Now there was another problem, and a huge decision on who would be the second person to go.
Everyone looked at the person next to them and then the person in front of them.
No one was willing to step up to the platform.
Mia, after waiting and seeing no one wanted to go, decided to step up.
With elegant grace, she walked up to the podium and placed her hand on it.
Eden was focused on figuring out what Mia's stats were, so he put all his attention on her at this moment.
Mia placed her hand on the scanner and put in some of her power. After a while, her stats were shown to everyone.
Name: Mia Oliveira
Rank: F-rank
Range: 20 to 30
Level: 29
Damn.
Another peak F-rank. The hall that was silent suddenly started bursting with noise as everyone discussed the fact that two individuals were both at the peak of F-rank.
Dennis, who had kept his head down this whole time, finally raised his head and stared at the huge TV that showed all the stats.
"Interesting, very interesting," he murmured.
After a while, the entire hall became silent again.
Who was the next person to go up? That was the question.
This time, a dark-haired guy went up. His stats weren't as flashy as the first two, but they were still reasonable.
This seemed to get the people going, as more and more people went up to get their energy output checked.
Everyone had pretty normal results, apart from a boy named Troy and a girl named Emily, who both had 27 and 28 energy levels, respectively.
***********
It was now late in the afternoon. People who had had their energy output checked were more than half.
Apart from the earlier excitement, nothing much had happened.
While everyone was getting comfortable and getting to know each other, Austin, who had been quiet all this while, stood up and went onto the podium.
Not many people noticed that he went up, but he didn't seem to care.
Eden was one of those who noticed and made sure to look over and get to know his energy level.
Austin placed his hands on the scanner, put in a little power, and waited.
Name: Austin Brazer
Rank: E-rank
Range: 30 to 40
Level: 33
There was silence. Pin-drop silence. Questions like,
"E-rank?" "What is he doing here?" "A thirty-three level energy output?"
were going through everyone's mind. No one could comprehend how powerful Austin was.
Of course, for Honors Academy, this was good news, as they didn't need to spend too much resources to get an E-rank, as they already had one.
Eden, on the other hand, didn't take this well.
In his past life, around this time, his brother wasn't even close to the peak of F-rank. What was different now?
Eden looked up and met the gaze of his brother.
Austin just grinned and went down the podium.
Eden was still in thought after what he had just witnessed.
His brother, whom he was training harder to beat, was way ahead of him in ranking. Eden found this very hard to accept.
"What went wrong?" "Did my presence cause so much of a shift in space and time?"
These were questions that Eden couldn't answer and could only ponder.
After a while, everyone had done their respective energy output check.
Well, everyone except Eden.
"Is that all? Is that everyone?" the man on the podium asked.
Eden really didn't want to step up on the podium, but he had no choice. If he wanted to get accepted into Honors Academy, he had to pass this test.
After the man on the podium called out again to anyone who hadn't done the test, Eden walked up.
There were lots of eyes on him due to the fact that he was last.
Many believed that he was a hidden powerhouse who didn't want to show off their power. Some believed he was just shy. Either way, all focus now was on Eden, as he was the last one to get his energy level checked.
Eden stood in front of the scanner, hands shaking, sweat pouring from his forehead.
He just stood there staring at the machine, not making a move.
"Any time now?" the man on the podium said.
Eden took a deep breath and finally pressed his hands on the scanner. He tried to put as much power into the scanner to see if it could change anything, but alas, you can't cheat technology.
Name: Eden Brazer
Rank: F-rank
Range: 20 to 30
Level: 5
After Eden's stats showed on the TV, there were different reactions to it.
Some immediately burst into laughter, some were confused, and some just stayed silent.
The man on the podium was also confused by the predicament.
How does someone have an energy level of five but is also F-rank? It didn't make sense.
But the man on the podium only pondered it for a while before moving everyone to the next trial.
Austin was surprised by Eden's energy level, but deep down felt elated. He couldn't understand why he felt that way, but he liked the feeling.
"What is wrong with me?" he mumbled to himself.
Mia looked at Eden for a little while before walking away, a trace of contemplation flashing across her eyes.
Apart from them now, no one else even bothered to look toward the direction of Eden after they saw his energy level.
The next thing they had to do were the trials for their element affinity.
That would be tomorrow, as they had spent the whole day checking their energy levels.
In a large, spacious opening in the middle of the school, everyone set up the tents they had brought beforehand.
Eden was in the middle of setting up his tent when he got a visitor.
"Hey, you are the guy who had an output of five, right?" a black dude in a black hoodie said.
"Yeah, how can I help you?" Eden asked.
"Can we talk?" the dude said and pointed at the lake nearby.
Eden nodded and followed him.