Sora asked, "Experimentation? What did they do?"

  Emily sighed. "After the world update, people everywhere tried to create their own skills. Thousands died in South Korea alone fr to manipute raw mana. Creating skills without help was impossible. But some succeeded, creating skills like [Meditate] which did not need mana to create, which were then shared with the world. Those were the individuals who experimented on their own, pushing the limits of what ossible."

  She paused, gng at Sora. "But not everyone did it willingly. Hidden forces, even known govers, got involved. They experimented on people, trying to harhe power of mana for their own gain. From the leaks that surfaced over time, it became clear—most of the old govers were involved in these projects, trying to hold onto power or for various reasons."

  Sora's eyes narrowed. "So they used people as b rats?"

  "In many cases, yes. Mana was used in ways you ’t even imagine, fr to forew abilities into people to creating artificial mana mutations." After a pause she added "You'll meet such modified people eventually."

  Sora shook his head. 'Some things haven’t ged, it seems.'

  They soon reached the area where about a hundred pyers from Europe were gathered, clearly waiting for something. Sora sed the crowd, and to his surprise, he reized a few familiar faces.

  Pyers in the area were between level 100 and 150, with most people h around level 120

  'Asami Hito... and the five els from the War in Sweden,' he thought, recalling their names one by one—'Lois Nale, Oliver Evans, Cero Vux, Edward Schwartz, and Aang Li.'

  Beside him, Kara observed, "Look at their levels, all around 115. And Asami... She's level 136 now. Wasn't she level 132 during the war?"

  Sora nodded. "Yeah, they all gained a few levels. Let's go say hi."

  Sora and Kara approached the group, and as they got closer, Asami Hito noticed them first. She was fag their dire, looking at Sora with a slight nod nition. Her dark hair was tied, and she radiated the same fidence Sora remembered from the war.

  “Ralph, Kara,” Asami said, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. “It’s been a while... You’ve grown.”

  Sora felt a little embarrassed by the praise and replied, “You all did too. Hello, everyo’s been a while indeed. How have you been?”

  Before he could finish, Oliver, ign Sora’s polite tone, burst into ughter and pulled him into a bear hug. “Ralph! Cut the crap, greet your brothers like a man!”

  The rest of the group ughed heartily, stepping forward one by oo greet him and Kara with warm, friendly smiles. It felt like a reunion of old rades, fed through war. They greeted Emily as well, after a short introdu.

  “What is everyone waiting for?” Sora asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

  “We're waiting for Hannah. Word is, she’s going to be the oing us,” Edward replied, crossing his arms.

  “Hannah? The guildmaster from Sto?” Kara asked, surprised.

  “Yeah, but that wasn’t a perma position,” Lois chimed in. “I’ve seen some high-level pyers treat her with respect. She’s someone... famous it seems.”

  Sora raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the revetion.

  Lois turo him, tinuing, “You're level 110 now, Sora. That’s impressive. You almost caught up to us in just a month... And Kara, level 122? Damn! I was feeling good about the few levels I mao gain, thinking leveling was getting impossible. parison really is the thief of joy.” She chuckled wryly. “grats to both of you, but now I kind of want to cry.”

  Kara blushed slightly, but smiled, appreciating the praise.

  Sora sensed a familiar presend turned around. His instincts immediately picked up on something stra was as if a subtle force robing his mind, a charming aura that seemed to want to infiltrate his mental space. He turned around and locked eyes on the source—a stunning and familiar woman with long silver hair, dressed in crimsoher armor.

  ‘I remember this feeling... So Hannah was usial power the whole time. That aura, it’s not even an active skill right now, or it would’ve beericted iy... But it’s still s, even when passive,’ Sora thought, realizing why he had struggled to think clearly each time they had met.

  Kara noticed Sora’s intense focus and, unaware of the mental probing he was feeling, poked his shoulder and whispered, "Look at her level..."

  Snced up, his eyes catg the name above her. He almost bit his tongue in shock.

  [GODS] [Hannah Stone] - Level ???Realizing her level was beyond what he could see, Sora’s heart skipped a beat. "I still 't see it..." he muttered quietly.

  Kara nodded. "her I... She’s over level 172."

  "Holy shit," Sora blurted out, uionally drawing the attention of their group.

  Asami, notig his rea, added with a knowing look, "Yeah... Last time we saw her, she was level 172. Now she’s level 177. One of the best in the world, no doubt. It is amazing how her level keeps rising. I gained four levels in a month, but she gained five... How do we even pete with someone like that?" Asami sighed, clearly impressed but also frustrated by the gap.

  Hannah made her way to a podium, and the room quieted down.

  "Hello everyone, I'm Hannah, the representative of the New European Union," she began, her voice serious and anding. "y-eight of you have been reended by various powers, and I’m in charge of assessing you. I'll pick the twenty most talented from this group—we ’t afford to waste spots on boosted pyers. You know what I mean."

  At the end of her sentence, she shot a wink at a man surrounded by bodyguards. His face darkened in a the public jab, but he mao hold himself back from reag. S his level: 125.

  "You probably know the event format from ions, but I’ll summarize it for everyone," Hannah tinued. "Talent is key, but it’s not enough. You need mastery over your mind and skills as well. I’ll test all three, and only the top twenty will qualify. I don’t care about your background, your friends, or yuild. If you have a problem with my assessment, e see me after the qualifiers—if you dare. Show me yers who igheir region during war are worth." Her expression remained cold, daring ao challenge her authority.

  Sora ged at her bluntness. 'Is she trying to provoke a fight or something?No one would provoke a monster like her anyway.'

  Hannah tinued, "To protect your privad ensure fairness, I’ve signed a tract with the guild ensuring that none of your secrets will be revealed by me and that I'll be as impartial as possible. I’ll be the only witness. The test will take p a [Secret Space]. Let’s begin..."

  Pausing and reading the name of the first didate, she said "o 'a's in the first name? Aang Li, you’re up first. Get up here."

  Aang Li, who had been reended by Hannah herself, headed toward the podium. He was secretly hoping she would favor him and sneak him into the top 20 if he was g a little.

  Hannah moved her hands and a door materialized in front of the group. Without hesitation, she ope and disappeared into the dark space behind it. Aang followed her through the door, which closed behind them. Above the entrance, glowing words appeared:

  [Test in progress: Aang L

  After a few minutes, Aaurned, and the text ged:

  [Rating of Aang Li: 53]

  A new name appeared above the door, and another partit made their way toward it to join Hannah inside.

  Lois, curious, leaned over to Aang and asked, "How did it go? What happened in there?"

  Aang, lookiher happy nor disappointed, replied, "She gave me a rating of 53. If it’s out of 100, I guess it’s okay... My skill mastery was det, but I think my talent dragged me down, and my mental defense was just average." He sighed, clearly hoping for a better sciven his level, but without knowing how others would perform, it was hard to judge.

  "Let’s see how the others do," Asami said, notig that some of the other partits were subtly listening in, hoping to gain an advantage by hearing about the test.

  The person soohe room, and their rating appeared: 42. They were only level 103, but the ill weighed heavily on them.

  One by one, more pyers were called. When Asami's turn came, she entered fidently, but wheurned, her rating was dispyed as 48. Her head hung low in shame, and she slowly returo the group, refraining from talking, clearly embarrassed.

  e , earning a rating of 55, while Edward followed with a score of 45. As more names came a, with scores rangiween 20 and 60, the group’s mood soured. Any pyer with a rating above 50 posed a serious threat to their group.

  Then, the man Hannah had subtly mocked earlier for being a "boosted" pyer stepped in. His rating fshed on the door shortly after: 17. One of his bodyguards, however, a level 148 bald warrior received a rating of 71, leaving the room buzzing with surprise.

  [Kara Spirine]

  Kara’s up above the door, and she stepped forward. Save her an encing nod as she disappeared behind the door.

  mimou

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