Chapter 8: PRELIMINARY HUNTER EXAMINATION
The huge steel gates of Evaluation Hall Three creaked open with a metallic sound that echoed down the corridor. The chatter among the applicants instantly stopped. Forty people stood waiting outside the hall their faces showing excitement, confidence or nervous anticipation. Most looked sixteen or seventeen years old wearing brand-new combat uniforms and expensive gear showing that many came from rich families or top training academies. A few stood proudly with their families watching from behind the observation glass while others quietly stretched their muscles before stepping. Among them Noah Kurtz looked out of place. At twenty-two years old wearing an ordinary black jacket and worn sneakers he looked like someone who had wandered into the wrong building.. Unlike everyone else Noahs gray eyes were calm. Ever since he discovered the Memory Cabinet something inside him had changed. He no longer measured himself by the rank on his awakening card.
The examination hall was huge stretching two hundred meters from one end to the other. Reinforced steel walls surrounded the arena and many cameras and monitoring devices hung from the ceiling. Several floating holographic screens showed examination statistics, applicant numbers and live biometric readings that would update during the tests. Thick transparent glass separated the arena from an observation gallery where Association officials, licensed Hunters and medical personnel quietly prepared clipboards and tablets. Along one side of the hall stood rows of metallic machines Noah had never seen before. Some looked like punching pillars, others like treadmills and several were floating platforms surrounded by glowing blue rings. Every piece of equipment gave off an aura of expensive military engineering.
A sharp whistle echoed through the hall.
"Line up!"
The command came from a middle-aged man wearing the silver uniform of the Hunter Association. His broad shoulders, scar-covered jaw and piercing amber eyes immediately silenced the remaining whispers among the candidates. Unlike the applicants he wore no weapon. He didn’t need one. The pressure from him alone was enough to make even the arrogant teenagers straighten their backs.
"My name is Examiner Victor Hale."
His deep voice carried easily throughout the arena.
"I’ll be supervising todays Preliminary Hunter Examination."
Victor slowly scanned the crowd. His gaze paused briefly on Noah. A sense of disappointment and pity. Then, he moved on.
"The Preliminary Hunter License exists for one purpose."
He raised a finger.
"To determine whether you’re capable of surviving."
Several applicants exchanged looks. Victor noticed immediately.
"Notice I didn’t say whether you’re capable of winning."
His expression remained cold.
"The Association doesn’t expect new Hunters to slay dragons or conquer dungeons on their day."
He raised his finger again.
"We expect you to return alive."
Silence filled the arena. Victor continued walking before the assembled candidates.
"Awakened individuals believe receiving a Talent automatically makes them Hunters."
He shook his head.
"It doesn’t."
"You’ve awakened."
"Congratulations but awakening is merely receiving a weapon."
His amber eyes sharpened.
"A weapon is useless if the one holding it doesn’t know how to use it."
Noah listened carefully.
Every sentence felt grounded in experience than empty speeches.
"The examination consists of three stages."
A holographic display appeared behind Victor.
* Stage One: Physical Assessment
* Stage Two: Combat Aptitude
* Stage Three: Judgment Evaluation
"The first stage measures your foundation."
"The second measures your ability to apply that foundation."
"The third..."
Victor paused.
"...determines whether I trust you enough to carry a Hunter License."
The room became noticeably quieter.
One nervous applicant raised his hand.
"Sir... Are we fighting monsters?"
Victor looked at him.
"If you were fighting monsters today..."
"...most of you would already be dead."
A few awkward laughs echoed through the hall.
Victor didn’t smile.
"I’m serious."
The laughter stopped immediately.
"Now."
He turned toward the machines lined along one wall.
"We begin with the Physical Assessment."
The applicants naturally followed him.
The first machine resembled a reinforced pillar covered in glowing sensors from top to bottom.
Victor rested one hand against it.
"This machine measures striking force."
He looked toward the crowd.
"Not Talent."
"Not elemental affinity."
"Pure physical power."
Another applicant frowned.
"Strength depends on Talent."
Victor nodded.
"Usually. Not always."
Those words lingered strangely in Noah’s mind.
Could that be referring to people who trained their bodies naturally? His heartbeat quickened slightly. Maybe his Ki cultivation would actually matter here.
Victor pressed a button. The machine activated with a mechanical hum.
"The score..."
A number appeared above the pillar.
800 Newtons
A murmur spread through the crowd. Victor folded his arms.
"Eight hundred is the minimum."
"Most E-Rank awakened reach one thousand."
"B-Rank candidates often exceed Two thousand."
"A-Rank..."
He shrugged.
"...they usually break the machine."
Laughter spread throughout the hall.
This time even Victor smiled slightly.
"Applicant Number One."
A young man confidently stepped forward.
"E-Rank."
"Enhanced Muscle Talent."
Victor nodded.
"Strike when ready."
The young man inhaled before throwing a powerful straight punch into the reinforced pillar.
BOOM!
The machine flashed.
862 Newtons
"Pass."
The next candidate stepped forward.
An F-Rank girl. She looked incredibly nervous.Her punch landed softer.
673 Newtons
The machine turned red.
Victor simply nodded.
"Fail."
The girls shoulders dropped immediately. Medical staff quietly guided her away from the testing line.
One by one the applicants continued. Several passed. Others failed. Some barely reached the required score. Others surprised everyone.
Noah watched every attempt carefully. Rather than focusing on the numbers, he studied their movements. Without realizing it, the physical training memories inside the Memory Cabinet began comparing every punch against the training drills Noah had inherited from the wooden books.
His footing is unstable.
Bad shoulder movement.
He released power early.
The thoughts appeared naturally. Almost instinctively. It surprised Noah. The memories weren’t knowledge anymore. They had become intuition.
Eventually, Victor looked toward him.
"Applicant Number Twenty-Seven."
"Noah Kurtz."
Several applicants immediately remembered the F-Rank man from the reception hall. One whispered.
"That’s the twenty-two-year-old."
"The late awakener."
"The F-Rank."
The arrogant youth from earlier crossed his arms with a smirk.
"This should be entertaining."
Ignoring every whisper, around him Noah slowly walked toward the machine. Standing before the reinforced pillar he quietly exhaled. His heartbeat remained steady. He wasn’t trying to impress anyone. He simply wanted to know one thing.
How much stronger have I become?
Noah circulated the stream of Ki throughout his body exactly as the cultivation technique taught him. Warmth spread through his muscles. His breathing synchronized naturally. His stance lowered slightly.
Victors eyes narrowed imperceptibly.
Interesting posture...
It wasn’t military.
It wasn’t boxing.
It wasn’t any art he recognized.
"Whenever you’re ready."
Noah nodded and stepped forward. His fist shot toward the pillar with precision.
BOOM!
The impact echoed throughout the examination hall. The entire machine trembled slightly. For a split second, the display remained blank. Then the numbers began climbing.
421...
638...
814...
The hall fell silent.
The number continued rising.
903...
967...
Finally—
the screen stopped.
1,242 Newtons
Complete silence. Every applicant stared at the glowing number. Even Noah blinked.
Over a thousand...?
Across the arena, Examiner Victor Hale slowly looked up from his tablet. For the time since the examination began, his expression changed. Enough to show that something had just caught his attention.