Chapter 5

First Trial

Each group of the entrance examinees had now been allocated into their respective brackets according to their Levels. The devices confirming their Awakener identities had only revealed their Levels. An Awakener with a Soul Window could decide what information they wanted to reveal on any such device. So it became apparent to Bellamy that he would not display his Soul Window Status.

His Class was uncommon; he had never heard of anyone possessing a Class with the Soul element. Though, there were rare cases of people possessing Metal and Wood elements. And there was also word-of-mouth going around about powerful existences with Dark or Light attributes.

With his neck bulging, the head instructor raised his voice and began to explain the first trial.

The first trial would calculate one's ability to destroy solid objects. No equipment or potions were allowed, and participants had to change into facility clothing. These attires gave no raise to stats or attributes and were only to protect one's private parts. Both male, female, and non-binary participants now wore plain, white tank tops and comfortable sweatpants.

The sweatpants seemed to fit the participants well compared to a certain someone. Some of the participants swore that if the brawny head instructor bent down, his sweatpants would explode. There were now several instructors gathered in the testing grounds under the head instructor's command.

"Harley Stinson, please step forward and start the test."

The first one out in the Level 0 group was a human in his late teens. The unlicensed Hunters were now being evaluated by their ability to break several types of materials. The first material was a 3-centimeter thick wooden piece.

"Heavy blow!"

Crack!

Thump, thump.

Pieces of wood hit the floor and scattered across it.

"Phew, that was easy!"

The young man had gained confidence. However, the next material would not be as easy. It was tempered glass, though only half the thickness of the wooden piece.

Duuung.

A resonant vibration reverberated across the hall.

"Give me another go at it!"

The examining instructor allowed as much.

The young man's forehead now clearly carried drops of sweat.

Duung, duung, duuung.

"Alright, next up!" The examiner calculated the scores, analyzed the data on his handheld tablet, and shortly after, signified the next examinee to enter the testing area.

As the test went on, most examinees in the Level 0 group had managed to break the wooden piece but were unable to pass the tempered glass stage.

"Next, Kido Yamata, please step in."

A frail-looking boy stepped into the testing area. He wore glasses that were too big, and the examination clothes fit him loosely. As the wooden piece lay in front of him, pincered together by a sturdy metal clasp on each side, the boy entered his martial arts stance. Kido held a sunken posture with his knees slightly bent. Kido struck.

"Serpent Strike"

Crash!

The wooden piece blew up into tiny pieces, and the crowd grew astonished. Some of the Level 1 to 3 examinees next to the Level 0 group had noticed the situation. In their hearts, they had been ridiculing the young boy because of his small build.

A tiny, frail body can do this? they seemed to express.

"He will still fail the tempered glass obstacle," one of the spectators addressed.

This time, the young man stood two meters away from the new obstacle.

"Vibration Strikes!"

D-dung!

It was the sound of two strikes hitting the glass frame almost simultaneously. Bellamy was barely able to keep up with the dash movement. He had seen Kido connect with the frame leading with his elbow. Then Kido's elbow had reclined with a tight fist in the subsequent milliseconds and connected with the next blow. What surprised everyone was not because the tempered glass now had two visible streaks formed in its frame; it was because Kido was a Level 0 Dual Awakener.

"Wow!" "Amazing!" and speechless silence could be heard or seen on the entire floor among the examinees. Even the instructors were in a daze.

"You're a rare talent, young man," the Level 0 group instructor praised and glanced at his tablet. "You have the highest score so far in your bracket. 275 out of 333 points. It's a shame you couldn't completely shatter the glass as it would have given you additional points and allowed you to attempt the third bonus material. Do you want to give it another go?"

"No, thanks. I'll leave it at that," the young boy beamed, with sweat pearls forming on his temples.

Bellamy, having close to zero competitive sense, was slightly tensed up. He kept observing Kido, who had finally sat down among his peers, still being praised and patted on his back. Would Bellamy need to reveal some of his trump cards in order to beat Kido's score? Maybe a wise choice would be to secure the minimum score to enter the Hunter Institution? He needed 500 points at least.

"Final Level 0 examinee, Bellamy Aarick, please get ready."

Alright. The first obstacle should not be an issue, Bellamy assumed. His base Strength and Agility, respectively, were 15 and 11. However, he had other means of overcoming his mediocre attributes. The wooden piece was now the center of his attention.

"Precision Stab Lv1"

Bellamy took a step back and trusted his right hand forward like a spear.

[Critical hit!]

[You have found a weak point in the target.]

[The target has taken 180 critical damage!]

[The target has been penetrated.]

Soul Window notifications had abruptly risen.

So the Soul Window works on inanimate objects as well?

Bellamy had grasped a new detail regarding the Soul Window while his right hand was still visibly sticking out on the other side wooden plate. He now had the attention of all the Level 0 examinees.

The floor was cleared of wooden debris, and Bellamy readied himself for the tempered glass material. He formed a plan, possibly, detrimental to his well-being.

This will hurt, Bellamy presumed and gulped.

Duung!

To everyone's surprise, Bellamy had leaped forward and headbutted the tempered glass.

[You have lost 121 Health points.]

[Pinnacle of Retribution has been activated.]

[All physical attacks are increased by +100%; all elemental attacks are increased by +75%, and defense and elemental defense are increased by +50% for 30 seconds. Cooldown: 10 minutes.]

Bellamy had gotten a concussion but focused on his cognitive function to the best of his ability. Almost in a daze, Bellamy ran back a short distance and cast Gale Lv1.

Medium-sized breaths burst out of Bellamy's palm. The breaths crashed into the glass and dispersed in all directions.

[The target has taken 20 damage.]

[The target has taken 18 damage.]

[The target has taken 20 damage.]

[The target has...]

The notifications of minor damage values kept displaying for a couple of seconds.

[The target has...]

[The target has been Sapped.]

[Abnormal condition, Sapped, reduces target's Attack and Defense by 60% and Stamina by 30% for 10 seconds.]

This is it.

"Wind Sprint Lv1"

He circled around.

"Precision Stab Lv1"

Crack!

[The target has taken 144 damage.]

A long diagonal fracturing crack was made visible on the tempered glass frame. Everyone tensed up as Bellamy turned, ran back, and dashed again.

[The target has taken 138 damage.]

And again.

[The target has taken 150 damage.]

Cracks upon cracks formed.

[The target has been shattered.]

The tempered glass finally yielded and shattered into hundreds of tiny bits.

The whole assembly of Level 0 to Level 10 examinees gaped with their mouths wide open. Though each difficulty had been adjusted slightly, no one except Kido and a few others had made a small gash on the tempered glass. And Bellamy had utterly smashed it into pieces!

"Next obstacle, please," Bellamy reminded the Level 0 group instructor.

Bellamy was on a timer. There were only 20 seconds left of Pinnacle of Retribution. The bewildered instructor soon realized that his mouth was also gaping in astonishment. After collecting himself, the instructor nodded, and the last material rose from the gap in the ground.

A metal plating?!

"Rumors were right! It's the element-infused iron plating!" a human participant shouted in excitement.

"Huh?"

"What?!"

"What do you mean by that?" Several other examinees questioned with great anticipation.

"This iron plating is infused with a Cold Elemental Lv1 coating," the instructor tensely informed while kneading his previously gaping jaws, "this stage isn't really meant to be cleared, but we will still measure Mr. Aarick's attack potency nonetheless. The iron coating is adjusted to a two-centimeter thickness, so it's slightly thicker than the tempered glass."

System, show me the primary advanced elements and their elemental advantages, Bellamy requested.

[The primary advanced elements are Poison, Lightning, Cold, and Ether.]

[Primary advanced elements have +100% elemental advantage against each other within the same elemental ranking.]

[The advantages are Ether ---> Cold ---> Lightning --> Poison ---> Ether]

"What is the advantage of Air Element Lv1 against Cold Element Lv1?"

[Air is a primary basic element, while Cold is a primary advanced element. The benefit is halved to +50% elemental advantage because of the elemental ranking disparity.]

Great.

Bellamy's flicker of hope was reignited after learning that Gale Lv1 would still be useful against the Cold-infused iron plating. Precision Stab Lv1 had been used 4 times until now. He had also activated Wind sprint Lv1 and Gale Lv1, so he had about half of his Mana points left.

[Judgment has been activated.]

[All Attacks are increased by +50%; Strength and Stamina increase by +20 for 20 seconds. Cooldown: 3 hours.]

There were 15 seconds left of Pinnacle of Retribution that now would stack with Judgment. With the additional +20 to Strength, his total Strength attribute had more than doubled. He was no longer an average human in terms of physical power. Bellamy's lips curled slightly, forming an unnoticeable smirk. He had no time to waste and got back into casting distance.

"Gale Lv1!"

Streams of wind once again shot out from his palm.

[The target has taken 42 damage.]

[The target has taken 39 damage.]

[The target has taken 39 damage.]

[The target has...]

[The target has...]

However, Sapped had not triggered.

Bellamy then got a notification that Wind Sprint was off its Cooldown, "Wind Sprint Lv1! Gale Lv1!"

Damage notifications again surfaced on the black window, this time including an abnormal condition.

[The target has taken 46 damage.]

[The target has taken 45 damage.]

[The target has taken 49 damage.]

[The target has...]

[The target has...]

[The target has been Sapped.]

[Abnormal condition, Sapped, reduces target's Attack and Defense by 60% and Stamina by 30% for 10 seconds.]

With Wind Sprint Lv1 still activated, Bellamy sprang into melee range and activated Precision Stab Lv1 consecutively, nearly draining the remainder of his Mana pool.

[You have dealt 258 damage to the target.]

[You have dealt 266 damage to the target.]

[Critical hit!]

[You have found a weak point in the target.]

[You have dealt 789 critical damage to the target!]

[The target has been penetrated.]

Eyes started popping out of everyone's sockets.