To call the testing facility ‘state-of-the-art’ would be an understatement. Everything was chrome, high-tech, and shiny. Nestra looked around with bemusement before returning her attention to Ragnarok. So that’s where MaxSec’s funding had gone? Okay… The stern gleam guided her to a secured exam computer — the kind used for university entrance tests. “We will start with some theory, then we will be measuring several basic metrics to assess your capabilities. Finally, there will be some sparring involved,” Ragnhild Lidstrom said. She sounded a bit bored, although maybe that was just her normal voice. The B-rank gleam and Killroy waited while Nestra blitzed through the basic theory test. There was a multiple choice quiz on the law, which she felt very confident about, then an exercise to identify and describe several species of monsters culminating in a couple of C-rank beasts. Those she proved absolutely incapable of recognizing. Hopefully, her knowledge of the fauna around Threshold would compensate for that but it would probably be ok anyway. Theory was usually less important. The last part was a long series of questions on her mental health and possible addictions. All the things that one would definitely answer no to if one didn’t want to end up on a list. Once finished, the pair of examiners led her to the nearby machines to begin the physical aptitudes test. Nestra demonstrated how she could bench press a small car, how she could punch through a thin wall, and how she could run really fast. Those were the boring tests. The next one was more interesting: they led her to an empty padded room to face some sort of robot launcher that threw high-speed rubber balls at her in various patterns. It was like an upgraded dodgeball game, and that was really fun. She used momentum to escape the tightest cluster, and immovable to block what she couldn’t safely dodge. Eventually, the flow petered out. Ragnarok entered the room an instant later. “We will stop the test here, thank you.” Nestra must have looked dejected because the gleam huffed gently. She knew Crescent’s style, her potential role in a squad, her spells, most of her abilities, her mana sensitivity, and her reliance on sight and touch, though Crescent probably didn’t realize it herself. All highly unusual. There was only one thing Ragnhild didn’t know yet. Technically, she didn’t have to find out. Except, Ragnhild was the boss, and she decided when the testing was finished. “You are quite good, so in order to get a full grasp of your potential, I will add one last test.” Crescent nodded, clearly eager to fight more. It made her widening eyes even more delicious when metal covered Ragnhild’s skin. This once, she allowed herself to smile. Nestra felt a mix of fear and elation when the gleam’s aura smashed against her, that thick mana as domineering as that of Sereth. Not that they were an even match. She was just so far below them, it might as well have been irrelevant. Ragnarok. The steel beast. “We are going to see your limits,” the voice said from a hellish mess of corded steel. Where a woman had stood, now there was a werewolf-like creature with massive claws and a black face devoid of eyes. over a serrated maw. Nestra’s dad went for the juggernaut approach, but Ragnarok was the wolf that swallows the sun and moon. The monstrous being looked down at her, daring her to strike. Ragnarok’s savage aura blanketed the arena until even the plastic racks took on a steely appearance. It reminded Nestra of fighting Sereth: a powerful being offering to teach her, except, Ragnarok was a human legend. Nestra knew she couldn’t defeat her. That didn’t mean she couldn’t win. So she took the bait. Precision guided her strike into the wolf’s chest, where Ragnhild ought to be. The coated blade buried itself in the wolf’s chest by a single centimeter. Nestra immediately used momentum to whirl away while two massive claws whistled through the air where she had been. She immediately charged in to strike a leg, just to be sure. Yeah, no damage. Even if she did, metal users just rebuilt their armor quickly, and Ragnarok was famous for having her flow. The counter came. She blocked, using immovable. Weightless. Flying through the air. Nestra smashed against a nearby wall. Her head banged painfully against the panel. Her arms shook from the impact, but she was standing and sidestepping in the same motion, just to see the monstrous form of Ragnarok crash against the place she had been in a thunderous clash of metal. She leaned back to avoid a claw sweep. Hand, big, reaching for her. A grab. Lodge her blade against two phalanx and push, up, turning the momentum away. Ragnarok leaned to the side but she was a nicer player than Sereth, and the spell hit. Nestra let the bolt connect and struck at the same time, but Ragnarok twisted, her wolfish face rebuilding the meager damage. Nestra had three more spells in her, and she could keep her bladed coated for a while. Had to try it. Nestra stuck close to Ragnarok as they fought, though it was more Nestra dodging and Ragnarok making an effort to protect her ‘core’, her true body under the layer of metal protection. The old gleam was relentless and practically unstoppable but Nestra used all her focus to stay ahead just a little longer. Counting in her head. Nestra’s intuition screamed but too late. Ragnarok slapped her. Nestra’s teeth clacked painfully, though she rolled with the blow. Counter. Lunge with precision. Momentum away. Nestra aimed two fingers center mass and landed her anchor, but this time the demon wolf blocked the blast. Pieces of metal went sent flying, charred and damaged. The wolf took a pretend step back. Ragnarok being a fair player. Nestra counted down again. The dance intensified. Nestra struggled to keep the wolf at bay because she could not manage to be dangerous enough. Ragnarok nipped her suit, then used the piece of cloth to shake her before it broke. Nestra resisted the urge to use her spell again, even as a leg swept her own, sending her rolling again. She pushed herself away from stomping feet. She was almost at her limit. The pain in her bones grew with every strike. At least, Rangarok had not punctured skin. Nestra repositioned behind the wolf’s back and unleashed her second to last bolt. It hit metal fur and failed to penetrate. Ragnarok contemptuously turned with a sweep. Nestra dodged under it and aimed. Ragnarok had been led to believe Nestra could only cast every twelve seconds. She had established a false pattern, and now she was going to use it. Hand extended, she gathered everything she had left. The explosion was stronger this time. The wolf pretended to stagger, hurt. It was all Nestra needed. She charged forward, precision guiding her blade to the sternum. A large hand grabbed her own. Nestra braced for pain, but it didn’t come. A blink, and she was facing the old woman again. Overhead, the lights flashed once. “A good attempt. I believe I have seen enough. Congratulations on passing the test. If you will excuse me for a moment, I will return to the observation platform to validate the results.” Just like with Sereth, she couldn’t win, but she could push them out of the parameters they’d selected for the spar. That was fun in itself. And good practice. “I have… concerns,” Killroy said. “I would have been surprised if you did not.” “Are you sure she is human?” “Yes,” Ragnarok replied without a second of hesitation. “You might think that users that dominate others on the field of battle to such an extent could not possibly happen, but you need to remember that the logic of baseline humans no longer applies. No single baseline can stand against ten others and win, barring a miracle, but I could neutralize a hundred experienced D-class raiders without breaking a sweat, and Riel could defeat armies with the flick of a finger simply by sending them… elsewhere. No, I am certain she is human. Not only human, but a Threshold-trained user.” The man considered her for a few moments in silence. Ragnarok used the opportunity to consult her sheet, her fingers dancing on the specifically-designed tool as fast as the connection would let. Databases flashed at speed no baseline humans could process. The truth was that even though all the ‘Dark Horses’ were officially protected, Threshold’s security knew who the important ones were with a 97% degree of accuracy. For example, how many Threshold-based, C-class, 1.78m, male pyromancers with light brown hair could only raid on Saturdays? As it happened, just one. Naturally, Ragnhild didn’t keep a record of it. She just inferred. And now she would do the same with Crescent. “Alright, I’ll bite. How do you know?” “Perhaps alien infiltrators would have perfect forms for bench-pressing and deadlift. I can accept that. But the way she fights… There are plenty of unique moves I have never seen before, however the way she parried my claw, by striking it and then pushing it aside with a deliberate movement, that is a Palladian parry.” “From the metal clan?” “Yes. Once formed, metal is slower to flow. The technique uses the weight of our own manifested metal against us by interrupting a strike before it is delivered, then pushing the limb out to destabilize the entire body. It turns our strength against us. She also jumped and lashed out over a low sweep in the same motion, a technique we call an Azanagi volte. A very aggressive move. Those are both local clan techniques that mark a Threshold raider.” Killroy didn’t seem convinced. “A monster could have stolen the body and memories of a raider.” “But then you are a suspect, my dear, and so am I,” she retorted. “There needs to be a limit to your paranoia.” He sighed. She gave him more time to think while she perused the list of all known and rare mana types that manifest as black or nearly black. Obsidian. No. Coal. No. Tar. No. Black acid… maybe? She shortlisted it. Nightmare. No, this was not a mind effect. “It’s just… her body isn’t right. It doesn’t move like a human does. Not quite.” “Very observant, however, several mana types allow for body transformations including life, jade, earth, and…” Ragnarok finished her list, then narrowed her search to Threshold-based users. Erin Semper, ‘goo’. Material engineer specialized in viscosity. No. Helena Palladian, void. Ragnarok clicked on a small video, which she then accelerated sixteen times because she was feeling giddy. A young woman with abyss-colored iris coating an axe. An awkward blow. Stress. Much strength though, and the way the mana danced on the blade was familiar, though far too unfocused. This was it, however. Void. The video dated back to six months before. No, could not be her. Too blunt. Too…candid. Someone else? Pull the Palladian clan database. Father Hector, relatives in Australia. Isolated. Unlikely. Mother, relatives in the United States. Estranged. Continue reading more chapters on NovelHub for the best experience. Even more unlikely. She made a note anyway. Ulysses, brother. She checked his file. Electricity and metal-based close-quarter fighter. Gender was less relevant with a shape-shifting power. Possible. She clicked on the B-class exam recording. Not the same style at all. Very patient and deliberate. Much less flow. Too rigid. Just like Ragnarok herself. A file called for her attention. A third relative? Archived. Excitement bubbled in her chest. Today was the more fun she’d had since the last time she raided. She had to re-enter her credentials to unseal the file. Clytemnestra Palladian. Failed user. Oh yes, Ragnhild did remember something to this effect in the news. A decade ago. Concerns about the ‘gleamification’ of mankind not being as inevitable as previously believed. But that had led nowhere. Ragnarok selected the only recording available, a private school entrance spar. Elation filled her mind. The sheet groaned under her fingers until she remembered to stay in control. Younger, more graceful, more hesitant. Fresh and hopeful. Less wary. But those moves... The precise counter-attacks, the controlled offense, the way she never stopped moving, never giving her opponent breathing room. The little edge of viciousness. Yes. That was her. Crescent was Clytemnestra Palladian. Somehow. And then, she closed all the tabs and wiped the history of her search. The Threshold security AI confirmed that the data had been completely erased a moment later. Of the discovery, there would never be any trace. “Is something the matter?” Killroy asked. “Nothing specific besides the fact that we found one of the most talented C-class raiders in history. A detail you will keep to yourself since I have a use for her. As of now, her testing results are sealed.” The AI acknowledged her command with a message. “Good. Now, if you will excuse me, I must talk to her.” She could be the one. Ragnarok walked down to the waiting room. Crescent was waiting for her, those abyssal eyes lazily inspecting the place. The old gleam pushed down a smile when she heard the masked one’s stomach gurgle. Hungry girl, ey? A few taps on her sheet, and the AI confirmed that all monitoring equipment around the room were disabled. “Before we go, however, I have an offer.” Crescent tensed. Ragnarok could tell that the girl didn’t want to be bound. She was distrustful of politics, and Ragnarok felt sympathy. But one couldn’t demolish almost every record ever made on an admission test without getting a little attention. “I will bypass exclusivity contracts to offer special access to several C-class worlds around and outside the city. There are also special events you might be invited for.” “In return?” Crescent hissed back after a long delay. It was funny how she avoided talking as much as possible. Being silent and capable of killing everyone in the room had worked wonders for Ragnarok across the years. “I want you to climb fast so one day, you can kill Shinran.” Ragnarok might have just told Nestra she wanted to strip naked and dance the polka. There was no question of staying impassive behind the mask, this time. Kill Shinran? Kill. Shinran? Was the woman completely fucking insane? Not only was Shinran so powerful he kept the more ambitious A-class gleams at bay from the pile of money that was Threshold by his mere presence, he was also, well Shinran? Guardian Shinran? A good guy who smoothed things over, gave everyone face, and healed people for free in his spare time? Ragnarok smiled in a predatory manner. “I can tell the proposal hurts your Thresholder sensitivities. Do not pay my words any heed. It won’t become relevant for a very, very long time.” Hopefully went unsaid. Nestra wasn’t willing to just let it go, however. “What elssse? Depleted uranium on Sssanta’s sled?” “No need to be cross, Crescent. Shinran may be in control right now, but he has exhibited some concerning tendencies when angered.” Nestra didn’t speak. Shinran was a first gen high gleam. Of course, he’d be ultra dangerous when pissed. She’d witnessed her dad bitch slap someone with a sedan, once, though he’d apologized afterward. Unless Shinran was pulling baby arms out of their sockets, this didn’t warrant a kill order. “In any case, I have decided I will also grant you a solo operator license. I assume you would prefer to work alone,” Ragnarok continued, eyeing Nestra’s body armor with condescension. It was annoying how perceptive she was. At least, Nestra took comfort in the fact her identity was safe, protected behind redundant layers of administrative security. But apparently Ragnarok already believed Nestra was a Thresholder, and she was right. “Solo operator?” she asked. “It means you are exempt from minimum squad member requirements when entering portals. Ace users tend to have them, though it also comes with a rather high fatality rate.” Nestra was happy to have it but… wasn’t it counter-productive? To have gleams die like that? Once again, Ragnarok read her like a book. Annoying. “We set this up because the mavericks would bring a team of pushovers and have them wait by the entrance, picking up daisies and shiny stones. That way, we are not wasting more resources trying to police unruly battle maniacs.” Ragnarok gave Nestra another meaningful glance before turning away. “Killroy will stay behind for now, as you will primarily be working under me. When you want, of course. Let me show you the facilities, then we will get you set up at the marketplace.”