Pandemonium examinations continue!

The girl sat back down, closed her eyes, took in a slow deep breath through her nose, held it in for a few good seconds, and breathed out of her mouth in an attempt to calm herself down. She was successful. Then, she opened her eyes and saw both Demi and Xebec looking at her. "You have both passed the second test," she said and widely smiled, "Congratulations!"

Xebec smiled in response and said, "Thank you."

"What is the next test?" Demi said.

The girl nodded her head and said, "That depends on you." A black hole appeared in the air and she stuck her right hand into it. From it, she pulled out two sheets of paper and two pens. She placed one set in front of Demi and the other in front of Xebec. "Fill it out."

PANDEMONIUM CLASS APPLICATION

FULL NAME:

RACE:

CLASS:

SIGNATURE:

IN PANDEMONIUM THERE ARE FIVE CLASSES FOR YOU TO CHOOSE FROM: WHITE, GREEN, BLUE, RED, AND BLACK.

GRADUATING FROM THE WHITE CLASS WILL GRANT YOU THE COUNT TITLE AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BECOME AN ADVENTURER, JOIN THE ARMY OR BECOME A GUARD IN A VILLAGE OR A SMALL TOWN. IF YOU CHOOSE THIS CLASS, THERE WILL BE NO MORE TESTS. THERE WILL BE NO EXAMS

GRADUATING FROM THE GREEN CLASS WILL GRANT YOU THE MARQUESS TITLE AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BECOME AN ADVENTURER, JOIN THE ARMY OR BECOME A GUARD IN A VILLAGE, A TOWN, OR IN A SMALL CITY. IF YOU CHOOSE THIS CLASS, THERE WILL BE ONE MORE TEST. PASSING MARKS FOR EXAMS IS 4

GRADUATING FROM THE BLUE CLASS WILL GRANT YOU THE DUKE TITLE AND AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BECOME AN ADVENTURER, JOIN THE ARMY OR BECOME A GUARD IN A VILLAGE, A TOWN, OR A CITY (NOT IN THE CAPITAL). IF YOU CHOOSE THIS CLASS, THERE WILL BE TWO MORE TESTS. PASSING MARKS FOR EXAMS IS 7

GRADUATING FROM THE RED CLASS WILL GRANT YOU THE GRAND DUKE TITLE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BECOME AN ADVENTURER, JOIN THE ARMY OR BECOME A GUARD IN A VILLAGE, A TOWN, OR A CITY. IF YOU CHOOSE THIS CLASS, THERE WILL BE THREE MORE TESTS. PASSING MARKS FOR EXAMS IS 9

GRADUATING FROM THE BLACK CLASS WILL GRANT YOU THE ARCHDUKE TITLE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BECOME AN ADVENTURER, JOIN THE ARMY, BECOME A GUARD IN A VILLAGE, A TOWN, OR A CITY OR BECOME A ROYAL GUARD. IF YOU CHOOSE THIS CLASS, THERE WILL BE FIVE MORE TESTS. PASSING MARKS FOR EXAMS IS 10

Demi picked up the pen and clicked it. 'Full name,' he thought. 'Demi. Race, transcendent werebeast. Class, I could just choose white but she won't tell me her name unless I choose black, and finally, I just sign. And done…' He clicked the pen and put it down on the table. Then, he looked at the girl and said, "I am done."

"Me too," Xebec said.

"Let's see," the girl said and took both Demi's and Xebec's filled-out forms. She looked over them. "So you both want to become black jackets."

"Yes!" Xebec said with determination in his voice.

"Yeah," Demi said. "But more importantly where is that food?"

"It's right here," the waitress said with a wide smile on her face as she pushed up a food cart to their table. There was enough food for eight people.

Demi greedily licked his lips and said, "Time to dig in!" He grabbed a beef stick and took a large bite from it. "Delicious!"

"I will take this," the girl took a mushroom soup.

"These non-humans have no manners," is what Xebec wanted to say but he held his tongue and did as the Romans do by taking the caesar salad.

"Please enjoy your food," the waitress said and walked away from the table.

By the time the girl and Xebec finished their dishes, Demi had finished everything.

"I want more," Demi said.

"After you ate all of that?" Xebec said as the corners of his mouth twitched.

"It's not surprising since he is a werebeast," the girl said.

Xebec nodded his head in understanding.

Demi looked back, raised his right arm, and waved as he shouted, "Can you bring us more food!"

The waitress ran up to their table and said with confusion in her voice, "You want more?"

"No," the girl said. "That was quite enough. Can you clear the table?"

"Certainly," the waitress said.

"But I am still hungry," Demi said.

"You can eat more after you pass all of your tests," the girl said.

Demi slowly nodded his head and said, "Okay…"

Xebec sighed with relief.

The waitress gathered the plates, looked at Demi, smiled, and said, "I hope to see you again soon."

"Don't worry," Demi said. "I will be back."

"I will be waiting," the waitress said and walked away from the table.

"Now then," the girl said. "Are you ready for your first test out of the five?"

Both Demi and Xebec nodded their heads.

"Alright," the girl said. "The first test is the test of the meridians or your veins. Specifically, how well they retain the Qi that you send from your dantian. For you to pass, your meridians have to retain at least 10% of the Qi. I will now teach you both a martial technique and you will execute it. It's called infuse and like its name suggests it infuses your body with Qi, increasing your body's base parameters. You will be stronger, faster, and so on. First, you will feel out your dantian. Second, you will delve into it and find your Qi. Third, you will decide how much of your Qi you want to use. Fourth, you will pull out that Qi and send it to your heart. Your body will do the rest. First up is Demi. I will now place my hand on your chest."

"Okay," Demi said and the girl did what she said. Then, she closed her eyes. He did the same. 'I need to feel out my dantian first,' he thought. 'Here it is!' It felt like an abyss and it drew him in. Looking around, he didn't see anything but he sure sensed something. Focusing on that something transported him to it. It was a sea of black blood. So that's my Qi… He raised his left hand and opened his palm. 'Let's do it!'

"I am not even surprised," the girl said. "Your meridians retained 100% of your Qi."

Xebec couldn't help but gulp down his saliva.

Demi slowly opened his eyes and then he chuckled. "What a pervert," he said. "Holding my chest when the test is already over."

The girl blushed, snapped her eyes open, and quickly moved her hand away from Demi's chest. She placed it on the table and covered it with her other hand.

Xebec couldn't help but laugh.

"So," Demi said. "Did I pass?"

"Ye—yeah," the girl said. "You passed."

"Now it's my turn," Xebec said.

The girl looked at him. "Xebec," she said. "If you dare pull something like Demi, I will fail you. Understood?"

Demi chuckled and Xebec gulped down his saliva.

"Understood," he said.

"Alright," the girl said and put the hand that she didn't put on Demi on Xebec. She closed her eyes and he did the same. A few short moments passed and a shocked expression appeared on her cute face. "How is this possible?" she mumbled.

Xebec opened his eyes and said, "Well?"

The girl opened her eyes and removed her hand from Xebec's chest. "You pass," she said.

"Yes!" Xebec shouted out and pumped his fists.

"How much Qi did his meridians retain?" Demi said.

The girl looked at Demi and said, "100%."

"Oh?" Demi said.

"Eh?" Xebec said.

"You both have passed the first test," the girl said. "Now for the second test. The test of the hara or your inverse core. Specifically, its rank. Unlike the dantian which has different absorption rates, the absorption rate of the hara is always 100%. And unlike the dantian which doesn't have ranks, the hara does. From an F-rank all the way to the S-rank. To pass the test, you have to have at least an F-rank hara. Demi you are excused from this test as the members of your race don't possess the hara."

Demi nodded his head.

A black hole appeared in the air and the girl stuck her right hand into it. From it, she pulled out several crystals of different sizes and lined them up. "Take the leftmost crystal into your hand," she said. "If it shatters then that means that you have an F-rank hara and you pass."

"Okay," Xebec said and took the designated crystal. It shattered immediately.

"Congratulations," the girl said. "You have passed the test. Now let's see if you have a higher-ranked hara. Take the next crystal."

Xebec nodded his head and took the crystal. It shattered.

"E-rank hara," the girl said. "Let's move on."

Xebec continued picking up crystals and they continued shattering.

"S-rank hara," the girl said. "I can't believe it!"

Xebec burst out laughing.

"You could become the strongest spellcaster," the girl said. "But to do that you would need more time than any human has as your Qi absorption rate is only a measly 5%. Or you could give up your humanity and become a race that doesn't possess the dantian. It's sad really."

Xebec stopped laughing and frowned.

"Let's see what is your hara's affinity," the girl said. "Raise your arm, extend it, open your hand, turn your palm towards the sky and speak the word – hara."

Xebec raised his right arm, extended it, opened his hand, turned his palm towards the sky, and said, "Hara!" A ball of light appeared.

"Your hara affinity is light," the girl said.

"I see," Xebec said.

"Let's proceed to the third test," the girl said. "The test of a bloodline. Specifically to see whether you have it or not. For you to pass, you have to have it." A black hole appeared in the air and she stuck her right hand into it. From it, she pulled out a red jewel and placed it on the table. "Drop some of your blood on the jewel and if it glows red then you have a bloodline and you pass. Who wants to go first?"

"I will go first," Demi said.

"Go ahead," the girl said and Xebec nodded his head.

Demi bit into his left hand and only let go when he tasted blood. Then, he moved his hand to the red jewel and let some of his blood drop on it. The red jewel absorbed his blood and glowed red as his hand completely healed.

"You pass," the girl said. "Your turn, Xebec."

"Here goes nothing," Xebec said and coughed at the red jewel until he coughed out blood. His blood got absorbed but there was no glow.

"You don't have a bloodline, Xebec," the girl said. "You fail!"