"You can sign the contract if you want to participate, but know that you might die." The head butler's assertive voice reverberated across the field.
Some couldn't believe their ears.
"Die?"
"We're here to apply for a job. Not to die!"
"This is crazy!"
"We just applied to be a Servant!"
The murmurs turned into roars and finally devolved into yells.
Varian stayed silent at the irony.
Didn't these people see those hover cars turning into ash?
A few people just died because they tried to trespass after the time limit was reached.
Do you expect a 'safe' test from such a clan?
"Take it or leave it." The old man was imposing. From boo's info, the old man was a Level 8 Gravity Awakener.
But he was very old and was nearing his death. The succession for the next head butler was already going on in full swing.
'So Micheal Astor would try his hardest to build a team of strong servants. If some of these servants could be promoted to third class or second class butlers, his own chances would increase.'
Varian signed the contract like most others.
Only a few hundred people chose to quit. A hover train arrived and picked them up in no time.
"Three thousand and one standing." The head butler in the holograph nodded.
Were these three thousand + Varian stupid?
No.
Becoming a servant in the Astor Clan itself was a high-paying job.
But their ultimate goal was to become a butler and change their surname, thus joining of Astor Clan's side branches.
If they performed exceptionally, they could join the main clan.
Even if they did only so-so, at least their children and grandchildren would have an opportunity to make it.
The possibility of his or her descendant being groomed in Astor Clan's main branch was too tempting. Then their own status would also rise.
Of course, only a few, less than 1% were able to jump from a servant to a side branch member.
But that only increased the allure of the prospect.
If not for the strict requirements, there would be hundreds of thousands of candidates flooding the field.
"The prerequisite is being an eartling of Level 2 and less than 25 years old." The Head butler repeated and his eyes scanned the field.
Even with the harsh entry conditions, if they allowed humans from other planets, there would at least be ten times more applicants.
But they didn't want servants from other planets. They could only verify the detailed information of servants from Earth. This was related to security, and it was a criterion Astor Clan would never compromise on.
"The lowest one is early level 2, advanced only a few days ago."
Everyone followed the head butler's gaze and saw a teenage girl stammering. "I-I advanced y-yesterday."
Varian shook his head. 'This old man is playing mysterious. He just collected the data and maybe scanned our apparent levels with a star treasure.'
The old man continued. "The oldest one is 29 years and 364 days old. Should I say you're incredibly lucky?"
The man in question, who actually looked to be in his 30s, nodded with a straight face. "I've always believed in my luck."
"Then why are you still at peak Level 2?" a candidate asked.
"Haha!"
"Luck my ass! You're just shameless."
"Get out!"
The crowd sneered at the man, but he didn't seem to hear anything.
'Master, master, look at him. He got a very thick skin.' Boo complained to Varian.
'I got real manufactured skin on top of my real skin. So my skin is thicker.' Varian countered.
'...is this what they call a dad joke?'
Or at least he tried to counter.
'...Boo, you are not cute anymore.' Varian replied in a grim tone.
'Boo! No! Your joke is actually good. Hahahaha! I can't stop laughing.' Boo laughed with all its might.
Varian's face grimaced.
'Hohoho! My stomach hurts! M-Master, y-your joke is too funn-y… hahaha! I can't even speak anymore.'
Even when he was stabbed in the chest, Varian didn't feel this much pain.
He controlled himself and said. 'Please stop it. Besides, you don't have a stomach.'
'Was I found? Sorry, master. I will try harder next time.' Boo's voice returned to normal.
Varian clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.
He wanted to swear at the heavens. No. He wanted to slaughter the heavens!
But alas, he was too weak at the moment. He'd have to settle for beating up with someone. Anyone.
"—We will release the magic beasts, survive for three hours and you'll pass the first round."
Hearing those comforting words, Varian's eyes shone as he glanced at the mountains in the distance.
After him, the few level 3 applicants also glanced in the same direction.
Most of the applicants were Level 2 and were a bit slow in sensing the change.
Of course, there was no Level 4 in the crowd.
Younger than 25 years and Level 4?
That candidate could might as well become an adventurer or an army officer. They would retire as a Level 5 or 6 and live a comfortable life.
Even the Level 3s present had the same option. But they were more confident in joining Astor Clan and climbing to the top.
"Start!" the head butler said.
A three-hour count down kicked off in the hologram.
Crack!
Like glass was shattered, the mountains collapsed, raising a mushroom of dust.
From the dust, thousands of Level 2 magic beats stormed towards the applicants.
As many Level 2 applicants ran for it and only a few Level 3 applicants preparing themselves to fight, Varian channeled the space power in his body and smiled at the incoming horde.
"Right in time."
Shuaa!
*** *** ***
In a large room a hundred miles away, the butlers were seated across a table as they stared at the multiple holograms showing the front lines of the horde.
The head butler, Kaito, observed the holograms for a while before turning his gaze to the five butlers on either side of the table.
They were all first class butlers, and potential candidates for his position. His task was to train a suitable head butler.
The strongest among the five was a mid-Level 7, yet the most favored was Micheal Astor.
With his new talent, he could very well reach Level 8 before the rest.
"Who do you think will win?" Kaito asked with a smile.
The applicants were told to just survive. But that only passes them to the next round and, at best, would make them a servant.
But would a head butler really supervise servants' selection? Nope.
Recently, Shadow Guardians killed a lot of their butlers. So this servant selection was actually a selection of third class butlers.
But a butler must be way more competent than any servant.
'A true butler must always go above and beyond what was necessary and strive for perfection.' This was Kaito's motto and he lived by it.
The five butlers knew this too well. So they thought for a while before answering one by one whilst pointing out their picks on a hologram.
"The red shirt guy in fire path. Even though he seems only mid-Level 2, he already killed 25 beasts. After 6 months of training, he could even be promoted to a third class butler. "
"I think the pony girl is actually a good candidate. She stole the kills using her space powers. We need shrewd people. She can become a butler in 5 months."
"The katana guy with his morpher powers…."
"The mind path girl is the best pick…"
They expressed their picks—these were the butlers they would pick under their own wing.
As these five first class butlers compete to be a head butler, these newbies would strengthen their respective faction.
The head butler, Kaito, listened to their opinions with a calm face before turning to Micheal.
But without a care for their intense discussion, Micheal Astor, the most promising candidate for head butler, was staring at the screen on his comm!
"Micheal?"
He didn't respond.
"Micheal!" Kaito raised his voice.
"Huh!" Micheal gasped as he looked at Kaito with annoyance.
But he hurriedly adjusted his composure and looked at his competitors with disdain.
"Your picks are all trash."
"Huh???" the four butlers were furious and were about to ridicule him when Kaito raised his hand.
"Then what about your choice?" Kaito asked with curiosity. "I have watched all the holograms showing the frontline and there is none better."
The four butlers nodded and glared daggers at Micheal.
Micheal chortled and said. "That guy is not in the frontline."
"So he ran to the rear and is killing other applicants or what?"
"Is that the best you could come up with, Micheal?"
Micheal ignored their remarks and smirked. "When everyone is dealing with the frontline, this guy actually teleported to the back."
A hologram popped up.
The four butlers, including Kaito, gasped at the scene.
"This…"
"Madman!"
A young man chased behind the horde!
A blue light shone from his heart and covered his body, showing his path a Morpher. His physical powers seemed to be somewhere around peak of Level 2 and early Level 3.
At the same time, he used his space powers in tandem, as his sword danced under the sun.
With each strike, a head rolled down.
With each thrust, a body collapsed.
With each punch, his smile grew wider.
The butlers started at Varian, now disguised as Nova Reeves, in utter shock.
Micheal smiled proudly. "This guy has already killed around 50 magic beasts. Don't even ask me if that's possible. He is terrible at using sword and even better at using his fist.
If not for triple checking his info, I'd have believed we got a spy."
Far away, as Varian slaughtered to his heart's content, Boo transmitted the conversation.
"—I'd have believed we got a spy."
"You have no idea, really"