"Welcome, sirs," a young man said as they approached the center of the room.
From the scanty look of the place, it was easy to tell that it wasn't the main location for the re-evaluation; there was no equipment for such a test in the room at all.
"Isn't this place a little too crowded for the test?" Jin Woo asked.
"This is a demonstration room. Before the evaluation test, your real abilities need to be tested," the young man explained.
"So we have to showcase our powers in front of everyone? Isn't that a bit excessive? I mean, someone could have a vendetta against me and this will give them the full scope of my abilities," Steve said playfully.
Truthfully though, he couldn't care less. Showcasing his abilities wouldn't change a thing. It wasn't combat-based, so even if one knew such a thing, they wouldn't know how he would use it.
"Showing one person or two doesn't guarantee that an opponent would win if they knew about it. Your chairman's abilities are known worldwide, but the ones that can actually beat him in combat even in this current age can be counted on one hand," Henry explained.
"If you say so," Jin Woo replied before suddenly walking away from the group.
Steve watched with interest, considering that their origin was nearly the same... well, he doubted that the boy had transmigrated as he did, but they were both survivors of that wretched dungeon.
That dungeon was also the beginning of it all for them both. From the small and sheepish boy he saw back then, he had grown into a man.
He, himself, had changed drastically... from a powerless shmuck to someone who was being evaluated for the title of Korea's second National Level Hunter.
"Arise," Steve heard before an overwhelming amount of soul energy clouded his vision... no, it wasn't just soul energy; they were souls.
It was as though he was staring into an abyss... an afterlife.
"Shit!" Steve said as his heart sank. He was one of them.
The overwhelming amount of soul energy, the raw power hidden behind their moves. His sudden quick rise in power... he could say that the boy had risen to such a height as he did by absorbing a portion of the souls of the monsters he defeated.
However, that wasn't what he was seeing. This wasn't a forceful 'swallowing' of souls as his ability did.
Every single soul in that abyss was glad to be there. They were under him.
"Mr. Grant?" Gunhee asked, noticing his reaction.
"Don't mind me," Steve said as a smile appeared on his face.
"Okay?" Gunhee replied, confused but choosing not to go further.
Steve, on the other hand, watched on as he saw some black mass and an overwhelming amount of soul energy fill the area around Jin Woo.
Barely seconds later, all that power condensed into three rather large beings.
One of them was a literal bear, the other was just a very large knight, or at least it looked like one, and standing just beside Jin Woo himself was the one he considered the most dangerous of them all.
It looked like a knight as well, but unlike the others who were just dark with several hints of blue here and there, this one had a long red cloth or feather thingy on its helmet, and its black cape waved around in the non-existent wind.