The Last Dainv

Chapter 278

Erin lifted her hand off the rock, and the deep blue ice immediately began to recede. The frost that had formed on the rock crackled as it fell off and melted. Within seconds, the rock returned back to its original void-black colour as if nothing had happened.

"Mr. Yang," Esther called out.

"Right. Sorry about that." The bald man snapped out of his trance, rubbing his eyes. Looking down at his tablet, he swiped the screen to scroll all the way down. "According to the readings, she registers as Mid-Mystic. Very close to the Arcane threshold, actually. I could have sworn her signature felt higher..."

Erin said nothing. Though Gale already knew that she had deliberately weakened her signature. He didn't even know that was possible. That would make so many things in the future so much more convenient.

"Her aptitude is classified as 'Absence of Heat,'" Mr. Yang continued. "Colloquially known as coldness or ice affinity. A rare aptitude, but well-documented in Aurian archives. That's enough for registration purposes. The official credentials will be sent to Lady Ann within two business days as Ms. Erin apparently doesn't have an e-mail. However, Lady Ann, a field test is still required for Ms. Weber to qualify for solo rift runs as a Mystic."

"That is enough," Esther said. "She won't be doing solo runs regardless. She's here purely for research purposes."

"Research my butt..." Rachel mumbled.

"Understood." Mr. Yang made a note on his tablet. "And the young man?"

All eyes turned to Gale.

Mr. Yang pulled up something on his tablet and studied it for a moment. His eyebrows rose slightly.

"His test is a bit different," Mr. Yang said. "There's a special request registered by the United Knights for his evaluation. He requires three tests instead of the standard physical."

"Three?" Rachel asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes. First, the Aptitude test. Same as what Ms. Erin just completed. Second, a Physical test to measure his physical output. Third, a combat stress test augmented for demonic extraction."

"Demonic extraction?" Gale asked, not entirely sure what that was. The Twins did say demons were also classified as ghosts, and he completely trusted them on that. No demon or ghost or whatever had ever touched him.

"It's a specialized evaluation," Mr. Yang said. "Procedure for individuals flagged for possible occult use standardized after the 60s mass occult usage."

"What does that even mean?" Gale asked. "Kyle said demons are ghosts. I'm not a ghost. I'm not a ghost, right, Rachel!?"

"You are not, calm down," Rachel sighed. "Kyle really needs to shut up."

Mr. Yang chuckled slightly. "No, no. Nothing like that. You'll simply spar for a couple of minutes while runic extraction arrays monitor your condition. The arrays will check to see if there are any... entities residing inside you."

"Like a ghost possession?"

"If you want to call it that, yes."

Gale turned to Rachel, puppy eyed. "Rachel. Do it. Burn the ghost away out of me."

"Gale," Rachel shook her head, sighing. "You're not a ghost or possessed. Don't listen to the twins!"

"But they might be right..." Who knows if Witch Nyx made a ghost follow him or even possess him? He was never really entirely sure whether she was on their side or not with her weird creepy laughing whenever she rubbed Erebus.

"No they aren't!"

Rachel put her hand on either side of his shoulder, squeezing softly. "No ghosts will get you. I'm right here. Right?"

Gale nodded.

"You can do your test safely."

Right. Rachel was here. The light of the city that can burn the only weakness of the dark hunter. Gale slowly nodded.

"Alright. We'll start with aptitude test." Mr. Yang nodded toward the black rock. "Please touch the flat part of the boulder. The aptitude test is ready to begin."

Approaching the rock, up close and personal, it looked bigger when he was directly in front of it. The black surface emanated a distinct signature, not resembling any of the stages he recognized. It was an object that emanated etheric pulses as if it was in a constant state of activating a spell.

He placed his palm on the smooth section where Erin had touched it.

The rock changed.

Instead of the deep blue frost that had formed on the rock from Erin's touch, a familiar darkness seeped out from the rock that reminded him of the misty darkness that nipped at the light. The same one from the Dainv ship under the stone tower of the Eclipsed.

Before, even though the stone was the darkest material he'd ever seen, its rough surfaces still cast some shadows along its edges. However, the shadows were devoured by the darkness.

New types of shadows emerged. A tendril crept out from the rock that cast itself as a shadow onto the floor. It stretched outward, expanding across the rough stone floor surface of the gym. Shapes appeared on the rock's surface. Geometric patterns that were mostly rhomboid patterns, fractals that made his eyes hurt from looking, and shapes that felt like they shouldn't be allowed to exist.

Yet what was most curious about these patterns was that Gale knew it was a darkness that should've blended in with the darkness of the rock. Somehow, he was still able to see them as clear as day. They were both invisible and visible to him.

The gym rumbled.

And then came the whispers. Inaudible but audible. Illegible yet screaming at all of them to sacrifice themselves for extraction.

[Warning]

[Presence Between Integration: 65%]

"LET GO!"

Mr. Yang's face twisted into a flurry of rage. His eyes, wide. Pupils dilated, and mouth contorted to a drooling mess.

"LET YOUR HAND GO! NOW!"

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Before Gale could react, Mr. Yang lunged forward and yanked his hand off the rock.

Gale jerked himself backward instinctively toward Rachel, placing himself behind her and Mr. Yang.

The whispers stopped.

The shadows retreated.

The patterns dissipated.

For a couple of seconds, no one talked; however, Gale noticed a slight smile on Esther's face. Rachel, on the other hand, took a more conflicted expression, seemingly confused at what had just happened.

"Why did I..." Mr. Yang looked at his own hand. "Why did I do that?"

He shook his head, then looked down at his tablet. The screen displayed readings from the aptitude test.

"The measurement is complete," Mr. Yang said, smiling. His voice had lost its professional warmth. "According to the data, the subject registers as between Early to Mid-Attuned."

That sounded about right. Probably.

Gale actually couldn't tell other than the status screen telling him his core class was Attuned. It was also a problem since he could probably take on Resonants now with his strength and skills.

Mr. Yang's eyes turned to the bottom of his tablet. This time, he showed more confusion and looked to be in deep thought.

"The aptitude reading is... strange," he mumbled. "This must be an error. The equipment must have malfunctioned after Ms. Erin's test. The affinity doesn't matter too much anyways."

"What do you see?" Esther asked calmly.

Mr. Yang hesitated before speaking. Slowly, he turned the tablet around so everyone could see what the reading said.

The Blind Seeks Prey [Mid-Attuned]

Rachel side eyed her grandmother. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Esther smiled slightly, although still mostly neutral. "The rock might have malfunctioned after Ms. Erin's test. Her etheric output was quite substantial."

"There's no way." Rachel crossed her arms. "That rock's been in service for over a century. It's measured thousands of Aurians. Mystics, Arcanes, even Transcendents have touched it. It doesn't just break."

"Things break over time, Rachel. Even century-old artifacts have their limits." Esther turned to Mr. Yang with a pleasant smile. "Shall we move on to the next test?"

"Right. Yes. The physical test." Mr. Yang nodded. "This way, please."

The group followed him along the length of the equipment. Cables and compartments lined the machine's frame, each one designed for something that Gale couldn't tell. There were at least 8 different compartments.

The final compartment was larger than the others. A reinforced glass chamber about the size of a small closet. Inside, bolted to the floor, was a thick metal lever. It looked like something that belonged in a factory, not a testing facility. For some reason, he expected something more... technological. But he could already guess what this test's contents were.

"This is the physical output station," Mr. Yang explained, tapping at his tablet to pull up the relevant settings. "The subject enters the chamber, grips the lever, and pulls. The machine measures the force exerted and converts it to a standardized metric."

He gestured toward the chamber.

"The lever is connected to a hydraulic resistance system calibrated to withstand forces up to fifteen thousand pounds. That's the theoretical maximum set by a pure physical combat-type Resonant." Mr. Yang glanced at Gale with a professional smile. "I don't expect you to reach anywhere near that threshold. Most Attuned register between two to four thousand pounds. Just pull as hard as you comfortably can."

Fifteen thousand pounds.

Gale had no idea how heavy that actually was. How many cars is that? How many stones is that? Completely blanking out what that number even meant.

The announcer back in the Memory Hivestore said the Red Harbinger and the Blue Storm cloud were around 40 tonnes. He tried punching them, and they were heavy.

But how much was a ton for a pound?

Well whatever. It didn't matter too much. If there was one thing he was proud of, it was his strength.

"Go ahead," Mr. Yang said, waving him in. "Step inside and grip the lever whenever you're ready."

Gale entered the chamber, feeling a few etheric pulses prodding his body. The reinforced glass walls surrounded him on three sides, the door closing behind him softly. The lever stood in the centre.

Time to rip this lever out of its cage.

He wrapped his fingers around the handle. The metal handle was giving him a stare as if challenging him.

I accept, stupid handle.

"Alright," Mr. Yang's voice came through a speaker in the chamber. "Pull with all your might. The machine will handle the rest."

Gale had never really gone full out with his strength before. Mom also told him to never use his full strength on anyone. Even that kid that got hit by him was supposed to be just a soft tap.

But now... it was time for the dark hunter to shine.

PULL.

At first, he applied only a fraction of his strength. The lever shifted slightly, and a beeping noise started from somewhere all around him.

The current rate of the beep was at 1 beep per second.

Increasing his strength, the beep interval halved. Again, he increased his effort it halved again. He repeated this until the beep turned into a solid beeping noise.

A deranged smile appeared on his face. He'd never had to use his full strength before, apart from the fight with blue cloudbreaker. Once again, he pulled even stronger. Cracks started appearing on the metal floor as it bent inward.

"STOP!" Mr. Yang's voice burst through the speaker. "Stop pulling! Stop!"

Gale stopped, releasing the lever immediately. The lever stayed in its bent position, slightly above from where it originally was.

"Why do you keep telling me to stop?" Gale asked, genuinely confused. First the aptitude rock, now this. "I wasn't even trying that hard."

Mr. Yang cleared his throat. He looked down at his tablet, then at the machine, then back at his tablet.

"You were breaking the equipment," he said.

"So... I passed?"

"You don't need to complete the rest of the physical evaluation." Mr. Yang typed something into his tablet in a bunch of rapid movements like he was annoyed. "Your output is sufficient to skip the remaining sections."

Gale stepped out of the chamber, chest puffing out slightly. If he'd been given more time, he could have ripped that lever clean off the floor. Bolts and all. The machine was lucky Mr. Yang stopped him when he did.

Stupid lever. It was lucky this time. Had he been given 3 more seconds, it would've died.

Rachel waited for him with her hand up. "High five. Good job."

Gale high fived her, careful to control his strength. The rush of adrenaline still lingered in his system.

"Hehe, thanks," he said, unable to stop himself from smiling. Being praised is always something to be happy about. Maybe she'll give him a bueno later.

Behind Rachel, Esther watched the exchange with that same slight smile she'd worn since the aptitude test. Erin remained impassive beside her, just her usual completely neutral expression.

"And that leaves us with the last test, a combat stress test," Mr. Yang said, pointing at the arena. "The arena is already set up with runic extraction arrays embedded in the floor. The last test is a simple spar. I'll be your opponent. If there are any demonic entities residing within you or should you show occult based traits of power, the combination of combat stress and the runic arrays will identify it. We can decide what to do from there."

"Decide to do what?"

"It depends if whatever is inside you can be extracted. If it can, it will be extracted forcefully. If it cannot, then you will be eliminated. Simple as that."

Gale frowned at that line. Eliminate him, he said? If he tried anything funny, he could probably run away from this place and live alone in the wilderness for a while. Problem was Esther. He didn't know her capabilities.

"What the hell does that mean?!" Rachel shouted. "Gale is not possessed. Why would they even request this bullshit?!"

"Calm down, Young Lady Ann. If Gale has nothing inside him, this should be a simple test."

"That's what they all say..."

"Rachel, I assure you, there will be no harm to Gale here. We both know he has nothing," Esther said.

"That's not the point. The point is them suspecting Gale and just abusing their authority," Rachel said.

"Oh, I do agree with that sentiment. Which is why if this accusation was false, Gale will receive compensation." Esther smiled at Mr. Yang, who replied with a forced smile.

"Fine..." Rachel said, turning to Gale. "You'll be fine, ok? And if anything happens..."

"I know," Gale said. She was telling him to escape with his life if that were the case.

Turning to Mr. Yang, they walked toward the centre of the arena.

Mr. Yang stepped onto the stone platform first, taking position at the centre. The runic arrays carved into the floor began to glow faintly as he activated them with a casual wave of his hand.

As Gale was about to step onto the arena, the double stone doors where they came from rumbled and opened.

Everyone turned.

A man entered the space. Dirty blond hair styled in a clean, messy look. Square glasses framing soft but sharp features. A black blazer over a white button-up shirt and straight black dress pants.

If he had a tie, he would've looked like someone from the Path. The Twins and Ollie always wore suits. But this guy's suit looked more casual.

"Why, if it isn't William Elisworth. What seems to be the matter?" Mr. Yang asked.

"Mr. Yang," William said. "I'll be taking over the combat stress test for this feral."

Rachel's face contorted with anger. Esther yawned while Erin stayed still, floating.

But for this man to call him a feral, maybe he's not that bad of a guy. He'd take a compliment any time of the day.