Confirmation & Target!

[ You just need to sit down on the Self-Reliance throne and close your eyes while thinking about departure from the palace and you can get out. ]

"Oh, what about returning here, do I have to wait for another sound that would result from a special happening like this time?" Chrome didn't forget to ask the important question about entering the Self-Reliance Palace once more, as his ideas about improving his Exos rating daily would be easily crushed if he could only do it on special occasions…

[ Negative, just like how you are supposed to use [Basic Lightning] by thinking about it, you just need to think about self-reliance to enter the palace once more. ]

"Then do I have to enter here to use anything inside the palace?" Chrome questioned once more.

[ Negative, while most of the things you can do inside the Self-Reliance Palace do need to be done by you, you can still use some partial abilities while still outside, such as using the 'Self Assessment & Modification Scroll��� in your mind just by thinking about it deeply, but it's only limited to viewing at this point of time. ]

"... What about this place then, does it physically exist, or am I just acting through my conscious that is here while my body is unconscious outside?" Chrome finally blurted out the question that was weighing on his mind the most which he kept for the end, in case the answer was more disappointing than expected…

[ Whether the 'Self-Reliance Palace' exists or not isn't a matter of fact that can be answered by yes or no, so I can't provide an answer for that, however, what I can say for sure is that your corporeal body does exist inside the palace at the moment. ]

'This can also be a great trump card… I should probably stop underestimating the limits of this strange ability…'

"Alright then, see you later." after getting all the answers to his questions, Chrome decided to leave the palace at last.

The floating quill wrote nothing in response as Chrome calmy stepped towards the throne and sat down, before getting caught in a strange wave of emotions as if he was actually some sort of a lord who had just taken his rightful place, but it was soon disappeared as if it hasn't happened from the very start…

[ Palace Lord is leaving the Self-Reliance Branch Palace. ]

The same mechanical voice emerged on Chrome's head after he closed his eyes, which he opened to find himself back to the same place he was standing at, in the same standing position as well…

'Time to test it then…'

As soon as Chrome left the palace room, the first thing that came to his mind was to begin confirming the reality of everything he went through, starting with the simplest confirmation, the mind one.

_____________________

Name: Chrome Blue

Age: 18

Energy Points (EP): 1/12

_____________________

Palace Points:

-------------------

...…

_____________________

'First test, success.'

As scroll thought about the 'Self Assessment & Modification Scroll', it did indeed end up appearing in his mind in a mini yet viewable version, which meant that he could use the 'Self Assessment' part without having to access the palace every single time, of course, that also confirmed the mind perception part of the palace is real.

'Now to the real true test!'

Considering the events and the incomprehensible situations that he won't through the last two days, Chrome understood that it's possible for the mind to experience stuff that isn't real, similar to how people hallucinated after drinking alcohol or intaking drugs, so while he did somewhat come to accept the palace's abilities, he wasn't completely sure about it just yet, which was why he was conducting this last test…

'Lightning, activate, right index finger, use 1 energy point.' this was Chrome's line of thought as he wanted to see physical proof so that he could accept that this palace's ability was truly a reality, well, at least in this strange dream that kept occurring…

That was also the reason why he controlled himself so hard not to test [Basic Lightning] inside the palace as he only had one energy point left, if he did test it inside, then he would have to wait an hour before testing it outside, not to mention that he couldn't just start wasting his energy points mindlessly if he was going to proceed with the new plan of his that started to take place in his mind when he understood the true modification ability of the scroll.

Zzzzzz...

It didn't take more than a few parts of the second as the sound produced by electrical discharge could be heard, as Chrome finally witnessed what he has been waiting for, a small ball of constantly moving electric charges concentrated at the top of his finger, true confirmation that he had truly obtained a useable superpower.

'Fire!'

The small ball of electricity stabilized above Chrome's finger was suddenly fired out as it impacted with the house's wall which was not that far away from Chrome's standing position.

Zap!

The impact was short-lived as it went out with a thud, leaving behind it scorched black marks on the wall as smoke started to rise from the impact point…

'That actually worked!'

Chrome usually wasn't that impulsive as to damage the house instead of trying elsewhere, but it was indeed his inner experimenting nerd that grew too excited from seeing himself cause this supernatural phenomenon, and he wanted to see the limit of his mind control upon it as well as the degree of damage that it could produce.

'This amount of damage with only 1 point of energy…'

While the degree of damage could be considered negligible, as it only managed to slightly burn the paint from the impact, not even causing a fire to start, but it couldn't be recognized as such if one was to remember that it was only caused by 1 point of Exos or what the palace called as energy.

'Let's see…'

Not only that, but it also was a supernatural ability that had no side effects for coming into contact with the electricity itself as it felt like a living friendly ball made of some comfy textile...

'It's not a top tier ability, but with this degree of damage it could easily rival something like 'Generate Electricity' which is at the high end of the offensive abilities chart!'

Gaining a not too restricted ability like that would normally be like hitting the jackpot for someone who had a hard time trying to awaken his special ability, that was even without considering that it was just a side ability of the Self-Reliance Palace that could be improved at the cost of a certain number of Self-Reliance Points!

'If this is the case, then it's worth a try.'

After confirming the truth of what he went through and the fact that while his ability wasn't one of the golden abilities that gave their awakeners instant power and a rocket to the top, it was still an ability that had the potential to do so as long as he spent effort and time towards it. Chrome finally had enough reasons to take on the challenge that he was only contemplating about a few minutes ago.

'Let's give taking the Extra's Academy's examination a try!'

Even though the Extra's Academy's construction was only completed two years ago when it started accepting students, the number of those who graduated from the Academy after studying there for these two years were mostly able to achieve fascinating feats that shocked the whole US or even the whole world only within one month of their graduation!

Thus, it became an unwritten fact that those who wanted to go far in their career as Extras would have to join the Extra's Academy, or else one would have to suffer a bit to climb up the ranks, even some of the new rich 'Extra' families would find it hard to groom an Extra who could rival those that went through the Extra's Academy's grooming…

These facts which were deeply implanted in Chrome's mind by alter Chrome, who was an 'Extra' geek who always followed any news about rising Extras and the current existing rankers, were more than enough to solidify his choice to try the test, not only was it alter Chrome's dream, but it was also a good way for him to enjoy this unknown parallel reality instead of continuing on with being an 'Ordinary' loner…

'While it might be a bit hard for me to get accepted with my Exos rating which is still too low, the main qualification for passing the examination is to have achieved your awakening and obtained a special ability, so it's more than worth a try…' thought Chrome as he started planning out what to do from now on...