2 YEARS

Elena was in a really bad mood that day. Her whole misfortune began when a month ago when she 'accidentally' sent her superior flying through three walls during an argument. She was a rising star at the DPMC's exploration division who had reached grade C at the young age of just 28. This was an incredible achievement, and she was very proud of herself, maybe too proud, which made her a very hard person to work with. She was prideful and had anger management issues, which led to her punching her team leader, who was also a C grade, through the building. This, combined with previous incidents, was too much to overlook even with her talents, so the DPMC suspended her from the exploration team and transferred her to the borderlands to work as a "guest administrator" for some time, which was a glorified way of saying "cool off your attitude." She had been stuck in the DPMC branch in paradise for more than week, which, for someone like her who lived off fighting, was as harsh as it gets, in her opinion. Now, on top of that, they called her first thing in the morning to ask her to preside as a tester for new applicants since their resident test instructors were all busy.

"Busy? The hell they are! What's even happening in this shit hole of a system that makes them busy?" Elena cursed aloud as she stomped her way to the testing grounds, not even minding the staff around her hearing her rude remarks. She stopped after reaching a large door and let out a deep sigh to calm her nerves. No matter how angry she was she knew no matter how talented she was the DPMC wasn't very keen on having pioneers with bad attitudes especial ones with strong potentials since they may become more of a liability than an asset in the future. so while the DPMC does give some preferential treatment to potential pioneers it didn't do anything like close to what the individual states offer . so if she pulled her usual shenanigans here that breaks the rules of the DPMC, she would have more things to worry about than spending some time in the middle of nowhere. After a few breaths, she finally cleared her nerves but was still annoyed by the job. She then put her hand on the metal pad on the side of the door, and the door opened, leading to a large hall.

As Elena walked into the room, a man wearing formals walked up to her. On his chest, he wore three purple stars marking his position as a C grade. Elena was wearing casual clothes, so she wasn't displaying her badge showing her grade. The man walked up to her with a big smile.

"Elena, I am glad that you showed up."

" Yeah, like I actually have a choice here. if The deputy director is available why are you bothering me ?"

" beacuse you are the best pioneer we have here "

" Drop the drama and let's get this over with. I have things to do after this," Elena said in an annoyed tone but inwardly she was happy being praised .

The man didn't mind her attitude at all he knew how to convince her very well .

"Well, it's not gonna take long. The only reason we called you is because we have a D grade applying, and he said he was a combat type. So, according to regulations, the tester must be a combat class C grade or above. But all our high-ranking instructors are out on missions, so we only have you and me at grade C, and my resonance is a support type, so I obviously can't test him. So you have to do it."

"All this for a single Grade D? he better start praying he is good enough to convince me , or he will taste my fists for wasting my time!" Elena said, cracking her knuckles.

"Easy, girl. Did you forget why you are here in the first place? Better get that attitude in control, or someone will check it for you one day," he said, mocking her.

"You better shut up, or you will get one too," Elena said, making a fist. But she knew what he said was true. There are always bigger fish out there, and one day, her mouth will get her in trouble. So, she decided to change the subject.

"So, where is the guy who is taking the test? Don't tell me he is late? I swear if he wastes my ti ! "

Before she could finish, she was interrupted

"What did I say before? I give up. There is literally no use taking to you. The guy is waiting in the testing room to demonstrate his resonance. We can begin when you are ready."

Elena didn't refute or argue with him.

"Let's go."

Elena walked into the observatory of the demonstration room along with the deputy director. the observatory was made of glass and had a good view of the testing room. a dozen people in a white and green uniform sat infort of instruments that was used to monitor the appicants in the testing room . as they entered elena went to the reinforced glass wall facing the testing room .As she looked down, she saw a man standing some distance away from a set of dummies, one bare and the other one decked in tactical armor and so on . Her eyes instantly started analyzing the person below. He was tall, even slightly taller than her who was was an enhacer type pioneer who where naturally well buit. he had golden blonde hair that had faint glow to it .he was wearing the white test suit that is provided to appliacants and contains a lot of sensors for collecting data .He had cold face which was enhaced more by his golden eyes that looked like divine.

As Elena was making her judgments, the director moved towards the observatory control panel and spoke into the mic.

"hello my name is Eren willford I am the administrator who will be preceding over your testing. so are you ready to begain the test ? "

The man in the room raised his hand and gave a thumbs up. The observatory was hidden from the testing room, so he had no way of knowing where the observers were. With the confirmation from the man, the test began.

"Okay, then the first thing we need is your physical stats, so don't activate your resonance yet. First, stand on the yellow line and run to the first dummy as fast as you can on my signal."

Soon, a yellow line formed in front of the civilian 100 meters away from the first dummy, in front of which there was a red line. The man shifted to a running stance on the yellow line and waited for the signal.

"GO!"

The instant the signal was given, the man bolted out and arrived at the finish line in a few seconds, stopping right on the red line without crashing into the dummy.

"Reaction time: Grade D, speed: D-," a staff announced, looking at the data on the screen in front of her.

"That's it? I thought he was an enhancer type with his build! What's his resonance, anyway?" Elena asked in a confused tone.

The deputy simply answered, "You will see soon enough." Then he leaned back onto the microphone. "Now punch the dummy in front of you as hard as you can from there. No resonance is allowed."

The man took a deep breath, wound his hand backward, and punched the dummy in front of him with all his might. The dummy only leaned back a bit and didn't move any more.

"Strength: Grade D," another staff announced.

Elena didn't say anything this time and just watched through the window. The staff performed a few more tests that basically reaffirmed their data.

"Okay, this is the last test before we go on to the next stage. I want you to activate your resonance and attack that dummy."

All the other dummies retracted onto the ground, and only one remained. Elena's curiosity peaked, and she had her gaze fixed on him. The dummy was made of some dark material that didn't reflect much light. With the test announcement, the man took two steps backward. Soon, the area around his body started distorting, and his body started to glow.

"Resonance reading is at 200 exols and climbing."

300.

500.

900.

1000.

1145.

"Resonance has peaked at 1250 exols; resonance rating: D-," the staff announced.

Elena was slightly disappointed at the results. That reading wasn't much to brag about for someone in his early twenties. But suddenly, she felt something and looked back to the testing room, and her eyes widened in shock. The man inside the room was now glowing in golden light, and he had his hand raised and pointed towards the dummy. Yellow bands flowed through his body, accumulating at the tip of his fingers, creating something like a mini sun. After a few seconds of charging, a golden beam the width of a pen emerged from the tip of his fingers and shot through the dummy instantly. It pierced through the dummy into the wall, drilling through it for a few centimeters before stopping. The man had a disappointed look on his face as he went back to his stand by position but the situation in the observatory was the entirely different

Elena couldn't hide her shock, and she wasn't alone; all the staff also were rendered speechless. Only Deputy Eren was unfazed, but his eyes betrayed his amazement.

Elena ran up to the deputy, holding him by the shoulders. She was taller than him by a few inches.

"Is that what I think it is, or is this some other resonance that only has a similar effect?"

"That's what you are here for, to confirm what his resonance is. Depending on your evaluation, the empire may get its 10th star," Eren said with a serious face as he handed her a tablet.

She let go of him and quickly took the tablet and began reading the contents.

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Name: Z

Age: 20

Home planet: Unknown

Affiliation: Unknown

GRADE: D

Resonance: possibly be related to Electromagnetic radiation with the ability to absorb and emit the same

Potential GRADE: S

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