lvin continued to trail the steps of Principal Edrin as they traversed deeper into the hall.
Initially, from an external view, one could imdiately say that the deeper they went, the darker it beca, but they would be wrong.
The deeper they went, the brighter and more illuminated the hall looked. Plus, it wasn’t just a hall; it had several sectional rooms flanking its sides, with rounded stone pillars demarcating them from the aisle.
He understood that the part where he had appeared after exiting the Silver Spire through the Spatial Tear was a different part of the building they were in. Perhaps a gallery section of the hall.
As he thought, he suddenly rembered the counters that looked like ga pooling machines.
’Oh, what was that? I forgot to ask this man,’ he mused and studied the principal for a bit. ’He won’t entertain questions now, will he?’
At the end, he made up his mind not to ask the principal any questions, not until they left this gargantuan building at least. Then, his stomach growled, and he hastened his steps until he walked side by side with the principal.
"Uhm, don’t you think I will need so nutritious refreshnts before whatever interview you have prepared for ?"
The principal looked down at the boy, and his lips widened into a sly smile.
"What? I lived in that cursed testant of a thing for a complete five days without proper nutrition," lvin complained, hoping the principal would see reason with him. "It’s not like I’m overly interested in food, you know."
’Crap. That last part was unnecessary, really,’ he thought before the principal’s deep, yet calm voice interrupted.
"It has been prepared," he said simply and changed the direction of his movent to the right.
"Good then."
***
Soon, lvin found himself in a small office, sitting across from three administrative workers. But first, he treated himself to the plate of dish that had been served upon entering the office.
Although, before venturing into the Silver Spire, he got the chance to taste better food than what he usually had as a loner. Yet, this particular al he was currently having was not only juicy, but his vision suddenly was full of stars.
He had to hold back an exhilarated moan to avoid embarrassing himself in the midst of these onlookers.
’This is the difference between food served to staff and that served to teenage Climbers.’
Normally, he wouldn’t have felt comfortable eating in such a situation.
But who cared? As far as within the next few minutes, they left him to concentrate on the food until he decimated the contents of the whole plate.
With a satiated look, lvin glared at the familiar face of the man flanking the other two workers on the left, hoping the man understood that he was demanding another serving. But as he expected, the man didn’t pay attention to his want.
It was ti for his scheduled interview to begin.
***
The session had begun in earnest.
lvin had already taken note of the sitting formation of the admins and what their role in the interview was.
To the right was seated the artist, available to put into pictorial representation any details provided by their candidate. In the middle was the main interviewer, a female, who bombarded him with different kinds of questions, and then, to the left, was the observer—the stoic and broad fra of Principal Edrin.
"Master lvin? Can you tell us your first experience upon entering the trial zone?" ca the friendly voice of the interviewer.
The boy sat upright and began to narrate his experience to the best of his ability.
"Scratch my glorious entrance into the main trial ground," he said, illustrating with a horizontal slash of his hand. "The main trial ground was called the Opening Bastion. It was a big hall, you know."
Only the interviewer scribbled sothing on the paper docunt before her.
"It was divided into two primary sections: an upper hall and a subrged lower chamber. I hate to say this, but I was tossed from the upper hall like a free-fall object used to test gravity. Just that, there was an absence of natural air."
"I see," the female interviewer said. "Sorry about that."
"It’s fine, really. I was tossed into the lower chamber, where I t this wonderful but ugly abomination."
The artist sprang into action imdiately. It was ti for him to exercise his ability on the paper before him, with the drawing materials waiting by the side.
lvin gladly described the Sea Slug King to the best of his ability and even went ahead to tell them about how well he fought this wonderful creature, looking glorified as his narration flowed smoothly from his mouth.
By now, he was able to clearly make his listeners understand what he had to pass through all in the na of trial. Consequently, pity was laced through the faces of the admin, then a frown on their faces.
Noticing the frowns on their faces, lvin comnted imdiately.
"What? Am I a unique subject? Glad to know," then he glanced at Principal Edrin. "You see the reason sufficient..."
He didn’t complete what he wanted to say before he got interrupted.
"I’m glad you were able to survive. And, unscathed at that with just this sleek jacket of yours. You must have been prepared beforehand."
"Prepared beforehand?" lvin sat forward and looked in the observer’s direction. "Do tell them."
The principal only smiled, maintaining his indifferent composure.
"Even I didn’t survive without scars," lvin continued, then reviewed his skin with a look of confusion. "Oh, yes. My scars healed, disappearing completely after encountering a certain altar."
Then, his listeners paid attention as he told them how he arrived at the altar and various other things that took place thereafter. However, from all he said, he didn’t seem to ntion what was of interest to the listeners.
"Master lvin, you didn’t receive rewards? Like Soul Signatures and all that?"
"That..." lvin scratched his head in thought.
"I know Soul Signatures are rare during such experiences, but didn’t you receive any?"
’Wow, they are rarely awarded,’ he thought, already getting ready to deny receiving one.
"He certainly did."
lvin looked in the direction the voice had co from. Oh, that’s right. The principal had seen him after his apparition; hence, he was left with no choice but to tell them.
"About Soul Signatures? Indeed, I received gear—a sli suit and a long silver whip."
"Any special abilities?"
"Nothing, I’m quite certain of."
After this section of the interview, silence settled amidst the four beings present in the small office.
On the other hand, lvin didn’t seem to be interested in letting them know more about his dangerous expedition in the Silver Spire. For all he knew, he had told them the important things that should be beneficial to their research and, more to that, their unsure hypothesis or whatsoever.
But as it turned out, his interviewers weren’t done interrogating him.
He would rather not give up more information about the Soul Signatures, the slumbering god he had encountered, and, more to that, his affinity and its ability. Yet, he also knew he had to tell them sothing as long as they asked.
As soone who had lived through a similar kind of experience in his forr life, he knew he had to be cautious with the information he provided.
For them, they might tell that this information was used to provide resources for them, as long as they would be trained and prepared for what was coming.
The truth is that lvin had limited ti before the crimson moon appeared; hence, he didn’t expect to receive intense training. He wasn’t even planning to be involved in one. He planned to prepare himself, and solely.
He shot the principal a stolen glance.
’Plus, not all administrative workers are to be trusted anyway.’
"Master lvin, would you mind telling us about your affinity?"
"Of course, I’d mind. Not a big deal. It was tied to sothing about having a certain kind of control of the present, past, and future."
"Hmm. Are you saying you are affined to ti?"
"You can say that. However, I’d add that I’m limited to complete control, plus I can’t even do anything about the past. The past is a dormant feature in that sense."
"I see. No innate abilities? Or more importantly, an Origin?"
lvin smiled.
"Before venturing into the Spire, I learned that receiving an Origin is nothing that had ever happened. Is it possible an unlucky carrier like would awaken one?"
"There is indeed a special case who awakened one," the principal suggested.
"I see," lvin nodded and reclined in his seat and muttered. "A lucky soul."
"That’s alright. I guess this session is over. You can always reach out to us if you have new information to relay."
"Certainly."
Thereafter, lvin was guided by a different staff out of the building. That was when he realized they had been in the circular do all this while.
So, it was never an illusion anyway.
Not long after, lvin was led to the western section of the academy, where he was guided to his room.
Exhausted upon entering his room, he didn’t take in details and slumped on the comfy bed.
Within minutes, the young boy was already fast asleep.
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