡¯t know how she knew, she didn¡¯t know why she knew, all she did know was that whatever Mark was feeling right now could only be defined in one word. Hatred.

    This was not the hatred Violet felt when her brother broke her toy doll as a child. This wasn¡¯t the hatred that a child felt when they thought of the most disgusting vegetable they could. This wasn¡¯t the hatred a teenager felt when they talked about that one annoying person in school. This wasn¡¯t the hatred an adult felt when they had their pay cut or got into a car crash.

    This was the hatred Violet had towards her father. A deep running river that flooded the heart with fire and a burning rage. A horrifying, overwhelming, life-altering emotion that consumed one''s entire heart, soul, and mind until nothing was left except a desire to relieve oneself of that hatred. This was true hate.

    ¡°You¡­¡± Mark began to speak. The entire room watched him in a deathly silence, each of them frightened at what they were looking at.

    ¡°You three had better stop me¡­¡± he said. The examiners and Violet¡¯s team looked around at each other. Which three was he referring to?

    ¡°Because¡­ I¡¯m going to kill him now.¡±

    It was the blink of an eye from Violet¡¯s point of view. Mark¡¯s psychic powers were still sealed away, but his emotion drove his physical abilities to the complete limit. In a flash, he was in front of Eric and tackled him to the ground.

    Mark immediately mounted and began to pummel Eric¡¯s face into the ground. With each hit, Mark roared out in hatred as he slammed down into Eric¡¯s skull. Blood began to taint the floor around Eric¡¯s head and his nose broke into a position like Mark¡¯s.

    Eric grabbed one of Mark¡¯s arms and lifted his hips, he leaned his body to the side of the arm he took and caused Mark to tumble downwards, allowing Eric to return to the top, although not in mount.

    Before Eric could do anything, however, Mark grabbed him and pulled him downwards. He headbutted Eric and blood began to sprout from both of their foreheads. Mark¡¯s entire face had become a canvas for running blood to paint on.

    Eric fell to the ground in a daze, quickly followed by Mark, who proceeded to once again go on the attack. The assault was brutal and unrelenting, Mark refused to give even a second of rest. His broken arm tearing and breaking more and more until it was completely unusable and he abandoned it. Eric¡¯s face was dented and bruised over and over again until he had become a pulp unrecognizable from his previous form. A puddle of blood from their injuries began to form around them.

    None of the other examiners did anything though. This was a possibility they had accepted when they volunteered for the position. So, the examiners continued holding down Violet and her teammates. Until¡­

    Violet felt all the blood drain from her face. The entire room was filled with Eric¡¯s sudden screams. Across the entire unrelenting assault from Mark, Eric had not once screamed. But now¡­

    Mark was not sane, he was not in control of himself. He could hardly be called even the same person. The examiner¡¯s left behind Violet and her teammates and each assisted in dragging Mark away from Eric. Mark clawed against them, scratching deep into their skin and causing bleeding in all the exposed places he could find.

    Vivian had fallen unconscious following the breaking of her right arm, overwhelmed by pain. While Roland and Violet were still perfectly awake, they did nothing to help Mark. They both sat in horror at what they witnessed. A chunk of Eric¡¯s face had been taken off, underneath they could see the muscles of the face and the bones of the skull, clearly visible. The injury wrapped around his eye, where all that remained was an empty socket. Eric clenched his face in pain, hiding the injury from view and he groaned. Violet felt her hand shake as she brought it up to her mouth, her gag reflex had triggered. It wasn¡¯t the view of Eric that had terrified her and Roland.

    Mark struggled against the three examiners holding him back. His strength had grown incomprehensibly, driven by an overwhelming desire for vengeance. He raged and flailed uncontrollably like an animal, desperately attempting to return to Eric and continue the assault. It was taking all three of the examiners to keep him under control. To stop him for a moment, Kione kicked Mark in the stomach, causing him to regurgitate some things.

    Violet threw up at the sight. A squished eyeball, blood, and flesh fell onto the ground, away from Mark¡¯s blood-red teeth. Violet thought to herself, truly, when someone is consumed by hatred, they are not the same person. This thing standing before her was not Mark. This was a creature of hatred.

    End of Chapter 21

 Chapter 22: So Ends the Second Selection

    Chapter 22: So Ends the Second Selection

    Violet watched as Mark thrashed about uncontrollably. His eyes held a ferocious, animalistic drive. Even as he was pinned down and held back in every possible way by three examiners, Mark was still putting up a fight. His blood-covered face caused him to appear completely feral, to say he even looked human anymore could be wrong.

    ¡®Mark¡­ what are you?¡¯ Violet thought to herself.

    The sudden brutality that Mark had displayed completely caught Violet off guard. She did have thoughts about killing the examiners, but she wouldn¡¯t have gone through with them. Those thoughts were an expression of her rage. Yet Mark hadn¡¯t just tried to kill Eric but had seemingly gone completely insane.

    Not only that, Mark had fought with a severe arm injury. It should have been practically unusable, yet Mark kept throwing punches with it until the bones inside splintered and cracked apart. It was like he had become immune to pain.

    Mark suddenly freed one of his arms and tore at Hadley, creating a gash across her clothes and skin. She screamed out in pain and in an instant, Mark freed his other arm from her grasp. He scratched at Lin¡¯s face, forcing her backward and allowing him the space to break away from Kione. Mark immediately then swung his leg backward into Kione¡¯s head, sending Kione away from him.

    Mark immediately charged toward Eric again, his mouth drooling. His tongue hung out limply and his running was off cadence. Mark was in a trance of uncontrollability, all that was on his mind was punishment. He didn¡¯t even seem to have any sense of his own body anymore. In less than a second Mark closed the gap between him and Eric. He stretched out his arms, ready to resume his assault on Eric when Roland tackled him.

    Violet saw Roland force Mark to the ground and hold him there. But Mark had already proven himself capable of overwhelming three examiners who were skilled in combat. Along with his broken arm, Roland would only be able to hold Mark down for a short time.

    Realizing this, Violet sprinted towards Mark and slammed her foot on his arm. The feral Mark howled in pain and his struggling slowed. Wasting no time, Violet helped to secure Mark along with Roland.

    ¡°Mark, calm down,¡± Roland said, in a calm soft tone. Screaming now might only cause Mark to go even more berserk.

    ¡°Mark, Vivian is going to be ok, don¡¯t kill Eric,¡± Violet said, mimicking Roland¡¯s manner of speaking.

    Mark struggled against them, each movement mixed with a roar of hate and desire. Then he began to speak.

    ¡°Let me go! Let me go now!¡±

    He screamed at his two friends and began to attempt to claw at them to force them away. However, Kione and the other examiners arrived and assisted in holding Mark back.

    Tears streamed down Mark¡¯s face as Eric got up once more and began to walk away. Mark screamed maniacally and thrashed about harder. His arms and legs violently contorted themselves in an attempt to escape their constraints, but the team of examiners and applicants were able to hold Mark back.

    ¡®This isn¡¯t working. How do we calm Mark down?¡¯ Violet began to wonder as Mark headbutted Roland. Mark was weakening, but he just wouldn¡¯t stop moving, there was still a chance of him getting free.

    ¡°mark¡­¡±

    Violet turned toward the source of the voice. Vivian had regained consciousness and was now slowly crawling towards Mark. However, Vivian¡¯s voice was weak and in his rage, Mark couldn¡¯t hear her at all. Even Violet had just barely been able to make out Vivian¡¯s voice. So, Mark¡¯s struggles continued.

    His left arm was now injured beyond belief and a bone pointed clean out of his arm and sleeve. Blood slowly dripped outwards and onto the floor. It was a horrific sight and was undoubtedly causing Mark incredible pain, yet he continued to struggle without end. Violet felt a growing fear inside of her as the possibility of Mark bleeding out and dying became increasingly more possible with his injury.

    Vivian, seemingly unshaken by Mark¡¯s appearance, continued her slow crawl forward. Each movement forward she made caused her visible pain. Every rock on the ground was felt, every crack, every push, everything that caused a slight discomfort led to sharp pains in her arms and legs. It was a miracle she was able to use her limbs at all.

    When Mark finally noticed her he began to struggle even harder. Violet thought that the sight of Vivian and her injuries had perhaps caused the burning hatred in Mark to explode even further. He now screamed every second at Eric, who had opened a hidden compartment in the door and disconnected his wristband, allowing his face to begin healing from Mark¡¯s injuries.

    ¡°ERIC! FIGHT ME! I¡¯LL KILL YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!¡±

    Mark began to pull away from the examiners and Roland and Violet, his left arm injured even more. Little was holding it now besides muscle and skin. If he continued struggling then Mark could end up unconscious from blood loss or lose his entire arm in the struggle.

    Vivian now got to her knees in front of Mark who continued to thrash around violently. Violet was thrown into Roland and felt her grip on Mark loosen slightly. She gripped even harder onto Mark¡¯s body until she felt her fingers begin to pierce Mark¡¯s skin from outside his shirt. She couldn¡¯t hold on much longer, soon Mark would overpower her and that would lead to him attempting another attack on Eric.

    It was then that Vivian finally came face to face with Mark and¡­ placed her hand on his face. She smiled sorrowfully, her face full of tears from the horrible pain of merely resting on her knees and lifting her arms. Her hand trembled uncontrollably and she winced as she began to softly caress Mark¡¯s cheek. Mark¡¯s struggling finally began to slow down, but he didn¡¯t fully stop.

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    ¡°Mark¡­¡± Vivian said weakly. Her entire body shuddered from the severe pain she felt and her words were slightly difficult to make out in between her crying. But Mark stopped struggling even more.

    ¡°Mark, please, stop. I¡¯m ok now.¡±

    Violet finally felt Mark stop pulling and pushing her and his arms settled onto the ground. The examiners and Roland and Violet released Mark and backed away. Mark remained sitting on the ground, his breathing slow and heavy, his eyes cold and blank, his arms dead and limp. Violet felt herself become overwhelmed with emotion at the sight of Vivian and Mark. She could feel their broken bodies, shattered and harmed in horrific ways. She could feel the mental toll that had been exacted upon them, like a cold darkness that wrapped the brain in an infinite isolation of fear.

    This application treated the brightest and most joyous of people the worst. Violet remembered when Vivian and Mark had first met, how they had cooked dinner together, and joked together. Their interactions throughout the second selection as they provided each other with the best comfort they could. Even now they were doing that, but there was no longer joy in their actions.

    Mark¡¯s shoulders began to shake slightly. His voice came out in whimpers and he brought his right arm up to his face and over his eyes. He bent forward and began to cry, overwhelmed by the experience. He wept quietly, it was as if every fiber of his being fought against releasing what was inside him. A suffocating silence mixed with a dull and silent weeping.

    Vivian reached out and wrapped her arms around Mark. She winced as she did so, barely holding back her screams. Mark cried into Vivan¡¯s chest, his whole body convulsing as he struggled to keep himself under control. Each sob was a cry for help, each pant a distress signal. For a few moments, the two of them stayed there unmoving, two statues in an isolated world, crying over their shared pain.

    ¡­

    Violet, Roland, and Vivian rode an elevator toward the end of the second selection. Vivian was holding Mark in her arms. He had fallen unconscious soon after he began to cry. Afterward, the examiners removed everyone''s wristbands and began to heal their injuries. No words were spoken during this time, although Eric did eye Mark rather often. Violet didn¡¯t sense any fear when observing Eric at that time though, rather a morbid curiosity exuded from him.

    Violet turned toward Vivian, in her arms Mark still had blood all over his face and his clothes were stained completely with red spots. At least though, he had been completely healed and he appeared to be sleeping calmly.

    ¡°Would you like someone else to carry him?¡± Violet asked Vivian. She had picked Mark up to leave without anyone asking her to.

    Vivian shook her head and smiled. ¡°No, but thank you for asking. He carried me through the ruined city earlier, it¡¯s only right for me to pay it back.¡±

    Violet nodded. That made sense, seems like it wasn¡¯t what she was thinking about. She had noticed Mark and Vivian become increasingly close over the second selection and she began to suspect if they had feelings for each other. But it seemed like they just happened to be caring for each other in a way both of them understood.

    ¡®Thinking about it though¡­¡¯

    Mark and Vivian might have developed the same thoughts involving her and Roland. Following what happened right before they entered the final obstacle of the second selection it was natural to assume a blossoming friendship from how embarrassed and yet joyful the two of them were. Violet felt herself blush slightly as she recalled the memory of her holding Roland¡¯s hands. She turned her head down to the floor of the elevator to hide it.

    The elevator door opened at last and Roland walked out first. The room they walked into appeared identical to the first stage room that the applicants had entered at the start of the second selection. 19 other applicants were there as well, a few of them were solo, but most of them appeared to be in groups. As they exited the elevator, a set of screens rose from the ground in front of them that showed their placings.

    Violet quickly found herself and checked her rankings.

    Name: Jewoon Woo

    Birth Date: 4/6/2007

    Room#: G49

    Course Placement: 21st

    Ranking: #34 TBD

    Total Points: 55

    Violet sighed in relief. The TBD was likely just signaling that the rankings would change as more applicants finished the course. Still though, Violet had jumped up massively in placement. Her performance on the obstacle course put her in a good position to be considered at the end of the application. Her status as a Mid B-Rank meant she should be able to do rather well in the upcoming tournament. With the top 20 point scorers getting considered she had a great chance of getting in. After swiping away to not allow people to see her true name, Violet then turned to look at the scores of her teammates.

    The first one she saw was Roland.

    Course Placement: 20th

    Ranking: #4 TBD

    Total Points: 145

    Roland was already among the highest-ranking applicants before the obstacle course. The fact that he only ranked up to 2 placements higher meant that most of those applicants above him had arrived earlier. Next Violet observed Vivian¡¯s score.

    Course Placement: 22nd

    Ranking: #12 TBD

    Total Points: 80

    Vivian had made a sizeable jump in her placements as well. With this amount of points, she had a secure position to be considered at the end to be accepted into AGH. She then turned her attention to Mark¡¯s screen, although he wasn¡¯t conscious to see it.

    Course Placement: 23rd

    Ranking: #2

    Total Points: 237

    Violet shook her head for a moment in slight disbelief. Second place must have arrived here among the top 5 to get a scorer higher than Mark. Immediately Violet searched for the first-place applicant on her screen. Most of their information was blocked out, to not allow for targeting, but their course placement, ranking, and total points could still be seen.

    Course Placement: 1st

    Ranking: #1

    Total Points: 245

    Violet looked at Roland and Vivian who were also staring at the first-place applicant¡¯s results. Making it to first, this applicant could very well be a High B-Rank. Violet lifted her head and searched around for any applicants that seemed to stand out as abnormally strong, but she could find nothing.

    In the end, Violet and her teammates simply sat down and waited for the remaining applicants to finish the course. It took quite some time, and the applicants came through in varied conditions. Some proudly and boastfully proclaimed their presence as they entered, while others moped and remained silent. Most, however, appeared to be broken and horrified by the second selection. The mental toll that had been exacted upon Violet and her friends did not exclude others.

    Violet¡¯s final ranking was 43rd place while Vivian¡¯s was 16th. Mark and Roland were already so highly ranked that their positions didn¡¯t move. After over 2 hours of waiting, a set of busses were finally revealed outside and the applicants were allowed to leave.

    Violet looked around and saw that there were far fewer applicants than previously. At the start of the course, all applicants who didn¡¯t make the top 100 would be eliminated from the application. Yet the number of applicants that were here appeared to be less than that, Violet estimated about 60 applicants were here total. After a few moments of thought, Violet suspected that the obstacles had either eliminated most of the applicants or caused them to drop out to escape the trauma.

    Among the ones that made it all the way through, it was clear that most of them did not survive unscathed. While physically they were all fine, most applicants hung loosely with blank stares. The room they were in felt unwelcoming and cold, filled with the traumatic experiences of applicants. The sun from the outside did nothing to relieve applicants from their state of mind.

    Violet recalled each obstacle, the first, applicants were trampled under each other''s feet as they forced themselves through a dark tunnel. The second was a minefield that nearly killed the applicants that went across and required one to either power through with a strong shield or walk undefended without psychic powers. The third was a test made by an examiner who passed applicants based on their own decisions. The fourth was a battle against evil spirits that had similar capacities to the applicants. The fifth and final was a non-psychic powered battle between 4 examiners and applicants where one could only pass if somehow they could impress the examiners.

    Each obstacle served as much as a test of a psychic''s abilities as much as it did their mental fortitude. It broke applicants who couldn¡¯t take the stress and those that could were still ground down into something that could be reformed. The second selection was as much a mental test as it was a mental rehabilitation.

    As Violet entered a bus along with Roland and Vivian, who was still carrying Mark, she turned back toward the building she had just left. There, along the path the building connected to, numerous dreams were crushed. Souls were shattered, minds were tested, and hell was brought upon young teenagers. It was this cruelty, this brutality, that produced elite heroes.

    As Violet sat down she allowed herself to sink deeply into her seat. The buses AGH used were rather nice and the seats were exceptionally comfortable. The series of busses began to move and Violet felt the rumble of the bus begin to rock her to sleep. With a chance to finally relax, Violet felt herself become overwhelmed by mental exhaustion. Soon the entire bus was filled with sleeping applicants, but none of them saw a single dream.

    80%

    End of Chapter 22

 Chapter 23: Unique Power - Absorption

    Chapter 23: Unique Power - Absorption

    I felt myself falling. Surrounding me was an eternal darkness. Every inch, every centimeter, every molecule, every atom, every quark was filled with his power. The infinite and eternal abyss stretched beyond the boundaries which the human eye could see. I was not physically there, it was a projection of my being, my soul. But I could still sense the overwhelming strength that filled this entire land. It ebbed, vibrated, and pulsed through the air, sending ripples of thoughts incomprehensible to anyone but me.

    Twinkling lights of memories from years past dotted the world in a beautiful visual arrangement. They spoke of events that changed people, events that defined life, and events that defined how a person lived. The unlimited nuances, the minuscule detailing, the infinitesimally tiny moments in time that held such impact as to become a monumental moment of life. This is what was spoken of by the lights. The lights danced in the void with motivations known only to two.

    In the center of this space, was him. A swirling sphere of unimaginable scale was next to the both of us. It seemed to stretch beyond the borders of the infinite darkness yet folded in on itself to become infinitely small. Half of it white, half of it black. This domain was the domain of the soul. This realm spoke the thoughts and truths that lie at the bottom of my heart, protected by the soul.

    ¡®You drew me in deep, very deep.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®I¡¯m sure you enjoyed that. Seeing me lose control.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®What am I gonna do? Kill you?¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®You exerted a lot of power in that moment to break through. If it weren¡¯t for the spirits from earlier you wouldn¡¯t have gotten a sliver of power through.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®I¡¯m leaving, at the very least, you won¡¯t be able to talk to me for a while.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®Go to hell.¡¯

    ¡­

    I woke up slowly. My vision was blurry and lights shined into my eyes painfully. I couldn¡¯t process my current location. I squinted my eyes tightly and then forced them open with all my strength to force them to adjust faster.

    As my vision quickly regained focus I sat up from the place I was lying in. I quickly realized that I was in the dorm room I had been assigned to with Roland, Vivian, and Violet. A blanket was draped across my body and a nearby fireplace cackled delightfully. Looking toward my left, I saw the time, 10:52 PM. I lay down again, allowing myself to be enveloped by warmth and comfort.

    ¡°You hungry?¡± Someone said.

    I turned toward the sound of the voice. Vivian walked towards me and placed a tray with food and a glass of milk on a coffee table in front of me. She sat opposite me, on another couch.

    I regretfully sat up again and tossed the blanket off of me, allowing the chill of the room to set in. I grabbed the plate and allowed its comforting warmth to spread from my fingers to the rest of my body. Vivian pulled out a napkin and unrolled it, revealing a set of metal utensils. I thanked her and began to eat.

    The meal consisted of some steak, mashed potatoes, and some asparagus. I took my first bite of the steak and felt my mouth burst with delicious flavor. The juice oozed out with every bite, covering my tongue with a delicious savory fluid. Vivian was excellent at cooking, even better than I was, and I was fairly confident in my skill. The mashed potatoes were equally excellent. Smooth, flowing, and with a buttery fatness, it filled my entire body with a comforting warmth. Add onto that some well-seasoned asparagus and the meal was truly incredible.

    ¡®Roland probably loved this,¡¯ I thought to myself. Steak with mashed potatoes and asparagus was an extremely common meal in Ameriac.

    Despite the incredible meal though, my dinner was slightly sullied by the awkwardness of the situation. Neither Vivian nor I spoke to each other for several minutes. Our empty and uncomfortable silence was filled by the sound of a cackling fire and my utensils touching the plate. Eventually, it reached a point where I couldn¡¯t stay silent any longer. I took a deep breath and spoke.

    ¡°Thank you for helping me Vivian,¡± I said. I felt myself blush as the memory filled my head again. I still felt her hand on my cheek.

    ¡°Uh¡­ you¡¯re welcome,¡± she said back. She turned her head downward, hiding her face behind long hair. She nervously began to twirl her fingers in circles around her hair, looping them around and then unlooping them over and over again.

    ¡®Fuck¡­ well this is going wonderfully.¡¯

    I nearly banged my head on the coffee table in my frustration. Why was I struggling to talk to her right now? I had talked to her during the second selection with such ease. But now I could barely look her in the eye. As I was thinking this my eyes were subconsciously drawn to her hand which had so delicately touched me in the second selection and drawn me out of my horrid mental state.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Mark¡­¡± Vivian suddenly said.

    I looked at her with a start. ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°What happened to you during the final obstacle?¡±

    I froze up for a moment. I knew that I would eventually be asked this. Regardless of how emotional I may have been at the time, my actions were extreme and horrifyingly brutal. It was like I was a different person entirely. I had already prepared a response beforehand, but this event involved him. It made me uncomfortable just to think about what had happened. With a deep sigh, I told her my preplanned response.

    ¡°It was a side effect of my unique power, Absorption. I can absorb psychic energy in variable amounts.

    Vivian nodded. She stared so intently at me that I nearly turned my gaze away from her. I felt like a bug in a test tube, being observed by a scientist who was watching and recording everything I did. I somewhat hesitantly continued my explanation.

    ¡°Psychic powers are linked to the brain and soul, so when I absorb psychic powers I receive influence from the brain and soul of the person I¡¯m absorbing from. I don¡¯t know if you noticed, but during the landmine obstacle, after the landmine blew up, I felt like a different person for a while. That was because I absorbed the land mines psychic energy, allowing my specific area to remain untouched, but it also led to me inheriting the emotional state of the person who charged the land mine. I suspect it was the principal, considering how insane he is.¡±

    All this time, Vivian didn¡¯t do anything except look at me intently. I couldn¡¯t help but appreciate how good of a listener she was, although her staring still creeped me out.

    ¡°A big problem and benefit I have with this unique power is that absorption is passive, meaning I¡¯ll draw in some psychic energy from whatever surrounding there is. Psychic energy I gain from this can be suppressed by layering my power on top of it, but in the case that my power becomes sealed away I will become fully vulnerable.¡±

    Vivian''s face instantly brightened with understanding. Passive absorption could indeed be very powerful, I¡¯d have a larger supply of psychic energy than normal and I would always be recharging in battle. But it also meant that I could absorb unwanted psychic energy which I would then have to suppress using my powers, wasting my strength on something that I was unable to control.

    ¡°The spirits,¡± she said. ¡°You absorbed the hatred of the evil spirits and when your psychic energy was sealed by the wristband you became overwhelmed.¡±

    I nodded, smiling sorrowfully at her. I so deeply wished to tell her the whole truth, but I couldn¡¯t. What I said wasn¡¯t explicitly a lie, but a single detail was omitted. Him. My heart longed to speak and my soul ached for release from this secret of mine, but I could not tell her.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what happened to me.¡±

    Vivian suddenly stood up from her couch. She breathed in deeply and walked over to me, taking a seat by my side. She grabbed one of my hands and held it in a similar position that someone would take while arm wrestling.

    She fixed her eyes on me and I was drawn back to when we had first met. For a moment I had been captivated, her eyes glistened and sparkled with a brilliant glow. It made me feel more than warmth and comfort. How lucky was I, to have the opportunity to know such a person?

    During the second selection that was no longer there. It was replaced by a blankness. A void that held no soul. But as I looked into her eyes now, there was something there. A passion, a fire, it was small but I felt heat.

    ¡°Mark,¡± she said to me, ¡°I owe you for helping me in the second selection. If we make it into AGH, tell me if you need any help ok?¡±

    ¡®Is that really all?¡¯ I was hoping a little more would happen.

    ¡°Deal,¡± I said. We brought our arms up and down like we were shaking hands, the deal was set.

    Strangely though, Vivian began eyeing my hand weirdly. She moved her head around it, analyzing it like a dog would analyze a new chew toy.

    ¡°Your fingers are long.¡±

    ¡®...¡¯

    I was stunned in silence for a few seconds before bursting out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. It wasn¡¯t the first time that someone had told me I had long fingers, but the situation was never like this. I grabbed at my sides as a contracting pain spread throughout my torso. Vivian too, began to laugh.

    ¡®I think it¡¯s all right now,¡¯ I thought to myself.

    The flame in Vivian¡¯s eyes was beautiful. I could see in it an unbreakable resolution and a powerful trauma. They mixed a merged, forming the sparks and heat necessary to set her will ablaze. It was saddening though, for the methods that had brought her to this point were horrific.

    But there really was merit in those methods. I had full confidence, that she would pass the application.

    ¡­

    The next day we received information about the results from the second selection. In total, 132 applicants were eliminated during the final selection, leaving only 68 applicants. The first obstacle eliminated 12 applicants. The second eliminated 31, the third eliminated 31, the fourth eliminated 17 and the fifth eliminated 41.

    ¡®The principal said that the slower 100 half applicants would be eliminated, but it looks like that was unnecessary.¡¯

    I shook my head, I had underestimated AGH completely. Their application was meant to weed out any individual who wasn¡¯t prepared to be an elite hero. To pass the second selection an applicant needed unshakeable willpower. However, AGH¡¯s track record of consistently producing elite heroes proved the effectiveness of the application. Everyone who qualified to take the application at AGH was already a genius, having reached B-Rank by 16, but the difference between an A-Rank and a B-Rank was large, and the difference between A-Ranks and S-Ranks was even larger. Yet a massive 50% of AGH students ended up reaching S-Rank, a statistic only 4 other schools globally compared to.

    ¡°Mark you ready?¡±

    I snapped back into focus from my brainstorming and turned around to face Roland. We stood in the middle of an abandoned city set. AGH had opened up an arena for the applicants to use as a form of preparation before the third selection, which was a tournament between applicants. Roland, Violet, Vivian, and I had flipped coins to decide who would fight who since each applicant was only allowed one session per day.

    On all sides of us were buildings mimicking a real-life city, from the asphalt to the concrete sidewalks to the stores, and the cars, everything was intricately detailed to perfectly mimic a real city. We only got one street though as there simply wasn¡¯t enough room to allow for more. Faintly, I could hear the sounds of a battle breaking out between other psychics. Violet and Vivian were probably among them.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready Roland,¡± I said, taking a fighting stance. Roland mimicked me, although he was obviously not trained in any form of martial arts. His hands hung too low and his legs were too close together. Luckily my father had insisted I take basic martial, providing me a small advantage.

    Both of us stood still, neither willing to move. I felt the wind blow lightly and my hair got tossed around. Pebbles were blown away, moving on the ground like ants. Up above us a flock of birds rapidly flew away, frightened from the surrounding battles. The wind now began to blow even harder, in fact, it increased at a surprisingly violent rate. I began pushing against the wind to retain my footing.

    ¡®Something isn¡¯t right¡­¡¯

    It was when I observed Roland carefully that I realized what was happening. I saw him smile as I suddenly felt a massive gust of wind send me flying into a nearby building. As I crashed through the window of the store I formed a shield to surround my body, protecting myself from falling glass. Roland had started the battle the moment the wind started blowing. He used the elemental manipulation of air to increase the wind speed to the point where I was blown clean off my feet. He was an elemental specialist, I should have expected that.

    I leaped out of the shop with a ball of energy in my hand and my body wrapped in psychic energy, immediately looking towards where Roland was earlier. To my dismay, however, he had vanished. As I looked around the ground beneath my feet suddenly cracked open and I felt Roland pull me downwards.

    ¡®Shit!¡¯

    I seized the arm he had grabbed me with and pulled him towards me. He shot out of the ground like a bullet and I felt myself get pulled awkwardly along with him. We spun uncontrollably in the air and crashed onto the ground. I reached out to the ground and manipulated the earth to form a bat for me to use. Before Roland got up I filled it with psychic power and swung. The reinforced bat slammed into Roland¡¯s side and I felt cracking through the bat.

    Roland screamed in pain and slammed his fist onto the ground. A pillar of earth shot up from beneath him, lifting him back to the surface. I smiled inwardly, unlike with Jerricho I had a chance to beat Roland here. This time, I had a chance at victory.

    End of Chapter 23

 Chapter 24: Combat, Panic, Fear, Breathe, Death

    Chapter 24: Combat, Panic, Fear, Breathe, Death

    22%

    Violet carefully untied and retied both of her shoes. Her movements were methodical, slow, and nearly robotic. Her face was still enough to have been carved from stone. It was like looking at a statue rather than a human face.

    Violet had luckily gotten plenty of sleep on the bus ride back and during the night. After sleeping in for a few hours she brought her counter to far below 50%. During the second selection, she had become increasingly worried at the possibility of reaching 100%. Such an event could prove catastrophic for her.

    Violet allowed her hands to leave her shoelaces, having done a double knot on both shoes. She looked upwards toward Vivian who was doing stretches. Soon after Mark and Roland had left to use the arenas as training, Violet and Vivian had agreed to utilize the arenas as well.

    ¡°You ready?¡± Vivian asked, jumping up and down now that she was warmed up.

    Violet nodded but didn¡¯t speak. With her counter beneath 50%, Violet felt apathetic toward everything around her, so she didn¡¯t feel like talking. On top of that, Violet was still slightly uncomfortable interacting with Mark and Vivian, unlike Roland.

    Violet and Vivian began to stare each other down. Their arena was identical to Mark and Rolands, the same buildings, vehicles, stains on the sidewalks, everything down to the most minute of details was identical across all the arenas.

    Vivian took deep breaths to calm herself. But Violet did no such thing, she felt no fear, no anxiety, no emotion at all. Violet began to move psychic energy around her body, enhancing it beyond the usual human standard. Her bones were like steel and her skin was like iron.

    ¡®Watch her carefully,¡¯ Violet thought to herself.

    In an instant, Violet shot herself off the ground and flew towards Vivian at over 100 miles per hour. Within a fraction of a second Violet was face to face with Vivian and was about to collide when Violet felt herself get thrown off course. It was a small change, but it was just enough for her to miss Vivian.

    Violet dug her hands into the ground to stop herself from moving, creating a line of fingerprints on the asphalt road. It wasn¡¯t hard to deduce what happened. In just a moment Violet had determined that Vivian used telekineses to make a slight change to her trajectory. It wasn¡¯t surprising, Vivian was a specialist in telekinesis after all.

    ¡®I need to keep be cautious of that.¡¯

    Violet reached out and appeared to grab something in the air. No, it was the air itself she was grabbing. A small vortex formed in Violet¡¯s hand, brimming with energy. It began to expand, wider and taller until it was soon almost 15 feet tall and 7 feet wide. Violet then threw it at Vivian, using her psychic powers to push the small tornado forward.

    Vivian however solved it simply. She placed her hand on the ground and manipulated the earth to create a hole beneath the asphalt the tornado was on. She then used her telekinesis to push the asphalt down, breaking the base of the tornado and causing it to dissipate. Without wasting a second, Vivian then grabbed three cars and threw them at Violet.

    Violet pulled her hands in front of her and formed a solid barrier. The cars collided one after the other, causing cracks to appear throughout the barrier.

    ¡®She¡¯s strong, when Mark threw those cars at Jerricho it was with way less force,¡¯ Violet thought to herself.

    Violet pulled the barrier in front of her back into her palm and condensed it into an orb of rippling energy. The air around it cackled to life as psychic energy was condensed into a minuscule point.

    ¡®Staying at range would put me at a disadvantage, I need to get up close.¡¯ Violet thought. As a telekinesis specialist, Vivian would be most suited for long-range fighting. By getting up close, Violet would restrict her options as she would put herself at risk of getting hit by an attack.

    But before Violet could charge Vivian she felt something slam into her back. Vivian hadn¡¯t stopped controlling the cars she threw but had pulled them back when Violet wasn¡¯t looking.

    Violet was slammed into the ground with enough force to cause a small crater. She felt blood flow from her now crooked nose. Her head rang painfully and everything around her seemed to spin.

    27%

    ¡®Shoot, this is bad. Her telekinesis is stronger than I thou-¡¯

    At that moment Violet felt another car slam into her back and she screamed in pain. Vivian began to slam the cars down over and over again, each time crushing the cars more and more until they were practically falling apart.

    33%

    37%

    41%

    46%

    ¡®I need to get out of here.¡¯

    Violet formed a shield around her body. While it couldn¡¯t completely stop the damage, it was enough to allow Violet to begin charging up a massive amount of psychic energy into the front of her body. Vivian could no longer see Violet anymore, having pushed her into a crater, but if Vivian had then she would have seen a bright glow emanating from Violet¡¯s body.

    47%

    ¡®Condense it. Allow the pressure to build up.¡¯

    Violet felt the psychic energy begin to tear at her body. Every part of her body began to cramp and burn. But despite all this pain Violet powered through, after having experienced the second selection this pain no longer phased her. The cars slamming into Violet no longer felt as painful as before and Violet felt her body begin to explode in strength.

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡®It¡¯s ready.¡¯

    In an instant, Violet released all the psychic energy she had been building up at once. A blinding explosion occurred.

    Vivian had less than half a second to react before the explosion''s shockwave sent her flying. Vivian was blown off of her feet and slammed into a nearby building, her ear bleeding from the volume of the blast.

    Cars all around the two psychics were thrown around like toys in a hurricane. Fire hydrants and light poles were torn out of the ground. The glass windows of the buildings shattered and shards of glass rained down, littering on the battlefield. A cloud of smoke rose from the crater Violet was in.

    Violet groaned as she rolled over onto her back. Her bones ached and creaked as a result of the unnatural force that was placed on her. Every part of her body experienced a deep throbbing pain. Wincing, Violet stood up in the crater she had created. The ground smoked with heat from the explosion and the earth beneath her was burnt. As Violet poked her head out over the top of the crater she saw Vivian stuck on the side of a building.

    Vivian was slammed into the building hard enough for her arm to break through the concrete wall. She pulled backward and got her arm released from the wall, falling to the ground.

    Violet heavily panted and wiped beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. She struggled to stand, her legs shook uncontrollably and the world appeared to tilt sideways in her eyes.

    ¡®Focus, focus, you have a chance to win this.¡¯

    Violet began to slowly make her way over to Vivian. She conjured a blunt cane of psychic energy and used it to assist her walking. Her right leg had been torn apart by some of the falling glass and was running with blood. Each step sent a sharp pain through Violet¡¯s body and she limped one-sidedly.

    Vivian on the other hand couldn¡¯t even move. A psychic explosion of Violet¡¯s scale and style had consequences for the surrounding psychics. When the shockwave was blown out from the explosion it had been laced with psychic power that rippled throughout the bodies of any psychics that came into contact. If a psychic didn¡¯t put up a shield in time then the two different psychic powers would mix and begin to attack each other, causing the victim to become paralyzed until the attacks ceased.

    ¡®Just a little further, almost there.¡¯

    An explosion like this came from a lucky situation. B-Rank¡¯s like Vivian would easily be able to form a strong enough shield to protect them from the explosion, had Violet not been in a crater then the attack would have been for nothing as Vivian would have reacted in time. On top of that, Violet drained herself of nearly 50% of her psychic energy for just that one attack.

    ¡®10 steps, 9 steps, 8 steps, 7 ste-¡¯

    Violet¡¯s thoughts froze. She was overcome by a sense of dread as she looked at Vivian. Vivian¡¯s body convulsed and she had begun to foam at the mouth. Her eyes moved around, panicking. Her fingers twitched uncontrollably, grabbing at the air repeatedly. But Violet noticed none of it, her thoughts were only drawn to Vivian¡¯s arm. It was bruised heavily and contorted unnaturally.

    Violet¡¯s heart began to beat with unusual force. She felt blood echo pulse throughout her body, echoing in her head like a drum. Her breathing quickened, turning into a high-speed hyperventilation as her mind was drawn back to the previous day. She could see it clearly, being pinned down by someone far stronger than her and being forced to watch Vivian be tortured.

    50%

    In an instant, a series of terrifying emotions rose in Violet. Anxiety, fear, shock, all of it exploded within her. She began to stumble backward, horrified at the sight of Vivian¡¯s arm.

    ¡®I can¡¯t breathe, I can¡¯t breathe.¡¯

    Violet collapsed onto her knees, her eyes wide in fear. Chills ran throughout her body as though her blood itself had turned into ice. Her heart rate shot upward like a bullet and Violet clenched at her chest.

    ¡®It¡¯s cold, I can¡¯t breathe, I can¡¯t breathe.¡¯

    Violet couldn¡¯t think anymore, she could only feel, and the only thing she felt was dread. Not fear, but dread. Dread, doomed terror of an inevitable disaster about to occur. Something was going to happen, something horrible. Violet needed to run, needed to escape, no matter the cost.

    Violet attempted to move her legs, her arms, anything, but her limbs had become weak. They were like jello and the air was like syrup. She couldn¡¯t move at all. Everything around her was loud, the wind sounded like a jet engine.

    Violet looked to the sky, the buildings appeared to move, caving inwards and stretching upwards, entrapping Violet inside.

    ¡®My face, I can¡¯t feel my face. Run. I need to get out. I¡¯m going to die.¡¯

    53%

    ¡®Is this a heart attack? I¡¯m going to die. It¡¯s cold. I can''t breathe at all. My arms and legs hurt.¡¯

    Violet began to scream as she became overwhelmed. She had no doubt now, she was going to die, she would die here, there was nothing she could do anymore. Tears streamed down her face as she awaited death.

    55%

    ¡®What¡¯s happening? I can¡¯t breathe. It¡¯s cold. Everything hurts. Gods, what¡¯s happening?¡¯

    Violet clenched her chest tighter and tighter until her shirt began to tear. Breathe, she needed to breathe. It felt impossible, but Violet began to force her breathing into an orderly rhythm and rate.

    ¡®Breathe, you need to breathe. I¡¯m going to die. Just breathe. It¡¯s cold. Breathe Violet.¡¯

    The world around Violet froze and she felt like her life was being stolen from her. But she kept her breathing under control. Even if it was just for a moment, she didn¡¯t know why, but she knew she needed to control her breathing as much as possible.

    ¡®Breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe.¡¯

    The world around Violet slowly came to a halt. The buildings undistorted, shrinking down to their previous heights and allowing Violet to see the sky once more. She felt her heart slow down and the beating in her head became more muted.

    ¡®Breathe, breathe, breathe.¡¯

    Violet felt herself regaining control. Her body adjusted to the inhuman influx of sudden emotions that had come. Violet was left exhausted, physically and mentally. The sense of dread that Violet had earlier was replaced by a lingering fatigue. A gray fog entered her mind, encouraging her to rest. Everything became hazy and all she wanted to do was drift away, allow the warmth of unconsciousness to take her.

    ¡®No, Vivian, what happened to Vivian?¡¯

    Violet looked up and saw Vivian now standing. Vivian lifted her arm shakily and all around her small glass shard began to float. A window of shattered glass remains hovered around Vivian, with a clean strike, any single one of them could cause death to an unprepared psychic.

    With a flick of her finger, Vivian tossed every single shard toward Violet. They whistled as the flew, a song of death pierced the air. Violet barely had enough time to shield her body as the glass shards flew at her. They shattered repeatedly against Violet¡¯s shield, like rain against an umbrella.

    ¡®Quickly, I must act quickly.¡¯

    Vivian was attacking her, but there was a difference this time. The attacks were more controlled, slower, and posed more of a threat to Vivian than before. Violet had gotten close enough to Vivian where careless telekinesis could lead to self-harm.

    In an instant, Violet condensed a ball of psychic energy into her hand and shot a beam out toward Vivian, forcing Vivian to dodge. But, the attack still grazed Vivian¡¯s shoulder and left a burn mark. Violet¡¯s arm was cut as a result of the attack, defending and attacking simultaneously was a highly advanced technique even some A-Rank¡¯s struggled with. But Violet was successful. Vivian¡¯s focus on the glass shards faltered for a moment and Violet sprang into action.

    She channeled psychic energy into her leg and kicked Vivian¡¯s side, feeling bones inside crunch from the impact. Vivian¡¯s legs were lifted off the ground, but before Vivian was thrown away Violet grabbed her with telekinesis and pulled back. At the same time, Violet threw a punch towards Vivian¡¯s face.

    Vivian¡¯s face and Violet¡¯s fist collided with tremendous force. Vivian was sent soaring and crashed into a building. Blood began to drip out of her nose and head from the impact.

    ¡®Not yet, don¡¯t allow your opponent a moment of rest.¡¯

    Before entering the fight, Violet and Vivian agreed to continue fighting until one of them surrendered or was knocked unconscious.

    ¡®I¡¯m sorry about this Vivian.¡¯

    Violet held her hands close together, as though she were holding something. Soon a bright light appeared in between them and psychic energy could be visibly seen flooding into it. A brilliant sphere of psychic energy was formed, shining with the intensity of a thousand lights.

    ¡°Vivian!¡± Violet yelled. ¡°Surrender now!¡±

    But Vivian shook her head and instead brought up her arms to fight. A fire in her eyes burned passionately, refusing to give up, no matter the cost.

    ¡®I¡¯m sorry, Vivian.¡¯

    Violet screamed as she released the psychic power she had condensed between her hands. A beam of purple energy shot out and completely enveloped Vivian in its blast. As Vivian screamed the beam of energy tore through the building behind her, melting the walls and everything it touched as though it were paper until Violet finally released it.

    When the beam disappeared, Vivian was left barely standing, her entire body covered in red burns as though she had been out in the sun for too long. Vivian then collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

    Violet¡¯s hands had become slightly burnt from the amount of psychic energy they were exposed to in close range. All at once, the exhaustion she had experienced earlier returned and Violet fell to her hands and knees. Her entire body was drenched in sweat from the intensity of the fight and it dripped onto the ground beneath her.

    ¡®I won¡­¡¯

    At that moment an A-Rank psychic flew down from the sky and began to heal Vivian.

    ¡®Thank goodness¡­¡¯

    Violet could now be assured of Vivian and her injuries being taken care of. She allowed the exhaustion to spread throughout her body and Violet felt herself go limp. She collapsed into a heap on the ground, barely conscious.

    ¡®I won¡­¡¯

    But as Violet drifted off into unconsciousness she couldn¡¯t help but wonder what had happened earlier. What was the overwhelming fear? The horror? The dread?

    ¡®At least though, I¡¯m not dead¡­¡¯

    57%

    End of Chapter 24

 Chapter 25: Fuck You Too

    Chapter 25: Fuck You Too

    ¡®What the hell?¡¯

    I looked all around me but Roland had vanished. Just a second ago, he had used a pillar of earth to escape the hole we were in, but he had somehow managed to vanish.

    ¡®That¡¯s right, his unique power,¡¯ I thought.

    Roland¡¯s unique power was light manipulation. He had already proven to me that he could turn invisible before, but it was likely that he had far more powers than just invisibility with light manipulation. But it would be unwise to share any more abilities with me since the third selection, a tournament, was still coming up. So, he was almost certainly only using invisibility. I didn¡¯t have much to be worried about though. Unique powers were not natural to humans, so not only would they always drain psychic energy quickly, but they would also come with drawbacks. Roland wouldn¡¯t be able to remain invisible for long.

    I formed a barrier around every part of my body, it would shield me from most attacks and give me some time to think of a way to force Roland out into the open.

    The moment I formed a barrier a fire hydrant was suddenly thrown in my direction. It shattered harmlessly against the barrier I had formed. A sprout of water shot out to the side with tremendous force, strong enough to push a fully grown adult to the ground.

    ¡®So, there you are.¡¯ I thought, smiling inwardly. Roland had made an error, the way he had broken the fire hydrant caused the water to be pushed onto him. While he was able to easily divert the water with his powers it revealed an unnatural gap, that¡¯s where Roland was standing.

    I immediately went on the offensive, leaping toward him I concentrated psychic energy into my right arm. I felt my limb tremble with energy as I approached Roland. He diverted part of the fire hydrant''s water towards me but I merely put out my arm. The psychic power in my arm absorbed all the energy, allowing me to continue without slowing down.

    With a few more steps I was now face to face with Roland. While he was still invisible the general area he could be in was small, and the amount of space that he was forcing the water to go around was minimal.

    I swung my arm at Roland and my fist collided with¡­ nothing?

    ¡®What the hell¡¯?

    It was then that I felt myself get punched in the face. I felt the bones in my jaw dislocate as I was slammed into the ground. I hit the ground hard enough to form a small crater in the ground and blood began to spew out from the side of my head that had crashed onto the asphalt road. I clawed at my head and pulled out a small rock that was covered in blood.

    ¡®Shit.¡¯

    A well-known fact was that attacking and defending with psychic powers was extremely difficult and could only be done by A-Rank¡¯s and above. The multitasking of such contradictory ideals was a hurdle for the human brain to subconsciously cross. Roland used this fact to his advantage and in the tiny window of time where I would transition from offense to defense, attacked me.

    ¡®This is bad, my powers won¡¯t work in this state.¡¯

    Psychic powers were greatly linked to the brain. Any injury to it could greatly affect psychic powers in unpredictable ways. One could even end up killing themselves on accident if they weren¡¯t careful. In real combat, a brain injury, no matter how small, could mean the difference between life and death.

    Roland once more slammed my head into the ground, shaking my entire world and leaving me in a horrendous daze. In this state, my psychic powers could operate in uncontrollable manners, and I was at a significant disadvantage.

    ¡®Well, back to basics.¡¯

    Before Roland could slam down on me again I blasted a large amount of psychic power into the ground, sending myself flying into the air. The basics of psychic powers would be the ones most likely unaffected by a head injury. This meant that I could still send out psychic energy and use body enhancement, however, controlling psychic energy once it left my body would be off the table.

    ¡®I estimate I only need about a minute before I can use my psychic powers perfectly again.¡¯

    When I landed on the ground I immediately filled every part of my body with psychic energy, reinforcing it to the point where I was stronger than steel. But Roland didn¡¯t attack me, instead, he moved further away and began speaking to me.

    ¡°Are you going to use your unique power, Mark?¡± Roland asked me.

    ¡°Unfortunately no,¡± I replied. ¡°I don¡¯t mean that disrespectfully of course, but I¡¯d prefer to keep the specifics of my power a secret for now.¡±

    Earlier in the day I had explained to Violet and Roland the basics of my unique power but I refused to tell them any of the specifics. The more about the specifics they knew the more likely they could figure out how to take advantage of the weaknesses the ability had. With the third selection still coming up it would be foolish to reveal my ability so early.

    While this conversation was occurring I tried to deduce how Roland had tricked me into thinking he was standing next to the fire hydrant. After a few moments of thought the answer became clear. It was quite simple really, he used his psychic powers to divert the water while being a distance away. The fact that I hadn¡¯t thought of such a possibility was, frankly, pathetic of me. In a real fight against a villain, running in headfirst like I did would have ended with me dead.

    ¡®I have a lot to learn.¡¯

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    ¡°Well,¡± Roland said, ¡°I suppose that¡¯s fair eno-¡±

    My punch slammed into Roland who was left completely surprised by the sudden attack. Something I had always wondered was why some people engaged in conversation during combat, in most cases it was just a waste of time. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean I wouldn¡¯t take advantage of their habits. Roland likely expected me to allow him to finish talking, since I had done that for his previous sentence, and I used that expectation to catch him off guard.

    ¡®30 seconds left.¡¯

    I immediately launched into a combo of physical attacks on Roland. Blow after blow, each attack enhanced with psychic energy. A person who didn¡¯t reinforce their body would find every impact to have broken their bones. Roland had already reinforced his body but I had already thrown him off balance with my first attack. As long as I kept hitting him I would build time for my brain to fully recover.

    ¡®23 seconds.¡¯

    I launched a punch into Roland¡¯s gut, causing him to keel over. Using the momentum of his body already folding, I slammed his head into my knee, breaking his nose. Roland attempted to throw a punch to my face but I was able to block it easily and return with a punch to his face. One of the basics of physical combat is always protect the face, something Roland didn¡¯t do. Whenever he attempted to counterattack he allowed his hands to drop from his face.

    ¡®16 seconds.¡¯

    My attacks couldn¡¯t deal sufficient damage to affect Roland¡¯s brain, so his psychic powers were still operating perfectly. This of course meant that Roland would likely be able to push me back in the next few seconds.

    I swung my left leg in an arc directly into Roland¡¯s side. I felt bones beneath the skin crack slightly and felt his psychic shielding begin to falter. However, as I attempted to remove my leg Roland grabbed it. I felt him drag the leg around him, swinging me into the air like a doll.

    ¡®12 seconds.¡¯

    I stabilized myself in the air, twisting and turning my body until I was in a position to safely land. Upon touching the ground I immediately reinforced my body once more. In an instant, Roland had already launched a spear of flames toward me.

    ¡®9 seconds.¡¯

    I felt the fire engulf my entire body. My body was reinforced but physical enhancement could only go to such an extent in changing the human body. It was easy to become more durable or make myself stronger, but doing things like becoming fireproof required much more focus. I felt my skin begin to burn and blister wherever the fire touched, turning my body into a meat sack of burnt skin. My mind was drawn back to the second selection where I had seen an applicant¡¯s body on fire and even watched his face melt from the heat.

    ¡®No, don¡¯t think about that right now. 5 seconds.¡¯

    I slammed my hands into the ground and a hole opened up beneath me. Dropping down, I curled up and hid myself from the flames. Roland¡¯s fire was large enough to obscure his vision of my body, for a few seconds he wouldn¡¯t notice I was gone, and that was all the time I needed.

    ¡®3 seconds.¡¯

    I felt my mind suddenly clear, as though an invisible fog I didn¡¯t even notice had been lifted. My body began to rapidly repair itself. I felt like every cell in my body had suddenly been electrified to rapidly operate beyond regular capacity.

    ¡®Looks like that required just a little bit less time than I thought.¡¯

    Immediately I leaped out of the hole I was in, jumping through the fire fast enough to come out unharmed. Roland¡¯s eyes followed me in shock and he quickly disabled flames. While in the air I pulled my arms inward and the windows of buildings all around me shattered. Shards of glass floated in the air, waiting for my command. While still falling I forced all of them to fly at Roland.

    Thousands of tiny glass missiles attacked, any one of them could slice a tendon, lacerate a limb, or stab an organ. Roland was forced to shield himself on all sides, hiding himself in an earthen dome which the glass was unable to penetrate. But this was a significant mistake on his part. He couldn¡¯t see me, but I could see him. When I landed on the ground I allowed my right arm to stop controlling the glass and instead begin charging up an attack. The attacks of the flying glass slowed as a result of my divided focus but it wasn¡¯t enough to allow for Roland to release his earth dome.

    ¡®More energy, I need more energy into this attack.¡¯

    As a Mid B-Rank, Roland¡¯s overall psychic capacity was almost guaranteed to be higher than mine. The longer the battle went on, the more important psychic capacity would become. Because of this, I decided to bet a large amount of psychic energy into this final attack. I could feel my arm bursting with power and I began to feel sharp, painful spasms.

    ¡®This is all I can manage,¡¯ I thought to myself, wincing from the stabbing sensations in my arm.

    I allowed the glass shards to fall to the ground. Amongst the piercing sounds of breaking glass, I sprinted towards Roland¡¯s earth dome. The power contained in my arm squirmed excitedly, waiting to be released in what was bound to be a powerful explosion.

    ¡®This is gonna hurt Roland.¡¯

    I lifted my arm and threw it forward. My entire body rotated with the punch, adding as much momentum as I could into the attack. The earth dome, which had easily survived the attacks of hundreds, if not thousands of glass shards, crumbled away like dust, revealing the inside. And inside was¡­

    ¡°AAAAAH!!!¡± I screamed out in sudden pain.

    A blinding light burst from the opening of the hole. It shined as bright as the sun and was a million times closer. Instantly I felt a searing pain fill my eyes as my vision suddenly filled with a brilliant and perfect white. My ears rang from the overwhelming information that had just entered my brain and I fell to the ground. I attempted to press my hands into my eyes, hoping to ease the burning sensation I was feeling with dull pain, but it did nothing. My vision, despite attempting to close my eyes, was filled with nothing but white.

    ¡®SHIT, SHIT SHIT!!!¡¯

    I had made a mistake, Roland had only used light manipulation for invisibility so far. I hadn¡¯t expected him to manipulate light by suddenly making a fucking flash bomb appear.

    As I rolled on the ground, groaning in pain, I felt Roland grab my head. Yet I could still only barely feel it as every one of my 5 senses had been completely overloaded.

    ¡®No, this isn¡¯t just from light, he must have somehow used the light to launch a mental attack.¡¯

    Mental attacks had an unlimited amount of possible effects and just as many possible routes for actually attacking. Somehow, Roland must have used his light to overwhelm my brain and send me into a painful sensory overload.

    ¡°Aaaagh,¡± I groaned painfully as Roland shook me. I heard him say something to me, it echoed loudly in my head yet at the same time appeared to be muffled, as though underwater. The distortion and artifacts made it almost impossible to make out what he said.

    I began to try and fill my brain with psychic power, attempting to flush out the mental attack. To cause any actual physical damage, mental attacks had to be massively powerful and could mostly only be done by A-Ranks. This meant that my psychic abilities would still operate perfectly as long as I could remain focused. By moving psychic powers to my brain I would be able to flush out a mental attack at the level of a B-Rank and below.

    Unfortunately, Roland knew this and slammed my head into the ground, multiplying my pain exponentially. In this state, I was completely helpless.

    ¡°Mark, can you hear me?¡±

    Roland¡¯s voice suddenly broke through the mental chaos I was in, granting me a small piece of relaxation.

    ¡°Do you surrender Mark?¡± He asked me.

    I shook my head. There was no way I was surrendering, as helpless as I was there was always a chance, an opening, a moment for a mistake to arise that I might take advantage of. With all my strength I was able to begin speaking to Roland, albeit, nearly incoherently.

    ¡°Fwugkh yohwu.¡±

    ¡­

    Roland stared over Mark as an A-Rank flew over and began to heal him. Roland had knocked Mark unconscious with a powerful blow, leading to Mark¡¯s head bleeding.

    With Mark now being taken care of, Roland fell into exhaustion. He gently touched his face and sides, feeling the numerous areas where Mark had hit him during their fight. He repositioned his broken nose with a crack and felt blood drip down his face. For a moment, Roland was genuinely worried he could lose, he couldn¡¯t see a way out of Mark¡¯s beatdown. It was only a single second, one tiny, nearly imperceivable moment of hesitation, that Roland was able to grab Mark¡¯s leg.

    ¡®I need to learn some martial arts,¡¯ Roland thought to himself. ¡®Had I not been able to grab his leg, I would be in a bad situation, even with my capacity being so much higher than his.¡¯

    As he recalled his memories of the fight, Roland chuckled at Mark¡¯s final words before Roland bashed his head in. Mark, even when under a mental attack, was smiling slightly as he said his words.

    ¡®He knew he had lost, he was having fun at that moment,¡¯ Roland said inwardly.

    As Roland felt around the painful parts of his body, he felt a smile creep around his face. He looked towards Mark and decided to respond to Mark¡¯s earlier, near-incoherent words.

    ¡°Fuck you too.¡±

    End of Chapter 25

 Chapter 26: Villainous Faction - Fukumuga

    Chapter 26: Villainous Faction - Fukumuga

    Principal Sever paced back and forth impatiently. His face was scrunched up in worry and his feet clapped down in a barely creeping-out anger. His aura leaked slightly, filled with malice and anticipation. There were other psychics in the room, all of them A-Ranks, and most began to step away from Principal Sever.

    An A-Rank hero, Arthur, was amongst the ones there. Despite his young age, he was an astonishingly successful hero. He had saved the lives of over 800 people and had engaged in combat against an A-Rank villain over 3 times. He was so successful that many believed he could reach S-Rank within the next 15 years, propelling him into stardom and fame as one of the 1100 most powerful psychics in the world.

    Yet even he could not help but feel a chill when observing Principal Sever. An SS-Rank, someone who had reached the pinnacle of human power, someone who could overthrow a country singlehandedly, someone who could kill with nothing more than a thought, someone that the gods themselves blessed! This person feared something, and every psychic in the room could feel it. It was a coldness that moved through the air, not one that could be touched, only felt, felt deep inside the soul. It appealed to the primal instincts of humanity to run, fight, flee, rage, the instincts that came from the desire to survive. And the desire to survive only came from the fear of death, of the end.

    Principal Sever¡¯s achievements were legendary, he had engaged in numerous large-scale battles, engaged an entire army, and once turned an entire city to dust and ash. His achievement of becoming an SS-Rank had political ramifications globally as Panaj instantly jumped to a truly powerful country. Treaties, trade deals, alliances, and more all were rewritten as a result of his status.

    Despite his cheerful insanity, he was a man formed by battle and destruction and molded by loss and killing. If one were to search the soul of such people, man or woman, there would only be two possibilities. The first is that they would find a desperate drive to survive, starved of peace and silence, their souls in a state of constant unrest as the horrors they had witnessed plagued their minds. The other possibility is the discovery of a tundra of ice, devoid of life and heart, the soul no longer shined with the brightness of life but instead dimmed into quiet reclusive, these people would often cover up their loss of self in the same way the principal did. Yet despite their differences, both outcomes came from the same thing, walking alongside death until it was no longer a mystery to be found at the end, but a cliff that took up the whole of their world.

    Yet here he was. His aura was filled with bloodlust, and every psychic in the room, all of which had years of brutal experience as heroes, felt as though whatever was going to happen would spell their deaths. An incomprehensible hatred feasted on the minds of every psychic there, freezing their blood and preparing them for death.

    ¡®There are only four possibilities for this,¡¯ Arthur thought to himself. ¡®The first two possibilities are either a powerful country or villain faction making a move. The third is that something has happened to the S-Rank and SS-Rank groups. And the final¡­¡¯

    Arthur immediately straightened himself up along with every other psychic. Principal Sever had suddenly stopped pacing and his aura which had been leaking away was suddenly sealed off. The sudden absence of power emanating in the air led the room to immediately feel uncomfortably empty and isolated.

    ¡®This must be it,¡¯ Arthur said inwardly.

    The principal sighed before finally opening his mouth to speak. His voice, usually filled with a strange glee, was stone-cold.

    ¡°You¡¯re all A-Ranks,¡± the principal said. Despite his simple words, they had a tremendous effect on the psychics present. They all felt pride and fear simultaneously. A grouping of this many A-Ranks was only done in truly important circumstances. There were only 1 million A-Ranks in a world of 58 billion people, making up only 0.0017% of the population. Only massively important individuals like Principal Sever could bring in so many, and only for truly important events.

    ¡°You¡¯re all among the elites of society in terms of power, each of you strong enough to devastate the lives of millions in a single night. You have all survived countless trials and endured innumerable difficulties, and many of you may even one day become an S-Rank.¡±

    For a moment the Principal paused, allowing his words to weigh on the psychics present. Despite the praise, it was clear that there was no joy in the principal at the moment. His phrasing made it sound more like he was sending soldiers off to a war in which they were doomed to die.

    ¡°What you are going to learn here today is of the utmost secrecy. If you share this information with anybody outside of this meeting, you will be arrested and sentenced to, at minimum, a decade of prison. You are not allowed to leave this meeting before it ends, and anyone who does will be revoked of their hero license immediately.¡±

    Arthur felt a chill run down his spine. If there was any doubt before, there was none now, something that could affect the entire country was about to be revealed to them, and it was something that required the highest level of secrecy. The lives of millions could be at stake.

    ¡°Now,¡± Principal Sever said, waving his hand. At Principal Sever¡¯s hand wave, the wall behind him vanished. Behind it was a dark blue room with large television screens and a stage set above the floor. ¡°Follow me.¡±

    The A-Rank psychics followed behind Principal Sever, each one filled with fearful expectations. Arthur, despite his outward calmness, felt his heart rate increasing. His hands had become clammy and he was about to break out into a cold sweat. He was no stranger to a life-threatening mission, but this was something different. In nearly all his past missions he was roughly evenly matched with his opponents, but from how the principal was acting, this wouldn¡¯t be the same.

    ¡®Gods be with us, protect your creations, save those faithful to you,¡¯ Arthur spoke inwardly.

    When everyone had entered into the room Principal Sever waved his hand again and the wall hiding the room reappeared. He then walked up to the stage and with another flick of his hand every television in the room suddenly turned on, but they were all blank white.

    ¡°We can now begin the meeting,¡± The principal said. He clapped his hands together and a group of psychics suddenly walked out from the walls on the side of the stage.

    Instantly Arthur identified their ranks. The way they walked, their cold confidence, their carefully controlled aura, they were S-Ranks. As he looked around Arthur recognized all but one of the five psychics on stage. The only one he didn¡¯t recognize was an old man wearing a suit. He felt significantly weaker than any of the other psychics. As Arthur was going over their achievement in his head, one of the S-Ranks began to speak, pulling Arthur¡¯s focus back.

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    ¡°I am Akimitsu Takahata. My hero name is Insectoid. It¡¯s a pleasure to work with you all.¡± The S-Rank then gave a bow. The A-Ranks felt somewhat awkward with this, if anything, they should be the ones bowing. But before any of them could voice their thoughts the next S-Rank began to speak, this time, a woman.

    ¡°Mai Eto, Shina.¡± Unlike Akimitsu, Mai didn¡¯t bow, instead, she just crossed her arms and allowed her focus to wander, as though there was nothing in the room worth her interest. Then the next S-Rank spoke.

    ¡°Hello everyone, I am Marco Zini, and my hero name is Punch-Out. I look forward to working with you all.¡± Marco said this with a joyous smile on his face, allowing all the A-Ranks to be put at a little more ease. Despite his cheerful face though, his body alone proved his dedication to strength, muscles rippled like waves. He was at least 7 feet tall and as muscular as a bodybuilder.

    ¡°Hey,¡± the next S-Rank spoke. Her voice droned oddly and she sounded overtly tired and depressed. ¡°I¡¯m Amelia Neer, also known as Shut Down.¡± She then gave a large yawn and nearly fell over in exhaustion.

    ¡®They¡¯re certainly all interesting individuals,¡¯ Arthur thought to himself. S-Ranks often suffered from isolation due to their overwhelming power. In most of society, they weren¡¯t treated as humans but as monsters or angels. Arthur could only imagine that after years of living with such expectations placed, one would find it easier to embrace the chaos rather than to fight it.

    Finally, the old man stepped forward. Instead of speaking, however, he pulled out from his suit a remote and pressed one of the buttons. The televisions behind the stage responded and immediately changed. They linked together to show an individual in a dark room. The individual was covered though, hidden in shadow without a single discernable detail.

    ¡°Hello,¡± the shadowy figure spoke. Their voice was heavily distorted, making it impossible to discern their gender or their identity. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you my name, but some of you may know me as The Unkown Hero. This meeting today was because of intel I recovered, I thank you all for attending.¡±

    The old man with the remote then walked offstage, disappearing from view. With the S-Ranks now introduced, Principal Sever took center stage again.

    ¡°In case you¡¯ve forgotten, I am Sever Foul. My hero name is Foul Play. We shall now discuss the reason for this meeting.¡±

    The principal then moved to the side of the stage, along with all the other S-Ranks, leaving The Unkown Hero as the center of attention.

    ¡°For those of you that don¡¯t know,¡± The Unkown Hero said, ¡°I am an independent hero hired by Panaj to infiltrate the criminal underworld. Recently I received intel that the villain faction Fukumuga has plans to do something in Nerum City.¡±

    Arthur instantly felt the atmosphere of the room change from fearful anticipation to dread and shock. Fukumuga was an exceptionally large and powerful villain faction. They were suspected of being a main contributor to The Night of Massacre that took place in Panaj several years ago. Their reach spread across the globe and was behind numerous corruption scandals and on several occasions destabilized countries to the point of wars, reaping profits as a group for hire during those wars. Their member count hovered at about 400,000 individuals. Of those 400,000 individuals, 950 were A-Ranks and 2 were S-Ranks, making them among the most powerful villain factions in the world.

    ¡®And not only that, they¡¯re going after Nerum City,¡¯ Arthur thought to himself.

    Nerum City was the largest city in Panaj and the largest city in the world. It had a population of 275 million people and covered 34 thousand square miles. A shining beacon of progress and development in the face of adversity, it had quickly rebuilt following an attack on it during the Night of Massacre and became the technological capital of the world. Due to its national and global importance and high population, it was one of the most heavily secured cities in the world, with hundreds of A-Ranks and tens of S-Ranks residing there. The fact that Fukumuga was planning an attack there meant that they had built up a massive force. A battle between Fukumuga and Nerum City¡¯s heroes would lead to the death of hundreds of thousands of people, and that was an optimistic outlook.

    ¡°Do we know their motivation?¡±

    Arthur turned around to the source of the question, an A-Rank. Immediately Arthur noticed multiple individuals in the room nearly groan audibly. Arthur didn¡¯t have a clear line of sight to the psychic who had asked the question, but he knew who it was. The psychic in question was male and despite his historically successful past as an examiner, was hated by nearly all his colleagues for his brutal methods.

    ¡®It¡¯s Jerricho.¡¯

    Jerricho however didn¡¯t seem to mind the clear dislike his peers had for him, instead, he gestured to The Unkown Hero to answer his question, which The Unkown Hero did.

    ¡°They appear to be after a high-rank artifact created during The Great War. I don¡¯t know everything about it though, neither do I know what they plan to use it for. What I do know though, is that the most likely time for them to retrieve the artifact is a year from now. It¡¯s supposed to be transferred to a security facility of the United Globe somewhere around that time. It will be most vulnerable during transportation.¡±

    A few small murmurs broke out amongst the A-Ranks. They weren¡¯t talking to each other but to themselves. Each of them was quickly processing the information they had been given and the potential courses of action they had, Arthur included.

    ¡®With the knowledge of such a powerful artifact spreading throughout the criminal underworld there¡¯s no doubt other villain factions will attempt to take it for themselves. We likely won¡¯t have to worry about larger ones since villain factions of Fukumuga''s size usually try to avoid conflict with each other, but medium-sized villain factions with A-Ranks will definitely be a problem. We can¡¯t engage in any evacuation attempts since that would tip off Fukumuga and they would probably try to attack before the transportation date as well. We could try transporting the artifact on a date other than the official one, but with multiple examples of Fukumuga infiltrating governments before, that¡¯s simply too risky. Is it even possible to move the required resources to fight off Fukumuga? A high-ranked artifact from The Great War would certainly be a powerful combat tool, could it be used?

    A storm of thoughts and hypotheticals formed, deconstructed, and played out in Arthur¡¯s head. After years of experience as a hero it had become second nature to him, he could nearly see the events happening in front of him as if he were there, observing all.

    ¡°Now everyone, keep your focus. The meeting isn¡¯t done yet. I can assure you we¡¯ve thought of every possibility, the only choice is for us to engage in combat while trying to remove as many civilians as possible from the area. For now, allow us to continue.¡±

    The principal words calmed the storm of calculations happening in Arthur''s head, along with all the other A-Ranks, and their attention was once more on the stage in front of them.

    ¡°Thank you, Principal Sever. I would now like to discuss the plan we¡¯ve currently made. First off, all of you A-Ranks here are in some way legally bound to Napaj, so you are required to assist. You will be working with other A-Ranks from Nerum and other places in the country.

    ¡®They¡¯re even drawing away A-Ranks from all across the country for this? Just how important is this artifact?¡¯

    ¡°Most of your time will be spent dismantling small branches of villain factions to weaken their power in the area without alerting them to our knowledge of the plan to steal the artifact. You will also be training yourselves as much as possible, as well as separating into teams to cover specific sections of possible attack during the transport day. It may be a year from now, but every day we spend gathering information and preparing for the inevitable attack could mean the lives of thousands saved. Thank you all for listening. I bid you all farewell.¡±

    The television screens then shut off and the principal took center stage again.

    ¡°Most of you are currently examiners for my school¡¯s application. When the application ends all of you will be given one week to prepare for your move to Nerum City. As a result of the importance of this mission, regardless of your past violations, all of you will be required to participate.¡±

    ¡®That means Jerricho will be able to participate,¡¯ Arthur realized. Despite Jerricho¡¯s numerous violations of the law as a hero due to his extreme brutality, he was renowned for his combat surpassing that of most High A-Ranks. Reportedly, he had even been able to kill 2 High A-Ranks singlehandedly. Not to mention the fact that every applicant who passed his section of the application always became S-Rank if they survived as heroes. No A-Rank wasn¡¯t at least somewhat interested in the type of battle he would engage in.

    ¡°That signals the end of this meeting, you will be given more information in the following days,¡± the principal said. With a wave of his hand, the door to leave the room opened again and the A-Ranks began to leave.

    Around himself, Arthur sensed incredibly deep concentration. Each A-Rank was still considering possible routes, things they needed to train, ways to save lives, and reviewing past events of Fukumuga in their head. With a year left before the attack, preparation would be the deciding factor in who would keep the artifact. Fukumuga would certainly operate under the assumption that the heroes knew their plans and the heroes would do the same. Whoever prepared the best would be victorious.

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Arthur nearly stumbled at the force of the principal''s voice. The entire room shook as though an earthquake had begun to occur. The principal''s voice was laced with a sharp worry and, terrifyingly, a sense of fear. It was suppressed, muffled underneath years of burying emotions in exchange for effectiveness, but it still creeped out. Fear that infected like a virus, spreading throughout everyone until all knew what it was like.

    ¡°There¡¯s one more thing you should know. I was requested not to tell you this, but I feel that not telling you would be worse.¡±

    Arthur felt an icy, crawling wind creep down his spine. Like how denial would attack a widow who found out their husband died a sudden death, Arthur subconsciously denied the principal''s words.

    ¡°The person Fukumuga has assigned to steal the artifact is¡­¡±

    ¡®Did he just¡­ pause?¡¯

    ¡°They are suspected to have been a close associate of The Cursed One before his disappearance.¡±

    End of Chapter 26

 Chapter 27: Trauma

    Chapter 27: Trauma

    31%

    Violet shook her head and continued to write down her thoughts. Mark, Vivian, and Roland had gone to the gym for a short workout the day before the final selection. Violet on the other hand had decided to stay back at their dorm, trying to determine what had caused her panic attack while fighting against Vivian the day prior.

    ¡®I need to run back through what happened.¡¯

    Violet allowed herself to fall back into her memories, visualizing and recalling everything that had occurred during their battle. Her counter drew her attention the most, specifically, the point when the counter crossed 50%. A few moments after that she was suddenly stricken with overwhelming fear. It was like being trapped in the deepest part of the ocean, everything felt cold and heavy, there was no escape in sight, and death was inevitable.

    ¡®It probably has to do with my counter hitting the 50% mark, but why did it increase suddenly and how did it cause a panic attack? I¡¯ve never had one like that before.¡¯

    She crossed 50% soon after unleashing a massive explosion. But that couldn¡¯t have been it, otherwise, the counter would have increased immediately following the explosion. But that isn¡¯t what happened. Violet had been able to walk all the way to Vivian, who had been launched quite a distance back, with a limp. Violet even had enough time to allow minor healing and to observe any injuries Vivian had.

    ¡®Injuries¡­¡¯

    Feeling a possible connection, Violet immediately began writing down the events that occurred between the explosion and her panic attack. Nothing was left out, even the amount of steps she took was considered. She focused especially on when she was observing Vivian since that was immediately before the counter increased. Vivian at the time had received numerous injuries and blood ran down all over her. But the most severe injury was her¡­ arm.

    ¡®I see.¡¯ A sudden flash of realization appeared to Violet as she recalled how she had focused on Vivan¡¯s arm. When she did focus on Vivan¡¯s arm, Violet was reminded of the end of the second selection, where Vivan¡¯s arms were broken by examiners. Subconsciously, Violet must have linked the two events, leading to her self-perception of being similar to the examiners. The slight mental dissonance of hating the examiners and perceiving herself as similar, coupled with the exhaustion of the fight, had caused her counter to increase to 50%.

    ¡®But that still doesn¡¯t explain why I had a panic attack.¡¯

    Violet had gone over the 50% counter numerous times in her life. Having had it since she was young, she was well aware of its function and the consequences of hitting 100%. Yet, across all of her years of living, she had never once experienced such a visceral and frightening terror. Something about this event was different than the previous times she had crossed over 50%.

    After several minutes of thought, Violet came up with a hypothesis. Previously, she had never been in a fight when she crossed 50%. Whenever she was above 50% during a fight she felt anxiety and fear at the prospect of injury or loss. Violet suspected that her emotions, which had been suppressed while the counter was beneath 50%, overwhelmed her. Her mind was flooded with all the emotions she would have had if the counter wasn¡¯t suppressing her. Without any time to adapt mentally, Violet was left helpless and terrified.

    ¡®Shoot. This is a big problem.¡¯

    The final selection was a tournament between applicants. Each battle would be between members of the same letter rank, meaning that even the strongest applicant would have at least a decent struggle against the weakest remaining applicant. While Violet held an advantage over most of the other applicants, being a Mid B-Rank, that didn¡¯t mean she would find any of the fights easy. If she crossed the 50% mark during any one of her fights, there was a high likelihood she would then lose. She still wasn¡¯t ranked in the top 20 applicants, meaning if she lost early on she wouldn¡¯t even be considered for acceptance to AGH.

    ¡®I¡¯ll have to keep my counter above 50% then.¡¯

    Violet sighed deeply. Keeping her counter above 50% massively increased the likelihood of hitting 100%. The tournament would likely have to take nearly the full day considering the amount of applicants that were left, meaning Violet would have no time to allow the counter to lower.

    Knock, knock, knock

    Violet slowly got up from her seat and walked robotically to the door. When she opened it she found Mark, Roland, and Vivian all exhausted from their workout. Sweat dripped down their faces and their breathing was heavy. Vivian in particular seemed especially tired and was leaning on Mark¡¯s shoulder for support. Violet reached out to Vivian and helped support her, giving Mark¡¯s shoulder some blissful rest.

    ¡°Thank you, Violet,¡± Mark said, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

    ¡°No problem,¡± Violet responded, her voice as dead as could be. At the moment, with her counter beneath 50%, Violet felt nothing. Yet strangely, some part of her felt obligated to help her roommates.

    ¡°What did you do to make Vivian so tired though?¡± Violet asked Roland and Mark. Vivian and Violet were significantly weaker than Mark and Roland physically, but Violet still didn¡¯t expect Vivian to end up so tired.

    ¡°Cardio,¡± Roland said. Coupled with his simple answer was a simple smile, a smile that Violet returned to him.

    Roland and Mark then walked up to their rooms, arguing about who would be the first to use the shower. Along the way they playfully pushed each other, nearly causing Mark to fall down the stairs.

    Violet assisted Vivian up the stairs herself, allowing Vivian to lean on her for support. Violet grabbed Vivian¡¯s arm and wrapped it over her shoulder, despite Vivian¡¯s embarrassed protest, Violet refused to let go. Together they began their ascent up the stairs to their room.

    In her right hand, Violet held Vivian¡¯s hand. As their hands rubbed together with each step Violet could feel the texture difference between the rest of her hand and the scar which now ran through. It felt, off, Violet couldn¡¯t find a way to describe it. But the way the skin moved upon contact and how warmth was transferred was completely different.

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    When they reached the top of the stairs Violet finally allowed Vivian to go free from her grasp. Vivian slowly walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Her body was hunched over the whole way and she was still panting.

    As Violet heard the shower water turn on she began to observe her hand. The skin over her scar was a dull gray color mixed with her natural paler skin tone. The longer Violet looked at it, the more she felt something gnawing inside of her. It wasn¡¯t an emotion, Violet¡¯s counter was still too low, but a strange urge to do something, what that thing was Violet didn¡¯t know. It was just there, biting at her heart and drilling into her head, a deep and moving calling to do something.

    ¡®April¡­¡¯

    33%

    Violet sighed and fell back onto her bed. Allowing her gaze to drift away from her hand seemed to allow the nagging feeling to dissipate. Yet Violet was still left with a strange sense of loss, a missing piece to a puzzle, something that was just barely within the realm of noticeable.

    ¡®Why do I feel like this?¡¯

    After a few moments of thought, Violet came to her conclusion. Her brain was triggering an emotional response when Violet focused on her scar, but her counter suppressed those emotions. Yet these emotions were intense enough to push back against the counter somewhat, similar to how Violet¡¯s fear of her father would overpower the counter''s emotional suppression. What resulted was the strange feeling Violet was experiencing. The emotion remained undefined yet ever-present.

    A few minutes later, Vivian exited the bathroom, her hair tied up in a towel. Violet could feel Vivian gazing at her, but it didn¡¯t feel like a criticizing glance. Violet lifted herself into a sitting position and began to pat the side of the bed she was sitting next to.

    ¡°I have a feeling you wanted to ask me about something,¡± Violet said.

    Vivian nodded, giving a soft smile, and sat down where Violet patted with her hand. For a moment the two of them sat in a peaceful silence. The smell of Vivian¡¯s shampoo filled the air with a slightly noticeable and pleasant fragrance, AGH used rather high-quality and expensive hair products, something which Vivian took full advantage of.

    ¡°Violet,¡± Vivian said, adjusting the towel on her head simultaneously, ¡°when did you get that scar on your hand?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Violet reacted in surprise. She hadn¡¯t thought that Vivian would have noticed it.

    ¡°The scar on your right hand, I felt it when we were going up. I have a scar on my shoulder so I know what the skin feels like.¡± Vivian then pulled down her shirt over her shoulder, revealing a scar a little smaller than the one on Violet¡¯s hand. After allowing Violet a moment of observation, Vivian pulled her shirt back up and continued speaking.

    ¡°Scars only stay if you want them to stay, and you didn¡¯t have that scar when we first met. Are you ok Violet?¡± Vivian asked, concern etched onto her face.

    Violet turned her eyes towards her hand again, opening her palm to reveal the scar. The strange feeling began to arise in Violet once more. She sighed and sat in silence for a few more moments before responding.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. All of this feels insane to me, I¡¯ve never felt like this before. I¡¯ve never had to feel what I¡¯m feeling right now.¡±

    35%

    Vivian nodded, allowing herself time to comprehend what Violet had said.

    ¡°I see,¡± Vivian said, ¡°I think I can relate to that. This application I¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­¡±

    Silence fell over the two of them again as they pondered the application process. Legally speaking, AGH was in the clear, the applicants had been warned in contracts about the possibility of trauma and extreme physical harm. Yet, not one of them could have ever expected something of such severity.

    The brutality of the exam was unlike anything the applicants had ever seen, near death lurked around every corner, waiting for victims. The application didn¡¯t just test applicants, it broke them, putting them in a situation where their willpower either collapsed or pulled through shattered. Regardless of whether or not an applicant completed the application, they were all victims of it, and the effects of it would be felt for long after the application ended.

    Violet continued to look at her open palm. Slowly she could feel her counter being forced to move against its will and the nagging feeling grew more and more. There was no better representation, Violet thought, of the type of trauma that would come from this application. A nagging feeling that would never sleep, one that would never fade away. It was this feeling that AGH used to produce heroes, this feeling made the greatest heroes in the world.

    ¡®I know this feeling¡­¡¯

    Violet was certain she knew the feeling that would arise if she looked at her hand with over 50%. She had felt it during the final obstacle of the second selection. She had felt it even more during the third obstacle. She could still feel the rain pouring down, her nails digging into her hand, the shockwaves from Mark¡¯s fight. She could hear the running water from the parking garage and Vivian¡¯s weeping, overlapping into a disturbing requiem of sorrow. She knew how she felt then, she knew she would feel it now.

    ¡°shit.¡±

    Violet turned to find Vivian wiping some tears from her face. She sniffled as her nose turned runny. She began to cry, but she didn¡¯t sob. A silent, restrained crying began to fill the room.

    Inside of herself, Violet felt something begin to stir. With each teardrop from Vivian, Violet felt the empty feeling inside of her grow larger and larger. The drive to do something, anything, became a raging fire in Violet. In response, Violet wrapped her arms around Vivian and squeezed her closely.

    Violet could feel the shuddering breaths, the tears dripping along her shirt. She could feel Vivian¡¯s shaking body, moving with every breath, forcing Violet to tighten her grip. She wouldn¡¯t let go, Violet wouldn¡¯t let go, with every shudder she squeezed harder. With every cry out Violet allowed the empty desire for action to grow until it became an all-encompassing void in her.

    38%

    41%

    44%

    Violet squeezed tighter in surprise. Her counter had never risen at such a rate before unless she had received severe injuries.

    ¡®What¡¯s happening?¡¯

    Vivian began to cry harder now, releasing the built-up stress and held-back emotions from the previous days of the application. In response, Violet felt the void in her expand even more, beyond what she believed could have been possible. From the depths of her heart, Violet felt an emotion begin to show itself. Piercing through the counter which had operated with such perfection for so many years.

    48%

    ¡®I think I understand.¡¯

    49%

    ¡®I think I know what it¡¯s like.¡¯

    50%

    ¡®To have someone you care for.¡¯

    Violet was overcome with emotion and she began to cry with Vivian. The two of them held each other closely as they were enveloped in fear, anxiety, regret, rage, and sorrow. Violet¡¯s vision blurred as her eyes became a wellspring of neverending tears.

    Vivian and Violet had distanced themselves from the second selection for as long as they could, distracting themselves with sparring matches and more. But something of such magnitude, something of such impactful trauma could not be held back for long.

    All at once their emotions arose to the surface and the two girls embraced each other as though the either were a shield to block the horrendous feelings which now plagued them. They took delight in the small comfort provided by each other''s warmth, it was a small comfort, but to them, there was nothing more valuable in the world.

    It had been horrible. The second selection had been horrible beyond what either of them could have imagined. The pain they felt remained fresh in their minds. The nearly dead applicant, his burning body screaming in fear as death approached him. April, slowly losing the battle for life, was used cruelly as a test tool. The examiners, broke them down, pushing them further and further due to a grudge against a different examiner until Mark snapped.

    And yet they knew. Both of them knew that this would only be a portion of what a hero could experience. An S-Rank would see this as nothing more than a fraction of what they had lost, of what they had experienced. An S-Rank would have seen true catastrophe, thousands dead in seconds, possibly because of their own hands, yet that was the best they could do. What Violet and Vivian had experienced here was nothing, nothing at all. The applicants had walked into the world of heroes naive and optimistic, but that was no longer the case.

    ¡­

    Eventually, the two stopped crying. Violet wiped the tears from her face. She could feel exhaustion overwhelm her as the crying had sapped her of strength.

    59%

    Sniffling, Violet went into the bathroom and used the mirror to clean her face up. Her eyes and nose were red. Violet splashed water onto her face, feeling her poofy eyes begin to return to normal.

    ¡°Violet,¡± Vivian asked quietly.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± Violet responded, her voice still tinged with sadness.

    ¡°Do you still want to be a hero after all this?¡±

    Violet nodded, ¡°I do.¡± She didn¡¯t even hesitate in her response to Vivian.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because after all that we¡¯ve experienced, we¡¯re still here. There¡¯s nobody more prepared than us to become heroes. I don¡¯t think anyone else would want to take the step forward if they knew what they were in for, so it has to be us.¡±

    ¡®We have to do it,¡¯ Violet said inwardly. ¡®Or nobody else will.¡¯

    End of Chapter 27

 Chapter 28: Peace and Quiet Pain

    Chapter 28: Peace and Quiet Pain

    I felt myself rousing into consciousness, instead of my usual drowsiness I was met with shocking clarity. I didn¡¯t get good sleep the previous night, and with him constantly communicating with me, I hadn¡¯t gotten good sleep for the entire week.

    ¡®Sleep is truly a wonderous thing,¡¯ I thought to myself.

    After lying in my bed scrolling on my phone for a few more minutes I finally left the comfort of my mattress. I stretched out and twisted my body side to side, feeling bones satisfyingly crack on each turn. For the first time in several days, I felt completely relaxed, no worries, no anxiety, no stress, just peace. I walked into the bathroom and began brushing my teeth, doing so with a bit more joyous bounce than I had the days prior.

    ¡®If only life could always be like this.¡¯

    ¡°You ready for the third selection?¡± Roland suddenly asked me.

    I audibly groaned, toothbrush still in my mouth, as a reminder of the upcoming selection disrupted my peace. Today was the final day before all applicants would begin the final part of the AGH application.

    Somewhat upset, I turned towards Roland, making sure my annoyance came out clearly.

    ¡°You really gotta interrupt my peace like that?¡± I said to him.

    Instead of apologizing, Roland just put up his arms and laughed. I couldn¡¯t help but smile back at him, I hadn¡¯t known him for very long but he was a very enjoyable person to be around.

    In the next few minutes, I had completely prepared myself for the upcoming day. Roland and I walked downstairs together and waited in the living area for Violet and Vivian.

    ¡°Roland,¡± I began to ask, ¡°is it true that it¡¯s common in Ameriac to wear shoes in the house?¡±

    Roland nodded in response to me, ¡°Only partly true. We wear shoes inside of someone else''s house while visiting and don¡¯t ask people to remove their shoes when they enter. But we tend to take them off at our own houses to relax.¡±

    ¡°Wait so you would let someone just walk on the carpet in your house with shoes? That they wear outside?¡± I couldn¡¯t wrap my head around the idea of wearing shoes inside a house, it just seemed so unsanitary.

    ¡°Uh¡­ yeah I guess we do. Now that you¡¯re mentioning it thought that does seem pretty dirty,¡± Roland said. I saw him slowly turn to face the area where we had left our shoes. He eyed his own pair of shoes especially closely, as though trying to intimidate them into revealing how much they had dirtied a friend''s house.

    ¡°You know Mark,¡± Roland said to me after a few moments, ¡°you can always come to Ameriac if you want to learn about it. I¡¯ll show you around.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± I asked. I had never been to Ameriac before, from what I heard though there were plenty of things to do and it had an incredibly rich history. I had recommended to my parents to go several times but I was always outvoted by my siblings to go somewhere else.

    ¡°Yeah sure,¡± Roland said. ¡°As a member of the Nordt family, I can even get you past customs in less than a minute, and as long as you stay with me, you won¡¯t need a visa either.¡±

    ¡®Damn. I won¡¯t even need a Visa?¡¯

    Roland¡¯s statement outlined a clear difference in the two social statuses we had. With both my parents being rather successful doctors I could be considered as part of a relatively wealthy family. At the absolute minimum, I was part of the upper middle class.

    But Roland was on an entirely different level, we weren¡¯t even comparable. In terms of wealth, the Nordt family was comparable to the Woo¡¯s of Rokea, the family which Violet came from. This meant that the Nordt¡¯s had a net worth of about 7 trillion dollars. On top of that, the Nordt family''s influence in Ameriac, while less than the Woo family¡¯s influence in Rokea, was still impressive and they had multiple members of their family serving as senators. In the past, one Nordt member had even served as the president. In only one way were the Nordt¡¯s decidedly inferior to the Woo¡¯s, that being psychic power. Yet that was only due to the Nordts not possessing an SS-Rank, their S-Rank count was 3 higher than the Woo family at 12.

    ¡®I had forgotten but a lot of the applicants come from families like these. Vivian and I are probably in a minority of regular people.¡¯

    I couldn¡¯t help but find it somewhat interesting, how people''s perceptions of each other would change when they got to know each other. Violet, for example, I had become comfortable talking to. As I became more familiar with her I began to forget the status she had and the power her family had, along with the fact that I had attacked her a few days prior.

    ¡®Speaking of Violet, where is she?¡¯

    As if reading my mind, Violet suddenly appeared on the stairs along with Vivian. The two of them gracefully walked down the stairs as if they were floating.

    I couldn¡¯t help but appreciate their beauty. Violet¡¯s skin glowed like the moon and was spotless of any blemishes. Not a hint of acne, not a single pimple, not even a mole existed on her face. Her hair, unlike when we had first met, looked silky smooth and well-groomed. Her appearance as a whole radiated innocent beauty, like a shining light at the end of a dark tunnel, Violet¡¯s appearance was incomparable.

    Vivian wasn¡¯t nearly as attractive, although that was like saying someone was weaker than Principal Sever, one of the 100 strongest psychics in the world. Vivian was still, to me, attractive. She didn¡¯t have the beauty that Violet did, but she possessed an infectiously joyous bounce that entrapped my attention. She was also taller than Violet, the top of her head reaching up to my eyes, whereas Violet reached about halfway up my face.

    ¡°You guys certainly took your time,¡± Roland suddenly said sarcastically.

    ¡°Well,¡± Violet responded, ¡°it¡¯s not like breakfast is leaving soon, it¡¯s only 9 am, we have time.¡±

    I was caught off guard by Violet¡¯s casual response. Not only that but looking at her now, she seemed much happier than she had been at any point in the past. A beautiful smile brightened up her face and each step she took felt strangely full of life.

    ¡®Emotion¡¯ I thought, ¡®she has emotion.¡¯

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    I hadn¡¯t noticed it during the second selection, considering the other things on my mind, but Violet was completely unlike how she was when we first met. She seemed to flip-flop between being stone-faced and emotional every other day.

    ¡®Strange¡­¡¯

    ¡­

    Several hours later Roland and I were in our room preparing for bed. It was still early, only 8 pm, but we decided to not take any chances. The third selection, being a tournament, was likely entirely combat-based. With everyone at about the same level of strength, our fights would come down to creativity and luck. We couldn¡¯t control luck, but by getting good sleep we could have a fresh mind, ready to think creatively the next day.

    ¡®Of course, that¡¯s only if I can actually sleep tonight with all this stress.¡¯

    My anxiety had been increasing continuously as the day had gone on. It had started so peaceful and simple, but by the time I had lunch, I had already lost my appetite from stress. It took significant effort for me to finish a decent amount of food.

    I walked into the bathroom and began to brush my teeth. The rhythmic and unchanging motions had a therapeutic effect on me, letting me experience a familiar, easy, mundane task. It washed away a bit of my anxiety and I allowed my thoughts to wander.

    ¡®Hmm¡­ thinking about it.¡¯

    The way Roland was acting felt off to me. The third selection was approaching and the stress of the second selection was very recent, yet Roland was completely calm. More than calm in fact, he seemed actively happy. After seeing someone die, slowly and painfully, Roland felt nothing.

    ¡®Should I ask?¡¯ I questioned inwardly.

    ¡°Roland?¡± It wouldn¡¯t hurt just to ask about it.

    He turned around and looked at me, his toothbrush still in his mouth.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± He responded. I nearly bust out laughing because a small amount of toothpaste dribbled out of his mouth as he spoke. I bit my tongue to keep myself from laughing before talking again.

    ¡°What did you think of the second selection?¡±

    Immediately I noticed his eyes shift away and his body stiffen. It was only a flash, a split moment, and then he turned away from me. He quickly washed his mouth with water and placed his toothbrush down, not answering my question.

    ¡®Shit¡­ looks like he isn¡¯t alright.¡¯

    ¡°Roland, you ok?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± he said. But he hesitated in his response, taking almost 2 whole seconds. And he didn¡¯t turn around to look at me either. Instead, he looked deeply into his eyes reflection in the mirror as if he were looking into a void.

    I placed my toothbrush down and walked over to him. I placed my hand on his shoulder, pulling him slightly to get him to look at me. If we were going to have a conversation I needed him to be looking at me and engaging actively in the conversation.

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re ok?¡±

    Roland shook his head and stood up straight, towering above me by 4 inches. He gently removed my hand from his shoulder, shaking his head. Yet despite his gentle mannerisms, his face was tensed unnaturally.

    ¡°I told you, Mark, I¡¯m fine,¡± he responded to me.

    He then quickly left the bathroom, returning to his bed, but he didn¡¯t get in it. He just sat there, staring into space. He gave a heavy sigh and shook his head again. He folded his hands together into the prayer position and closed his eyes.

    Following his lead I sat down on my bed, directly in front of Roland, and together we sat in silence for a few moments. Eventually, Roland began to shift uncomfortably in front of me, his eyes darting around attempting to find an escape from the conversation that didn¡¯t exist. After what felt like an eternity he sighed and looked me in the eyes again.

    ¡°Do you wanna talk about it?¡± I asked him. This time I made sure my tone was more gentle. Something was indeed something that bothered him, but forcing him to talk about it might push him away. For now, it would be best if he decided for himself.

    I could see it in him, an inner conflict. I couldn¡¯t tell what he was conflicted over, only he would know. But it was clear that one part of him wanted to talk, the other part didn¡¯t.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can do this Mark,¡± Roland said all of a sudden.

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± I asked back.

    ¡°I mean being a hero¡­ it¡¯s brutal. I knew it was brutal, but I didn¡¯t know how bad it was,¡± he said, gesturing with his arm. ¡°I look fine now, but the truth is I¡¯m terrified. I¡¯m more scared about this than I¡¯ve ever been about anything else in my life.¡±

    Roland gave a pitiful laugh and ran his hands through his hair. His eyes were slightly misty before he wiped his hand over them, returning them to a dry state.

    ¡°I bet I look pathetic right now. It¡¯s a lot easier for me to act like nothing is wrong I guess. But after everything that happened, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m going to become a hero. But if I don¡¯t then I¡¯ll be forced to do whatever my family says forever.¡±

    ¡°Your family?¡± I asked. From what I knew the Nordt family was considered an exceptionally kind psychic family. But that was only on the outside, Roland was one of their sons, and he would have a far better grasp on who his family was than I ever would.

    ¡°I¡¯m a son but not an heir, Mark,¡± Roland said, ¡°which means that I don¡¯t have the same importance to the family. In psychic families, even nicer ones like mine, non-heirs are political tools. I could be put in an arranged marriage, be forced into a career I don¡¯t want, and if I don¡¯t listen then I could be disowned. Practically the only way out I¡¯ve found is becoming a hero. A family with a hero shows dedication to the people, it may not seem like it but it¡¯s a massive pr move.¡±

    I nodded, it was interesting to learn. Psychic families like the Nordt¡¯s kept their private life under lock and key. Even after over a millennium since their appearance very little was known about the Nordt family.

    ¡®Even the Nordt¡¯s can be heartless like this.¡¯

    ¡°I love my parents, and they love me, but this is the culture that¡¯s been engrained into high society. If I become a hero, I¡¯ll at least be able to make my own decisions.¡± Roland¡¯s voice was tinged with a loving sorrow as he said this.

    ¡°So will you be continuing with the application then?¡± I asked. If Roland decided to drop out of being a hero after experiencing the second selection I wouldn¡¯t blame him. We had gone through hell in there, and we didn¡¯t come out unscathed.

    Roland sighed deeply and folded his hands again, but he kept his eyes on me.

    ¡°Mark¡­ I¡¯m scared. I¡¯m really fucking scared. I don¡¯t know what to do.¡±

    He sniffled slightly as he said this and I could see his eyes begin to water again. Neither I, nor Violet, nor Vivian, had noticed it, but Roland was possibly the most terrified of us all. As I looked closer I could see his arms and legs shake back and forth uncontrollably. His breathing became more erratic and I could almost hear his heart rate beginning to rise. A tear came down his face, but he didn¡¯t cry.

    Without words, I walked to his bed, pulled him onto his feet, and hugged him. With my hand on his back, I could feel his breathing. I could feel him attempt to force his breathing under control, yet his body fought against him.

    ¡®I won¡¯t let you experience this pain alone Roland.¡¯

    I felt him put one arm over my shoulder and the other arm under, although neither of us squeezed tightly. I felt tears fall onto my shoulder from Roland¡¯s face, but he didn¡¯t cry. He trembled and shook, but he didn¡¯t cry.

    The silence he had was more deafening than any weeping he could have done. I could feel him, begging to cry, wanting to allow himself to release the emotions he had been keeping to himself. But he didn¡¯t. I turned my head and saw him grit his teeth and squeeze his eyes shut. Convulsions came deep from inside his chest, attempting to rise, but he forced them down, he didn¡¯t cry.

    I felt his grip on my shirt, pulling at it as he fought against his growing urge to cry. I heard small sounds come from his mouth as he fought to keep away sobs. I could have never imagined that Roland was suffering like this.

    I felt my eyes water for him. The second selection was cruel to all of us who took it. We were taught just what a hero would suffer through. An A-Rank hero led a life of wealth and fame, their name known by many. They were an inspiration to all, fighting back against villains and chaos, and putting themselves in harm''s way for people they didn¡¯t even know.

    But behind the scenes, this is what they experienced. Guilt, regret, hatred, pain, fear, sorrow, trauma, and even more plagued them. In exchange for strength and status, they were the ones who were most affected by their failures. Every day and every night they could be haunted by the memories of people they had failed to save, of people that had called out for help but never received it. More than anyone else, elite heroes knew of the pitiful limits of humanity. Yet every day they came out and fought again and again and again, an endless cycle of fighting for the sake of peace. They smiled, so that people may be comforted, while on the inside they broke apart.

    Roland experienced that now. I could feel him holding everything back, trying to fight back against his wellspring of sadness. But we weren¡¯t heroes yet, we weren¡¯t hardened by years of battle, and we weren¡¯t an adult with the years of maturity that came with being one. We were teenagers, walking into a world that we didn¡¯t understand, and we were taught what these heroes knew. But like a hero, Roland did everything he could to hide his pain so that none of us would know what he was experiencing. So that none of us would feel a responsibility to help him.

    ¡®It¡¯s not right. We shouldn¡¯t have to experience this. Roland shouldn¡¯t have to feel this, he shouldn¡¯t have to stay silent like this.¡¯

    ¡°Roland, it¡¯s ok to cry,¡± I told him.

    One sob, then two, then three. A series of sobs came from Roland, each one suppressed to the point of near silence but filled with pain. I buried his head into my shoulder and squeezed me to him as tight as he could.

    I squeezed him back, trying to provide comfort through it. I could feel him sobbing quietly into my shoulder and now I was the one with tears falling silently. I remembered a night in the past. A night when I had made a haunting decision, one that I can remember vividly to this day. I remembered another night as well, one where I had made a horrific mistake, and others paid the price. This was Roland¡¯s version of those nights, and he may never recover fully from it.

    As the two of us stood there I thought about the heroes that I knew. I hadn¡¯t known before, the pain that they experienced, the pain that they knew. Heroes walked with death and failure around them so that everyone else could lead a life of peace.

    ¡®A hero walks through hell alone so that everyone else can smile.¡¯

    ¡­

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®So you¡¯re back.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®What do you mean?¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®Someone¡¯s in our dorm?¡¯

    End of Chapter 28

 Chapter 29: Peace Before the Final Selection

    Chapter 29: Peace Before the Final Selection

    Violet slept peacefully, her mind at ease and her heart resting. It was wondrous what good sleep could do, she felt so comfortably warm. Violet would have chosen to snuggle with the blanket and bed forever if she could.

    Lowering her counter while she slept would sometimes disrupt her usual sleep pattern, nearly waking her up, meaning that despite the length she usually slept, the quality of sleep she received was usually poor. With Violet needing the counter above 50% for the upcoming fights though, she was able to get uninterrupted sleep, something she greatly cherished.

    ¡°Violet, Violet.¡±

    In the depths of her slumber, Violet heard someone calling her name. Unwilling to wake up she instinctively pulled the blanket over her head. This didn¡¯t deter the person attempting to wake her though, as Violet felt someone begin to physically shake her. It was light at first, but it quickly became rigorously violent.

    ¡°Violet, you have to wake up.¡±

    ¡®Nooooooo¡­¡¯ Violet thought to herself as she woke up.

    Then Violet felt her blanket get pulled out, leaving her exposed to the cold. Violet quickly curled up into a ball to preserve her body warmth and the comfort that was quickly leaving her. Unfortunately, the person attempting to wake Violet up didn¡¯t stop there and they began to shake Violet again.

    ¡°Violet you have to wake up!¡±

    ¡°Nooooooo,¡± Violet responded. Anything but get up.

    ¡°We aren¡¯t in our dorms anymore, the third selection is starting!¡±

    Immediately Violet opened her eyes and sat straight up. She came up so fast that she nearly headbutted Vivian, who was the person trying to wake her up.

    ¡®The third selection already?¡¯

    Violet felt her heart race and her breathing quickly rise uncontrollably as she began to panic. She quickly took in her surroundings, Vivian was right, they were no longer in the dorm rooms. During their sleep, they had been moved into an entirely different area without being woken. The room they were in now was dark green, had minimal lighting, and was devoid of any decorum aside from two beds and two hangers with a set of white clothes on them. It looked more like a prison cell than even the worst dorm room.

    ¡°Vivian, where are we!?!¡± Violet asked, panic beginning to creep into her voice.

    ¡°Violet calm down it¡¯s ok,¡± Vivan responded. She firmly, although not painfully, held Violet''s shoulders to force Violet to look into her eyes. ¡°The third selection hasn¡¯t started yet.¡±

    With Vivian¡¯s words providing some peace to her mind, Violet began to calm herself. A sinking stomach feeling that had made itself present during Violet¡¯s brief moment of panic began to leave. Violet put her hand to her chest as she began to take deeper breaths.

    In a few moments, Violet had become calm again. That calm was quickly replaced with mild annoyance.

    ¡°Why did you say that it already started!?!¡± Violet asked Vivian.

    Vivian blushed slightly in embarrassment and rubbed the back of her head. She avoided Violet¡¯s eyes and gave a nervous laugh before responding.

    ¡°I uh¡­ I just thought you would wake up faster that way¡­ Sorry.¡±

    Violet sighed and shook her head, she felt a little guilty about her response. She had become more comfortable communicating with Vivian but some part of her still felt awkward. Violet wasn¡¯t sure if she was too harsh to Vivian just now, she did raise her voice a decent amount after all.

    ¡°What time is it anyway?¡± Violet asked. She felt it would be best to move onto a different topic.

    Vivian shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t know, this room has no windows or clocks so it¡¯s impossible to tell.¡±

    ¡°Good morning future stars.¡±

    Violet nearly jumped in shock at the principal''s voice suddenly entering through hidden speakers. In such an enclosed area his voice bounced around the walls, causing it to sound as if his voice came from all directions simultaneously.

    ¡°I must say I¡¯m in a rather good mood, I only had to use the shock bed function on two applicants. I hope you¡¯ve all had a pleasant sleep. It¡¯s now 12 am, and we¡¯ll begin the final selection in 10 minutes.¡±

    Violet immediately hopped up from the bed she was on. She hadn¡¯t even felt anything wrong with the bed, it looked and felt perfectly normal. But if she hadn¡¯t gotten up earlier then she would have been in for a far more rude awakening than the one Vivian gave to her.

    She turned to Vivian and mouthed ¡®Thank you¡¯. Vivian shook her head and hands at Violet, seemingly saying that what she did to Violet was still rude.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re wondering why we¡¯re starting so early. As heroes you will be expected to also perform night shifts and, on occasion, you may even be forced to work continuously for over 48 hours. You won¡¯t get the privilege of choosing when you have to perform your duties as a hero, so you won¡¯t be getting it during this application either.¡±

    ¡®I¡¯m running on only 4 hours of sleep or so, drowsiness could have a significant effect on my performance for the final selection,¡¯ Violet thought to herself, frustrated. But, it did remind her to check her counter, hopefully nothing much had changed since the previous time she checked.

    64%

    Violet sighed of relief inwardly. The past week had been so eventful that she had forgotten how slow her counter usually went up. While Violet almost always lowered her counter while sleeping, her counter would usually only rise about 5-10% a day anyway. For now, she had a decent amount of headway for the final selection, at the very least, she should be able to make it past 2-3 matches before hitting 100%.

    ¡°More details about the final selection will be given to you later. For now, please put on the clothes in your room. A doorway will open up in your room in just a few moments.¡±

    The principal then clicked off, causing a moment of static sound to pierce the air. The two girls were left in the room alone again.

    Violet walked over and grabbed the clothes that hung from the wall. They were completely plain white and felt like smooth silk. Violet ran her hands across the clothing, it was smooth, cold, and heavy. She then squeezed it in her hand and an audible crunching noise came from the outfit.

    ¡®It¡¯s silk, and it looks like pretty high-quality silk at that,¡¯ Violet thought to herself.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Vivian asked Violet, curiously eying Violet¡¯s hand which was still examining the clothing.

    ¡°I¡¯m just testing the silk quality. It¡¯s good, really good. I have a lot of clothes made of silk for different occasions at home so I¡¯ve gotten pretty familiar with it.¡±

    As a daughter of the Woo family Violet would often attend parties with other high-status members of society. When she visited other psychic families there were often dress codes requiring attendees to wear the traditional clothing of the hosts. Being that the Woo family was from East Iasa, silk was an extremely common material in traditional clothing, so Violet always had a large supply of silk clothes to use.

    Vivian grabbed the other set of clothes and began to feel it herself. She crushed it in her hand, attempting to mimic the same actions Violet took.

    ¡°It¡¯s really smooth, it almost feels like wax,¡± She said.

    Violet nodded, ¡°It¡¯s pretty high quality. That being said it¡¯s way too big for us.¡±

    Violet held the silk pants in front of her. They were long enough that even while holding the top of the pants up to her navel, the bottom of the pants still reached down to the floor. Not to mention, they were far too wide for her, even Roland might find them impossible to put on.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    Violet looked at Vivian with a questioning look on her face. Vivian just shrugged.

    ¡°The principal said to put them on, we¡¯ll just have to put them on,¡± she said. Vivian then took off her shirt, pulling it over her head, revealing her stomach and, her bare chest.

    ¡°Vivian wait!¡± Violet yelled, pulling her clothes in front of her face to hide Vivian from view. Vivian immediately pulled down her shirt again and her face became cherry red from embarrassment.

    ¡°S- sorry Violet,¡± Vivian said, stammering. She hugged herself as though to hide her torso from Violet, although Violet was still hiding behind her own set of clothes.

    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s alright. Just change while I¡¯m not looking,¡± Violet responded. She gulped uncomfortably as she felt her face turning hot.

    Violet then heard the sound of rustling silk from behind her shield of clothes as Vivian proceeded to change. She couldn¡¯t see Vivian anymore, but somehow that made Violet feel even more uncomfortable.

    ¡°I¡¯m done,¡± Vivian said after a few moments.

    Violet slowly peeked out from behind her set of clothes. The moment her eyes focused on Vivian, the awkward feeling Violet felt turned into heartfelt laughter. Vivian¡¯s shirt went all the way down to her knees and the sleeves went well past her arm. Yet Vivian also had to keep hold of the pants so that they wouldn¡¯t fall, something that proved very difficult since her arms were far too short to reach outside of the shirt. The massive clothes caused Vivian to look like a misshapen snowman rather than a person.

    ¡°Don¡¯t laugh,¡± Vivian said, although a small smile was present on her face.

    Violet took several seconds to stop her laughter, and several more seconds for the following snickering to stop.

    ¡°Sorry Vivian,¡± she said, although she was still smiling hysterically.

    Vivian sighed and attempted to walk around, nearly tripping on the long pants she wore, causing Violet to once again force her laughter down.

    ¡°Well Violet, I¡¯d like to see you do any bet-¡±

    Suddenly the clothes Vivian was wearing began to shrink. Tiny sparks of psychic energy leaped out from the clothes. Each time a spark left the clothes shrank more and more until eventually, they turned into a tight-fitting set of clothes for Vivian, fitting her perfectly.

    ¡°Holy, that was co-¡±

    The clothes then began to merge until the pants and shirt joined fully, becoming a silk onesie.

    ¡°Oh my gosh this is ama-¡±

    The outfit then began to change, gray lines and stripes appeared, causing it to look like a sci-fi cosplay. Not only that, the clothes around Vivian¡¯s chest padded itself slightly, acting as a bra.

    Vivian stood there with her mouth open for a few moments. Seemingly waiting to see if the clothes would attempt to interrupt her again. After about 10 seconds though it became clear that the changes had stopped.

    ¡°That¡­ was so cool!!!¡± Violet said, bouncing up and down with excitement.

    The embarrassing moment from a few minutes prior had completely left the mind of the two girls, replaced with a joyful and comedic atmosphere. Violet smiled and asked Vivian to turn around so she could put on her own set of clothes.

    In a few moments, Violet had entered into the massive set of apparel and felt it begin to shrink. It still felt like high-quality silk, it was just tight fitting. Violet felt around her clothes, specifically the area where the pants and shirt had merged, but she couldn¡¯t find a single seam or imperfection.

    ¡®How did they do this?¡¯ Violet wondered to herself. She had never seen or heard of shapeshifting clothes like this before, but a company built on making these outfits could easily be a multi-million if not billion-dollar company.

    The clothes didn¡¯t even feel restrictive, despite the tight fit, Violet felt she could move around in them easily. Running, jumping, fighting, the clothes could stretch for any purpose. On top of that, they felt strangely durable. Violet attempted to pull at the sleeves of her outfit but no matter how hard she pulled, the outfit wouldn¡¯t budge.

    ¡®It¡¯s incredible. Considering the sparks during the shapeshifting process these have to have been made using psychic powers in some way.¡¯

    Violet couldn¡¯t determine what type of powers were used to create these clothes, so it was likely a unique power. That would also explain why such a creation wasn¡¯t a full-on industry, there would at most be 1-2 people capable of creating these outfits and the price they would charge would likely be astronomically high. Even Principal Sever could struggle to afford enough of them for over 50 applicants, and he made billions of non-taxable income a year. He had likely used connections with the hero community to get these outfits as a favor instead.

    ¡°If we pass the application,¡± Violet began to say, ¡°I¡¯m going to have to ask who made these clothes.¡±

    ¡°Same, these are really cool, although I don¡¯t think my family could afford them,¡± Vivian responded.

    ¡°Yeah, these would be pretty expensive.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure your family could afford them though, right Violet?¡± Vivian asked innocently.

    ¡®My family¡­¡¯

    The room was suddenly filled with a cold silence as Violet was reminded of her family, and especially her father. Violet had almost completely forgotten about her father over the previous 2 days. Having been surrounded by the first friends she had made in years, Violet finally saw a future where she escaped from her family, and she lived in it in ignorant bliss.

    Violet clenched her stomach at the spot where her father had kicked her. She could imagine the pain she felt then as though it were still there.

    Vivian placed her hand to her mouth and her eyes widened as she realized what she had done. Hastily she began to apologize to Violet.

    ¡°Violet I¡¯m so sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to bring them up like that,¡± Vivian said.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok Vivian,¡± Violet said. She could tell that Vivian was being genuine. ¡°So that means Roland told you and Mark about my family right?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ yeah he did¡­ I¡¯m sorry Violet, he told us behind your back and I listened. I shouldn¡¯t have done it without your permission.¡±

    ¡°Well, if you¡¯re really sorry, then I need you to do something for me.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    Violet then walked over and gave Vivian and light but heartfelt hug.

    ¡°I need you to pass the application,¡± Violet told her.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Vivian responded, confused.

    ¡°Pass the application,¡± Violet said while separating herself from Vivian, ¡°and meet me at AGH. That will be apology enough.¡±

    ¡°I- thank you.¡±

    In truth, Violet did feel bitter about Roland telling Mark and Violet about her personal life. If Roland had just asked to tell them then Violet would have almost certainly said yes. But she just couldn¡¯t stay mad at them. Violet did not doubt that the three of them had talked about her personal life out of concern and after spending a week together, Violet had nothing but appreciation.

    The thing she wanted most in the world now was a life away from her family, a life that she had gotten a glimpse into with Vivian, Roland, and Mark. Even while tainted by the trauma of the second selection, the time spent with her friends was the most valuable time of her life. It was because of them that she knew what friendship was like.

    ¡®I don¡¯t want any of them to fail the application. I want us to all go to AGH together.¡¯

    Suddenly, a portion of one of the walls slid away, revealing a hiding passageway. At the end of the passageway, Violet could see two doors and a timer, slowly ticking downwards.

    A robotic voice then began to speak, seemingly coming from all around the room and the end of the passageway.

    ¡°Please make your way to the two doors at the end of the passageway applicants, the final selection will begin momentarily.¡±

    Violet and Vivian turned to each other at the same time, both looking at the other expectantly.

    ¡°You ready?¡± Vivian asked.

    Violet nodded, ¡°I am,¡± she responded.

    Together, the two of them stepped into the passageway. In front of them was the determining factor for getting into AGH, the final selection.

    ¡­

    Somewhere in the AGH application campus a man calmly made his coffee while a series of monitors displayed innumerable statistics beside him. The monitors covered the entire wall next to him, stretching 15 feet to the ceiling, each one representing an applicant.

    ¡®Knock, knock¡¯

    ¡°Come in,¡± the man said.

    The door opened, revealing Principal Sever to be the one who knocked. As usual, his face was twisted happily into a gleeful insanity. There was nothing wrong that one could point out, but there was a slightly unnerving aspect to his face. Surrounding him was a small amount of aura, causing the air to tingle every so slightly.

    ¡°Hello there sir, how can I help you?¡± The man asked the principal casually, unfazed by the slightly unhinged nature of his face and the aura that came off his body.

    ¡°No need to be so formal with me Shamus, just call me Sever,¡± The principal asked. He released the aura that had built up around his body and smiled softly, the unhinged nature of his face suddenly vanishing.

    ¡°Hah, if that¡¯s what you want Sever. So, what can I help you with old friend?¡±

    ¡°First off, how are the suits you designed?¡±

    The man, Shamus, turned to the monitors. Each one showed a diagram of a person along with several numbers that held incomprehensible meanings to anyone but himself. After several moments of examining the monitors, he took a long sip of the coffee he had made before answering the principal.

    ¡°They¡¯re all working great. You want to use these diagnostics to select the final 10 of the application process right?¡±

    The principal nodded, ¡°Yes that¡¯s right. Will they be durable enough to survive the battles that will happen?¡±

    ¡°HAH! Just cause I quit being a hero doesn¡¯t mean my skills have dulled, if anything I¡¯ve gotten better. The suits will be fine.¡±

    The man was Shamus Eliseo, also known as The Tailor. In the past, he was a hero who had worked with Principal Sever and he even achieved S-Rank status. However, after many years of hero work, he retired 20 years ago at the age of 60, although it was only now that he looked 60. His aging had been slowed considerably due to his massive amount of psychic energy. Currently, he was a designer for top-of-the-line hero suits, a job his unique power was especially suited for.

    ¡°I see, thank you, Shamus,¡± the principal said. ¡°In that case, I would like you to pay special attention to these applicants.¡± The principal then pulled out a folder with some papers in it.

    Shamus reached out and grabbed the folder. He opened it and began to comb through the applicants that the principal wanted to learn about.

    ¡°Hmm, first one, Mark Tran. Doesn¡¯t look like there¡¯s much special about him, good unique power, but only a Low B-Rank,¡± Shamus said, throwing Mark¡¯s paper to the side.

    ¡°I felt a presence come from him for a moment during the door test. I want you to see if you can find it again,¡± The principal answered.

    Shamus nodded before continuing on the remaining papers. He pulled out a single sheet of paper from the folder, quickly examining its contents.

    ¡°Hmm, these two psychics. Two of the three High B-Ranks. Wu Zhou and Savitri Kamini. These two are certainly promising, I look forward to seeing their performance.¡± Shamus then tossed these two papers to the side as well. He then pulled out another sheet of paper from the folder.

    ¡°Hmm, Jewon Woo, very interesting. I assume you¡¯re still wary of the Woo family after all these years?¡±

    The principal nodded and laughed. Several years prior, during a party that the Woo family had attended, Sever had gotten drunk and made a few comments about the Woo¡¯s. While he had mended his relationship with the head of the family, Sever wasn¡¯t fully certain about the others.

    ¡°That family, what a piece of work. Oh, a soul-related unique power, how interesting. I wonder what that¡¯ll look like on the diagnostics. A Mid B-Rank and an all-rounder. I¡¯ll be sure to keep an eye out for her.¡± Shamus then threw Violet¡¯s sheet away and pulled out the final remaining sheet in the folder.

    ¡°Now this one¡­¡±

    The principal smiled widely. Shamus hadn¡¯t been very impressed or surprised by any of the other sheets, but this one had caught his attention. It wasn¡¯t surprising though, considering the background of this applicant.

    ¡°Ikenna Ekene, a High B-Rank without a unique power. And¡­¡± Shamus smiled widely. ¡°He comes from Greinia.¡± Shamus then brought his hand in towards his chest, about to throw the paper out again, but Sever stopped him.

    ¡°Wait, Shamus. That isn¡¯t all.¡±

    Shamus looked at Sever with an eyebrow raised while reaching for his coffee. Coming from Greinia, a war-torn country, was already quite interesting, yet there was something more.

    ¡°He took Jerricho¡¯s test.¡±

    Shamus immediately placed the coffee back on the table. He was well aware of Jerricho¡¯s reputation for having tests that only produced S-Ranks. This was something that deserved his full attention.

    ¡°And how did he do on the test?¡± Shamus asked.

    The principal¡¯s smile became unhinged once more as excitement began to infect him.

    ¡°Jerricho has never come to me to compliment an applicant or recommend them, until this applicant that is. Jerricho believes that of every applicant that he has ever come across, Ikenna is the only one which he could see becoming an SS-Rank psychic.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Shamus said, ¡°now that is very interesting indeed.¡±

    End of Chapter 29

 Chapter 30: Peace and The President

    Chapter 30: Peace and The President

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®We¡¯ve stopped now?¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®In that case, get the fuck out.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡­

    ¡®It¡¯s somewhere around 11:40 pm right now. I gotta say I¡¯m impressed. If I hadn¡¯t been told about it I wouldn¡¯t have even known I was being transported.¡¯

    I opened my eyes to find myself in a completely unfamiliar room. Due to his interference, I was able to realize that I and the rest of the applicants had been transported during our sleep. But where and when the final selection would begin I didn¡¯t know.

    ¡®But, since AGH transported us here before the next day even started and the fact that there are 68 applicants for the tournament, AGH is probably going to start early.¡¯

    After coming to this conclusion in my mind I decided to check out the room I was in more closely. I sat up and pinched myself to wake up faster. The room was dimly lit and devoid of any sort of decorum that could cheer up the room. There were some clothes though, 2 sets of black clothing that looked suspiciously large.

    I turned over to Roland who was still sleeping nearby. I hadn¡¯t noticed before, since he had always woken up earlier than me, but he was a snorer. It was strangely comforting to hear his voice reverberate around the room though, it gave me a sense of security to know that I wasn¡¯t alone in this dark room.

    Silently, I stepped out of bed. I gingerly touched the ground only to find that it was comfortably warm, allowing me to stand without discomfort. I walked over to the set of clothes hanging on the wall and began to examine them.

    My previous suspicion of the clothes being large was correct they were even larger than I had thought. I held the pants out in front of me, examining its size. They easily stretched out well beyond my waist. Even Roland wouldn¡¯t have been able to fit in these.

    ¡®It feels nice though.¡¯

    The black clothes seemed to be made of silk. It was cool, heavy, and extremely smooth. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was high quality or not, but based only on the smoothness I guessed that it was decently expensive to make. It was so smooth that it felt almost waxy.

    ¡°It¡¯s real si-¡±

    ¡°AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH FUCK!!!¡± I screamed out in fright.

    Instinctively I turned around ready to fight, only to find Roland keeled over, holding his stomach, laughing. He had woken up and walked over to the clothes without me noticing. When he spoke he had nearly given me a heart attack.

    ¡°Mark you- haha- need to- ha- see- ahahaha¡±

    ¡®Well aren¡¯t you amused,¡¯ I thought to myself sarcastically.

    Despite my annoyance a smile forcefully occupied my face and soon I was laughing as well. I wanted to hold myself at this moment, this moment of peace because I knew that afterward, I would be in a state of constant stress.

    ¡°So,¡± I began to ask after calming down, ¡°how do you know it¡¯s silk?¡±

    ¡°High society parties often have dress codes,¡± Roland began to explain, ¡°In East Iasa, they are often based on the local culture''s traditional clothing, which just so happens to often be made of silk. I can¡¯t tell the difference between regular and high-quality silk, but I know if it¡¯s real or not. I have some silk clothes at home.¡±

    I nodded in understanding. Since Violet was from East Iasa she would probably need more silk clothes than Roland, so she might even be able to tell the difference between low and high-quality silk.

    ¡®I¡¯ll have to ask her about that later.¡¯

    ¡°Do you think we have to put on these clothes?¡± I asked Roland.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I mean I don¡¯t see why else they would be here. But that being said¡­¡± Roland then brought the shirt up to his chest and, despite his height and muscles, it was too long and too wide for him. ¡°These are massive. A giant could fit in there maybe, but not us.¡±

    I then pulled up the shirt from my set of black clothes. Just like Roland¡¯s, it was massive, almost comedically so. I highly doubted that there was even a single applicant large enough to fit these.

    ¡°AAAAAHHHH¡±

    My ears pricked up as I heard someone''s voice come out from a nearby wall. It was extremely quiet, approaching the lowest threshold of being audible, but it sounded like someone was in pain. I looked at Roland, who also appeared to have heard it as his face was contorted in concern.

    Both of us continued to listen closely but after several seconds not another sound came. It could have just been our imagination but the fact that both of us had heard it at the same time indicated that as an unlikely possibility.

    I began to shuffle around nervously somewhat. My mind began to fill with doubts about the third selection and the possibility that it had already started somehow, yet Roland and I were stuck in here. In less than a minute stress built up to an uncomfortable point, causing me to feel the need to shift back and forth constantly.

    ¡°Good morning future stars.¡±

    ¡°AAAH¡­ fuck,¡± I said, startled by the principal''s voice. Roland began to snicker again, only stopping when I began to glare at him. I didn¡¯t feel very annoyed by it though. In full honesty, I would have done the same if I were him.

    I shook my head, ¡®My nerves are gonna kill me at this rate.¡¯ My thoughts were quickly interrupted by the principal''s voice though, which seemed to come from every point in the room all at once.

    ¡°I must say I¡¯m in a rather good mood, I only had to use the shock bed function on two applicants. I hope you¡¯ve all had a pleasant sleep. It¡¯s now 12 am, and we¡¯ll begin the final selection in 10 minutes.¡±

    I immediately realized what the noise next door must have been. An applicant hadn¡¯t woken up and so they had been shocked to force it. A part of me began to giggle silently as I thought about how they and their roommate must have reacted. I could imagine one of them leaping back in fright and the other groaning in pain as they crawled out of bed.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re wondering why we¡¯re starting so early. As heroes you will be expected to also perform night shifts and, on occasion, you may even be forced to work continuously for over 48 hours. You won¡¯t get the privilege of choosing when you have to perform your duties as a hero, so you won¡¯t be getting it during this application either.¡±

    ¡®That explains why they decided to move us so early while sleeping. They still haven¡¯t explained the clothes though.¡¯

    ¡°More details about the final selection will be given to you later. For now, please put on the clothes in your room. A doorway will open up in your room in just a few moments.¡±

    With that the principal''s voice clicked off with some static and the room was left in silence again. I raised the clothes again and looked at them suspiciously, attempting to find any potential things I might have missed that would make them fit better. To my dismay, I found nothing.

    ¡°Well,¡± I said, ¡°you wanna go first or me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go first,¡± Roland responded to me after a few moments of thought, ¡°I¡¯m bigger so it¡¯ll fit me at least a little more.¡±

    I nodded, expressing my approval, and Roland took off his shirt. He then pulled the giant black shirt over his head and slid it down. It immediately proved too large for him; the tip of his fingers were about three inches away from the end of the sleeve and the bottom of the shirt reached nearly to his knees.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°Well,¡± Roland said sarcastically, ¡°call me crazy but I think we may have a problem.¡±

    ¡°Whaaaaaaat,¡± I responded in the same tone, ¡°No it fits great.¡±

    Both of us began to snicker, something which nearly burst into full-out laughter only to be stopped by Roland suddenly grabbing his shirt awkwardly.

    ¡°Hold up, this shirt fee-¡±

    Roland¡¯s sentence was suddenly cut off by a series of sparks flying out of the shirt. With each spark that came out, the shirt began to shrink more and more. It wasn¡¯t all even either, some spots shrank more than others until, in just a second and a half, the shirt fit perfectly on Roland¡¯s body.

    ¡®Holy shit¡­¡¯

    For a few moments, both Roland and I stood in shocked silence. I even had my mouth agape at what I had just seen. Clothes moving like they were alive, done through psychic powers, seemingly on autopilot. Neither of us had ever seen anything like it before, not to mention, it fit perfectly. Not ¡°very well¡±, not ¡°great,¡± but perfect.

    ¡°Well damn¡­¡± I said. ¡°LET ME GET IN ON THIS SHIT!!!¡±

    Both Roland and I scrambled for the clothes, rushing to put them on. In a few moments, both of us watched in amazement as the clothes merged and shrank down to our size. Then the clothes merged together, turning the pants and shirt into a single piece of clothing. The clothes even changed design as dark blue lines suddenly appeared on them. After all the changes occurred Roland and I examined our clothes, searching to find any imperfections.

    ¡°It¡¯s incredible,¡± Roland said, ¡°I can¡¯t find a single thing wrong. It¡¯s like it was designed this way from the start.¡±

    ¡°The amount of money you could make from high-quality clothes that fit anyone and change design¡­¡± I responded. I was from a well-off family but there was a massive difference between us and the insanely wealthy like Roland and Violet. A product like this wouldn¡¯t take us to that level, but we would be far closer.

    Unfortunately, my enjoyment of the high-quality clothing was soon interrupted by a computerized voice.

    ¡°Please make your way to the two doors at the end of the passageway applicants, the final selection will begin momentarily.¡±

    I turned towards Roland and we both nodded. Side by side we walked to the end of the passageway to find ourselves in front of two doors. On the floor, there were two pairs of black slip-on shoes for us to put on, both pairs though, were too large.

    ¡°Yo another one,¡± I said excitedly, eager to see the shoes shrink again.

    As expected, when I put them on the shoes began to shoot out sparks until they had merged completely into my pants. I felt around the area where the two items had joined together but couldn¡¯t find a single imperfection.

    I looked back towards the doors. In between the two doors, there was a clock counting downwards. It was 5 minutes now, so I likely still had another 5 minutes before the start of the final selection.

    ¡°You ready?¡± Roland asked me.

    I shook my head, ¡°Hah¡­ nope.¡±

    ¡°Yeah me neither,¡± he responded to me.

    ¡°So, do you still have a plan for how to get Violet away from her family?¡± I asked, it had been several days since we had last discussed it. I wasn¡¯t able to come up with a solution but Roland had, although even he only gave the plan a 50% chance of working.

    ¡°I do. I¡¯ve gotten approval from all people involved except for one, they¡¯ll be the deciding factor on this.¡±

    ¡®Interesting, his plan involves multiple people.¡¯

    I nodded in understanding before turning my attention back to the doors in front of us. Roland and I entered into silence as nervousness began to infect us. We had no idea what could be in front of us. AGH said that it was a tournament battle between applicants but they had also said that the second selection was just an obstacle course.

    ¡®Please be a regular tournament,¡¯ I begged inwardly.

    Out of the corner of my vision, I saw Roland lace his hands into the prayer position, close his eyes, and enter a state of reverent silence. I decided to mimic him and I began to say prayers in my head. Despite it being only in my head the divine power of the gods still made itself present and my thoughts boomed loudly.

    ¡®Gods, your son prays to you. Give him strength, give him knowledge, give him help. I am your humble servant, your loving son, your flawed child, allow me to approach your perfection for this moment. You are the creators of all, the knowers of all, the rulers of all. All things that are have come after you and all will end before you. Grant me a portion of such authority so that I may approach the path ahead of me without hesitation. To you, I pray.¡¯

    I opened my eyes and noticed my entire body felt tingly like tiny bolts of lightning were shooting throughout me. Strangely enough, while in prayer I had somehow spent over two minutes with my eyes closed, leaving only 2 minutes and 40 seconds left.

    I felt my heart begin to beat harder and faster, anticipating the battles I was about to face. As the tingling protection of the gods left me I felt my stomach drop and squeamish. Everything seemed to grow inhumanly large as my stress continued to increase.

    ¡®Breathe.¡¯

    I took a deep breath in, held it, and slowly released it. This process I repeated multiple times until I felt myself regain partial control of myself. My heart still raced and my stomach still felt sick, but my head was clear. Looking toward the timer again I found that it was at 20 remaining seconds.

    ¡°Gods be with us,¡± Roland said. He opened his eyes and finally released his hands from the laced prayer position. I could feel the energy in the air change as he spoke for a moment, filled with the divine strength of the gods.

    15 seconds¡­

    ¡°Good luck Roland.¡±

    10 seconds¡­

    ¡°You too Mark.¡±

    5 seconds¡­

    4 seconds¡­

    3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­

    The clock screen shut off and was replaced by Principal Sever, smiling with a slightly unhinged look on his face and a tone in his voice.

    ¡°Well future stars, let¡¯s begin the final selection.¡±

    ¡­

    The head of the Woo family walked down the hall of the Sagyon Building in the capital city of Rokea, Losue. Surrounding him were bodyguards, each one an S-Rank, closely observing his every move. If he made even one threatening move then the S-Ranks would attack instantly.

    But the man was unafraid, his status as the head of the Woo family would place pressure on any individual in Rokea, regardless of the power they wielded. The S-Ranks were well aware of this and were further aware that there were undoubtedly the Woo family¡¯s S-Rank psychics in hiding, watching to ensure the safety of the family head. Even if the head attacked the man he was about to meet, it was unsure whether or not the current S-Rank bodyguards present could fend him off enough to ensure the survival of their client.

    Eventually, they came to the end of the hall. In front of them was a beautifully crafted door, the entrance to the office of the most important man in the country. After patting down the Woo family head the bodyguards allowed him to enter.

    ¡®Such a waste of time,¡¯ the man thought as he opened the door.

    Inside was the President of Rokea, taking notes on a piece of paper. His name was Sejoon Yoon and he was in the 3rd year of his 5-year term. He and the head of the Woo family had met in the past before, considering the head of the Woo was effectively the second most powerful man in the country, but it had always seemed like the president was the weaker one in their conversations.

    ¡°Mr. Yoon,¡± the head stated.

    Sejoon shook his head, ¡°Mr. Byung-hi Woo, you must call me President Yoon.¡±

    Sejoon knew that Byung would never do such a thing. As far as Byung was concerned, the two of them were equals in power at best. Byung didn¡¯t have any political power, but numerous members of the Woo family branches were politicians and each of them would follow Byung to the ends of the earth. Not to mention, he was exceptionally wealthy, all of the Woo family funds came largely to the head family.

    ¡°Mr. Yoon I asked for this meeting today because I need permission from the government to bring one of my S-Ranks overseas,¡± Byung said, ignoring Sejoon¡¯s weak demand to address him as president.

    ¡°Why exactly do you want that?¡± Sejoon asked suspiciously.

    S-Rank¡¯s were wildly powerful psychics, each one was a major factor in a country''s military strength. While Rokea was at peace right now, having an S-Rank leave without any early warnings could leave Rokea open to attack. Even if the S-Rank was under the Woo family, having them inside the country of Rokea gave Rokea significant strength.

    ¡°Two reasons,¡± Byung said, ¡°the first is that his ability could be useful for someone I¡¯m looking into. The second is that I¡¯ve heard rumors of an event going on with Fukumuga in Panaj while I¡¯m supposed to be traveling there.¡±

    ¡°And when do you plan to take this S-Rank out of the country?¡±

    ¡°In a week.¡±

    Byung smiled patiently as he noticed Sejoon begin to grip the table tightly. On the other hand, Sejoon was becoming enraged. A mere week was a ridiculously small amount of time. It was almost as if Byung was doing this merely to annoy Sejoon.

    ¡°And why,¡± Sejoon said through gritted teeth, ¡°did you not just use the usual channels?¡±

    Byung shrugged his shoulders, ¡°It¡¯s faster this way. Since I only just decided to go I needed quick confirmation.¡±

    ¡®Why you little¡­¡¯ Sejoon began to think to himself. Byung could have used the immigration department to get permission. Considering his status the request would have been filled out within 2 weeks or less. But instead, he called in a meeting with the president just to get it filled out a little bit faster.

    Sejoon sighed, struggling to keep his growing annoyance and anger under control. He waved his hand at Byung, nodding his approval.

    ¡°I¡¯ll fill out the paperwork within the next hour, now leave my office,¡± Sejoon said. Again Byung had been the one leading the conversation, completely calm and in control.

    Byung smiled and put out his hand for a handshake, which Sejoon reluctantly took. Byung then performed a slight bow before they separated hands, smiling smugly the entire time.

    ¡°Well Sejoon, I¡¯ll be off now,¡± Byung said, seemingly almost laughing from the joy he was feeling.

    Sejoon on the other hand felt blood begin to rush into his face. He hadn¡¯t even used ¡°Mr.¡± that time. Byung had always been disrespectful towards authority, but recently he had been growing more and more cocky. Sejoon slammed his hands onto the table and leaped up from his chair, ready to shout at Byung for his disrespect.

    ¡°Now listen here y-¡±

    ¡°You little piece of¡­?¡±

    Sejoon¡¯s eyes widened as Byung was able to complete the sentence he was about to say. It was like Byung had read his thoughts effortlessly, but how? Meanwhile, Byung¡¯s smile quickly vanished from his face and he took a step towards Sejoon again.

    ¡°Little piece of what Mr. Yoon?¡± Byung asked, this time clear malic emanate from his voice and a sickly green aura began to coat his body.

    Instantly a group of S-Rank¡¯s appeared surrounding Byung, all of them holding artifacts at Byung¡¯s vital points. His organs, heart, neck, and brain all were targeted. Even an inch of movement in any direction would result in his death.

    Byung eyed each one of them carefully, he himself was an S-Rank but he was aware that the experience of these bodyguards was far greater than his own. Any one of them would likely be able to defeat them in a fight, although not before Sejoon, a C-Rank, would be killed in the crossfire.

    ¡®And you all have artifacts,¡¯ Byung acknowledged.

    Artifacts were specially crafted items made by psychics who were called artificers. Depending on the skill of the artificer an artifact could be extremely weak, offering practically no benefits, or massively powerful, capable of turning a battle between equals into a one-sided beatdown. An S-Rank artifact could give an A-Rank the ability or strength required to kill an S-Rank psychic. Perhaps thankfully for society though, there has never been an SS-Rank artifact and the S-Rank artifacts were extremely few.

    ¡®But an A-Rank artifact would be enough for you to turn the tide of battle against me,¡¯ Byung admitted.

    Byung stopped releasing his aura and forced a smile back onto his face. To any normal bystander, he would appear to be an amiable man, but anyone who knew him well would feel nothing but mistrust at this face of his.

    ¡°I would like to leave now,¡± he said to the S-Rank¡¯s still holding their positions.

    They nodded but did not separate from him as he left, still holding him at death''s door. As soon as Byung closed the door behind him he could almost imagine seeing Sejoonfall back into his chair in relief.

    Now outside the office of the president, Byung allowed his fake smile to disappear from his face. He began his long walk to leave the Sagyon Building.

    ¡®Presidents, always the same,¡¯ he thought as he walked down the halls of the building.

    Byung had been the head of the Woo family for years, he was well accustomed to dealing with presidents. But they were always B-Rank at most, A-Ranks and above were rarely if ever politicians. The side effect was that all presidents ended up fearful of Byung, after all, he was an S-Rank.

    Byung shook his head in disappointment. His face continued to enter into a deeper and deeper frown.

    ¡®Hmm, I¡¯ll pay Jewon a visit while investigating that Mark boy,¡¯ he thought to himself. This brought a little bit of joy back into his step as he left the building.

    End of Chapter 30

 Chapter 31: So Begins the Final Selection

    Chapter 31: So Begins the Final Selection

    ¡°Well future stars, let¡¯s begin the final selection.¡±

    Violet suddenly released a breath she hadn¡¯t realized she¡¯d been holding. She was suddenly beginning to experience an intense amount of stress and anxiety moments before the final selection began. She turned and saw Vivian nervously fidgeting with her hands.

    ¡°For a quick recap, there are 68 remaining applicants and only the top 20 point scorers among you will be considered for AGH. Among those 20 only 10 will actually be accepted.¡±

    Violet nodded to herself, she remembered all of this. Following the second selection she had racked up another 30 points to place her at 85 points. This meant that she was now ranked as the 26th highest-point applicant.

    Violet¡¯s roommates had also done quite well. Roland was at 168 total points, earning another 23, although he remained in 4th place. Vivian was at 99 total points, earning 19 more since the second selection, but she had dropped down a position to 13th. Mark was still the highest-ranked of them all, earning 24 more points for a total of 261 points. Yet the gap between him and first place had only widened as first place was now at 277 points, earning 32 points in just two days.

    ¡°Now, luckily for you all, the tournament will be a basic and regular tournament. No tricks, no traps, and no surprises, just a regular combat tournament. Winners progress and losers fail. Each win will net you 50 points and a loss will spell the end of your time in the tournament. The tournament will take place over this one day and each match will occur at the same time. Every match-up will be decided randomly. After the final match of each round concludes, applicants will be given a 10-minute break, during which they will be healed.¡±

    The principal, whose face was on screen, smiled even wider than previously. The unhinged nature of his face, which was already usually present, somehow grew even worse. Violet felt a chill run down her back as this happened, fearful that the principal would reveal something dangerous.

    He had said that there wouldn¡¯t be anything unusual, but this was AGH, and the principal didn¡¯t appear to be the most mentally stable person. At times he was comforting and kind, yet most of the time the applicants had seen him he was as unhinged as he was now.

    ¡°I¡¯m very excited to see some of your performances, try not to disappoint me. Now, a little after I leave, the two doors will open, and each applicant will go through their own door. Any applicants who try to go through the same door will be deducted 75 points. Good luck future stars.¡±

    The principal clicked off and Violet heaved a sigh of relief. The principal didn¡¯t add anything to the final selection after all. That being said, she was curious as to the applicants the principal had taken an interest in. She suspected the 3 High B-Rank¡¯s were likely options for obvious reasons, and Mark as well for his perfect test score, but she couldn¡¯t think of anyone else. The principal was an SS-Rank psychic, it would take a lot for him to get interested in an applicant.

    In front of Violet and Vivian, the two doors suddenly opened, silently sliding to the side. Behind each door was a dark room, large enough for one person to just stand in. On the floor of it were footprints flashing white, indicating where to stand.

    ¡°Well Violet,¡± Vivian said, turning to face Violet. ¡°Looks like this is where we separate.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Violet responded anxiously, ¡°good luck Vivian.¡±

    ¡°Good luck to you too Violet.¡±

    Both girls then stepped foot into the small rooms in front of them, Violet on the right and Vivian on the left. As soon as Violet of them stepped on the flashing footprints on the floor the door behind her suddenly sealed.

    ¡®Wait a minute¡­ the second selection had something like this. Wasn¡¯t it an eleva-¡¯

    Violet was suddenly thrown to the right as the room she was in was revealed to be an elevator, one that could go left and right as well as up and down. The elevator then lurched forward, sending Violet flying back into the wall.

    ¡®Ah, my head¡­¡¯

    Violet rubbed the back of her head, she wasn¡¯t thrown back hard enough for her to receive even a minor concussion, but it still hurt quite a bit. Following this Violet decided to stay on the ground instead of standing since she wouldn¡¯t be thrown around that way.

    As the elevator continued to move throughout the building Violet was in, Violet began to reminisce on the past few days in an attempt to distract herself from a growing anxiousness. It was on the first day of the application that her memory was drawn. Specifically, Mark¡¯s attack on her.

    ¡®I haven¡¯t thought about it for a while now, but it¡¯s very strange.¡¯

    Violet had originally suspected that Mark might be one of the strongest applicants in AGH due to the power of his mental attack. When Violet had attempted to observe deep into Mark¡¯s soul she hadn¡¯t just been blocked out, but the mental defenses that were naturally constructed with Soul Seer had been completely destroyed and the damage she received was on par with an A-Rank level attack. Violet thought that Mark had to be at least a High B-Rank while hiding some sort of secret that allowed his powers to receive a substantial boost to A-Rank status.

    ¡®Yet based on the second selection, he really does seem to be just a regular Low B-Rank.¡¯

    Violet shook her head, it didn¡¯t make any sense. Mark couldn¡¯t possibly have broken through Soul Seer¡¯s mental defenses with enough remaining power to damage her at the level of a Low B-Rank. On top of that, it hadn¡¯t happened since, meaning it was likely not a malicious attack since Mark would have been able to launch another mental attack on Violet at any time. The implication behind that though is that it was an instinctual attack or a third party intervened.

    ¡®But that in itself opens up even more questions. An instinctual attack is far weaker than a prepared and intentional one, which means Mark has even more power than I previously thought. And if there was a third party instead who used Mark to try and shift the blame, how did the A-Rank bodyguard not notice them during their attack on me?¡¯

    Violet sighed as she felt the elevator shift to the left, throwing her right. Mark¡¯s attack on her raised questions and deeper thought into it raised even more. Ultimately Violet decided to push the thought to the back of her mind for now, there were simply too many questions for her to confront right now, especially with the final selection just moments away.

    ¡°You have arrived at your stop, please exit the elevator.¡±

    A computerized voice pulled Violet away from her thoughts and she stepped out of the elevator. Immediately, without her deep thinking to distract her, Violet was filled with anxiety. She felt her stomach drop and her palms quickly became clammy with a cold sweat. Each step she took felt overly impactful despite the shoes she wore like the ground was fighting against her. Everything felt unnatural and uncomfortable.

    Violet sighed, ¡®breathe,¡¯ she thought to herself. She recalled how it had brought her out of the panic attack state she was in before and she used it now to keep herself calm. She was a Mid B-Rank, meaning that most applicants would be about her level or slightly weaker. Plus, she was an all-rounder, making her a more varied fighter.

    ¡®If you just look at it that way, I have one of the highest chances of winning.¡¯

    Violet began to observe her surroundings, it was similar to the arenas that she had used a few days prior, although much larger. A fake urban setting surrounded her, filled with cars, shops, lights, alleyways, and anything else that would make a city identifiable as a city. However, while the practice arenas were only a single street, this arena was far larger. This arena was as large as a soccer stadium, and not just the field, but the spectator stands too. The buildings were larger as well, some of them being over 75 feet tall.

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    Violet looked around in amazement, AGH had already recreated a large portion of a ruined city from The Night of Massacre, but they would have needed to create dozens of these smaller arenas. The sheer amount of detailing on each of these arenas was incredible as well, even a few gum pieces littered the walls and the ground. Such a recreation of a realistic city could have only been done with some sort of unique power.

    ¡°The matches will begin momentarily.¡±

    Listening to the computerized voice, Violet observed her surroundings to find an applicant climbing over a wall from a nearby street. AGH, it appears hadn¡¯t placed the applicants near each other.

    The other applicant was a boy with cherry-red hair and a freckled face. His arms were lanky and swung unnaturally as he walked around like he was out of sync with himself. Every step he took his arms lagged in their swing. Other than that though, he looked rather normal.

    ¡®I guess the guys get black suits. They look to be the same material though.¡¯

    ¡°Hello,¡± the boy said nervously, ¡°I¡¯m Ivan. N- nice to meet you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Violet, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you as well. How¡¯s your day today?¡±

    ¡°Oh uh¡­ I¡¯m doing okay I guess¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s nice to hear.¡±

    As Violet continued the conversation she activated Soul Seer, causing her eyes to become a deep purple. By continuing the conversation Violet could divert Ivan¡¯s attention away from the sudden change in her eyes. If Ivan noticed Violet using Soul Seer it might interfere with the thoughts Violet would hear while searching into Ivan¡¯s soul.

    Violet saw her vision change and Ivan¡¯s body became a black shadow with a small white orb in the center of his chest. The orb appeared to swirl inwards in a slightly nauseating and illusory vortex.

    ¡®He doesn¡¯t have any black marks, that¡¯s good. I can read his thoughts and desires without issue then.¡¯ Violet then began to pull on Ivan¡¯s soul and her mind was instantly inundated with Ivan¡¯s thoughts.

    ¡®Aaaaah, I¡¯m so nervous. She¡¯s beautiful. I didn¡¯t get any sleep. Can I win? I don¡¯t want to hurt her. Desyncing. What are her abilities? Is she a Mid, Low, or High B-Rank?¡¯

    ¡®Wait a minute,¡¯ Violet suddenly realized. ¡®Desyncing?¡¯ Feeling a connection Violet continued to try and search deeper into Ivan¡¯s soul, paying special attention to anything that could be related to ¡®Desyncing¡¯.

    ¡®When is it going to start? I¡¯m only a Low B-Rank. I barely passed the second selection. Do I even want to be a hero? I can only hold it for a minute or so. It¡¯s so exhausting.¡¯

    Violet inwardly smiled as she found that she was able to retrieve some information about what was likely Ivan¡¯s unique power, which Violet assumed was called Desyncing. It seemed like Desyncing was especially draining in some way, causing Ivan to only be able to use it for about a minute and it would likely leave him exhausted.

    ¡®It¡¯s valuable information, but I still have no idea how it works. It¡¯s probably not a one-hit K.O. because then he would be more worried about whether or not it would work on me rather than how long he could hold it for. But I can¡¯t deduce anything more than that, not to mention I have no idea of its drawbacks that I might be able to take advantage of and Soul Seer is too exhausting to be use-¡¯

    ¡°Are you ok Violet?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Violet was dragged out of her brainstorming by Ivan who was looking at her with some concern in his face. Violet realized she had become so engrossed in her thoughts that she had forgotten to carry on her conversation with Ivan.

    ¡°Uh, sorry,¡± Violet began to rub her eyes, hiding their purple hue while she turned off Soul Seer, ¡°I got something in my eye.¡±

    ¡®Shoot, he might be suspicious now. Hopefully, that doesn¡¯t give him an advantage somehow.¡¯

    ¡°The matches will begin in 1 minute. Please prepare yourselves, applicants. A set of lines will show you the minimum distance each applicant will start at from each other.¡±

    Violet removed her arm from her eyes with Soul Seer now deactivated. She felt a slight pulsating feeling in the back of her eyes, a side effect that could sometimes come about while using Soul Seer. Looking around, Violet saw two glowing white lines floating in the air, about 30 feet apart from each other.

    ¡°Well,¡± Violet said, ¡°Good luck on the match Ivan.¡±

    Ivan didn¡¯t respond but nodded, his eyes were narrowed into slits of suspicion. The two of them separated, moving behind the floating lines.

    Violet began to use her psychic powers to forcefully tense her muscles, warming them up for a fight. The last thing she wanted was to experience a cramp amid combat. Even a moment of hesitation could prove to be devastating to her.

    ¡°The match will start in 10 seconds.¡±

    ¡®Here we go.¡¯

    ¡°9¡­ 8¡­ 7¡­ 6¡­ 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­¡±

    Violet saw Ivan suddenly crouch to the ground. But from this distance, she couldn¡¯t tell anything out of the ordinary. It just appeared like Ivan was getting into a starting position for a track event.

    ¡°BEGIN!¡±

    Violet didn¡¯t even have enough time to blink when Ivan launched himself at her. He covered the 30 feet separating them in less than a tenth of a second. His body slammed into Violet, sending her flying away.

    Violet crashed through a building, breaking through 3 walls before coming to a stop in a nearby street. She felt herself cough up blood as her abdomen suddenly roared out in pain. She could feel every single one of her ribs screaming in their fragmented state. Violet had barely managed to instinctively put up a weak barrier to soften the blow, yet Ivan had still caused so much damage.

    Violet moaned painfully as she began to heal as fast as she could. Her entire stomach felt like it was ablaze. She felt her ribs painfully being rearranged to return to their original state and her flesh slicing open as the ribs moved past.

    ¡®How did he move so fast? The amount of energy he must have charged up in his legs to move that fast should have taken a longer build-up time. It was instantaneous.¡¯

    Violet slammed her fist into the ground, sending psychic energy into the earth and causing it to cave in. As she fell she saw Ivan running through the holes in the buildings she had been thrown through. She quickly closed up the hole as she fell, hoping that Ivan wouldn¡¯t notice it. Just in case though, she created a tunnel in the earth and shifted the ground to move her through it, changing her location out of Ivan¡¯s view.

    ¡®I need to buy time for my healing. If I face him like this now then I¡¯ll lose for sure.¡¯

    As Violet healed herself she felt the earth shake. Small pebbles and dust began to fall from the ground above her.

    ¡®Ivan, he must know that I¡¯m underground. He¡¯s trying to cause a cave-in on me!¡¯

    Violet quickly ran through her options. If she didn¡¯t reinforce the earth then she could heal faster, but Ivan could cause a cave-in before she was completely healed. On the other hand, if she did reinforce the earth then the psychic power Ivan was outputting into the ground to shake it would interact with hers and Ivan would find her location.

    After a few seconds of consideration, Violet placed her hand on the ground and began to reinforce the earth. The ground stopped shaking for a moment, the pebbles and dust settling down. For a few seconds, there was silence as Ivan began to locate Violet. Then, Violet heard the sounds of the earth opening up,

    ¡®He fell for it.¡¯

    Violet heard Ivan begin shaking the earth once more as he began to try and start a cave-in once more. But Violet had already moved herself to the surface and sealed Ivan underground. She began to reinforce the earth, ensuring Ivan would expend large amounts of psychic energy to escape.

    ¡®It worked.¡¯

    Instead of reinforcing the earth directly above her, Violet had reinforced the ground a distance away. A psychic needed direct contact with the earth to manipulate it. But, once contact was established the element could be manipulated from a distance as long as there was a continuous connection of earth. It cost more psychic energy, but in this case, it was worth it. When Ivan had dropped down into the false location Violet had made, she launched herself back to the surface and sealed Ivan inside.

    ¡®Now heal. You have to heal.¡¯

    Ivan wouldn¡¯t be able to be trapped for long, Violet could only reinforce so much earth, but it would be enough. As the ground quaked violently beneath Violet, her ribs began to rapidly heal. She just needed a little bit more time.

    The quaking ground began to grow faint as Ivan moved horizontally away from the range of Violet¡¯s influence. Violet healed herself further, racing against Ivan. If Violet could just reach a functional level then she could heal mid-combat against Ivan, but if Ivan escaped before that then it was almost certainly over.

    ¡®Heal, heal faster.¡¯

    Violet began to use up more energy to heal her injuries. But this caused her to lose focus on the reinforced ground, allowing Ivan to move a little easier, he left Violet¡¯s sphere of influence.

    ¡®Damnit!¡¯

    Violet released the psychic power reinforcing the earth, putting all of her focus onto healing, just as Ivan popped out of the earth. Violet saw Ivan¡¯s eyes immediately focus on her and he got back into the same starting position from when the match had started.

    ¡®Damnit all!¡¯

    Violet gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand and move. Violet couldn¡¯t see Ivan using any psychic powers, but Violet knew what to expect this time. She needed to form a barrier and reinforce her body. But as Violet did this she couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of helplessness come over her. Ivan had an inhumanly fast charge-up time, it looked like in just a second Ivan was able to fill his legs with enough psychic energy to severely injure Violet in one shot. Violet just didn¡¯t have enough time.

    Violet¡¯s eyes widened as  Ivan¡¯s legs bulged up, suddenly rippling with muscles, his veins protruding through the suit he wore. His face contorted in pain for a moment and then he was off. In an instant Violet saw a blur go from a distance away to right in front of her¡­ and then past her.

    While Ivan flew diagonally through a few buildings, Violet fell onto the ground in pain. Ivan had grazed her side, breaking her arm and injuring the left part of her ribs again. But even as her arm and chest flared up in pain, Violet smiled. She no longer needed to fear that attack.

    ¡®I don¡¯t need a barrier.¡¯

    Ivan¡¯s missed attack caused Violet to remember her sparring match with Vivan. In it, Violet had launched herself at Vivian in a similar way that Ivan was about to. Instead of making a barrier though, Vivian had merely redirected Violet¡¯s direction.

    ¡®I don¡¯t need to block, I just need to give him a nudge.¡¯

    Violet got up again, turning to find Ivan lying on the ground over a hundred feet away. She could see his arm stabbed with a metal bar and blood ran down his face. He screamed in pain as he tore the metal bar from his arm. A mixture of anxiety and fear showed on his face as he looked at Violet, who was smiling at him confidently.

    ¡­

    Shamus Eliseo, The Tailor, felt an overwhelming smile come over him. A giddy and insane joy mixed with fear and apprehension. He began to laugh, clutching his side painfully as he looked at the data one of his suits was recording.

    ¡°It¡¯s incredible,¡± he said to himself, struggling to hold back his laughter.

    Sever had told him to keep an eye on a few applicants. But he could have never expected to find what he did. It was an incredible development by any interpretation. Jewon Woo, her unique power was special. The last time an applicant had such a unique power they changed the world.

    Shamus picked up his phone in a mix of apprehension and excitement. He scrolled through his contacts list until he found Sever Fowl, and he gave him a call.

    ¡°Shamus,¡± Sever¡¯s voice came out on the other side of the phone. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Sever¡­ come inside my room now.¡± Shamus could barely contain his excitement. He was practically jumping in

    ¡°What, why?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m an S-Rank and you¡¯re an SS-Rank. Our call is obviously being monitored right now.¡±

    ¡°... I¡¯m coming, Shamus.¡±

    End of Chapter 31

 Chapter 32: A Battle With Vertigo

    Chapter 32: A Battle With Vertigo

    I waved one last time to Roland as I entered the small room. The principal had just finished giving a rundown of the final selection to all of us. Luckily it appeared to be a completely regular tournament.

    ¡®With my current second-place ranking I have fantastic chances of getting into the top 20,¡¯ I thought to myself happily.

    The door automatically closed behind me with the sounds of whirling gears and hydraulics. The room rumbled slightly, throwing me slightly off balance.

    ¡®Wait a minu-¡¯

    I fell backward as the entire room lurched forward. The room was an elevator, and it began a series of constant changes in directions and speed. Every few seconds I was thrown in a different direction like a ball in a washing machine. It wasn¡¯t long before I felt my head begin to spin and my stomach begin to squirm uncomfortably.

    ¡®Oh gods fuck, don¡¯t throw up, don¡¯t throw up.¡¯

    Unfortunately, I happened to be a victim of the condition known as motion sickness. A horrible churning, tingling, and squeamish nausea rose from my stomach. It¡¯s a horrible feeling, motion sickness, a constant edge evoking the sensation of an inevitable and unpleasant outcome. Yet that outcome is also the only situation in which nausea can end for a moment, and yet even then you aren¡¯t given the privilege of choosing when that outcome occurs.

    I rolled to my side, clutching my abdomen and groaning in extreme discomfort. I almost preferred pain over this discomfort, at least pain felt more definable. Motion sickness felt almost vague in what it felt like, but its presence was ever clear.

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®Go to hell bastard.¡¯

    He teased me about my condition, laughing sadistically at my discomfort. Even in something as relatively little as this, he took joy in my suffering. This application process over the past week had been an absolute gold mine for his enjoyment.

    After what felt like hours, although it was probably just minutes, I felt the elevator finally come to a screeching halt. I groaned in a mixture of relief and annoyance, the journey was over. Although my stomach still lurched uncomfortably, at least it couldn¡¯t get any worse.

    ¡°You have arrived at your stop, please exit the elevator.¡±

    A computerized voice gave words to my salvation. The exit door opened up, leading out into the arena in which I would be fighting.

    ¡®Deep breaths Mark, deep breaths.¡¯ I began to take slow and large inhales of air, using it to counter the effects of my motion sickness.

    I slowly stood up, my legs shaking from the weakness that came about from my motion sickness. Looking around me I was awestruck by the arena that AGH had created. Aside from the emptiness of the arena, it was completely identical to a real city. AGH was able to create a massive ruined city as part of the second selection, but this was debatably just as impressive. Every applicant would probably be in a similar arena to me, one that took up multiple streets and was detailed down to even scratches on cars in the streets. With there being 68 applicants that would mean at least 34 arenas were created for the final selection.

    Looking upwards I saw a ceiling far above me. It appeared to be like a normal daytime sky, but on closer inspection, I could see that it was fake.

    ¡®The only explanation would be a unique power, the unique power of a powerful psychic at that. Even a Mid A-Rank might struggle to create something like this.¡¯

    As I wandered around the arena I heard the sound of hydraulics from a distance away. I turned left towards the sound and, through a fence, saw an applicant walking out of their elevator. A girl, their hair seemed to sway in a wind that couldn¡¯t possibly exist in the enclosed arena.

    Based on her appearance, she was likely from Friaca, one of the six continents along with North and South Ameriac, Iasa, Antractica, and Ruepoe. Although she could also have been from South Iasa, I couldn¡¯t be sure.

    ¡®Stop making assumptions Mark, she could be from anywhere in the world.¡¯

    Her skin was black, naturally so as well, not just tanned from years of sun exposure. Her hair was tied back into numerous braids, each one having a strange wooden object on it. She had a long face with a pointed chin, causing her to appear strangely refined and almost regal.

    She turned toward me, her eyes narrowed into targeted slits. I felt a slight chill run throughout me as a result of her stare. I instantly knew she had no intentions of making friends or interacting with me, she was here only for combat.

    I saw her make a stiff bow in my direction, a bow which I reciprocated. Her hair continued to sway in a nonexistent wind, moving side to side in an almost hypnotic manner.

    I racked my brain to search for any possible information on famous psychic families that she could come from. I tried to ignore it to not feel a sense of inferiority, but the AGH application had numerous applicants from psychic families. As Roland had previously explained, having a powerful hero did wonders for a psychic family''s public image.

    Unfortunately, my knowledge of psychic families wasn¡¯t especially vast. My only guess as to a possible psychic family the girl came from was the Biko Family. As far as psychic families went it was small and rather weak. In recent times they had even lost two main family members to a war in Greinia.

    ¡°The matches will begin in 1 minute. Please prepare yourselves, applicants. A set of lines will show you the minimum distance each applicant will start at from each other.¡±

    Mystical white lines then appeared in the arena, shining with an alluring luster. It was made of thousands of threads, linking together to create an alien-looking rope that separated me and the girl.

    As I stepped to move past the rope I saw the girl tremble slightly as she walked. Even from this distance, I could see her trembling despite the ferocity with which she stepped on the ground. Behind each powerful step was apprehension and fear, although whether it was a fear of me or something else I couldn¡¯t tell.

    ¡°The match will start in 10 seconds.¡±

    I slammed my fist on my chest repeatedly in an attempt to quell the anxiety beginning to rise in me. I entered into a stance and began to augment my body with psychic powers. I felt my muscles burn as power ran through them, filling them with strength beyond what they were naturally capable of. My back faced buildings while my eyes locked onto the girls. Despite her trembling gait her eyes still radiated hostility.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°9¡­ 8¡­ 7¡­ 6¡­ 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ BEGIN!¡±

    I braced myself for an attack, tensing all the muscles in my body and bringing up my arms to protect my face. Yet nothing came. The two of us stood staring at each other. I saw her shuffling her feet from side to side, waiting for me to make the first move.

    ¡®Damnit, I don¡¯t wanna start first either though.¡¯

    Usually, I¡¯d have no problem launching the first attack, but this time I was overcome with anxiety. My heart beat heavily inside my chest, heavy enough that I could feel the rhythmic pumping without placing my hand over it. Beads of cold sweat had already begun to drip down my face and run down onto my suit.

    Suddenly I saw the girl take a step forward and, instinctively, I flinched backward. My foot slid away from her slightly, only a few inches, yet a sudden light gleamed in my opponent''s eye. She twisted her hand and I felt the ground beneath my moving foot slide sideways.

    ¡®SHIT!¡¯

    I felt myself begin to fall and placed out my other foot to rebalance myself. By then however the girl had launched another attack and a blast of psychic energy collided with me, sending me flying into the building behind me.

    I felt my body crash through several walls, each impact sending shocks of pain throughout me. I rolled out into the street behind the building, immediately hopping to my feet, only to find another blast of psychic energy aimed directly at my face.

    I bent backward, narrowly allowing the psychic blast to fly above me. It was so close that I felt it singe the tips of my hair.

    ¡®Damnit, I¡¯ve leaned too far back. I have to commit to the movement.¡¯

    My center of gravity had gone too far back for me to stop myself from falling now. Embracing it, I placed out my arms, flowing psychic energy into them, and propelled myself back with a backward handspring.

    My feet landed near the top of a building and I hooked myself onto the side of it. I quickly eyed the hole in a building that I had been sent through. The girl walked out of it, quickly searching her surroundings.

    I dragged my hand horizontally in front of me, forming the air into a condensed blade. The girl had seen me launch myself upwards from my psychic-enhanced handspring, but she didn¡¯t know exactly where. That single moment of searching gave me an advantage.

    I pushed my blade of wind at her. It sliced through the air with a high-pitched whistle. The girl turned her head toward me and barely put her arms up in time to block the attack. Sparks of psychic energy flew out as the windblade collided with her barrier. She was thrown onto her back while the wind blade was redirected up, slicing deep into a building.

    ¡®Her reaction time is incredible, as are her senses. That attack is invisible, the only thing that announces its presence is the sound it makes. Yet, she was able to block it just from that.¡¯

    I grit my teeth in frustration and leaped into the air. I had sent her off balance for a moment. My mistake earlier was allowing the girl to act first, and she had used that chance to throw me off balance. The result was me taking the first hits of the battle. But with her now in a disadvantageous position, I had an opportunity to return the favor.

    I applied telekinesis to the building behind her and began to pull on it. Cracks formed throughout the structure as I attempted to rip it off its foundations.

    ¡®B-Rank¡¯s could lift a mansion off the earth, even if only for a tenth of a second. So this¡­ IS POSSIBLE!¡¯

    I screamed as I pulled the building off the ground, falling onto the girl. With a crash, debris and smoke covered the area in which she was. I fell to the earth, landing on top of the rubble.

    ¡®Shit, I¡¯ve made a mistake,¡¯ I realized suddenly. The building had sent dust into the air, completely obscuring my vision. ¡®I¡¯m too impulsive right now. I shouldn¡¯t have tried to use that building as a weapon. It costs too much psychic energy for too little return.¡¯

    While I had to use a large amount of psychic energy to pull down the building with telekinesis, the girl had to use comparatively less. She only needed enough to defend her body from the falling building.

    ¡®I got emotional over the failed wind blade. Damnit Mark! Get a hold of yourself.¡¯ I scolded myself inwardly for my impulsivity.

    I began to search around for the girl, but with the dust in the way I could barely see in front of my face. Realizing the futility of trying to search for her in these conditions I used air manipulation to spin the dust away from me. I spun my arm in the air around my head, the wind following my movements.

    ¡®Perfect, now where is she?¡¯

    The dust cleared away from me, forming a wall of pale brown particles around me. Satisfied I released my psychic power that was causing the wind to move. To my surprise though, the wind didn¡¯t stop.

    ¡®What the fuck?¡¯

    I felt the wind begin to pick up speed and the dust wall expand higher into a towering mini tornado. I felt my feet begin to slide on the ground, unable to find any grip.

    ¡°SHIT!¡±

    I screamed aloud as my feet were pulled out from under me. I tried to grab a piece of rubble, but it too was dislodged, spinning into the tornado with me. I felt myself rising higher and higher into the air, the girl used my wind manipulation to help accelerate the creation of this tornado rapidly.

    I spun uncontrollably, unable to see anything due to the flying dust. Every attempt to open my eyes resulted in me being blinded by particles colliding with my cornea. Tears filled my eyes as my body attempted to flush out the foreign items. All this happened while debris from the destroyed building collided with my body. I felt my shoulder dislocate as I made contact with a chunk of concrete, causing me to scream out in pain.

    I felt my stomach begin to churn uncontrollably as motion sickness began to overtake me. My brain could feel me moving, yet couldn¡¯t see how, as my eyes were forced shut.

    ¡®Fuck! I need to get out of here now!¡¯

    I used telekinesis to grab all objects in my nearby location. Reaching out with my hand, a massive invisible palm grabbed large amounts of debris flying in the tornado. I¡¯d prefer to only use the bare minimum amount of psychic energy to escape, but without being able to see I needed to wrap the entire area in my influence. After reinforcing my body, I threw all the debris into me, sending me out of the tornado.

    The storming winds and dust suddenly disappeared as I exited the whirlwind, falling to the ground. I attempted to open my eyes, but they were still forced shut, my body refusing to obey me. I collided painfully with the corner of a building cutting into my leg and drawing out blood. I felt my neck snap back, my head limply cracking against a wall, before falling to the ground.

    My entire world spun uncontrollably and I felt like my body was moving in a constant circle although I knew I wasn¡¯t. I felt a warm liquid dribble down my leg, although I was in such a daze that I could barely feel it.

    I groaned, shakily moving myself onto my knees. I vomited suddenly, a result of my motion sickness from the tornado. Tears streamed down my face, slightly due to the pain in my leg and motion sickness, but mostly due to my eyes trying to get rid of the dust in them.

    ¡®Move Mark¡­ You need to fight her¡­¡¯

    I wiped the tears from my face and was barely able to peel open my eyes. I was in an alleyway between two buildings. I saw the tornado quickly begin to dissipate, sending debris flying onto the ground.

    ¡®She must have seen me exit the tornado. I need to get up.¡¯

    I attempted to stand up, screaming in pain as my right leg protested with a stabbing sensation across my leg. I looked at it, the suit had been torn open and my leg was visible. A deep gash ran across my calf, going over an inch deep.

    I fell back down onto the ground, focusing instead on healing.

    ¡®Shit, shit, shit,¡¯ I began to panickly think. I was in a horrible position. A severe injury and an opponent that was almost certainly in a far superior state than me.

    I heard footsteps begin to echo in the alleyway as the girl approached me. My leg burned as it began to rapidly heal. My healing was incredible for a B-Rank, but there just wasn¡¯t enough time.

    Gritting my teeth, I got onto my knees and looked out to where the echoing footsteps came from. The girl''s shadow from the artificial lights on the ceiling stretched out in front of me, coming closer and closer with each step.

    ¡®Fuck¡­ shit¡­¡¯

    I tried to move, but my body ached in protesting pain. My leg was healing at a rather fast rate, but it just wasn¡¯t enough for this situation. I then felt blood trickle down my face and I noticed that there was a strange ringing in my head.

    ¡®Damnit, damnit. This can¡¯t be it. Not yet, not yet.¡¯

    I was ranked second among the applicants, but with 50 points given per victory, my position was far from assured. If I failed in this first round, I might not make the top 20.

    ¡°Aaaaaghh!¡±

    I brought my left leg up, allowing me to enter a kneeling position. But it was too late. In front of my eyes were two white shoes. I began to hear the voice of a girl heavily panting in exhaustion and I turned my head up. The girl''s hair no longer swayed, instead, it rested down her back, reaching her hips.

    ¡°Surrender,¡± she said, her voice shaking in exhaustion.

    I felt my body tremble helplessly. It was all I could do to remain kneeling without falling over. My vision was still blurry from the tornado, but I could make out her arm coming in front of my face. A bright red circle formed just inches away from my face. My skin tingled from the psychic power that emanated from it.

    As my eyes rid themselves of dust my tears finally stopped dripping and my vision cleared. As my vision focused on the girl''s face a sense of curiosity rose in me. Her eyes still narrowed at me, but behind it was a softness. A deep sadness and fear was etched behind her ferocious mask. I smiled pitifully at her.

    ¡®This must hurt you, doesn¡¯t it?¡¯

    ¡°No,¡± I told her. For a split moment, I saw fear and regret fall on her face before vanishing as fast as it had arrived.

    ¡®You aren¡¯t cut out for this life.¡¯

    I had no time to form a barrier, reinforce my body, or even blink. The few inches that separated me and the girl''s attack were covered before I could even realize it. A large explosion erupted in the alleyway, completely demolishing the surrounding buildings, and I was consumed by sadness, fear, and regret.

    ¡­

    ¡®You bastard.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®Playing a game with us, both of us.¡¯

    ¡®...¡¯

    ¡®Of course not. It doesn¡¯t matter what happens, I won¡¯t lose here. After all, you still exist.¡¯

    End of Chapter 32

 Chapter 33: This Battle of Endurance

    Chapter 33: This Battle of Endurance

    Violet saw Ivan shuffle his feet nervously as he stood on his feet. Doubt and hesitancy now filled his actions, each movement he took now filled with a shaking pause. Violet was inwardly filled with exciting confidence.

    ¡®He¡¯s off his rhythm now. I have a chance to finally begin turning the tides of this battle.¡¯

    69%

    ¡®I have to watch my counter though, it¡¯s getting high.¡¯

    Violet began to confidently walk towards Ivan, allowing her arms to drip down by her sides, leaving herself completely open to any physical attacks. It was as if she was inviting Ivan to attack her, a proclamation of absolute confidence.

    Ivan¡¯s face turned an uneasy blend of pale and bright red, overtaken by a swirl of fear and anger. Violet smiled; from their previous talk and her understanding of him through Soul Seer, it was evident that he lacked confidence. By fully lowering her guard and showing him open disrespect, she believed it would have a remarkable influence on his mental state, working to her advantage.

    Like magic, Ivan crouched down again, preparing to launch himself once more. In the previous times he had performed the attack, Violet was too focused on avoiding it or too far away to notice the details of it.

    But this time she was close. As she brought her hands up to redirect Ivan¡¯s movements, she saw his legs begin to bulge. She had seen it for a moment earlier but it was only now that she could see just how large his legs became.

    They were the size of a tree trunk, causing Ivan to appear comedically disproportionate in his body. His veins appeared like they were about to burst, thickening and widening to the size of a faucet. The suit that he was wearing stretched, nearly to the point of tearing, Violet could almost see the fibers of it straining to the point of tearing.

    But the thing that especially caught Violet¡¯s eye, was Ivan¡¯s face. He was in pain, horrible horrible pain. His teeth were gritted and for a moment tears flooded into his eyes. All the muscles in his face were tensed to hold back the screams that would come out otherwise.

    In less than a second, Violet absorbed all of this information, and then Ivan was off. His inhuman legs pushed off the ground, easily cracking the concrete beneath them. His legs immediately returned to their normal state. Violet likened it to water behind a dam, building up pressure and swelling until, finally, the dam was released and a massive amount of force poured out.

    As Ivan flew towards her, Violet moved her fingers. She didn¡¯t have the time to move her entire arm or hand, which would allow for more precise control, but her fingers would be enough. She used telekinesis on Ivan¡¯s body and an invisible force began to move him.

    Violet saw him narrowly miss her. The wind blew past with incredible force and it almost felt like he had even grazed her arm, but he missed. Ivan flew into the buildings on Violet¡¯s side, crashing in a fit of dust and debris.

    Violet fell to the ground, thrown off balance from the wind that Ivan had flown along with. Even as she did so though, a smile crept its way onto her face. She had affirmed to not only Ivan but to herself, that Ivan¡¯s lightning-fast charge was no longer a threat to her. With solidified confidence, Violet sprang up immediately and turned to face Ivan.

    She quickly locked onto Ivan¡¯s figure, which was slightly obscured by a cloud of dust. He shakingly stood up, his legs seemingly trembling in an overwhelming fear. His right arm clenched at the elbow of his left, of which blood and a series of healing sparks leaked out. His face was twisted into an expression of fear and desperation. Violet couldn¡¯t help but think that Ivan¡¯s entire body, the way it trembled, its posture, resembled a small animal that was backed into a corner yet still desperate to live.

    It was Ivan¡¯s eyes, however, which drew Violet¡¯s attention the most. It was said that the eyes were the window to the soul, a phrase which Violet frankly thought was rather idiotic considering she could see the soul directly. At this moment, however, she believed that she understood the phrase.

    ¡®Ivan isn¡¯t finished yet,¡¯ Violet realized, immediately reinforcing her body with psychic energy.

    While the rest of Ivan¡¯s body gave off an image of weakness, his eyes flipped back and forth between resolve and uncertainty. His brows furrowed in heated concentration, and it seemed like every half second something deep inside Ivan swayed from one side to another. From violence to surrender, resolve to resolution, confidence, and fear, and  so on and so forth.

    As the dust cleared, Ivan¡¯s eyes seemingly settled at last. A steely resolve spread from his eyes to his mouth, then his arms, and then the rest of his body. Yet at the same time, a pained expression loomed behind his resolve.

    ¡®Dangit! Does he have more up his sleeve?¡¯ Ivan¡¯s change in personality unsettled Violet greatly. Her heart raced as she considered her possible options.

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡®If Ivan has more moves up his sleeve I can¡¯t go in close. It could backfire on me severely, and it would allow Ivan to land multiple attacks on me. But, if I don¡¯t make a move then he¡¯ll take the chance and I might be set on the backfoot.¡¯

    Violet¡¯s brain became a storm of thought as she considered strands of possible options. Ultimately, however, she simply had no information to work off of. Without knowledge of Ivan¡¯s possible routes of action, Violet would be taking a massive risk with anything she did. Unless¡­

    Violet very nearly cursed, something she had never done before, as she activated Soul Seer. To call it a risky gamble would be an understatement. Soul Seer already consumed a large amount of psychic energy, but when coupled with her mixed exhaustion from battle, the effective cost of Soul Seer could double. Not only that, when she used Soul Seer, her speed and strength of body reinforcement took a drastic nosedive.

    ¡®Father would kill you if he ever found out you did this,¡¯ Violet scolded herself. Her father was one of the main people who trained her, being an S-Rank psychic, and he had always emphasized the importance of not sacrificing options, a teaching reinforced by often brutal beatings.

    Violet activated Soul Seer and immediately began to take in information that flowed through Ivan¡¯s soul, no longer caring if he noticed her eyes suddenly changing into a gemlike purple. Shoving away unnecessary information, Violet began to listen in on Ivan¡¯s thoughts involving their fight.

    ¡®She¡¯s a member of the Woo family, meaning her combative skills are probably far greater than mine are, so I have to use everything! At bes,t I can only hold it for a minute. Unique Power Desy-¡¯

    Violet¡¯s eyes widened as a piece of her subconscious noticed Ivan¡¯s lips moving at the same time his thoughts said ¡®Unique¡¯.

    ¡®Is he already attacking again!?!¡¯ Violet thought to herself, slightly panicking.

    She suddenly felt a pulse of psychic energy travel through the air, her body suddenly tingling with energy. The air was filled with a vibrant and electric power that seemed to spread out from Ivan¡¯s body. Then, as quick as it appeared, the energy suddenly withdrew back into Ivan.

    Immediately moving to the defensive, Violet deactivated Soul Seer. Or at least, she tried. To her horror and shock, Violet found that Soul Seer was somehow stuck on. She felt her stomach drop as Ivan sprinted at her, seemingly intending to make the most of the minute he had to use this technique.

    As Violet gave up on trying to deactivate Soul Seer, she began to reinforce her body in an attempt to protect herself from whatever was coming. Ivan, his soul still visible, was in front of Violet in an instant, throwing a kick to her left side.

    ¡®Something¡¯s wrong!¡¯ Violet realized suddenly. For a reason she didn¡¯t know, her psychic powers weren¡¯t reinforcing her body. In fact, she couldn¡¯t sense any psychic energy flowing throughout her at all. Violet felt an overwhelming and terrifying chill wash over her as Ivan¡¯s leg collided with her.

    Using her arms to block the attack, Violet felt Ivan¡¯s psychic-powered leg crush her bones. Wincing in pain, Violet moved Ivan¡¯s legs upwards while falling back, allowing Ivan¡¯s legs to fly over her head.

    70%

    As Violet quickly began running away from Ivan she felt Soul Seer turn off without warning. For a moment, her vision blurred as she felt the constant flow of psychic energy to her eyes dissipate. At the same time, Violet felt her arms begin to flare up in horrendous pain, even more so than during the Second Selection, in which the examiners had broken her arm. She quickly began to attempt to heal it with psychic energy, only to find that she wasn¡¯t able to heal either.

    ¡®What the hell is happening? Why did Soul Seer turn off now, but not before? Why wasn¡¯t I able to reinforce my arms, and why can¡¯t I heal?¡¯

    Violet understood that it had something to do with Ivan¡¯s unique power, but she didn¡¯t understand what exactly it was doing to her.

    ¡®Desync, it has to do with desyncing someth-¡¯

    Violet¡¯s train of thought was violently interrupted when she felt her arms suddenly begin to expand in agonizing pain. They swelled several times more than normal until they were nearly the width of her neck. The pain was unlike anything Violet had ever felt before; no physical pain had ever even approached what she was feeling at this moment.

    ¡°AAAGHHH,¡± Violet screamed out, falling to the ground as her arms felt like they were being torn apart at every cell. Her arms screamed out desperate cries of agony, sending shivers across her entire body. She began to swing her arms out randomly, as though trying to detach them from her body to relieve herself from the pain. An instinctive, primal drive to release herself from the pain overtook Violet and she swung herself around erratically.

    73%

    In this fit of pain, it just so happened that Ivan was in the way. Violet¡¯s swollen fist connected with Ivan¡¯s side, and he was sent flying away like a ragdoll. His body, despite being reinforced by psychic powers, practically crumpled away upon contact. Violet didn¡¯t notice it due to her mind being preoccupied with the insane pain, but her attack hit with such force that even Ivan¡¯s skin was torn off of his body. His suit was torn apart like paper through a shredder.

    A few moments later, Violet felt her arms begin to deflate, steam rising out from the suit. She rolled onto her back, groaning as the remnants of the pain began to subside. Tears continued to flow from her eyes, which she didn¡¯t even notice as she was too busy attempting to gather her thoughts on what had just occurred.

    ¡®I understand it now¡­ Ivan¡¯s unique power. It desyncs the time between activating psychic power and the psychic power actually responding. That¡¯s why Soul Seer took so long to turn off, and why my arms suddenly swelled up. There was a desync between when I wanted to reinforce my arms and when it actually happened, as a result, when it finally happened, all the psychic power that was meant to reinforce my arm and heal it exploded upwards at once. That must also be how Ivan was able to launch himself with such low charge-up time.¡¯

    Violet subconsciously gave off a weak smile as she deduced the nature of Ivan¡¯s powers. However, she didn¡¯t know for how long her powers would be desynced. Ivan probably did though, leaving her at a significant disadvantage in combat.

    Meanwhile, Ivan was already picking himself up and healing, although his injury was still visible and severe. Violet understood why he was so desperate though, if the information she gathered from Soul Seer was correct, Ivan had less than a minute left before he ran out of stamina.

    ¡®Which means,¡¯ Violet concluded as she shakingly stood up, ¡®I just have to outlast the remaining seconds. I estimate there¡¯s maybe 45 seconds left.¡¯

    Violet, now standing, shook her arms rapidly, fighting off the small amounts of dull pain remaining. She eyed Ivan, who was slamming his side ferociously, each hit a storm of sparks sizzled out of his arm and into his side. He was seemingly making use of the unique state provided by desync to heal himself abnormally fast.

    Violet breathed in deeply, a 30-second battle of endurance. Ivan held nearly every advantage in this situation, greater experience, superior knowledge, and far more risk. But the one advantage Violet held would be what decided her victory.

    ¡®You were too emotional Ivan, too hasty. Now, all I have to do is last the remaining time. I¡¯ll win the battle of stamina.¡¯

    ¡­

    Shamus indicated the screen, concentrating on an applicant, Jewon Woo, who had just triumphed over her first opponent.

    ¡°The suit readings prove it, beyond a shadow of a doubt,¡± he said.

    Next to him, Sever Fowl stared at the screen with his full attention and his eyes larger than stones. An almost divine sense of desperate hope filled his heart as he realized the possible implications of what he was witnessing beforehand.

    ¡°Shamus, I want you to hide this. Bury it, and never talk about this to anyone but me,¡± Fowl said.

    Shamus nodded, a sly smile growing, ¡°No problem.¡±

    End of Chapter 33