In a dimly lit room made out of the same marble-like material as most of the buildings and even the protective wall over the city, three figures could be seen standing over a stone table. Holding a small paddle made out of the same marble stone as most of the buildings, Shaya was looking at Spencer. The 'device' Shaya and had a red semi-transparent crystalline gem embedded in it. Inside this gem, thick smoke was swirling as if it had its free will.

Raising the paddle above her arms, Shaya began her speech.

"As we have mentioned earlier, this is the Scanner. We use this device to measure the amount of Fasha energy present in your system. Normally we would only use the scanner once someone naturally awakened their own Fasha by using their own initial foundation of energy to open the path inside their bodies. That is what we call, an Awakening."

Sighing, Shaya exchanged glances with Cassa and continued with an indignant look.

"In your case, according to the Elder, somehow it is already active, completely bypassing the natural order. So, because you were granted access by the Elder, we will directly meas-"

"Is this the one, Shaya? The one, that supposedly beat your ass and matched even with the Elder?"

A male, arrogant tone interrupted Shaya. Turning around, Spencer saw a masculine figure, almost a head taller than Shaya standing in the doorway. It had a darker shade of skin with dark red patterns painted all over his bare chest. The patterns seemed to vaguely resemble a flame upon further inspections. On his almost completely bald head, he had one long black braid of hair going from the back of his head all the way down reaching his elbow level.

He had black irises with an orange hue going over them. His whole visage emitted an aura of might, pure power. Despite the smirk on his face, Spencer remained nonchalant, as he turned around after a brief look, facing Shaya again.

"Continue." he spoke, completely ignoring the newcomer.

Giving a deep frown to the guy, Shaya answered his question.

"Yes, Basir, he is the one. He goes by the name 'Spencer', the Elder granted him access to our texts inside the Champion's hall and to scan his Fasha. We are also instructed to teach him."

"Oh, so this is the beast that caused all that commotion outside…" Basir spoke with a contemptuous tone, looking at the platinum-haired figure in front of him. Looking how small he was compared to them he smirked.

"Is this really an adult? Look at his size? He is so tiny and fragile… Did the Elder go easy on him or something? I don't he could bet even the childr-"

"Shaya, continue with the measurement please." Spencer interrupted the man with the same calm tone. Although he sounded calm, his voice carried a cold chill that caused both ladies to shiver.

This chilling undertone, however, seemed to have been missed by the guy. Looking at the small alien in front of him with contempt, he arrogantly spoke.

"I'm ranked 7th on the Champions board, you better show some respect before I teach you a lesson you will never forget! Remember, I will not go EASY on you like how the Elder did!"

"Basir, please don't interrupt the session. I'm sure you can find some better use of your time than this." Shaya spoke with a clear voice.

Basir looked at the woman ranked just one rank higher than him with a frown on his face. He only gave a loud 'Tsk' and leaned against the wall, clearly showing no desire to leave.

"Fine, then stay…" Shaya sighed. Neither she nor Cassa liked him, he was always overly arrogant and confident in his power. He was talented, with a great affinity to fire. His rise to power was quick, and the only reason he couldn't overcome her in the ranking was that he was still relatively young, and hadn't spent much time cultivating his power.

Looking at Spencer, she continued where she was interrupted a few moments ago.

"We will use this scanner to measure your power level. Please stand still, we have to place the device over your chest."

Spencer silently nodded, as he stepped forward, closer to the girls. Shaya placed the device just above his heart, and using a tiny strand of her own energy, activated the device.

The red crystal in the middle of the paddle suddenly lit up, releasing a faint red hue accompanied by a barely audible buzzing sound. The smoke-like substance inside the crystal began to violently swirl, crashing into the crystal's surface.

The next moment, a tiny puff of this cloudy substance magically escaped only to enter Spencer's body through his pores. There was no feeling to it, if he wouldn't have witnessed it, he wouldn't have known that something entered him at all.

A few moments later, the swirling substance inside the crystal slowed down and released another puff that went straight to Shaya.

"230." Shaya spoke up a moment later, surprising Cassa and Basir as well. Meanwhile, Spencer looked at her with a questioning gaze.

"230 what? What does that mean?" He asked.

"230?! HAHAHAHAHA! Is this the incredible power that defeated the Elder and you Shaya?!" Upon hearing the number, Basir laughed out, clearly enjoying the situation.

"The children are stronger than this… this thing!" He continued.

"Did you read it right? Maybe the scanner made a mistake…" Cassa looked at Shaya with a concerned expression. She couldn't believe the results. How could someone with only this amount of energy defeat her friend and match evenly with the Elder?! If she wouldn't have witnessed it, she wouldn't believe it either.

Despite the ridiculing laughter, Shaya calmly repeated the verdict, looking at Spencer.

"You have 230 FE, or Fasha Energy in your body, Spencer."

"What does that mean? Is that good?" Spencer asked with a childlike, inquisitorial gaze, completely ignoring the guffaw in the background.

"It means you are a weak little shit, an embarrassment to the Champion's Hall. I don't even know why the Elder gave you permission… Even the children have better results at their first scans…" The guffawing voice in the background answered instead of Shaya.

Turning around once again, to match Basir's contemptuous gaze, Spencer gave a small smile and calmly spoke.

"So, you think I'm too weak, right?"

"You are pathetic, BEAST." Basir answered with the same contempt as before. Already knowing where this conversation will end, both girls' expressions soured. Shaya was about to speak up, but Spencer raised his right hand into the air, immediately silencing her.

"I see. So you think the Elder went easy on me right? What about Shaya? I also defeated her."

"Pfft, she is just a woman. How could he be strong? The only reason she is on the board is that the Elder favors her. Just a bitch, nothing else." He responded with the same contempt.

"You!" Shaya was trembling with anger upon hearing him but was once again silenced by Spencer.

With the same friendly smile, he spoke. His voice was calm, but once again, carried a chilling undertone.

"I see. Then why don't you show me your incredible might? I really want to experience it, to widen my knowledge. Since I am new here, please lead the way to a training room we could use." Spencer waved his arm towards the door, signaling Basir to lead the way.

The man still couldn't understand the meaning behind his words, and with a wide smirk on his face, he spoke, looking at Shaya.

"Shaya, I will teach this beast a lesson, since you clearly failed to do so.  Lead him to the main training hall, I want everyone to see what real power looks like."

With that said, he turned and quickly left the room. Before his figure vanished from the doorframe, however, he turned around and gave one last look at the fragile-looking Spencer as he smirked. After that, he left without saying a word.

As he left, Cassa and Shaya immediately stepped in front of Spencer, giving him an angry look.

"What?!" He asked, not understanding the reason behind their anger.

"You don't understand… 230 FE is just barely above the minimum to be considered an awakened. It is the absolute minimum, so Basir thinks you are weak and wants to humiliate you in front of all the other champions!" Cassa exclaimed angrily.

"And?! I still don't understand your problem." Spencer asked.

"Your power is clearly not at that level Spencer. We all know that you can match up to the Elder's power, using something other than our Fasha."

Looking towards the doorway, Shaya gave an audible sigh, before turning back, facing Spencer, this time with a concerned expression.

"Please, Spencer. I know that guy is annoying, but try not to kill him… Instead, you could use this opportunity to get a feel of how other warriors utilize their energies." 

"Yes, go easy on him, he is just an idiot!" Cassa added with the same angry expression. She clearly didn't like either of them and just wished to get through this encounter without casualties.

Listening to their pleas, Spencer didn't say anything just retained the same friendly smile. He already had some plans, and this duel just came as the perfect opportunity...

 

>> Read up to 40 chapters ahead of the curve (All the way to Chapter 92, which is still in the making!) 

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