CHAPTER 18: THE TEN ELDERS

['... Help... Me...']

'Who... Who is speaking to me?... It feels distant but so close...'

['... P-please... I beg... y-']

His thoughts suddenly shattered into a million pieces. Pain echoed in his brain as if he had been hit in the temple by a sledgehammer, awakening him from his sudden slumber.

'Ahk! That hurts!'

His eyes slowly twitched open as light flooded in. The voice he heard rang in his head. It was a soothing voice, one that came from a fair maiden. Hints of fear, anxiety, and sadness could be heard leaking out.

It was clear to Hermes that whoever spoke to him was desperately in need of help. Her voice was on the brink of tears.

'What... What was that? Who spoke to me and how...'

As his eyes adjusted to the light, he found himself in a familiar place. A room completely painted white, with fluorescent light over his head. He found himself lying down on a bed. He was able to immediately recognize where he was: Angelica's clinic.

-Clank!

His eyes shifted towards the door as it opened, stepping in was Angelica's beautiful figure in her signature lab coat.

Noticing his gaze, she smiled.

"Oh, you woke up. Your cosmic force recovery is quite fast I must say."

"... How did I get here?"

"You passed out after exhausting all of the cosmic force in your body during the test so we brought you here to recover."

Hermes began pinching his glabella to ease the pain.

Memories of what and where he was before suddenly flashed in his mind. He finally understood what had occurred. The voice that rang in his head was still bothering him, but he decided to think about it later.

While putting on his glasses, Hermes decided to ask the question that was plaguing his mind the most.

"... Have I passed the test?"

Looking at her with wary eyes, Angelica's smile grew bigger as she replied to his question.

"I must say, not many individuals who take the test are able to force themselves to exhaust all of their cosmic force completely. The pain from having it being forcibly extracted makes some give up before they could even give it their all."

"The fact that you resisted the pain until you completely ran out of cosmic force is very admirable."

"As for your question, 8 minutes and 34 seconds! That's how long you lasted. That is usually the average amount of time one lasts as a Stage 1 Celestial while being a 1-dimensional human. You passed."

Seeing his relief, she continued.

"You also passed the hidden examination of this section which tests your willpower."

"Huh?"

Sensing his confusion, she quickly formulated her next sentence.

"You see, the Cosmic Force exam also tests how long one can last under pain and other stresses. We have already taken your fight with a mutant into account, but we wanted to test your ability to resist pain and you passed wonderfully!"

"... I see."

Although Hermes tried to pretend to be humble, the visible grin on his face betrayed his efforts and Angelica was able to read him like a book. She decided to leave the matter of teasing him to the side and address the main reason for her visit.

"Since you are awake now, I'll be bringing you to the next Examination area."

"Huh? But I just woke up and I don't feel like I'm completely recovered..."

"No worries, you will be doing the last section now which is the Knowledge portion of the examinations. You don't need to work your body at all during this part."

Hermes quickly remembered Viktor's instructions on how the Examination period was split into three parts which were Physique, Cosmic Force Affinity, and Knowledge.

Understanding what she meant, Hermes slowly got up from the bed. Although he had recovered some of his energy, it still felt like a hassle to move around.

Angelica walked out of the room as Hermes followed from behind. They didn't say anything to each other as they made their way across the corridor and into another room. By now, Hermes had somewhat figured out the layout of the barracks, but many areas were still unfamiliar to him.

Inside the space, rows of desks and chairs lined the room. The side where the desks faced had a large whiteboard and what seemed to be a projector hanging from the ceiling. It reminded him of how his High School classrooms were laid out.

Breaking out of his nostalgia, Hermes turned his neck to the gorgeous woman next to him and asked solemnly.

"I'll be taking the test here? Is it written?"

Shaking her head, she replied swiftly in a crisp voice.

"No, the desks have screens attached to them. You will be subjected to questions that you will need to answer based on certain sections. They are War Theory, Reading and Writing, Basic Martian History, Arithmetic, Physics, and Pattern Recognition."

"You don't have to score well on everything. I know you will probably know nothing about history and war theory since you have not lived in Sanctuary City for long enough so just try your best. The results you showed in the other sections were more than enough to prove you are worthy of the Guardian title."

Nodding his head, Hermes walked to the desk and sat down. Tapping on the screen, the pixels lit up promptly. After submitting his information using the touchscreen keyboard, the test began.

The first section was just like Angelica said: War Theory. Questions about how to position troops, and what formations to take on when facing a mutant depending on your team composition, Military ranks, and each meaning behind them.

There were even questions on how to correctly defend Sanctuary City using geography and troop formations or placement. Hermes was rightfully confused. He had no knowledge of such subjects, and even if he did, he lacked the context to answer them.

'I see... The average citizen will probably struggle just as much as me on this. I assume some of the higher-ups added this just so the nobles could still have a chance at being Guardians or higher-ranked officers even if they scored poorly on the first two sections... Can't say I'm shocked... Even Ivy League universities back on Earth had similar practices for affluent students.'

His face warped in a smile. 'I can't believe humanity hasn't changed in the slightest even after 18,000 years... Was Darwin wrong about evolution?'

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Hermes continued to take the test at a leisurely pace. Sometimes, a projection of Sanctuary City is shown as Hermes was tasked to tap on areas in the map to place and position troops. To the side, descriptions of what each unit comprises and how the army is structured are given.

From what he learned, It seems that Sanctuary City's army is split into three Corps: The Guardian Regiment Corps, the Medic Regiment Corps, and the Auxiliary Regiment Corps. Each Corps has three battalions and each battalion has 3 companies each.

He was able to recognize one of the companies, Alpha Company which belonged to the second battalion of the Guardian Regiment corps since Viktor declared himself as its Vice-captain. The rest of the units presented before him gave him no impression whatsoever.

To make matters worse, he had no idea what any of the buildings in the map projection represented.

In the end, he decided it was best to just use clues like elevation or the number of troops to guess where he could place them.

After completely bombing the first section, he was just as clueless with the history section. Names of prominent figures throughout Sanctuary City's history as well as questions on topics about the Xulu and Miutant Ecology completely stumped him.

He decided to just guess on this section as well. The only names he was able to recognize were King Rudwell von Marcia and Lord Damascus Césaire, but he was still unable to answer questions about them since he only knew their names.

If not for the fact that Angelica told him that his results in the other exam portions would cover this one if he failed, he would have been sweating profusely.

The test continued to the next few sections like physics and arithmetic. Never mind his hypercognitive abilities, most of the questions were high-school-level equations or kinematics questions he took in his first year of college.

The same thing applied to the Writing and Reading portion of the exam. His language learning ability allowed him to easily understand everything.

His knowledge of those subjects completely reinvigorated his spirit as he continued to answer at an unprecedented speed compared to how he did in the previous parts.

As he began jotting down his answers, he couldn't help but think back to the voice that spoke to him before he was awoken.

'That voice was different from Elgacia... It's definitely not her... Why did she sound so desperate... Sigh, maybe I'll hear it again someday. I just hope whoever it is, is still okay...'

...

The Spire, 10 Elder Counsel round table.

A circular room with windows going around its circumference came into view. At the center was a large round table that was shaped like a ring with 10 seats positioned equidistant from each other.

It was mottled and grungy in texture. Candles were scattered about in a display of luminescent grandeur. Positioned directly at the center is a chandelier that twinkled with golden light, radiating across the ancient room.

Sitting in each of the stone seats were ten individuals. Some had long beards while others had them trimmed. But what stayed consistent between them all was the wisdom and experience in their eyes.

Some wore desert tunics with embroideries to symbolize their heritage, status, or wealth. Others wore more modern clothing.

Positioned at the center of the ring beneath the chandelier was a man whose hair was grey and whose skin was wrinkled. A scar was visible across his left eye and his face was stern.

Wearing his iconic black windbreaker and longsword on his back, Arthur stood there quietly awaiting the bombardment of questions from the Elders.

The silence continued until an Elder wearing an expensive fabric tunic with embroideries spoke. He was a man in his forties with a chiseled face. His blonde smooth hair swept to the right as his lustrous blue eyes gazed at Arthur.

"That boy, Hermes. What do you plan to do with him? Surely you aren't planning to raise a monster like that right?"

Arthur nodded solemnly.

"That is correct, I do plan on raisin-"

-Slam!

"Preposterous!"

Slamming the desk, another elder stood up. He was an old man with a monocle placed over his right eye. Anger could be seen through his long blonde beard as he lashed out. His name is Thomas de Verdier, holder of one of the 5 Earthly seats.

To his side, the first elder who voiced his query turned to face him and spoke.

"Thomas, relax. Let him finish first."

The old man's fury could not be hidden beneath his wrinkles and deep blue eyes. He quickly responded back to his peer.

"Parviz, you know more than I how suspicious that bastard is! He came from god knows where and claims he has no memories of where his strength even came from! His score in the punching machines doesn't even adhere to what a typical Celestial Stage 1 should hold!"

"These are clear signs of a mutant in disguise! That thing is one hundred percent a monster underneath! It's impossible for a human at Stage 1 even with rank 1 dimensionality to achieve such a feat! Have all of you gone blind?!"

-Slam!

"Enough! Arthur hasn't even given his reasons yet! Let him finish his briefing!"

Replying back to Thomas with impatience was a woman in her late fifties. Her short curly-bobbed white hair and grey irises gave her the look of a seasoned leader who has seen it all. Her wrinkled face had the markings of a person burdened with exaggerated amounts of work.

This was Catherine Lysange, holder of one of the 5 Heavenly seats. A stage 7 Celestial powerhouse.

The handsome man with blonde hair and lustrous blue eyes nodded his head and spoke to the angered Thomas once more.

"Thomas, this meeting will be much longer if you continue this farce."

"Hmph." The old man quickly sat down with his arms crossed.

Turning his head back to Arthur, Parviz de Verdier, holder of one of the 5 Heavenly seats and head of the Verdier family spoke in an authoritative voice.

"You may continue."

Arthur nodded in confirmation and spoke in his usual stern voice.

"Yes. I am planning to raise that boy as a Guardian. Although he is 25 years old and has no prior training or experience, his learning abilities are phenomenal. He will catch up with the other cadets quickly."

"I also plan on making him my disciple."

"What?!"

The elders all could not believe what they had just heard. They all assumed he was merely going to take him in as a Guardian. Who would have thought that Arthur was planning to make him his student? Arthur Rimone is the strongest human in Sanctuary City. Many guardians have come and gone, some talented, others hardworking. None of them have reached the heights he was able to reach. The last person to get to Stage 9 Celestial was Lord Damascus Césaire roughly 300 years ago.

For someone of Arthur's level who wasn't even a part of the three noble houses to announce who his disciple is, is shocking news that could alter the entire political playing field of the city. In essence, he was basically declaring who he wanted the next Guardian Regiments Commander to be.

An authoritative voice shook the entire room.

"Give me one reason why you came to this decision and why we must allow it."

Arthur shifted his gaze to where the voice originated from. It was a handsome blonde man of the same age as Parviz. His emerald green eyes gave off the aura of a ruler. This was Simon Césaire, head of the Césaire family and a stage 8 powerhouse; Holder of one of the 5 Heavenly seats.

Underneath his blond-trimmed beard, he spoke once more.

"Arthur, my friend. I am willing to hear you out on this. But you must know how important your declaration is to the future of this City. Even if I respect you a lot, I will not tolerate your decision if it brings harm to us."

Arthur quietly gazed at the man wearing a vest filled with military metals and honors and nodded his head. In a stern voice, his rationality reverberated across the hall.

"There are two reasons for this. First, since no one fully trusts him yet, making him my disciple will allow me to be close to him at all times in order to monitor his actions."

The elders all nodded their heads in agreement. It has to be understood that Sanctuary City has not seen another human from somewhere outside in 500 years. Over the years, many have come into the City with the goal of taking refuge; all of them except for that person from 500 years ago turned out to be Mutants in disguise.

Proving someone isn't a Mutant is extremely difficult, and their strength can vary. But for every mutant who enters the city discreetly, hundreds of civilians pay the price. It was therefore logical to let Arthur monitor Hermes indefinitely. Who else could be best selected to keep an eye on a potential threat than the strongest human in the City?

Arthur continued his explanation.

"The second reason is the biggest contributor to this decision. Hermes Wilson is one of the Gifted."

"..."

Silence marked the round table. No one spoke for a whole minute as they all tried to process the revelation that had descended upon them.

The man with military honors and metals on his gilded vest spoke.

"Arthur my friend, are you telling the truth right now?"

Arthur bobbed his head in confirmation.

"Yes."

END OF CHAPTER