The world waited eagerly at the count down began.
There were only two hours left until the grandest expo in the history of humanity began.
Tick! Tick! Tick!
As the clock ticked, five hundred young men and women in a standard blue uniform entered one of the five large buildings based on their levels.
These five buildings were just outside the grand stadium and served as an entrance to them.
The participants were divided into five groups, with hundred members per group based on their level which ranged from level 1 to level 5.
Varian queued up with his fellow peak level 4 participants.
In the ground floor of the building, there were ten counters of sorts.
A level 9, a highly accomplished doctor, and representatives of the eight planets stood at each counter.
Three things were verified here.
First, their level and divine path. And whether they were dual or triple awakeners.
Second, their medical condition—whether there was any chance they'd have an adverse reaction to Gamma potion.
Third, external possessions were all banned. Not even a comm was allowed to the match.
Initially, comm was allowed, but Julius removed it later citing 'Dreamer' as the primary reason.
Fourth and finally, their identity. Recently, there have been too many cases of Dreamer using a fake ID to exploit their automated system.
So, any candidate who needs to participate must be recognized by the member of their own planet.
Only then would they be allowed to exit through the other end of the building and enter the arena.
Since the test was this comprehensive, it took ten minutes for each person.
Being the second last in his line, Varian knew he had to stand for almost an hour and a half.
'Urgh, I think my head is gonna explode from all the training.' Varian just wanted to sleep.
Even though body awakeners didn't have any problem without much sleep, he was mentally tired.
To reach the peak of level 4, he not only endured terrible injuries but also maintained his highest focus for hours.
Even he wasn't clear how he was able to do it. At that time, there was only one thought going around in his mind. 'I can't give up.'
While he achieved his goal, the consequence was temporary mental fog and a lack of energy.
"Next."
The AI called and the line moved forward.
Varian sighed lightly and glanced around.
Except for him, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. They all had a bright smile on their faces as if they won some lottery.
'Did they get crazy people for the testing?' That's ridiculous, but Varian wasn't in the right state to think through things logically.
But he did ask Boo about his 'peers'.
{Master, they are all geniuses, albeit from poor families across the solar system.}
'Heh. Stupid son of a…' Varian abruptly stopped cursing. His mind seemed to clear up when he thought of Julius, but soon, it went back to its dizzy state. 'Bitch.'
In fact, Julius was clever to let geniuses from all across the federation join as testers.
Else, others could accuse him that he was manipulating the results by using only Earth geniuses—especially since Xanders ruled the planet.
Now, the critiques could only shut up.
"Next."
"Next."
There were only two people in front of him and after waiting for an hour, Varian's mind slowly cleared up.
Its like he was suddenly sober.
With a functioning mind, Varian looked at the people around him with a complicated expression.
Since these were poor geniuses, the reason they came here despite the risk was obvious.
Once the gamma potion gets released, they couldn't afford it.
"Hey." A cheerful voice sounded from behind.
Varian turned back and saw a young man with a bright expression.
"Hi." Varian nodded.
"Why so serious? Aren't you excited, bro?" The young man asked with disbelief.
"Erh," Varian scratched his cheeks and replied. "I'm pretty nervous. We're testers after all…"
His words drew gazes. The officials didn't respond much, but the rest of the testers seemed to be shocked.
"Hey, this is something from Sovereign himself." The boy behind puffed out his chest and said.
"Yes, do you really think they need us as testers? This is a generous opportunity provided to those from poor backgrounds by Sovereign Julius." A girl said with sparkling eyes.
"…She's right. Be grateful, dude. Many of us have decided to join the Xander family." A tall guy pumped his hand and declared.
"…" Varian instinctively wants to not only refute but curse the Xanders as the genetic garbage but held back.
He put on a nervous expression and said. "I-I always 'admired' Sovereign Julius and wanted to 'meet' him. Even though I trust the Xander family, the thought that I won't have the chance to 'repay the favor' terrifies me."
The gazes on him changed again. They were looking at him with admiration, not knowing that Varian's choice of words was deliberately twisted.
He admired Julius so much that he wanted to rip him apart. He wanted to meet Julius to fight him head on one day. Repaying the favor…repaying them for what they did to Sia—it could only be repaid through extermination of anything called Xander.
"Next." The AI called again and Varian took a step forward. It was almost over.
"Next."
"Next."
Varian stood in the designated square as a level 9 water awakener used his water sense to check Varian's aura and level.
The man passed a sliver of water mana into Varian's shoulders and after a minute, nodded.
"Peak Level 4 Water Path. No other traces of aura found."
Then, his water sense also scanned Varian for a minute before nodding. "No space ring or any treasures."
Then it was the medical test. A red light flashed over Varian and in front of the attending doctor, a hologram filled with different numerical popped up.
The doctor studied it seriously for six minutes before giving a thumbs up. "He is not averse to Gamma potion ingredients."
Varian was about to sigh in relief, but realizing the final test, he became nervous again.
"Which planet is he from? And details." The level 9 officer asked.
'Haa~' Varian sighed in relief when the man from Neptune stood up.
Originally, it was Uranus, but with Irene's current condition, the plan changed.
It was Sovereign Ares who helped him out the most in this mission. Even though he did it for Sovereign Irene, Varian was grateful to him.
"He is Ryker, a genius from a small neighborhood of Neptune. At a low age of 18, he reached the peak of level 4!"
"WHAT?!" Everyone in the facility, be it participants or the administrators, exclaimed in shock.
18 years old…that was essentially a first-year cadet reaching the peak of level 4. Even in Imperial Defense Academy—one of the top three of all academies, reaching peak level 4 in the first year would make one a great genius.
The likes of such genius could only be surpassed by monsters like Sarah and Charles.
And now, such a genius was among them.
As they looked at him in admiration, Varian was laughing inwardly.
'How cute. I'm peak of level 6 and in five different paths.'
And thus, Varian was sent into the grand stadium's central ground: Justice Arena.
