Alex stepped back and waited for the display to show his power level. The more the scale went up, the more his heart raced. As if by prior agreement, everyone present paying attention to Alex's group held their breath.
Was he going to produce another miracle? Or was he going to be a flop? The tension on the floor intensified as silence permeated the entire space.
Finally, the result came and the first reaction of everyone observing…
"Eeh?"
[647 units]
'647 units!'
Indeed, everyone was taken aback by the result. Was the machine broken? Some people wondered, their expression portraying how they felt. Alex was the most flabbergasted. He had expected a normal result, and if he was being hopeful, at least close to the results Julia obtained.
But this…. This was outside of their expectations!
Alex turned to the instructor behind him and asked, "Em… Is this thing broken?" His words broke the instructor out of his reverie. He looked at Alex with wide before moving to the machine to check on it.
Everyone observing the actions of the instructor held their breath. They were finding it hard to believe a result like that could be produced by a newly awakened. The instructor completed his check, looked back to Alex and shook his head.
"The machine is perfectly fine." He stated, still not sure himself.
Even now, the people paying attention to the event taking place were too dumbfounded to react. They heard what the instructor said, but that only made it ridiculous. If the machine wasn't broken, did that mean the boy was that powerful? They wondered if something like that had ever happened before.
"Erm... Can I try again?" Alex proposed and the instructor had no reason to say no, so he nodded and stepped back. Alex stepped up again and positioned himself for another shot.
Meanwhile, Alex's family, Eein and James glanced at each other. William turned to Eein and asked, "Is what my son recorded that special?" Hearing his question, Eein thought momentarily before responding, "Mr. Gray, the result Alex produced is unheard of. No one, at least publicly, had ever gone over the set limit for F-Class.
And what's even more amazing is that his strength has entered the initial levels of an E-Class hunter." He completed, to which William, Sarah and Olivia gasped in shock.
"Wow, I never thought my brother would be such a genius," Olivia commented on the side with a smile, happy for her brother's achievement.
"He's making another attempt, so we'd find out if it was just a fluke or a genuine," Eein added and silence once again fell on the floor as now, everyone was paying close attention.
Taking another sharp breath, Alex threw another punch, generating a small gust of wind as the fist moved forward. When it made contact, the resounding boom reverberated across the floor.
~BOOOM!~
Alex stepped back, looking up at the display and waiting for the read. Everyone else had different expressions; some were hopeful, silently cheering for Alex, others were sceptical about the whole thing but still found it interesting enough to pay attention.
[650 units]
"What…?"
It went up! Everyone thought. As the realization slowly set in, there was no more room for denial. The evidence was right before them. Alex was confused, and rightly so. He furrowed his brows in thought, thinking of what could possibly make for this difference in set limits.
His mind momentarily went to his experience in that dark space.
'No, it couldn't, could it?' He questioned himself. 'But that is the only thing that is different from everyone else.' As of now, that was the only thing that came to mind, so he just shrugged and moved on to the speed test.
Behind him, Ross and Julia stared at each other. Both could see the surprise and shock on their faces. Seemingly as if on the same wavelength, they turned back to Alex as he moved to take the speed test.
"Is this really happening?" One of the spectators questioned no one in particular.
"This is insane. Does anyone know who he is?" Another questioned.
"I think I heard him being called Alex."
"Alex… Mm, why does the name sound familiar?" Another person pondered before something came to mind.
"Wait, do you guys remember the incident a few months back when a student survived the cosmic mana wave?" Once this question was put forth, everyone recalled the commotion that took place in that month. A seemingly ordinary boy who goes by the name Alexander Gray survived a cosmic mana wave no had had ever survived before.
While most people found it unbelievable, the fact that the boy was alive and well served as proof. Unfortunately, Alexander refused to speak to any news outlets, and those who attempted to approach his home were stopped by a mysterious group of hunters. As a result, there was no way to reach out and create a story about the miraculous boy, so the news quickly died down.
"Are you saying that's the same boy?"
"I am saying this is the only thing that makes the difference. And I bet there's no one in the empire that has ever gotten such a record."
As the spectators continued their speculations, Alex took his speed test and once again broke the record.
[Top speed: 207 km/h]
At this point, Alex just shrugged it off and moved to the space to manifest his ability. Since there was no need to make a ruckus as of now, he put it behind him for later.
Standing in the middle of the room, Alex took a deep breath and exhaled. 'Let's get this over with. Too many people are already on me.' He thought and glanced around him where he could see almost everyone paying attention to him.
He channeled the mana within him and directed it to the palm of his right hand. Slowly a small glow began growing in intensity and brightness till it completely covered his figure from those spectating.
"Woah… A light-based ability…" Someone in the crowd watching stated the obvious.
Alex understanding what his gift was attempting to make it take shape like what he had seen from other light-based skill users do on the network. With some difficulty, he managed to make the light spread all around him condense around his opened palm. While it was not what he wanted to do, it was a start.
A small smile emerged from his lips as he stopped channeling his mana. He moved to meet up with his mates with a grin, "I don't mean brag but, who's the boss here?" He said with s wide grin.
Ross just shook his head while Julia responded, "Fine, you won. Now let's get out of here."
Nodding in acknowledgement, the trio made their way to take their records.