Physical And Mental Test I

Aurora opened the file with a soft flap, flipping through the pages without reading the contents. Her hands moved gently, nails painted a soft pink that matched her eyes.

"Sit," she said, without looking up.

Dorian hesitated. There were two chairs across her desk, in front of her. One looked new, the other, not so much. He sat on the older one, gesturing at Rose to sit in the new one.

Aurora's gaze lingered on Rose for a brief second before she took a pen and looked at him.

"Full name, serial number, and ability."

"Dorian, Garnet Mordaine," he said, not missing the look she gave him at the mention of his middle name. That wasn't a new thing, actually, anyone who heard the name always gave him that look.

One that fell between curiosity and announcement, and he still didn't know why.

"Zero-ND010, Ability..." he trailed off, searching his mind for what to call it, since the system hadn't given him a good explanation. "Let's say Bloodmancy. Biological weaponry, for now."

"Interesting phrasing," she murmured. "Voluntary or reactive?"

"Both."

She scribbled something down. Her writing was quick but still neat.

"Mental conditioning?"

He blinked. "What?"

"Do you lose control when enraged, under stress? Do you see things others don't? Do you have post-traumatic disorders, or episodes of..." she paused, her eyes flicking up, "...disassociations?"

Dorian didn't answer immediately. His silence stretched longer than she expected and it got a knowing smile from her.

"Let's just say I'm mentally unstable," he finally said.

Aurora gave no reaction, she simply nodded and checked a box, then looked at him again.

"You'll undergo two phases of evaluation. Standard protocol, mental and internal scan, followed by combat, physical, and endurance checks. Is that alright with you?"

Dorian nodded, he didn't care what he was going to face, as long as none of it included being injected or connected to tubes.

Aurora carefully placed the file on the table and rose to her feet.

"What about you?" she turned to Rose. "What would you like to do here? Train or...?"

"No, no," she raised her hands to show her refusal. "I'm only here to watch him and make sure everything goes well," Rose replied politely. She also stood up.

Aurora narrowed her eyes, she glanced at Dorian, who had already gotten up, then to Rose, and finally let out a sigh.

"I heard you worked with the government-owned facility, so you'll be in charge of his program. Is that alright?"

Rose nodded quickly and moved to Dorian's side as Aurora stepped out from behind her desk.

She smoothed out her coat, picked up her files, and stepped out, revealing her full figure, tall, a little slender. She wore black heels that matched the skirt underneath her coat, and a plain white shirt.

"Follow me."

---

The first test room was white, no windows, no sound but the hum of machines, beeping, and the faint smell of antiseptic.

Devices lined the walls, biometric scanners, pressure pads, response lights, sensory neural interfaces. Things Dorian recognized all too well.

A young man in a white coat stepped forward with a tablet, eyes wide behind square glasses. Dorian frowned, wondering if all the staff wore glasses now.

"Vitals, sensory calibration, stress analysis," Aurora said sharply. "You have fifteen minutes."

The man nodded. "Please stand on the platform, sir."

Dorian moved without a word, stepping barefoot onto the metallic disc in the center of the room. A beam of pale blue light scanned him from head to toe. His heart rate was displayed overhead, alongside temperature, blood pressure, and a dozen other metrics he couldn't decipher.

Subject: Mordaine, D.

Biological anomaly detected. Manifestation residue: active.

Stress index: 12.4% elevated.

Neurochemical activity: stable.

A second scan followed, this one stung a little, but it didn't hurt much.

The young lab tech looked up nervously. "You're very… adaptive, sir."

Dorian said nothing, he barely glanced at the man, and just remained still to finish the scan.

An hour passed, by the time he emerged from the internal scan room, his hoodie clung to his back with sweat.

Benson waited in the corridor, now chewing something that looked like gum, arms crossed lazily.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

Dorian shot him an annoyed look, not in the mood to say much, he just asked, "Where's the field?"

Benson's smile widened. "That's the spirit."

They exited through another set of doors after a five-minute elevator ride, the hallway opening into open sky. Benson left Dorian on the field and walked up a stairs to where the ladies where.

A light breeze brushed Dorian's skin as the early morning sun filtered through the clouds.

He looked around for Rose and spotted her with Aurora on a raised platform. She was holding a water bottle while Aurora just scribbled on the files.

The ground beneath Dorian suddenly rumbled gently, causing a frown to appear on his face. He looked at Aurora, who had a knowing smile on her face.

'You have got to be kidd—'

A click echoed through the field, from a cage on the far side of the field unlocked with a hiss, steam spilled outz followed by a slow, heavy step.

From the mist, a large figure stepped forward.

It looked like a wolf, but taller, at least twice his height. Its body was covered in rough patches of fur and hardened skin. Spikes in its shoulders and back, and two thick horns curved forward, almost forming a square above its head.

Its limbs were long, but fat, patchy green fur and faint yellow eyes that reminded Dorian of the waffles he had before coming.

He knew the Chief was insane, probably a trait they all shared, but he wasn't even expecting her to make him face a beast.

A low growl rumbled from its throat as it locked eyes with Dorian. Having being starved for two days, since it was caught. It saw Dorian as food, which was totally normal.

Dorian didn't have much time to prepare or think of a plan, as this was his first time facing a real beast, not counting the staffs at the Nephlim facility.

The beasts closed the space between, extending it's clawed hand out to Dorian, who jumped to the side as fast as he could, barely avoiding the first hit.

A second swipe came almost immediately, closer this time, he would've been hit if he hadn't leaped into the air.

'Okay, that's new,' he thought, landing gently behind the beast.

Benson leaned forward in his seat above the field. He looked up at Rose, who was clenching the bottle in her hand anxiously, then to Aurora, who wore a smile on her face.

He shook his head gently, "Should've at least warned the boy before making him face that."

Dorian looked down at his wrist. It had reopened, even though he had no memory of making contact with anything sharp. Blood ran down freely, and his heart was racing, but he stayed calm.

He didn't know why, but just looking at the beast reminded him of the ones back at the other facility, the one where he got the mana shards.

He then focused on the blood pooling in his palm. Without thinking twice, he clenched his fists.

The blood poured out more, twisting and doubling in length. He initially wanted to create a longer thorn, but knowing that would be useless, he changed his mind and decided to try forming a sword.

It twisted together, pulling into shape, long, pointed, and flat. In seconds, it formed a solid blade in his hand. It didn't look smooth, but it was sword enough.

Dorian stared at it for a second, glad he was right, and that checked out weapon creation off his list.

The beasts came at him again, this time he didn't dodge, he ducked low and swung the sword along its ribs.

The beast let out a roar that shook the ground slightly before it jumped back to create distance between itself and Dorian, leaving a trail of black ichor.

'Seriously,' He thought with a frown, straightening up to see that the beasts was barely affected.

It regained it's balance, and lunged at Dorian again, faster now.

'Just stay down already'

Dorian raised his sword, ready to attack, but the beast's claws slammed into his wrist. The sword cracked, nearly breaking, but instead it dissolved, melting back into liquid, right before Dorian could block the next hit.

His eyes widened when he felt heat from the blood moving back into him.

A painful gasp escaped his lips when the beast's other claws slammed into his chest, sending him back into the facility wall.

Pain shot up his spine from the impact, but before he could even take a deep breath, the beast charged again, he quickly, raises his hands, holding it in front of his chest.

The beast slammed itself headfirst into him, impaling him with all four horns.