Chapter 388:out.

Chapter 388: 388:out.

Antony’s knees nearly hit the floor and his vision blurred. For a horrifying second, his core felt as though it had been compressed into something half its normal size.

He heard someone collapse, another person screamed, and alarms sounded.

His hand touched the floor as he dropped to one knee and clenched his teeth.

[PRESSURE OUTPUT: SOUL CAPACITY EQUIVALENT - 15]

"That’s..." He inhaled painfully. "...unpleasant."

"Candidate 1472, core stability remains within acceptable parameters."

Antony laughed once.

"Wonderful."

"Stand."

His smile vanished.

"What?"

"Your task begins when you’re standing."

He stared toward the observation window.

"You couldn’t have picked something down here?"

No response.

He planted his foot using every strength his current form could master, it was exactly what it was for. He pushed until his leg straightened.

Pressure forced him down but he pushed harder. Surprisingly, his core remained controlled.

Slowly, hestood, his entire body trembling.

"Task."

A mechanical arm unfolded before a large reinforced block dropped onto a marked platform.

[MOVE OBJECT TO DESIGNATED ZONE.]

He stared at it in shock.

"You have got to be joking."

The block looked heavy even without pressure trying to flatten him.

The examiner spoke.

"Begin."

Antony stepped toward it. His female form would have been useless here since he had no need to transform. He placed both hands against the block and pushed. It didn’t move an inch.

He adjusted his stance, power flowing into his muscles. His male configuration’s strength advantage responded. The block shifted only a few centimeters.

"Come on."

He pushed again, it moved. The designated zone was only several meters away, it might as well have been fifty.

Antony kept pushing.

His core fluctuated.

[CORE STABILITY: 84%]

The block scraped across the platform as it moved. His arms shook and the pressure bore down. His breathing became ragged.

He considered dumping more power into strength but he knew it would be too much. He needed to learn control.

The academy wasn’t asking whether he could throw the block, it wanted him to move it. He only needed enough strength.

Another half meter, his vision blurred.

Then the block crossed the line.

[TASK COMPLETED.]

Antony immediately dropped to one knee while he laughed breathlessly.

"Done."

"Remain conscious."

He looked offended.

"I was planning to."

A tone sounded.

[STRENGTH TASK RECORDED.]

Then another instruction appeared.

[REACTION TASK PREPARING.]

He stared in disbelief.

"No."

The examiner ignored him.

A launcher emerged.

Antony looked at it, then at his own body. His male form had gotten him through the strength task but under pressure, he wasn’t moving quickly enough.

This was different; speed mattered now.

He finally smiled.

"Fine."

His energy shifted and the transformation began. His body changed; shoulders narrowing, frame becoming lighter, muscle distribution shifting and his center of gravity altered.

The process took several seconds but under pressure, those seconds felt much longer.

The display detected the change.

[REGISTERED TRANSFORMATION ABILITY ACTIVE.]

[CORE FLUCTUATION WITHIN PERMITTED RANGE.]

Antony, or rather, Antony’s female configuration, straightened.

The pressure still hurt, and strength was lower but movement suddenly felt different. It was lighter and faster.

The launcher fired.

He moved sideways.

The projectile missed but immediately afterwards, a second launcher activated.

He ducked and the shot passed overhead.

Third.

He twisted, it grazed his shoulder.

[REACTION HIT: PARTIAL.]

He stumbled, the pressure nearly driving him down.

"Keep moving."

"Very helpful!"

Another projectile fired. He narrowly dodged, then another.

Five seconds... Ten.

His transformation had cost a lot of energy. His reserves were dropping. He couldn’t keep this up indefinitely.

A final projectile launched from behind. He head turned but it was too late. He threw himself sideways but the padded round clipped his leg.

He fell.

The alarm sounded. For one horrifying moment, Antony thought he’d failed, then the pressure completely vanished.

He lay there, breathing heavily. The absence of pressure felt so strange that his body almost didn’t know what to do with itself.

A message appeared.

[FINAL PRESSURE STAGE COMPLETE.]

Antony stared at the words, then rolled onto his back.

"Beautiful." ℯℯ𝑙.

The examiner’s voice came through.

"Candidate 1472, stand and proceed through the exit."

He raised one hand.

"Give me ten seconds."

"Five."

"You’re all terrible people."

"Four."

He sat up.

"Fine."

His legs felt unstable when he stood up, but they worked. Rebecca emerged from her lane almost simultaneously. She looked worse, much worse, but she had made it.

Antony stared at her before saying whatever came to his mind.

"Soul Capacity eleven."

She glared at him.

"Don’t."

"You survived fifteen."

"Briefly."

"Still."

She wiped sweat from her forehead.

"How did you do?"

Antony gestured toward himself. He was still in female form.

Rebecca eyes widened as she finally came to terms with what she was looking at.

He smiled.

"Surprise."

She looked from his face to the candidate number.

"1472?"

"Still me."

"You’re Antony?"

"Still me."

She stared for another few seconds.

"That’s your transformation."

"Yes."

She slowly nodded.

"Okay. That’s actually impressive."

He placed a hand over his chest.

"Finally. Recognition."

She walked past him.

"You’re still annoying."

He followed smiling.

The exit corridor led into a large recovery yard. Water stations lined one side. Medical personnel checked candidates whose core readings had approached unsafe levels.

Antony accepted a bottle and drank nearly half in one attempt. Around them, conversations were starting.

"How far did you get?"

"Thirteen."

"I failed at eleven."

"My core destabilized."

"Did anyone finish fifteen?"

"A few."

He looked around.

There were far fewer candidates here than had entered. Not all were eliminated; several examination groups hadn’t gone yet, but the mood had changed.

Nobody was bragging about Soul Capacity anymore. A fifteen had failed before reaching fifteen while an eleven had survived pressure equivalent to fifteen.

Antony smiled toward Rebecca.

"Your brother warned you about this?"

"Not specifically."

"What did he say?"

"That the academy likes finding out whether the number on your file actually means anything."

He laughed.

"Your brother could have been more specific."

She took a drink.

"He said knowing would defeat the point."

Before Antony could answer, a large results display activated above the yard.

Candidates turned.