The students, whose number had now gone down to thirty, silently followed the Supervisor, sharing the mixed sentiments of excitement and anxiety. Still, there were always exceptions.
'It's not unexpected that he passed the first test, but is it really possible that he is gunning for the full pass qualification after awakening some kind of trash ability?'
Fred's originally irritated eyes turned sharp as he glanced in Chrome's direction. While he was confident that Chrome's mediocrity didn't stop at his Exos rating, the result of an awakening was always hard to predict.
The known trend was that those with better Exos capabilities had a brighter future, but that was merely due to the high awakening requirement. In reality, an Extra's true value usually lied in their special abilities. Although unlikely, the few rare cases that managed to change their life made Fred feel a bit threatened.
'A cockroach through and through… Always giving me the impression of being crushed by my stop, only to crawl from under my shoes. I thought I would finally get rid of him, but now that it came to this, I will make sure to drown you in pesticide.'
Compared to the childish reluctance he showed at the start, Fred's mindset finally kicked in. isolating all nuisance that brought him discomfort. Everyone believed that the Extra Academy was a paradise, but he had an idea of what it was truly like. For someone lacking the fundamentals like Chrome, being admitted would be the end of him regardless of what ability he awakened.
'That is if he does get in.' For Chrome to even pass the second test was already questionable in itself. At this point, Fred's mind returned to its usual ease, completely free of worry…
While Fred was having these thoughts, the group reached the second room in no time. In contrast to the large full room they were in earlier, this one was about half as big. Yet, it comparatively had more free space.
'This is much simpler,' Chrome thought as his eyes landed on the highlights of the location, the only two objects occupying the second metallic room, two human-sized capsules!
For someone held back by the gap in technology, Chrome had only seen something similar at certain advanced hospitals. Using fictional movies and books as references, it didn't look that much different from a VR capsule.
"Some of you must be already familiar with the assessment capsules, but I will be explaining how the second test shall proceed." The aged man pointed at the focus of everyone's attention, faithfully performing his role as the supervisor.
"By getting into one of these capsules, one can assess his natural Exos capabilities, mainly the capacity, and production ratings. This might be easier than the last test since you don't need to exert effort, but the parameters are naturally set at a higher standard."
Perhaps because his counterpart wanted to forget about his incompetence, his memory of his last visit to the assessment center was mostly blurry, making this a completely new experience for Chrome.
"In addition, the capsules wouldn't be omitting the results, so everyone gets to know how well they did, although the marks will only get assigned at the very end, so there is no need to judge things too early." The Supervisor turned silent for a minute before adding in a pressuring tone, "Hmmm? No one is entering?"
Everyone stared at the capsules in apprehension. Most of them were very prepared for the test, but there was no telling if things would go well in the end. The required rating being a mystery put everyone on edge that they didn't want to proceed.
'Let's hope this ends quickly.' On the other hand, knowing that his nonexistent ratings would be revealed made Chrome wish that the test would end as quickly as possible.
Only by getting to the last test would his last flower of hope receive its chance to blossom! In such absolute failure game-like events, Chrome would be busy pressing the skip button to the next stage.
From his perspective, Chrome found it contradicting to censor the majority of the results for the easiest first test only to reveal it when it came to a focal one like this. If anything, it looked like they were emotionally provoking them to reveal what was hidden inside. Wouldn't it be possible that there was an additional personality test hidden within the examination?
Tak!
'Whatever.' Seeing the first participants pressing the capsules open, Chrome didn't put much thought into his speculation. Either Way, he just had to stand his ground against the bullies' expected bashing till the very end. He might cry, but that would only be after the whole examination had come to a conclusion!
One from Jack's side and another from Crow's, two students stepped into one open capsule each, lying into the human body molds before the glass lids automatically closed down on them.
Psshshsh…
After exactly one minute had passed, the capsule let out a faint sound as the lids spread open once more, announcing the swift end of the two's Exos tests!
Without waiting for them to exit, the black screen at the top of the capsule was lit up by the red numbers that flashed within, building up everyone's anticipation… revealing the long-awaited results
[ 66 l 2.44 ]
[ 53 l 2.12 ]
A few seconds later, the long-awaited results finally appeared! Revealing the Capacity and Emission ratings respectively.
"Not bad," Jack immediately remarked in a casual manner, but his face showed a very different reaction, his lips curling into a smug smile since his student possessed a higher value.
"Indeed, it would have been bad if he failed in this test as well." Crow's expression didn't change much, but he fiercely kicked back at Jack. Regardless of his results in this test, the fat student that barely fit into the capsule was the sole failure of the last test!
Despite adopting the image of an amiable grandpa, Crow was anything but a pushover. In particular, he seemed a bit hostile towards Jack who could swallow back his words and act as if nothing happened.
The little exchange didn't hinder the continuation of the test as the rest of the students proceeded to get into the Exos Assessment Capsules in turn. A few words slowed down the process every now and then, but it never went beyond a minute.
'It feels worse to see it in person.'
The average Capacity ratings hovered around 50~60, with values occasionally surpassing 65 or even 70, though they only appeared once or twice per capsule. Standing among the last 5 in one of the two queues with the rest of Future High's group, Chrome understood how large the disparity between him and the others was…
"It's about time!" Fred proudly announced his turn as the first to get assessed from Future High. Rather than waiting for the end due to fear, he held back to properly show off his potential to the Supervisor!
[ 82 l 3.4 ]
"Heh."
The results that emerged as soon as he left the capsule shocked the other. Before even taking a look, Fred was already sporting a proud smile for receiving the highest result so far. However…
[ 89 l 4.3 ]
As if to savagely stomp him, the other capsule's screen lit up to show an even more superior result as Alice exited it. Worst of all, she didn't even show the least interest in Fred's result!
"Woah…"
"They are both so close to the first threshold!"
"This is just the first two of Future High, are they all monsters like this? Or…"
"These two are a special pair, aren't they?"
'As expected of the two rich scions…'
Even the other students that went with them showed some surprise, but Chrome didn't show any form of shock. Not only did both of them come from wealthy influential families, but he was also familiar enough with Alice to know that her talent matched her wealth. It was only normal that she got such a result.
Although the teachers left the talk to the students this time, Crow's sharp eyes opened up, nodding in response while Jack showed some displeasure. Just like this, Link's standing received an instantaneous boost!
'If only Chrome would perform as good as this.' Link was undeniably satisfied by the two's excellent results, especially Alice's. Strangely enough, however, Chrome's performance was what weighed upon his mind the most.
Instead of wanting to avoid the embarrassment, he was truly worried for Chrome. Link could only push forward to give him the chance to attend, having been guaranteed that he would succeed, but he had no idea what kind of results he would achieve.
However, before Link could get to worry about Chrome's results, he was suddenly hit by a great surprise out of nowhere…
"What are you waiting for, Bryce? Get in."