Finally, Ian was called up to the stage. Seeing that it was his turn, most of the students turned to look at his results. He was one of the crest siblings and seemed to have attracted Amanda's attention. They all wanted to see how special he was.
Ian stepped before the giant crystal sphere, nervous about what came next. The instructor next to him looked at him, saying, "We have been made aware of your particular situation. You will be allowed to get tested while using your support items."
Ian felt relieved to hear this. He thought he was going to have to take his gauntlets off. However, this sense of relief was short-lived as he felt all of the students stare not only at him but at his gauntlets.
Most of the students thought his gauntlets were just a part of his outfit. Now knowing that they were his support items, some thought it was unfair. They thought he was being allowed to boost his score. Others were intrigued by his gauntlets. They want to know what they were used for and how they would work. At the same time, they also thought Ian was going to use them to boost his power.
Ian tried to ignore all of the stares and focus on the task at hand. He nervously placed his hand on the crystal ball, activating his gauntlets, and pouring his energy into it. The ball began to glow lightly as did the screen above. Ian watched as the screen processed his energy. However, Ian and everyone else in the testing hall would be left surprised.
[Name] Ian Crest
[Rank] Copper
[Power] 234
[Elemental Proficiency] !!!ERROR!!!
The screen flashed red as errors popped up all over the screen. The instructors had never seen this before and panicked briefly. All of the students stood still, staring at the screen. Ian's information was still showing.
The students couldn't believe what they were seeing. His power was too high for a copper rank. Most of the students thought this was due to his gauntlets. Even so, it was shocking to see.
Ian stepped back from the crystal ball as a few instructors and staff members went up to it and started looking over it. They wanted to know if something had broken or fallen out of place.
After a few minutes, the instructors weren't able to find a problem with the crystal ball. They thought it was just a one-in-a-million chance for something like that to occur. The instructor holding the clipboard turned their attention to Ian and told him to try it again.
Ian did as he was told and once again placed his hand on the crystal ball. But just like before, the screen flashed red and displayed errors.
At this point, the instructors gave each other a worried look before deciding to try something else. They told Ian to stand off to the side so they could let the next student test out the crystal ball. Ian didn't argue and stepped off to the side, watching as the next student was called up.
The next student was a bit nervous, thinking the screen would flash red and display errors for them. But just like every other student, they were able to get tested without a problem.
The instructors looked worried once again and asked Ian to try once more. Sadly, the results did not change. Errors covered the screen once more.
Seeing this happen again, the instructors seem to conclude one of two things. Either there was something wrong with Ian, or his gauntlets were interfering with the test.
The Instructor holding the clipboard walked up to Ian and said, "I'm afraid we're gonna have to ask you to remove your support items. We fully understand what this will cause so we've already called for Frida to be on standby. We just want to make sure your gauntlets aren't interfering with anything."
Ian looked gloomy when he heard this. It had been months since the last time he had to use his power without the support of the gauntlets. But he knew there was no point in arguing.
He did what was asked of him and carefully removed his gauntlets. He then turned to one of the staff members and asked them to hold them for him.
Now that he didn't have his gauntlets, the students became more curious. They want to see what his power truly was.
Ian nervously placed his hand on the surface of the crystal ball and closed his eyes. He tried to focus on controlling his power and just releasing a small amount into the sphere.
However, as soon as he activated his power, he felt a rush of energy explode from within him. But unlike before, this time was far worse.
The energy exploding inside of him was far stronger than before. His entire body tensed up as he felt a searing pain rushing inside him and into the crystal ball.
His veins started bulging across his body as he gritted his teeth, enduring a large amount of pain. His nose soon started to bleed as he failed to breathe. The pain was becoming too much for him, he could barely stand. He dropped down to one knee with blood dripping down the corner of his lip.
Even though the energy he felt inside of him was stronger than before, he had trained his body more intensely after gaining his gauntlets. His body was stronger than before and could withstand more punishment. Even so, the pain he felt was indescribable.
It had only been a few seconds since he activated his power and the pain was already unbearable. But that didn't matter to him. He pushed through the pain and forced himself to look up at the screen as his information finally began to show itself. Slowly the first line appeared.
[Name] Ian Crest
[Rank] Copper
[Power] 703
[Elemental Proficiency] !!!ERROR!!!
The room stared at Ian's information in complete shock. They had never seen such a thing before. Many looked scared upon seeing his power score and what rank he was. But what surprised everyone even more was the error that flashed across the screen when it got to his elemental proficiency. Now the instructors knew there was a problem with Ian himself and not with his gauntlets.
It had been about a minute since Ian activated his power and the pain was now unbearable. He got down on his knees, tilting his head back as he let out a guttural scream of pure agony. Blood was leaking from his nose and mouth.
The instructors were too astonished by Ian's information to notice how much pain he was in. Once he screamed, the instructors around him panicked and hurried to help him.
Quickly, they pulled him away from the crystal ball, allowing him to collapse on the floor. Ian looked pale and drained. He could barely keep his eyes open.
Frida showed up soon after, kneeling down next to Ian. She immediately began to use her power to try and heal Ian. Within a few seconds, Ian's injuries were healed. However, he still looked pale and drained.
The instructors seem more worried now. They were wondering why Frida wasn't able to fully heal him. Even Frida looked concerned. Whenever she would heal someone, their injuries would heal up and some of their strength would be restored. And yet, Ian's strength was not returning to him.
Ian could feel his consciousness slipping from him. He wouldn't stay awake for much longer.
Seeing that Ian wasn't recovering, Emmett and Kevin rushed over to him. They knew there was only one way of helping Ian. They quickly ran up to the instructor holding his gauntlets and took them. Afterwards, they rushed over to him, weaving around the instructors to get to him. Once there, they each got on one of his sides and quickly put the gauntlets on him. Once they managed to do that, they backed away from him and watched him intently.
All of the crystals on Ian's gauntlets soon began to glow. The energy stored in the gauntlets quickly drained and began to flow into Ian. One by one the crystals on Ian's gauntlets began to go out, indicating how much power was left in them.
After a few moments, the gauntlets reached the second-to-last crystal before finally deactivating. Once off, Ian opened his eyes and quickly sat up. He looked around at Emmett, Kevin, and all of the instructors around him, wondering what happened. At some point, he blacked out and couldn't remember anything.
The Instructors looked relieved to see he was fine. Frida, however, still looked concerned. She looked at Ian and said, "Wow there champ. Take it easy."
Ian turned to look at Frida as he tried to process what was happening. But he suddenly felt his stomach churn. He hurriedly spoke, asking for a bucket or trash can as he held his stomach.
Kevin didn't waste any time, bringing Ian a small empty trash can. Ian snatched the trash can from Kevin's hands, vomiting his breakfast into it.
A few minutes later, an Instructor walked up to Ian, handing him a cup of water. Ian drank the cool refreshing water slowly, feeling how it soothed his throat. Afterwards, he carefully started to stand up, seemingly looking fine.
Frida and the other instructors had a worried look on their faces as they saw Ian stand up. They wanted to advise him against moving so much too soon but Ian reassured them that he was okay.
They still seemed worried for him but then Emmett and Kevin stepped in and put their worries to rest. They told the instructors that they would look after Ian for the time being and would notify someone if his condition suddenly shifted. Hearing this, the instructors calmed down a bit.
Frida, however, didn't look as convinced, she looked at the three boys and said, "Come to the nurse's office after this. I want to make sure you're completely fine."
Kevin was going to argue against this but Ian quickly agreed to meet Frida in her office. Hearing this, Frida seemed to lighten up a bit. She stood up from the ground, giving them one last look before leaving the testing hall.
Once Frida left, Ian, Emmett, and Kevin turned around and returned to where they were lined up. Along the way, Kevin placed an arm over Ian's shoulders while Emmett patted him on his back.
While this entire interaction was occurring, the screen above the crystal ball was still displaying Ian's info. The students in the testing hall couldn't look away from it. Most of them were in disbelief. Even Amanda and the three noble sons were baffled by it. None of them could understand how someone could be copper-ranked with such a high power score. As they kept staring at the screen, only three words crossed their minds, "Strongest copper rank."