Placating their parents turned out to be fairly easy. Even though Mir was about to lose out on a minimum of two weeks of lessons in College due to this venture, neither of his parents protested. Before leaving, Mir found a small stack of cash units inside one of his backpacks. It didn't take a genius to figure out one of them must have put the money there secretly.
The two brothers left that evening after a solemn meal. They met up with the guardsmen deployed by the Church to keep an eye on their home. Both guards were actually Deacons with considerable power, which assured Mir and Murray of the safety of their family.
On the way to the Sacred Ground, Murray went to visit his trainer in the Central Church. He came out with a thick bag on his back, smiling rather dementedly.
"Gonna say what's in it?" Mir asked.
"Nah, wait till we're inside," Murray answered, gesturing at the guy driving their three-wheeler imperceptibly. Mir had no idea if this driver was actually a spy, or whether Murray was just being cautious. But he chose to obey the order. Murray, despite being only a couple of years older than him, seemed unnaturally experienced in this type of situation. Maybe the year spent in jail was the time when he had learned how to think so critically in life-threatening situations...Mir almost felt tempted to go spend some time in that jail to learn how to think like him.
Sacred Ground No. 6 was the closest and least risky among the seven sacred grounds discovered so far around Enet District. The army trained by the local government and the forces sent by the Church as volunteers were enough to completely clear the map of this sacred ground, which prompted the officials to label it as a Code-Green area, in other words, completely safe for any rule-abiding Transcender. Even the ordinary people who could snag a license permit could enter this sacred ground to hunt companion creatures, although they could face some deadly risks inside. As one of the two Code-Green grounds, most of the ordinary people chose No. 6 over the other six sacred grounds.
When Mir and Murray reached the gateway station, they found dozens of vehicles parked outside, numerous people going in and out of the massive concrete building busily. Under the giant overhead shade that kept direct sunlight out, the two brothers blended right in with the crowd, because most of the adventurers here were young, either in their late teens or early twenties. Older people were few in number.
It was his first time entering this building. A couple of years ago, he had accompanied Murray with the rest of the family to this place, but wasn't allowed to go inside as only Murray had a license back then. Now both brothers had one each, and Murray's license even gave him the permission to kill common grade- 1 companion creatures, perfect for the purpose for which he had come here.
The gateway station was actually nothing more than an official construct to confirm with the authorities that they were about to enter the sacred ground. It wasn't as if someone couldn't enter a sacred ground without entering the station. The station merely owned several safe, monitored routes that led to the heart of the sacred ground. But if someone had a map and the balls to ignore the severe penalties for the act of trespassing a sacred ground, they could enter whenever they wished, however they wished, from wherever they wished. A region so vast as 300 sq. Kilometers wasn't something anyone could protect from such trespassers.
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They had to wait in a short line to get themselves tested inside the first auditorium. Murray went first so that Mir could get an idea of what to expect.
First was the full-body MRI, analyzed almost instantly by an AI. Following Murray, Mir entered a white spherical machine and waited for a couple of minutes to be scanned fully.
By the time he came out, Murray already had his result in hand, ready to submit it to the assessment program in the second auditorium.
Mir got a good look at Murray's report. Among the miscellaneous data, the main stats were a bit hard to identify.
Extent of Infection: 78%
Viral Compatibility: Very Low
Rate of Saturation: 83%
Cerebral Disturbance: above average
Brainwave Disturbance: below average
Mutation Potential: grade- 1
Evolution Potential: currently incalculable
Overall Score on Evolution Standard Scale: 76%
These stats were the most attractive ones, making Mir groan in envy. Murray's overall score had already crossed the 75% mark, making him stand out from the typical testers who were desperately trying to cross that milestone. In most fields of expertise where a transcender could make a living, the 75% mark was considered the bare minimum. The students in National Colleges, said to be the best talents of a Nation, had to cross the 80% score under the guidance of programs funded by the government if they wanted to pursue the most sought-after careers. Few people could cross the 85% mark, and a score over 90% was so rare that the scorers made it to news networks upon being discovered.
Who knew what Murray's score would be when he completed the entire procedure of infecting his body through the absorption of mutated meat? It might actually cross 85%!
A minute later, Mir's result was printed out and handed to him by a worker. The guy gave him an odd look while handing it over, making Mir suspect that something unusual might have been discovered in his stats. Murray tried to snatch it from him to get the first look, but Mir elbowed him in the stomach.
"It's mine! I get to look first!"
The two of them didn't look like people who were being hunted. There had to be some observers spying on them even now. The usual antics between the two brothers would probably be reported too, making them drop their guard slightly thinking that they were unaware of the eyes on them. Murray was probably doing this intentionally too, Mir concluded while scanning his report.
Extent of Infection: 7%
"Wait...what the fuck?!"
The very first one of the main stats made Mir curse out loud from sheer surprise.
How was that possible?
Even a person who spends the entirety of his life inside well-shielded zones in the luxurious shelters of the City would have a higher extent of infection inside his body.
After all, the virus behind the ruin of this planet was everywhere already. Be it the underground metropolis, the deep-sea tunnel cities, or even the fully-shielded Aristocrat Communities. It was in the air, the water, the soil, the atmosphere, and even in the core of the planet. There was no filter capable of restraining the virus. So how could his body have such a low extent of infection? Any ordinary student could predict the possible extent of infection in a person's body by understanding their lifestyle. From numerous statistics in the past, Mir had already learned that people like him would generally fall within the range of 35% - 45% in this scale. Even Murray, whose compatibility to the virus was categorized as [ Very Low ], had ended up with a score of 28% the first time he had tested himself in this station. It was only through actively eating the meat of mutant beasts recently that had pushed his body to the current score of 78%.
Murray seemed to realize that something was awfully unusual about his report. He forcibly snatched it from Mir to see.
Meanwhile, deep in his stupor, Mir's chain of thoughts reached a certain conclusion while trying to identify the possible cause behind this oddity.
The red diary.