High above the city, hidden behind a one-way mirror, the HRC proctors were watching the exam.
They sat in a dark room full of monitors, judging every move examinees made.
Proctor May was standing in front of the main screens.
"Look at Applicant 42," another proctor said, pointing at a screen. "The sponsored kid with the ice Blessing. She just cleared Sector B in under three minutes. Her combat efficiency is excellent."
"She's Level 30," Proctor May replied. "She has been taking private combat lessons since she was ten. I expect nothing less. Mark her down for a pass."
The proctors scanned the other screens. They watched applicants sweat, bleed, and struggle. Like Leo, who punched a Construct so hard it shattered and the desperate adults that got teleported out one by one as their Health Points hit zero.
"Applicant 118 is failing," a proctor noted. "He just broke his arm. Teleporting him out now."
"Standard," May said. "Most of them aren't ready for real combat."
Then, one of the junior proctors leaned closer to his monitor. He tapped a few buttons, rewinding a piece of footage.
"Proctor May," he called out. "You need to see this."
May walked over. "What is it? Did someone get seriously injured?"
"No," the junior proctor said. "It's Applicant 89. Shay Fawn."
May looked at the name on her clipboard. "Fawn? As in the son of Lavaman and Nitrogenic? I thought he dropped out of Academy."
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"He did," the junior proctor said. "He’s registered as Level 1. Look at his camera feed."
He played the video. It showed Shay walking down the street at a slow pace as the Construct charged at him.
"He's not moving," May said, her eyes narrowing. "Why isn't he dodging? He's going to get killed."
On the screen, the Construct got within five feet and pulled its fist back to strike.
Then, suddenly, the Construct stumbled. It missed the punch, threw up on the ground, and collapsed, twitching helplessly. Shay stepped over it and kept walking.
The room went completely silent.
"What just happened?" May asked. "Play it again."
The junior proctor rewound the video and played it in slow motion. They watched it again. The result was the same.
"Did it trip?" a proctor guessed. "A glitch in the System?"
"Constructs don't trip," May said. "Pull up his file. What is his Blessing?"
The junior proctor quickly typed on his keyboard and a file popped up on the screen.
"Shay Fawn," the proctor read aloud. "Age 19. Level 1. Blessing... Master of the Elements. Tier... S."
The proctors gasped quietly. S-Tier Blessings were incredibly rare. There were only a few of them in the entire country.
"An S-Tier Emitter," May muttered. "But he's Level 1. His Blessing Point pool must be tiny. He couldn't have used a massive attack. It would have put him in a coma."
She leaned closer to the monitor, staring at Shay’s face on the screen.
"He didn't use a massive attack," May realized. "He altered the atmospheric pressure inside the Construct's inner ear and destroyed its equilibrium. It only cost him a single point of BP."
The other proctors stared at her. "Is that even possible?" one asked. "The precision required for that... you would need total mastery over your power."
"He has it," May said. "He's fighting smart using the absolute minimum amount of effort to achieve maximum results."
She stood up straight and looked at the main screen. She watched Shay slowly walk toward the rescue zone.
"Keep all cameras on Applicant 89," Proctor May ordered. "I want to see what he does next."