This fellow was defying the heavens. Maybe this was not real life, this whole thing was novel worthy. The entire situation would make much more sense if it was read out from a novel.
"T-This!"
The people who mocked him earlier were now biting their lips and regretting they ever spoke.
"He really managed to do it-"
The weirder people like Hugo and Alpha2 didn't find this scenario strange they knew that Hyena would pass this exam, they just didn't think he would pass it in the way he intended to.
"Damn, he really is doing it!"
Hugo gasped not for the last time as he watched Hyena running across the artificial sea.
"Uhh, what's happening?"
And from what Hugo had observed that day already, IA V-1 was the only person who was permanently out of the loop.
"Sigh, I've already gotten tired of explaining," Hugo murmured absent-mindedly with his eyes still not moving off Hyena's figure.
"I. Want. To. Fight. Him!"
Raging battle intent gushed out of Alpha2's body and formed an illusory flaming sea that wrapped around his body. This was the only problem this kid had, once he encountered a raging opponent, there was no stopping him...
"No, there will definitely be a chance to fight him later, don't cause a scene,"
Before Alpha2 could teleport over to Hyena's location, Hugo held on to him and tried to reason with him. There was some resistance, because as far as Alpha2 saw there was no one in the world who could understand how he felt right at that moment.
"Stop looking at me like that, I understand very much what you feel right now, it's just that... you shouldn't try to force a fight here, especially since your opponent is exhausted from trying too hard..."
He was a natural psychologist; he didn't know why, but from birth, he was always easily able to identify the feeling's others exuded and even empathise with them although he'd never been in the situations before.
It was like that with the corrupt police officer...
Just before Hugo drowned in the sea of reminiscing, he saw Hyena plant his feet on his side of the testing grounds, this wasn't so strange, but what was so strange...
"We need to talk."
... Was that Hyena didn't remove his eyes off of Hugo.
. . .
"Congratulations, out of the seven thousand people who competed in this second stage, over five thousand of you remain, good job. But unfortunately for you, we will have to switch up the third exam a little. It is still the same endurance exam, but with a spin..."
Loudmouth grinned evilly and waited for the reaction that the candidates would provide him with, what he got was... nothing!
"Get to the point already, old man!" A grumbly voice yelled out from the crowd of candidates.
"Who're you calling ol-"
Loudmouth was incensed and almost jumped out into the crowd to look for the person who spoke. Luckily for Loudmouth (yes, the person who spoke could have whooped his ass), he had to announce the last stage then.
"Cough, anyway, the last exam will be to walk up a mountain... carrying weights attached to your ankles and wrists."
He made it sound easy but judging from their experiences with the first and second stages, this one could prove to be difficult if they looked down on it too much. Seeing no one was reacting Loudmouth just continued dryly.
"The weight of the ankles will be determined by your score in the first exam. So, if you got a score of 15,000 Jin in the first exam, the four weights you will carry on your ankles and wrists respectively will weigh the amount you got during the first stage of the exam."
". . ."
'What the hell, this ought to have done the trick! Why is their reaction so non-existent?!'
Loudmouth hated this batch the most, reactions were the only way he could fight, without reactions he was like a little puppy fighting a bunch of wolves.
'My power; Reaction is a transmutation type ability, meaning I can transform something into power of some sort. In my case, I transform reactions into a power source, but this ability is limited. The kind of power I gain from the reactions is restricted to yelling, hence my Skydancer nickname; Loudmouth.
I became a Skydancer at fourteen years old, and since then I was the one announcing the types of exams, the top brass came up with the perfect scheme after hearing of my powers. In the previous years before I came, there had always been some sort of attack on the exams.
That all changed when I became a Skydancer. With my ability to convert reactions into loud yells, the upper echelons made me the announcer of the Skydancer Exams. So, with each time I announced the exams and with each reaction I got. Defending against enemy attacks became a lot easier.
So why... why can't I get this batch to react?!' Loudmouth thought silently as he observed these seemingly aloof candidates. This was the first time in all his years that something like this happened. If they didn't die, they would probably be the best batch of skydancers Allegro had to offer.
"Cough... let the last stage of the first exam begin!"
Loudmouth yelled those last words out and shot his hand forward. Thousands of anklets and bracelets shot forward and clasped the people they were paired with.
"Shit!"
"Fuck, it feels like the world is crashing down on me!"
"Gahh, so heavy!"
'In the end, they are still human beings in flesh, mind and blood. Though the reactions they provide are still measly, it is still good enough.' Loudmouth smiled to himself and nodded to one of his subordinates.
"HeavyRock, create the mountain!"
"Yes, Loudmouth, sir!"
HeavyRock was probably the largest of the Loud Bunch, he also looked the wildest out of the group. Standing at over 6 feet tall and carrying heavy chains on his waist. HeavyRock had tattoos crawling across his body like snakes and had blue make-up under his eyes.
In the eyes of many, he looked very cool. He wore the signature leather clothing of the Loud Bunch though, which made his cool appearance look very weird.
"HA!"
The large man held up his arms in the sky for a few seconds and dramatically brought them down and slammed his palms against the earth.
"Whoosh!"
The air whipped and raged as a structure from the earth was being unearthed, the structure kept going up until it almost reached the ceiling of the testing grounds.
"Stop, HeavyRock!"
Loudmouth commanded his subordinate to stop, and the mountain immediately stopped increasing in height.
"Now... begin!"
Loudmouth proclaimed loudly, although he knew no one would start ascending the mountain immediately.
"This..."
Hugo muttered out loud, trying to accustom himself to the weight posed by the bracelets and anklets.
Unfortunately for him, he went overboard in the first exam and got a score of 50,000 Jin, so that meant he had to bear the weight of 200,000 Jin. but there were still some more unfortunate people.
Hyena had the highest score on the first stage of the exam, punching with a force of 70,000 Jin, but his high score came back to bite him in the ass on the last stage of the first exam.
He alone had to carry a weight of over 280,000 Jin. It was like the heavens themselves didn't want the man to succeed.
"Hmph, easy peezy lemon squeezy!"
Alpha2 was the luckiest candidate in this aspect, he could easily teleport to the top of the mountain without breaking a sweat.
"Oh, sorry. Alpha2, you are not allowed to take part in the last stage."
Loudmouth slapped his forehead in remembrance.
"Hey, why is that?!"
"Is it because he's a kid?"
Loudmouth's comment received quite a lot of angry yells.
"Oh, nothing like that. It's just that..."
"... Alpha2 doesn't need any testing on endurance. Teleportation takes an immense strain on the human body, and it's even miraculous he manages to accomplish it without turning himself into a mutant of sorts. So, he doesn't need this part to pass the first exam."
Alpha2 sighed and nodded in understanding, he was the only one who truly understood the implications of using his power, what the Skydancers Association knew wasn't up to shit.
'If that's the case, why do I have to do this test too? Don't they know of my ability?'
Hugo's innocence kicked in at the moment, his amazing analytical skills often failed on things relating to himself.
'Whatever, I can easily get up the mountain.'
He pondered over the matter for a second and eventually abandoned his thoughts.
"Up I go!"
He took in a deep breath and leapt towards the mountain.
'Shit, this feels heavier than I thought!'
He realized his mistake of jumping so soon and tried to adjust the weight of his body mid-air. This helped a bit but did not affect his landing.
Boom
The moment his feet touched the surface of the mountain, a huge chunk of it sunk and crumbled into pieces. Dust engulfed Hugo's vision and found its way into his nostrils.
"Cough, I might not have thought that out well."
The other candidates who were still on the ground looked at him speechlessly and thought the same thing.
'What did you think, you're carrying a weight of 200,000 Jin on your body and jump onto a piece of vulnerable rock and expect it to stand.'
"Well, let's try this again."
Hugo muttered as he cleared the dust off his body.
"Hehe, thank goodness I brought some equipment along with me."
He placed his hand into the dark cloak on his back and pulled out something from it.
"Boots of swiftness!"
What he brought out was a pair of boots!
"Is that the legendary spatial equipment?!"
Loudmouth and the candidates once again received the shock of their lives.
Hyena, however, frowned at their reactions.
"What the hell are you so surprised about, he's a goddamn Smithson!"
The people immediately remembered Hugo's status as the scion of the Smithson clan and felt their responses were undeserved.
"Oh, yeah that makes sense."
"Pfft, momma probably gave the handsome boy a few treasures."
One of the statements received a huge frown from the entire crowd. Evidently, this person wasn't from the Theta region nor was he from Allegro.
"We don't talk about the Clan heads of the Smithson clan!"
Loudmouth hurriedly hissed to silence the candidate, who didn't realize the significance of his words
"Why not?"
"There is no why! Just do not talk about them, more so in the presence of their son. If you refuse to heed my warning, then the consequences will be dire, you will regret you ever lived if HE ever wished you dead."
Loudmouth spoke in a low tone, fearful of Hugo hearing his words. The candidate who spoke earlier also shut his mouth from the way Loudmouth, someone who is ever so cheerful said so.
Not to mention cheerful Loudmouth being a top-class Skydancer.
Hugo who they thought hadn't heard them, could hear loud and clear what Loudmouth was talking about and could also very much understand what he was referring to.
'Do these people really think it was me? Am I really what they say I am...'
These thoughts fueled the rage within his soul and he sped up his ascendance speed.
'... am I a demon?'
At this point, dark sand-like particles began to trickle out of his body slowly, his pitch-black eyes became darker and his body exuded an overwhelming bloodlust.
"What the hell is this?!"
People from below the mountain collapsed to their knees upon feeling the overpowering bloodlust coming from the mountain.
"What is this power?!"
At the very moment, the people who had commented on Hugo's parents thought of Loudmouth's words from just before.
'If you refuse to heed my warning, then the consequences will be dire, you will regret you ever lived if HE ever wished you dead.'
'Was this what he meant?'