It was morning when I arrived at the guild and by the time I spoke to one of the receptionists, they directed me where I should go. I didn't have much to prepare for, so I waited until I saw a person I immediately recognized walk in.

"Rafael, I'm glad you're here early, while Wilson is on his way, I'd like to talk to you for a moment"

It was Maximus who entered the room, but my eyebrow shot up at the last thing he said.

"What's happening?"

He walked over and took out a tablet to presumably jot down a few things.

"Relax, it's just to check some things, I'll explain briefly, originally an artifact is used to easily measure a person's Rank, but in your case, we will have to use older methods, specifically speaking… we are going to measure your capabilities one by one through comparisons, and that's why I brought you to this special room that has an arena, do you understand?"

Well, if that's the case, then there's no time to waste.

"Very well, what do you need to know?"

Maximus then took out a small box from his space bracelet and placed it on the table.

"First of all, no matter what, it is necessary to know what you can do with mana and how far your limit is, count as much as you can, here is a mana stone in case you need to make a demonstration"

I pull out an obsidian-colored stone and place it on the table within my reach.

Well, from the stone I could sense mana, although it was pretty mediocre compared to what I could sense in the environment.

I explained the extent of my ability, taking the opportunity to try something I was curious about that would cause Maximus to raise an eyebrow.

He was expecting him to draw and use the mana from the stone, but he ended up doing the opposite.

Don't draw mana from the stone and don't use it either, instead take mana from the environment to imbue more and more mana, there came a point where the stone started to glow to the point where it started to crack and turn to dust.

It was not very difficult for me since at this point I had practiced it before. I also explained what I did with the [Energetic Bullet] and how I somehow replicated the skill.

"Interesting, that's not something you can see every day, is there anything else?"

I answered with a shake of my head and shrugged.

"I understand, let's move on to the next..."

After that, he took out another stone just like it, but this time with a strange energy that he hadn't felt before.

"Well, the following is the same question, but this time with the demonic mana."

Hey…

Demon mana?

It wasn't a problem for me to explain what I could do, or rather... what I couldn't do with it, the point was that I could feel a noticeable difference between what came from the stone and Nihila's energy.

This 'Demonic Mana' was more like mana corrupted with demonic energy, that is, making the comparison with the energy that Nihila emanated where she was certain of her demonic nature.

With a serious expression, I told him bluntly.

"This looks like a lesser version of demonic energy."

Maximus's expression became just as serious as mine and with a frown, he asked me.

"What are you talking about? It's the same thing that the energy detector found in your body not long ago."

It may be true, but what I feel is different.

This has some demon energy, but it's almost all mana. It's more like water mixed with sugar and I can tell that.

"I can tell it's mana with demonic energy, but it's not pure demonic energy."

Picking up the stone and trying to channel its contents, I realized that it was identical to mana, but was incredibly lighter in comparison.

“Speaking honestly, it's the first time I've met this 'demonic mana', I could say it's mana, but lighter and easier to manipulate”

Maximus who was contemplating my observations in silence asked me a couple of questions.

“Is there such a thing as pure demonic energy? Does the demonic mana serve you in any way?”

Although I have no problem satisfying his curiosity, I don't know much about it since my doubts were the same.

"I can say that it exists, I have already felt it before and if I can explain it in any way, I would say that it is extremely heavy, unlike this Demonic Mana. I have no idea how these two were mixed to give rise to this 'Demon mana', but…"

When I still hadn't finished speaking, I noticed a detail when channeling this demonic mana and stopped in my tracks.

This was a real surprise to me, the point is that I was able to absorb it into my body. At first, it was not easy but complex, but it got easier and faster the more I did it. But it wasn't all...

Although it was for a short time, I could feel a roar inside my body as if it demanded to be released which made me tingle.

If I could explain it in any other way, it would be as follows… The moment the demonic mana entered my body, it stimulated the demonic energy that lived within me and gave me a strange feeling of power.

I got really excited when I could feel some control over the demonic energy inside my body, however, it didn't last long.

"Boy, are you okay?"

Maximus was looking at me confused by everything he had witnessed. And rightfully so, I had been strangely quiet, so I shook my head and told him.

"I'm fine, it's just that I just discovered something new"

And just at that moment, someone knocked on the door but without waiting for an answer he entered.

-Knock Knock knock…

“Wow, I didn't think it would start without me”

Wilson entered with a smile, and further back another unexpected figure entered. It was Veronica.

"Sorry for the delay, some things happened, but it doesn't matter, I'm here"

"Like always, being late for every meeting... Then he asks me why I bother"

It seems that Wilson's comment managed to irritate Maximus very successfully, Wilson and Veronica came to where we were.

"By the way, I wasn't expecting your daughter here too, what's the occasion?"

I have the same doubt, it seemed to me that Veronica had a calm aspect.

"Ah, she just wanted to take a look at Rafael's skills, they had a misunderstanding before and she wants to clear up any doubts, I hope you don't mind Rafael"

I shrugged, I don't mind when I decided to go to that dungeon, I don't see the need to hide that now either.

After that, she went to one of the chairs in the room alone to observe everything, the room was very large and had a fighting arena similar to the training room of that mansion, and I took advantage of that to talk about the demonic mana thing…

I explained to Maximus and Wilson what happened about that, they both looked at each other for a while, but then they said not to worry and we'll focus on the tests.

This would be simple, they would put me to fight against 2 dolls of a specific rank at the same time, once they were defeated I would have to fight against 2 more of a higher rank, and so on until I was defeated. Maximus explained that this was the old way of measuring a person's rank, he also detailed the points that had to be taken into account for the evaluation, and using my old identification card he pointed them out to me.

…  …  …

Rank: E+

Strength: E+

Agility: E+

Mana Capacity: G+

Durability: A-

Charm: B-

Luck: G

…  …  …

That were the stats on my card that was previously set manually by Wilson and Lucas, although it was really mostly by Wilson since Lucas was almost always busy, and yes, it was quite uneven, but it was the most accurate.

He also commented that no matter how old the method was, even the government of the republic also used it to publicize its youth through all the media, the latter he said with an expression of annoyance.

The thing about all of that is that he already had experience with such a method and it was still valid for major organizations throughout the Human domain.

After several minutes, Wilson took a seat next to his daughter in the spectator stands, he had nothing to do for this evaluation so he simply stayed with his daughter. Maximus on the other hand arranged everything in the arena which was incredibly large and protected inside a dome, of course with the help of his employees.

"Everything is ready boy, the first round will be 2 opponents in G rank, it starts in 10 seconds"

It was what I heard from the speaker inside the dome, I was in the arena with a sword that was provided to me for the test, and they told me that the sword that I would use was also a tool to measure my rank such as strength and for that reason, I let Nihila in Wilson's care.

"Good…"

Was what I said as I placed the sword in front of me and leaned on it with both hands like a cane.

5, 4, 3…

2…

1…

After the count, two gates opened and two dolls came out of them at full speed, their target was clearly me.

I didn't move at all and just watched as they came just steps away from my location, their speed isn't a problem and in fact, I have something on my mind.

The two of them came to my left and right, their swords successfully stabbing into my chest as a final thrust, but beyond that, I didn't even flinch.

Seconds passed and the dolls did not move from their positions as if they had reached their limit of what is allowed, my next action was to place my hands on her breasts and give her a simple push.

It all happened incredibly fast and the moment they felt the force of my push they went flying until they crashed into the walls of the dome as if they had fallen from a 15-story building, then I removed the two swords stuck in my chest and nail them to the floor at my sides. My wounds healed as quickly as I took off my swords and then with a big smile I spoke loud enough to be heard.

"Only 2 G rank opponents... so send the E-rank ones or I think I'll get bored."