Silence settled over both lines of candidates, tension stretching tight between them as they tried to process the examiner's words.
A whisper broke through.
"But they said seventy-eight was the cutoff."
"Yeah. Why are they changing it now?"
"Have they been lying to us this whole time?"
The murmuring spread, low but restless.
"These idiots don't know a damn thing," Jonas muttered, folding his arms across his chest, irritation written plainly across his face.
From across the hall, Boros noticed him.
He said nothing.
He simply kept his eyes forward.
The crowd spoke just loud enough for themselves to hear, careful not to let their complaints travel too far. At this stage, clashing with guild officials was a risk no one wanted to take.
"You all seem to have quite a lot to say," the examiner remarked, a grin tugging at his lips, hands still clasped behind his back.
The murmuring thinned.
"Most of you are civilians. You don't understand how things truly work." His gaze swept across them. "So it's only natural that you fail to grasp why this test is so important."
His smile faded slightly.
"And why failing it disqualifies you—not just from our guild, but from any guild."
The whispers grew louder at that.
He raised one hand lazily.
"Shh."
Silence fell instantly.
"This final stage is called the Resonance Test. I mentioned it briefly before the examinations began, though it seems many of you chose not to remember."
A faint chuckle escaped him.
"That's fine. I don't mind repeating myself."
He began pacing slowly.
"As you should all know, the foundation of energy in our world is the Nexa Crystal. Most of you are aware of that much."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"But what some of you don't know… is how those crystals are obtained."
A pause.
"They are harvested from a particular class of creatures. I prefer to call them beasts."
A subtle tension crept into the room.
"To hunt even one of these beasts safely, an A-Rank party is the minimum requirement."
A few candidates stiffened.
"They've become increasingly rare over the years. Thanks to the efforts of the Golemworks Guild, several crystal-rich caverns have been discovered. Adventurers are dispatched to these locations to mine and retrieve Nexa Crystals directly."
He stopped pacing.
"Now," he said, turning back to face them fully, "what was the point of that little bedtime story?"
His grin returned.
"As you might've guessed, the Nexus concentration surrounding raw crystals is highly toxic. Only individuals with sufficient Nexus capacity can approach them without suffering severe consequences."
A heavy beat passed.
"And that," he concluded, clasping his hands together, "is precisely what the Resonance Test measures."
His eyes swept across both lines.
"It determines whether your Nexus output meets the required threshold."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Now… do you understand?"
"Yes," the crowd replied, their voices subdued.
"Good."
His grin sharpened.
"Then let's begin."
"Here's how this will proceed," the examiner said, resting a hand on the nearest machine.
It was a massive device—its surface smooth and metallic, a wide screen embedded in its center. Thick black tubes coiled from its back, running along the floor like dormant serpents.
"You'll step onto the pads at the base," he continued. "The machine will measure your resonance."
He tapped the screen lightly.
"If it displays green, you pass."
A beat.
"If it displays orange, it means your Nexus hasn't reached the required threshold—but it shows potential. With proper training, it can grow."
His grin thinned.
"And if it shows red… I'm sure you already understand what that means."
A few swallowed.
"The girls will use the machine before them. The boys will use the one on this side."
He stepped down from the platform, moving toward where the female candidates stood.
"Scarlet."
Scarlet nodded once.
"He's explained enough. We'll begin immediately."
The air tightened.
One by one, candidates stepped forward.
One by one, they placed their feet on the circular pads.
A low hum filled the chamber each time the machine activated—
And again and again, the screen flared red.
The faint buzzing tone that followed felt harsher with each repetition.
Disappointment spread quickly through the lines.
Then—
"Lykon Vren."
Scarlet's voice cut cleanly through the tension.
Lykon stepped forward.
His fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles had gone pale. He exhaled slowly, trying to steady himself.
One foot stepped onto the pad.
Then the other.
Silence swallowed the chamber.
The machine activated.
Everyone waited for the familiar buzz.
It didn't come.
Lykon's eyes, which had squeezed shut in preparation, slowly opened.
For the first time since the Resonance Test had begun—
The screen glowed green.
'YES!' Lykon yelled in his head.
He stepped off the platform and turned—
Only to find every eye in the chamber fixed on him.
For a brief moment, he didn't understand why.
Then it clicked.
Hope.
Until now, the machine had shown nothing but red. The steady hum, the flash of failure—it had begun to feel deliberate. Rigged, even.
But green had appeared.
And that single color reignited something fragile in the room.
If one person could pass—
Then the rest still had a chance.
The next name was called.
"Rael Stren."
Rael walked up to the machine, the most tense he had ever been in his life.
He stepped on the pad, closing both his eyes.
The machine lit... orange.
He opened his eyes and saw the color then clenched his fists. Gritting his teeth at the screen in front of him.
Orange didn't mean he failed the test, so why was he acting this way? It confused the people in the crowd.
But they didn't know as Rael stared at that screen for a few seconds, he made a promise to himself, a promise that would shape his very future.
The next name was called.
"John Hale."
Everyone was very familiar with this name, he was the underdog who no one expected anything from.
John clenched his fists and walked up towards the machine.
"We've gotten this far John, there's just one more hurdle to climb."
He stood on the machine.
And it lit up, he felt the light shining on his face and he opened his eyes to see an orange glow.
Most people would have complained with this result, or felt any other thing but right now.
John felt happy.
Sure it wasn't a green, but it wasn't a red either.
This color meant he still had room to grow and this thought made him happy, he stepped down from the pad with a wide smile on his face he didn't even know was on there.
This smile annoyed the crowd watching.
"That brat...why the hell is he smiling that much when he didn't get a green." Boros said grinning with his arms crossed.
"Next!" Scarlet yelled calling everyone's attention back.
"Takeru Tanaka."