Afternoon.
*BEEP*
A clear resounding mechanical voice was produced from the trigger-shaped device that was wired to a small monitor.
As per the usual procedure, after the beeping had ended, the screen of the monitor was then quickly filled with various information and data regarding Irvine's physical stats.
[
Name: Irvine Lang
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Muscle Strength: 25.6
Physical State: Stage-2 Human
Genetic Enhancement: x2
-Stamina
-Flexibility
Genetic Modification: [Blast]
Proficiency Level: 2
...
]
"Thank you." Irvine passingly expressed his gratitude towards the school's Arena staff that had scanned him before letting the next person in line to come forward.
Since the match had wrapped up, the Illusions' team hadn't had anymore chances after that to see off the departing Western Zeta's team before they had to be led towards the scanning room for their General Checkups.
The last time any of the Ravenville's regular players had had the slightest interaction with them was during the lining-up process for the quick closing ceremony of the match.
At that time, Derrick had actually felt rather glad that the other team's players were all having their helmet on instead of publicly displaying their faces.
Truthfully speaking, he hadn't felt too good ever since he'd been affected by the other team's rock bottom morale at the end of that match.
He had felt that if he were to see behind those covers, all that would be displayed would probably just be the other team's despair and enmities towards them being shown in full view.
And he didn't need that.
Thankfully though, the celebratory mood of both the majority of the audience and his teammates after they'd all returned had at least helped him to take his mind off those experience and he could now converse normally without looking like a guilty person.
"Goddamn your growth speed's crazy..."
As he stood together with the group of people that had finished their scans as well, Derrick commented on Irvine while looking at his results that're currently being displayed on the monitor.
"Haha." In response, Irvine only laughed lightly as he brushed it off.
Although the speed of which Irvine's Muscle Strength improved was still scarily fast, it was not to the extent that it was impossible to digest by others.
Not only was Irvine most likely entering his fast growth period right about now, he's also yet to enter the realm of late or peak Stage-2, which meant that his muscle growth would naturally be faster than the current Derrick or Greg who're already at the late and peak Stage-2 themselves respectively.
These two variables combined were exactly what made him rather envious of the current Irvine.
Not only had the man barely entered his fast-growing phase, but he also would be participating in higher-level matches in the near future.
This meant that Irvine's improvement from here on out would be doubly fast, be it in terms of his pure physique or his skills and combat experience.
'...Maybe this is the result of his 'no-life' lifestyle of everyday training...' Derrick pondered to himself in his mind.
Aside from him, there was actually one other person who was more surprised at Irvine's result.
"--What the hell!? Your [Blast] proficiency's level 2 already??" Greg shouted rather indignantly.
He had also obtained the exact same Gene Mod roughly at the same time as Irvine after that License Exam, but he could feel himself still very far away from level 2 proficiency!
And yet the guy in front of him...
.
Unlike the Muscle Strength data of a person that's calculated by their very own stat chip, the Proficiency Level of a person's Gene Mod was something that needed to be remotely updated to one's own ID and chip after he/she had proven his qualifications to enter said level.
However, the procedure in updating this information didn't really require the same level of stringent testing as a License Exam.
All one would need to file for an update was to provide the data from the corresponding testing devices that could be used to measure certain aspects of specific Abilities.
Some devices were as simple as a stopwatch if it was just to test how long [Ghost] user could maintain their phasing form.
While some others were more complex such as the one that could be used to test various aspect of [Blast]'s explosions.
These devices were readily available and also easily accessible in many facilities that supported Battle Arena.
Be it a gym, or a school's Arena facility, as long as an establishment had access to such Ability testing devices, they would be able to help one procure the necessary components to file for an update in their IDs.
Needless to say, a school like Ravenville would also provide such services within their Arena Facility.
"Ah, yeah... I updated it just last week." Irvine replied to Greg.
"How!!?"
"I ask coach Thompson to help measure my--"
"Not that you jerk!! How are you so fast!" Greg started to unfairly throw his tantrum at him.
"...I was wondering about that too. Which type of [Blast] tests did you choose to update the proficiency?" Derrick added his own question into the mix.
For [Blast] specifically, if one wanted to update their proficiency level, they would have to either test their explosion power, their range of air compression, or their control over the explosion's area of effect before passing the required benchmark for said tests.
When either of those three categories had reached the benchmark requirement for level 2 and one had submitted the recorded data as proof, they would then have the proficiency level on their IDs updated accordingly within 24 hours of submission.
Of course, one wasn't really allowed to choose which of the three categories they wanted to pass on first, because legally, they would be required by law to update their proficiency levels as soon as they'd discovered that they pass the threshold on either one of the three.
And in Irvine's case...
"It's the explosion control test." He answered.
Ever since he had reached the basic requirements for using the [Air Pistol] technique with the help of Baron, his control over his [Blast] explosions' directions and shapes had naturally passed the level 2 threshold in terms of its proficiency.
"Oh," Derrick nodded, "Is raising your control easier than raising your explosive power for [Blast]?" He then proceeded to ask Greg beside him with a curious attitude.
Derrick had known for a long time that this friend of his, Greg, had been planning on focusing more on his [Blast]'s power as his future 'build' rather than the other two.
That's because his idol was a pro player who was also well-known for his raw explosive [Blast] power in the Pro League.
"--O, obviously..." *cough*
"I mean-- Control is just a matter of where you aim after all... He, heheh."
"So that's a no then." Derrick quickly cut his friend off before Greg could spout anymore of his self-assuring yet unconvincing words.
"Damn! Just ask Baron if you don't believe me!"
"Baron probably surpasses you on any of the three categories though..." He retorted with a speechless look on his face.
Although Baron might look like a brute, and truly was an offensive type Guard, his skills and techniques could probably put him more on the technician-type players list.
"By the way, what are the categories for your [Shock]'s proficiency again?" This time, Irvine was the one to ask regarding Derrick's Gene Mod Ability.
"There's the electrical voltage, of course. Aside from that..." He subtly put his hand on his chin while looking up and trying to remember, "I think it's the release duration and the activation speed."
"Just like Greg, I'm also focusing on raw power, so it's the volts that I care about the most for my growth."
"I see."
Different abilities would have different categories to judge one's proficiency in them. And these categories didn't always come in threes like [Blast] or [Shock].
There were some Gene Mod Abilities that might only have one category to judge their proficiencies in. And some that had even more than three, such as [Ghost].
"Anyway, upgrading physique is a long-term process, that's why I think it's better to put more focus on familiarizing ourselves with our Abilities and useful moves during this tournament period for a more visible increase in strength." Irvine shared his thought process to the two.
"That makes sense, I think the coaches have said the same thing as well--"
*DING*
Before Derrick could finish his reply, Suddenly a notification sound resounded from Irvine's phone in his pocket.
"Ah, excuse me for a bit."
.
.
Earlier on, some time right after the match had ended, Irvine had actually sent a message to his sister, Althea, to tell her the result of Ravenville's opening match in the Warrior Crown.
He had actually been quite certain that she would be very curious of it since she also had thrown him many questions the moment he'd updated her on Magnolia's practice match last last week.
But unexpectedly for Irvine, this time the girl hadn't directly replied to his message until just now, which in turn had made him raised his eyebrow a few times.
'Knowing that girl's temperament these past weeks, there's no way she didn't check her phone all this while though...'
[Congratulations!]
As soon as he turned to his phone screen, a single word with an exclamation mark was displayed on the mobile device.
"..."
'Congratulations, huh...?' He smiled.
If previously Irvine had been slightly curious as to why his sister hadn't replied until now, the actual reply this time had prompted him to directly call her on her cell.
*tap* *tap*
*BEEEEEEEP--*
The long beeping sounds of a call going through looped for quite some time before eventually,
*click*
[Hello.] A soft and muffled voice resounded from the other end.
"Hey," Irvine replied to the greeting with a slight glee in his tone.
[W, why are you calling?]
"The scores."
[Hn?]
"You're not curious about the scores?" He continued to ask baitingly. This was the one thing that Irvine was certain she would've asked in normal situations.
[Score-- Ahh, yeah... W, what're the scores?]
"Before that, where were you from noon till now?" Irvine slowly lowered his voice with faked curiosity.
[...]
"..."
[...School of course. It's weekday, where else would I be?]
"But they said you weren't there when I call previously."
[W, why are you calling the school!!?] Althea quickly raised her voice in a moment of panic.
If her family member called the school to ask her whereabouts, that alone might call into question her reason for leaving early without telling her family.
"Ah, so you did leave class~"
[I d-- Ah!?] Being the clever girl that she was, it didn't take long for Althea to realize that she had been duped!
"..." Not saying anything, Irvine simply waited for his sister to take her own initiative to respond. His current expression showed a wry smile at his own correct guess.
'This girl really skipped school to come here...'
[...D, don't tell dad.]
"Alright, I'm calling mom."
[Her too!]
"Haha."
"So how's the game?" No longer trying to tease her, Irvine changed the topic to the actual reason she had come here for.
['s good.]
"Just good?"
[One-sided match is not exciting to watch.] She said bluntly,
[Well... At least I got to see you start on the game though. Did the team put you in because they know the enemy's weaker?]
"Thanks for the vote of confidence there." Irvine grimaced,
"And no, do you think we have the luxury to underestimate any enemies?"
He was telling the truth, the reason the Head Coach put him in first with Derrick and Naomi was because the three's formation as 1 Fielder and 2 Solvers was better for overwhelming offensive play.
[...So you're really playing a Solver now.]
"Yep."
This had been the first time that Althea had seen Irvine playing in an official match. So obviously, it had also been her first time watching her brother as a Solver.
Previously she had only known that her brother had been a Guard in high school and had taken the Fielder's test on the License Exam.
To be honest, there were so many things that she wanted to ask Irvine regarding his playing style. But since she had come here without telling anyone, she couldn't just take the initiative to ask directly.
She had actually already planned on how she should lead the conversation towards those topics after she arrived home and messaged him. But unexpectedly, Irvine had ambushed her first with a phone call.
"Why didn't you just find me here anyway?"
[You know why.]
"Heh."
"...So are you still inside the campus now?"
[Mm. I'm at the gate right now.]
After the match had ended, Althea had actually toured the entire stadium all on her own first before attempting to go back. She had been fueled by her curiosity regarding a top Tier-1 college and the Tier-1 League overall.
Seeing all the rewards and achievement prizes Ravenville had gotten over the years on the display wall of the stadium's lounge had really put many things into perspective for her.
She had just finished sightseeing all of it earlier and was now at the entrance gate preparing to go home through the monorail station before it got too dark for her parents to worry.
"Ahh, then don't go home now. I'll fetch you and we can tour the Arena Facility as well. I'll accompany you home myself afterwards, how about it?"
[...Alright.] On the other side, Althea nodded obediently before saying their brief goodbyes and eventually hanging up.
It had been decided that Irvine would meet up with her at the main entrance gate before taking her to tour the Arena Facility of Ravenville.
.
"Hey, Dormer." Irvine called out to Medea who right now had just finished her own stat chip's scan.
"What?"
"I'm going to fetch my sister at the gate and then tour the Facility, wanna come with?" He briefly explained his plan before inviting her.
"Thea? She came to watch the game?" Medea had been rather familiar with Irvine's sister herself despite them only meeting a couple times after the License Exam.
Those couple times were mostly during the two's training period at the Orthos Gym where Althea had arrived to deliver things for Irvine or simply watch.
Irvine had actually noticed that the girl looked like she held a certain level of admiration towards this genius in front of him.
"Yeah." He answered.
"Okay." Medea showed no objection to the invite
"There's no practice this afternoon anyway, though what about our own private training this evening?"
Irvine simply shrugged at the question, "Let's just cancel it for today. I'm planning to take Thea to dinner first before sending her home."
"Your treat?"
"For her, yeah."
"Cheapskate."