Chapter 119 Mental evaluation [ 4 ]

-Asher Frostblade's point of view.

"Next."

Whenever the cadets finished the two tests, some were in good condition, while others used to scream as if they were suffering intensely. Some were bleeding from their ears and nose, as if their mental state had reached the limit of their capabilities.

Among the cadets, most of them scored 35/100, 23/100, 15/100.

It was really hard to see these evaluations. At the moment, none of Asher's friends had taken the assessment, but they seemed nervous.

Of course.

No one knew exactly what they would see once they touched the pillar and plunged into painful memories, and, worst of all, the mental torture that would make them endure as much pain as possible.

As painful as it was to watch the others leave the training section, it seemed that each cadet had suffered too much.

Asher nervously watched everything that had happened.

"What will I actually see?"

"It could be something that's been in my head for a while."

It was possible.

If memories suddenly appeared, even if they were false, they could affect Asher.

Maybe not the other cadets, but the chances in Asher's case were pretty high.

"It's not one hundred percent certain, though."

Of course, even if it wasn't a sure thing, it had to do with Asher's current state, and it could be quite difficult.

"It's best not to think about it too much."

Asher then tried to focus his thoughts.

He looked to the front, where a cadet was already in the second part of the evaluation. After this cadet finished, it would be Asher's turn.

And although the others were scoring quite low, this lightened Asher's mood a bit.

He knew he wouldn't be the only one with a low score, and, truth be told, Asher would probably score a 0/100, or at least a five.

Minimally, a single point at least.

It was then...

"Harg..."

The cadet groaned in pain as beads of sweat fell from all over his body and filled the floor. At that moment, drops of blood came out of his nose and ears at the same time.

As the cadet shouted.

"Hahahahaha..."

A quick scream and then....

Plank.

The cadet collapsed on the ground with his eyes open, staring into nothingness.

It was a creepy scene for many, including Asher.

This cadet...was the mentally weakest.

However, he easily passed the first part. So what memories did he see in that first part?

But, with the second part being the one about enduring pain, it was different for the cadet.

Then, Oriana appeared before the cadet passed out on the floor and shouted loudly:

"Quick, take the cadet to the medical section!"

She continued after the cadet was taken away.

"8/100 points. He endured the first part, but not the second."

That was his final conclusion.

After two people in white robes took the cadet away, it was Asher's turn.

He swallowed saliva nervously as cold sweat poured from his forehead. His body was drenched in cold sweat as his hands trembled slightly, unnoticed by anyone except for the professors, of course.

Lucas and Oriana looked at each other in that instant, as Asher was ready to put his hands on the pillar.

Oriana then approached.

"You must place your hand on the pillar and let your mana come out, just a little, and turn off your thoughts. Close your eyes."

"Remember, this is a piece of advice: do not trust or believe anything you see in the false memories the pillar shows you. If you fall and pass out, it will be more than enough. It is not mandatory to continue."

"I understand."

Asher shot a quick glance at Oriana as he swallowed saliva again.

His thoughts were scrambled.

However, he placed his hand on the pillar, closed his eyes and tried to block out all his thoughts.

"Haa..."

He sighed and let all the air out of his lungs as his thoughts were instantly blocked. He concentrated and put everything aside, paying attention only to the sensation of touching the pillar.

His mind remained as serene and peaceful as possible as his eyes closed completely.

"Whatever I see, it's all fake," he said to himself as he let his mana out through both hands touching the pillar.

Suddenly, a light came out of the pillar, leaving all his thoughts black, and suddenly....

"Where am I?"

He had stepped into some false memories.

***

-Scene change.

-Oriana Mengral's point of view.

Although Oriana made her words clear to Asher, he continued and poured some mana into the pillar. Then, a small light came out of the pillar, while Asher stood still.

In this situation, one should not strictly touch the cadet once the pillar gives him false memories that are not real, and are simply memories created from the cadet's past or memories that have nothing to do with him.

Oriana kept full attention on Asher as he was immersed in the memories the pillar gave him.

"I hope it's not that bad."

Even though she was nervous and might lose Asher over this stupid evaluation, still no cadet was supposed to drop out of the evaluation. Of course, if you already did the first part of the last evaluation and don't want to go to the second part, then there won't be any problem.

First of all, because this evaluation is difficult and quite complicated to pass. No one has ever achieved a perfect score. No one in history.

Memories that give you endless painful moments, even knowing that they are false, can not be easily overcome.

The second challenge, which is to endure intense mental pain, is the most difficult and the one that no one has overcome at least at level 7.

As had been explained, the second part of the assessment was divided from level 1 to level 10, with level 10 being where you believe there is pain... Not exactly pain, but experiencing first hand what you feel when you die.

Level 10 is experiencing death itself. However, level 7 is the limit of pain that people can endure. It is really impossible to reach level 8, let alone reach level 10; it is simply impossible. The pains are really unbearable.

No matter how strong your mind is, level 10 is impossible to overcome. If you get through it, then you will be the person with the mentality so strong that you are not even afraid of death itself and face it head on.

Because of this Oriana was quite worried.

"I might lose my disciple."

It was quite certain: not physically she would lose him, but mentally, and he would become a completely different person, a crazy psychopath or, worse, someone without rationality.

"Harg..."

It was then that Oriana opened her eyes. Asher's body trembled slightly, sweat falling in large beads as he began to bleed from his nose alone. Oriana looked at him, however.

"He's crying."

Asher was crying. Drops poured from his closed eyes as his face crumpled into a sad expression, as if he was looking at a very cruel past.

"What exactly are you looking at, what is your past, Asher?"

Oriana didn't know, but she shouted loudly.

"Bring in the healers and have them stand by at any moment!"

Her words were quickly heeded, and in an instant two men in white robes arrived. They were ready for any eventuality.

Meanwhile, the cadets began to murmur and looked at Asher unblinkingly.

***

-Change of scene.

-Asher Frostblade's point of view.

"Where am I..."

Asher looked around a room. However, he quickly remembered this and then his whole body shook strongly.

This room... He knew perfectly well where he was and what house he was in.

"The... My parents' house."

It was a memory from his past, before he was abandoned in the orphanage and by his parents. He was looking at some fake memories that recreated his most painful past, because this was the day his parents abandoned him.

It was the most painful day Asher could never get over.

"Why?"

Why did the pillar give him these memories he really didn't want to see? It had to be the worst of the worst. Though false, the memories were almost identical to what Asher remembered. Although he still saw one difference: being vividly in this memory was simply too painful for him.

The day his parents had abandoned him, the day he suffered even more than the tortures in the assassin organization, this memory was an unbearable pain.

But...

Clank.

Asher was lying on a bed. According to him, he must have been five years old at the time, having just turned five. He was lying on a rather large bed, and as he knew, this was his parents' room, where he used to rest.

However, when the doors opened, he saw the two people entering. Her heart pounded so hard that her mind clouded over as her whole body trembled uncontrollably.

Her emotions came to the surface, tears welled up as her gaze fixed on the two people who entered. However, even though he knew who they were, their faces were blurry, as if they were like this on purpose.

He couldn't even see his parents, even though they had abandoned him. He could not see the faces of his mother and father, who were just a few steps away from him.

It was both upsetting and too painful for his mind.

Seeing his parents again, but not being able to see their faces because they were blurred, was unbearable.

Asher was afraid.

He was sad.

He was shaking.

His mind was foggy.

His face was pale and his body was shaking hard.

Tears kept flowing from his eyes.

Her heart was pounding harder than ever.

He was choking and could barely see the two people in front of him.

But then his chest caved in after hearing the following words.

"Oh, dear, our son looks frightened."

"He must have had a bad dream."

"Well, if so, then... come to Mommy, my dear son Asher."

I just wanted to get out of here.

I wanted to get out of this memory that I couldn't bear.

Every second that passed was unbearable as he watched this memory.

Slowly, he began to lose consciousness.

Even though it was a false memory, this was as much as he could take.

There was no way.

This was too much for him.

Too much to see again the parents who had abandoned him, the parents who made his life a mess and led him to die at such a young age.

He couldn't be here anymore.

It was simply too hard to see his parents in front of him.

But when he heard their voices...

That was what pushed him over the edge, making him lose consciousness and unable to stay there anymore.

However, despite wanting to get out, he could not.

According to the explanations, the only way to end those memories was to endure them to the limit.

If you endure them to the end of the memory, you will come out immediately.

If you don't endure them, then you will also get out, as your mentality will have reached the limit of what you can endure.

But Asher couldn't even stay in that memory for a single minute.

He couldn't.

And he wanted to get out of that memory already, which was too much for him.

It was better to go to the second part of the evaluation and endure the intense pain than to look at those memories.

For Asher, it was better to endure the pain than to face those memories.

No matter what it was, anything would be better than continuing to look at those memories.

But...

"That's too bad."

Asher looked at his mother.

"You're right," he added as he looked at his father.

Somehow, Asher managed to see half of his parents' faces for a second.

He saw them.

"Mom... Dad... why are you laughing?"

It wasn't a smile of proud, happy parents, or anything that interpreted happiness.

It was a smirk, as if they were happy to see their own son and leave him.

However, it was the last thing Asher saw before he closed his eyes and came back to reality.

Plank.

He fell backwards as Oriana's voice echoed, and in that instant, his eyes closed.

This was all too much for him, and so Asher was unable to continue with the evaluation.

Cadet Asher Frostblade's final score: 0/100 points...