August Intruder [SOL Progression Fantasy]

Arms folded Enjin did his best to hold back his laughter. It was subdued, quite poorly, into a snicker.

Okoro spared him a glance before shaking his head. Enjin could not be matured to save his life. But he guessed it was the man's childishness that kept him loved by the students of the school. He was in charge of Gifted Physical Education and the children loved him to hell and back.

Enjin leaned forward suddenly, staring intently at the screen.

"My money says that the girl with the ponytail goes down first," he said, looking around at the others in the room.

They were in front of a wall screen that displayed three video feeds from the three different cameras related to the examination room. One faced outside where the children had just come down from the bus and were approaching the room. The remaining two were within the room, positioned well enough to be hidden while covering the entire room.

Only one blind spot existed in the room, and it was intentional.

The other members of staff present spared Enjin a glance before ignoring him. There were three others besides Enjin and Okoro.

Favor was in charge of Mathematics and possessed the [Physicist] class. She wasn't very special in direct combat but she made for a heck of a support teammate. And if you partnered her with a sniper of any kind, she could have the sniper hitting impossible shots even for a Gifted.

Mac was an [Elementalist]. He specialized in land, not earth. Initially, Okoro had not understood how that was supposed to work but it seemed his skills somehow allowed him to manipulate any surface strong enough to hold people up as long as it was beneath his feet.

He was an odd type of [Elementalist] but not unheard of.

Jonathan was a small sized man, no more than a hundred and seventy centimeters tall. He was an [Crafter]. His specialty was sound and he could craft it in anyway he chose.

Tenerif was an [Empath]. His presence here was to keep an eye on the children. He stood beside Enjin with hands in the pockets of his trench coat, watching the big screen with his smoky grey eyes. People said that they were natural but Okoro still felt like they were artificially done. Eye polishing was not unheard of in Tatelat.

As long as you were of age and possessed the necessary documentations and clearances, certain body modifications could be acquired. There were limits to body modifications, though. And Okoro did not mean legally, he meant actual limits. You could have someone change your limb and end up with a deformed arm, depending on how far you were trying to go.

"I'll take you up on the offer," Tenerif said suddenly, never taking his eyes off the girl in question. "I say she'll fall third."

Enjin cocked a brow at him. "Are you seeing something I'm not?"

Of course he is, Okoro thought with a sigh. He's the [Empath] in the room.

Tenerif responded with a shrug. "I'm more interested in the tall boys."

"Me, too," Favor mused. "They are tall for their age."

"Not that," Tenerif said. "The taller one looks like he has a scar."

"And the shorter one looks a little too sharp," Okoro pointed out. "Like he's had combat experience."

"A lot of parents like to train their kids in hopes of raising Delvers," Mac pointed out.

Tenerif shook his head, stepping forward for the first time since entering the room. He pointed at the screen. "See how his head always tilts slightly. And look at his feet. He's never off balance and always ready to move quickly."

"He's about to take an exam," Favor said, playing devil's advocate. "He's supposed to be on edge."

The children were at the door now. One of them opened it.

"Shush," Enjin said quickly, cutting off whatever Mac was about to say. "They are going in."

Enjin was always too eager to watch the kids go through the tests. The surprise of this test had him overly excited.

"When is it set to go off?" Favor asked.

"Now," Tenerif answered before pressing a button.

Enjin looked at the small cylindrical device that sat in the [Empath]'s hand perfectly when he pressed the button. He was like a child who wanted to press the button too.

The beginning sequence of everything happened in the blink of an eye. Two people fell. However, what caught their attention was one of the tall boys. He stiffened in a fraction of a second before turning and snatching up the boy beside him before he hit the ground, preventing his fall.

"I'm not the only one that saw that, right?" Mac asked with a touch of amusement in his voice.

"Quick reflexes," Enjin mused with interest. "But the taller one didn't even flinch."

There was a device in the hall that projected mana into the room like a blast of air, but it wouldn't be felt, not physically at least. They had chosen a frost type mana, designed to send chills into those present.

"Strong mana or frost immunity?" Jonathan asked.

Favor squinted at the screen as another student fell. "I'd say resistance. He should've felt it."

The point of the test was to test mana mastery as far as Okoro knew. The interface did not have any section that addressed it but those who had spent enough time in the Gifted field knew that mana mastery was a thing. It was what helped Delvers survive and last long when they entered toxic portals without the necessary resistance.

It was something that could be trained but some people had better natural mastery than most. This exam was to test it with cold mana poisoning.

"They are talking," Enjin said after a while. "The tall boys. I'm guessing they know each other."

"Brothers," Tenerif said. "They look alike and have similar movements. And they've been talking since they got down from the bus."

Tenerif was always so observant when it had to do with people. You could walk him and a group of experienced Delvers into a room full of people and he would take note of what everyone is doing in relation to each other before anyone else.

The taller boy stepped deeper into the room, unaffected by the mana poisoning and began looking around. It was a wide hall. The point of this test was to see how many students would be able to possess the presence of mind and body to make their way to the next room and how long it would take.

The taller boy walked back to his apparent brother, and they exchanged a few words. They stood in silence for a moment before the second brother pointed directly at the location of the device projecting the mana.

Two of the six people in the room made an impressed sound.

"A tracker?" Jonathan asked.

Okoro shook his head. "A [Faker]."

"So he got a tracking skill before coming in or took it off of one of the others," Mac mused. "That's smart."

Okoro didn't like the fact that they did not know the details of the students' skills until after admission while they were testing them. But laws were laws. An organization was not entitled to the detailed knowledge of a Gifted's class unless it was willingly and freely given after they had entered into a contract with the Gifted.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"What is he about to—Jesus effing Christ!" Enjin laughed in amazement as the taller boy hurled a massive ball of fire at the location of the device.

"Language, Enjin," Tenerif said casually. No one in the room was bothered by the boy's attack.

They had in fact considered the possibility of a student locating the device and proceeding to destroy it. As such, steps had been taken to protect it. Steps like the barrier that stopped the ball of fire.

"Violent, that one," Favor mused.

Tenerif shook his head. "Adventurous and impulsive. Not violent."

"What would you say about the brother?" Enjin said nodding at the screen where the brother was handing the boy in his arms over to the fire maniac.

"He moves him so easily," Jonathan noted. "Is that also a stolen skill or is he just physically strong?"

Mac shrugged. "I'm guessing physically strong."

"Gifted related," Okoro suggested. "He held him in one arm as if he was carrying a baby when he pointed out the device. My money's on his strength stats being high."

Once the brother taller brother took the boy from his arms, the shorter brother stepped forward and took a deep breath. Both boys seemed completely unaffected by the effects of the mana poisoning.

The shorter brother took a very deep breath then moved his hand slowly. After a moment, something appeared on his wrist.

"Another copied skill?" Favor asked.

"Yes," Tenerif said as a ring of white light appeared around the boy's wrist, glowing very slightly. "You can tell by how he needed an activation motion. I'm guessing the hand movement is necessary."

The boy swung his arm forward casually. The ring dislodged itself from his hand and made its way to the barrier.

Let's see what happens, Okoro thought.

Stunned to silence, they all watched the barrier shatter like glass when it came in contact with the ring of light. The ring charged forward and embedded itself halfway into the wall.

"That was… shocking," Enjin said.

Nods went around the room.

"So there's someone with a skill that can pierce barriers in that group," Mac said. "The combat team is going to love—"

The ring exploded into a domain that looked like a tear in the wall. Its surface was a very thin layer of white film, and they stared at it in surprise.

Tenerif looked down at the device in his hand. But he didn't have to tell them what had happened. They could see it on the screen. The other students were coming out of their chill suddenly unaffected.

"Did he…" Favor paused to look up at the others from her seat. "Did he just disable the device?"

As much as it was a question, it was mainly a confirmation.

Tenerif nodded very slowly. "It seems we have a disabler in the group. Someone that can pierce through an A-rank barrier with ease and disable a device crafted by an S-rank [Crafter]."

It wasn't an impossible feat, but it was an impressive one for a sixteen-year-old.

The Lockwood brothers, Okoro mused.

They were strong in their own way.

"The brain and the brawn," Tenerif mused, talking to himself.

Okoro wasn't sure he could agree with the description. But he had no better description in mind. More importantly, he did not like the childlike smile on Enjin's face.

It was never a good sign when the staff in charge of teaching the children how to fight was excited at the sight of violence.

…

Ark laughed so that the boy in his arms bounced. "You broke it."

"I didn't break it," Melmarc grumbled as they watched the others slowly pull themselves out of their chill.

The boy in Ark's arms looked up at him in embarrassment.

"May I please come down?" he asked.

Ark was more than happy to comply. He didn't even answer the boy, he released him so abruptly that he almost fell.

Melmarc scolded him with his eyes and Ark shrugged in innocence.

"He wanted to come down," he argued. "No guy wants to be carried by his fellow guy in such a manner." He turned to the boy. "Right?"

The boy nodded, but his embarrassment was clear on his face.

"Anyway," Ark said, turning to Melmarc with a smile. "Shall we get out of here before our group decides to bombard you with thanks and gratitude."

Melmarc paused at the thought, then hightailed it for the door marked as the exit.

The others were still getting their bearings back when Melmarc and Ark went through the door. Ark was barely containing his laughter as they found themselves in a room filled with classroom desks and a blackboard on what seemed like the wrong side of the room.

Ark was still chuckling as he turned to Melmarc. "I swear you're going to learn how to take thank yous when they are offered to you."

Melmarc knew it. He understood it. But when it came to receiving gratitude, he was something of a contradiction.

He understood the need for it, in fact, he wanted to be thanked for doing things he did even if it wasn't necessary. It was just about having what he had done be acknowledged by the person he had done it for—a sign that it was appreciated. The problem, however, was that he never knew how to receive thanks. The grander the show of gratitude, the more difficult it was for him to react properly.

He wanted his actions to be acknowledged but he also didn't want it to be handled as if it was a big deal. It was why he preferred to help his family members and his friends. With them, he knew that they were grateful and appreciative, and they never made it seem like a big deal when they showed it.

"Good," Ark said with a nod, turning his attention to the classroom. "Do you think we're supposed to write some kind of a test here?"

Melmarc looked at room, took it in. He had a status buff pending from his use of [Knowledge is Power]. There were some interesting skills available, but he wasn't ready to pick one yet. He hadn't lost too much from the mastery of the fire resistance skill he'd gotten from the [Pyromancer] yesterday.

Each desk had a black sheet of paper on it with a blue pen right next to the piece of paper. Melmarc approached the nearest desk. Standing next to it, he looked down at the piece of paper, making sure to not touch anything.

"What is the square root of negative one?" Ark read out from two tables away.

Melmarc turned to find him standing next to the table and looking down at the paper just like he was doing. Ark touched nothing.

The door behind them opened then. The other kids trooped in very slowly, looking around and wondering what purpose the room was to serve. With the experience from the other room after thinking that they were safe, they were all on edge now, alert.

"This one is different," Melmarc told Ark, walking over to him.

Ark looked up from his piece of paper. "Really?"

Melmarc nodded.

"What did it say?" he asked.

"Who's your favorite Delver?" Melmarc answered. It had been written in white ink. "I think they all have different questions."

One of the students, a girl, took a seat and scribbled something on her paper. The entire process was quick. Once she was done, she got up and walked out of the room with the pen and paper.

Everyone in the classroom looked at each other. The girl had been so confident, as if she knew what she was doing.

Ark and Melmarc exchanged a quick look before Ark darted past him.

"The answer's 'i'," Ark said as he darted past him.

Melmarc watched Ark go as he sat down. Ark took up the seat Melmarc had been at a moment ago. The boy that had been about to take was more than happy to let him have it.

Picking up the pen, Melmarc answered the question just as Ark had told him. Personally, he already knew the answer. Ark had said it to him once upon a time while showing off his mathematical skills, skills that far exceeded Melmarc's.

With the pen and paper, Melmarc walked over to Ark. Ark was already on his feet.

"Done?" Ark asked.

Melmarc nodded. "I just needed to write one letter, Ark. Of course I'm done."

"Well, you know," Ark shrugged. "With you who knows what could happen. You could've sat down there overthinking it for another five minutes."

Melmarc would've argued if it wasn't true.

"So…" Ark looked around at the others. Some were already heading for the second exit, the one the girl had used. "Shall we blow this joint?"

Melmarc had no arguments for that either. He was more than happy to. This specific portion of the test was a bit lackluster.

There should be more, he thought as he and Ark walked out of the room and found themselves in a pitch-black hallway.

They shared a look and found each other where they expected to be, right next to themselves.

Melmarc wondered who the first girl that went through the door ended up with or if she had been alone.

"An illusion?" Ark asked.

Melmarc wasn't sure. It wasn't legal to use illusions of a certain degree on people. Depending on the degree and ultimate outcome of the illusion, you could suffer from a fine to time in prison. Still, there were [Illusionist]s that walked around with something called an illusory license.

There were also organizations that possessed this license. They were trusted with using illusions for the purposes stated in their requests. Lawsuits involving misuse of these licenses in their hands tended to be handled extra-seriously.

Melmarc raised his hand and moved it from side to side while Ark waited patiently. He reached out to the side. For a hallway, it felt as if there was nothing on the side.

Definitely an illusion.

But what's the test? He wondered. Are we supposed to get out of it?

"I think it's an illusion," he said, finally.

"Interesting illusion." Ark looked around, moving his arms. "Very spacious." He turned slowly, like a girl in a musical. Then he stopped. "Should I undo it?"

Melmarc paused. "You can do that?"

"Of course." Ark held his hand up. "Shadow fire burns everything."

Melmarc grabbed his wrist before he could activate the skill—in case he wanted to activate the skill.

"Isn't that a little too dangerous?" he asked. "I thought that's why you didn't use it last time."

Ark bobbed his head around in thought. "It is… kinda. But I didn't use it because you didn't give me the time to consider it. But I can use it to burn up the illusion… I think."

"I don't think we're supposed to burn up the illusion," Melmarc said. "I think we're supposed to solve whatever it brings."

<<Melmarc?>>

Melmarc paused, turning around very abruptly. He knew that voice.

Ark gave him an odd look. "Are you alright?"

Melmarc was not. That voice was not supposed to be here.

<<Melmarc.>>

Not possible, he thought, still looking around.

"Now I'm not sure if I should burn it," Ark said. "Should I be worried about you?"

Melmarc was already worried about himself. Why was he hearing that voice? Was this the work of the illusion or had something else happened?

"Mel—"

Melmarc held a finger up, hushing Ark. He needed to listen. He needed to be sure.

<<Melmarc.>>

He froze. Now, he was sure.

Looking around into the void of only darkness and seeing no owner of the voice, he spoke into it.

One word spilled from his lips.

"Veebee?"