With a practiced grip, he snatched the heavy battle-axe that had been embedded in the floor earlier.
He didn't hesitate. He spun, the axe leaving his hands like a thunderclap, intercepting the steel storm mid-air.
Steel shrieked against steel. The axe didn't just hit the knives—it erased them.
The heavy axe plowed through the air, colliding with several knives and robbing them of their momentum before they clattered uselessly to the floor.
Aren swatted the remaining blades aside with a dismissive flick of his wrist, sending them spinning into the shadows.
As he bypassed the initial assault, the woman's voice crackled over the speakers, now tinged with genuine intrigue.
"Hmm. You're attempting some… unconventional maneuvers. So, you're the type who refuses to yield an inch?"
Behind him, the heavy weapons pulverized the ground he had just vacated, never once grazing him. After a moment, a note of dark amusement crept into her tone.
"Very well—let's see how you handle the second phase!"
The floor beneath Aren began to rumble. The fractured tiles, weakened by the previous barrage, started to disintegrate, revealing a yawning abyss below.
Only the tiles that had been struck by weapons vanished entirely. Before a tile collapsed, it trembled with a distinct, high-frequency vibration.
"Now this is getting interesting!" Aren's voice rang out, cheerful despite the crumbling world around him.
As sections of the floor plummeted into the void, he moved. The moment he felt the tell-tale vibration beneath his boots, he shifted.
The tile he had just abandoned shattered into chaotic shards, but Aren remained untouched, his feet always finding solid ground a split-second before the collapse.
Meanwhile, in the monitoring suite overlooking the simulation chamber…
Ms. Tiana's eyes gleamed with astonishment. It was as if Aren were reading the simulation's code in real-time, predicting every collapse before it even registered on the sensors.
"Um… Senior? Is this reading even possible?" one of the assistants stammered, pointing at a flickering display.
The Nyx Registration Center had not designed this test merely to see how long an applicant could survive. It was meant to record physiological stress—how the heart, lungs, and neural pathways reacted to escalating danger.
But there was a problem. One of the primary graphs was deviating so violently from the standard parameters that it defied logic. The assistant engineer leaned closer, his confusion turning into a cold realization.
"Could the device be malfunctioning…?"
Without turning toward the hesitant, doubt-laden voice beside her, she answered while continuing to watch Aren's flawless, almost dance-like movements on the screen.
"Do you really think that's possible? Have you forgotten how many times the machines were checked before these tests began? Besides, this wasn't conducted on a single device."
The rookie engineer pursed his lips at her irritated, dismissive tone.
"No, it's just… I'm surprised by that level of concentration," he said, glancing at the graph where the concentration indicator had reached its maximum.
"If you have a mouth, use it properly. If you accuse every talented individual of cheating, you'll be left with nothing but trash."
After casting him a scornful look, Ms. Tiana returned her attention to the screen, openly cheering Aren on.
Though the rookie engineer bristled at the reprimand, he wisely kept his mouth shut. Otherwise, his sharp-tongued superior—whose words cut deeper than any blade—would have torn him to pieces.
***
When Aren emerged from the capsule, Tiana Collum—the woman who had previously treated him with cold indifference—approached him with urgent strides and extended her hand.
"Hello. I am Tiana Collum, Chief Research Engineer for Nyx Rank Assessment."
"A pleasure, Ms. Collum. I am Aren Rayne."
Aren took her hand, his expression steady, though the corners of his eyes held a sharp, predatory glint.
"I must be blunt: your results are staggering. In all my years, I have never seen a candidate demonstrate a mental fortitude parameter as high as yours."
She beckoned him toward the monitoring array. Gazing at the glowing graphs, Aren saw that Tiana wasn't exaggerating; every metric measuring cognitive resilience and neural stability had redlined at the absolute maximum.
It must be a side effect of my previous life combined with this world's elemental affinity, he mused.
Tiana stepped closer, holding a sleek diagnostic device tipped with a fine needle.
"With your permission, we will finalize your rank," she said.
Aren extended his right index finger. A sharp prick, a small bead of blood, and the sample was drawn.
It looks just like a blood glucose tester, he thought, watching her transfer the crimson drop into a capsule filled with a shimmering violet catalyst.
"As a reminder," Tiana explained, her tone softening as if to comfort a nervous student, "there are three primary tiers: Standard, Superior, and Special. Each has its own subdivisions. Please understand that the rank you receive today is not a ceiling—it is your baseline."
She watched the device as it began its rapid analysis.
"Most kids see their lower ranks and give up. They're idiots. A rank is just a starting point, Aren. What you do with the dirt is up to you."
After five minutes of the capsule cycling through a spectrum of shifting hues, the light settled into a steady glow. The letter C materialized on the small display.
"A Standard Tier: Rank C. Considering your mental stats, your growth potential is likely exponential. Please synchronize with your Aureus and check your system window."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME: Aren Rayne (Registered) / Aren Donovan (Biological)
AGE: 16
TITLE: None
NYX RANK: C (Baseline)
SPECIAL ABILITIES: [Reality Alteration
PERSONAL SKILLS:
[Strategy & Tactics
[Stealth
[Mental Barrier
[Martial Arts Mastery
ELEMENTAL AFFINITY: [Unlimited Void
STIGMA: ■■■ (Encrypted / Dormant)
GENERAL STATISTICS:
[Agility: Lv. 16] | [Ether: Lv. 15] | [Perception: Lv. 15]
[Strength: Lv. 10] | [Endurance: Lv. 7] [Mana: 0]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"When do Stigmas typically manifest?" Aren asked, his voice cutting through the hum of the lab.
Caught off guard by the technical depth of the question, Tiana paused, searching for the right words.