"Case of Heinsworth greets... Your Eminence." Casel right leg crossed to the back of her left as she dipped into a bow.
"Xavier greets Your Eminence."
"Zeta of Platue greets Your Eminence."
She heard the voices of her teammates come from behind her.
Her face remained downward as she waited for Saquin's answer. It could be said that right now, what she felt the most was not respect but also fear.
She had initially thought he could kill the Underbeast with the use of multiple Grade One Cores. This would label him as a Genius level candidate, but that level was still under her family's influence jurisdiction. That was why she initially had the idea of trying to recruit him under her.
However, now she could see that he had done that with his pure physical strength. The assistant of a glove-type may be substantial but the difference between him and the Underbeast was too much to deny his own latent strength. There was only word she could think of to describe him.
Terrifying.
A null rank, in other words, a person who has not even stepped into the minimum Grade Zero of the Empowered, was way stronger than a Low-Class Grade One.
He belonged to the absolute upper echelon of genius.
Mundane, Hyper, World-Class, Star-Class, Pinnacle, Divine.
Those are the levels of geniuses and she could tell Saquin was of Pinnacle class, or even higher.
She could not help but wonder which faction or family he came from.
Wherever he may have come from, he had to have been a lost important heir.
Just then.
"Okay."
The awaited voice finally came. Just...
"Huh?" Casel was taken aback. Was that it?
He said 'okay', then walked off.
Was that not too anticlimatic?
Casel and her teammates were left dumbstruck at their spot.
But to be fair, what had they expected from him. They lived in way different worlds, expecting such a person to pay any substantial attention on them is delusional. The fact he even interacted with them at all, right after saving them, indicates his rather easy going attitude.
Casel took in a deep breath. She shook off the shock and worries before going after Saquin. Her teammates quickly tailed her.
Their journey continued on.
Not up to ten minutes of walking through the unforgiving terrain of the rainforest, Saquin discovered that the forest was thinning. He could also feel the floor get less wet, in fact it started to feel more dry.
'Like sand.'
The thought sparked in Saquin's head as he picked up his pace.
Soon, he broke out of the forest into a plain.
Saquin's step came to a halt. His gaze narrowed.
"Why so many corpses?" He muttered.
The plain was littered with corpses of animal like beings. At the center of the large extensive plain was a ruined city which he assumed was most likely the base.
The base was a great sight but his focus was more on the corpses. He has a feeling this was no normal.
On cue, Zeta reached his side.
"Your Eminence, you are probably wondering why there are so much Underbeast corpses. Right?" Zeta asked respectfully.
"Yes. Mind explaining?" Saquin replied.
"Of course, Your Eminence." Zeta nodded. "Today is the fifteenth day of the Trial. Five days ago, when all Original Arrivals had arrived, we were attacked."
Saquin looked at her skeptically.
"I know what you are thinking Your Eminence, we were in the base, so isn't an attack by the Underbeasts futile?" Zeta continued. "But the Underbeast did not attack us directly, rather, they camped out."
"They locked you guys in." Saquin stated.
"Yes. We had no choice but to rally together to take on the Underbeasts bunch." Zeta nodded. Then she signed. "It was a great thing that practically all of them were of Grade Zero."
"It is also the reason why this Trial has much more Garde Zero candidates than usual." She added.
Saquin nodded at her. "Thanks for the info."
"You are welcome, Your Eminence." Zeta did a small curtsey.
Saquin stared at her a bit before retracting his gaze. He was not used to this 'Your Eminence' thing, it will take a while.
But, Zeta had just provided him necessary information.
First, he knew the present day of the Trial. Which means the Monthly Trial did start at the beginning of each month. A no brainer if you think about it.
He could now also confirm that each person arrival is slit through different dates. With personal strength being the criteria for judgement. He felt that this rule was made so the ordinary people could catch up a bit with the geniuses. Or at the very least, not drag them down.
And also, he now knew that Grade Zero Underbeast exist. Killing them would also enable one to step into the rank.
"Should we start moving, Your Eminence?" Casel voice brought him out of his thought.
He gave no specific response, but started walking forward.
As he walked on the clear path towards the ruined city in the middle, he could not help but feel that something was not right with this Trial.
The feeling emanated from the hundreds of dead Underbeast and Candidates at both sides of him.
As the unnerving aura grew, he could not help but think back to Miss Margaret words.
[ ...An Empowered Trial is not so simple, especially so for this specific one. Your strength is great, true, but don't fret, you will be Challenged... ]
'This specific one, huh?'
'Interesting.'
'I hope I am truly challenged. It'd be fun.'
A subtle smile crept up his face.
He refocused on the road as he felt the unnerving aura thin.
He had entered a new area. Over fifty meters outwards of the ruined city was a clean area. No corpses.
As he took his second step in. A screen appeared in front of him.
[ Candidate Saquin, welcome to this Location Trial's Base Camp: Ruined Silver City.]
[ Building 1 has been allocated to Candidate. ]
[
Base Camp: Ruined Silver City.
Day: 15th.
Population: 5,276.
Party(s): Golden Prince Entourage.
Top party: Golden Prince Entourage.
]
[
Party: Golden Entourage.
Description: The party created by Late Arrival, Prince Greader Rimfrar - the golden prince, to take on the super Underbeast boss.
]
[It is recommended to rank, build a top party yourself and attack the Underbeast as soon as possible.]
[Welcome Late Arrival.]
Saquin read through it in seconds.
"Prince Greader???"
He then turned back to see that Casel and the duo were frozen stiff.
Before long, Casel's fright dissolved into awe and unfiltered fan-love as she started muttering.
"Prince Greader... Prince Greader..."
Saquin noted her reaction.
'Her emotions were not this intense when she met someone she referred to as Your Eminence.'
'Prince Greader, a fellow Late Arrival, who also happens to be quite influential.'
Saquin suddenly smiled.
'My interest level in this world keeps on rising non stop.'