"How did you know? I was standing right next to you and didn't notice them carrying," Mary said as we got back in line after a series of questions. The fact that we worked at the city's Grimmyth Research Institute made us more credible and sped the process up. "Also who knew Grim-tech had advanced so much—those gion knives and guns were both lethal to kill an awakened grimlock and portable enough to conceal in person."
"I didn't know. I just wanted to give them a taste of their own medicine," I replied, then asked, a little doubtful, "Aren't you a researcher? Shouldn't you be aware of the advancements in grim-tech?"
"First off, I didn't know you had a quick and sly side to you. Color me impressed," Mary said. Then she explained, "I'm a researcher, not an engineer. My specializations are botany and medicine. I already have more than enough to keep up with in my own field. Who has time to follow advancements in something completely unrelated?"
I nodded in understanding and moved ahead with the line. Mary and I went through a thorough security check before entering the base. As an examinee, I was allowed to bring one parent or guardian. Mary as my liaison qualified without issue.
Arriving at the examination area, I found around more than fifty newly awakened grimlocks along with their guardians, just like me. Most were young, close to Crayon's age, but a few stood out. Some looked young at a glance, yet carried themselves like people who had lived far longer. Others were visibly older, well into middle age.
By this world's average lifespan of a human, some of them could easily be pushing eighty or more, yet look like they were in their late twenties or early thirties and here they were, starting from the same line as the rest of us. All because they were contracted by Grimmyth late or could only afford a ticket to Grimmyth after saving for years.
With their extended lifespans, appearances didn't mean much. It was hard to judge anyone's age at a glance. Take Mary, for example. She looked like she had just stepped out of college, but she was already a respected researcher in her field with a lengthy resume.
Most of the newborn grimlocks had come with their grimlock parents, trainers from the guilds they had joined, or the instructors from the academies they studied in. Compared to them, I felt underprepared. They carried themselves with a quiet confidence that only came from proper guidance and practice.
Fortunately, there was a strict restriction on our grim deck, we were limited to using the basic card set of grim cards, nothing more, it was the only thing keeping the examination fair.
This rule leveled the field so the wealthy couldn't just buy their way into higher ranks by equipping powerful and higher grade cards their family's money could buy them. Otherwise, there'd be no point to these exams. They might as well hand out honorary military ranks based on one's net worth, reserving the top for those with money, and herding all the poor as grunts and cannon fodders.
However, there was no restriction on recovery potions beyond quantity. Each examinee could carry up to three health potions and three gion recovery potions. That still gave the rich an edge over poorer examinees. As the recovery potions were not cheap.
I didn't have much use for health potions because of my ultimate undying physique. But I could make good use of the three gion potions, letting me switch between grim cyphers without worrying about running out of gion mid exam. So, with Mary's help, I had prepared three of the best gion potions available in the market for the exam.
Just as we were about to settle in, waiting for the officials to appear and begin the exam, a beautiful Asian girl walked up to me and greeted me like we knew each other. "Hi, Crayon, long time no see."
I searched through Crayon's memories, trying to place her face, but found nothing. Before I could apologize for not recognizing her, she smiled and asked, "You don't recognize me, do you? It's me, Norlin Lynn—the girl in the wheelchair who sold you the corncob and potato that Grimmyth accepted as tribute?"
"Norlin Lynn—wow, you look completely different from what I remember. Congratulations on becoming a Grimlock, and on your recovery," I said, finally recognizing her. She had cleaned up well and no longer needed a wheel chair to move around. I could hardly believe it was the same person. She looked amazing, even rekindling my asian fetish.
"Thanks. It was all possible because you bought breakfast at my stall. I hope you don't mind my book. It paid for my gion ship ticket, tribute to grimmyth, and even the creation of my gioncore and gion circuit cards," Norlin Lynn said with a resolute eyes which said, 'I'm not ashamed of what I did.' I quickly shook my head, replying, "You saw an opportunity and took it. No harm done. I was impressed by your hustle—actually, I was inspired by it. By the way, this is Mary, my friend."
"Nice to meet you, Mary," Norlin Lynn said. Mary nodded in return before Norlin asked, "Did you also apply for early garrison reserve registration? Why? I thought you were interning at the city's research institute? What's the rush?"
"I didn't apply. I was called in to register," I said, a little helplessly. Norlin Lynn's eyes widened. She glanced around, then leaned in and whispered, "Quick—pretend to be sick and get them to postpone your registration to maybe next month. Trust me, it's for your own good."
Hearing Norlin, Mary and I exchanged doubtful looks. I grew skeptical, but went against my better judgment and asked, "Why?"
"I can't tell you. You'll just have to trust me on this," Norlin said with a grave voice filled with a grim concern. I didn't know what to make of it. After giving it a thought, I asked, "Does this have to do something with your grim cypher? Do you see something bad in my future?"