Two weeks later.
In a dimly lit office sit two men. The man sitting in front of the desk, placed at the end of the room, bored and uninterested, was Loid. "When we arrived to capture the members of the Union, we were only met with a lot of blood and body parts."
Behind the desk, Sable lets out a loud sigh. "So that kid you brought, did that?"
Loid looks at the clock hanging on the wall above Sable. "Yeah, that kid sure did a number on them, so all those months of planning went to waste."
Sable slightly smiles. "Is that why you gave that kid a beating?"
Loid quickly looks out the window with an embarrassed look on his face; "It's just that he thought he was so strong, and I wanted to show him it's an enormous world out there."
Sable's face curls with a mischievous smile. "Riiiight, because you're just so kind-hearted."
Loid turns toward Sable, and his eyes glow a dark, sickly red. "Golden Hawk, you're pretty brave to mock me."
The entire room shakes at Loid's power. Sable's smile intensifies as his eyes glow bright gold. "Red Wolf, I mock you because I can tell you're lying." The entire building shakes as these two monsters release just a fraction of their powers. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Meanwhile, somewhere in a Washington D.C weather control station, a man sits in his chair as the room shakes. Stunned, the man rushes towards his screen to check where that was on the Richter scale.
"The hell, a 6.1! Where was the warning system?"
Back at the office, the two men sat staring at each other, both clearly sizing each other up, intending to attack. Suddenly, Loid lets out a sneeze.
Sable stares blankly at Loid before abruptly breaking out in laughter."Well, whatever. Anyway, why'd you bring that kid back here?"
Loid rubs his nose. "He said he wanted to become an Inquisitor."
Sable's laugh comes to a halt. "That's not what I meant Lois, you never recruit anyone, even at the cost of constant nagging that you need to captain a squad."
Loid sighs "Why though?"
Sable's face shows obvious annoyance. "Why? Because you're a knight, and as you know, every knight needs to captain a squad every five years."
Loid yawns. "I brought Ryan on board because he has potential."
Sable becomes stunned as he thinks, "Potential!?
Loid would not say that about anyone unless they were a genuine monster. Not just that he called him by his name, Loid never remembers the names of people that are far weaker than him."
Sable's face shifts from its usual playful demeanor to one of stern seriousness. "How strong do you think he could become?"
Loid sits in silence in deep thought. The silence fills the air as the two sit quietly across from each other. Then, as if to cut through the silence, Loid responds. "In four years, if he survives, he'd probably be just as strong as you."
Sable sit's stunned. "If you're saying that, then it's probably gonna happen. I've also found some kids who could rise to my level as well."
Loid yawns again. "Cool."
Sable is visibly excited. "This next generation is gonna be amazing, Loid!"
Loid then gets up from his seat and walks toward the door. Sable's face then gets serious again. "Hey, Loid. Does this kid have the potential to surpass you?"
Loid stops for a second and turns around slightly, before letting a clear and stern answer. "No! Right now, I can't see him getting even close." Loid then exits the office, closing the door behind him.
Sable sighs "You can't see it "Right now" huh? If that answer changes to yes, then the entire world will shift. Because I can't imagine anyone being stronger than Loid Asher, the unofficial strongest being in the world."
The day of the exam, Ryan looks around the stadium at the applicants and thinks to himself. "There are about 100 people in total here for this exam. However, most of them are not noteworthy. There are a few I should watch out for, though. Those two soldiers over there are good. Both of them have that look I see every morning when I look in the mirror, the look of a killer. Then there's that girl with a katana, just looking at how she carries herself. She's a warrior. That girl with the white hair might look happy and curious, but I can tell she's estimating the strengths of those around her."
Someone catches Ryan off guard when he bumps into them. Ryan was always very aware of his surroundings, but it was like he couldn't sense the person he just bumped into. Ryan looks done to see a black-haired young man with blue eyes as he extends his hand to help him up.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to bump you like that."
The black-haired man smiles as he reaches out for his hand. "No problem, man."
The second Ryan touches the young man's hand, he could feel it instantly! All the fights he's been in have allowed him to gain a sixth sense for dangerous opponents, and this man is dangerous. Ryan couldn't help but prepare to kill this unknown variable.
The young man lets off a nervous smile. "My name is Don."
Ryan is stunned by how nervous Don is and thinks, "I guess he might be a good person. I'll relax just a bit."
Ryan looks Don in the eyes and lets off a faint smile. "My name is Ryan."
Don sweats softly, "Good luck at the exam."
Ryan lets go of Don's hand and walked off. "You too Don."
Sometime later after Sable announces the event.
The exam begins and Ryan finds himself alarmed and bored with the rules and the fact that the other applicants were getting slaughtered by daemons. All that he could think of as he stood there at the starting line was how mundane this all was.
"This sucks. How am I gonna get stronger from this?"
Ryan walks toward a group of Screaming Skulls that had aimed their sites at him.
"If this is a test, then I'm disappointed. This is just another pond."
Ryan's eyes and right arm glow a bright red as he continues to walk.
"Out of my way, you overfed bugs, or I'll show you how I end those beneath me."
The ground shifts beneath the Skull's feet right before hundreds of spikes grow to impale them all. Ryan sighs before a flash of blue light catches his eye. In an instant, a blinding flurry of speed and slashes fly past him.
Ryan looks over to the finish line to see Don holding a bloodied sword. "That guy is strong." Ryan smiles as something grows in his heart.
"This is just another pond for now, but there is a fish here. It's not as big as me, but it's still growing."
Behind Ryan, the rest of the gluttonous spiders converge on him, as he is the last applicant on the field. Ryan felt relief that his decision to join wasn't in vain, that it is an enormous world out there and Ryan has a lot to see.
"Lay waste to destruction. Ables arm of creation!!"
Ryan's arm glows even brighter as the spikes he previously created turn into one hundred blades. The spectators watching from their seats would later describe what they saw as beautiful and terrifying. They would recall that the blades the young man had spontaneously created reminded them of angels striking down evil, as the blades rained down, killing every spider in the stadium.
The brief sign of joy Ryan felt was now suppressed, and replaced with an image of boredom. Ryan then walked across the finish line to see all the faces of the applicants. Ryan could tell in an instant that they were assessing him; as if he were a horse they could piggyback off, or if he was a lion ready to pounce at a second's notice.
Ryan laughed as he spoke loud enough for the whole stadium to hear. "By your face's, I can tell what you're thinking. That I'm the strongest one here and damn straight I am. You aren't here to impress those bastards on the stage. No, you're here to impress me."
All the applicants' eyes glowed while staring at Ryan, but Ryan paid them no mind. Ryan's attention was on the five other applicants who had caught his notice before. Ryan's eyes gazed at them like a hungry lion ready to hunt.
Don couldn't help but grab his chest. "Ryan is amazing. So amazing that my heart won't stop beating."
Ryan's, and Don's eyes meet, and simultaneously they have the same thought. I WANT TO FIGHT HIM!