Thousands of kilometers to the north, an old man with long white hair and a beard speaks under his breath, just loud enough for his two disciples to hear.
"This new growing nation is strong. The Association and Demons may not be the only forces we need to keep on our radars. We should watch out for their growing warriors once the throne awakening becomes active."
They sit atop the tallest mountain in the area, covered in snow, surrounded by hundreds of mountains that look exactly the same in every direction.
The two younger men at his sides, with serious expressions on their faces, watch a replay of the battle of Crimson City on repeat, using bright blue recording crystals.
One of them, who appears slightly older and taller than the other disciple, replies to the old man.
"Teacher Sil, I have a question. The fighting style used by the serpent and tiger warriors... It is very similar to our own. How could they have learned it?"
The old man's eyes glow with a bright yellow light, and the same energy intensifies in his chest as the air around them grows heavier, as if bending reality.
"That is none of your concern. However, it seems I'll need to visit the desert temple soon. There must be a reason for this."
The two disciples' eyes glow with orange light, their entire bodies radiating with pure white Qi. It blends in with the high-speed winds and heavy snow atop the mountains as the older man turns off the recording, and the three of them return to meditating and continuing their training.
---Thousands of kilometers south, a woman floats high in the sky above an active volcanic region.
Below her, hundreds of C and B-ranked dungeons form and break, as it is an everyday occurrence here.
She rides atop an enormous Earth Dragon, watching the same video on a recording crystal play in her hand.
Both her eyes and the dragon's eyes glow bright yellow, shimmering off the metallic Hunter's Association badge on her shoulder.
She whispers under her breath with a smile as she zooms in on the two A-Class hunters being defeated in seconds.
"The 8 Regions Branch has grown soft, hasn't it...? Our A-Class hunters could have handled that battle... But it's clear that wasn't even their true leader... Who and where are you, Flame Emperor?"
The woman grins while putting away the recording. An eruption of a volcano goes off in the distance, and she activates a stealth skill, making herself and the dragon she's riding invisible in the same moment.
Half a minute later, she flies over dozens of fortified, castle-like military bases hidden in valleys between active volcanic mountains.
---
Meanwhile, back in Sector 2, my body doubles compensate merchants that have damaged goods and clean up the city while giving a speech, showing that the real enemies of this attack are the 8 Great Regions.
Public sentiment is already heavily anti-Association here in the Dark Continent, so with the small amount of proof I have, showing citizens the confiscated badges and the ear and eyewitness accounts of the surrender message from the transmission tablets is more than enough for word of today's events to spread.
So much so, that over the next week, the city's growth skyrockets, adding over 500 new members to the links of loyalty.
Word of the new trading hub in Sector 2 offering jobs, monetary aid, and the military ability to fend off two A-Class hunters with ease travels far and wide.
---
All of these memories come rushing into my mind as the same A-Class hunters that attacked my city search me with their battle scars visible.
The wind user pulls a glowing red fruit from the item box I provided him, and everyone in the room focuses on it with confused and mixed expressions.
When he looks me in the eyes, I can see they're far different than they were for the brief second I saw him during the 4th stage tournament.
Then, he may have looked disinterested in the mundane weaklings fighting for their B-Class badges, but behind those cold eyes was unwavering confidence.
Now, he stares ahead, and I feel an aura of unease about him.
The wind user speaks up while holding up the large circular red fruit with his only good remaining hand.
"You were meant to collect fragments. This is all you've managed to bring back? What is this? Explain yourself."
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He's clearly able to see that this fruit is made out of divine threads, and the question comes out with a genuine tone, even though there is confusion and a hint of anger in it.
I smile inwardly but shrug and reply to him as if I have no idea what he's talking about.
"I don't know. All I recall before this test started is that in the video, it stated if we found any artifacts that didn't resemble the red, orange, or yellow stones, we would receive a minimum of 1000 points. Was that a lie?"
He immediately responds.
"Well, that video was... um..."
Then he stops himself from speaking further.
As a red core himself, he knows that the fruit in his hand is not valuable at all compared to what this 1000-point exception to the rule was supposed to be.
My guess is that it was reserved for the off chance that someone made it higher than the yellow core zones.
Seeing his pupils shrink and the head of the fire user turn my way makes me want to smile even more.
This fruit stores roughly the same amount of energy as one red fragment, but according to their own rules, it is going to be worth far more.
I'll be able to move up the leaderboards while simultaneously keeping all of the extra farmed divine energy in my storage for myself.
As these thoughts race through my mind, the two A-Class hunters receive a transmission in their ears.
They look down at the floor and silently listen. Then, after a few seconds, the wind mage responds to me out loud.
"Yes. It seems, you... are correct, this in fact is a unique item, and our rules did state that all unique artifacts would be graded separately starting at 1000 points... However, we will require an explanation for how you managed to get this fruit."
I shrug again, even with all eyes on me, it doesn't feel like there is any pressure on me at all.
After witnessing multiple higher lifeforms inside that construct that could have killed me by merely breathing their same air makes the threats in this room seem meaningless.
To top it off, these two cowards tried to take over my city while I was gone and ran from their allies when they were in a compromising position without a second thought.
Making their lives more difficult right now is exactly what I plan to do.
"Oh, well, I was just standing at the bottom of this massive mountain, and it fell from the sky."
I shrug again, putting my hands in the air.
My mana control ripples out of my body constantly, as if I'm excited, but the control readings are barely reaching that of a level 700 hunter to keep my facade going.
The A-Class hunters look even more confused at my statement, so I continue.
"You two were in that simulation before, right? It was just at the edge of the jaguar forest. I was about to climb the mountain, but the fruit just fell from the sky... Tons of birds covered in red light were chasing after it. It must have fallen pretty far... I just managed to put it in my item box and run away. Once it was out of sight, they seemed to become disinterested, and I-"
I stop talking once the A-Class hunters hear another noise transmission come through their earpieces, and the room goes silent.
The name Ray Anderson shows itself on the leaderboard as number 1, holding 1000 points.
I show a visible smile now, and speak again.
"That's about it..."
I shrug and point to the Lich King by my side.
"Emrie climbed the mountain afterward, but we didn't want to push ourselves too hard. Making it out through the rift was more important than risking getting eliminated for more points. It seems this strategy worked out best in the end."
Emrie crosses his arms and nods along, then the two guards get a transmission in their ears again.
They finish patting us down quickly and give us back our item boxes without the divine artifacts inside.
A door opens in the side of the room, and the fire user speaks up as they both walk out.
"Everyone, stay put. We're glad you've all made it out of the simulation safely, but this is an unexpected abrupt end to the exams. Please allow us a moment to talk things over with the Director."
The door shuts just as he finishes talking, and the room fills with chatter.
I walk over to Nat, Marcie, and Dane; and tell the manifestation of Emrie to follow with telepathy, filling him in on the fact that we're inside a testing facility, outlining orders to follow while he's in his command mode.
The three of them greet us while the healer makes their rounds to all of the newly transported applicants, but considering we're all being watched, they receive a telepathy message to stay quiet too until this is all over.
After a few minutes pass, the same door that the A-Class hunters left through opens again. To my surprise, Rodrigo steps through it with an amused smile across his face while holding a large silver tablet that resembles a clipboard.
"If your name is not lit up on the board, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room... I'm afraid you have not made the cut."
At the same time, seven hunters walk in through the door that Rodrigo just entered through.
The first three that enter are hunters that I expect: the two Vice Region applicants, and the Phantom Region's single applicant.
However, the next two are the Battle Healer, Mack, and the Water Mage Callum, who were eliminated early in the construct by my teammates.
The final two are the two applicants from the Veridian Region that managed to get their hands on one red core each during their time in the construct. Bright smiles light up their faces as they realize why they're being brought into this room.
The remaining B-Class Elite helpers escort everyone that has failed the exams out of the room.
They were most likely at the top of the leaderboard before this event, and it seems there have been healers and an appraisal skill user that have already checked on Trax's condition, even though he's passed out.
Forces behind the scenes have already determined that he is a far less valuable asset now, and have adjusted the leaderboard accordingly.
As the last of them leave, the door closes, leaving only Rodrigo and the 12 of us that have passed in the small mana-shielded cube. The leaderboard screen shown on the ceiling disappears completely, and a video appears.
It shows a dark, empty room with a single oval table in the center of it.
One figure in a dark cloak sits on one of the chairs, while all of the others are empty.
The video pans closer to the figure as he raises his head, and a pair of golden eyes look through the screen.
An eerie pressure fills the entire room as they glow bright golden with visible Soul Energy, as well as a clear addition of heavy yellow light aiding his power.
Shadows cover the rest of his face, and the dark cloak makes the rest of his figure unknown other than the fact that he's abnormally tall.
A yellow core is visible glowing in his chest, but the golden eyes are the main spectacle as they stare down at all of us through the screen.
His low monotone, almost robotic voice echoes throughout the room.
"It is a pleasure to meet you all, future B-Class Hunters of the Association. I am the Director of the Apex Region, but starting now, you may call me Mr. Freeman."
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