Chapter 409:Evaluation.

Chapter 409: 409:Evaluation.

Evaluation Complex Two stood on the western side of the central academy grounds, a massive facility divided between testing chambers, combat halls and observation rooms. Dozens of special-admission students were already arriving.

Silver counted more than he’d expected. They were from elite families, contractor families, sponsored talents,military recommendations, research programs, and tare abilities.

Not everyone looked impressive but everyone had gotten through Alpha Three’s gates somehow.

An evaluator met them inside.

"Identification."

He presented his card.

The scanner flashed.

SILVER RUDDINGTON

FIRST YEAR

DIRECT ADMISSION

SOUL CAPACITY: 7

Ravenna went next.

The evaluator paused slightly when her information appeared.

RAVENNA ARKLAND

FIRST YEAR

DIRECT ADMISSION

SOUL CAPACITY: 19

His eyes lifted, Only briefly, then professional neutrality returned.

"Testing Hall Three."

They entered.

Rows of marked positions covered the floor. Silver immediately recognized the pressure equipment from Antony’s description.

Ravenna did too.

"So this is what they used yesterday."

Silver looked around.

"Apparently."

An instructor stood before the group.

"Your first assessment is Soul Pressure and Core Control."

The doors sealed.

"General-entry candidates were evaluated up to standardized pressure fifteen."

Several special-admission students smiled.

The instructor noticed.

"For this group, that limit has been removed."

The smiles disappeared.

Silver’s eyebrow rose.

Ravenna looked interested.

"Pressure will increase until you withdraw, destabilize, fail the assigned control task or evaluators terminate your assessment."

The instructor looked across them.

"Your Soul Capacity is already known." His gaze briefly passed Ravenna. "We are not interested in numbers printed on your profile."

The pressure chamber activated and a low vibration moved through the floor.

Silver felt his core respond.

"Positions."

He stepped onto his marker. Ravenna took the one beside him.

They looked at each other before she smiled.

"Don’t embarrass yourself."

He laughed softly.

"You’ve become competitive."

"I’ve always been competitive."

"With me?"

"Especially with you."

He rolled his shoulders while smirking. The remaining soreness protested slightly but ignored it.

The display illuminated.

[SOUL PRESSURE: 5]

The pressure descended.

Silver waited and waited, his expression slowly becoming strange. After Death Row Valley, pressure five felt almost insulting.

He glanced sideways.

Ravenna was equally comfortable.

She noticed him looking.

"What?"

Silver smiled.

"Nothing, you look beautiful."

"Stop it," she said, her lips curving into a smile.

The display changed.

[SOUL PRESSURE: 7]

More weight pressed against his body and core, still nothing worth worrying about. The first control task appeared.

Three metal spheres rose.

[MAINTAIN CORE ENERGY COATING.]

[MANIPULATE ALL TARGETS.]

Silver extended his hand and placed it on the controls. Power moved from his core and the spheres smoothly lifted.

Ravenna’s rose beside his. The instructor watched from behind reinforced glass.

Pressure increased.

[SOUL PRESSURE: 9]

Several students began showing strain.

He rotated the spheres; one clockwise and two counterclockwise, while adjusting the energy coating across his body without allowing it to fluctuate.

Ravenna was doing almost the same thing.

Pressure eleven arrived, then thirteen.

Students began dropping but Silver’s breathing remained even.

The instructor looked at his readings, then looked again.

Ravenna stood beside him, hair barely moving beneath the artificial pressure, eyes focused on the spheres.

Pressure fifteen.

The level that had nearly brought Antony to his knees.

Silver felt it now, actual resistance.

His core compressed, his body grew heavier and his concentration required effort. But compared to trying to maintain Spatial Distortion while nearly empty underground, this was very manageable.

One of the metal spheres dipped.

He corrected it immediately.

Ravenna’s never moved.

Silver glanced sideways.

She caught him, a tiny smile appearing on her lips. His narrowed his eyes, she was clearly trying to distract him.

If she wanted competitive then competitive she would be getting.

The display changed again.

The instructors didn’t stop the test.

[SOUL PRESSURE: 17]

The chamber became quiet.

Several remaining students gasped; one dropped to a knee and another lost control of his spheres. An alarm rang and he was removed.

Silver felt the pressure settle against his core. It was heavy and persistent. His Spatial Sense stirred instinctively.

He activated it.

[Spatial Sense Lv3 Activated]

The world around him became clearer.

The pressure didn’t disappear, but he could feel every fluctuation around his body, every movement of the spheres and every tiny shift in his own balance.

He adjusted.

Ravenna remained beside him still standing and controlling everything. He looked toward her and she looked toward him.

Neither spoke cause they didn’t need to.

The display changed.

[SOUL PRESSURE: 19]

A visible reaction moved through the observation room.

Ravenna’s registered capacity.

The known ceiling.

Silver felt the pressure slam into him. His knees bent slightly, his recovering ribs protested and his core compressed hard enough that maintaining output finally became difficult.

The three spheres trembled.

He inhaled, slow and controlled as he breath slowly evened out. He remembered what Antony had described.

Control.

He steadied the first sphere, then the second, then the third. Beside him, Ravenna’s breathing had finally changed, not dramatically, but Silver noticed.

Her eyes sharpened.

Power moved through her core with remarkable precision. The pressure corresponding to nineteen pushed against her.

Her registered maximum, and Ravenna Arkland remained standing despite how much it strained her core.

The instructor behind the glass leaned forward.

Silver smiled despite the pressure. She saw it. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

"What?"

Her voice was strained but steady.

His smile widened.

"You’re showing off."

She stared at him before rolling her eyes.

"You’re talking."

"Apparently."

"Then the pressure isn’t high enough."

He almost laughed.

The instructor’s voice came through the chamber speakers.

"Candidates Ruddington and Arkland." Both looked forward. "Conversation during active pressure assessment is discouraged."

He nodded.

"Understood."

She waited two seconds, then quietly said, "Idiot."

Silver heard her and smiled.

The display above them flickered.

Nineteen remained.

Then another message appeared.

[EXTENDED PRESSURE EVALUATION AUTHORIZED.]

Ravenna’s eyes narrowed. Silver looked upward.

The academy hadn’t found his limit, and Ravenna had just reached the number that was supposed to represent hers.

Behind the reinforced observation glass, several instructors were no longer casually reviewing their tablets.

They were watching the two of them directly.