The aspiring agents were taken aback by Saito's sudden appearance; none had sensed his arrival.

Xin Hua stared at him in astonishment, failing to notice when he had silently landed atop the fountain dragon.

“Doesn’t he seem a bit young to be the examiner?” Nova whispered to Katya.

“Yes...” she replied, just as taken aback as the others.

With effortless grace, Saito leaped from the fountain dragon and landed silently in front of it, further surprising the crowd.

“I congratulate you on your victories. Some of you demonstrated impressive skills and even managed to awaken your aura.” Saito’s gaze shifted to Lucas Müller and Ethan Chang.

“Others had already harnessed this power and knew how to use it to their advantage,” he said, fixing his eyes on Xin Hua.

“And then there were those so cunning that they didn’t even have to try.” His gaze rested on Elara and Angelo.

“In your own way, each of you made it this far. Well done.”

Despite the surprise of realizing that Saito had observed their performance throughout the previous test, most applicants interpreted his impassive words as praise.

Some, including Sophie and João, even nodded in appreciation, beginning to think the young man in the blue haori was kind.

“But I must inform you that if you fail my test, you will never have another chance to take the TN Agent exam.”

The statement prompted a sharp reaction from all participants, except Sven.

“You must be joking. We followed the rules! How can we not retake the test?” Brennan's face flushed with anger.

“It’s simple. If you fail here, you have no place in the organization,” Saito replied solemnly.

“But that’s unfair! Those who didn’t make it this far get another shot next year,” protested Chiara, the pink-haired girl, her cheeks puffing in frustration.

“Each of you is free to withdraw now and take the test next year,” Saito said.

“I’ll give you ten minutes to decide. Those who choose to proceed will accept the risk,” he added, turning away and walking deeper into the reception area, disappearing from view.

“This is absurd. Are we really going to risk everything for something we’ve worked so hard to achieve?” John Williams said to the group.

“The chance of failing this test is as high as the previous one. If we go through with it, we might never get another chance,” Brennan said beside John, both clearly the type who needed to convince others before making a decision themselves.

Classic cowards.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...” Sven yawned suddenly, seeming to wake up. He stood up and walked towards the direction Saito had gone.

“Hey, wait! Don’t you see what’s at stake?! We could—” John began, but Sven cut him off by placing a hand firmly on his face.

“Shut up. Only the pathetic dwell on their failures,” Sven said, pushing John aside.

John stumbled and fell, prompting Bennett to rush over and help him up.

“This guy’s insane! He’s bound to fail! If we all protest together, maybe we can get a different examiner or have a better chance next year!” Bennett continued, trying to sow doubt among the other applicants.

“Well, we didn’t come this far to give up now,” Nova said calmly. Anyone who had met him a few weeks ago might have thought he’d struggle with this decision, but after so much adversity, he’d learned to be brave.

“Nova...” the brown-haired girl next to him murmured.

“Why are you acting so cool all of a sudden?” Katya asked with a hint of amusement, tapping Nova on the shoulder. “You’re like a different person now! But yeah, compared to what we’ve been through, this is nothing.”

“Haha, you’re right. This is nothing compared to that.” Memories of the B-Synchro, the dying Moblings, and their intense battle motivated him to push forward, even if he feared the consequences deep down.

“Hey, no! Wait!” Brennan and John tried to stop them, but the group kept moving forward without pausing.

“Move aside, elders, or I’ll knock you out...” Lucas growled, his eyes hidden beneath his hair. Brennan and John stepped aside, intimidated.

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Lucas Müller, Ethan Chang, and Bellamy Taric joined them.

“Cheer up, guys. You have a 1% chance of making it next year!” Elara said with a smile as she walked past Angelo Bennett and Lars Anderson.

“Idiots... We were just trying to help. Don’t the others feel the same way?” they asked, directing their question to the remaining applicants.

Sophie Tanaka, Frank Bettle, and Chiara Bianchi appeared to be the ones still undecided.

Xin Hua watched Sophie nervously, clearly anxious about the decision she had to make.

“Come on, Sophie,” Xin Hua said gently, standing up and taking the shy girl's hand. Sophie was taken aback by her companion's unexpected kindness.

“Ah, yes...” Sophie replied, feeling a surge of confidence knowing Xin Hua was with her.

“There are only four of us...” Brennan noted to his friend.

“I don’t want to, I don’t want to, I don’t want to...” Chiara repeated stubbornly.

“I want to become an agent this year. If I fail, I’ll have to wait a whole year! Do you know what a year is, João? By then, I’ll be an old lady! Maybe I won’t even want to be an agent anymore,” Chiara lamented in a childish tone, clinging to João’s shoulder as he quietly entered the museum.

John and Brennan remained with Frank, barely acknowledging him. They believed he would probably fail the test anyway.

“Well, kid, let’s go. There’s always next year,” they said, suggesting they leave the museum. But Frank, undeterred, sprang up and followed the others into the museum, ignoring them.

Left alone, John and Brennan exchanged glances, realizing they might be the most cowardly of all the applicants.

"Wow, looks like they all decided to stay..."

Saito observed as the candidates arrived one by one.

“What? I thought those two were going to withdraw...” Nova said, noticing John and Brennan arriving with the others.

“Your words inspired us, guys!” John said, forcing a brave smile. “We came in together, and we’ll face this together.” Brennan echoed, both trying to act confident despite their earlier attempts to dissuade everyone from continuing.

“Aha...” Nova replied with a hint of skepticism, refocusing on the examiner.

The museum’s interior greeted them with a grand hall dominated by an imposing central staircase that led to the second floor and overlooked much of the space.

On either side of the staircase, more rooms were visible, likely dedicated to natural, artistic, and cultural exhibits.

Saito stood midway up the white marble stairs, while the candidates gathered at the top of the grand staircase, reminiscent of a castle’s interior.

“The test is straightforward: anyone who survives the next hour will pass,” Saito declared flatly.

“Survive?” Ethan Chang asked, puzzled.

None of the candidates, even the most perceptive, could grasp what could be dangerous in a museum.

“Yes, you will all face my synchrony, and those who manage to remain standing at the end will pass,” Saito declared.

“Muahahaha! That’s it, guys! Let’s show this brat what we’re made of! There’s no way he can handle us! There are 16 of us!” John’s mocking laughter echoed through the room, his confidence seemingly renewed by the numbers advantage.

“Ignoring what he said… Do you want all of us to fight you?” Xin Hua asked, completely ignoring John and Brennan, who continued to look victorious with mischievous grins in the background.

“Yes. If you can stay on your feet for the next hour, you will pass,” Saito confirmed.

“And what if we manage to defeat you?” Sven asked, his excitement palpable.

“Hmmm…” Saito paused thoughtfully, placing a hand on his chin. “I hadn’t considered that possibility. But it’s impossible for all 16 of you to even touch a hair on my head.”

Saito's words elicited mixed reactions from the group. Bellamy, Sven, Lars, Lucas, Ethan, and Xin Hua scowled angrily, while others looked on in astonishment.

In a flash, Sven's synchro aura enveloped him, and he charged at Saito with blinding speed, swinging his arm in a powerful horizontal slash.

The room resonated with the sound of a thunderous impact as Sven was sent hurtling backward, crashing into the ground behind the group and leaving a fissure in his wake.

“I haven’t given the starting signal yet,” Saito remarked, unfazed by the attack. His body radiated a brilliant, intense white aura, sparkling like diamond reflections.

“Could he be as strong as Adan?” Nova wondered fleetingly, recognizing a similar aura to the one he had sensed from Adan.

“Son of a… bitch…” Sven groaned in pain from the ground, clearly resentful of both the injury and the humiliation.

“His aura… it’s so different from ours,” Katya said, astonished by how effortlessly Saito had repelled Sven, as if he were nothing more than a minor annoyance.

In contrast to Saito’s magnificent aura, the aspirants’ auras were merely faint glows, lacking the grandeur of the one standing on the stairs.

“Let me be clear: I don’t mean to offend, but remember, you are only aspirants,” Saito said, his gaze as unyielding as his words.

“Don’t be arrogant just because you’ve awakened 5% of your synchro power,” Saito said bluntly, his words both irritating and enlightening some of the aspirants as they confronted their own shortcomings.

“My only goal in this test is to determine if you have what it takes to advance. Even if some of you aspire to work in investigative branches, where you believe you’ll be safe, remember that an agent’s life is always at risk.” Saito reached into his clothes and produced a small toy.

It was a den-den daiko, a Japanese hand drum, crafted from a stunning light blue mineral resembling a shard of ice.

“Kōhyō,” Saito murmured, imbuing the drum with his aura before it vanished, sending a chilling breeze through the room.

“I’ve seen this before. He’s about to use his synchro ability,” Angelo said, recalling when Corwin had used his birdcage. However, unlike that instance, the object didn’t seem to materialize another one.

A white tattoo, resembling a rhombus with curvilinear tribal designs, appeared on Saito’s forehead, extending down his face to his cheeks.

A biting cold began to permeate the room, and everyone watched in shock as a layer of ice formed at Saito’s feet, spreading down the stairs.

“If you stay conscious for one hour, you will prove you have what it takes and pass,” Saito stated calmly.

“Ice beasts…” As Saito’s aura expanded, a blast of freezing air swept through the room.

Participants shielded their faces as their clothes billowed in the gusts. When the wind finally ceased, they opened their eyes to find everything coated in ice.

“This is... impressive,” Frank said, noting that even the ground beneath their feet was frozen solid.

“Wait, where did Saito go?” Nova exclaimed, noticing that the examiner had vanished amidst the stairs, leaving behind the frozen landscape. It was daunting enough trying to understand what synchrony was or how it wielded such power, now their only source of answers had disappeared.

“Did he want us to survive the cold?” Katya wondered as she surveyed the icy surroundings. The answer would come sooner than anyone had hoped.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr..."

A series of low growls emanated from the second floor. Everyone looked up to see ice wolves on the stairs, each about six feet tall. Initially, six wolves appeared, but more growls echoed from above.

“Okay... I get it,” Katya muttered to herself.

The challengers realized the imminent danger and began formulating their strategies. Most of them did, at least. Sven, however, quickly rose from the ground, his mind consumed with the desire to confront the examiner who had humiliated him.

John and Brennan, as expected, immediately sought to escape, searching for a safe refuge.

“Your courage was short-lived,” Lars commented wryly. “But it’s not a terrible idea. If we only need to last an hour, it’s likely an endurance test, so we don’t have to fight constantly.”

This seemed like a reasonable assessment—except that the two cowards who had fled soon returned, their faces pale with fear.

“Wolves are the least of our problems! Run!” they shouted as they fled from an eight-foot-tall ice mantis that had appeared, delivering a powerful strike to the ground where the group had been standing.

The mantis’s attack caused a violent explosion that shattered the ground, scattering the group.

The second test had begun, and the museum was now teeming with threats.