From an outside perspective, Rin stopped, perhaps out of fear, apprehension, or some other similar emotion. But to Rin, at that moment, it seemed like the barriers between him and the world were dissolved. He could see everything, whether it was behind him or hidden within a radius of twenty meters, everything was clear in his mind.
"It had to happen now, but hey, it doesn't change anything", Rin thought as he started walking again, then he entered the machine.
Inside the machine, Rin was comfortable, but he felt countless tiny needles piercing his back for a second before disappearing. He didn't have time to understand what was happening when suddenly he heard the soldier outside the machine shout:
"Number 896 - Physical Test - Grade: SS."
When Rin got out of the machine, he saw the soldiers, the lieutenant, the other candidates, and even the other prodigies, including Alliong, looking at him as if they were seeing a ghost. It was no wonder their expression was like that since getting an S grade was often synonymous with prodigy.
Unaware of their state of mind, Rin asked the announcing soldier, "Is there something on my face?"
The helpless soldier replied, "Please head to the next test."
Rin walked to the entrance of the tunnel and waited for the signal to start, but in the meantime, the candidates began to whisper.
"Do you think the panda could get another S? Even an A here would qualify him as a prodigy."
"Having an S in the physical test means the other two tests won't be catastrophic."
"The panda is so strong, ahahaha, who would have thought it?"
The soldier in charge of the second section announces: "GO".
Rin immediately darted like a bullet, changing trajectory even before the obstacles appeared or fell, and never slowed down from start to finish.
Everyone was shocked, and the most perceptive understood that Rin was not ordinary.
The lieutenant, with narrowed eyes, murmured: "The old monster has hatched a semi-awake... it remains to be seen whether it is corporeal or spiritual. In the first case, it is normal, but in the second case ... " He glanced at Shen Yi, calm as the surface of a lake, and sighed.
"Number 895 – Responsiveness Test – Rating: SS."
The soldier announced the result, and a heavy silence ensued, followed by countless murmurs.
"It's a second Alliong, no wonder they got along so well."
"He's a corporeal semi-awakened, but I haven't noticed any physical changes, normally they all
have a little alteration on their body."
Walking towards the center, Rin began to chuckle, a hand over his mouth: "Ahahaha, not bad, not bad. You activated at the right time, after all. Without you, I would have gotten a lower grade. It's just a sprint without the obstacles that come into play."
The lieutenant observes the young man who was giggling in the wind, a vein throbbing in his temple. "Hurry up, we don't have plenty of time, kid."
Surprised, Rin trotted and positioned himself in front of the lieutenant, observing his chest. In front of him, as the lieutenant was preparing himself, he saw several streams running through the body, converging towards the bust and swirling inside.
After waiting a few seconds, the lieutenant looked at Rin with doubt. "I'm ready, you..."
Before he finished his sentence, Rin, as if he had been waiting for a precise moment, a flaw in this waltz, a misstep in the flow of mana, struck with all his might.
What followed was a towering man slightly bent in front of a sold young man with panda eyes.
Several people stood up from their seats to stare at the scene in disbelief. Even Shen Yi had a surprised look. But in this story, the most surprised was Lieutenant Jin, who had not suffered any damage, only thanks to the difference in level. Otherwise, this blow would have killed him.
He watches Rin then speaks slowly. "Number 896 - Test of Strength - Rating: SS."
Without giving the young man time to react, he speaks in an extremely loud voice. "You have 10 minutes to form a row of 50 in front of me, in numerical order, otherwise you will be disqualified!"
Panicked by this threat, everyone ran to their places, and in 10 minutes, everyone was lined up in front of the lieutenant, who had put his uniform back on. But all eyes were on the last position because everyone here had witnessed the birth of the 6th prodigy!
Lieutenant Jin clapped his hands and regained everyone's attention. "We will now proceed to the spiritual test, which will be divided into three stages: Spiritual Sensitivity, Spiritual Absorption Rate, and finally, Spiritual Potential."
He resumes shortly after. "I warn you, young people, after these tests, an overall score will be calculated. Then, a new number will be assigned to you according to your place in the ranking. The higher you are in the ranking, the closer you will be to the stone of awakening and therefore, will be more likely to succeed in your awakening... You already know this, but failing your awakening is permanent!
----
Shortly after Rin saw a middle-aged man who came up behind the lieutenant and smiled at the crowd, he was quite short and with an unshaven beard but eyes shining like stars, and with him several soldiers positioned themselves at the 4 corners of the room with tablets and other
soldiers attached patches to the temples of the participants
Once the preparations were finished the middle-aged man clapped his hands while smiling and Rin felt his vision shift.
"Where am I? who am I?... I'm hungry"