"Come in," Alisha's cold voice rang out. When they entered the tent, Liam noticed dry vines covering the entire floor with a disc present in the center.
Alisha was waiting for them. Be it her hair, expression, or clothes, there was no change compared to the previous day. Liam wondered if she had a wardrobe filled with the same types of robes. "I was planning on testing Liam, but it is unnecessary now. Yesterday, your performance was exemplary. If it is okay with you, I will just check your base stats."
Though she phrased it as a question, Liam knew that it would be rude and unwise to reject her.
When he acquiesced, the strange vines present on the floor started moving towards each other. Initially, the thin vines were brown and brittle. They merged, entwining seamlessly. If Liam hadn't seen them combine, he wouldn't know multiple vines merged to form the thicker ones. Their color changed from brown to a healthy green, and they became more resilient.
The process continued till they fused into five thick branches. They gave off a healthy feeling of vitality. A green liquid materialized on the branches and gathered at their tips, condensing into a drop.
Liam took a deep breath smelling the musky scent. It gave him a pleasant and soothing feeling. Even without using mana vision, he knew the plant was an elven artifact.
"I want you to stand on the evaluation disc. Nora will attach the nodes to your body. You don't have to do anything. Stand still and relax. The nodes will inject the liquid into your body, stimulating it and getting the necessary readings. The medicine is automatically extracted after the procedure is done, and you don't have to worry about any side effects."
Liam would have to take her word for it. They already pumped so many medicines when they were treating him one more wouldn't make any difference. If she wanted to harm him, she could have done it when he was unconscious. There was no need to go through so much effort.
Also, Liam heard Ioriel mention the liquid before. It was produced from an elven plant called Istranth with the elves maintaining a monopoly over it. The effect of the medicine sounded the same as what Alisha described.
"Who wants to go first?" Nora asked.
Dunn volunteered. He came from a small tribe and hadn't seen such complicated items before. The strange artifact piqued his interest.
Through his mana vision, Liam noticed the disc was part of the artifact. When Dunn stood in the center, the branches automatically moved without Nora having to do anything. The runes over the disc and the branches lit up. The mechanism lasted for a short period, after which information appeared on a small badge Alisha was holding. Mana vision showed Liam that it was another artifact.
Alisha showed them the information.
Name: Dunn
Strength: 2.2
Agility: 2.5
Stamina: 1.92
Evolution factor: 0.99
Mana: 0
Type: Burst
Weapon control factor: 0.84 (Advanced)
Liam understood the basics of how the evaluation worked, but he was still curious to know what everything meant. Jade and Dunn did not understand much about the numbers either.
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"Lady Alisha, can you explain what these numbers mean?" Dunn politely asked.
"I will explain the basics as it will take too long to explain everything."
Alisha pointed towards the badge. "The strength, agility, and stamina attributes are self-explanatory. A baseline human will have an evolution factor of 0 and their attributes average to 1. Some unknown time in the past, humans figured out a method to absorb mana and evolve. The evolution factor represents the amount of energy you absorbed. When the factor reaches one, the first evolution happens. Humans can undergo two evolutions. Your mana currently stands at 0 as humans gain the ability to store and manipulate mana after undergoing an evolution.
"While mana is used to cast spells, it is also used to strengthen the body. The attributes of normal soldier averages to 1.4. If you want to evolve, your attributes need to be 1.7. Only core scions have stats greater than 2. We use a disproportionate number of resources to elevate them to that level. That is the reason they can propel themselves beyond the hard to reach barrier."
"Two years in the Rift and he is already one of the strongest unevolved," Nora muttered.
Alisha continued without paying any attention to Nora's words. "The only exception to that rule is people who escape from the Rift. I don't know if you understand the real nature of the Rift energies, and don't expect me to explain it to you. Even if you know the truth, be really careful about who you share it with. The consequences of leaking it are beyond your imagination," she warned.
Liam expected it. Dunn's explanation during the previous day made him understand information about the Rift was tightly guarded.
"So, mana causes two evolutions. Why only two though? Is there some kind of a hard limit?" Dunn asked.
Alisha shot down the question. "It will take too long to explain and as I said, you will learn it soon enough. Let me finish my explanation. If I have to clear all of your doubts, a week won't be sufficient to answer your questions.
"Let's move to the type. It mentions burst which means that you are focused on ballistic muscle movement. It is affected by your fighting form. I am pretty sure you will go down the assassin path.
"Your attributes show you focus on speed and strength to injure your opponents and do not go for extended trades. Burst means that you output a lot of power in a single strike and try to end it in one move. I am just guessing, but I think you usually stay hidden and attack when you find the perfect moment.
"The weapon control factor represents the level of control over the body and preferred weapon type. Below 0.5, you are put in the basic category. Between 0.5 and 0.8, you go into the intermediate category. Above that is the advanced category while 1 means perfect control."
It was a lot of information to take in, but Liam understood it easily as Alisha didn't explain any difficult concepts.
There was one question that stumped him. "How did you calculate the weapon control factor? There are so many different kinds of weapons, I am sure the number does not represent the proficiency with every weapon."
"We already input your preferred weapons before testing you. We used the weapons you brought from the Rift." Nora pointed towards the back of the tent where he noticed their weapons.
"Who created this?" Liam was curious about it. He had a good understanding of runes and crafting, so he knew the amount of effort it would take to create an artifact like that.
"It is of elven make."
"Oh," Liam uttered, acting surprised. He was trying to find the name of the creator, but Alisha misunderstood his question. Many people tried to replicate the methods of creating elven artifacts only to fail miserably. Inside the Rift, he tried asking Ioriel about their crafting method, but she refused to explain. It was one of their core racial secrets they guarded for millennia. To the other races, the process of creating elven artifacts was incomprehensible.
"Jade, you are next," Alisha instructed.
Jade went to stand on the disc. After a few seconds, her stats were also displayed on the badge.
Name: Jade
Strength: 2.7
Agility: 1.6
Stamina: 2.7
Evolution factor: 0.99
Mana: 0
Type: Bulwark
Control factor: 0.81 (Advanced)
While Alisha maintained her calm, Nora was stunned after looking at the numbers. Jade fell into the rift one year before Dunn did, but Nora did not expect the difference in their stats to be that huge. After a threshold, a small increase in the attributes required so many resources even the major powers couldn't stomach the trade-off.
If stats were anything to go by, her evolution would be something to look forward to.
Jade asked a question after looking at her numbers. "What does bulwark mean?"
Nora cleared her thoughts and answered. "You use shields, right? It means that you can absorb a lot of damage. You can withstand stronger hits."
She glanced at Liam, anticipating the surprise he would give everyone.