As soon as Grey stepped out of the assessment chamber, the door hadn't even fully slid shut before Manager Victor, Manager Desmond, and Lia burst in.
Manager Desmond stroked his long beard, his sharp eyes gleaming with a light rarely seen in elders of his stature. "Young Grey," he said, his voice calm yet carrying an undercurrent of excitement, "to achieve such results immediately after your metamorphosis… this old man has lived half a lifetime, yet has never witnessed such brilliance."
He let out a low sigh. "With talent like yours, you are destined to rise far beyond Nova City. For us to have you here is not merely an honor—it may well be the fortune of a generation."
Even Manager Victor's normally steady face was flushed with excitement. His eyes gleamed as he looked at Grey, as though beholding a priceless treasure.
He quickly stepped forward, cupping his fists respectfully. "Greetings, Young Master Grey! This old man is Victor Wulian, branch manager of Sector Six's Evolver Association."
His voice trembled slightly despite his attempt at calm.
"If there's anything you need, just come to me. I'll make sure it's handled."
This was a potential as powerful as Alissa, no, he had better start as even Alissa!
He couldn't let this gem go!
Seeing this, Grey inwardly sighed. He knew this was going to happen after revealing his strength, but he couldn't hide it either way. The Eterna System found out his power level even prior to the combat assessment, and the combat assessment was merely a way to assess how he fared in a combat situation. Typically, people are really bad at the start—even with a life level of a peak 2nd level Initiate Rank, they would only be able to fight against a low 2nd level Initiate Rank without sufficient combat capabilities.
And in terms of combat, he was at the peak of his capabilities.
"Student Grey, if possible I would like to speak with you about something." Manager Desmond abruptly said.
He had already discussed it with Manager Victor, and he just needed to confirm it with Grey now.
"Student Grey, what do you know about the Tri-City Province Championship Tournament?"
"Tri-City Province Championship Tournament?" Grey muttered, recalling his memories.
Soon, the relevant details surfaced in his mind."Isn't that the tournament held every year by Crimson City, Blue Spirit City, and Nova City?"
He knew exactly what it was—a championship that began at the provincial level. The winners would then represent the entire Tri-Province, formed by the three third-rate cities, in the Eastern Continent Tournament. It was also rumored that victors would be granted military titles and other honors.
"Precisely." Manager Victor nodded. "After witnessing your performance, we've decided to appoint you as a substitute member of Nova City's team."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "Naturally, this comes with privileges. The Evolvers' Association will fully sponsor your resources. Whatever you require, simply request it, and we'll procure it for you. Additionally, you'll have free access to every training facility in Nova City."
After much discussion, Manager Victor and the Head Branch Manager had reached a conclusion. Grey would be named a substitute for now, as he had yet to reach the level of the main contestants. The tournament was only a month away and would conclude just before the university entrance exams began. If Grey could bridge the gap in strength within that time, he would be promoted to a main contender. If not, he would serve as a substitute this year and aim for the main lineup next year.
That was, of course, if Grey still chose to represent Nova City after entering university and moving beyond.
"What do you say, Young Grey?" Manager Desmond asked calmly while stroking his long white beard. "You can take your time to think about it and inform either me or Manager Victor at a later time."
Lia silently looked at Grey. Usually, substitutes don't really receive such sponsors from the Evolvers' Association, and she believed he could definitely utilize this support to become stronger faster.
To this, Grey showed a thoughtful look on his face. He had never expected something like this to happen, but on the other side, the privileges received from it were not easy for Grey to ignore.
After some consideration, he finally spoke. "Fine, I'll join as long as I don't have to show up for anything."
"That's fine!" Manager Victor's face beamed. "It's a pleasure working with you, Student Grey!"
As soon as he said that, Secretary Tan entered the special assessment room.
She bowed slightly to Manager Victor and Head Branch Manager Desmond, then came up to Grey and spoke.
"Evolver Grey, this is your Official Evolver ID." She presented a digital card with Grey's name written on it, and under his name was his rank: 2nd level Initiate Rank.
"Huh? 2nd level?" Grey was surprised. "But my Life level is only at 1st level."
"That is indeed the case." Secretary Tan nodded. "However, the Eterna System personally configures Evolver IDs, and it deemed your rank as 2nd level even though you just became an evolver."
She had handled a lot of Evolver IDs of many evolvers before, yet this was the first time something like this happened.
"Good! Good! Good!" Head Branch Manager Desmond laughed lightly. "Even the Eterna System recognized your talent, Young Grey."
"I believe she has already encrypted your information," he added.
Manager Victor continued. "It's a sort of protection the Eterna System places on young and promising talents to keep them safe. The world has all sorts of people in it, and there are some who are working for the destruction of humanity. They actively hunt geniuses down to eliminate them."
Grey nodded; he already knew about it from how it was with Alissa, so it didn't surprise him at all.
After giving Grey his license, Manager Desmond and Manager Victor excused themselves.
"Now that you have your Evolver's license, what do you plan on doing?" Lia asked.
"Hm?" Grey had a thoughtful expression. "I was planning on going to Golden Chamber to look through some body tempering and mind tempering techniques, while also looking at the Esper's evolutionary path."
"Huh?" Lia rolled her eyes. "Why do you want to look through them?"
"Just for research purposes. Who knows, it might help me in the future." Grey said while spreading his hands.
"You do know that due to Evolver Resonance with the path and their soul, you can't cultivate other paths, right? As a martial artist you can't become an immortal cultivator anymore," Lia asked, then she paused. "Unless you aren't a martial artist at all."