The house's heirs all glanced at each other, and all the nobles and ordinary people could sense the tension between them.
The Stormfang clan, the Venomshades clan, and the Nightbane clan heirs were in alliance. While the White Lutos clan, Phantom Vaal clan, and Rengaku clan are in alliance.
They stood opposite each other, their gaze challenging for power. A lot of nobles were at the back of Stormfang, Venomshade, and Nightbane clan, showing their support. Not so much with the other clan, Selene, Kanji, Kael, and Lieiji.
They care about individual strength.
After locking eyes with the heirs for a tense moment, Riku shifted his gaze elsewhere. His eyes landed on Dachi, who was speaking quietly with the main character. Their looks met, sharp, loaded with unspoken meaning, each glance revealing old wounds neither dared voice. Riku's gaze drifted downward to the cybernetic hands fused to his shoulders, a cold reminder of battles past. He tore his eyes away just as the instructor emerged from a side passage, breaking the fragile stillness.
Everyone paid attention to the instructor immediately. The instructor wore an eye patch covering his right eye. His face and bald head had scars showing the battle he had faced. He was six feet tall, with a bulky body. His black eye scanned across the room, seeing the silence and stillness in the room, he was impressed.
The instructor stepped forward in the middle of the stadium, his presence immediately filling the room. His voice rang out, loud and fierce, like a roaring lion.
"I am Instructor [Name], and I commend you all for coming here today.
You are the new generation, strong, determined, and eager to protect our great nation. Your effort does not go unnoticed."
He paced slowly, eyes scanning each student, voice steady but commanding. "But only a few of you will be chosen. Only the most capable, the most determined, shall earn the honor of becoming a Sentinel. Resources are limited, and greatness demands sacrifice."
As he spoke, he gave a cold smile Your test starts now."
The nobles in the room were confident about the test; information about the test was leaked, so they had years to prepare for this.
"Gravitational field, hmm, this is going to be easy, I have had years of practice, now I have even created my khaos core, and in the foundation stage, if I protect my body with khaos energy, I can withstand even times 10 gravitational push, " a noble thought to himself, confident of passing the test.
"This is how society works, the ones with privileges have more advantages if they know a thing,"Daichi thought as he looked around.
The nobles' expressions were felt with confidence, but the commoners felt with doubt; only a handful were unmoved.
All 6 major clans were confident, of course, they knew about the leakage of information. They also knew that there was something hidden in the test, which other nobles didn't know.
The whole room became red. There was a sight of a machine that was about to start. Some nobles immediately protected themselves with chaos energy. Someone's. Someone's energy was blue, orange, red, and light white; there were also other colors. The. The energy covered them all, acting like a shield.
The stormfang, venomshade, and nightbane clans didn't protect themselves; instead, they waited for the impact yet to come. Kael and Lieiji didn't protect themselves either, but Selene and Kanji protected themselves, while knowing the consequences.
The main character had no clue what the taste was about, so he distant protect himself. Daichi was about to tell him, but seeing that he was alone, eating candy, and not using Khaos energy, he smiled and said nothing.
In the stadium, there the instructor stood, there was a big TV that immediately showed the amount of gravitational push that was about to hit them.
"Times 5x gravity, this means the information was real," he thought, excitedly.
As the gravity hit, the number of people who fell was many, mostly commoners; only a few of the nobles knelt, taking the impact. Some stood tall.
The commoners who were just standing were not more than a handful.
Even though Selene and Kanji choose to protest themselves, this means I made the right choice," a noble thought and smile internally.
He looked at the other 6 clan heirs who chose not to use Khaos energy.
"Wow, they aren't even fazed, so strong," he thought to himself.
When the young student entered the room, they were given a tag with the instruction to clip it to their cloth.
The chamber shook as the gravity field descended like an invisible hammer. Students staggered.
Their academy pins glow faintly before forming protective bubbles to keep their bodies from being crushed outright. Even so, the weight pressed down mercilessly, dragging many to their knees.
Screams, groans, and the sound of bodies collapsing filled the hall. Out of the thousands, barely five hundred still stood after two long minutes. Soldiers marched in, dragging the unconscious and the broken away, leaving only those still enduring.
Among them, Kurogami stood tall, completely unfazed, his calm expression drawing uneasy glances from the survivors. Daichi, too, remained composed, as though the weight meant nothing to him.
At last, the pressure lifted.
A cheer rippled through the hall. Pins across chests flared green, the signal of success.
The instructor stepped forward, voice booming like a lion's roar:
"I'm sure you've noticed the signal on your tags. I believe you believe you've passed," the instructor said.
Green light flickered across several students' tags, the unmistakable proof that they had passed.
This brought immense joy to those who had withstood the force without using the khaos energy.
Some students, mostly nobles, looked around with confusion; their tag wasn't glowing, but they withstood it.
The 6 clans heir that didn't use Khaos energy also got this pass signal.
Kurogami and Daichi also got the signal, they performed a handshake gesture to congratulate themself.
"Could this be a system malfunction?" some thought. Confused murmurs spread.
"Sir! My pin isn't giving the pass signal. Is this a malfunction?" a brave noble asked.
The instructor's mouth curled into something between a smile and a snarl.
"Oh, no. The test isn't over yet."
The field surged again, this time tenfold. A crushing wave slammed down. Nobles who had hidden behind khaos energy crumpled, forced to their knees.
Some spat blood, others collapsed outright, their pins flashing red. Meanwhile, Dachi, Kurogami, and those who had already gotten the pass signal with the six clans' heir remained untouched, standing tall and calm.
The instructor's eyes gleamed as he surveyed the struggling nobles.
"This is only fair," he said. "Those who have unlocked their core will be judged more severely. To be a Sentinel requires more than privilege; it demands proof."
The weight doubled again, fifteenfold. Cries tore through the hall. More nobles buckled, their bubbles cracking under the strain. Red signals lit up one after another. Still, a handful endured, their khaos energy blazing defiantly.
Kanji and Selene stood firm, their faces calm, bodies unwavering. The instructor's expression softened into something like pride.
"Good. Very good. Some of you have the will worthy of a Sentinel."
At last, the pressure faded. Silence followed, broken only by the ragged breaths of survivors. For many nobles, humiliation cut deeper than gravity. They realized too late: if they had trusted their own strength instead of relying on khaos, they might have passed easily.
One noble in particular, who had boasted loudly before, stared in disbelief at his red pin. His face twisted with rage as commoners laughed quietly at his failure. With a furious stomp, he stormed out of the chamber, his pride shattered.
The instructor's voice cracked through the hall like thunder, silencing all:
"Attention!"
Every head snapped forward. The lion had roared again, and none dared ignore it.