CONFRONTATION

Elena walked through the corridor silently, holding a metallic white card in her hand. Her mind drifted to the conversation she had just finished.

"You want him to be a part of that? What makes you think he will agree?" Elena asked.

"Oh, he will. Just tell him what I said earlier," Deputy Eren replied confidently.

"What makes you so sure of that? You are hiding something from me, aren't you?" Elena asked suspiciously.

"Not knowing everything can be a boon. You should be glad to have it. So just follow what you are told. Don't mess up with your usual behavior. This is a very important matter for the organization," Elena made a pouting expression but didn't refute him, as she also understood what having a pioneer with S-grade resonance meant to the organization very well.

Elena looked at the card once more, gripping it tightly. She wanted to say something but held it in. Soon, she arrived at the entrance of the testing room. With a press of her palm, the room opened, and she was greeted by Cillian, who was examining the hole he had drilled in the wall.

Elena waited in silence, but Cillian took no notice of her. As time passed Her serious mood slowly turned into anger as she was being ignored. After three minutes of being ignored, she finally lost it . She moved behind Cillian in an instant and threw a punch right at the back of his head. Cillian, who was engrossed in his observation, finally felt the hostile resonance energy at his back and moved his head instinctively just in time to avoid the punch that blitzed past him, bruising his face from the momentary contact, and finally slamming into the wall just beside the hole Cillian had created, embedding the fist completely into the wall!

Cillian stood there frozen like a statue, sweat dripping from his forehead, mixing with the blood from the bruise on his cheeks, dripping to the ground. His eyes focused on the fists that are embedded deep in to the wall that he barely penetrated with a concentrated beam attack

To outsiders it looked like Cillian didn't care much about the attack but inwardly Cillian was scared out of his wits. In that moment, Cillian really felt a threat to his life, which he hadn't felt since he escaped from the foundation. But his face was expressionless as a rock due to his consciousness suppressing his emotions, which he called 'poker mode' nowadays.

Elena slowly pulled back her fist. She had finally regained her composure, but seeing Cillian's expressionless stoic face, her anger bubbled up once more.

"Who do you think you are, giving me an expression like that? Are you trying to say that my punches are weak?" Elena complained in her mind. Cillian, who was calm now, turned around, facing Elena, who was just behind him. Elena was slightly taller than him due to her enhancer body. He wiped off the blood from his cheeks with his expressionless face.

"That was a close one. A moment late, and my head would've smashed into the wall by this crazy lady. Who is she anyway? She's not wearing a uniform. Is she some type of special administrator?" While Cillian was having his internal monologue, Elena was going crazy with her imagination, interpreting Cillian's actions. 'What's with his cold attitude? Does he think that he is better than me just because he has a rare resonance?'

Elena's wild imagination was put on hold by the voice in her earplug. "Elena, do you know what the higher-ups will do when they hear that you tried to kill their precious recruit?" The deputy's voice didn't carry much emotion, but Elena felt a chill down her spine. She quickly controlled her anger and took a few steps back from Cillian, composed herself, and spoke.

"Hello, my name is Elena Celeste, Grade C pioneer and guest administrator. I am going to be testing you in combat," she extended her hand after her introduction.

Cillian was intrigued by her C-grade pioneer status. Even though she had the physical presence of a veteran, Cillian could tell by her energy signature that she was no older than 30. This was really impressive, and the only other person that Cillian knew that was close was Major Andrea. The very thought of the major caused Cillian to fill with rage, but his poker mode immediately kicked in momentarily. But this momentary aggression was picked up by Elena, who mistook it as aggression towards her.

Veins started popping on her forehead as she tried to suppress her anger once more and convince her mind to focus solely on the mission.

Cillian accepted Elena's hand. "My name is Z, and before you ask, it's just Z, nothing else, OK?" Cillian clarified

But Cillian's reply didn't help Elena's impression of him one bit; it only enraged her more. She gripped Cillian's hand with her impressive grip strength. But contrary to her expectation Cillian's face didn't show a tinge of emotion. For Cillian, such pain was almost laughable. He just thought Elena was testing him and used his own power to grip her hand as tightly as possible, but no matter how good his resonance was, he was no match for an enhancer who was one grade above him. But even though it was tiny compared to her Elena still felt ciliian's grip on her hand which she interpretated as he challenging her .

Elena was at the end of her ropes with anger. She was like a volcano ready to erupt. As she was about to send Cillian flying, Deputy Eren's voice reached her ears once more, "Elena, control yourself this instant, or you are spending the next five years behind a desk doing paperwork!"

This instantly put out her anger like a wet blanket over a fire. The thing she dreaded most in her life is being stuck at a desk doing paperwork day in and day out. Just spending a few weeks off the missions was killing her. Just imagining it sent shivers down her body.

"Deputy, sir, I will behave properly, so don't make me do paperwork!"