The whispers surged into an overwhelming cacophony that echoed through the room.
"Does this mean she actually has the predispositions for it?"
"How lucky can you get?!"
"Wait, if she can do it, maybe there's a chance for me too!"
The deafening noise flared around Arya, leaving her completely disoriented and desperately searching for an anchor. She had never expected such a development, let alone becoming the sole focus of the entire crowd.
Fortunately, Helena stepped forward and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, giving her a comforting smile. "Congratulations," she said softly.
Reinvigorated by the encouraging words, Arya's eyes lit up as the true meaning of the crystal's glow finally set in. "Does this mean... I'll be able to have powers too?" she asked, turning toward the healer with eyes full of expectation.
The entire hall fell dead silent, everyone holding their breath for the instructor to confirm or deny their assumptions.
After a brief pause, the healer gave a single, deliberate nod.
"Yes. It means you have what it takes."
"Yay!" Arya squealed, unable to contain her excitement as she bounced on her feet.
Helena smiled faintly, offering a few more words of praise.
The rest of the captives were consumed by either bitter envy or desperate hope.
Those who hadn't taken the test yet waited anxiously for their turn, while those who had already failed stared at Arya with eyes burning with jealousy.
Among them, Mao's gaze was particularly venomous—dark, bitter, and filled with resentment.
Yet, knowing better than to draw the instructor's wrath, he kept his mouth shut and made no scene.
Following Arya's resounding success, the rest of the captives scrambled to be next in line. Several members of Mao's group stepped up, but one by one, they all failed without producing a single reaction from the crystal.
On Helena's side, two more people tested after Arya with no results, until the crystal finally answered a second time.
And this time, it was Helena herself who triggered the reaction.
Two people!
Even the healer looked genuinely surprised, staring deeply at Helena. She, however, didn't seem particularly shocked or overly excited; she simply returned to Arya's side and began speaking with her in low tones.
With only two successes so far, the remaining captives were rapidly losing hope. Two was better than zero, but with over half the group having gone through and only a pair making the cut, the implications were glaringly obvious.
The odds of being chosen were vanishingly, excruciatingly rare.
Yet, standing at the back of the group, Gil was preoccupied with something entirely different.
From the very beginning, he hadn't stopped watching the healer's expression with hawk-like intensity. Aside from the man's obvious coldness toward Mao, Gil could tell that with every failure, the instructor looked far more relieved than disappointed.
Though he was genuinely happy for Arya, Gil's brows had furrowed when she succeeded. He could have sworn he sensed a subtle shift in the healer's composure—a faint, almost imperceptible trace of unease rather than the pride or joy one would naturally expect upon discovering such rare talent.
At first, he had chalked it up to his own paranoia.
But when Helena succeeded as well, Gil was completely on alert, watching closely—and this time, he was certain.
The healer genuinely looked worried about the two young women who possessed the so-called qualifications.
This realization deeply troubled Gil.
For all their ideological differences—and as much as Gil fundamentally rejected the healer's submissive mindset—he couldn't deny one simple truth: the man genuinely cared about keeping the captives alive. He was willingly playing the bad cop, pushing them to their absolute limits just so they might survive a little longer in this nightmare, even if it meant living in chains.
While Gil refused to accept such a broken way of existing, he could still understand the healer's underlying intent.
Factoring all of that in, the instructor's reaction painted a terrifying picture. If the healer was genuinely worried upon discovering individuals with these "predispositions," it meant whatever lay at the end of this path promised nothing but horror.
Unfortunately, reaching this dark conclusion changed nothing about Gil's current reality. It wasn't as if he could simply opt out of the test while trapped in this facility.
Wait, Gil thought, a sudden idea striking him.
I might not be able to refuse... but maybe I can make them overlook me entirely.
Slinking back quietly so as not to draw any unwanted eyes, Gil leaned toward Orphée and whispered under his breath.
"Hey, Orphée."
"Yeah, boss?"
Keeping his eyes locked on the healer and remaining hyper-aware of his surroundings, Gil made sure no one was eavesdropping on them.
" I need your help. I need a favor."
"Hmm? Speak, boss. If I can, I'll do it," Orphée replied, his voice barely an audible whisper.
"That trick of yours—the way you manage to slip under the radar. Look, I'm not asking how you do it, and I won't pry into your secrets. I just need to know: can you extend that ability to someone other than yourself?"
Orphée raised an eyebrow. Glancing briefly at the captives stepping up for the test and then back to Gil, his sharp eyes pieced the puzzle together almost instantly.
"Oh, I see. You want to stay unnoticed so you can skip the test altogether, right?"
Gil nodded. "If possible, can you cover the rest of our group too?"
"Hmm... well, boss, it's a solid idea, and technically it's doable. But are you sure it's even viable for you?"
Gil's brows furrowed, suspecting there might be heavy conditions to Orphée's strange ability—or perhaps the man simply wasn't keen on using it on them. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I mean I could probably camouflage Greg, Kuro, and myself. But don't you think it's a bit too late for you and Hugo?"
At first, Gil didn't grasp what Orphée was trying to say. But a fraction of a second later, the harsh reality hit him like a physical blow.
How could he have forgotten? With everything that had happened, his mind simply wasn't working as sharply as usual. He understood immediately what Orphée was driving at.
Greg, Kuro, and Orphée could indeed slip through the cracks unnoticed with Orphée's trick.
But Hugo? The towering giant stood out like a mountain in a plain; trying to make someone of his size vanish in a small, organized lineup was practically impossible. Furthermore, after his confrontation with the healer, the raw physical power he had displayed, and his unnerving regenerative ability, slipping away unnoticed was an absolute impossibility.
And as for Gil himself? It was even more impossible.
He had already drawn far too much attention. Between his performance in the arena and Hector's public, overbearing declaration of ownership over him, all eyes—especially the instructor's—were constantly on him.
Trying to hide now would do nothing but draw immediate, dangerous scrutiny—and worse, it would needlessly expose Orphée's hidden ability to their jailers.
Gil let out a quiet, resigned breath, his jaw tightening.
Alright then, he thought, locking his gaze back on the flickering crystal prism at the front of the room. If I can't avoid it, I'll just have to deal with whatever happens when my turn comes.
"Alright, I get it," Gil whispered back. "But can you use your magic trick on Kuro and Greg?"
Orphée shrugged casually. "Sure, I can do that. But why all the caution? What makes you think those two might have those 'predispositions' anyway?"
"Better safe than sorry," Gil replied.
He didn't want to overexplain his line of thought, but since he needed Orphée's full cooperation, he decided to share a bit more.
"Look, I don't think anything good is waiting for whoever tests positive for these so-called qualifications. At the very least, it's bound to be something worse than our current situation."
"Worse than this?" Orphée raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised.
"It's just a theory, but think about it," Gil pressed softly. "Why haven't the people who learned or received those powers turned on their captors yet? If I had to guess, they were probably recruited the exact same way we were. The first thing I'd do if I got my hands on that kind of strength would be to throw a ball of light right into their faces. You get where I'm coming from?"
Understanding dawned on Orphée's face as the logic connected. "Alright, don't worry, boss. I'll take care of it. Kuro, Greg, and I will slip right under their noses."
"Thanks," Gil said, patting Orphée on the shoulder. "I owe you one."
"Hey! You said it yourself, boss—no backing out later."
"Yeah, yeah."
Moving subtly closer to Kuro, Gil whispered without making sudden movements, "Kuro, don't react."
He briefly outlined the situation to her. Though caught off guard at first but after a brief hesitation she offered a firm nod and casually guided Greg over toward Orphée.
Then seemingly without Orphée doing anything in particular, little by little the presence of the began to fade away from Gil awareness.
'?!'
It was as if they were never there to begin with .
'How did he do that ?'
Tough wondering,he didn't have the luxury dig about it now.
One by one, the remaining captives stepped up to touch the prism, but aside from Arya and Helena, not a single person managed to make the instrument react.
Finally, it was time for Gil's group—or what remained of it in line—to step forward.