Chapitre 23: Chapter 23: Reuniting With Old Friends (1)
Chapter 23: Reuniting With Old Friends (1)
20th Floor, Strongest Regular Test.
"Mr. Kalon, we meet again," Love said as he looked with a sarcastic laugh in his eyes. He was clearly singling out Kalon by calling out his name.
The Regulars who were gathered around the stage all turned their eyes towards where Love was looking.
"It's nice to see you too. As you already know, I was never a member of FUG, so you should have no problem with me now," Kalon did not avert his eyes and looked directly into the eyes of Love, and Love did the same. He did not mind Kalon's rude comment, as he had been a little disdainful before it was exposed that Kalon was never a member of FUG.
"Why don't we start the test with you?" Love said.
"Sure," Kalon also answered calmly, not breaking eye contact. In the end, Love had to give up because he had to introduce the test to new Regulars who made it this far.
After the introduction and instructions were given, the test began, with Kalon himself being the first. Kalon walked towards the stage with great strides. He had some sort of momentum emitting from him that was not there before. Even the Shinsu in the surroundings was doing nothing—it was suddenly a little too quiet.
Kalon was wearing a simple white T-shirt with black jeans. Although after achieving a new realm in his stats, he no longer had any muscles—even his abs had suddenly vanished—and his figure had become like a model's. But this model figure carried with it a disastrous strength that was waiting for the right opponent.
Kalon himself liked a physique like this, tall and devoid of muscles. It helped him keep a low profile.
He reached the arcade-type machine that was used to test the Regulars. He used only 1% of his strength and flicked his finger. The moment his fingernail made contact with the machine, the numbers on the machine and the leaderboard started increasing like crazy.
1,000.
10,000.
100,000.
500,999.
And the wind generated by the force of his one fingernail made the machine start to crack, with spiderweb-like structures forming on its sides. The curtains and the screen hanging in the air started moving forward and backward with great force.
Love was the most shocked. Although he knew Kalon was strong—as in the last test, his strength had reached 90,867—and Kalon did not even break a sweat, which signified that he had not exerted much of his strength in the process.
But what he saw now left him bewildered. Others did not see it because they were below the stage, but he was close, and he felt the pressure that the flick of Kalon's finger generated. His instincts told him even he would not get away unscathed if he received that attack. So how could a machine developed to test Regulars hold the force of Kalon's attack?
Love even believed that Kalon was the real Slayer Candidate and that Viole was just a substitute to hide the real monster. Many things that were hazy in his mind started to become clearer—why someone like Kalon would first go around saying he was the Slayer Candidate and then easily accept that he was a fake. It was all a plan made up by FUG to confuse Zahard's Army about who was to be killed in the cradle: was it Viole or Kalon?
[New Record!!]
Suddenly, sirens started sounding in the auditorium where the test was taking place, and even Augusgus was alerted.
The last record was set by Urek Mazino after he broke the record of Princess Yuri.
But now Urek had far surpassed Yuri in strength. If in a battlefield, Urek said that he was on the side of the losing army, the balance of the battle would instantly tilt, as even the Ten Great Family Heads avoided Urek, or he might wipe out their families.
Kalon did not even ask if he passed or not; he walked to the next testing site by taking the elevator from the auditorium. Love's mouth remained open. Only after the voice of Augusgus sounded in his mind did he snap out of his reverie.
"Isn't this the one who was going around dressed like a Slayer Candidate?" The Test Director's voice sounded in his brain, and Love replied with a nod.
"He has gone to the next stage," Love continued.
"Okay," Augusgus did not say more. Although Kalon was a talent that might surpass Yuri in the future, that future was still far off, and only time would tell if he would reach the position of High-Ranker or forever remain stuck in the Ranker position. And if he really achieved High-Ranker status, then it would not be too late to recruit him into FUG, as Kalon seemed quite the fan of their organization.
Love's thoughts were the complete opposite of Augusgus's. He did not look at the bigger picture and only thought this was all a strategy planned by FUG to distract attention from the real Slayer Candidate.
...
Kalon had swiftly advanced to the last test. What greeted him was a chamber with a test instructor waiting in the middle of it. It was a blue slime-like creature with very minute air bubbles floating inside it, and of course, it was completely see-through, reminding him of the novel in which the protagonist is reincarnated as a slime in another world.
"Welcome, challenger. I am Slimemaw..." Slimemaw suddenly stopped as he saw that only Kalon had come out of the elevator. He looked past him.
"No need to look, it is only me. Hurry, tell me what the test is about," Kalon said with a nonchalant tone. Slimemaw was a little bewildered at Kalon's behavior and tone. But as a Ranker who had lived for almost 800 years, he knew how to remain composed in any situation.
"But this is a team vs. team challenge, where two teams fight one another, and the winning team advances to the next floor while the losing team has one more chance to challenge the next team." Slimemaw's implications were clear. Looking at Kalon's physique, he doubted if he could take on a whole team alone.
"When I have no problem, why do you mind?" Kalon was quite relaxed and had developed a sense of arrogance. He knew inside that this was not good and might lead to his downfall. But living in this feeling for a short while was not bad, as the protagonist, villains, and their groups were not on this floor. He wanted to indulge in this feeling a little longer.
Whirr.
The sound of the elevator approaching this floor was heard. Kalon knew it was the team he would be fighting against.
Five people walked out of the elevator. Kalon observed them closely. Ever since his resonance with the Shinsu had increased, he could, to some extent, gauge the other party's strength, but it was not accurate as everyone was different—some had racial skills and ancestral techniques that elevated their strength.
A tall, pale-skinned woman with flowing silver hair and intricate tattoos glowing faintly on her arms.
A muscular man with fiery red hair and ember-like eyes, wielding a halberd crackling with flame energy.
A lithe girl with short black hair and a glowing Shinsu needle strapped to her back.
A towering, hulking figure clad in heavy armor, wielding an enormous spear resembling a battering ram.
A lean, hooded figure with glowing purple eyes and twin daggers that shimmered with Shinsu poison.
As Kalon observed them, they too were observing him. Obviously, what caught their attention was that Kalon stood alone and was also barehanded.
The lean, hooded figure with glowing purple eyes and twin daggers that shimmered with Shinsu poison muttered something to the girl beside him.
Kalon heard him clearly. "He looks weak."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone