CH 10: Examination

In the large bedroom of a luxurious inn, Rylen expressionlessly glanced at two figures covered in black, whipsy tendrils.

Once the tendrils receded into him, a familiar surge of power accompanied them. The two demons were Base Ascedants, so Rylen gained a good margin of strength from them. But the progress toward Transcendant stage was still very far away.

"Bloodlust…" Rylen muttered to himself. "I'm not really sure how to control it."

As Rylen scanned the two succubi's memories, his eyes widened in surprise.

"It seems these two were connected to some powerful people. The Armana Clan looks interesting."

Rylen turned to the door and as he walked toward it, his appearance morphed until he took the shape of a certain violet-haired demon.

[AN: There will be no gender-bender in this story.]

He grabbed the door and poked his head out. "Arnold, Dante, can you come here for a sec?" Rylen asked in Rayla's seductive voice.

The two incubi standing guard outside the room hurriedly obeyed the call and kneeled in front of Rylen, now Rayla, with their heads down.

"What may you request of us, Lady Armana," said the incubus to the left, known as Arnold.

The fake Rayla's lips curved into a demonic smile. "I want your lives."

The two guards, feeling a sense of foreboding glanced up and met the eyes of a pitch-black figure with glowing amethyst eyes. Their faces paled in horror and they reached for their hidden weapons.

But, before they could retaliate, two black tendrils whipped out from the bottom of the figure's cloak of darkness and severed their heads.

*Thud*

*Thud*

The tendrils immediately covered their bodies and they were gone within seconds.

Rylen's fluctuating cloak shrunk and submerged underneath his skin. He thought of his new skills and the blank wall of the hallway in front of him began to be carved with words.

—

Name: Rylen Aptera

Age: 22

Titles: Heir to the Abyss, Lord of Apocalypse

{STATS}

Body: B

Mind: S

Essence: B-

Shroud: SS+

Power Grade: S-

Potential: ???

Stage: Ascendant

{SKILLS}

Essence Skills:

{Corrupted Enhance (Tier III)}

{Corrupted Inquiry (Tier III)}

{Corrupted Fire Conjuration (Tier I)}

{Corrupted Water Conjuration (Tier I)}

{Corrupted Healing (Tier I)}

{Corrupted Area of Effect Enhance (Tier I)}

{Corrupted Illusions (Tier II) (NEW)}

Shroud Skills:

{Touch of the Abyss}

{Harvest}

{Abyssal Storage (Current Limit: 1000 square meters)}

{BLOODLINE}

Human (Ascendant)

Elf (Awakened)

Beastkin - Wolf (Awakened)

Runic Avatar (Awakened)

High Succubus (Ascendant) (NEW) - Proficiency in Illusion and Mind skills increased by 200%

->{Corrupted Lustfull Aroma (NEW): Emit a potent mist that makes targets lust toward the user.}

->{Corrupted Charm (NEW): Once the target makes eye contact with the user, they will be induced into a highly suggestive state of mind.}

Incubus (Ascendant) (NEW) - Increased charm toward the opposite sex increased by 100%

->{Corrupted Mind Cage (NEW): Take control of the mind of a target that has successfully been charmed by the user (Success rate: 25%).}

—

"Not very useful, but I'll keep them just in case," Rylen said to himself as he went through his new gains.

After reviewing everything completely, Rylen walked back into the room with the giant king-sized bed and rested for the night.

…

Two days passed and Rylen glanced up at a large coliseum structure that had a large crowd gathered at the entrance. The bi-annual application exam of Guidance was very popular to watch. Every examination could be watched by the public, so it was tradition for everyone to gather at the coliseum and celebrate.

Once he arrived at the front of the crowd at the entrance, Rylen walked up to a soldier.

"I'm here to participate in the exam," Rylen said, handing the soldier his stamped papers.

The soldier was surprised by Rylen's looks for a moment but he quickly composed himself and checked the documents. "You're good. Just head to the left and you'll see another soldier. He'll send you to the waiting area for exam participants."

"Great, thanks."

Rylen took his papers and headed to the soldier the previous one had pointed out. This soldier guided him into the coliseum where many men and women of different races were sitting and talking with each other.

"Wait here, they will call your name when it's your turn," the soldier said.

Rylen nodded and took an empty seat on a bench.

"What's up man, you ready for the examination?"

Rylen looked to his left on the bench and saw a smiling boy with dirty blonde hair and cheap leather armor. He was holding a cheap sword in a leather sheath that seemed to scream poor.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Rylen responded in a friendly manner. "I can't wait to show everyone what I've got."

The boy's smile broadened even further at Rylen's proud words. "Me too! I'm finally old enough to try out! I've been training for years just for this moment!"

"Don't overestimate yourself, kid," said a large man with an unkempt beard and weary eyes.

The boy looked at the man with an unpleased expression, his smile fading. "What do you mean?"

The large man only looked at the boy with pity. "These examinations are only a formality at this point. They don't let anyone join."

The boy frowned. "They don't let anyone join? Then what's the point of the examination?"

"A long time ago, Flourant was short on Guidance agents, so they started up these examinations to get more people to join. But now, it's only a tradition to gather some money through betting. Everyone here only participates to garner some reputation. If you last a good amount of time against the proctor, then you can get your name out there and pick up jobs from people according to your strength."

Rylen stayed silent. The boy on the other hand lost the excitement in his eyes.

"So I can't join Guidance if I do good?" He asked, looking at the ground with an empty expression.

The man patted the boy's shoulder to comfort him. "Sorry kid. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. They don't really publicize this information, so a lot of kids come here to join but are surprised when they find out the truth. Don't feel too bad. If you do good enough, you can get hired to do jobs around the city."

The boy slowly nodded. "Thank you for letting me know, sir."

The man sighed and left the boy to his thoughts.

Rylen's gaze remained on the boy for a few seconds before leaving him and analyzing the rest of the combatants in the waiting room.

As he was looking around, a soldier came into the room from the stage side of the coliseum.

"Examinees!" The soldier shouted, catching the attention of everyone in the room. "Rylee Coball, you're up first!"

A thin woman with short brown hair and leather armor stood up at the back of the room and followed the soldier out of the waiting area.

The room livened up and many people cheered on the girl. Everyone was excited for the exam.

…

Several hours later, only a quarter of the room was left. The boy next to Rylen had long been called out to the stadium.

A loud cheer came from outside in the coliseum and a few minutes later, the soldier came back into the waiting room to call another examinee.

"Rylen Aptera! You're up!" He called.

Rylen stood up and followed the man down the hall out into the center of the coliseum.

*ROOAAR*

The light made Rylen squint his eyes and the roar of tens of thousands greeted him as he emerged from the hall.

"This way."

The soldier guided him to the steps of the stage and Rylen climbed them calmly.

As he reached the top of the steps, Rylen glanced across the stage and met eyes with a tall elven woman with long, silver hair and pristine silver armor with golden lining. Her piercing eyes were a striking azure and her demeanor was of an experienced warrior.

Rylen used his skill {Corrupted Inquiry} that he had gained on Earth, providing him with the basic information of the woman in front of him.

—

Name: Yaereene Shamys

Sex: Woman

Age: 157

Race: High Elf

Stage: Ascendant (Power Grade: B)

Affiliation: Guidance Lieutenant, 2nd daughter of the Shamys Clan

Affinity: Swordsmanship, Nature, Light

—

The regular Inquiry skill that most agents of Guidance received upon joining was useless against anyone above the Awakened stage because the skill could be resisted very easily. But with the corrupted version of the skill, Rylen could bypass the defenses people had against it because it took the properties of the abyssal shroud. He wasn't sure what the limit of the skill was since he hadn't seen anyone above the Ascendant stage yet but he was confident he could view the information of at least a Transcendant stage without being detected.

Back to the stage, Rylen advanced until he was a good distance from the proctor of the exam, Yaereene. Once he stopped, the woman unsheathed her sword, a brilliant silver blade with golden runes and a faint blue hue around it.

'Isn't this a little overkill?' Rylen thought. 'I didn't see any Ascendants in the waiting area, so why does she have such strong equipment?'

"Are you ready for the examination, Rylen Aptera?" Asked the elven women.

Rylen was brought out of his thoughts by her question. Water seeped out of his hands and formed into a dense sword. He swung the sword a few times, leaving slashes in the ground beneath him as bursts of water blades were flung from it. Pleased with his prototype, Rylen looked at Yaereene and nodded.

Yaereene was surprised by the man's power and control. She wasn't paying very much attention when he arrived but now her interest was piqued. She had never faced an Ascendant stage being in the exam before, so she questioned his reasons for being here. Usually, it was only upstart mercenaries and adventurers who participated to raise their reputation, so an Ascendant stage being, who had a decent amount of power in Exousia, was a rarity.

"I won't hold back. Prepare yourself, Aptera," Yaereene said as she got into a stance.

Rylen smirked. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

*BOOM*

Across the stage, the stone deformed as Yaereene disappeared from her position.

*CLANG*

Rylen casually put his sword behind him and intercepted the elf's attack. The power behind the slash caused a shockwave to spread throughout the stadium. At the two fighters' strength, the audience went silent in awe.

"Hopefully that's not all you've got," Rylen said with a smirk.

"Tch."

Yaeleene retreated away from Rylen and began to prepare for the next bout. The faint blue aura surrounding her sword grew stronger, blinding many people in the audience. This wasn't everything, however, as the blade beneath the aura started to emit a golden light around the edge.

Rylen, who had turned to face the woman, viewed the sword with interest. But he quickly swung his sword of dense water before she could finish her preparations.

*SWISH*

A large crescent of high-pressure water flew toward Yaeleene with an almost imperceptible speed.

As the elf watched the incoming blade of water, she only smiled in return.

*SHING*

Yaeleene swung her blue and gold sword and the crescent of water was broken in two and sent behind her.

*BOOM*

A barrier of essence blocked the remnants of Rylen's attack, protecting the audience.

Rylen wasn't surprised by Yaeleene's defense. He raised his free hand and a massive ball of flames emerged and launched toward the elven woman.

Yaeleene was momentarily surprised by the firepower behind the conjuration but quickly swung her sword again. But before it could cut through the attack like before, the fireball detonated right in front of her.

*BOOM*

Rylen lowered his hand and smirked.

Rubble flew everywhere from the explosion, causing a massive crater to form on the stage.

As the smoke cleared, Yaeleene was revealed at the center of the crater. A golden barrier around her crumbled to pieces and she was breathing heavily. Despite the sudden attack, she quickly formed a barrier around her at the last moment and was able to avoid any injuries. However, the barrier caused her to use a lot of her power due to the strength of the explosion.

"Very good," Rylen said as he reached the edge of the crater and looked down at Yaeleene who was still recovering. "I didn't expect you to properly defend against that. But you wouldn't be this strong if you didn't have a good head on your shoulders."

Yaeleene looked up at the man and scowled. She felt he was looking down on her… In the figurative sense…

"You're capable, Aptera," Yaeleene said, not letting her anger get ahold of her. "But don't count me out just yet."

*BOOM*

Yaeleene took a deep breath and held her sword above her head. The blue aura around her sword exploded in size, towering above her, eventually reaching 10 meters in height.

Rylen could sense the power in the blue sword made out of aura. His lips rose in a grin that threatened to tear his cheek muscles.

"That's what I'm talking about," he said. "I'll reciprocate the gesture."

Rylen also raised his sword of water above him.

*BOOM*

A massive wave of water shot out from his hands upward, into the air. Once the water reached its peak it stopped and coalesced into a sword of similar shape as Yaeleene's but double the size.

Yaeleene, who saw the absurd strength in Rylen's massive sword, couldn't help but laugh at herself.

'What kind of monster is this guy? He copied my technique without batting an eye…'

"Don't die, miss examiner," Rylen said with his trademark smirk.

The two massive swords began to fall to their respective targets. Each of them knew who would triumph but they still carried out their attacks.

*BOOOOOM*

A massive blast of water and blue aura made the audience cover their eyes. Even the shockwave of the collision threatened to break the barrier protecting the audience.

The waves crashed against the barrier and flooded the stage. But soon, a whirlpool formed and sucked all the water to a single point. At the center of this whirlpool stood a man with dark black hair and brilliant amethyst eyes that shone with dominance.

As the bright light of blue aura faded and the audience opened their eyes, they saw the aftermath of the two attacks. The crater on one side of the stage had changed into a larger crater at the very center. Rylen stood next to the body of a heavily injured elven woman with broken silver armor and a chipped sword.

The audience gasped in shock. The man had really beat her! The proctor who seemed undefeatable was beaten in only a few exchanges and that too by a man who seemed to be on the same level of power! Just who was he?

Down on the stage, Rylen looked down at the unconscious elf. He reached out toward her and a golden light spread from his hands toward her body.

Before the healers could even reach the stage, Rylen had already cast a healing spell. But the speed of Vaereene's recovery was remarkable! All the cuts and bruises along her pearly-white skin healed at a visible rate and just after a minute, she was in perfect condition.

Soon, her eyes fluttered open and she glanced around until she met Rylen's eyes. Those violet eyes pierced through her soul. She was frozen as she gazed into his orbs of amethyst.

*Ahem*

Rylen cleared his throat and Vaereene was pulled out of her stupor. She sat up and noticed that she felt fine.

"I'm healed?" She asked herself in confusion.

"Sorry about that," Rylen said as he scratched his head in embarrassment. "I kind of went overboard with my attack, so I healed you to apologize."

Yaereene looked at Rylen with her mouth agape. "You know how to heal? Aren't you a combatant?"

Rylen chuckled. "You're looking at a man of many talents."

Yaereene could only stare at Rylen like he was crazy.

"So… Did I pass?" Rylen asked.

At his question, Yaeleene returned to her senses and thought to herself. Even though the exam was only a tradition and they didn't let the participants join, the man had defeated her. If that wasn't enough for him to join, then what was?

"You pass."

Rylen pumped his fist in excitement. "Yes! Thank you, ma'am! I'll be in your care from now on."

Yaereene could only stare at Rylen, bewildered by his actions.

'Is this man crazy?'