01.32 - Black Too and White Too

About an hour before the official broadcast of the events, Luc took his first step into the room, looking up at the scoreboard to get an idea of their competition so far.

The reception to Mary and the nine kids in disguise was quite varied. Some of the lower-level candidates showed awe and fear, while others tried to play it cool.

Then there was one weirdo.

A woman with short blonde hair, dressed in battle armor, seemed elated, happy, and… aroused?

She licked her lips as she surveyed the new arrivals.

After a week of training, all nine of them had somewhat gotten used to the masks.

But the point of view still felt off, and their bodies still needed to adjust to their adult height.

Then there was the Aura issue. Not a single one of them was able to reach their maximal normal throughput without their disguise failing in the process. The masks did not drain large amounts of Aura, but they would prevent them from displaying their full potential.

Mary had told them not to worry about it earlier. After a quick glance at the scoreboard, her words finally seemed to connect with Luc.

Most of their competition was… pathetic, to say the least.

There were only four people who came close to their Aura Core tier. All of them were adults. Only one managed to surpass thirteen-year-old Luc, but still fell short of his fifteen-year-old sister.

It was the weirdo.

Their other three potential rivals seemed to muster them in silence. Maybe they were a cut above the rest, but given their estimated age, they would not nearly stand as much as Luc or any of the others if they registered without their disguise.

All nine of them trailed behind Mary, who approached one of the receptionists, who promptly led them to the two transparent spheres used for the Aura measurement.

The first two to get their capacity tested were Mirai and Gabe.

Both scored in the Rare Blue stage, immediately placing them to share second and third place on the ranking boards.

Luc was measured as Rare Green, even though he had already reached the Rare Indigo stage after their last hunt. Still three tiers above Glaucus’ Rare Red. Fourth place it was. At least for a minute or two.

The other two teams followed.

First up were Uriah, Rem, and Rogue, who instantly pushed him to seventh place.

Uriah scored an ephemeral second place with the equivalent throughput of a Rare Violet Core, despite having reached the Exotic stage already.

Rem and Rogue were both measured as Rare Indigo.

Next up were Sascha and Rafe, reaching Exotic Yellow and Exotic Orange respectively.

Then it was Hannah’s turn.

She confidently stepped toward the sphere and let her Aura flow freely into it, seemingly retaining just enough of it not to undo the mask's spell.

It glowed.

Brighter and brighter.

Then it finally reached its zenith.

Exotic Blue.

Damn.

She must have reached Indigo or Violet already.

Would she reintegrate a Royal Core before Luc had even reached the Exotic stage and leave him even further in the dust?

The final results were Hannah in the first spot, followed by Sascha in the second.

Rafe tied with the blonde weirdo in third and fourth.

Followed by Uriah in fifth.

Rem and Rogue shared sixth and seventh.

Mirai and Gabe shared eighth and ninth.

Luc scored last among all outliers in tenth. Far from the dream of surpassing his sister.

Mary seemed to be more than happy with the results.

The primary color-coded three former top four members were a lot less amused.

As for the weirdo, she slowly approached the group with an unreadable expression.

Did she want to pick a fight?

Unlikely.

She moved through the nine black specters like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Then she reached Mary and asked one of the clerks for…

A permanent marker pen?

Luc had to double-check what he heard.

She wanted an autograph from his mother. Right on the inside of one of the arm protectors of her battle armor, while giggling like a little girl.

Mary obliged without a second thought. “To Electra Pleiades?”

“Yes,” the weirdo exclaimed. “Thank you so much! I’ve always been a fan. I saw some of your hunts on the Wired. I am probably your number one… I mean… Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” said Mary. “And good luck with your exam… is what I would normally say, but looking at the scoreboard, it seems like you already have half a foot in the door.”

“Oh,” Electra said. “Could I ask you something else?”

“If it's not about the identity of my entourage, sure.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“Never mind then,” Electra’s voice trailed off. “How about…” she began. “Maybe a sparring match?”

“You don’t mean now, do you?”

“What? No! I mean, no. Maybe some other time?”

“Sure.”

“Great!”

With that, Electra slowly stepped away from the crowd, but not without leaving her gaze on Hannah for quite a while, before mustering Sascha and Rafe as well.

That did not seem like a coincidence.

It took Luc a couple of days before he was able to get used to who was who under their disguise. If she managed to identify and differentiate the individual members of their group after watching them for a few minutes, what would that imply?

Add to it that she was tied with Rafe for third and fourth place in the current ranking; it could mean danger. She definitely was more of a threat than the three guys in military gear.

Then again, she seemed to be a fan of his mother.

Maybe she could be an ally during the exam?

Maybe.

But there was also her strange behavior at the entrance.

Was she dangerous after all?