Hidden in Plain Sight
The jeep had left the Vever town, as the address they were heading to was somewhere just outside Odonta City. They made a stop to let Lylah, who seemed like she was actually staying in Vever Town and not Odonta City. Of course, Mark tried to say his goodbyes to her, but Erinne closed the door, and the driver moved on before he got the chance to do so.
During the trip after that point, Mark didn't speak at all, as Erinne wasn't the type to have small talk with someone, especially him.
It took them two hours to reach the place, and as Mark got out of the vehicle, he was surprised by what he saw. He had passed from this place hundreds of times, as a main route passed through this point, but he never noticed this building. It wasn't that big and could be considered more like a small hut.
But as Mark used his Skills to check the surroundings, he understood why he had missed it. By combining his <Minor Energy Manipulation>, <Beginner Hacking>, and <Beginner Tracker>, he had a better understanding of his surroundings than others as he could detect things that he tried to hide, either naturally or artificially. He had made a habit of using all three Skills together these past days because it also helped increase their level a bit faster.
What he could see now that he shouldn't be able to be that there were three primary energy sources, which were powering a field that surrounded the hut and would make it invisible to anyone else. Still, Mark couldn't see it, but because he detected it through his Skills, it was pretty much the same as being able to do so.
Erinne walked towards where the entrance of this hut and Mark noticed that she currently wore a different pair of glasses than just a moment ago. He could tell that those glasses weren't regular and had some function, which he assumed allowed her to see behind the illusion that hid the hut.
The jeep drove away after they got out, and Erinne waited for it to be far enough before turning toward the hut's door again. She pulled out a card and taped it to a small black box on the door, which made it slowly open. She turned towards Mark, and she seemed a bit surprised after taking a look at him. Even if Erinne was famous for hiding her feeling and keeping a neutral face, she wasn't at Ava's level, and sometimes some feelings slipped out.
'It seems she expected me to be surprised by the opening appearing out of nowhere. '
Mark didn't plan to make himself appear clueless or like the urban boy visiting the town. He was curious about that Organization of theirs, as even if he had heard about cloaking technology, he had never encountered one like that. He was a particular case, even if he could easily see through it.
Erinne and Mark entered the hut's entrance, which led to a pair of stairs leading underground. It didn't take long to reach the last step of those stairs, and they made it to a vast hall. It looked to be the size of a stadium, if not bigger, which really surprised Mark, as it wouldn't be that easy to make it without someone noticing. A dozen people were moving around, everyone wearing the same uniform, which had the icon of the Bellot's company at the left chest side. It differed from the one that Rubes and Erinne wore, as what the two wore was close to what high salaries employees of a famous company would wear. In contrast, the people here wore something closer to a unified uniform you would expect a secret organization to wear.
Mark continued following Erinne as they passed by many stations that had many interesting things. There was a garage area with different vehicles, where people trained in shooting different guns, most of them laser guns, and some other training areas. People seemed to use various machines to help them fight, with most being some kind of robotic armor or piece of armor, like just a mechanical gauntlet that clearly increased their physical power.
Erinne led Mark into what was clearly a laboratory, as there were people with lab coats, a sign that they should be part of the research unit of this Organization. A quiet young man, probably in his mid-twenties, with a lap coat, made his way towards them when he saw them enter the room.
"Miss Erinne, to what do I owe the honor of your visit? "the man said.
"Hm… I just brought you our newest recruit to get debriefed and tested. You should have received your orders already about it. "
The man checked a tablet he was holding and seemed to quickly find what Erinne was talking about.
"Understood, my lady, "he said as he bowed.
As he said that, Mark noticed a look of disgust towards that person from Erinne, but it didn't last long as he hid it quickly. She then turned and left the room, saying nothing more as she finished her task.
"Claire. Get over here, "the young researcher shouted, and soon a woman made her way toward him.
"Yes, mister Alexander? What do you need me for? "
Alexander just typed something on his tablet as a notification sound came from the tablet of this female researcher. She had it on her side on what looked like a holster designed for one to put these devices.
"Get this person to the training ground and make sure he got debriefed. It seems like he needs to be tested about what department to get into, too. "
It surprised Mark that this youngster was giving orders, but he wasn't unfamiliar with young geniuses. Although Claire, the female researcher, wasn't that old, in her mid-thirties, age wasn't always a factor in this situation.
"Shouldn't we test him for our department, then? The report says that he shows some special abilities in machine manipulation. "
Mark was curious about that report she mentioned, but he could detect that the security of those tablets was more than what he could handle. That was some other benefit he had learned by combining his <Beginner Hacking> and <Minor Energy Manipulation>, as he could tell if something he had a high chance of breaching a security system undetectable without actually trying to do so. Of course, it was a rough estimation, and his chances of succeeding without being detected could be more significant, but he didn't want to risk it.
"Him? Joining my department? If you have time to make jokes, Claire, then you should have time to finish the task I gave you almost a week ago," Alexander said in a tone Mark was very familiar with —- pure arrogance.
Mark said nothing, as he didn't mind that person's opinion. After all, it was better that they wouldn't know much about his <Beginner Hacking> Skill, as he was planning to use it to gather information from them in secret. But to do so, he needed to raise its level, as he could feel that everything was beyond his Skill's capability.
'Hopefully, at the upper parts of Master State, I could do so. Otherwise will have to wait until after I reach the C-Tier. At that point, even if Ava was once a transmigrator, she shouldn't have passed the limitations of this place. '
Earth wasn't one of the main Realms, but it was one under many restrictions. After all, it was the only place where only people lower than D-Tier power could live, while everyone else was restricted or even rejected at some point. Mark still wasn't sure why this was the case, but from his understanding, it was impossible for something with the capabilities of the D-Tier to stay as part of this Realm.
He wondered what would happen when he reached the C-Tier, as Truck-kun hadn't mentioned it. He also wasn't aware of how changing one's Tier worked, other than the first step was reaching the max level of the current Tier. But still, he was fast from fulfilling that step.
He followed Claire toward one of the training grounds, an open area with different dummies and people testing various weapons.
"Look who decided to leave their cave. Did your owner send you to buy his milk? The general store is the other way. "
The person making those comments was a man in full robotic armor, only missing his helmet under his left arm.
"I am just here on orders from above. This person must be tested to see where he is compatible with joining. "
The man turned his gaze from Claire towards Mark and kept checking every part of him.
"That is indeed a rare sight. For the higher to not know exactly where to put this person, either he is a jack of all trades or useless at everything. Although I doubt, they would let a person with the latter description here. Come on then, follow me. I have the perfect test for you. "
Mark followed him and made it in front of one of the dummies. This one had a monitor on them and a target at its chest level.
"Punch this one. Our department is the combat department, so we don't like weaklings around. So let's see how much you can use those muscles of yours. "
Mark could tell that this person was looking down at him since Mark didn't seem like one with too much power in him. But Mark was ready to prove them wrong as he prepared his punching stance and made a thin layer of Trucki surround his fist.
The layer was thin enough so that it wouldn't be noticeable unless one paid very close attention to mark's fist. And as the punch connected with the dummy, Mark released the Trucki used for the shell to be pushed towards the dummy for extra effect.
A number started forming on the monitor as it kept increasing. First, it started to be three digits, but soon enough, it reached four digits, and a bit after that, it reached five digits and slowed down.
The last result was 10216, and as the machine showed the result, silence filled the room. However, Mark could also see another number that appeared under his number, which seemed to be a high score he beat.
The score was 3450.