Sezel pushed the gate open, its hinges groaning as it swung into a vast, pristine chamber about three times the size of Captain Raelion's office. His red eyes widened, a soft "Wow" escaping his lips.
The room was simple, walls painted in muted gray, contrasting the facility's sterile white, their plainness oddly grounding compared to other places Sezel had observed. The room was filled with various equipment and machines that Sezel had never thought he would see.
Apart from all the other stuff, the thing that caught Sezel's attention most was the large machine at the center of the room. A capsule-shaped machine, with multiple wires and pipes coming out, connecting to almost all the other machines in the room.
Sezel drifted toward it. His fingers grazed its cold, smooth surface, a shiver racing through him.
'Whoa, what is this thing?' his mind unable to fathom the technology.
A shadow moved, and Sezel flinched. A tall man in a white lab coat stepped from behind the capsule, his eyes glinting as if beholding a rare specimen.
Sezel gave him a cryptic smile, 'Who the hell is he now?'
The man circled him, a grin creeping across his face. "So, you're the strange one, huh?" he said, his voice light but probing, as if dissecting Sezel with every glance. Sezel felt a little awkward having a lunatic examine him like he was something.
"Uhm." He coughed, placing his hand against his mouth.
The man looked at him for a brief moment, then walked in front of him, stroked his chin and spoke, "So the captain has sent you here."
Sezel, still marveling at the device's clarity, hesitated for a moment before nodding.
The man looked at the paper in Sezel's hand, "Give me that paper."
Sezel glanced at the paper and then handed it to the man in a wary manner. The man read the document with narrowed eyes, silence draped the room; even the tick-tock of the clock could be heard.
"I'm the doctor," the man said abruptly, offering a smile and an outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you, Sezel." His tone was warm, but his eyes held a calculating edge.
Sezel became nervous instantly; his conversation skills were at the level of an ant, which of course can't talk to humans. He hesitantly scratched the back of his head, forcing a smile, his red eyes flickering.
The doctor suddenly burst out in laughter. Sezel glared at him, confused, 'What is he? A maniac?'
"You are 16?" the doctor asked, chuckling.
Sezel squinted his eyes and replied positively, but the answer only ignited the other man's laughter.
"Are you really 16? At first, I thought you were 10," the doctor roared, doubling over. Sezel's lips twitched, irritation flaring.
'What a bastard. You will go to hell for sure.'
After a session of wild laughter, the doctor finally stood straight, brushing faint tears from his eyes. "Alright, enough. We're here to test if you're Awakened."
Sezel's heart skipped, and he nodded abruptly.
The doctor turned around, then all of a sudden slammed a brutal fist into Sezel's abdomen, knocking the air out of him.
'Huh, what...' before Sezel could understand anything, he fell to the ground unconscious.
Sezel's eyes fluttered open, a gasp tearing from his throat, sweat rolling down his temples. 'What...what was that?'
He looked around, and to his worst horrors, he found himself surrounded by complete darkness again. His heartbeat quickened, terror slowly seeping in.
He thrashed, but his limbs met resistance, confined in a tight, unyielding space like a coffin. 'What...What is going on?'
For a moment, Sezel's mind considered that all the recent things that happened to him were just an illusion and he was still inside the Spirit Realm. A sliver of light pierced the void as a glass panel slid open, revealing the doctor's face.
"Just stay silent for 5 more minutes and it's done." His voice was low, very distant. Sezel realized that he was inside the capsule-like machine he saw earlier, but still couldn't make out why the doctor punched him.
He exhaled sharply and calmed down, 'Just 5 minutes.'
Each second stretched into eternity, the capsule's hum vibrating in his bones. Finally, the capsule's door hissed open, light flooding in. Sezel squinted, shielding his eyes as the doctor helped him out. His legs wobbled, vision swimming, the world tilting like a broken dream.
"Sit down somewhere," the doctor urged, pressing a juice pack into his hand. Sezel collapsed onto a nearby chair, gulping the sweet liquid. The doctor moved to a computer, typing rapidly, then approached a steam-emitting machine, its hiss echoing like a serpent's.
Sezel felt a little nervous—no, a little would be wrong. He was trembling. He had just gone through the process of evaluation it seemed, and the doctor was working on getting out his result. His pulse fastened; after all, that's what everything depends on. The result would decide his place in this world.
The doctor opened the machine, retrieving a small device, identical to Arty's device. It was the assessment device every slayer was provided with. Sezel's heart sank, his red eyes locked on the doctor's movements.
The man studied the device, then the computer screen, his brow furrowing. He scratched his head, unease creeping into his posture. What's wrong? Sezel's pulse surged.
The doctor slowly walked towards him with uneasy steps, the sound of his boots tapping against the floor echoed in Sezel's ears. He stopped just a few meters from Sezel and handed Sezel the device.
"It looks like you are Awakened," the doctor concluded.
His eyes lit up with excitement. A grin broke across Sezel's face, relief flooding him. I'm really Awakened!
"But…" The doctor's voice cut through, heavy as a blade. "The results show a Rank 0 awakening."
Sezel's smile vanished, his heart stuttering. "What?" The word was a whisper, disbelief crashing over him. Rank 0?