Hugo balled his hand into a fist and placed it a few inches away from the door.
''How stupid of me; someone like this would not help me no matter how hard I begged."
Hugo turned bitterly away from the door, abandoning all his plans.
. . .
Hugo collapsed on his bed trying not to think of Hyena for the most part.
"Not like that fellow would have listened to what I had to say."
Hugo gazed at the pristine ceiling.
That day, when he had a brief chat with Hyena. He could still remember what the old man said to him.
"You think you are superior to all others because of your looks and heritage, however, next time try not to express it so obviously. My earlier warning still stands, if you stand in my way, I will kill you."
It was a moment he would never forget because Hyena was surprisingly right.
"I find it difficult to believe that some blubbering oaf can understand my actions, but... on the other hand, he's more than a blubbering oaf to be able to understand how I behave."
Ever since then, Hugo had always had a lasting impression of Hyena, especially ever since he showed his keen intellect.
Hugo fidgeted on his bed, trying to sigh himself to sleep.
"Ugh! I can't believe I'm doing this."
His curiosity overpowered his guilt as he contacted Avery on his communicator.
"Hello?"
"Avery, I need you to dig up some information on a candidate?"
"Huh? Did you already find something out?"
"No, just a speculation."
"Ok, what's the name of this candidate?"
"He goes by the name Hyena."
When he ended the call, the pangs of guilt he was feeling came to a stop and he sighed inwardly.
'Sorry Hyena. But unfortunately for you, my curiosity is aroused. I hope you won't blame me for this.'
. . .
A day passed, and they completed the third exam of the skydancer exams easily.
This one was a written exam, so there was more or less no need to care about it. Only those brutes who had no knowledge in their heads except the know-how of smashing things into bits. And so, that was how the total number of people taking part reached 2,500.
Hugo did not care one bit about something he'd learnt when he was a wee babe.
While Loudmouth and the higher-ups decided on the next exam, Hugo had some thinking time once again, who knew that what he'd been waiting for would come at that moment.
Avery walked up to him in her usual confident stride. He may not have thought so before, but she was a real femme fatale. For some reason, she was dressed differently compared to the last time. she wore a cotton shirt top and jeans the last time, but this time around, she wore a black leather battle suit.
Many eyes followed her sexy figure as she walked. And so to put it simply, you could not keep a low profile no matter how hard you tried as long as you worked with this woman.
Hugo was living proof of this.
"Hi!"
She reached his side and greeted him, but he was interested in none of that.
"Hello, did you get the information I requested?"
"Come on, a pretty lady is greeting you, yet you're only focused on some information!"
"Get to the point, did you get the information or not?"
Hugo's impatience and curiosity got the better of him.
"Hmph, yes I did."
"Come, we cannot speak of it here."
Hugo held her arm and jerked her to the deserted location at the end of the artificial testing grounds, receiving many envious gazes from other male candidates and disgusted glares from the female candidates.
"Ow! You hurt me, Hugo!"
Once they were there, she shrieked a little.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Now, the information!"
Although he hurt her, the prospect of learning who Hyena was, got a hold on him.
"Hmph, whatever. The man you told me to look for information on, Hyena you call him. That man has quite an interesting background. It turns out that he is the owner of some big shot company in the USA which explains his quick wits.
He can easily top the people who are taking part in this exam in just intelligence alone. But unfortunately for him, he did not have the talent to awaken, so he had no choice but to become an Evolutionary.
And it was during those times that there was a scarcity of beasts and monsters Evolutionaries could pick from, so he got dumped with a spotted hyena enhancement. This however had its advantages, referring to his newfound strength and enhanced cunning."
Hugo lapped in this information like a hungry dog.
"Guess how old he is."
The sudden words confused him, but Hugo still tried his best to guess.
"Dunno, maybe 40 years old?"
"Wrong! Hyena is 30 years old. In fact, he only clocked thirty a few weeks ago!"
Hugo looked at her blankly for a long time before he finished registering what she just said.
"Wait, what? How is such an old man only thirty years old?!"
Avery's face turned red and a sweet honey-like giggle escaped her lips. She tried to answer with her best straight face but ended up laughing all over again.
"Sorry... we also don't know the reason... hehehe!"
She clutched her stomach and reached out to find something to hold on to.
"Ahhh!"
"Hey, watch your step!"
Avery tripped on her own feet and was falling, luckily, he was there to hold her before she hit the ground.
"Announcement! The fourth exam will begin immediately!"
All the candidates heard Loudmouth's voice, making some happy, and others satisfied.
"It seems the endgame is approaching."
Hugo mouthed out silently, completely forgetting that he still had Avery in his hands.
"Come on, let's go!" Hugo lowered her feet to the ground while holding her hand.
"Y-yes."
When she saw Hugo no longer standing next to her, she snapped out of her trance.
'It makes me wonder what goes on in his head all the time.'