Finished this chapter about an hour ago. The rank-up test and tournament arc is finally officially starting, along with something else. Look forward to the tournament is all I can say.

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After Kyte arrived in their housing and entered his room, he immediately picked up the tablet placed on the night stand next to his bed. It was about the size of a normal hard-back book but it was as thick as about thirty pieces of paper. He turned it on by pressing the power button on the side of it.

It powered up and showed a white screen before two letters appeared in bold lettering: "GG". Underneath the two letters was a line that showed: "Rank-up test and tournament information." A small button appeared underneath that line of text which had the words "Log-in" on it. Kyte pressed that button, since he saw from others that the tablets were touch-screen, and the screen changed to show a small box in the center of the screen.

A few words appeared above the box, stating that the box was a finger-print analyzer. So, Kyte pressed his thumb within the borders of the box and it scanned his finger-print. A loading icon replaced the small box, and about ten seconds later a new screen appeared.

It listed different sections pertaining to information regarding the rank-up test and tournament, as well as the schedule. The schedule tab was listed first, with information tabs explaining the rank-up test continued down the list. The last few tabs displayed the current rankings within the tournament, and there is a separate ranking within each rank. So, there is a ranking for C rank up to S rank. Kyte first selected the introduction to the rank-up test, and after he was done with that, he went to the next tab one by one. When he finished, he thought back and summarized what he had read.

Basically, a rank-up test is held within each Sector. Each rank-up test is held within a simulation in which each participant uses head gear to enter. The head gear scans the participants brain and analyzes their understanding on their own power, then the system applies that understanding to the participant's simulated avatar. 

The simulation administrators then begin the simulation. The strength of the Guardians within the simulation depend on the participant, and if the participant is able to destroy all of the Guardians, they can request to either quit the simulation or to continue with stronger Guardians to try to increase their rank. If a participant does not have a rank, then the strength of the Guardians will begin at D rank in power and will increase in strength with each new wave.

After completing the rank-up test, the participant will receive their possible new rank upon leaving the simulation. The system will already have been updated with the information regarding the completed simulation, so the participant just has to go back to their Branch's housing and log-in on the tablet to select their reward. The reward, if the participant increases in rank, will be sent to their Branch's housing and can only be opened by the participant that it was sent for.

That's basically it for the rank-up test, and the tournament is quite different. The tournament is held within the stadium behind the capital building. Each rank is divided within the remaining weeks, with the B and A ranking tournament being held within the second to last week and the S ranking tournament is held within the last week. The S rank tournament is only one week because usually the S rankers are all leaders. However, there's a few S rankers that are regular branch members.

"Well, it doesn't seem too bad. It's a bit simpler than I thought. And since the schedule shows that the lower ranks start first, I'm going to one of the first ones because I have no rank."

Kyte was actually one of two people just like him. Apparently there is someone else that had yet to obtain their rank aside from Kyte. Although, Kyte only cares about getting his rank and getting out and waiting for the tournament to start. He's also quite curious about the God Fiber and Mineral, but he has to wait until the tournament is over to really examine it. Assuming that he'll at most take first place in the tournament.

Kyte was actually going to start his rank-up test today at one p.m. He and the other no-ranker were going to take their test at the same time, since each rank group would take their tests separately. Also, the type of test that they will have to pass was a survival-type test. Survival tests are mainly for no-rankers to just test their power. Although this year everyone will be taking the same test.

A few hours later, Kyte left Branch 4's housing and made his way to the testing hall, which is located to the left of the capital building. When he entered the building, he saw a few people that had already arrived early. There were also people with white coats that hung down to their ankles and each one had an I.D. card attached to their breast pocket. They walked around with tablets in their hands, going back and forth between rooms in the long hallway that branched off to the left and right. Directly straight from the front entrance was a large desk with several workers on computers.

"Hello, are you here for the rank-up test?" One worker in white walked up to Kyte.

What else would I be here for?

"Yes, I am." Kyte replied, not showing his inner thoughts on his face.

"What is your name?"

"Kyte Stone."

"Kyte Stone...ok. Your test will being in ten minutes so please be ready."

"Alright, thank you."

The man faintly smiled before walking back to his station, waiting for the next participant to enter the facility.

Kyte walked toward a chair that was lined up against the walls and sat down. He looked around and saw that there were five people other than him waiting in chairs. One in particular caught his eye; she had long, golden hair that flowed down to her waist. Ample breasts protruded from her chest and her red shirt looked a bit tight. However, her smooth curves were hidden by a long, red coat that reached down to her knees. She also wore tight, red pants and red shoes. For the finishing touch, everything was golden trimmed. Just like the Wux family.

Hmm? So a Wux family member is ranked so low?

While he was thinking that, the girl suddenly stood up and began to walk toward him.

Huh? Does she think I'm a pervert or something? 

"Hey, you! You're Kyte Stone, right?" The girl sat down in the chair next to Kyte's.

"Umm...yea, if you didn't hear the dude that just checked me in." Kyte replied in a slightly confused tone.

"Sassy, are we?"

"I was just saying."

"That's what they all say. Anyway, are you Kyte Stone or not?"

"YES, I'm Kyte Stone. What do you want?"

"Hm?...Are you not afraid of me?"

"Why would I be?"

"I'm David Wux's daughter, that's why."

"You are?!...Well, I assumed you were from the Wux family, but not David's daughter."

"Ahaha, that's the reaction I wanted. Most people talk to me with the utmost respect when they see me or find out I'm David's daughter. It's really tiring. Only my direct older siblings talk to me normally. Although I have to talk to them with some respect because they're older than me."

"Is that so...well, you don't feel like you're more powerful than me, so why should I give you so much respect?"

"Huh? What does that mean? Are you saying I'm weak?"

"Well, not exactly....I'm saying that you don't feel strong. Of course, I may be judging a book by its cover."

"Hmph, that's exactly what you're doing. I bet I'm stronger than you, because you don't look that stronger either."

"Hahaha, well then you're wrong as well. I'm confident in taking first place in the rank-up tournament."

"Heh, for what, C ranks?"

"Stop talking about yourself, will you? I'm going to enter the A rank tournament."

"Hnnng, you're starting to piss me off." 

"Cool."

"That's not cool!"

"Haaa, listen, why did you even come over here to talk to me?"

"Because I'm also getting my rank for the first time."

"Oh, really? I thought you would've had at most a C rank already."

As the two of them were talking, everyone overheard their conversation. Everyone was shocked to see a complete random talking so leisurely without respect with the Wux family head's youngest daughter. Not only that, but she seemed to be enjoying the conversation without caring about it. Three of the people waiting for their test, all men, felt extreme jealousy and anger. Jealousy toward Kyte for being able to talk with the family head's daughter, and anger for being so disrespectful to her. Two of the three were able to barely keep their emotions in check, but for the third...

"Hey! You better show respect to her this instant!" The third man, who looked to be in his early twenties, stood up and shouted at Kyte.

"Hm?" Kyte turned his head to look at the man that stood up and shouted, but a split second later he completely ignored him and continued to talk with the girl. The man got even angrier after knowing that he was completely ignored, not only by Kyte, but by the head's daughter as well! 

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"I'm talking to you!" The man quickly walked toward Kyte.

Ugh, this is so annoying.

Kyte mentally sighed and, after giving the girl an annoyed look, stood up to face the man walking toward him.

"What do you want?" Kyte asked.

"Show respect to her right now! Do you even know who she is?!" The man yelled directly at Kyte just four steps in-front of him.

"Actually, no, I don't. I don't even know her name. Besides, what does this have to do with you? Hey, girl, do you who this is?" Kyte turned and asked the girl.

"No." She replied.

"See, there you have it. She doesn't even know you, so what right do you have to interrupt our conversation?"

"You...! She's David Wux's youngest daughter, Azali Wux! Not showing respect in-front of her is equivalent to disrespecting the whole Wux family!" The man yelled out, clearly controlled by his angry jealousy.

"The whole Wux family? Hahaha! You, a mere silver B rank, dares tell me that I'm being disrespectful?! Who do you think YOU are, voicing your words like you know what Azali herself is thinking?!" Kyte's voice grew colder the more he spoke.

"-! Hmph, you think a random no-ranker like yourself can talk to me like that? I'll show you what it is to show respect!"

The man suddenly threw a punch toward Kyte's face. Seeing this, Kyte silently laughed in his heart. 

-BANG-

The sound of the man's fist hitting Kyte resounded throughout the room. The people in the surroundings were expecting Kyte to blasted back by the man's punch, but to their complete surprise, Kyte effortlessly blocked the man's punch with his open palm!

"Wha-"

Before the man could finish, Kyte gripped the man's fist and whipped his body around, throwing the man behind him. The man's body flew through the air and slammed into the wall of the other side of the room. Cracks rolled out across the wall, and after a few seconds the man's body fell to the ground, not moving.

Kyte had actually infused a small bit of his Spiritual energy into the man's mind and let it run rampant, thoroughly damaging the man's soul. The reason why the man was unconscious was because of this. However, no permanent damages could be caused by such a small amount of uncontrolled foreign Spiritual energy attacking him. If Kyte wanted to, he could've completely destroyed the man's soul. He would've never woken up again, with no physical external or internal injuries, and no one would know why. 

Kyte had began to develop this technique when he and Rose started to sleep together. Because she would absorb his energy from his body, Kyte grew interested in her soul as well. So, he experimented a little bit. Surprisingly, Rose never felt a thing, even when Kyte surrounded his Spiritual energy around her's.

Of course, this was the first time he let his Spiritual energy be hostile. He would never hurt Rose intentionally, and the only experiment he did was to see if he could plant his Spiritual energy within another thing's soul. And, it worked. However, Kyte hypothesizes that it would only work if the target does not know Kyte is planting his Spiritual energy, along with the fact that he would most likely not be able to plant it if the target was significantly stronger than him.

Anyway, the man was completely unconscious and would wake up in about a day. Kyte was actually quite surprised at the outcome of his small experiment. He didn't think that such a small amount of Spiritual energy would cause the man to become unconscious. Then again, Kyte was at least silver A rank without his buffs activated and that man was only a silver B rank. The difference in strength was too much.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" The two other men stood up and walked toward Kyte.

"What do you mean?"

"Fighting is forbidden within the city!"

"...Hahahahahaha! Oh man, are all you people complete idiots?"

"-!...What did you say?!"

"I said, are all of you idiots? You clearly saw that I defended myself due to that man assaulting me. If you want to say that I was the one assaulting him, and that I should be punished, then you are all delusional." Kyte released a dread aura that is actually the same as the aura from the energy swords. 

The aura spread out and completely surrounded the two men. To other people that are not as strong as Kyte, all they feel is the intense pressure and dread from the aura. For people that are as strong or stronger, they can clearly see the aura disturb the air with a slight crimson color. It's much more obvious when used with the energy swords.

The two men felt indescribable fear when faced with that dreadful aura. When they looked straight into Kyte's black eyes, all they saw was a deep, icy, emotionless killing intent. That coldness pierced into their minds and made their legs shake from fear. It was as if the shadow of death loomed over their entire soul and was slowly intertwining itself with them.

"Sit back down and don't think about opening your idiotic mouths in-front of me again."

The two men quickly and furiously nodded their heads as they went back to their seats and sat down.

When he saw that, Kyte made the dread aura disappear and took away his Spiritual influence from within the two men's minds. His Spiritual energy was the cause of the men's complete and utter fear, since Kyte's soul was infinitely stronger than theirs. He had actually used them for another small experiment, and it was successful once again.

Turning around and sitting back down himself, Kyte sighed as he looked at the girl, Azali.

"That was quite a show." Azali lightly laughed. Her golden-like eyes shined with amusement as she remembered the terrified expressions of the men.

The two men felt extreme shame when they saw and heard her laughing. However, they could do nothing about it.

When Kyte saw that beautiful expression, his heart slightly fluttered for a reason unknown. Maybe it was due to her very attractive face and body, or maybe it was her apparent friendly nature. He didn't know, but what he did know is that he had to be on guard around this girl. He already had Rose, and the rule of having one woman has always been carved in his heart.

"Well, I won't show mercy to anyone that provokes me like that. Besides, they had no reason to do so, which only amplified my annoyance. Someone that lets their emotions take control of them are-...well, let's just say they didn't know who they were dealing with." Kyte stopped himself mid-sentence because he suddenly felt a little shameful. Knowing that he, too, let his emotions take control over him didn't leave a good feeling. Let alone his feelings, he didn't want his libido to take control over him as well.

"Hahaha, you're also not as weak as I thought you were going to be. Also, I should finally introduce myself. My name is Azali Wux, and I'm also the youngest daughter of David Wux."

"Hmm, that's a nice name. You say you're the youngest daughter of the Wux family, but I don't see any guards?..."

"Oh, trust me, they're here. You just can't see them."

"Ah, I see. Well, are you looking forward to the test? It's your first time, after all."

"Yea, I'm actually pretty nervous. I don't actually know what my true power level is, so the test will give me a rough estimation. The tournament is where I'll be able to show my true power, since the simulation isn't real life. I'm just afraid I won't live up to my father's expectations."

"That's true. I'm actually curious as to how GG created the simulation and head gear. It's quite mysterious."

"I don't know that either. But, it's as good as it gets. The tournament is where you can really let your skills loose and spread your name."

"Hm? Do you really need to spread your name? Ms. David Wux's youngest daughter."

"Ahaha, that's true. But, my name is only famous because of my father and family. If I wasn't born into the Wux family, I would be a nobody. Just like you."

"Come on, you don't have to put it like that. Besides, just because I come from an unknown family doesn't mean-"

"Azali Wux and Kyte Stone, please report to the nearest simulation chamber to being your rank-up tests." A sound from an intercom sounded out in the hall.

"Ah...well, let's go then." Kyte stood up and began to walk toward the corner.

"Hey, wait up!" Azali stood up and quickly walked by Kyte's side.

Haaa...this girl is most likely sticking to me because it's lonely to be so high in status. She could've talked to anyone else, but I guess she's able to differentiate the good from the bad.....That was a bit narcissistic there, wasn't it.

Kyte silently sighed as he stepped into the simulation chamber, with Azali right behind him.