After leaving Pearce's office, Elyon finally opened the envelope. Inside were ten ten-pound notes, just as he had estimated. Seeing Edward I's mustachioed portrait on the currency, the pain in Elyon's injured arm seemed to ease considerably.
"Stop grinning at your money; it's time to test your abilities," Captain Kappa announced.
"Downstairs? But we're on the first floor. Shouldn't we be going up?" Elyon asked, puzzled.
"The ground level primarily houses the offices of various staff members and the representative quarters for the eight major religions, as well as areas like Section D for handling low-risk incidents. Below that, there are five more floors, where your ability testing and registration will take place on the first and second sublevels. Below that are areas C, B, and A."
"Is there a rank S?" Elyon wondered, thinking of typical grading systems.
"S rank? I've never heard of it. There are people at the Kaelang Special Actions Directorate responsible for Class-AA events, but I don't know about anything higher."
The entrance to the basement was a massive steel door, half a yard thick. It was guarded by six soldiers armed with bayoneted rifles. Elyon and the captain handed their IDs to the lead soldier, who after carefully comparing their photos with their faces, saluted and allowed them to approach the door.
Two soldiers turned the wheel on the door, and with a cacophony of mechanical noises, the door slowly swung inward, revealing a long staircase. Elyon could hear cries and whimpers emanating from beneath their feet.
"It feels a bit eerie down here. This place isn't haunted, is it?" Elyon asked, slightly concerned.
"Haunted? You're making me laugh. There are dozens of transcendent beings in this building, plus at least one archbishop from each of the eight major religions. Forget ghosts; even a half-god would have a hard time attacking this place, and that's just the beings I know about. Who knows if there's a half-god guarding Section A?" Kappa chuckled.
"But why do I hear all these weird noises?"
"That's normal. Did you think only humans are down here? There are all sorts of strange creatures and even spiritual entities. Some non-living items can even talk." Kappa seemed quite nonchalant as he explained.
"Are they all experimental subjects or dissection objects?" Elyon asked, a bit apprehensively.
"Most are prisoners of some sort, but a few rational or willing creatures, like semi-uncontrolled beings or vampires and werewolves, become semi-free government employees."
"Semi-uncontrolled?"
"Let's go down, and you'll see for yourself. There's one on the first floor – just be polite and don't treat them like monsters."
They reached the basement level, where unlike the pure steel door at the entrance, it was just a wooden door, albeit guarded by an eight-foot tall giant with three broadswords strapped to his waist.
"Good afternoon, Ston, I've brought a new recruit for registration and testing," Captain Kappa greeted the guard, who seemed familiar with him.
"Ah, it's you. What kind of ability has the little guy awakened? Give me a cigarette, will you? I'm all out," Ston's voice was booming but muffled.
"Hello, Mr. Ston. My ability seems to be seeing high-speed objects more clearly," Elyon replied.
"Here, though I doubt my cigarettes are strong enough for you." Kappa handed over a rolled cigarette.
"Common abilities aren't all bad, you know. The upside is that your chances of losing control are much lower, and the cost is minimal. If you do lose control, sacrificing your sight can save you, unlike me – I turned into a monster that can't be exposed to sunlight. Go on in." Ston accepted the cigarette with a third arm that emerged from behind his back – longer than his normal arms. His great height and three-armed figure would undoubtedly scare off people on the street, which also explained the three swords at his waist.
The first basement floor resembled a typical office area, though dimly lit by gas lamps. The first office by the entrance was the registration center for transcendent beings, manned by three middle-aged women processing paperwork, their desk strewn with nutshells betrayed their slackness.
"What can we do for you gentlemen today?" one of the clerks asked as they entered.
"We're here for transcendent registration. What's the procedure?"
"You're both registering?"
"Only me," Elyon responded.
The clerk glanced at Elyon's bandaged left arm as if wanting to inquire further but restrained herself. Instead, she handed Elyon a stack of papers clamped together with a pen attached.
"Just fill out the front, and then head down to the second level for the testing zone. Once tested, bring it back here to get stamped, and you're all set."
Elyon skimmed the first page, full of basic information such as name, height, age, address, and so on. After a few minutes, he completed the form and stepped back out into the hall.
"Now we'll test your strength, speed, endurance, and overall health. Finally, we'll assess your transcendent ability and mental state," Captain Kappa explained.
"Mental state?" Elyon echoed, curious.
"More accurately, your faith. What if you secretly worship some malevolent deity? There's a device that looks like a lamppost, and each deity has their own sacred number and representative color, right? For example, the Winter God's sacred number is 12, and the representative color is white. When you touch the lamppost, it will emit the corresponding color. The brighter the light, the more devout your belief."
Elyon smirked inwardly – as someone with atheistic leanings, he wondered how this would pan out. But for now, he would take things one step at a time.
Proceeding down to the second level, the two encountered no guards. They entered a room designated for strength testing. The staff member assigned to this task appeared fragile, an elderly man trembling with each step.
"Son, with that injury, why are you testing? Tell you what, we'll base your strength on multiples of the average man, calculated from your one good hand," the old man hummed softly.
"That works?"
"Why not? You planning to come back for a retest?"
"No, sir."
"Then let's get started."
The elder man dragged out a hefty sack and dropped it before Elyon with a thud that seemed to shake the floor.
"Just test your grip, weightlifting, and pulling power with one hand."
As the man explained, he produced various dumbbells, grippers, and a spring-scale pull meter from the sack and handed Elyon a grip strength meter. It was an oval steel bar with a fan-shaped dial connected to it.
"Press it as hard as you can with your right hand."
"Alright."
Elyon exerted all his might, his face turning beet red.
"260 pounds, not bad," the elder noted, allowing Elyon to rest before the next test.
Elyon calculated in his mind – 260 pounds translated to about 120 kilograms of grip strength on Earth. While not a single-handed record, it was surely far beyond an ordinary person's capability.
Next was weightlifting. The elder produced an exaggeratedly large barbell and set it before Elyon.
"Given your grip strength, let's start with a 200-pound clean and jerk. Remember to squat down with a straight back and use your legs to lift, not your waist – that way you won't injure your back. Here's a dry cloth for your hand; I don't want you, with one good arm, to end up depending on others for dressing and eating."
Following the instructions, Elyon wiped his hand dry, squatted down, grasped the barbell, and with a grunt, lifted it over his head. Despite feeling his arm might tear, he managed to stand up, his legs trembling as if electrified.
"One, two, three. You can put it down now," the elder counted before allowing Elyon to lower the weight, which seemed to be reaching his limit.
"Increase by 10 pounds? I think you've still got potential," the elder's voice held a hint of temptation.
"No thanks, I only have one working arm left. I don't want to become completely dependent on others."
"Alright, final test – pulling strength. Stand there and pull on the end of the spring scale. I'll see how much force you can muster."
Elyon glanced at the elder, who seemed frail enough to be blown away by the wind, and asked with concern, "Won't this injure you?"
The elder chuckled, "You're making me laugh, young man. Just pull; if I move an inch, I'll give you ten gold pounds."
Realizing the elder was likely a transcendent being specialized in strength – his gaunt appearance a probable cost of his abilities – Elyon thought about how to fabricate the cost of his own powers. Last time, he had been knocked out by the orb after all, and he certainly didn't want to become known as 'Sleepy Officer Elyon.'
Taking hold of the spring scale, Elyon pulled with all his strength until he felt he couldn't pull any further and called for a halt, waiting for the elder to check the results.
"300 pounds, not too shabby. You jumped straight to transcendent, didn't you?" the elder asked while filling out the form.
"Yes, how did you know?" Elyon replied, shaking off the strain in his arms.
"The data doesn't lie. Your scores are close to human limits, considering your physique and injury. Unless you're a god's favored, it's hard to imagine someone who just awakened their transcendent powers could have these numbers. Take this; I've completed the form for you. Next up, speed test."
After bidding farewell to the elder, they entered the room for the speed test. The setup was straightforward: a hundred-yard straight track, a starter with a whistle, and a finish line marked by a thin thread, with a timer at the end.
With the whistle's blow, Elyon sprinted forward. Despite only having one arm for balance, he felt more in control and agile than ever before. Breaking through the finish line, the timer stopped – nine seconds and two tenths. Considering his one injured arm, Elyon felt his body had indeed strengthened.
The endurance test was a three-mile run, which Elyon completed in roughly thirteen minutes – akin to five kilometers on Earth. He mused that if he were to return to Earth, he might just qualify for the triathlon finals at the Olympics.
A brief medical examination followed – a simple check-up by doctors in white coats who measured his height and weight and listened to his heart before sending them off to the final assessment.