The fourth energizing serum hit me like a frenzied Behemoth. It was a lesser serum – Bert would have berated me for calling them ‘serums’ --- but it shoved me upright when the timer crossed twelve hours. When the sixteenth hour neared, I felt like a mess, a state the fourth serum only delayed. The serum wore off faster than the last few had, which made sense; they didn’t replace sleep. They pushed me further, and the longer I kept going the worse the crash would be. I needed sleep.
There was only one problem: I wasn’t done with the questions yet. I’d barely answered seventy percent, and I wasn’t even certain those were all right.
The months with the Zerogs had helped me, to say the least, but so did the gains I made from my bond with Aureus.
While the bond with Aureus did not improve my physical strength much, my mental capabilities had been elevated. Bert’s tests indicated that I could process information much faster and that my memory had been optimized as well. Even now that Aureus was evolving, I could feel my mind working a little faster than it had a few days ago, and I recalled certain details better.
The evolution pushed Aureus’ mental prowess a lot more than the Beaster and the Zerogs had anticipated. There hadn’t been any physical enhancements granted from the ongoing evolution just yet, but I did not necessarily need those—not from Aureus, at least. A little bit more stamina, endurance, and dexterity during the exam would have been great, but I couldn’t have everything.
The time of my first food order closed in at sixteen hours much faster than I would have liked, and my desire for sleep threatened to consume me. I was so tired—the energizing serum stopped working entirely at some point—that I didn’t even notice when the walls around me flickered and dispersed. The holographic screens vanished, and the desk, chair, and toilet disappeared. The same overly polite woman from earlier greeted me.
“Your first test has been concluded. Please follow me silently so as to not bother the other retinues,” she said quickly, her voice as formal and emotionless as before.
Her words chased away my exhaustion temporarily, and I turned to see several barriers. There was no one else other than myself and the staff member.
“Your time has been extended,” the small woman said, pointing at the dozens of marks that were empty. No barriers. No retinues. Nobody.
I was certain most marks to my right had been filled with promising retinues, yet they were nowhere to be seen.
“Answering certain questions was rewarded with an extension of your remaining time,” she added, motioning to the elevator this time. “Now, if you would like to follow me.”
The test sounded… unfair, to say the least. However, looking back at the remaining barriers, I couldn’t help but feel happy. No more than a dozen retinues were left taking their tests. That meant I was one of the best—
“The test concluded for most participants after eight to ten hours,” she said calmly once I followed her to the elevator. The doors opened and we went inside, my mind a mess. However, I was no longer tired—for now, at least. “Does that mean I was—”
Again, she interrupted. “No, that does not mean you were better than them.” She scowled at me, which was the first real change of her expression. Clearly, she didn’t know what I actually wanted to say, but she continued. “It means you answered certain questions which resulted in an extension of your time, depending on the type of question as well as the answer you provided.”
A small screen materialized above her wrist as the elevator doors closed. The elevator moved, but my mind was too far away to bother with where we were going. She looked at the screen and raised an eyebrow at me before glancing back. “One question about Evolutions. Two about Serums. Another about the Beaster’s Way. And… six questions about the World Genesis Hypothesis… I was sure they removed those questions.”
The last part was no more than a murmur, but I heard her anyway.
She shook her head, and her poker face returned as the elevator doors opened again.
“The second test will commence shortly. You may sleep and prepare for the combat exam once all medical and non-medical examinations have been completed. Noncompliance with the doctors’ and researchers’ demands may or may not result in a score deduction,” the woman said, guiding me to a group of older men and women wearing white robes.
They greeted me with faint smiles and dark circles beneath their eyes, but while they appeared tired, their voices were full of vigor.
“Your name is Adam Savier?” one of the elder women asked, sounding way too excited for my taste. I didn’t even bother asking how she knew my name and nodded.
“Great! It has been a while since we examined one of your kind. I think it has been, like, twenty-five years for me. Or was it twenty-seven?” she marveled, while the others joined her.
“My first and last time was more than thirty years ago,” an old man sighed, his eyes too bright and vigorous compared to his frail-looking body.
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“Do I really have to—” I squirmed, trying—and failing—to hide behind the tiny woman, but she stepped aside and glared daggers at me. “Will you stay with me… please?”
There was a flicker of… something in her eyes, and I was half certain she would either punch me or turn away to leave me to those ancient hyenas, but she nodded slowly after what felt like an eternity.
“Fine. You’re the last of my group to complete the first test either way.”
Even though the staffer looked neutral and way too formal for her own good, she offered me a sense of safety. It wasn’t perfect, and I highly doubted she would actually protect me from the doctors and researchers, but it was better than nothing.
“We received Beaster Bert’s research data. Your Soulkin is a Wild beast, a mutant Soilback that advanced to 5-Star before an uncontained evolution was induced. Your medical records have been provided, as well as the records of your registration as a Blessed nearly six months ago. Since then, your World has… Well, we will have to confirm the provided information, and we will perform our own examinations to verify all existing changes, be they physical, mental, or based on your World.” A third woman, as curious as the rest, rattled on, her eyes moving from one screen to the next.
Just listening to them was already exhausting. My mind was a mess from the first exam, and now I was supposed to turn into a guinea pig? Great.
They’d better give me a full score for this shit!
***
I always thought Bert’s tests were already thorough. The Beaster had a touch for detail and helped me a lot, but the old researchers and doctors were clearly on another level. They were not necessarily better than Bert—rather, it was as if they were obsessed with me. I couldn’t quite tell how much time had passed until I was finally led to a small room with a bed, ready to succumb to the exhaustion that must have been torturing me for hours, but the process had been the equivalent of violent torture.
They started with my body. A researcher snapped a clamp across my wrist; another slapped a pad to my bare chest. A dozen ether devices chattered and hummed, and I could barely see the readers that rolled numbers across tiny holographic screens. A syringe hissed when it drew my blood, and I heard someone squeal in…was that excitement? Really now?
I was reminded of the past, only that this was a lot worse. Researchers as well as doctors rotated in a slow, hungry parade, each accompanied by multiple Soulkins that rustled and sniffed the air like curious hounds. Someone muttered into their wrist, another marked something when the numbers to my right spiked. I lost track of time in the blur of instruments, excited chatter, and bright lights.
Fragments of memories were all that remained, but I clearly recalled them finding out about my ether gates. They knew exactly how many gates I’d filled and refined, and how many I currently had access to. Two researchers argued over how many more gates would form once my Soulkin evolved; voices rose, then a shove. It didn’t take long and the discussion transformed into a full-blown fight.
The researchers were a mess in a way that was both scary and ridiculous. One leaned too long over my chest, his fingers cradling my skin in an attempt to feel the seams of my first ether gate, another located my World and…entered it. His fingers closed in on Aureus’ cocoon like a thief feeling for a lock. It was a Soulkin’s trait that allowed the researcher to interact with a Blessed’s World, and he made it seem like he wanted nothing more than to examine Aureus.
My fingers tightened when Aureus twitched, and I moved. The staff member, the small, formal woman, had had enough of the researcher as well and stepped between us in a single breath. She didn’t waste her breath with words; the look she shot at the researcher was enough to force the researcher into retreat. The staff member, whose name I still didn’t know, probably thought of me as a nuisance rather than a friend, but her help and presence were essential. She stepped in and stopped the researchers several times, looking more irritated each time she intervened.
Yet, even after all the trouble, the researcher remained happy. Their excitement dispelled all reasoning, which was both a curse and a blessing.
Apparently, they had never seen a Blessed like me. Some had examined constitutions resembling mine, others had seen Worlds almost as malleable as mine, yet nobody had seen both in one body.
Putting aside how inappropriate some things had been, my new friend assured me that she would issue an official complaint to the higher-ups. I was pushed to my limit and beyond. Since I wanted to show them the best of myself, I exhausted myself physically as well when it was time to test my body’s durability, stamina, strength, agility, and so forth. Unfortunately, nobody was truly interested in the results. All they cared about, when they examined my body, were the ether gates—how I handled the leak, and how much ether the gates required to be filled.
Each ether gate required more than the one before it, which was relatively normal, but it seemed the requirements of my ether gates were steeper than the norm. I gained more from them due to the amount of ether they contained; however, not everything was great. The researchers spoke a lot about my constitution, but they were even more interested in my World and how I had managed to grow it this much in no more than six months. My results were amazing, as far as I could tell, and that was great—but nobody would give me a straight answer when I asked if my scores were good enough to make it into the Camp.
Either they didn’t know, they weren’t allowed to answer, or they were uncertain what to make of the results of the second test.
Or… I was not good enough.
My mind was a mess, thanks to a mixture of exhaustion, mental fatigue, and a complete therapy session with an Expert and a massive, cruiser-sized beast made of wool. I nearly fell asleep right during the session—I probably did fall asleep—but the therapist was happy with me, so I was happy too. Although I was probably the happiest when everything was over.
I was not given the results of either of my exams, but I did give my best. Knowing that I couldn’t have done anything better, I fell asleep after my savior, the formal woman, dropped me off in my room.
“The combat exam will start Sunday at 10 a.m. sharp. Don’t be late, or you will be disqualified.” She spun on her heels and departed with those words.
Looking at the time displayed above the door frame, I noticed it was only six in the morning. That was 28 hours to rest and recover, which was more than enough. It had better be, because I was certain the combat exam was going to be tough.
I was still a Novice, after all.