Valena leaned back in the chair, hands behind her head, shooting Ashura a sly grin. "I'm just saying, if anything breaks or goes wrong, it'll be Ashura's fault. He can't touch anything without denting it."

Ashura snorted, flexing his scarred arms for emphasis. "You're just jealous I've got actual muscles, Valena. Not everyone needs to rely on magic to carry them."

"Careful now, Ashura," Corvus interjected, his voice dry. "Insulting the healer right before your fight with that monster might not be the wisest move."

Selene stood beside them, a soft smile on her face. If only it could stay like this, she thought.

Valena nearly fell out of her chair at Corvus's comeback. "Pfft, how does that feel, Ashura?" she asked, avoiding eye contact.

Snorting, Ashura shot back, "Well, at least I didn't get roped into this by Zarek, falling for his weak excuses."

Corvus blinked, looking genuinely puzzled. "What do you mean, weak excuses? He said his wife had some trouble."

Valena completely lost it, bursting into laughter and nearly toppling off her chair. "Pfft, his wife? That guy's been single his whole life! He doesn't have a wife. You're way too gullible, Corv."

"Seriously?" Corvus turned to Selene, disbelief written all over his face. But when he saw her chuckling too, he realized he'd been had by Zarek.

As Valena finally managed to catch her breath from her fit of laughter, the light atmosphere shifted. The sound of boots echoing down the hall broke their lighthearted moment, signaling the arrival of the moment they'd been preparing for. The reassessment was about to begin.

Selene's smile faded, her expression turning more focused as she glanced toward the door. "Alright, enough of the jokes. It's about to begin; time to get serious."

The group straightened for the task that awaited them. Ashura leaned forward; his posture straightened. Corvus stood up as well, the playful glint gone from his eyes.

Valena wiped a tear from her eye, but she too sobered quickly. "Right, I'll go check on the healers station," she said, her tone back to the professionalism they all knew.

Selene nodded, her gaze lingering on each of them for a moment. "Let's head to the observation room. Everything needs to go smoothly; it's not for no reason that I called three members back."

The two standing behind her saluted her, silently acknowledging her words. They all knew what was at stake here. Teo's reassessment could change a lot for him and for the squad.

As they went to their assigned positions, Selene felt a flicker of doubt. The teasing had helped lighten the mood, but now, as the clock ticked down, she couldn't push away the thoughts she had buried earlier. Will he become S-rank or will he stay in A? What will the Amanar's reaction be? What will the populace think after it is announced if he becomes S-rank?

The door to the testing room opened with a soft creak, and Selene's attention snapped toward it. Snapping her out of her thoughts. And then she saw him. Teo had entered.

Teo stepped into the room, his posture relaxed as usual. He scanned the room silently, his hands casually tucked into his pockets. The technicians paused momentarily when they noticed him but quickly resumed their work, aware that Selene and the others were present.

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Selene grabbed the microphone and cleared her throat. "You know how this works, Teo. Do you need me to explain it again, or can we just start?"

"Let’s get it over with. I can’t wait to get through the boring parts," Teo replied, smirking in Ashura’s direction. Although the special glass prevented Teo from seeing him directly, he knew Ashura shared his sentiment.

Selene sighed and addressed the technicians. "Get everything ready for the mana measurement. And make sure the machine doesn’t explode if his reading exceeds S+."

"Yes, ma’am!" the technicians shouted in unison, quickly hurrying to their posts to complete their tasks. Meanwhile, Teo stood before the machine, his nonchalant demeanor making it clear this whole process felt like a chore to him.

As preparations continued, Valena returned from the healer’s station to inform Selene that everything was set for the reassessment to proceed smoothly. However, when she noticed Ashura grinning, she frowned and asked, "What’s with that stupid grin?"

Corvus interjected, "Why do you think? Teo got him riled up, of course."

Realization dawned on Valena’s face. "Ah, that makes sense. But Ashura, be careful. Teo’s no pushover. Even before awakening, he could hold his own against you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Ashura replied, still grinning. "But I can’t help being curious. How much stronger will he be now?" His anticipation was palpable as he silently wished the other tests would finish quickly, eager to face Teo during the final reassessment.

"Alright, that’s enough," Selene snapped. "This is serious. Everyone needs to focus on the details." Her gaze shifted to Corvus. "Corvus, you’re watching the entrance, right?"

"Yes, Captain. No one from the Amanar family will get past the ground floor, nor will they have the chance to disrupt the process," Corvus affirmed.

Satisfied with his response, Selene turned her gaze back to the testing room, where Teo now stood before the mana-measuring machine. His posture radiates nonchalance.

The head technician approached Teo hesitantly. Clearing his throat, he began in a slightly shaky voice, "You will need to place your hand on the ball atop the machine, and then—"

Teo rolled his eyes, cutting him off mid-sentence. "I know how it works, old man. Just get it over with," he said, his tone filled with impatience.

The technician flinched but nodded quickly, stepping back to his console. A few other staff members exchanged nervous glances, while Selene pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Teo," she said over the intercom, her voice firm. "Try not to scare the staff before we even start. They’re here to help, not to annoy you."

Teo smirked, glancing briefly at the observation window. "Sure, Captain. I’ll be good. Just as long as they don’t start reciting the entire instruction manual."

Selene sighed but decided to let it go, gesturing for the technicians to proceed. "Start the measurement," she instructed.

Immediately, Teo began channeling his mana into the machine. A low hum filled the room as the machine absorbed his mana, and the technicians scrambled to adjust the settings, their eyes wide with nervousness. The readouts on the machine shot up at an alarming rate, jumping from D to S+ within seconds. Teo’s grin widened as he watched their frantic movements, noting how their hands shook while trying to keep up with his output.

His gaze moved toward the observation window, where Selene stood; he couldn’t see her. But he could imagine the disapproval in her eyes.

Feeling playful, Teo pushed the boundaries even further, feeding the machine more mana. The gauge shot upwards like a rocket, reaching the S+ limit in the blink of an eye. He saw the technicians exchange panicked glances as they frantically typed on their consoles, trying to stabilize the readings. A loud alarm blared as the machine neared its breaking point.

Teo smirked. He held the flood of mana just long enough to make things interesting before cutting it off sharply. The machine’s hum stopped as the output fell back to manageable levels, but not before the system gave a final protest with a series of alarming beeps.

From behind the glass, Selene was furious. Imbuing her voice with magic, she slowly said, "Teo!"

The entire room shook as the technicians all froze in fear. Realizing what she had done, Selene signaled for Valena to cast a soothing spell, calming the technicians and getting them back on task to manage the machine once again.