Nero observed the situation around him without moving. The sun was nearly at its peak, casting small shadows. But even the midday sun was not hot. Instead it was warm and comforting. The soothing wind was perfectly pleasant, and carried the smell of flowers and some fragrant leaves. The air was fresh and crisp.
It was the stuff of nightmares, yet no nightmare struck. The grass did not try to kill him, and the pollen did not try to poison him or take root in his lungs. That was all Nero needed to know to determine this was a projection, but for what reason would the Eldrim show him such a tense projection?
Was this a test of faith? That would match the theme of a cathedral. Before he could ponder these questions longer, a stream of information flowed directly into his mind, as if some unseen entity was speaking and commenting on him.
"Specimen: human male. Age: 15 years. Health condition: optimal. Anomalies detected: none. Existing data entry: none. Genetic markers: subject S-28.
Specimen viability: viable. Initialising physical competency test. Specimen, display your peak physical prowess."
The stream of information was strange. Although no one was speaking, the way it flowed into his mind was as if someone or something was passing judgement. Nero could not help but feel slightly offended at being referred to as a specimen, and alarmed at the mention of genetic markers. What did that mean?
But there were no answers. Whoever or whatever had passed those comments was waiting for his display. Keeping his mission in mind, Nero suppressed his own curiosity and began to replicate his practice stances with the spear, starting from slow and firm, all the way to quick and ferocious.
The only oddity was that he was able to go through his entire routine without feeling an ounce of fatigue. He was in peak condition the entire time, which allowed him to display his absolute best with ease.
When he stopped there was not a single drop of sweat on his brow, but even so he did not continue. He had already shown his best, there was no point in spending more time repeating the same thing.
"Physical capabilities are judged to have surpassed the required threshold. Specimen physical condition: excellent. Initiating aether competency test. Aether test addendum: humans exhibit weak external aether control thus the basis of aether testing is the aether induced mutations. Specimen, display your peak aetheric prowess."
Nero pursed his lips, but then realised that there was no point in being frustrated by the way the stream of information spoke about humans. It was not being condescending, but rather stating the limitations of humans objectively.
But despite the objectivity, he could not deny that each sentence carried a sense of inherent superiority. If it came down to it, maybe the Eldrim really were superior. But that did not mean humans were weak or pathetic. Though their starting point may have been low, they have risen quite high on their own efforts.
He pushed these thoughts aside and focused on his task. Since the test had judged that his external aether control was weak, which was an understatement, then the basis of this test would be his ability. If that was the case…
Nero surrounded his body with blue flames, and made them as large as he could. Considering that in this place he remained in his peak state no matter what he did, Nero could try this without fear of failure.
He made the flame as large as he possibly could, while making it as furious as possible. Instantly the grass around him froze in its position, and then eventually shattered. Fog formed every time he breathed, and frost started to gather all around him.
After a few seconds of maintaining his peak state, Nero let it go. There was no point in stretching it.
"Aether induced ability is judged to directly affect thermal energy, entropy, light, and sound. Specimen aether ability: Exceptional grade. Additional note: the specimen can be of great value while conducting various tests and can adopt the role of research assistant. Initiating corruption resistance test. Specimen, resist corruption to the best of your abilities."
Corruption?
Before Nero could think too deeply about the topic, he felt something pushing down on his internal aetheric pressure. He immediately felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand up, and he felt a familiar malevolence appear all around him.
He was being targeted by a curse!
This time he did not take any time to think if hold back, and immediately surrounded himself with cryoflames. But while the flame had been large and roaring just a few moments ago, now it was pale and suppressed.
The cursed energy around Nero was too thick. The strange thing was, it was not manifesting into a curse at all. It was pure energy that was pushing him down, and trying to enter his body, and this time he did not dare to hold back. While previously he ended the test on his own each time, this time he kept resisting as best as he could.
Unfortunately for him, the cursed energy just kept increasing in density, pushing down on him harder than ever before. He was even momentarily reminded of what Dagon said. If he suddenly felt this kind of pressure while he was manipulating his internal pressure the wrong way, it could seriously end up hurting him.
Ice began to form on the ground around him, but there was no end to the test. His flames kept growing smaller and smaller, right up until they were on the verge of extinguishing.
Then, without warning, the cursed energy disappeared.
"Corruption resistance capabilities are judged to be exceptional among all living beings. Extent of corruption resisted when exposed to 100 units of corruption: 100%. Additional note: all 100 units of corruption were simultaneously destroyed. Final judgement: specimen passes the criteria to enter lower levels. Access to lower levels granted.
"Additional note: specimen displayed unique ability applicable in various tests. Raising specimen evaluation.
"Additional note: specimen displayed corruption destruction capabilities. Specimens' judgement rating being upgraded. Specimen passes the criteria to be recorded in the network database in level 4!
"Error! Error! Network database connection node missing. Running diagnostics. Network connection lost 1209 years 11 months 29 days ago. Searching for possible solutions.
Initiating emergency repair protocols.
"Error! Error! Connection to Lumina city grid compromised, emergency repair protocols cannot be initiated. Initiating Last light and Luminari protocols."
Finally, the stream of information was interrupted. Towards the end the stream of information took on a note of dire desperation, giving up its original objectivity. Yet that desperation did not make Nero feel vindicated. Instead, he could feel the extent of the issue this city had faced.
He did not even want to imagine, nor could he, what could make the pioneers of the card system they used to carve out their existence feel so desperate. So instead he focused on the information he got.
There was a good chance that whatever problem occurred in this city, it happened almost 1209 years ago. In fact, in just one more day, it would be exactly 1210 years ago.
There was also the fact that the Eldrim called cursed energy corruption, and the fact that he could apparently destroy it, which was rare even among the Eldrim.
Before he could continue pondering, Nero found himself returned to the broom closet he was originally standing in. The door opened and a surprised Aloe looked at him.
"That was much quicker than I expected, though it seems you passed the test. You can now go down to the lower levels."
"Thank you," Nero said, though he was still distracted. What were the Last light and Luminari protocols? While whatever the stream of information tried to do earlier failed, clearly its last action had not been interrupted. Was something in the ruins about to change? If so, was he supposed to try and report what happened?
He looked at Aloe. He was tempted to ask her, but the strictness with which information was controlled had been strongly impressed upon him. He did not want to inadvertently get her into trouble by saying the wrong thing.
After some consideration, Nero decided that the best course of action would be to complete the mission on hand first. He could then share the oddity of his test when he was handing in the artefacts.
"How long was I in?" he asked, exiting the closet while flexing his arms. He didn't feel tired at all.
"Maybe a few minutes, max. Normally this test takes at least half an hour."
"Thanks. We'll be going down then."
Nero gathered up his team, and finally began his descent into the basement. Even if he had been told that it was clear of all obstacles, Nero was incredibly careful as he descended. It was not just the last, strange actions of the test that caused this caution, but also the fact that he was about to walk into the fog.
Doing so was supposed to mean certain death, and yet here he was, doing exactly that.