Chapter 95 - The Tests

Nerun was led to another area where there were three examiners. They were all dressed in the typical navy blue dress of the army, with a teacher vest on top, and some lapels on their shoulders that showed they were faculty of the Royal Military School.

Two of them were middle aged men, and the other one was an old-looking man with grey hair and a kind countenance. Nerun greeted them politely, neither humble nor arrogant. He had not grown accustomed to the ways of the noble, but being polite was something that sister Maya taught him in the orphanage. That, and the change of clothes provided by Elijah made Nerun actually look like a very handsome and polite young master, so the impression he caused on the men was actually quite good. However, they had their orders, and could not go against them.

In order for someone to become the seed of the Super Soldier, a candidate would have to be a member of the school and show loyalty towards the Kingdom and participate in a grueling and difficult competition against his peers. Of course, the latter could not be done, since Nerun had only arrived at Eonia recently, but, since this was a personal recommendation from two Dragon Generals, this was overlooked.

But the next part was something that all had to go through. It was four tests made to examine the overall competence of the candidates, and it examined their foundation, their combat strength, and overall power. It also determined their weaknesses, their strengths and clearly determined what level a person was.

This was a true test of a person's characteristics.

When the three examiners started to evaluate Nerun they were a bit disconcerted. The fact that he was brother of a Dragon General was unbeknownst to them, since most applicants origins were obscured so the examiners had no bias whatsoever. This was a rule made by the King himself, so they could do the examination with no pressure. That did not mean that there were no ways to tweak the rules a bit. Cynthia had precisely done so, not by telling them to fail Nerun outright, but by increasing the difficulty of the test so that she could fail him as quickly as possible, and she could then send him off.

Actually this could not entirely be considered cheating. Since any candidate was usually tested by facing several enemies that were above their paygrade, a Super Soldier had to show that he was able to face several enemies on the same level, and even enemies above them. So a Qi Grandmaster would have to face several Grandmaster level opponents, and even Praetorians. A Praetorian likewise had to face several high level warriors in the same level, and even fight a Centurion. Of course he did not have to beat a Centurion, but it was to address how well he would perform in such a situation.

The first test was a quite simple one, a test of age and foundation. They used a Foundation stone. This was a black spire, inscribed with numerous runes, that allowed the flow of both Qi and Mana through them. It also sent some of the Natural Energy of Heaven and Earth into the candidate, and allowed for an accurate measurement of the power level of the candidates. The same spiral also measured the bone age from the participant, which was something that could not be changed.

As Nerun approached the Spire, it would be a lie to say that he was not the least bit nervous. His brother had told him that he needed to give it his all. He needed to showcase his talent for all to see. Ansem was a strictly meritocratic kingdom, and if he wanted more resources invested in him he needed to prove himself for all to see. Right now was not the time to be low-key.

Nerun touched the spire and sent both his energies into it. As Nerun did so the spire started to change. Cosmic lights started to be seen on it, and what looked like a nebula of fire appeared inside of it. The lights started to rotate, and incredibly, it was in the shape of the Ying Yang, the same shape that the circulation of energies inside Nerun had achieved several years ago. However this shape seemed to only appear for a fraction of a second before vanishing.

Then a stream of data could be read above. The examiners were a bit flabbergasted by the results, since nothing like this had ever happened before. Then they looked at the numbers and did not know what to make of it.

- Age: 12 years and 3 months.

- Bone density: Immaculate

- Qi Level: Grandmaster rank 12, 2 Core meridians open, Ignis Core

- Mana Level: Great Manad Adept rank 12, 2 Heavenly gates open, πυρ - /pyr/ Heavenly Gate

- Qi purity: Extreme - Crystal

- Mana purity: Extreme - Crystal

- 9 Auxiliary Meridians opened

"This…". The main examiner pupils dilated for a bit, but quickly returned to normal, before frowning. "Boy, are you a Qi Grandmaster or a Great Mana Adept. Besides, how is it that your energy levels are so low, yet you still managed to open 2 Core Meridians and 2 Heavenly Gates, and even 9 auxiliary meridians. This would be something to celebrate, yet have you not heard that it's foolish to train in both systems? Besides, your energy levels make it so you are neither good enough as a Warrior nor an Adept, and your foundations might seem to be lacking."

Even though the tone of the examiner was a bit harsh, Nerun could tell that the man was sincerely worried about his future, and was giving sincere advice. He simply wanted Nerun to see the error of his ways soon so that he could then go onto the correct path. Actually, the examiners would have loved if Nerun had been a Great Mana Adept, since they were quite scarce in the Kingdom and he was quite young. So these results seemed like a waste of potential. Also, it was true that a 12 year old Grandmaster level expert was actually quite good, but in the grand sects, families and such, it was not that impressive. There were many that were already praetorians at that age, and in some places, there were true monsters that were already bordering on the level of a Centurion with 13 years of age.

"Thank you so much Senior for your kind advice, but I can assure you that my foundation is quite sturdy. You can see that the purity of my energies are quite high, and they both have been trained by me without relying on any mysterious resources or natural wonders. My rank is truly that of a Grandmaster." said Nerun politely.

Actually Nerun was not completely right. His bones and muscles had been mended by several drops of Millenial Stone Milk before and that grand amount of energy was stored in his body and nourishing it little by little. Even though his energy training could be considered a bit on the low side, his level was rising steadily and without a hitch, not only because of the properties of the modified Free Flowing Fist, but also because of this wonder that had deeply ingrained inside his body. Many other young experts around the continent used heavenly wonders to train as well, once that protected their foundation, and had no repercussions whatsoever. Every expert born in the world, was a product of talent, diligence, money and companions.

Talent was a given. If a person was talented, he could more easily perform feats that others would take a lot more time to accomplish. However, talent without diligence, perseverance and hard work was also nothing, but wasted potential. A person could be both diligent and talented, but if he had no proper resources to grow, then he would eventually find stagnation. This was the main problem for the children of the Orphanage. And Companion referred to friends, lovers, and of course Masters and Teachers. These four were quite important, and none could be lacking.

The other examiners also noticed the truth of Nerun's words, and did not really know how to evaluate him. They were supposed to give him a hard test, however his level could not be easily measured. It would seem that his foundation and power was lacking even with the apparent rank of a Qi Grandmaster / Great Mana Adept. In the end, they decided to try him with this rank as the base, however they would amp the difficulty to the maximum allowed for a Grandmaster, bordering on the test for a Praetorian.

The second test was a test of might. One of the examiners waved his hand and a gigantic drum up to 5 meters tall appeared. It had intricate patterns drawn on its borders, and the center of the drum seemed to have quite fine scales on it.

"Hit this drum with all of your power. Do not hold back, since this will be your only chance. You need to use your all, so that we can see as a Grandmaster what is the maximum power that you can use. We will also check for your energy usage through this. You will hit the drum twice. One time without any technique whatsoever, and the other with the most powerful technique you can think of." said one of the examiners who was a middle aged man, with a scar on his brow.

The test was quite simple. Nerun needed to attack the Drum with all his strength. Actually many warriors were not able to properly use their strength. There were also differences, given by the number of auxiliary meridians, the use of a technique or not, and so much more.

Nerun calmed himself down, and then started to breathe steadily. He then raised his hands and slowly did the first two movement of the Third Form of the Free Flowing Fist, as he did the first two movements, the examiners could not help but notice the smoothness of Nerun's movements and it was clear that he had practiced these moves over and over, until he had made them a part of himself, and they could see the diligence in the boy's training, which made them see him with a better light. As Nerun changed to the third movement, his speed suddenly skyrocketed and he got right next to the drum like a ghost as he launched a palm.

- BAAAM -

The drum resounded throughout the room, as the vibration caused by it seemed to want to cause a small quake. The pupils of the three examiners constricted. The might of the attack was not even on the level of a Grandmaster. It was already bordering on the level of a Praetorian almost. And that was a regular attack, it was evident that Nerun could continue doing such attacks on a continuous basis. However, their shock was far from over.

As Nerun finished the attack, he extended his arms to both sides and started to move them in a spiral in a counter-clock way. The main examiner's eyes then thought that for a moment he could see the Natural Energy of Heaven and Earth bending into Nerun's hands and then converging into a point in Nerun's hands.

Qi Revolution was not a simple Qi technique anymore. After these 6 years of painstaking cultivation, Nerun's energies were well balanced, and Qi Revolution's might had increased not only because Nerun's Qi had raised, but because this technique also mobilized Mana, which further helped the Natural Energy of Heaven and Earth to condense. This was the reason why the examiner could actually somehow manage to see the flow of energy with his naked eyes. So the name Qi Revolution was not a proper name for it anymore. So Nerun changed it to "Energy Revolution".

Since Nerun had decided to go all-out he naturally decided to use his most destructive technique. After all, the drum was an immobile object, so the weakness was effectively gone, at least for this test.

As Nerun's hands came close to each other, a small point of energy close to the size of a pin could be seen between both hands. Even with the small energy leakage, the might of this condensed energy was not something that could be ignored. Nerun then extended both hands towards the drum and touched it.

- BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!! -

…

Outside the Military School, there were two people present, a male and a female. The female was Cynthia Dai Morena, and by her side, was a male teen, a bit tender looking, yet with a ferocious look on his eyes. Pride could be seen effused from them. His bridge nose was high, his lips quite thin, and his hair was purple, but close to becoming black. This was Cynthia's younger brother, Reno Dai Morena. They were blood brothers, and they were the children of the Patriarch of the Morena Family. They were actually three brothers, the youngest of them, was actually part of another school.

They seemed to be waiting outside the Royal Military School, however some impatience could be seen in the young man's eyes.

"Do we really have to wait outside for some foreigners? Is it not beneath us to receive them like this?" said the teen with some displeasure in his tone.

"Please be quiet brother, and behave properly. This is a very important mission that we have been given, and this is also a chance. Trust me on this, even a prince might be jealous of this opportunity. It is even likely that a Grand Minister might meet these people later, and we have the chance to be the first one to salute them. If you manage to make a good impression, your future might be limitless." said Cynthia in a kind tone to her brother. She knew of his temper, which was quite similar to hers. However, she also knew that he could be quite proud. He was the greatest talent that the Morena Family had produced in the last centuries, and he was the hope of the Family to finally be on the true upper levels of the Five Great Families.

- SCHREEEEECH! -

As they were talking, they suddenly heard a screech in the air. A mighty eagle appeared in the sky making every onlooker flabbergasted since someone actually dared to fly above the skies of Eonia. The defenses of Eonia were about to be activated and several warriors were about to launch an attack, when from the Cathedral in the center of Ansem a golden light shone through the air and landed on the Eagle, marking it with some symbols.

The defenses of the city receded and all the people understood the origin of this eagle. It was a mighty Magical Beast belonging to the Temple, so many citizens went on their knees and bowed towards the Cathedral. After all, most citizens were believers in EON.

Soon many people actually noticed that there were actually several shadows on top of the Eagle. Many thought that the Eagle would fly directly towards the Cathedral, but it actually veered and went to the western part of town, and stopped right above the entrance to the Royal Military School. Many students, military officers, teachers and such were seeing the scene and wondering who could have come.