The Awakened Record was not a necessity for every Awakened, but the Thornspire would not work with unregistered Awakened. This was dangerous and inefficient, as such Awakened could not be punished if they failed missions.
Moreover, many Thornspires could blacklist unwelcome Awakened. This happened quite rarely, but there were quite a few Awakened in this world that most Thornspires did not want to work with. Obviously, it was difficult to progress under such conditions.
The signature Garet left on the emblem was the second-to-last step, but there was something else — a test.
Garet and Xir followed Melisa down the spiral staircase of the tower.
'She said I might be able to fight the monster,' Garet pondered, rubbing his chin. 'Wait, do they keep monsters right here? At the Thornspire?'
Because of his work at the Pit and his battle before Zenith, he wasn't particularly afraid of monsters. Garet understood that fighting monsters was a necessity if he wanted to become stronger.
"Here!" Melisa said vigorously and entered a separate room on the lower floor of the tower.
Inside, there was nothing but a few stone tables, cloths covering something.
"What is that?" Garet asked, pointing to something in the center.
"Oh, that's the reason we came here." Melisa smiled.
Four hollow pillars held a massive crystal above the ground with heavy chains. Even if there were a dozen strong men here, they would not even move this crystal. The crystal appeared gray, but from time to time, different colors flashed across its edges.
Click.
Melisa snapped her fingers as several lamps lit up, illuminating the testing chamber.
"This is the Evaluation Crystal, and with it, I will be able to understand your strengths and weaknesses. Most Thornspires have a crystal like this, and there are few differences between them, but ours is more accurate than most. You know, when you have three peaks, you can get more resources than others."
Garet nodded. He was sure that at the Pit, the Evaluation Crystal was not like this at all.
"My strengths and weaknesses? But how can some crystal do that?"
Melisa pointed to the empty pillars. "We will evaluate four factors:
"First: The volume of your energy.
"Second: The rate at which you spend your energy.
"Third: The firepower of your energy.
"And fourth: Your control over your energy."
Then, she walked over to one of the tables, lifted the cloth, and picked up an unusual device resembling a granite compass, but without a needle and with four carved slabs as buttons.
"This is an Artifact. With it, I can control the chains and pillars, forcing the Evaluation Crystal to do what we need it to."
Garet looked confused.
"But how?"
Xir nodded toward the granite compass. "Melisa, I think this is his first time seeing an Artifact."
"Hmm..." Melisa touched her lower lip. "But Garet, you know what a Catalyst is, right?"
"Sure, it's a powerful weapon that the Awakened use to fight monsters."
"Yes, and the keyword here is 'weapon.' The object in my hand is not a weapon or armor, it is a tool. That one was created, so it's an Artificial Artifact. They aren't valued as highly as the Natural Artifacts, but that's not the point right now. Over time, you'll learn a lot more about Artifacts. They're an important part of the world."
Melisa pointed to the chains.
"These chains are part of the Artifact as well. When this compass was created, a spell was embedded in it. Basically, this spell works as an instruction that tells the Artifact what it can do and under what circumstances. It's like giving a chef a recipe and asking him to cook a dish."
After a few seconds, Garet nodded as he glared at Melisa.
"But, to cook something, you need ingredients, don't you?"
Melisa's lips turned up as she touched her chest.
"Sure, in this case, the main ingredient is me! Hahaha, or rather, my energy."
"Agh? Are you an Awakened, too?" Garet was confused. He didn't sense the same aura from Melisa that he did from Xir.
In response, she shook her head. "No, I'm just a mere mortal. However, ordinary people also have a bit of energy. Every living thing has energy, even plants. Of course, it's incomparable to what the Awakened and monsters have, but it's enough to use some Artifacts or even Catalysts.
"However, since we have so little energy, the power and capabilities of Artifacts, and even more so Catalysts, are severely limited. That's why, for the test, the Evaluation Crystal must have a large amount of energy."
Garet nodded deeply as his eyes darted from the crystal to the compass.
"I see. As part of the spell, the chains will use the energy of the crystal itself, allowing you to spend almost nothing, right?"
"Oh, Commander Xir." Melisa smiled slyly. "You have found a rather quick-witted young man."
"Of course I am." Xir snorted as if it were obvious. "Alright, let's move on. Enough explanations, Garet is a smart guy, he understands everything."
Melisa waved her hand to the side.
"Garet, stand in front of the crystal. After each test, the corresponding pillar will fill with light. There are five colors: blue, green, yellow, orange, and red."
"And... Which one is the best?"
"It depends," Melisa began. "In the first test, we will check the speed at which you spend your energy. If it's red, then you spend energy very quickly. If it's blue - slowly."
"But what does all this mean? I understand that nothing depends on me?"
Melisa shook her head. "It's a little complicated. It's like talents. Everyone has them, some are better at some things, some are worse at others. So, you'll pass the test if you have mixed colors, and then we'll move on to the second part, where you'll fight a monster.
"But, if you get the worst result everywhere, then something is wrong. It's impossible for a person to have no talent in anything. It just means that this person hasn't found their strengths yet, and for that, they need to undergo additional training."
Garet nodded. "Got it. It's like a physical test. Everyone can do one push-up, and if you can't, it means you're in very bad shape, but you just need to exercise a little."
"Yeah, that's a good example too."
"But..." Garet's voice deepened as he glanced at Melisa. "If a mixed result is a success, what about the best color in each pillar? Some people are talented in all things at once, aren't they?"
Melisa's face showed that she didn't want to talk about it, but now she had no choice.
"Sure. There are the ones who get the best results in each of the four tests. However, that's very rare. It doesn't make them blessed geniuses. Just their Genesis Core turned out to be effective in many aspects at once. Don't make it a goal, it's not what decides your fate."
After a few seconds, Garet nodded.
"I know. Let's get started. What should I do?"
"For this test, place your palm on the crystal and direct the energy through your arm. The Genesis Core should freely give off energy, don't hold it back."
After a few attempts, everything happened as Melisa said, as discs flashed in Garet's eyes.
The energy flowed out of him like a torrent, filling the crystal that was several times larger than he.
Soon, along with the dark circles under his eyes, the Evaluation Crystal flashed with a red, saturated light, like a hungry jaw eager to devour as much energy as possible.
The first test - failure.