Agnus dashed forward with blistering speed as he surpassed the row of examinees in front of him, hastily coursing to the front of the pack as the first terrain awaited him. It was a long, sloped hill where the summit was elevated roughly 300 feet, the slope a treacherous 40 degrees that any normal person would fail trying to ascend. Even trained soldiers of the ascendant tier would find it troublesome, although they'd most likely be able to climb it.
Agnus reached the start of the terrain first, leaping upward before he landed onto the hill that was filled with grass and mud, which made his fingers sink through with ease, and he instantly began climbing upward.
Due to the materials of the terrain, slipups were common as many examinees failed to properly position their feet, resulting in them slipping downward before they caught themselves, or had to restart completely.
Agnus, on the other hand, ascended the slope steadily, his fingertips burrowing into the ground as he steadily raised his leg, digging the toe of his shoe to gain a firm foothold before moving upward.
Akin to a spider, he crept upward until he was the first to arrive at the summit, before traversing the same path he took but in reverse, now going downward.
He jumped from the top, allowing himself to fall before slipping his leg underneath his body, sliding against the slope as his body quickly moved downward, a torrent of mud upheaved as he slid down.
As he reached the end, he dashed forward, utilizing his momentum to gain an extensive amount of distance between those who followed behind, sprinting forward with heavy steps as the next land of rocky and jagged terrain awaited him.
A test of balance would be far too easy for Agnus.
He hopped up, allowing his feet to firmly rest on a spike that protruded out of the ground before pushing off, coursing nearly twenty feet before landing between two spikes, reaching his hand above his head to grasp the tip of the spike.
He raised himself up, planting his feet against the side and pushing off, flying another thirty feet before landing on a spot that was rather tame for the amount of spikes out of the ground.
Carefully sprinting forward, Agnus heard as the rest of the examinees caught up to the area he was in, but his lead was far too dominant to pay any attention to it. Despite merely being an awakened, his physique was far more refined, and his effective muscle was far more robust than everyone else in the exams.
In addition, with mana naturally enhancing his body, he rivaled the physicality of a peak-ascendant, which was scarce in amount, as Agnus only counted a dozen who were at that stage.
Rushing forward, Agnus observed as the space in front of him suddenly dipped, revealing a vast expanse of murky waters he would have to descend into after a nearly two-hundred-foot drop.
The height would be fatal for any normal human, and even dangerous for awakened-tier humans, but he was far from normal. He didn't second-think his option and casually leaped down.
His eyes scanned over the area in front of him, observing as he jumped into the deep pit that contained water.
It would be a straight climb-up from the water, a hassle that would hinder many examinees.
The light dimmed as he plunged down, blanketing the area in darkness as he finally landed, a gigantic splash marking the area he entered. He immediately began swimming, his wrists curled as he furled them outward, his feet kicking behind him.
From behind, at the top of the cliff, the boy who called him out earlier observed as Agnus made his way to the wall and began climbing up, a frown tainting his face as he watched. "That fucker is too fast..." He murmured to himself before leaping down, his fingers clamped over his nose as he plunged into the water.
From outside the exam area, Cillian watched with a proud smirk on his face, his eyes curving in delight as the prospects of this year far surpassed his expectations. "They are physically blessed, I'll give them that much." Ryan smiled, his eyes focused on Agnus every second of the way.
He has not seen Agnus in nearly 6 months, but he knew that with the training plan Jason was carrying out on him, he'd be far more lethal than any other examinee participating.
Working out never left the training regimen of anyone, no matter their tier. Of course, the resources needed were ridiculous, as some Emperors would casually bench press nearly three tonnes, but it was easy to attain.
Some thought that with their bodies ascending, old traditions of working out would be forgotten and proved inefficient, but it couldn't have been more wrong. They simply needed to scale the weights up. However, Ryan was unsure as to whether he should be happy or worried that there were a few dozen freaks from the other groups that were matching or even surpassing his speed in the physical examination.
"That boy, Agnus, he's the reason why you're here, right?" Cillian curiously asked, angling his head for Ryan to see his eyes, but Cillian's eyes never met his.
Ryan cleared his throat and spoke, "Yeah, he is. I have personal ties with him, and I strongly believe in his potential."
Cillian turned his head back, his smile never leaving his lips. "Ryan,"
Ryan promptly turned his eyes slightly, allowing the back of the Headmaster's head to enter his vision as the word hung in the air.
The words were smooth and kind, but an ominous tension squeezed his chest. "Want me to be honest with you?"
Ryan hesitated before answering, as the truth could be harsh, and he was ready to bear it. "Yes, please."
Cillian kept his smile as if he couldn't drop it, but his gaze remained trained on the screens in front of him. "His safety is in jeopardy."
The sentence fell out bluntly and without reason, but Ryan understood it fully. The unease tugging at his chest only loosened slightly, as he knew there were more words to come.
"Because of his father, his peers will treat him as a threat. And while protecting my students is my top priority, I can't be naive to the fact that, without a doubt, someone will try to do something against them.
It can be as minor as bullying him lightly, or as harsh as inflicting physical harm against him.
Personally, I couldn't care less if his father was a traitor or not. Someone's worth or how they're looked at shouldn't be determined by who their parents, relatives, or whatever the fuck are.
I know Agnus is special. I detected it the moment he walked through my gates, the mana that flourished in his body without a mana core. The first I have ever seen, and I must say it was hard to keep my surprise contained.
It is unlikely that it will be unnoticed for long, and from there, things will be out of my hands.
The higher-ups of the Heretics might want him, or other forces we have yet to learn about might come into play."
Ryan narrowed his gaze as the last sentence caught his attention the most, the implication of hidden forces revealing their existence. "What do you mean? And I'm sure you know what part I'm asking about." Ryan said.
Cillian released a gruff breath, his eyes opening as he pondered the sky. "Chris, his father, was the first to realize the blood that ran through him and the rest of his bloodline.
He ventured through the world and realized its secrets that not even the most powerful of our known world knew. There was a race spanning countless millennia back in the past. They were called Manalites. Beings who were born with mana inside their body.
The downside? They have no emotion. Just as Agnus did.
Yet, that latent part of his bloodline wasn't activated, and Chris doesn't know why. But by manipulating the people who put him in such a predicament into putting the runes on him, as we know, somehow activated it. It managed to kick-start it, and he hasn't been able to figure out the reason for it yet.
But from what he told me, Agnus is a hybrid between human and manalite. A manalite can never recover their emotion, a race driven by pure logic.
Agnus, however? He can break the runes. What will it do? I'm not sure, as Chris doesn't know either."
Ryan's mind went into overdrive as the mere revelation of Agnus having blood belonging to an ancient race was enough to put his mind in a state of stupor, and every other piece of information only made his mind boggle more. He looked away as his mind struggled to process, and finally, Cillian turned around to look him in the eyes as he delivered his next sentence.
"For the day they come for him, I will protect him to my absolute best, and I'll protect him from the wrath of his classmates until then. But I surely hope that you, and Emperor Jason, who you snuck in, will be there along with me." A flicker of surprise dashed across Ryan's face as he learned that Cillian knew all along.
"You knew?" His tone was soft with an edge of bewilderment, as he was sure that he kept Jason's disguise perfect.
Cillain let out a shallow chuckle as he pivoted on his foot, returning his focus to the screens. "Of course. Nothing enters my expanse and can deceive me. I'm all-seeing."