The Ascension Age

"La-lab rat?!" Aire almost passed out after hearing that.

Altina, Sera, and Kymei also gave Aire weird looks. It was just way too fast! That broke any record in existence. Not only that, but everyone was pretty sure that no one in the three schools for Risers on Earth did anything like that either.

Altina then took a deep breath before looking at Zule and asking, "Zule, can we keep it a secret? If we let him out right now, I'm pretty sure we won't find anyone else for our team. We can't lose any members just when the Resource War is starting."

Sera and Kymei nodded in agreement. They were also afraid of the same thing. After all, their team score would only count the three of them if Aire was taken away.

Zule, of course, immediately took advantage of that situation, saying, "But of course...as long as my Altina cooks tonight."

C-cooking? Sera, Aire, and Kymei were left speechless after hearing that. Wasn't that way too cheap of a price? In an instant, the three of them looked at Altina, screaming with their eyes to accept Zule's terms.

However, Altina's face was as pale as a ghost as she responded, "Do-Does it really have to be cooking?" It was obvious that there was a reason why Zule mentioned that.

Zule nodded, completely ignoring the plight in Altina's eyes as he said, "Uh-huh. I won't accept anything else other than seeing my Altina cook."

Soon after that, he looked at Aire and the others, telling them, "You guys should make sure to come as well. Trust me, this is a sight to behold."

Aire's group became even more puzzled after that. Obviously, they became more curious as well. Just how could cooking make Altina act like that?

Sadly, Altina didn't have much choice, though. She gritted her teeth and nodded in the end, responding, "Fine! However, only one meal! No desserts or appetizers!"

"Deal!" Zule immediately nodded without even thinking.

Aire sighed in relief and then asked something else, "By the way, how did my test turn out?"

Only then did everyone remember that they haven't looked at Aire's result yet. "Oh, right! The score!"

Without delay, they all looked at Aire's individual ranking, expecting something extraordinary. After all, he was even able to breakthrough in just one minute! How ridiculously high would his talent be to do that? However, everyone's expression looked off as soon as they saw the result.

-Aire Ruehnar, 125 Points, 103856th position.-

In fact, that position only flashed for less than a second, so they almost missed it. That's because Aire's position was plummeting so fast that they weren't able to keep track of it.

"What the hell?!" Naturally, they couldn't understand what happened...except for Zule.

"Oh! I see...hahaha!" Zule laughed out loud, catching the attention of Aire's group. "It's simple, really. Aire's result was taken at the very end of the test, which was at the very moment he finished his breakthrough. No one ever thought someone would try a breakthrough during this test, so the program didn't account for it."

Zule then pointed at the capsule, continuing, "When Aire finished his breakthrough, his Stellar Energy Absorption calmed down so that his Riser Level could stabilize. That was the moment the score was calculated. After all, Aire wasn't in the Stellar Blood Stage anymore, but the Stellar Bones Stage instead. Simply put, he only spent a second or two in that level inside the capsule. So, the capsule did a reading of what it could, which is why he ended up with this meager result. If Aire does the test again, we should be able to see his real score."

Everyone understood that Zule wasn't done talking, though.

"However..." Zule shrugged his shoulders after that as he said, "It's against the rules to take this test more than once. After all, this is an expensive test that uses too much Stellar Energy. If we let everyone try it several times, the school's reserve will definitely run out of Stellar Energy. I'm sorry, everyone. But it seems like this is your final result. Even if I put him inside the capsule again and rerun the test, the system won't accept an update to his student ID."

Altina and the others' complexions went pale after hearing that. Didn't that mean that their already subpar rank would become lower than before?

Altina tried to salvage the situation, saying, "It can't be, right? The result was wrong. It only happened because of his breakthrough. Surely there must be a way to do the test again. If we explain the situ-"

However, she immediately noticed the problem here as she muttered, "His breakthrough..."

Zule nodded, responding, "Exactly! If we explain why the test went wrong, that means you have to tell the truth about his breakthrough inside the capsule. In other words, that means losing him as a team member. That being said, your situation would become even worse."

Aire scratched the back of his head in response, saying, "Sorry, guys. I thought that if I was in the Stellar Bones Stage from the very start, I would be able to help the group even more." Well, it wasn't a lie, but he was more afraid of his death instead.

Sera and the others couldn't help but sigh after hearing that. In any other situation, Aire's breakthrough would indeed be a big boost to their team. But the moment he chose to do so was just too poor.

Sera then shook her head, saying, "Well, I guess there's nothing we can do about it. Altina, Kymei, and I are still considered above average in our results. When we include your below-average one, I guess our ranking will still start in the middle of the pack."

Altina and Kymei were still unwilling, but they knew the school's rules when it came to the Stellar Risers' test. There was no way they could take it back.

Fortunately, Altina quickly recovered after that, saying, "Whatever. There is no point crying over spilled milk. Our only chance now is the next test."

Zule agreed with Altina, telling them, "Exactly. It's time to test your aptitudes for your side occupations. Well, each one of you will have to move to your own occupation faction to do it."

"Occupation faction?" Aire did not know what that was, so he asked.

Kymei then explained, "It's very simple. Each occupation has a faction dedicated to that job. In my case, it would be the Stellar Rune Circuitry Researcher Faction. Altina is in the Warriors Faction, while Sera's in the Stellar Suit Designers' Faction. As for you, the Stellar Smith Faction is where you need to go for the occupational test."

Aire couldn't help but ask, "But I've never tried this Stellar Smith job before. Will it be okay?"

Zule answered that question, saying, "It's fine. Just like the Stellar Energy Aptitude Test, all factions have a scoring system for new applicants. Just go there, and they'll take care of the rest."

He then looked at everyone before saying, "Alright, time to go. I need to send these capsules back to their places before anyone notices I took them away. Hahaha!"

Altina and the others didn't know what to say about that, so they simply turned around and left the area. At the very least, they could count on their occupation tests.