[Let’s cause some chaos!]
Cynrik and Brance simultaneously released their Killing Intent at 2g, the combined radius reaching a total of 30 meters to the edge of the stage, instantly dropping more than 75% of the crowd onto their knees. The head of every single Observer snapped in the direction of Cynrik and Brance, who were radiating waves of green and red Mana particles.
Above, Saylin’s hologram let out an annoyed sigh, but he was able to hold himself back from commenting on the two brat’s actions. He had a feeling when he saw them in the courtyard in the first place that they would cause some kind of commotion, and these thoughts were proven true.
Saylin, and the Observers, quickly noticed the ambient Mana particles swarming around the two boys’ lower bodies and focused on the soles of their feet.
Then, without warning, Cynrik bent his knees slightly, kicked off the ground, and blasted off in a surge of flames, launching himself several meters into the sky while dragging Benny by the back of his neck. Then, using his right hand, which was balled into a fist, Cynrik punched out towards the ground below and activated [Continual Flames], correcting his flight slightly.
After Cynrik rocketed into the air, Brance used his Wind Affinity to disperse the left behind fire and launched himself into the air, with Gabby smiling widely in his arms.
Cynrik twirled in the air, completed a triple front flip, and released Benny, who performed his own aerial acrobatics, while Brance silently carried Gabby through the air. Then, with all eyes on them, Cynrik, Brance, and Benny all landed in perfect synchronization on one knee, completing their flashy entrance and superhero landings.
Wanting to continue his act, Cynrik stood up first and motioned with his left hand for the others to go to their respective testing machines.
Seeing their pseudo-leader had givin an order, Benny, Brance, and the no longer in a princess carry, Gabby, nodded and vanished from their landing zones, appearing in front of three of the four available machines.
Tilting his head to the side and looking at the eight Observers, who were absolutely floored by his actions, Cynrik chuckled internally and whistled to get their attention.
The eight adults instantly snapped out of their stupor, ran up to their respective machines, keyed in the activation code, and gave the OK to begin the test.
Seeing how obedient these Observers acted caused Cynrik to nod approvingly and walk up to the only available machine. Then, tossing one last glance at his group, Cynrik reached out and placed both his hands on the device that reminded him of the healing machine you’d see a particular pink-haired Nurse placing balls on, the only difference being the massive screens of the tower-like device. It was so similar that when he put his palms on its cool surface, he half expected the familiar jingle to play.
-Ding, Ding, Ding-a-Ling.-
Tobs, of course, took this moment to do EXACTLY that and played the nostalgic 8-bit sound-byte, making Cynrik and Brance both tense up slightly.
[Fuck, cmon Tobs, don’t do that kinda crap, you nearly made me shit myself.] Cynrik started complaining, but just as he did, the monitor directly in front of his face and the two the Observers were watching flashed with green and golden light.
On either side of both Cynrik and Brance, the four Observers collectively sucked in a sharp breath as they read through the modified Stat profiles on screen.
Tobs had taken the initiative to hide certain aspects of their profiles from the sensitive machine, such as their Sub-Class, Distribution, and Demi-Human status, making it appear that they were humans with triple stat Distributions. She had even added Ragnarsson to their nicknames and highlighted them to signify the brothers were using them as their names. Unfortunately, this slight modification had unknowingly cost the brothers each seven Skill Points, but when they noticed, neither cared.
The Observers saw all the stats in their entirety, though, and each one had a different reaction. Of course, it wasn’t every day you saw two kids under the age of 14, with 140 in every stat, plus the horrifying level of Killing Intent the two earned, exceeded what some of the Observers had. But the thing that truly had some of them sweating bullets was that both of these two children had three different Affinities, one of which was actually SAG.
While the four were nervously scanning through Cynrik and Brance’s stats, Gabby and Benny’s machines lit up green, so they obediently removed their hands and walked over to stand behind Cynrik and Brance.
None of the Observers were stupid; from top to bottom, what they had read was extraordinary, and the four even collectively agreed to call the two boys by their nicknames since they were clearly using them in place of their given names for some reason. They quickly collected themselves, stepped away from the machines, and huddled together for a short discussion.
Meanwhile, Cynrik, Brance, Gabby, and Benny stood silently off to the side and watched as the other four Observers joined in on the discussion.
[Welp, gotta thank you for that silent backup, Tobs, it completely slipped my mind to alter our profiles. Also, nice touch on the surnames, hehe.]
-The safety of my Hosts is one of my prime directives.-
Cynrik could almost imagine Tobs bowing politely as she spoke. This thought was transmitted to Brance, causing the two brothers to share a short chuckle.
After around five minutes of conversation, the eight Observers broke their huddle and lined up in front of the children. One of them, A man in his late 40s with jet black hair, wearing a pristine military uniform, stepped forward and addressed the four kids.
“Benjamin and Gabriella Sanford, step forward and receive your token for succeeding in passing the Physical Exam.”
Benny and Gabby looked at Cynrik for confirmation, and after receiving a short nod from him, the two stepped forward and held out their Watcets to the man. The lead Observer snapped his fingers, and two small devices resembling micro-USB dongles appeared in his hands, and he inserted them into both Gabby and Benny’s Watcets before motioning at them to step aside.
“Ivar and Björn Ragnarsson ssstep forrward.” Unlike when he called out Gabby and Benny, his voice wavered, causing him to stutter as he spoke.
This didn’t escape Cynriks acute senses, and he smirked under his hood before walking forward and getting in the man’s face. However, before he could speak, Brance grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back a couple of steps.
[Tone it down, Cynrik, we aren’t trying to bully them for no reason. The poor guy is clearly nervous; just let him be.]
[Kill joy, cmon, he’s clearly scared of us. This is the perfect time to show off and earn some clout.]
[That isn’t our goal here. Just stop being an ass.]
[Tsk, Everyyy party needs a pooper..]
[SHUT IT! He’s talking.]
The man had already spoken a couple of sentences, but the brothers had accidentally ignored him. Brance was the first to catch on, and he dragged Cynrik’s attention back into focus.
“You two have both successfully passed the Physical Exam, not only that, but we, the Observers of Stage 12, have decided collectively to award you the Elite Token. Each Observer only receives one of these during the entire exam process, and we have decided to give you both one, furthermore….”
When the man was about to continue his speech, Cynrik raised his hand, cutting off the man.
“What perks do the Elite token give?”
“Huh, uh, yes, the Elite token allows you unrestricted access to whichever of the over 100 Egresses you wish to enter for your Practical Exam.”
“When you say unrestricted, how unrestricted are we talking?”
Brance wanted to slap his brother in the back of the head when hearing him ask a dumb question.
“What do you mean, Applicant Ivar?” A second Observer chimed in from behind the Leader, a pretty, pink-haired young woman who appeared to be in her early 20’s.
“Hmm, like when you say unrestricted, does that simply mean we can just choose whichever Egress we want, or does that mean we could potentially enter all of them, cause if it’s the second option, gimmie.”
SMACK
This time Brance didn’t hold back and smacked Cynrik as hard as he could in the back of the head, nearly knocking the older boy off his feet.
[FUCKING HELL BRANCE! WHAT WAS THAT FOR? YOU NEARLY CAVED IN THE BACK OF MY SKULL!]
[Stop being a moron.] Shooting a glare at Cynrik, Brance stepped forward and spoke directly to the Lead Observer.
“What my older brother is asking; is if we somehow finish clearing our first choice of Egress early, are we allowed to enter a second one, Sir.”
“Oh, that. We haven’t announced it yet, but technically, the Practical Exam will last for five days. In that time, the goal is for Applicants to complete an Egress Dive. In theory, if you can do so with time to spare, I suppose it would be possible to enter a second Egress for more experience. However, you would be forcefully kicked out of it when the allotted time for the exam is complete.” The Lead Observer scratched the back of his head nervously. In truth, he wasn’t entirely sure if his words were valid. No Applicant, even those who earned Elite tokens in the past, had tried entering a second Egress after finishing their exam.
“I see; thank you very much, Sir.” Then, bowing politely to the Lead Observer and the team behind him, Brance thanked the man for the information.
“Uh, yeah, no problem. I need both of you to show me your Watcets so that I can install the Elite token into them, and then follow me to the meeting zone where you can wait for the Practical Exam to begin.”
In the sky above, Saylin’s hologram was watching with a stern expression. Off to his left, he had a monitor showing him the full report on Cynrik’s group’s stats.
‘It looks like these two little monsters have gotten even stronger. Ivar The Boneless and Björn Ironside…strange nicknames. At least they were smart enough to use an alias; they seem to be aware of the consequences of using their real last names during the exam. I’m sure that old coot Lithlen has been waiting for them to show up so he could deal with them.’ Saylin thought to himself.
Casting one last glance toward Cynrik and Brance, he turned off his hologram and got up from his observation chair. ‘But was it really necessary to be so damn flashy? If I see that runt Cynrik again, I will quite enjoy smacking that massive head of his.’