The Evaluation.
It was a final process to the long admission system, after the aspirants successfully passes the entrance exam, or fulfil the standards and requirements.
Thinking that, my nose involuntarily twitched.
I...more or less passed the exam. Somewhat.
I mean...I was here, right?
I suppressed those hollow thoughts and glanced at the transparent glass orb.
Then,
"We will now begin your evaluation. Please have a sit."
I heard the gentle voice of the young female staff sitting across from me.
I nodded only mildly and pushed the seat back, before doing as she suggested.
My gaze was still on the crystal. There was a slight level of apprehension and confliction inside of me.
I knew what would happen next.
During the Evaluation, the aspirants 'Talent' as a 'prospect' was gauged and measured. This final detail would be added and complimented to our overall results from the entrance exam, and a corresponding ranks would be given by the end of it all.
That was what Adrianne said, and Meta even confirmed to this.
Knowing all this, it would be normal that I had no reason to feel nervous despite knowing what to expect.
Well, not quite.
The evaluation had every reason to have the one getting evaluated all nervous. After all, their corresponding talent may as well, more or less, determine their future in the world of Awakened.
But I was nervous, for the same reason, but not...
It was exactly because I wasn't sure how it'll turn it, but separately from how others might think. I also don't know my Talent prior to this, and even Meta doesn't seem to be able to give me an answer.
All sorts of thoughts filled my mind.
And there's that too...
For starters, I was slightly different from most Awakened.
The female staff then began to introduce the system and how the evaluation would go.
"...The Evaluation, as you may already know will be revealing your 'Talent' and potential, which will be added to your culminative result from the exam. And from there, a corresponding ranks will be assigned to you at the start of the semester..."
They were all things I was already aware, but I silently listened through it while hiding my thoughts behind a casual visage.
Seeing me intently pay attention, the lady smiled a little.
"The Talent ranks are equivalent from Beta Rank to Candela, or Prospects are graded from 1 to 5. But do note that the readings of one's Talent using the method may not always be certain. That is for the reason that, one's Talent may change or develop over time, although hardly. And, it is also impossible to directly gauge the precise wavelength. We can only give a rough estimate of the prospect, so to say."
I listened. Pretended too.
She talked a lot in detail about the system, but they were all things I was already aware of prior to this moment.
In other words, whatever the results may be is only a rough estimate of my talent as a prospect. It's expected. Awakened, or Heros, were a rather sporadic group of people.
One can never know what can happen. I was a good example.
What I had running through my veins was Ether. An inverse or counterpart of Aether, which followed contradictory and sporadic laws.
I didn't realise early at the beginning, but simply by possessing this power, I've gone off the regular route of a normal Awakened.
And although the changes or effects weren't actually obvious, it had more to do with my future and morphed innate talent.
I was someone who could use both Mana and Aura.
Someone who's body has been refined by a rare fruit of Aurora, and my Core was more robust than a usual Mortal Rank hero like myself.
I could use more Aura or Mana than an average Hero my rank, and possessed a wider range of prospects and future talents.
'Those aren't normal.'
Also, wasn't Ether the legacy of a Demon Lord?!
Wasn't that bad?
That was something I had to hide.
That was why I was a little edged about what my talent may be. It was also why Meta claims she can't provided an estimate either.
Even the System couldn't read my Ether and judge my estimated talent...
In other words.
I was an anomaly. Of sorts.
"To begin, all you have to do is place your hand on this orb and inject it with a little of your Mana or Aura. This item will gauge your Aether density, flow, purity and nature, and overall talent which will be represented in readings..."
I restrained myself from letting out a breath and slowly raised my right palm.
'There's no use thinking about it now.'
Sealing away my thoughts, I casually placed my hand over the glass-looking orb.
As expected, it was rather smooth to the touch.
Without much of an expression, I injected a little of my Ether into the device that was a quasi-artifact actually, and did as the staff said.
'Density...flow... purity, and nature. Should I be at least confident in the purity and density of my Ether? I mean, the fruit of Aurora helped me drastically improve all my Aether related abilities right?'
And even after I acquired Ether later on, the [Blessing of Aether] attribute didn't vanish, and instead became the [Blessing of Ether].
Was it safe to judge then, that I still had the effects of the blessing even with Ether now?
Regardless of my uncertain thoughts, the glass orb soon glowed with a resplendent radiance as I continued to inject a little of my energy.
The surface of the orb became warm, and in turn, I felt something transient invade my body through my right arm.
Meta...the system hasn't reacted, that means it's not something remotely harmful, I thought as I pushed down traces of unease amd worry.
As a result of that I had confidence, and judged there was no danger. So I didn't panic and continued on with the process.
It was a lie to say I wasn't remotely nervous about the outcome. I could almost feel my heart pounding behind my chest.
In the meantime, the amiable female staff was observing the screen of what resembled a tablet in her hands on the other side. There was a small professional smile, something probably there to ease the worries of the aspirants during the evaluation.
But the thing was.
That smile was slowly falling apart.
'Fuck.'
It had only been less than eight seconds, and I already knew something was wrong.
That...is not the expression of someone when everything's alright...
The friendly staff's expression slowly fell and became contorted. I could see shock, I could see perplexion, and I could see outright bafflement.
I watched with shallow breaths as the staff constantly looked between the tablet screen in her hands, and the glowing orb under my palm.
"Huh?" Eventually, she managed to mutter.
A strange smile made it to her lips as she looked up at me.
Instinctively, I retracted my right arm and returned the look.
"Uh-uhm...it appears there's been a mistake..."
"A mistake...?" I repeated slowly.
"Y-yes. It seems like the device might be broken. Huh, that's strange. It was also working just a while ago before your turn..." I silently heard her mutter towards the end.
Why was she acting like this, I had no idea.
I decided to remain silent, to avoid implicating myself if there was truly something wrong with Evaluation, until she addresses it first.
"I see. So...what do we do then?" First of all, let's go along with it and see where this goes...
The faltering smile on the staff quickly fixed as she professionally regained composure.
"There's no need to worry. If the device is faulty, all we need to do is get another one." She said, matter of factly.
In response, I only nodded.
"Then excuse me." I silently watched as the staff got up from behind her desk and left. She seemed to be in a little hurry,but tried to hide it.
While her back vanished, I leaned back slightly and sighed deeply.
"..."
It didn't take more than a minute, for the female staff to return. And in her hands, was a new and different crystal orb, just like the first one.
She placed it carefully before me with a smile.
"I've made sure of the functionality of this one. There should be no more errors." Her smile was steady, she seemed rather confident.
After that, I simply repeated the process.
I raised my right hand and placed my palm over the orb. I injected a trickle of my Ether and felt a transient tug through my arm and into my body.
Once more, I watched the orb light up slightly.
And once more, I watched the expression of the staff drop and crumble.
"Th-this is..."
Did the device really discover something about me then?
I restrained my thoughts and automatically withdrew my hand.
The staff raised her head too look at me with a complicated expression.
"... I'm sorry. Excuse me, but this isn't something I can establish with just my own judgement. I'll go get the manager quickly, please wait."
"Ah..." Before I could do anything, the female staff rapidly said and rushed away in a hurry.
'Manager?'
My face crumpled up lightly, but while she was gone, I cast my {Appraisal} skill on the orb.
"Nothing..."
There was nothing strange about it. Neither was there with the last one.
Was the fault, or something, really from me then...?
The female staff wasn't gone long. In only a short matter of time she returned with a middle aged man wearing a black suit, whom I presumed to be the aforementioned manager.
He had a relaxed expression on his face, which probably meant it didn't seem like the situation was as bad as it seemed.
Quiet honestly.
Seeing his expression put me at ease slightly.
The manager reached for the tablet like device and glanced at it.
There was a slight faltering in his expression. It was so subtle it was almost unnoticeable, but such details have become harder for me to miss during the past year.
Regardless, the manager calmly glanced at me with the same expression he came in with and his lips cooly parted as he said.
"Talent Evaluation, Null."