Nick looked at the people standing in front of him.
He had attracted quite a lot of attention.
But that didn't really matter a lot to him.
Nick would most likely not meet any of them again after advancing.
"How are your scores for the academy test?" the same girl asked him. "Are you interested in exchanging some answers?"
Nick looked at her for a moment.
She was barely 160 cm tall, had black hair, and looked at Nick with a mix of basic respect and neutrality.
Nick could tell that this girl was different from most trainees.
She spoke in a way that made it clear that she knew about the salt rock Specter and that she had experienced it herself.
Someone who could clear pain level four was not an average Extractor.
Until now, Nick had agreed to talk with most people about the academic portion, but he preferred talking with fewer people as long as the result was similar.
"We can talk later. I still need to complete the Specters and the battle portion," Nick said.
The girl nodded. "I will be waiting here," she said.
Nick nodded back and directly walked to the next Containment Unit.
Focus level four.
Nick didn't find any exhaustive guide about the Specter inside the Containment Unit.
The only thing that was explained to him was that he had to stay conscious for two hours in the Containment Unit and that he would receive a very noticeable signal as soon as the two hours were up.
Nick stopped in front of the Containment Unit and took a deep breath.
The level four Specters were not easy.
The level four Specter of pain had been brutal, and this one probably wouldn't be any easier to deal with.
Then, Nick opened the door and entered.
As soon as the door opened, Nick saw a haze of green, red, orange, white, and black.
It was like the entire Containment Unit was filled with some form of storm made of colored smoke or mist.
Nick had no idea what was waiting for him.
He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
The first thing that happened was that Nick smelled something.
Almost immediately, Nick's body started to jerk with the irresistible urge to vomit.
It was so disgusting!
This was even more disgusting than the sewer he had swum in!
The smell was absolutely atrocious!
It was like it was a mix of fermented vomit, cat piss, acid, poison, shit, mold, cheese, and every other horrible smell.
Worst of all, stopping his breathing didn't help!
It was like the smell was entering through his skin and traveling up his body into his nose!
Nick's body kept trying to empty its stomach, even though there was absolutely nothing in there.
After all, Nick never ate.
Then, Nick was hit by the taste.
It was just as bad as the smell!
It was like someone was moving a rotting piece of meat all over the inside of his mouth, leaving behind the disgusting juices!
Nick couldn't resist the urge to vomit anymore and heaved.
Yet, nothing came out, naturally.
But his body just kept trying.
It just kept on trying to vomit.
Again and again.
Then, the next part started.
Nick started to sweat as the air around him started to feel extremely hot and humid.
It was so fucking hot and wet in here!
Next, screeching, high-pitched noises rang throughout his ears.
Nick had to hold his ears, but that didn't help at all.
The next moment, everything in front of him became blurry and moved around in random ways.
It was almost like the world around him had stopped making sense and was turning randomly.
Naturally, Nick's sense of balance was also completely thrown off, and he felt like he was constantly about to fall over.
He was completely disoriented.
Horrible smell, horrible taste, extreme heat, extreme humidity, shifting surroundings, no sense of balance, constantly puking.
Once more, Nick felt like he was dying, but this time, he felt like he was dying from a disease.
But he had to stay conscious.
That was what he needed to do.
Nick constantly felt like he was about to lose consciousness, but he wasn't allowed to.
He had to stay awake.
He had to force himself to stay awake.
He needed enough willpower to keep his consciousness from fading away.
He needed enough focus.
So, Nick held on.
This was different from all the other kinds of suffering he had been through, but at the same time, it was also similar to something else.
Amongst all the discomfort, Nick was involuntarily reminded of the pain he kept mentally inflicting on himself.
For decades, Nick had been putting himself under immense and brutal pressure.
He didn't deserve to be happy.
Feeling good meant wasting time.
Feeling good meant disappointing the people he had killed.
Yet, Nick kept going forward through all of this.
It was so easy to commit suicide, but he persevered.
He kept walking forward.
And that was exactly what was needed to pass through this trial.
The will to continue going.
The will to resist giving up.
So, Nick kept going.
He kept heaving.
He kept suffering.
And he didn't stop.
He wouldn't stop.
It took so long.
It felt like days had passed.
But eventually, a green light appeared, and the chaotic surroundings gave way to a pure white.
All the suffering stopped, and Nick could see a wall of white Zephyx keeping the chaotic world of colorful mist away from him.
'It's over,' Nick thought as he took a deep breath.
Then, he quickly left the Containment Unit.
By now, even more people had gathered in the hallway.
The girl from earlier was also here, and she looked at Nick with genuine surprise.
She had completed pain level four, but she had failed at focus level four.
She couldn't imagine how anyone could resist such a horrendous sensation for two entire hours.
She had tried once, and she left after barely five minutes.
She would much rather go to the salt rock again than try the colorful mist again.
It was just that bad.
"Did you do it?" she asked.
Nick had regained his calm by now and just nodded.
The girl sighed.
"There's only one other guy currently here that managed to do that," she said.
"What about focus level five?" Nick asked. He couldn't imagine anything being worse than this one.
But then, he remembered pain level five and realized that there actually were worse things.
"Nobody knows," she said.
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Did that other guy not look inside?"
"I couldn't."
The girl turned to a red-haired guy who walked out from the crowd.
He had been the one who had just spoken.
"The requirements are too high, and there was no manual in the locker room," he added with a sigh.
The red-haired guy seemed quite casual and relaxed. In a way, he seemed like somebody that just didn't care a lot.
"What are the requirements?" Nick asked.
"Two points in strength, four points in agility, having cleared level three of pain and having cleared level four of danger," he said with a shrug.
Nick heard the sound of air being pulled through teeth coming from the audience, but he couldn't fault them for their reaction.
These requirements were brutal.
Four points in agility meant being in the top 12.5% of trainees in that aspect, and clearing level four of danger was probably… quite dangerous.
"As you can see, I'm not the fittest," the red-haired guy said with a bitter smile, showing his thin arms. "Also, I didn't even try danger level four. Danger level four needs you to be quite fast on your feet."
Nick thought about the things he had heard for a bit.
This seemed way too risky for just 15 additional points, but he was also interested.
After all, nobody had seen the focus level five Specter.
Nick wanted to know what kind of Specter it was.
"You look like somebody that can clear danger lever four," the red-haired guy commented. "You seem rather strong."
"What's danger level four?" Nick asked.
"A battle against a pretty powerful Specter," the girl from earlier said. "It's like danger level two but much more dangerous."
Nick remembered the Blood Ape on danger level two.
"Let me take a look," Nick said as he walked over to danger level four.
The people in the hallway watched with interest as Nick entered the next Containment Unit.
Would he win?
When Nick entered the locker room, he saw a couple of illustrations that made it very clear what he had to do.
He had to survive for two minutes or win against the Specter inside.
Nick stretched his back and arms for a bit and entered the Containment Unit.
BANG!
It was like the air had been cut apart as Nick jumped to the side.
BANG!
Another attack immediately arrived, but Nick managed to avoid getting hit by weaving with his torso.
That was when Nick finally got a good look at the Specter.
It was a metallic tiger with swords as claws.
It was brutally fast, durable, and extremely powerful.
Yet, Nick's physical condition was as optimal as it could be.
His speed and power had reached the peak of possibility for his level, and he had been in many dangerous fights in his life.
If he couldn't win against this Specter, nobody could.
BANG!
Nick kicked the Specter, and the entire Containment Unit shook as it hit the wall.
CRACK!
Then, Nick's blades sunk through the metallic body of the tiger.
From almost all of the levels Nick had gone through, this was amongst the easiest ones.