Kain was seated in the stands next to Barton and Desmond, awaiting their numbers to be called. His focus was on the crystal orb testing area, specifically on the ones heading to the left field. He knew he would be ranked according to the results of other developing testers.
His heart sank into a pit as he noticed that around half the testers heading to the left field showed a solid blue light, indicating Esquire power tier. The minimum requirements for the tier was 5x normal human strength.
Kain was only at 2x so he wasn't even half as strong against such testers. The orb also takes into consideration innate abilities unique to each individual to determine the tier. Someone with elite abilities can even jump tiers even if their strength was lagging.
"Hehehe." Kain glanced at Barton who was acting strangely while slamming his fist into the palm of his other hand. He followed Barton's gaze to the right field where metas were hitting the metal bars.
Barton finally noticed Kain and Desmond giving him weird looks and a prideful look transformed his facial features.
He gradually straightened his back and puffed out his chest like a rooster about to crow, and stated, "You guys already know this, but my powers developed pretty early and when I transform, people actually compare me to being a mini-juggernaut in my transformed state."
Barton closed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest while attempting to act like an expert, an act which utterly failed because he would slightly peek one eye open to observe the reactions to his self-promotion.
"So, you are basically half-a-jug?" Kain innocently queried, to which Barton shot his eyes open and looked at Kain in horror. He was about to respond to the nickname in anger when they heard a "pfft" which froze them in place.
They both slowly turned towards Desmond, who was struggling mightily to maintain a straight face. Barton grabbed Kain's collar and was pulling him back and forth while saying, "You, my friend, are a legend. You just made a stone laugh."
Barton quickly switched gears so that the nickname that was uttered would be forgotten and asked, "So what about you Kain? No luck yet? I know you have been waiting for your power to develop for…I don't even know; let's just say forever?"
"Yea, it has been 5 years since the radiation changed everything. I have undertaken dangerous missions since then in order to activate my irradiated cells, but so far nothing." Kain responded.
Desmond joined the conversation, stating, "There are some theories regarding meta powers. The scientists have done some studies showing that stress and time are key factors to unlock meta-powers. The more stress that is required and the longer the duration taken to unlock the ability has a direct correlation to how phenomenal the ability is. After my near-death encounter with the juggernaut, I awakened my ability to influence gravity. When the Council learned of my ability, I gained the favor of councilwoman Aleria. She is the real reason why I was able to get this azurite arm."
Barton's mouth dropped open at the revelation and then blurted out, "You know someone on the Council? How long were you going to keep that secret? I always wondered how you got enough money to afford that arm. Wait a minute, something doesn't add up. How are you assigned to a lower district garrison and why are you being sent out on a suicide mission if all that was true?"
Desmond lowered his voice as he replied, "You don't understand. There are factions within the Council that are vying against one another. Some Councilman by the name of Alders blocked my transfer to Taria Academy stating that I have to reach Chevalier tier before the Council will invest their resources and support. Councilwoman Aleria is fighting to remove the veto, but Alders has too much influence. My only option is to break through from my Knight tier."
Kain's eyes narrowed as he said, "Hold on…you know Alders as well? I suspect he has been keeping me from seeing my childhood friend. Sounds like he is a narrow-minded person from what he did to you."
Kain was about to inquire more about Alders, when he heard a shout, "#240!" Kain stood up and walked over to the crystal orb testing area. A man stationed near the orb asked for ID and Kain provided his military ID.
The man scanned the ID and said, "Please place your hand on the orb." He complied and placed his hand on the orb.
No colors swirled within the orb and he was about to remove his hand when all of a sudden, a sharp *crack* was heard and a noticeably large crack appeared on the surface of the orb.
The attending man and Kain were dumbfounded for a short moment, before the man took the crystal orb and said, "Please wait on the side." and ran off. Kain could only stand there and wait.
In a private room overlooking the stadium fields, Lady Sylvia slammed her fist on the table and shouted, "How was I expected to get this regiment ready to deploy by noon when I wasn't given any information on their capabilities? Did the Council really think I would just send them out into the field without any preparation?"
A hurried knocking was heard at the door, which interrupted her tirade. She pointed at the silent messenger from the Council and said, "You go report back to your boss and tell him or her that I will not accept any changes in orders! What garbage about sending my entire unit to Trebz? I am not stupid enough to shoot myself in the foot and get my entire unit obliterated. All men and women in my squad will be tested and placed in proper teams before deploying in accordance to the original orders, end of discussion. Come in!"
The door opened and a man with a broken crystal orb rushed in as the messenger was leaving through the opened door. "Lady Sylvia, please take a look at this orb. A tester somehow broke it while being tested."
Lady Sylvia leaned back in her chair as the orb floated towards her open hand using her telekinesis. "I thought these things never break? Who did it?"
"Yes, these almost never break. The only time it has been known to occur is when a guardian tier attempts to break through. However, in this case it was someone without any powers yet."
Sylvia processed the statement and smiled, "Interesting, make sure you tag this individual in the system and notify me if he develops a power. Don't reveal the crystal orb was broken and replace it with a spare one. This person does not need to test again. Just have the person go through the motions in the left field."
As the man left the room, Sylvia glanced out the window as she thought, "Every power faction is attempting to rope in Genjis left and right. I need to start looking out for myself as the Council is getting worse with their incomprehensible orders. It will only get worse with more Genjis flocking to their cause."
Sylvia tapped a few keys on her desk and a projection screen popped up in the air. She smiled and whispered to herself, "Kain…are you a diamond in the rough? Maybe I can be your backer…"
Kain was starting to wonder what was going on when he saw the attending running back with a new orb in hand. "You can move on to the left field for further assessment. Your orb assessment is done for now. Before you go, do you wish to assess for melee combatant, short range support, or long-distance support?"
Kain didn't even need any time to consider and said, "I'll assess for long-distance support."
"Ok, move to the target range to assess marksmanship. No need to report results to me as it will automatically be uploaded upon completion." The man pointed to a shooting range where a few others were taking shots at varying distances.
Kain was confident in his marksmanship as his strength was never up to par in order to be a melee combatant. His role in all previous missions was to go for the eyes as a sniper.
Although he couldn't say he was the best, his hit-to-kill ratio was always top 10 in every mission he was a part of. He picked up the pistol and quickly shot off a few rounds and the results popped up on a screen: 98%, 98%, 97% accuracy.
He switched to the automatic rifle and was assessed similar scores. Finally, for the sniper rifle he actually scored a round of 100% accuracy. Others who started before him were staring at his results as Kain simply shrugged and walked off the field back to the stands. On the hand held device of the attending, the final ranking for Kain showed, "Crackshot."