Chapter 413:Interview.

Chapter 413: 413:Interview.

He’d expected this.

"I can’t."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

He continued.

"My original Soul Capacity evaluation was seven. I’ve undergone changes since awakening, but I don’t have an updated capacity measurement."

Technically true.

"What changes?"

"My core has developed."

"Through beast integration?"

"Partially."

"Awakening stones?"

He paused.

Careful.

"I’ve encountered unusual opportunities," he carefully said.

The woman watched him.

"That’s vague."

"It’s also the most accurate answer I’m comfortable giving without understanding everything myself."

The third officer looked toward the first, nobody pushed further... yet.

The first officer changed direction.

"You survived underground alone."

"Yes."

"Does that make you qualified to lead a squad?"

Silver answered immediately.

"No."

That surprised them.

"Why?"

"Because surviving alone and keeping other people alive are different things."

The officer leaned forward.

"Explain."

He thought of Ravenna, antony, larry, the betrayal, and the tunnel collapse.

"Alone, I can make decisions based on what I can survive. If I’m leading people, I have to make decisions based on what all of them can survive."

The woman asked, "And if they’re weaker than you?"

"Then pretending they aren’t would get them killed."

"What if slowing down for them jeopardizes the objective?"

"Then I’d need to know what the objective is worth."

"That’s evasive."

"No. It’s situational." He looked at her. "If the objective prevents thousands of people from dying, then there are situations where completing it matters more than bringing everyone back. If we’re transporting something replaceable and I’m sacrificing people because I don’t want to arrive twenty minutes late, then I’m a bad leader."

Silence filled the room. The first officer wrote something.

Silver’s interview continued. They asked about his spatial ability, resource consumption, firearm proficiency, his decision to protect the simulated casualty rather than maximize eliminations, his willingness to use barriers despite their high energy cost and his unusually low teleport frequency.

"Why not teleport more often?"

"Because walking is free."

The third officer smiled.

He continued.

"Teleportation is useful because it lets me do something normal movement can’t. If I use it every time I need to cross five meters, I’m wasting energy I’ll eventually need."

The interview ended.

Silver left.

Ravenna entered after him. Her interview lasted longer. Silver waited outside, almost impatiently.

Inside, she sat before the same three officers.

The woman began.

"Soul Capacity nineteen."

Her expression remained neutral.

"Yes."

"How often is that the first thing people mention when evaluating you?"

Ravenna hadn’t expected that.

"Non at all."

"What."

"My awakening was an independent awakening, I became privy if my a few weeks ago."

"Then let’s asked hypothetically how will you see it."

"Personally... I think... I didn’t earn it."

The officer’s eyebrow rose.

She continued.

"I was born with it and I was lucky. I trained everything else but my soul Capacity."

The first officer looked at her file.

"Swordsmanship."

"Yes."

"Why sword?"

"I like it."

"That’s all?"

Ravenna thought.

"No and yes. I choose the sword because my mother used the sword, it was a way of honouring and my element just happened to match my weapon choice. As you might all know, fire can become destructive very quickly. A sword forces me to control distance and timing. I can’t solve everything by releasing more power."

"Yet your combat style is aggressive."

"It is."

"Records also describe you as confrontational."

Ravenna smiled faintly.

"That’s probably true."

"Impulsive?"

"Sometimes."

"Violent?"

Ravenna’s smile disappeared.

"When necessary."

The woman looked at her.

"That’s a convenient answer."

"It’s still my answer."

"During today’s assessment you abandoned two active hostile targets to intercept one approaching your protected objective."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because the objective mattered more."

"You were struck from behind because of that choice."

"I know."

"Was it a mistake?"

Ravenna thought.

"Getting hit was."

The third officer almost smiled.

"Turning away wasn’t," she added.

"Why?"

"Because if I’d stayed with the first two, the third would’ve reached the target. I protected what I was supposed to protect and accepted a manageable hit."

"Manageable?"

"My guard absorbed part of it."

The officer nodded.

"Suppose it hadn’t."

"Then my decision would have been worse."

"Would it have been wrong?"

Ravenna paused.

"No. My execution would have been wrong."

That answer earned several notes. The questions continued.

It was not about Silver, her relationship and who she travelled with which she appreciated that.

They asked about her.

Her ambition, her temper, her fire, her sword, her judgment and her goals.

Finally the first officer asked, "Why do you want a leadership position?"

She leaned back slightly.

"I didn’t say I did."

The officers looked at her.

The woman asked, "You don’t?"

"I said I want to become stronger."

"Leadership consideration is part of this evaluation."

"I know."

"If selected?"

"I’ll do it."

"Why?"

Ravenna thought.

"Because if I’m responsible for people, I won’t do it badly."

The first officer studied her.

"Confidence."

"Yes."

"Arrogance?"

"Probably some."

The third officer laughed quietly.

Ravenna continued before they could ask.

"But I know being the strongest person in a group doesn’t automatically make me the best person to lead it."

The woman nodded.

"Who taught you that?"

Ravenna’s expression became thoughtful.

"Experience."

The first officer closed her file.

"Interview complete."

She stood.

"Thank you."

She left.

Silver was waiting. He pushed himself away from the wall the moment she appeared.

"How bad?"

She looked at him.

"They asked if I’m arrogant."

He smiled.

"What did you say?"

"Probably."

He laughed.

"That’s accurate."

She stepped closer.

"What did they ask you?"

"Why my Soul Capacity apparently doesn’t understand what seven means."

Ravenna’s expression sharpened.

"What did you tell them?"

"That my core changed."

"Did they believe you?"

"I don’t know."

He looked down at his hand, still no system. He tried once more... nothing. The synchronization was still running somewhere beyond his awareness.

He exhaled.

Ravenna noticed his change.

"Still nothing?"

"Still nothing."

"Then stop checking every five minutes."

"It’s been longer than five minutes."

"Silver."

"Fine."

Ravenna started walking toward the evaluation hall where they were supposed to wait for results.

Silver followed.

After a few steps, he looked at her.

"You did well."

She glanced over.

"You didn’t see most of it."

"I saw you leave smiling."

"Maybe I enjoyed hurting machines."

"That’s concerning."

"It should be."

He laughed.

Ravenna looked forward again.

She didn’t ask how she compared to him. Silver didn’t ask how she compared to anyone else.

They would know soon enough. And whatever number Alpha Three Academy eventually placed beside Ravenna Arkland name, it would belong to her.