Mystical Journey

In the examiner's perspective, examiners like himself had outstanding strength within the second rate sects. Many of them were actually bearing the burden of being the third party that was invited here to observe the progress of the examination objectively to ensure that it was fair. He would receive some rewards from his old friend after completing this task, and reciprocation would be considered impressive.

When he saw that Garen had agreed, the examiner sighed in relief faintly and relaxed. This time, most of his quota had been fulfilled already. Moreover, he had something to give in exchange for his reward while preserving his old friend's reputation.

"Garen, you can come with me now. I'll inform someone from Scarlet Snow Sect to meet you soon. The distance between their encampment and this place are not that far actually. You will be able to arrive there on your own after being sent there a few times," he smiled while mentioning this.

"I don't have any problems with that," nodded Garen.

Once he had decided to follow the examiner, both of them turned and walked towards the other arenas.

As he observed each of the arenas, every time the examiner encountered the remaining contestants who were not chosen in the end, as long as they had pretty good fitness levels, he would go forward and attempt to attract these contestants by speaking to them. However, all of the contestants that he tried to attract could not be bothered with him. Meanwhile, those who stepped forward voluntarily to speak to him were merely Level One or Level Two Energy Machinists who were already more than twenty years old. Despite achieving high levels, their Appraisal was too low and they had already reached their personal peak levels. Therefore, they were useless individuals who were not impactful enough to reach Level Five or Inherited Levels.

Along the way, there was only one more individual that joined Garen's side. That person was also a young man like himself who dressed plainly and only possessed average Appraisal and Level Two Willpower. However, he was only nineteen years old.

After walking circles around all of the smaller arenas, the examiner was unable to enlist any more recruits. He could only take Garen and the other young man back resentfully.

"Next, we'll be going to the main arena. However, we're mainly going there so that both of you can expand your horizons and gain greater knowledge. It'll be impossible for me to recruit people there but both of you should take this opportunity to broaden your view of the world. It'll be good for you to see what the stronger prodigies are like," said the examiner while turning around to speak to Garen and the other young man.

Garen and the other person nodded faintly to indicate that they understood.

The trio left the smaller arena area and was enveloped by an Energy Field before rising into the sky. They soared upwards for more than a few hundred meters at once before flying directly towards the centermost area of the Star Core Plaza.

Below them, the entire Star Core Plaza was oval shaped. There were three white high platforms in the center that were the same exact size. The tops of these platforms were currently shrouded in a layer of light yellow energy membrane.

Through the membrane, they could see that a few people were engaging in close combat while others were prompting beasts to sprint forward and attack.

Garen lowered his head and looked over. He could feel that the three of them were flying directly towards the centermost arena.

A familiar silhouette was coincidentally driving someone off the platform in the arena.

"Red Skeleton, one hundred and twenty-three victories!" said a gentle female voice.

It was truly the girl in red who had compelled and seized Hummingbird previously. Tiny red skeletons with two wings each were currently flying around her. Almost six of them could be seen if you counted carefully.

"Tch Tch… Red Skeleton, this girl has managed to touch the edges of the Inherited Level despite only being eighteen years old… Once she has obtained the Star Core and continues to work hard for two more years, she'll definitely reach the Inherited Level once she comes out," praised the examiner while clicking his tongue. Behind him, Garen and the other man became jumpy with fear. Was she only eighteen years old?

"That's impossible! Her current Forces are clearly almost Level Five so how could she only be eighteen years old?" The other young man found this somewhat hard to believe.

"It isn't impossible. This little girl is probably the successor of her household. She had probably undergone special nurturing and training ever since she was young," the examiner shook his head. "Moreover, it's obvious that she possesses the best talents in her household. She would definitely possess Accelerated Talents. Therefore, it's almost certain that she will enter a large sect."

Many other Energy Machinists had stepped forward to observe the match, much like these three people. Most of them had lowered their altitudes gradually while suspending themselves in mid-air around the high platforms below. These people could rely on their Energy Fields to hang in the air. All of them were Inherited Level individuals who released Forces that were extremely powerful. They had also weaved a densely packed Willpower net high up in the sky.

A few people who had used aircraft to fly up did not have enough strength to support themselves. Within the blink of an eye, they were entangled by the numerous Willpower webs that forced them to drop downwards.

The examiner glanced at these people coldly.

"Only Inherited Level individuals have the right to suspend themselves here. Aircraft? They obviously don't know their own strength."

The trio descended gently on the edges of the high platform in the center. They paid close attention to the movements inside quietly just like everyone else.

"Examiner, what are Accelerated Talents?" Garen had noticed this term that he had never heard of before.

"Accelerated Talents refer to a higher level of talent Appraisal that is present within most talents," the examiner turned back and glanced at Garen. "Since your Appraisal is Level Five, Level Five would be your maximum limitations in theory. Although there is a probability that you can rush to the Inherited Level, it's extremely low. Elites would regard your Appraisal as being weak but you would be a prodigy in the eyes of the average person."

Garen nodded to indicate that he understood.

"In other words, the thing that would be accelerated is my Appraisal?"

"Right, there's still one level or division above your Appraisal that we call Resonance. This level corresponds with the Resonance of the Mech Pilot inside, or simply replaces them. This means that their combat powers can definitely achieve Resonance Levels. People like these would have computing powers that are slightly stronger than yours once they are upgraded. Any higher and they would be the supposed Accelerated Talents," said the examiner while praising them slightly.

"How much stronger are the Accelerated Talents in comparison to us?" The one who asked this question was the young man who stood on the side and sounded somewhat unsatisfied. He was only nineteen years old and after hearing that he was naturally unlike others, his train of thought had diverged somewhat.

"How much stronger?" the examiner shook his head. "Statistically, once they have upgraded them, the computing powers of Resonance Talents are forty to sixty percent stronger on average. They improve much faster than you and are able to develop themselves into stronger combat elites. They can also use stronger and more complicated Secret Tactics in actual combat."

"Sixty percent!! Then… what about Accelerated Talents?" The young man was slightly subdued now.

"The increase of their computing powers are usually almost similar to those with Resonance Levels. However, the key aspect is that they have an ability called Acceleration which can upgrade their computing powers by twofold in a short span of time. When they release it after integrating it with their Secret Tactics, most obstacles or bottleneck situations that resemble natural moats to others are simply pieces of cake to them. Perhaps both of you will be able to rely on your determination to catch up to them in the beginning. However, as time passes later, the distance between you will become bigger. Both of you will be unable to surpass the obstacles while they will continuously force their way forwards without stopping for even one step."

"Are there many Accelerated Talents?" asked Garen quietly.

"No, it would be impressive if there was even one of them within a thousand Energy Machinists. Of course, within a large population base like this, there would be more than a few who had reached the Accelerated class," replied the examiner. "The Accelerated class is a standardized division for the most outstanding talents."

All three of them stopped talking and merely looked downwards quietly at Red Skeleton's fight.

The girl called Red Skeleton did not move. She was hugging her own chest with both of her arms while numerous red skeletons flew around her as quickly as lightning. They continuously flew towards her opponent quickly and attacked him from all sides.

Within such a short span of time, three people had already collapsed after stepping forward and were all disposed of quickly.

Among the people who had stepped forward was a person who was similar to Garen. This person possessed a rare radioactive glow as well and was able to use this radiation to affect their opponent while strengthening their own Energy Machinery. However, they did not have radiation achievements that were equivalent to Garen's own. The defense systems that this person had established seemed nominal as he was sent flying immediately after being defeated.

"Too weak! Are you sure that you're an Elite who's here to participate in the Star Cloud Arena and not a piece of trash that merely came here from the dump to try and make a fortune?" sneered Red Skeleton sharply in a loud voice.

There were some Energy Machinists below who had been attacked to the point where they were afraid. It looked like there were hundreds of them there who were now somewhat indignant after hearing the things that she had said.

A few middle-aged male and female examiners were sitting at the side of the arena with looks of admiration on their faces. They sat at the side of the arena and chatted while looking like they were enjoying the current situation very much.

Boom!!

Suddenly, a thunderous noise could be heard not far away. They could vaguely tell that it came from the high platform on the right side of the main arena.

"Red Skeleton! I heard long ago that your powers were astonishing, so what use is it for you to simply yell while standing inside your little circle over there? Everyone here possesses triple Acceleration, so why don't you fight me if you dare!!" A deep and resounding male voice echoed from another side. Although his voice was deep, a tinge of immaturity could still be heard in his tone.

"Do you think that I'll go over just because you're asking me to? Wouldn't I just lose my reputation that way?" sneered Red Skeleton sharply. Her voice traveled towards the protective membrane that was far away and pierced through it.

"If you're afraid then so be it. Why do you have to resort to hiding it?" said the voice disdainfully.

"I'm afraid?!" Red Skeleton's hair stood on end immediately like a hissing kitten as she was slightly threatened now. "You'd dare to come over here if you had the skills, right?!"

"What are you yelling about?! Just get over there if you want to fight, stop yelling here!" Another person in the main arena who did not want to seem weak began to make noise as well. The voice of the person sounded like a young boy who did not sound older than fifteen.

"Black Jade Dragon Beast?" A hint of dread appeared on Red Skeleton's delicate face. It was very rare for her to stop disagreeing or refuting.

The deep male voice on the other side did not turn silent.

"The Black Jade Dragon Vitality? That's one of the legendary peak Talent Vitalities. I, Mammoth, desire to experience if your powers are truly stronger than my fierce brute force!"

"You'll get a chance to see it," replied Black Jade Dragon coldly.

After that, all three of them stopped speaking. The three main arenas were extremely close to each other but the trio continued on with their selection procedures quietly. However, these procedures were merely formalities to them.

After taking Garen and the other person to observe Red Skeleton, he took them to see the other two remaining arenas.

The youth called Black Jade Dragon was a child of only fourteen years old. He was dressed like a girl and was covered from head to toe in gold. He operated a type of Energy Machinery that resembled a large golden peacock-like bird. It was obvious that this kid loved the color gold. He had an extremely fine appearance and was abnormally pretty while golden ornaments and jewelry dangled from his whole body.

Meanwhile, Mammoth who stood on the other side was quite the opposite because he had a rough and boorish style. The top half of his body was naked and his skin was dark. A picture of a white sun was tattooed on his body while numerous Unihorn White Wolves were creeping beside his body. Each of these White Wolves were the size of little calves and were at least Level Four Energy Machinery. He had dominated the entire arena and would only charge forward and personally engage in close combat with peak Level Five Energy Machinists that the White Wolves could not handle. This person had managed to modify himself to reach peak Level Five degrees. His strength was astonishing and he was able to use a set of combined boxing techniques. There were only a few Energy Machinists who could withstand his set of boxing techniques.

The youth Black Jade Dragon, Red Skeleton, and young Mammoth were the three strongest and most eye-catching individuals within the three main arenas.

Garen and the two other people walked around the main arenas. Most of the people who were selected to join the contest were extremely confident in themselves. The ones with the weakest Talents were of similar levels to Garen and the other youth. Therefore, both of them clicked their tongues in admiration secretly.