012 Boulder of Bastiles

Nico pulled up his status box to compare it with the Spirit Orb.

Status:

Manaroot: Chaos 6

Mananode: 1

Manaspirit: Midnight Koi 29

Strength: 42

FP: 23/23

Defense: 30

Speed: 30

Magic: 36

Mp: 72/72

Resistance: 32

Casting: 24

Nico placed his hands over the spirit orb and watched the smoke swirled inside. Too bad it wasn't night time, Nico wanted to see the mechanism behind the spirit orb.

The spirit orb blacked out.

Damn, it's a blackout, thought the proctor.

Proctors had to memorize thousands of possible spiritual roots that had manifested throughout human civilization. Blackouts were one of the toughest to identify. It was difficult to distinguish darkness, shadows, dark oceans, and space. With shadows, there were slight movement, dark oceans had ripples, and space had tiny speckles of light, so it wasn't likely to be those. It could be a

chaotic root if the levels are high.

The numbers appeared in glowing light against the dark background.

The proctor was relieved to see a high number.

"Chaotic root 6, meridian 1, aura 1, good," said the proctor.

A few professors from the Cultivation Branch glanced over at Nico.

"Professor Clemson, it's a Chaotic spiritual root, his meridian and aura are both low, but it could be compensated for," observed Professor Quin.

"Chaotic roots are not unusual, but we are missing damage dealers on our team," remarked Professor Clemson. "Keep an eye out for him during the Boulder of Bastiles test."

There was a sub-warrior class that revolved around the chaotic spiritual roots called the berserkers.

On the 6th day, Nico and all the applicants with the numbered tokens returned to the plaza. Only 2,160 students remained after the 3-days Spirit Orb test.

They lined up in rows and columns similarly to the first day, except with less people and no desks.

Nico noticed Yuri waiting in the far left. From what he had heard from Easton, Yuri made it through with a Hound root 1, meridian 2 and aura 2 and a good grade.

Nico was standing in a row with seven other boys and one girl, ranging from 12-15. Their row was the shortest and they were a good head taller than everyone else taking the test.

"Man, I can't believe I have made this far," said a 15-years old boy. He was very skinny, but his posture was sturdy. "Xavier is the name."

Everyone in the row introduced themselves, Marcus, Vincent, Datan, Rory, Garret, Jack, and Anya.

Vincent and Jack wore ordinary linen clothes and were likely from lower class families. Everyone else dressed well, most likely children of low ranking officials and upper class families. Nico himself was wearing a nice navy cotton tunic that resembled a t-shirt, but it could easily be mistaken as lower class garment.

Since they were all older than 12, they all had working experience.

"I work as a clerk for my grandfather, he is the town judge," said Anya, an out-spoken and tall girl. She gazed curiously at Vincent, who was tall, fit and very attractive for a boy of 13. "What do you do?"

"I'm an apprentice blacksmith," Vincent replied.

"No wonder you look so fit," Jack remarked, he was of medium height and while not as fit as Vincent, was toned. "I work in a ranch."

"Whoa, Jack, you work on a farm too?" Asked Nico.

"A ranch, it's slightly different from a farm," said Jack. "I take care of horses."

After some discussion, one of the boys remembered something and gawked at Vincent.

"Ah, I remember you! You're the ace from day four," said Datan, the slightly talkative boy pointing at Vincent.

Vincent shrugged awkwardly. Everyone stared at Vincent in amazement, they had all heard rumors about the ace from day four.

Nico laughed and patted Datan on the back. "Does a prosecutor's son have a habit of pointing?" asked Nico. "He's not on trial or anything."

Datan realized his social gaffe and cleared his throat.

"Uh... So what is the next test going to be?" asked Datan.

"Most likely a physical test," said Xavier, from a family of scholars. "Do you see the giant boulders near the ceremonial stairs? They are the Boulder of Bastiles, commonly used to test physical strength."

When everyone was in their correct rows, a voice explained the test, it was similar to Xavier's explanation.

The proctor called the first in line, Rory, up first and told him to punch the boulder as hard as possible. They each have three tries and the highest result would be recorded.

They were told that it wouldn't hurt, but Rory still hesitated to hit the boulder with his full strength. He didn't want to bust his knuckles, so his first punch was weak. His fist lightly pounded into the boulder and left a dent. The dent disappeared as soon as he pulled back his punch.

It was like an illusion.

A number appeared on the boulder, 31.

Rory tried harder on the second try, 45.

On the last try, he got 59, which was the average for his age.

Xavier was up next.

His attacks were embarrassing, as bad as the younger children. His best was 53.

Jack took position when it was his turn. His stance wasn't traditional, but it looked natural and practiced. He did surprisingly well with 126, matching a lot of the excellent grade kids.

Many professors watched as Vincent approached the Boulder of Bastiles. He positioned himself in front of the boulder. Nico observed that his stance was slightly awkward. He was untrained, but his posture was similar to a street brawler.

His first punch landed, 190.

His second punch, 251.

"What's the highest recorded punch for the Boulder of Bastiles during an exam?" asked Department Head Grist.

"635," said the assistant. "But the applicant at that time was 22 years old, and a very experienced warrior. For his age group, 328."

Vincent summoned all his strength for the last punch. His left foot stepped forward, and he prepared enough momentum to strike. He pounded into the boulder.

Boom!

A new number appeared.

333.

"That boy is already utilizing spirit force," Department Head Grist noted. "It won't be long before he becomes a cultivator."

"Yes, but Lady Tessa and the Magic Branch are also eyeing him," said the assistant.

"We can let them have Princess Reina, but we can't let them take this boy," said Department Head Grist.

Datan was up next, but Vincent was a tough act to follow. He managed to get 61.

The proctor called Nico up to the boulder.

Nico approached the boulder and positioned his body to prepare a jab. He inhaled and then jabbed at the boulder, 156.

Well, that wasn't too bad, he thought.

Nico returned to his punch stance and punched again.

155.

"Okay, I think I got the hang of it," Nico said to the proctor, who stared blankly back at Nico in response.

Nico stretched his neck and cracked his knuckles.

He returned to the punch stance, but this time, he concentrated.