Chapter 176: Scavenger Test

Rex is currently on his way using Edward's car, but first, he must go to the UWO office first.

The border between the Supernatural and humanity is guarded heavily by the military and also other high-ranking Awakened from UWO, it will be impossible for Rex to sneak out.

That is why he needs to go to the UWO office.

In order to go out of humanity's territory, Rex needs to go through a long procedure.

The people that went out of humanity's territory are called Scavengers,

UWO will make these Scavengers sign multiple documents such as family acknowledgment, death contract, and also the time until they return.

All of this is a must because being a Scavenger is very risky and if they didn't come back in the agreed period, they will be considered dead and their bodies will not be collected.

It's a ruthless law but the Supernatural territory is just that dangerous.

By religion retrieving a dead body is a must to give their family something to mourn, but the UWO decided that it is not necessary.

Many are angry about their decision, but they can't do anything about it.

A Scavenger must be at least rank five to go out, they will not be permitted if they are an Awakened below that rank.

After about thirty minutes of driving, Rex arrives at the nearest UWO Office.

He could've just ask Vargas to approve him to become a Scavenger but he refrain from doing so, 

The reason he becomes a Scavenger is due to the mission from the SCO, and it will be suspicious if Rex a student apply to become a Scavenger.

That is why Rex decided to go to the UWO himself.

He knows that eventually his activity will be found out, but it's better then than now.

The UWO Office is the tallest building in sector 3E,

The building is 60 floors tall, the tip of the building can be seen from miles away, the building is square-shaped and this place is crowded with people.

Around the UWO office, there are many military camps and also Awakened camps.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the UWO office is the most secure place in the whole sector, not even the mayor's home is this secure.

Rex went inside the building with steady steps,

He's not wearing Faraday University's uniform but rather he wears casual clothes, this will at least increase the probability of getting accepted as a Scavenger.

If he wears a student uniform, the staff will certainly make it hard for him to become a Scavenger.

"Mom, I'm going to send you a file from university, you just need to sign it okay?", Rex said to his mother, he's currently on the phone with Mrs. Greene.

Then, his mother replied, "What's it about?"

"Something about a tournament that said to be a little dangerous, so they need your approval for me to join it", Rex lied, he didn't want his mother to be worried.

He can just tell his mother other excuses, toning down the real truth, in this case, is best.

Instead of saying that he will become a Scavenger that will wander inside the Supernatural territory, he instead said that it is a dangerous tournament.

The latter is more acceptable than the first.

"Are you going to be okay?", Mrs. Greene said worriedly, the word dangerous will definitely make any mother concern about their children.

Rex then said assuringly, "I'm strong mom, did you forget?"

Hearing this, Mrs. Greene hesitated for a moment before she finally agrees to sign.

After getting his mother's permission, Rex went to the counter and ask for a Scavenger verification from the UWO's staff.

He then got guided to a place where a couple of people are waiting in line.

From all of the people that are queuing up to the Scavenger test, Rex found that each of them emits a battle-hardened aura.

Not even one of them have a weak aura, they're all like a sword that is already tempered by hundreds of battle.

Rex queues up behind them, and many of them look at Rex in shock.

They're not shocked by Rex's dominating aura, but they are surprised by his look that is very young for someone that wanted to be a Scavenger.

Only experienced Awakened wanted to be a Scavenger,

The materials such as mutated plants, mutated animals that only exist in the Supernatural territory, or even Supernatural's carcass are all valuable things.

But all of them wanted the fame of being a Scavenger, and also treasures.

Treasures are self-explanatory,

Many treasures that can evolve an element, containing spirit to assimilate with, or even mutated plants that can boost their power are certainly desirable.

Compared to the human territory where all such items already got looted, the Supernatural territory is indeed a wonderland for Awakened that wanted to become strong but have no money.

Scavengers are well respected not only by normal humans but also by Awakened.

All of them are known for their power and wits that help them survive the harsh and brutal place, and it will be easier for a Scavenger to join a high-ranking guild or even dive into FAA or UWO to be a commander of Awakened.

The standing these Scavengers has is outstanding,

"Kid, Is this your first time going through a Scavenger test?", a man in front of Rex said, his jaw is strong, and his eyes show that he's been through a lot of battles.

Rex looks at him and answered, "Yes, this is my first time"

"If I may ask, what are your reasons to become a Scavenger?", the man asks politely.

Hearing this, Rex sigh before he said, "I'd like to experience the terror of Supernatural, and also it will be great for my power development"

The man nodded his head in understanding, 

He look troubled as he want to say something, he then eventually said, "You know the requirement to become a Scavenger is being a rank five right?"

Rex smiles mysteriously making the man widened his eyes in shock.

Based on Rex's look, the man thought that Rex is no older than 25 despite his huge frame.

But with the mysterious smile on Rex's face, the man realized that Rex knows about this which means that he's a rank five Awakened!

"Are...Are you being serious?", the man asks in surprise.

"Hah! There's no way such baby like him is a rank five Awakened, don't go around telling your lies kid only a fool will believe it", another guy intervenes from the back.

The guy just queue up behind Rex and heard their conversation.

His look is that of a mocking look when he heard their conversation, it is simply impossible for a 25 years old person to be a rank five Awakened.

Even a genius will take 2 years assimilating with their new element before they make their rune to reach rank five.

Gathering mana to complete the rune will also take a long time, so it's just not possible.

'For your standard is impossible, but with the system, it's so easy to reach rank five', Rex thought in his heart, he doesn't feel offended by the guy at all.

If they knew that Rex reach rank five in just a bit more than 3 months, they will faint in shock.

Rex didn't answer making the guy behind him smile in triumph, he thought that he just exposed Rex of his lies.

The man in front of Rex takes one last look at Rex before he turns away.

The Scavenger test only takes five minutes for each person, 

Rex queues up motionless as the line got shorter, he then finally near the testing room enough to see the inside of the room.

On Rex's left, there's a mirror that views the testing room.

It's the man in front of Rex's turn, and Rex is curious about his power, 'Crystal Elementalist, I wonder what his power looks like', Rex thought.

While they're talking before, Rex already scans the man in front of him.

The man is called Zane and he's a Crystal Elementalist, it is a higher rank element from the earth element tree.

Not many have this element, and Rex is greatly interested in it.

Zane is in the middle of a white room with an observer on the side, they talk for a moment before a man enters the room.

The man is a peak rank five Fire Elementalist, he then stops ten meters in front of Zane.

After getting into their position, the man conjures a spell creating a huge fire saber above his head that is filled with fire mana.

Looking at this, Zane also chanted his spell.

His body glow with a red-pinkish color as red crystal materialize around him creating some kind of barrier, it reflects the light making it glow brightly.

SWOOSH!

The fire saber blasted fastly towards Zane, Rex can feel the power emitted by the fire saber.

BOOM!

It hits Zane's crystal barrier directly before it creates a huge explosion,

The observer knit her eyes while looking at the scene, and after the smoke clears out Zane's crystal barrier can be seen glowing strongly.

The fire saber didn't manage to penetrate his barrier, not even a scratch can be seen.

Rex looked at the scene in surprise,

From the scan he does to Zane, he knows that Zane is only an Awakened that just enter mid-rank five not long ago because of his low intelligence stat for a mid-rank five.

But to his surprise, Zane manage to fend off an attack from a peak rank five Awakened!

This shows truly the power of a defense-based element like the Crystal element, not even a higher rank Awakened attack can penetrate this.

After testing his power, Zane then came out of the testing room.

Rex then walk inside the testing room after Zane got out, it is his turn now and he already somewhat guessed the test.

But before he got inside the testing room,

"Good luck kid, with your rank five power you will certainly pass the test smoothly", the guy behind Rex said sarcastically.

Rex ignores the guy and went inside the testing room with confident steps.

"What is your rank?", the observer asks.

Rex glance at the observer before he answered, "Early Rank Five, Black Lightning Elementalist"

Hearing this, the observer nodded her head before she said, "What kinds of test will you choose? Power test? Defense test? Or Versatility test?"

"Versatility test", Rex replied nonchalantly.

"The specification of the test?", the observer asks again.

Rex thought for a moment before he said, "Multiple targets"

After getting Rex's answer, the observer talk through her earpiece before four chained mutated rhinos came out of the other room.

Their skin is filled with hard blue scales, their eyes are red with hulking bodies, and they have six brawny legs instead of four.

Seeing this, Rex scans the rhinos and finds that they're all early rank five.

"You may begin", the observer said as she steps back.

The rhinos got released from their chains just after the signal from the observer,

ROAR!!

Without a moment of pause, the four rhinos charge at Rex as their animalistic instinct to run away kicks in.

Looking at this, Rex smiles.

His body glows with a yellow hue as he activated his force power,

This scene greatly shocks the observer and even other people that watched Rex from outside, it's almost unbelievable for someone to achieve the yellow Force.

One needs to train their body like a madman to just comprehend Force, let alone Yellow Force.

"Black Field Orko"

ZOOM!!

The ground suddenly turns pitch black after Rex chanted his spell, even the observer looks at the ground in shock when she feels the lightning mana in it.

It's overwhelmingly dense and she realized that the Black Lightning is a Peak Great Element!

'Such power for his age, he must be a genius from a high-ranking family', the observer thought as she look at Rex in awe.

BLITZ!

Black Lightning zapped out of the black ground hitting four of the rhinos.

The rhinos got electrocuted as their body becomes stiff, and black whip-like lightning wrap around their body holding them in place.

It happened in less than five seconds, all of the rhinos got stopped by Rex.

His fist then glows with a yellow hue, "Force Beam!"

BOOM!

Rex punched the air sending four Force Beam towards the four rhinos,

The Force Beam hit the rhinos right on their head and penetrate through it, their hard scale didn't put any resistance to the Force Beam.

Strength-wise, Rex is comparable to a mid or even peak rank five.

So the rhino who only has early rank five power have no chance, the Force Beam pierced through their head and destroyed their brains.

BRAK!

The four rhinos fall lifeless as Rex retract his spells,

Rex looks at the observer who is still in shock before he puts his hand on his pocket and left, he didn't even need to hear the observer's result.

The guy that mocked Rex before was stunned to his core, he looks at Rex in disbelief.

He then realized that he said many offensive things to Rex as he put his head down, he saw Rex approached him after getting out of the testing room.

It makes his heart thump uncontrollably,

The power Rex shows inside the testing room proves to the guy that Rex is stronger.

He lowers his head afraid that Rex might mess with him, but to his surprise, Rex only stops in front of him before Rex walks past him.

Not even a single word came out of Rex's mouth,

But before Rex disappear around the corner, the guy bowed and said, "I'm sorry for my ignorance!"

Hearing this, Rex smiles lightly before he left.