Luden was blown away; he knew the academy was huge, but this was no longer an academy; it was a small town at this point. Seraph pointed at the phoenix-shaped building and said, Our job is in that building. Ludon and Seraph made their way to the building; the closer we got, the more Luden was in awe. The academy centre was too big; it was a cluster of big buildings, each building built with great detail and craftsmanship. From the white tiles on the floor to the roads that are built to house at least two cars each to the main buildings,
Seraph watched as Luden was looking at everything in awe and said, "Little light, I'm not the best person to explain these facilities to you, so soon you will reach the main building and finish your registration. After that, another person will take you on a tour and explain each facility and what it houses, so make haste to the phoenix-shaped building. Luden nodded and followed Seraph. Soon after a few minutes, they reached a big 100-storey building that was shaped like a phoenix opening its wings. In front of the building, there was a big empty yard that was big enough to house at least 100,000 students. The building had a big sign that said Phoenix Command Centre written in big bold words. The floor was full of black and white and marbles that led to a big door. That was open, with pupils and students coming and going, and Seraph made his way inside while being watched by the people outside, who were wondering why Vindicator was here.
Seraph led Luden to the help centre, where there was a big desk with many people sitting around it, ready to answer any question that anyone had. Seraph made his way there. The staff noticed Seraph coming and asked people to make way. Seraph made his way to the front and said, "I'm here to register student C00. Could you please inform the staff?" The staff looked at Luden and said, "Right away, Lord Vindicator."
The staff made few calls, and after waiting for one minute, a person came down the elevator. It was a middle-aged man wearing glasses and the formal black robe attire with a blue phoenix on it. The man made his way until he reached where Seraph and Luden were.
He bowed and said, "Greetings, Lord Vindicator. My name is Shurin. I was asked to escort you and young Luden to the fifth floor, where he will finish his registration. Please follow me." While indicating his hand to the elevator,
Seraph nodded at Shurin and told Ludin to follow him. Once they made their way inside the elevator, Shurin clicked the fifth-floor button, and the elevator soon took them upstairs to the 5th floor, where, once the door opened, what greeted Luden was a big office with many people behind different devices. The man told them to follow him. Soon they passed a few rooms until they reached a room with "VIP registration room" written on it.
Shurn walked inside and told Luden and Seraph to follow him. Once Luden was inside, he was greeted by an office room and a few smaller rooms in front of it. Each room had different measuring devices that are used to measure different kinds of data about students. With a few people sitting in front of computers, with info showing on them, the man walked to the front and cleared his throat to geto get the attention of one of the workers.
Once the worker saw them, he stood up and greeted the man, but soon he noticed Seraph and froze in his place.
Shurin cleared his throat and introduced, "This is Lord Seraph, and the one next to him is the new VIP student that was accepted, Luden Le Grey. He is here to finish his registration. See to it and make sure everything goes smoothly."
"Yes, sir!" The man nodded and sat and started to work and soon asked Luden for an identification card, which prompted Seraph to come forward and give him a paper with all the info he needed.
The man accepted and started to input everything he needed from there, but soon after he was done, he said that he needed Luden to step inside one of the rooms to first test his physical fitness.
Luden nodded and came forward. One of the workers told him to take his upper shirt off. Seraph interrupted and said there was no need, but the man said it had to be done to get accurate data. Seraph sighed and nodded at Luden.
Luden did as he was told and took his shirt off, but as soon as he did, the people exclaimed when they saw the state of his body that was full of scars and cuts and lashes; they even noticed him missing one arm, and soon they noticed his missing eye too. Shurin cleared his throat, which snapped the men out of their daze, and continued to add a few connectors to his body.
Once they added everything, they told him to get into a cylinder-shaped tube. Once Luden was inside, the tube closed the hatch on him, and then it was all dark, and soon Luden saw a light running through all his body and scanning every inch of his body. He felt his body getting warmer and warmer, and after a few minutes, he felt the device finally go off, and the hatch opened, and he went outside. Once he was outside, one of the men started to take the connectors out of his body, and soon, once he was done, they told him he could wear his shirt.
"Although this test is not accurate like the devices we have in the other factories, the initial body scan showed that he has above-average strength and agility for his age but way below-average stamina," said the staff manning the test.
"That is normal because he was recently in hospital getting treated," said Seraph behind his mask.
The worker nodded and proceeded to do the next tests. "Next, we need you to get to the next room for a more important test that every student has to pass in order to get accepted. We will let you wear a helmet that connects to your brain. First, we will show different kinds of images and texts that will test your memory."
"Second, we will show a few scripts that you need to solve in order for us to get a reading of your thinking ability, and finally, we will show you different kinds of symbols that are used in runes, and we need you to give us as much as you remember of their shape."
"Please, once you are ready, get inside the machine so we can start."
Luden nodded and went inside. A man came with him and put a helmet shaped like a VR helmet that is used nowadays on his head, except this one fully covered his face like a biker helmet. Once he wore the helmet, the man connected it to the computer.
Soon the test began. First, it showed him an image of a road with different kinds of pedestrians and signs on it. He heard a voice telling him to memorise as much as he could from the picture in a minute. A few seconds later, the timer started, and Luden got to work. He looked at everything and made sure to remember everything he could, from the people's faces to the colour of their clothes to the different cars and their colours to the different signs in the background.
Meanwhile, Seraph came to the man who was responsible for the test that Luden was going through now and watched the screen with curiosity.
He was curious about Luden's score because Luden so far showed above-average intelligence, and he wanted to know how intelligent he was. He asked the man what the average and highest scores of these tests were. The man answered that the average was what most students remembered (about 56%), while the highest was 72%. T. Soon he got a full reading from the device of Luden's Memory reading, and he exclaimed,
"Impossible!" He yelled, which made all the other workers curious; even Shurin got curious and asked, "What's the score?"
"98%!!" Answered the man what everyone in the room exclaimed;
Even Seraph was intrigued. Shurin came forward and told the man to show the two pictures side by side, and the man did.
"He really did; he just got the proportions a little off, and some brands' pictures only show him another picture." Said Shurin
The man nodded, and this time he showed him a picture of an arena where two people were fighting, surrounded by a big crowd. After a few minutes, the man got the results again and was surprised at how much Shurin asked, "How much now?"
"96%," answered the man. "That is way too high; what is going on?" the man asked while looking at Seraph.
Proceed, said Seraph. The man nodded, and the test continued with a few more pictures, videos and drawings. Luden had a score above 90% in all of them. The man said, "His final memory score is 93%, a new record."
"Proceed to the thinking test," said Shurin. The man nodded. Seraph told them to skip any math ones because Luden doesn't know any math. The men nodded and started to show him different scenarios. First, it asked him, There is an earthquake happening, and your mom and dad both are injured, and you are living on the 10th floor of the building. Who will you save? While you managed to stay alive, Luden pondered about the question and gave a long answer, saying
"None, because he was incapable of carrying any of them while running safely and staying alive. Next, the question asked him to solve different kinds of puzzles that required thinking.
Meanwhile, again Seraph stood next to the computer waiting for the results, but this time Shurin was standing with him. Soon he heard a ding followed by "impossible!" again. "This has never happened anytime before! There is no way."
"How much?" Shurin asked in annoyance.
"99.94%", said the man. "What are the average and highest scores?" asked Shurin
The man said, "The average is 65%, while the highest is 84%. Both Shurin and Seraph were astounded by this revelation."
Finally, it was the final test turn. They showed him a picture of a rune and told him to remember it.
"Why runes?" asked Seraph.
The man answered, "Because it is the hardest thing to remember, and we have linked those who can memorise the runes the fastest to the highest comprehension ability."
Seraph nodded and asked, "What the highest and average scores are;"
The man answers, "The average. 0.55%, while the highest is 1.20%; the man who scored it is the current head of the Runes arts." This time everyone in the room gathered near the test area and watched the computer with anticipation.
But soon they all saw a clear 14%! That surprised them to death; this time they could not keep their composure anymore, and they just froze there. Shurin understood the seriousness of the situation and looked at Seraph, who nodded at him, and they both got up and went to the door. Shurin called a guard and told him to not let anyone leave the room while he and Seraph went upstairs to the headmaster's room in the elevators. Shurin turned to Seraph and asked, "Did you know this?"
Seraph waved his head, indicating that he didn't, with a serious face.
Once they got to the highest floor, Shurin went to the man standing in front of the room and informed him about their reason for the visit. The man, in turn, called someone to come soon; a man who was wearing a brown and golden robe came from the elevator with a badge reading Elder on it. He was an old man with a well-kept moustache and white hair; he had an air of dignity around him. The elder came to Seraph and enquired about what was happening and asked Seraph, and Shurin told him everything in detail. The man's face went from shocked to confused to elated in the span of seconds.
"This has to be kept secret. Wait, follow me to Altuin's room; he must be informed about this. Follow me."
He then turned to Shurin, "You, of all people, must keep your mouth shut. You hear me? I know all about your gossip. This is a warning to you: if any words get out, you will be the first to be punished. You hear me?
Shurin knew the man was right and lowered his head in shame because he was called the gossip king around the campus.