"Insane."
It was the old word that left Emily's mouth as she saw the screen before her.
She couldn't understand what just happened.
It all changed so fast.
Initially, if she had to be honest, she was kind of disappointed at the progress of Mikhail.
The score was increasing as steadily as ever but he had already started to show signs of struggle early on.
At 40, he was struggling quite much against the spirits.
Despite increasing the difficulty a little, the scale to measure his mental endurance was still the same.
So it made no sense to her what was happening.
At 52, Mikhail was almost going to collapse on the ground or dive out of the circle.
The sweaty and breathless expression on his face showed that he was almost done.
And yet, the score was nothing more than an average cadet.
Even with using all of her brains, Emily found it hard to find the problem in him.
His bodycheck before the test showed that there were no medical conditions that affected him.
So then why?
To prevent any further hardship for their future prospect, she was almost going to shut down the test when something unexpected happened.
The score that was increasing suddenly turned stagnant.
It stopped at 53.
At the same time, anger and self-hate came on Mikhail's expression for the first time in Emily's life.
The black-haired boy was an intriguing person to him, even outside the tests.
He barely showed any expression and when he did, it wasn't much.
So this was the first time seeing such an intense emotion on his face.
She was startled when she saw him gritting his teeth and banging his fist on the ground.
Emily was convinced that this might be where he would finally give up.
Not just her but the whole lab.
But all their expectations were broken when his expression went back to as it was.
No. It wasn't anything like before.
There were no signs of even a frown on his face. It was perfectly calm.
Rather, a deadly calm.
But the real shock hit them when suddenly, the mental endurance counter shot up at a breakneck speed.
53..
56..
60..
Emily stared wide-eyed at the monitor, not understanding what was going on.
64..
Her shocked eyes went to the monitor where Mikhail was seated.
And his expression…
It was calm as ever.
A collective intake of breath echoed in the room as all of them tried to grasp what was happening.
Mikhail's heartbeat went back to normal. His blood pressure lowered back down.
Everything that showed signs of warning went back to their normal signs.
And yet, the mental endurance counter…
70..
And it broke his previous record.
Unable to let out a sound much less a word, Emily's trembling eyes went to the monitor.
Where Mikhail was seated.
And his expression..
It was still calm.
But there was something else there now…
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Emily's eyes widened and she rushed out of the lab room, towards the test room screaming,
"ABORT THE TEST, NOW!"
***
All of a sudden, the resistance he felt vanished.
The pain and struggle he felt vanished.
Mikhail felt at peace. True peace for the first time he came into the world.
It was as if he could feel nothing. No true emotion. Fear, pain, surprise, it was all gone.
No. It was wrong.
He could still feel them but…
Mikhail found them to have no effect on him.
They felt nothing more than a tickle or a mere fleeting feeling.
No matter what the spirits tried, his mind was at a perfect calm.
However, he felt the tickle turn into pinches soon enough.
It was getting more effective now.
Instead of continuing the trial though, everything suddenly disappeared before Mikhail.
Darkness returned and he felt his body warp back to what it was before, making him aware that the test had ended.
Slowly opening his eyes, he was assaulted by the bright light of the room.
Adjusting, he was surprised when he saw Emily in front of him, her eyes wide from shock.
'Hmm?'
He chose to quickly ask the question that was plaguing his mind.
"Why did you end the test?"
There was no frustration in his voice. And neither his face or eyes.
Not even anger or any other emotion, just plain curiosity.
At his words, Emily startled awake as if she was out of it before.
Mikhail saw her eyes avert from his gaze, confusing him on what happened.
"Y-yes, the test is cancelled." He heard her stutter.
"Why?" He asked back.
Mikhail saw her raise a finger and point towards his face, confusing him again.
'Huh?'
"Y-your face."
'What abou-'
It was then that realization hit him and he started to feel it.
The taste of iron, in his mouth.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
And the sound of something dripping became clear to his ears.
He quickly touched his mouth and the edges, feeling his bandages become wet.
Retracting his hand, he looked at it.
Crimson Red. Blood.
"Quickly head to the infirmary and treat this. How did you not notice?" Emily ordered him, turning to leave.
She was still not looking at him.
It was true, how did he not feel the blood while talking?
Quickly standing up, Mikhail started to head towards the door, leaving for the infirmary.
He didn't bother to ask Emily why she was avoiding him. He was still out of it.
***
As Mikhail left the room, Emily was finally able to heave a sigh of relief.
Not just one, but multiple gasps.
It was as if her throat had just been released from a chokehold, making her able to finally breathe.
"W-What the hell was that?" Her shocked voice still stuttered.
The moment she entered the room, Emily was surrounded by a thick energy of bloodlust.
She was a Herald, and despite all that, it was as if death was lurking right by her side.
It was thick and heavy, making her heart heavy.
Despite not being the fighter type, she was able to handle energies like bloodlust quite well.
They were normal reactions from her target subjects.
But this one, no. It was as if it was the same but at the same time completely different.
If others said, I want to kill you, this one said, I'm going to kill you.
And the origin of this bloodlust?
The 20-year old black-haired boy sitting in the middle of the room, his expression as calm as ever.
The moment he opened his eyes, and those blue-crimson tinted eyes stared into her, she felt the bloodlust increase multiple folds.
Emily felt if she stared into it for a minute, breathing would become an impossible task for her.
That's how heavy it was. And yet, even with all this, she couldn't understand the reasoning behind it.
What did a 20-year old boy have to do to have this much bloodlust?
This wasn't just a criminal-level intent. It was a pure demonic intent.
One that she should have immediately reported to the authorities upon seeing it.
But she didn't. She didn't want to lose Mikhail.
He was too valuable. Too perfect for her. He was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
And this phenomenon only served to increase her curiosity.
Or maybe, if she had to be honest, it was something else.
A fear at the back of her mind that reporting wouldn't do good to her.
Those crimson-tinted eyes dared her to try and report and unfortunately, she didn't have the courage to do so.
'I can't lose him, he's way too important for me.' Emily licked her lips.
The boy had just turned all the more interesting for her. All the more close.
But what still left her shocked was his final score.
She turned to stare at the hidden monitors in the walls, speaking to them.
"What was the boy's final score?"
***
"Oh, I forgot to ask for my final score." Mikhail realized as he sat on the infirmary bed.
'Whatever, I'll just ask later.'
***
"8-84 Ma'am." The reporter struggled.
That was the mental endurance of an expert Monarch and yet, a 20-year old undertrained cadet had just achieved this record.
______________