Experiment

Marina furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. It's not that she didn't expect him to see through that, but why was he bringing it up now? Her brows smoothened as she assessed all the information and realized the crux of the matter.

"You saw the rankings." She stated. Raul looked away guiltily at her assertion, causing her to roll her eyes. She didn't understand what it was with these two. They acted like it was some sort of betrayal to have any doubt in Tai's abilities.

Though she hadn't been outside since waking up, it wasn't hard for her to imagine the changes going on. The Elite Exams should've started yesterday, and all the participants became unable to communicate with the outside world. This meant the value of the information on the participants dropped immensely as it no longer had any chance of influencing the results. Of course, that didn't mean the informants were done with it.

Far from it, the information merely switched to its second stage of life, mass distribution. The Elite Exams were the highlights of any exam. Though they were rarely open to public viewing, the city would always buzz about it.

Bars, gambling dens, shops, even storytellers would acquire the information and start making moves based on it. The town would be flooded with legends and games based on the most promising contestants.

Since these two can never sit still, Marina correctly deduced they saw the rankings somewhere and had their confidence shaken by Tai's low placement on it. A natural reaction for people seeing the wider world for the first time, but these two clearly felt guilty about it.

Marina glanced over at Ellen to ensure she was still asleep. Unsatisfied with just that, she lightly prodded her with her Spirit Sense to make absolutely certain. She didn't mind telling Raul the truth, but Ellen was another story. There were still two days to sign up for the second exam and she didn't want the pressure dropping from Ellen's shoulders.

Seeing that she was well and truly asleep, Marina turned back to Raul. "You're underestimating that man a bit too much."

"Eh?" Raul exclaimed in surprise, not expecting that response.

"You seem to find his moniker funny, but only those who stand out in a certain way get lasting monikers." Monikers were fairly rare among youths. Even in this Elite Exam, only twenty had official monikers.

It couldn't be helped. There were simply too many geniuses in the world, few could leave a lasting impression. It took a rare physique, constructing a pseudo-domain two realms early, or an unusually different combat style to attract attention from those who mattered.

"That said, there's no way to really predict an Elite Exam. They change too much based on the Head Proctor." She told him honestly. "However, that guy has as good a chance as anybody passing. Frankly, he's a monster." She gave her true assessment of Tai's abilities.

There was more she left unsaid, like why a Duke level House like the Norn's would pay any attention to a Viscount House like the Vault's.

"So it's like that." Raul's body relaxed. Though he'd never admit it without sarcasm, he looked up to Tai immensely. He couldn't help feeling stifled after finding out his older brother was only ranked around a thousand.

"Man, those brokers are really scamming people. I feel sorry for those poor smucks placing bets." Raul grumbled, annoyed at the amount of worry he'd wasted.

Another man might think of taking advantage of the opportunity to place a big bet on Tai, but Raul didn't really have a clear concept of the value of money. He knew it was valuable of course, but he'd never suffered when he lost it and could always get more by asking. It was more like a game prop to him than anything else.

"It's too soon for you to be worrying about others anyway." She chastised. "What you need to focus on is gaining real strength. I'm warning you from now, I'm revoking your leaving privileges if you slacked off at all." She said before leaving the room.

"Wha? Marina, hey wait!" Raul chased after her in a cold sweat. He didn't want to spend days locked inside again.

The two went to Marina's alchemy room since it was the most reinforced area in the hotel. There Raul showed the results of his practice over the last couple weeks.

The exercises she gave him to work on in this time weren't heavy, as they couldn't risk injury so close to the exam, but they were still important. They focused on Qi control and efficiency.

She hoped better control would help him when he triggered Resonance, as well as minimize the risks of using Attribute Manipulation. Yet she always focused on efficiency as the most important aspect of his training.

Raul's Qi stores were large due to his solid foundation, but she knew it didn't mean much without her nearby. His inability to produce Essence Qi would only grow to be a greater hindrance as their realms increased. He NEEDED to master efficiency if he was ever going to have some autonomy.

"Pretty good, right?" Raul grinned confidently after letting the Qi he used for the exercises dissipate. He truly hadn't skimped on any of his work.

Raul was never lazy to begin with. His father instilled the value of hard work in him from when he was young, and he'd never forgotten it. Even when he picked up various hobbies to alleviate the negative feelings from the disappointing results of his labors, he never stopped laboring. As for Marina's reaction to his efforts…

'Damn geniuses!' She cursed internally while resisting the urge to hit his smug face. What was she supposed to say? The amount of progress he made in a few weeks was more than most would make in months. When she thought about how long it took her to gain the level of control and efficiency he just demonstrated, she felt a powerful urge to cause harm.

"Um, Marina?" Raul fidgeted nervously. Her long silence was starting to crack his confidence, and a dangerous light kept flickering in her eyes.

"Not bad." She said flatly while calming herself. It's fine. This is fine. These results are to be expected of the one she selected. She's calm. Everything is on track.

Raul's eyes lit up at her words as a feeling of elation came over him. Marina used to be more honest when he did well, but she'd started holding back the praise at some point. Even so, Raul could still tell a certain extent of what she truly thought.

His expression further irked her as she felt seen through. She hated that feeling of being unable to hide anything. She didn't even mind giving compliments for good work, it's just his habit of getting carried away anytime she did was annoying.

"I'll give you some more Qi intensive exercises later since I've recovered, but for now, come here." She decided to move on and run the experiment. Her mood immediately calmed as she looked forward to the results.

"Is this gonna hurt?" Raul asked as he sat in front of her.

"No, it should be good for you." She put her hands on his back.

"I see." He nodded simply. "What do I have to do?"

"Nothing really. I'm pretty much just passing Qi to you like usual." She told him before closing her eyes. "Ah." Her eyes shot back open as something occurred to her. "I almost forgot. If this works then you'll likely be asleep for a full day, so you should cancel any plans you have."

Raul's eyes also shot open upon hearing that. He didn't really have any plans for the day as he was more of a play by the ear fellow, but hearing that he'd be unconscious for a day was distressing. "What? Sorry, could you elaborate a bit?" He asked while turning to her.

"Nope. I'm not exactly sure how this works-or if it even works, so I can't explain it either." She said honestly.

"Damn." He groaned. This was one aspect Marina liked about Raul's innate talent, she never had to spend extra effort to convince him when she was telling the truth. "Go on." He sighed.

They both trembled as the connection was formed and Marina started refilling Raul's supply. One minute passed. Then five. Fifteen. Thirty. Nothing happened for the longest time.

Raul even wondered if it'd failed. An entire hour went by with nothing happening, then.

Shine!

Marina's ring started glowing with an ominous red light, causing it to look like a grinning Oni. Marina's eyes zeroed in on it instantly. She'd never looked away from her finger in this hour, not even once.

"Got you."