Chapter 14
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"Wh— What the hell's going on!?"
Erzel's jaw dropped wide agape at the recording of Xenith's registration test. After reading the final assessment, Erzel immediately knew that the young man had more to him than just being an oddly weak New Human. Specifically, the results pointed out that Xenith had an unrecorded 'innate talent'. Curious to see what it was, Erzel checked the footage only to be dumbstruck by the scenes unfolding.
~On the recorded video of the test simulation—
Xenith, being outnumbered by the Pygmy Lizardmen, stood still on his position. His palms raised, facing the hoard as if he would grab something out of thin air. Erzel had an expectant look on his face, he initially thought that Xenith's talent would be related to some mysterious magic, which he could bring forth through his palms…
However, the young man kept his odd stance— Not a single damn thing was happening. It was only when the hoard started charging that the whole thing became interesting.
Xenith kept a low stance, still keeping his palms up and facing forward. As these lizardmen were short, their individual auras were not the least bit threatening. However, a wave of them charging all at once made a suffocating atmosphere, yet—
Xenith kept a cool expression, devoid of any worry. The scene excited Erzel at first, but as soon as the first lizardmen attacked, it gradually changed to that of shock.
With his palms stretched forward, Xenith caught the first pygmy lizardmen by its neck. The choke looked effective; the captured lizardman heavily struggled to break free and had accidentally let go of its weapon.
After the first lizardman was disarmed, Xenith released his grip on its neck and grabbed the poor creature by its tail instead. As if charging a slingshot, Xenith crazily spun the lizardman until it gained momentum— just enough momentum for Xenith to make use of;
*Pop~*
Xenith released his grip— aiming it just at the right angle for the poor lizardman to get tossed towards the direction of his fellowmen. As if they were pins in a bowling alley, the rest of the lizardmen stood stiff, their expressions turned to that of shock.
Although their reptilian eyes could not blink as profusely as that of humans, one could feel that they would've wanted to be able to do so, as they could seemingly not believe what just happened—
*Bang!*
Really; they became bowling pins in front of Xenith.
The lizardman, the one who initiated the charge, became the first bowling ball. 'Strike?' Around a dozen lizardman, those at the very front of the charge; were all tossed aside.
Instead of deterring the attack, Xenith only managed to anger the hoard.
*Squish~* *Squish~*
A wriggling object could be seen in front of Xenith… 'Eh? A… tail?'. The slingshotted lizardman instinctively did autotomy to save itself from Xenith, but as it would seem, it did so at a very late timing. It was now hurt and tailless. Of course, it would now be impossible for that lizardman to pick up its weapon now that it needed all its limbs to be able to move.
~00:41
Xenith distance himself from the maddened hoard. He was much taller than them, and his legs were much longer as well. His strides were wide, covering a distance that would take the pygmy lizardman a few more steps to match.
~00:53
Xenith halted, he then turned and repeated his high palm-low duck stance. A repeat of the same scene happened. Another one of the lizardmen recklessly charged ahead. It was a bit too late before it realized the despairing situation it was in…
*Pak!*
~01:13
'Another strike!'.
The exact same thing happened. However, the initial shock it had for the lizardmen became a lot shorter. Even though they were now burning with rage, caution was now apparent in their actions. They assisted the second injured lizardman and were now organizing a joint charge.
'Do they not look... Adorable? Pft haha what am I thinking? They're tiny but those blades would certainly hurt a lot if I were any more reckless.' The scene of tiny creatures planning a strategy looked fascinating for Xenith. But it wasn't the time to adore such things.
Although his thoughts weren't recorded through the video feed (duh?). Erzel could clearly see that Xenith was laughing. 'Is he thinking that the whole registration test was some sort of joke? Seriously?' At first, It would seem like it. But after reviewing the results once more and seeing that Xenith barely survived for 5 minutes, Erzel made clear on his head that this guy was still nothing but just a 0-star New Human with a peculiar talent.
It was this very talent that made him curious about the video.
'Barely around two more minutes and its done. However, I still haven't seen him use any sort of talent. Were the results incorrect?.' Erzel thought, but soon dismissed it and resorted to just finishing the footage.
Surely there would be something miraculous that would happen
Xenith started jogging away from the 'hoard' meeting, giving himself a lot more space away from them. Just from merely doing the same thing twice, it had already exhausted his fairly low stamina. Beads of sweat dripped off his thin face.
The low stake situation made him not release as much adrenaline as to when he was facing the Auburn Griffin. It would have been regrettably the same case regardless of him facing the Pygmy Lizardmen or even a stronger creature.
Everything here was still, after all, just a simulation.
~02:42
The previous bowling session had turned into a marathon. Here and there, Xenith would be able to do the maneuver of zoning one lizardman and tossing him towards the hoard. But he had repeated it way too much that the lizardmen had adapted to it.
Including the first two that he tossed as a bowling ball, it totaled around 37 lizardmen already that he had fended off in mere two and a half minutes. Technically, none of them were "dead", but the AI running the simulation counted them 'eliminated' somehow.
Still, a handful was still active in the field. And to Xenith who was gasping for air, their auras felt like mountains bearing upon him. None of these lizardmen had weakened in the slightest. 'What great stamina…'
Running off was another way to prolong his survival time. Unfortunately, that method would require a lot of stamina, and Xenith was definitely running out of it. At this point, even the hatchling Roc became a tempting 'card' to use for him to cheat his way out.
The hatchling Roc simply followed along, neither helping nor burdening Xenith. Simply put; it was as if the Roc had no idea what was going on. 'Hah, who said I was lying when I promised that this little thing wouldn't disrupt the test. See? See? It's not helping at all!'
Xenith inwardly mocked, his thoughts pointed at the aloof receptionist back then.
If he couldn't eliminate any more of these creatures without resorting to 'cheating' then… He could at least survive, one way or another. Xenith pondered as a strong breeze swept his damp brown hair. A ludicrous idea suddenly came to him.
'Wait, was I not stronger inside the rift back then? I totally have a different status page in the Otherworld when I was fighting that Auburn Griffin… Wait— That's it!" Xenith's gaze landed at the pitch black vortex at the distance.
Without hesitation, Xenith gathered his remaining stamina to sprint towards the rift…
His sudden action of bee-lining towards the rift startled the charging lizardmen. Even Erzel who was watching the recording had his interest awoken by the kid's sudden action. "Yes! Is he finally gonna use his talent? It's about damn time!"
However…
Xenith leaping towards the pitch black rift betrayed his expectation. 'Did exhaustion made him forget that the whole thing is just a simulation?'
*Bang!*
Xenith's face implanted itself upon the rock-hard wall that was the "rift"...
'03:04. Examinee detected to be unconscious...Terminating simulation…Calculating result.'
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"Wh— What the hell's going on!?"
Erzel's jaw dropped wide agape at the recording of Xenith's registration test. After reading the final assessment, Erzel immediately knew that the young man had more to him than just being an oddly weak New Human. Specifically, the results pointed out that Xenith had an unrecorded 'innate talent'. Curious to see what it was, Erzel checked the footage only to be dumbstruck by the scenes unfolding.
~On the recorded video of the test simulation—
Xenith, being outnumbered by the Pygmy Lizardmen, stood still on his position. His palms raised, facing the hoard as if he would grab something out of thin air. Erzel had an expectant look on his face, he initially thought that Xenith's talent would be related to some mysterious magic, which he could bring forth through his palms…
However, the young man kept his odd stance— Not a single damn thing was happening. It was only when the hoard started charging that the whole thing became interesting.
Xenith kept a low stance, still keeping his palms up and facing forward. As these lizardmen were short, their individual auras were not the least bit threatening. However, a wave of them charging all at once made a suffocating atmosphere, yet—
Xenith kept a cool expression, devoid of any worry. The scene excited Erzel at first, but as soon as the first lizardmen attacked, it gradually changed to that of shock.
With his palms stretched forward, Xenith caught the first pygmy lizardmen by its neck. The choke looked effective; the captured lizardman heavily struggled to break free and had accidentally let go of its weapon.
After the first lizardman was disarmed, Xenith released his grip on its neck and grabbed the poor creature by its tail instead. As if charging a slingshot, Xenith crazily spun the lizardman until it gained momentum— just enough momentum for Xenith to make use of;
*Pop~*
Xenith released his grip— aiming it just at the right angle for the poor lizardman to get tossed towards the direction of his fellowmen. As if they were pins in a bowling alley, the rest of the lizardmen stood stiff, their expressions turned to that of shock.
Although their reptilian eyes could not blink as profusely as that of humans, one could feel that they would've wanted to be able to do so, as they could seemingly not believe what just happened—
*Bang!*
Really; they became bowling pins in front of Xenith.
The lizardman, the one who initiated the charge, became the first bowling ball. 'Strike?' Around a dozen lizardman, those at the very front of the charge; were all tossed aside.
Instead of deterring the attack, Xenith only managed to anger the hoard.
*Squish~* *Squish~*
A wriggling object could be seen in front of Xenith… 'Eh? A… tail?'. The slingshotted lizardman instinctively did autotomy to save itself from Xenith, but as it would seem, it did so at a very late timing. It was now hurt and tailless. Of course, it would now be impossible for that lizardman to pick up its weapon now that it needed all its limbs to be able to move.
~00:41
Xenith distance himself from the maddened hoard. He was much taller than them, and his legs were much longer as well. His strides were wide, covering a distance that would take the pygmy lizardman a few more steps to match.
~00:53
Xenith halted, he then turned and repeated his high palm-low duck stance. A repeat of the same scene happened. Another one of the lizardmen recklessly charged ahead. It was a bit too late before it realized the despairing situation it was in…
*Pak!*
~01:13
'Another strike!'.
The exact same thing happened. However, the initial shock it had for the lizardmen became a lot shorter. Even though they were now burning with rage, caution was now apparent in their actions. They assisted the second injured lizardman and were now organizing a joint charge.
'Do they not look... Adorable? Pft haha what am I thinking? They're tiny but those blades would certainly hurt a lot if I were any more reckless.' The scene of tiny creatures planning a strategy looked fascinating for Xenith. But it wasn't the time to adore such things.
Although his thoughts weren't recorded through the video feed (duh?). Erzel could clearly see that Xenith was laughing. 'Is he thinking that the whole registration test was some sort of joke? Seriously?' At first, It would seem like it. But after reviewing the results once more and seeing that Xenith barely survived for 5 minutes, Erzel made clear on his head that this guy was still nothing but just a 0-star New Human with a peculiar talent.
It was this very talent that made him curious about the video.
'Barely around two more minutes and its done. However, I still haven't seen him use any sort of talent. Were the results incorrect?.' Erzel thought, but soon dismissed it and resorted to just finishing the footage.
Surely there would be something miraculous that would happen
Xenith started jogging away from the 'hoard' meeting, giving himself a lot more space away from them. Just from merely doing the same thing twice, it had already exhausted his fairly low stamina. Beads of sweat dripped off his thin face.
The low stake situation made him not release as much adrenaline as to when he was facing the Auburn Griffin. It would have been regrettably the same case regardless of him facing the Pygmy Lizardmen or even a stronger creature.
Everything here was still, after all, just a simulation.
~02:42
The previous bowling session had turned into a marathon. Here and there, Xenith would be able to do the maneuver of zoning one lizardman and tossing him towards the hoard. But he had repeated it way too much that the lizardmen had adapted to it.
Including the first two that he tossed as a bowling ball, it totaled around 37 lizardmen already that he had fended off in mere two and a half minutes. Technically, none of them were "dead", but the AI running the simulation counted them 'eliminated' somehow.
Still, a handful was still active in the field. And to Xenith who was gasping for air, their auras felt like mountains bearing upon him. None of these lizardmen had weakened in the slightest. 'What great stamina…'
Running off was another way to prolong his survival time. Unfortunately, that method would require a lot of stamina, and Xenith was definitely running out of it. At this point, even the hatchling Roc became a tempting 'card' to use for him to cheat his way out.
The hatchling Roc simply followed along, neither helping nor burdening Xenith. Simply put; it was as if the Roc had no idea what was going on. 'Hah, who said I was lying when I promised that this little thing wouldn't disrupt the test. See? See? It's not helping at all!'
Xenith inwardly mocked, his thoughts pointed at the aloof receptionist back then.
If he couldn't eliminate any more of these creatures without resorting to 'cheating' then… He could at least survive, one way or another. Xenith pondered as a strong breeze swept his damp brown hair. A ludicrous idea suddenly came to him.
'Wait, was I not stronger inside the rift back then? I totally have a different status page in the Otherworld when I was fighting that Auburn Griffin… Wait— That's it!" Xenith's gaze landed at the pitch black vortex at the distance.
Without hesitation, Xenith gathered his remaining stamina to sprint towards the rift…
His sudden action of bee-lining towards the rift startled the charging lizardmen. Even Erzel who was watching the recording had his interest awoken by the kid's sudden action. "Yes! Is he finally gonna use his talent? It's about damn time!"
However…
Xenith leaping towards the pitch black rift betrayed his expectation. 'Did exhaustion made him forget that the whole thing is just a simulation?'
*Bang!*
Xenith's face implanted itself upon the rock-hard wall that was the "rift"...
'03:04. Examinee detected to be unconscious...Terminating simulation…Calculating result.'
"Wh What the hell's going on!?"Erzel's jaw dropped wide agape at the recording of Xenith's registration test. After reading the final assessment, Erzel immediately knew that the young man had more to him than just being an oddly weak New Human. Specifically, the results pointed out that Xenith had an unrecorded 'innate talent'. Curious to see what it was, Erzel checked the footage only to be dumbstruck by the scenes unfolding.~On the recorded video of the test simulationXenith, being outnumbered by the Pygmy Lizardmen, stood still on his position. His palms raised, facing the hoard as if he would grab something out of thin air. Erzel had an expectant look on his face, he initially thought that Xenith's talent would be related to some mysterious magic, which he could bring forth through his palmsHowever, the young man kept his odd stance Not a single damn thing was happening. It was only when the hoard started charging that the whole thing became interesting.Xenith kept a low stance, still keeping his palms up and facing forward. As these lizardmen were short, their individual auras were not the least bit threatening. However, a wave of them charging all at once made a suffocating atmosphere, yetXenith kept a cool expression, devoid of any worry. The scene excited Erzel at first, but as soon as the first lizardmen attacked, it gradually changed to that of shock.With his palms stretched forward, Xenith caught the first pygmy lizardmen by its neck. The choke looked effective; the captured lizardman heavily struggled to break free and had accidentally let go of its weapon.After the first lizardman was disarmed, Xenith released his grip on its neck and grabbed the poor creature by its tail instead. As if charging a slingshot, Xenith crazily spun the lizardman until it gained momentum just enough momentum for Xenith to make use of;*Pop~*Xenith released his grip aiming it just at the right angle for the poor lizardman to get tossed towards the direction of his fellowmen. As if they were pins in a bowling alley, the rest of the lizardmen stood stiff, their expressions turned to that of shock.Although their reptilian eyes could not blink as profusely as that of humans, one could feel that they would've wanted to be able to do so, as they could seemingly not believe what just happened*Bang!*Really; they became bowling pins in front of Xenith.The lizardman, the one who initiated the charge, became the first bowling ball. 'Strike?' Around a dozen lizardman, those at the very front of the charge; were all tossed aside.Instead of deterring the attack, Xenith only managed to anger the hoard.*Squish~* *Squish~*A wriggling object could be seen in front of Xenith 'Eh? A tail?'. The slingshotted lizardman instinctively did autotomy to save itself from Xenith, but as it would seem, it did so at a very late timing. It was now hurt and tailless. Of course, it would now be impossible for that lizardman to pick up its weapon now that it needed all its limbs to be able to move.~00:41Xenith distance himself from the maddened hoard. He was much taller than them, and his legs were much longer as well. His strides were wide, covering a distance that would take the pygmy lizardman a few more steps to match.~00:53Xenith halted, he then turned and repeated his high palm-low duck stance. A repeat of the same scene happened. Another one of the lizardmen recklessly charged ahead. It was a bit too late before it realized the despairing situation it was in*Pak!*~01:13'Another strike!'.The exact same thing happened. However, the initial shock it had for the lizardmen became a lot shorter. Even though they were now burning with rage, caution was now apparent in their actions. They assisted the second injured lizardman and were now organizing a joint charge.'Do they not look... Adorable? Pft haha what am I thinking? They're tiny but those blades would certainly hurt a lot if I were any more reckless.' The scene of tiny creatures planning a strategy looked fascinating for Xenith. But it wasn't the time to adore such things.Although his thoughts weren't recorded through the video feed duh?. Erzel could clearly see that Xenith was laughing. 'Is he thinking that the whole registration test was some sort of joke? Seriously?' At first, It would seem like it. But after reviewing the results once more and seeing that Xenith barely survived for 5 minutes, Erzel made clear on his head that this guy was still nothing but just a 0-star New Human with a peculiar talent.It was this very talent that made him curious about the video.'Barely around two more minutes and its done. However, I still haven't seen him use any sort of talent. Were the results incorrect?.' Erzel thought, but soon dismissed it and resorted to just finishing the footage.Surely there would be something miraculous that would happenXenith started jogging away from the 'hoard' meeting, giving himself a lot more space away from them. Just from merely doing the same thing twice, it had already exhausted his fairly low stamina. Beads of sweat dripped off his thin face.The low stake situation made him not release as much adrenaline as to when he was facing the Auburn Griffin. It would have been regrettably the same case regardless of him facing the Pygmy Lizardmen or even a stronger creature.Everything here was still, after all, just a simulation.~02:42The previous bowling session had turned into a marathon. Here and there, Xenith would be able to do the maneuver of zoning one lizardman and tossing him towards the hoard. But he had repeated it way too much that the lizardmen had adapted to it.Including the first two that he tossed as a bowling ball, it totaled around 37 lizardmen already that he had fended off in mere two and a half minutes. Technically, none of them were "dead", but the AI running the simulation counted them 'eliminated' somehow.Still, a handful was still active in the field. And to Xenith who was gasping for air, their auras felt like mountains bearing upon him. None of these lizardmen had weakened in the slightest. 'What great stamina'Running off was another way to prolong his survival time. Unfortunately, that method would require a lot of stamina, and Xenith was definitely running out of it. At this point, even the hatchling Roc became a tempting 'card' to use for him to cheat his way out.The hatchling Roc simply followed along, neither helping nor burdening Xenith. Simply put; it was as if the Roc had no idea what was going on. 'Hah, who said I was lying when I promised that this little thing wouldn't disrupt the test. See? See? It's not helping at all!'Xenith inwardly mocked, his thoughts pointed at the aloof receptionist back then.If he couldn't eliminate any more of these creatures without resorting to 'cheating' then He could at least survive, one way or another. Xenith pondered as a strong breeze swept his damp brown hair. A ludicrous idea suddenly came to him.'Wait, was I not stronger inside the rift back then? I totally have a different status page in the Otherworld when I was fighting that Auburn Griffin Wait That's it!" Xenith's gaze landed at the pitch black vortex at the distance.Without hesitation, Xenith gathered his remaining stamina to sprint towards the riftHis sudden action of bee-lining towards the rift startled the charging lizardmen. Even Erzel who was watching the recording had his interest awoken by the kid's sudden action. "Yes! Is he finally gonna use his talent? It's about damn time!"HoweverXenith leaping towards the pitch black rift betrayed his expectation. 'Did exhaustion made him forget that the whole thing is just a simulation?'*Bang!*Xenith's face implanted itself upon the rock-hard wall that was the "rift"...'03:04. Examinee detected to be unconscious...Terminating simulationCalculating result.'
