401: By The Nose

By The Nose

"Also, remember, as more time passes, the speed at which the balls are projected at you increases. Not only that, if you last long enough, from a certain point onwards, the number of balls hurled and curled in your direction also increases. I guess that should right about sum up everything you need to know and will really be of any concern to you." Finalizing his elaboration, he called up, "First participant, Lydia Ross, step forward."1

"Yes." Coming forward, Lydia couldn't help but question warily, "But… Mr. invigilator, won't I get hurt if I'm hit with those baseballs?"

"Hahaha… don't worry, all of the balls were made using a special type of softer material which won't harm your body easily until a certain limit in time is reached where the speed will be too fast which would make even the special soft baseball dangerous. Furthermore, from that point onwards, with each passing second, the danger level increases respectively."

Not stopping there, he shed light on the matter more, "Anyway, that danger point starts from the fourth minutes onwards. Before that, there's no need for you to be worried about your safety."

"But-" Even more anxious now, Lydia was about to say something only to be interrupted before she could even start.

"Hahaha, as I said, don't be afraid, I'm quite confident none of you would be able to get that far without breaking into a sweat."

Nodding in some relief, at last, Lydia no longer hesitated before entering the glassy dome.

Sometime later, she was in the process of awkwardly dodging the baseballs that were being pitched at her from all directions. Unfortunately, before long, a ball hit her.

"56 seconds, you barely pass as one star. You need to work on your speed and capability of dodging, Lydia. Only having a killer spit won't do shit in the real battleground. I mean, if you're like this… before you even have the chance to spit on your enemies, the monsters, you'd be dead thousand times over and over again." Shaking his head, the invigilator advised the young girl to train a lot more so as to cover the shortcomings of her trait.

In truth, in the real world, Lydia could not even be eligible to be given 'barely one star'. It was just that the examination standards were rather easy-going against the newcomers.

"Yes, mister." A little disheartened, Lydia retreated.

…

"Next, Abby Wu." 

Soon, as the Asian temptress walked into the room, she started darting around as numerous balls missed her body. In fact, she wasn't that fast really, it was just that her footwork was extremely good and therefore, she was able to evade the balls with the minimum amount of movement.

Still, less than two minutes later, the hardballs became too quick for her to evade, at that time, just as everyone was thinking she was about to get hit, suddenly, taking out her handgun from its holster, she took a shot at the incoming balls that was about to hit her, therefore successfully blasting them away as they missed her.

In this way, she was able to keep herself from getting hit several times. But in the end, that method just wasn't efficient enough as a ball finally connected to her body.

"Abby Wu, two minutes and forty-five seconds. I would say you're almost at the peak of one-star. Still, whether it's barely one star or peak one star, notwithstanding, it merely counts as one star. So, we can even say there's no difference between yours and Lydia's grade in this test." 

Noticing Abby seemingly hurt by his claim, as a word of comfort, he also added while nodding, "Anyway, good job, you just need to continue training and persisting through and you'd be able to attain two-stars before long." He was indeed more satisfied with her compared to Lydia.

Afterward, not dilly-dallying about the useless stuff, he went on to address the following candidate. 

"Damian Cline, it's your turn."

"Yes! But before I start, can I ask something too?" Confirming the call, Damian queried.

"Go ahead."

"Um, can you please tell me the timing required for each star?"

"Hmm… of course, even though that's been already printed within the guide booklet, I'll repeat it again so listen well. You see, if you last between 55 seconds to 3 minutes you will get a single star, If you remain in the room between three minutes to six minutes without being hit, you will be considered to have earned two-stars. Anyway, the list goes on like this, with each advancement in star covering the next following three minutes."

"Oh, got it, appreciate the clarification." Saying this, Damian ran into the glass room at once.

Regrettably, though, he soon walked out of the glassy area with his head lowered and dispirited.

"29 seconds. Sigh, you're not eligible enough to even get a single star. Unfortunately, I would have to ask you to leave this area and try again later when you're faster." Announced the invigilator with some traces of pity apparent in his tone.

Left with no other options, the iron leg, Damian Cline, could only leave. Fortunately, before he could leave the Abnormals Association's building, a representative showed up before him and told him he would like to make an invitation to their guild. He was being scouted as a potential Guardian member.

With that, a happy grin formed on Damian's face as he left with the man. Now that he had the support of a guild, as long as his speed progresses, he was sure to get another chance at the examination.

…

Subsequently, Ismail Archer also went through the test. Fortunately, he was able to heave a sigh of relief since he was able to narrowly get a single star and move on to the next test, just like Lydia.

…

"Anastasia Foster." Called the man in charge of the testing.

Once again, as quiet as ever, the silent beauty ambled into the room as she began her dance of evasion.

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