First, I will go where Bernette's test is going to be held. The Academy cleared out a massive training area and made it so that a test of physical and mental attributes was easily possible here.
It wasn't just about their Systems, but their depth of knowledge about monsters and other abilities and how they would deal with them. While Eliza, Elle and others would easily get through this one, I don't know about Bernette, hence I was there to check if she was doing all right or not.
If she were to struggle regarding anything, I can give her some tips to gain an upper hand here.
'Now, where is she?' I pondered as I scanned the crowd and after searching around for a few moments, I saw Mark and Britney on their own sitting at a distance. I looked around but found no one else there, which made me realise that her test might have already begun.
"Shadow style."
I took a deep breath and entered the test area without letting anyone else notice, and what I found inside actually surprised me. I saw Bernette standing at the waiting area as her turn almost came, but what actually made my eyes widen were the instructors overseeing her examination.
Slowly, I moved towards the area where the 4 instructors were standing and reaching behind them. I spoke with a questioning look,"should this be even legal?"
"Whoa!" All four of them turned and were about to take out their weapons, however, looking at me, they only stood there with a dumbfounded expression as they stared at me.
"Who are you?!!" Well, all except one of them, who did not know me, questioned. Ignoring him, I focused on the girl who was about to hit the punching machine, kind of missed it because of me, and I saw her score going down drastically.
[123!]
The average power level should be around 200 and one needs to have about 300 to even make it to the second round. Looks like I made a mistake by suddenly speaking and diverting her attention.
She glared at my side before looking at the scoreboard with a sad look. She then sighed before moving back and then, with a really scared yet determined look, she turned around and almost prepared for another punch.
I erased my presence completely in a second and moved towards her as I muttered,"sorry I made you lose some points, hope this would help," and then repositioned her body into an appropriate stance that would bring out at least twice the power which she should have taken out and…
-Booom!!
[671!]
By the time everyone was amazed at this, I was already back with the four instructors. Everyone, including the girl who punched the board, was looking at the scoreboard with a dumbfounded expression.
"Ehm!" Lucas, one of the instructors here, coughed out loud before speaking,"you pass. You may leave and wait for the announcement."
That girl, amazingly looking at the instructor's area, nodded a bit before moving out of there with a stupefied expression.
"What are you doing here?" x 3
The first two were Linda and Irene, looking at me with a curious yet complex expression. They wanted to know… perhaps everything that I was doing right now.
The third one was Lucas, who was glaring at me, for reasons only we both knew… in this place at least.The last one was Dalton, who was looking at the other three with a confused expression as he asked,"you guys know him? Lucas?"
"Just came here to check up on someone, though I doubt I would be needing to worry about it," I spoke as I looked at Irene and she, knowing my intentions, made a slightly embarrassed expression before nodding at me. They were going to pass Bernette anyway, even if she failed. This whole arrangement must have been made by Mark himself.
I sighed before smirking at Lucas as I said,"see you around, kiddo. Hopefully, you enjoyed your 'vacation'" before vanishing from there.
"Ummm… can anyone explain what that was?" Dalton asked again, but nobody responded to that as they just stood there stupefied before Linda asked the next person to come and take their test.
Though, as they proceeded with the test, Linda explained that… that guy was someone who had helped Bernette and was here to see if she was doing well or not. Though that did not explain his relations with Lucas, which Lucas just kept quiet about.
This source of content is novEl-bin(dot)com
"Is he strong?" Dalton curiously asked and Irene, Linda, and Lucas sighed with a wry smile before Irene spoke,"he is."
Dalton didn't ask anymore questions as he saw that they were, for some reason, behaving odd whenever he asked questions about that white-haired kid.
Meanwhile, I was outside standing behind Mark Leeway as I spoke without showing my presence,"I don't think she would need a back door to enter the Academy."
Mark wasn't alarmed, in fact, with the smile that formed on his face. It was as if he was expecting this before he answered,"it is fine. Just extra precautions so that my daughter gets what she wants."
I kept silent for a few moments before speaking,"the next time we probably meet would be around the time summer vacation starts. I guess I will take care of your daughter as well, till then. Hopefully, she too shows some potential. Till then, goodbye Mark, see you later."
By the time Mark turned, I had already vanished from there and my next point was somewhere around where I can relax a little. There was a good food centre at a distance and reaching there, I saw it bustling with people, not even a single seat was left.
"I guess I will come back here later," I spoke before I turned, though suddenly I felt someone watching me, and turning around I found a face which I thought I wouldn't be meeting until the Academy starts.
Former Succubus and now half-human, Lilith Berg was working in the restaurant in front of me, looking at me with an expression of curiosity and playfulness.