The demonic spider, the demon hunters, even those spectating elsewhere couldn't help but admire this man's posture.
"Kuk?"
The moment the steel bar pierced exactly where the target was at, the demonic spider turned and raised its head, realizing something was wrong.
*Swish!*
The worried expression on its face twisted into agony. Its many eyes blinking several times
"....!"
Emerald demonic blood flowed out in a horizontal line drawn from the demon's front to rear. Piercing its face, traveling down its throat and finally down its spine. Its face twitched sporadically before it realized what happened. It would be considered lucky to have turned its face at this time as it wouldn't experience the tormenting pain of what happens next. If the demon hadn't turned, then it would be feeling the throbbing sensation of pain and torment that spread throughout its internal body.
Who could've imagined? To be killed by the very element that one was born from?
One would call it an irony as the demonic flame coated onto the steel bar had set ablaze its internal organs, rapidly disintegrating the demon's body into ashes.
[System Announcement:]
[You've achieved an extraordinary feat by rallying others to defeat the demonic spider!]
[System Message: 1 Ability Point Reward.]
"How is that possible? What did you do?"
Loramus and many others were dumbfounded at the results.
Zevrad gasped for air before pointing at the scattered ashes of the demonic spider.
"We... we killed it."
As it turned out, what Zevrad subconsciously did was coat a weapon with demonic flames which was one of the many basic abilities a demon hunter could perform. It could even disintegrate other demons into nothingness in a blink of an eye based on the user's proficiency. This was only made possible due to Zevrad's dream-like trance that he had experienced from his recent dream. Around thirty minutes had passed since he awoke so almost one would still have some recollection as the lingering fragments of a dream was still present. Pouring everything he had into this single shot, resulting in the demonic spider's demise.
"Oh, wow… really…?"
Zevrad nodded and explained himself further as the others showed disbelieving reactions.
"Yes, it was a joint effort after all."
"But what reason would they unleash a demon on us like that?"
"Perhaps this was a test?"
"A test? Now that you mention it…"
Many of them pondered and theorized the purpose of the event before they tended to their wounds and helped Belath and his minions from their previous predicament of being webbed in place.
While Zevrad already suspected its purpose, he was too preoccupied and formulating on a personal matter. His ability to see 'auras.'
'I was right, the yellow aura of my [Spectral Sight] allows me to identify important aspects to my situation. I must test this further. What of the other colors?'
Zevrad activated his ability and saw an abstract world of green. The environment and most of the people nearby had a default color of green but there were others who didn't emit an aura.
'What is this? Why do they not have any color?'
He inspected and approached one of them. It was until Zevrad was a few feet away that he leaned himself further and analyzed the person in front of him from down to up.
"W-wha… What are you doing? Don't tell me…"
Zevrad deactivated [Spectral Sight] and saw that it was Allari before him. Her face was bright red as she took a few steps back to distance herself from him.
"...are you one of those? Can't you see the situation we're in?"
It seemed that she had mistaken his inspection for something else as she was presuming something vulgar.
But before Zevrad could reply, a sudden emergence of a familiar figure appeared on stage once more.
*Clap, clap, clap, clap!*
Everyone's attention was redrawn once more onto the guide, Kayne. He gave them a formal greeting as if appearing to be a different person from before as he seemed genuinely happy.
"Astounding, truly wondrous! Most of the results of what you experienced were either to die or flee, but you? You batch did the unthinkable. Most of you stayed and fought together as one. An admirable quality. Certainly, something that we'll need in the days ahead."
It was then that someone charged Kayne in his fury. As he felt wronged at being pulled into a sudden scenario.
"You son of a…!"
*Boom!*
"Kack!"
Blood was coughed onto the floor as Kayne easily retaliated against his oncoming assailant with a back kick. Returning him back to where he originally stood with a few flips and turns. The attacker was now laying on the ground in a fetal position as the kick he took was painful but not devastating.
Kayne raised a hand as he whisked his index finger from left to right as he reprimanded the man, "Now, now. You can't blame me. I'm only the guide, remember?"
Kayne elegantly moved back and forth on the stage as he moved his hands while talking, paying close attention to the expressions of those below him from the stage.
"This was meant to separate the wheat from the chaff once again. Our ranks must only consist of the elite after all. People with the most talent and potential. That's what separates our faction from others."
Many could not deny his words for they all knew what they signed up for. The demon hunters were one of the most deadly factions, not because of their might, but because of the dangers and standards, they place before they begin their training. It makes sense that the magic that they would be wielding is demonic by nature. So very few mortals could wield this magic or else be consumed and devoured by it.
"Now, without further interruptions, let me congratulate you all once again and distribute your rewards."
Kayne ordered everyone, including the man who was lying in a fetal position earlier, to stand in a row so that distribution can be handed in an orderly manner.
'Is this everyone?'
There were close to a dozen people below the stage.
*Ahem!*
Suddenly, a round portal glowing in a faint blue light manifested in the middle of the stage, and from that portal, the blue-haired Night Elf emerged. She smiled with a sideways glance as she stood next to Kayne's side before he continued, "Normally you would've received these rewards after a few days, but with the threat annihilated, it would seem prudent to end the trials here."
"Now, from the beginning when thirty-eight lives started this journey. Many of those who are not present, regrettably, you will have to wait a little longer. They have been informed to return here before we can resume. As we wait, are there any questions or concerns you might have?"
Some raised their hands and asked, "I have one. What does [Level of Cognition] mean?"
"Ah! I'm glad you asked that. From the left to right, this is how it should look to you. The first is actions and the second is emotions. You should begin assessing your actions before I continue."
All of them looked at their [Character Window] as they followed Kayne's words.
"The first section reflects how you appear to others through your actions."
As Kayne's explanation continued, all sorts of descriptors were shown such as 'righteous,' 'fussy,' temperamental,' and 'disgusting.'
Zevrad's column was interesting as his descriptor was stated to be [Curious] suddenly changed to the word [Moderate].
"'What?"
Belath responded to her evaluation as if it was the most absurd thing in the whole world.
"This can't be right! Is this really correct?!"
"I assure you, things will only get tougher for you if you are getting shocked already."
Kayne chuckled himself and clapped his hands. Signaling for everyone to pay attention to the second column as it began spinning.
"The middle column, emotions, reflect your thought process or what you feel from facing certain events or phenomena. Out of the three, you could say it has the most variability."
For Zevrad, the emotions column was originally shown as [Chaotic], but now that Zevrad had faced a perilous situation, it should change since every mortal experiences different feelings every moment of every day. All sorts of descriptors spun and it finally stopped at [Mersmerized]. Various questions arose within his mind as he began to speculate why he had such a descriptor for an emotion before he looked around him and saw Loramus smirking to himself.
'What did he get as his assessment result?'
"And finally, the last column is disposition. This one has been raising a lot of controversy for a long time now."
Zevrad didn't even have the time to fully analyze his [Character Window] before the third and final column began spinning.
"The disposition column indicates your inclination according to your overall personality. There have been quite a few cases where the disposition didn't match a character's action and would repeat what was previously shown on numerous occasions."
Kayne's voice became rather serious there.
"How could such a thing be possible? After many debates and research, we've focused on the idea that emotions were influenced by actions while disposition was influenced by both actions and emotions. The temporary conclusion is..."
His heartbeat sped up. He was judged to be [Curious] and [Chaotic] before and he couldn't really dispute those descriptors since he had no choice but to accept them until now. Disposition didn't appear until now and Zevrad suspected there must've been an important reason for it.
He was right.
"...if your [Actions] and [Emotions] is a personality trait formed by interacting with the World at large, then...
What will he get now that his actions were [Moderate] and [Mesmerized] for emotions?
Words such as 'creative,' 'selfish,' 'rational,' and 'wrathful' flashed by in front of Zevrad. Until the spinning gradually slowed itself to a halt.
"...then your disposition should indicate your true nature. In other words, the foundation that forms the core of who you are. That's what we decided on."
The third and final column was slowly approaching the word 'evil,' but wildly spun itself again and immediately landed on [Disorder] instead.
Zevrad's eyes widened.
"If you wish to change your [Level of Cognition], then you'd do well to try changing your actions first. You see, I personally hold the view that a good action would naturally lead to a positive emotion towards a nicer path."
'If you wish to change...' those words rang insides Zevrad's heart.
"On the flip side, your [Disposition] looks good, but your [Actions] happens to be the opposite? I can confidently say this, your [Disposition] will slowly alter and end up matching your [Actions].
The implication was simple, he was saying that one should try to change one's [Actions] before it negatively influenced one's [Disposition]. These identifying traits evaluated your alignment and would set what type of path is being walked.
And so, the evaluation came to an end. Zevrad carefully surmised his own evaluation results as a message in his [Character Window] popped up.
***
[Your Character Window is being updated.]
[Character Window]
[1. General Information]
Name: Zevrad Stargazer (Alias)
Sex/Age: Male/??????????
Height/Weight: 237.8cm/150.1kg
Current Condition: Good
Class: Demon Hunter (N/A)
Race: ??????????
Affiliations: NA
[2. Traits]
1. Temperament:
- Competitiveness: A desire to win.
2. Aptitude:
-Average. (Born normal in every way; possessed no particular talent.)
[3. Attributes]
-Strength: Intermediate
-Endurance: Low
-Agility: Low
-Stamina: Intermediate
-Mana: Low
-Luck: High
-Soul: ??????????
Remaining Ability Points: 1
[4. Abilities]
1. Innate Abilities (2)
-Six Desires Illusory Arts (Grade Unknown)
-Soul (Grade Unknown)
2. Passive Abilities (2)
-Fast Analysis (High)
-Improved Vision (High)
3. Active Abilities (2)
-Spectral Sight (High)
[Green: Normal]
[Yellow: Attention]
[Orange: Do Not Approach]
[Red: Retreat]
-Soul Inspection (Intermediate)
4. Skills (0)
-N/A
[5. Level of Cognition]
-Actions: Moderate
-Emotions: Mesmerized
-Disposition: Disorder
[6. Interests]
1. Likes
-Sculpting
-Stargazing
2. Dislikes
-Demons
-Idle Chatter
[7. Bound Demon]
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'̷̢̛̼̻̩̄̈́̒̊͌̔͒̒̕A̸̳͕̱͗͘l̷̡̧̳͎̝̤̟͕̦̺̮̍̑̀̐͆͐̾̆͘̕͘͜͠ ̷̰͚̺̼̭͖͓̣̜̳͕̓͜͠ͅt̷̛̛̮̱͕̯͖̘̻̩̳̗̤͔̰͑̐̆̍̃̌́́̓̆̌̒͝h̷̛̰̝̲̩̻͚̼͇̉͌͋̏͗̕̕͜ͅţ̷̢͔̮̳̰̮̤̖͚̼̠̬̓̒̓ ̸̥͎͉̤̦̟̘̫̩̔̉͂́͜͝į̸̢̟̖̻̫͚̮͉́́͂̑͂̂̃͐̔͘̚͝s̵̡͖̠̎͐̅́͛͊̒̒̍̑̔̑̂̕ ̴͈̪̓̈̉̉̆̋̂̅̓̅̆̎̒̔͘Ṍ̶̖̞̙̝̘̺̖̦͍̗̅̋ȩ̶͖̜̤̅̿'̸̨͙̠̦͍͎̰̙̜̈́̈́̌͛̄̀̾̚ ̶̨̨̞̫̹̠͈̣̦̘̥̣͉̓͌̽̇̊̏̆̂̈͊͘̕͝͝ͅa̴̢̱̟̤̮̎̓̕̚c̸̤͎͛͜t̸̢̢͈͙̱̮̘̗̳̥͐̋̈́͊̾̒͊ ̷̨̥̠͍͓͕̻̣͙̖̐̃͒̇̓̋̓̄̕͜ḑ̷̡̨̛̙̟͖̺̣͚̱̱͇̌̆̀̆̓͒̆̀͒n̶̛̛͈̳͗̓̉̉͐̂̾̀̿̓̈̚͠ ̸̡͖̝͓͈̝͕̻͉̦̪͗̈́̈̂̐͌͜g̶̡̡̛̟̺̗̙̳̮̬̭̮̻̦̥̜̏́̋́͋̐̿̅̅̀̈́̚ö̷̢̹̫̖̦́́̎͛͛̈́͆͝͝.̶̨̧̖͙͖̠̞̪̘͈̥͗̈͆̅̍̈͒͆̍̓͘.̷͙͖̮̤̟͙̖͔̙̘͈̍̀̐̈͊́̔̈͜͝.̸̡̛̠̠̹̖̲̘̼̮̦̝̮͐̐͛̎̀̚͜
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***