Gustav watched as the system made its way across the galaxies towards the milky way. Another notification rang out once again the moment it arrived above Earth.
[Suitable Lifeform Located]
Swooooshhh!
It dived down into the Earth's stratosphere, using what was left of its energy to bypass Earth's infiltration security system.
It dived down across the dark of night, and beneath was a lit-up metropolitan city.
Gustav watched as the system closed in on a mountain range within a forest where a boy standing at the edge of a cliff could be seen.
[Suitable Lifeform Spotted]
Bang!
The glowing silver ball slammed into the mountain, halving it in the process.
Shhrroouummm!
It shrunk into a small glowing red light and flew into the mouth of the unconscious blonde-haired kid who was falling from the mountain.
"Hmm, so this was how you found me," Gustav voiced out with a look of contemplation as his vision returned back to normal.
He could see the inside of the tent again. The footage didn't feel like a "footage." It felt more like he lived through that experience.
'500 years, hmm,' Gustav couldn't even begin to imagine how lonely that would feel for a person to experience. However, the system wasn't a person, so he didn't think it was affected by that.
"What exactly are you? And how are you able to grant me abilities," Gustav asked.
("It's part of my program as a parasitic creature... I need to find that place,") The system replied without going into detail.
"Where were you going?" Gustav asked.
("You'll find out the day after tomorrow. My program currently has a quest pending for you,") The system replied.
"A quest? What quest?" Gustav asked, but the system didn't reply.
He called out to the system repeatedly, but it didn't bother trying to reply.
It finally went back to ignoring Gustav.
'So, a quest... It definitely has to do with the place it was looking for,' Gustav said internally.
'I guess I just have to be patient till the day after tomorrow,' Gustav stated internally as he began to analyze everything he had seen today.
Everything that had happened since the beginning of the MBO test phase was very much unexpected.
Gustav didn't think he would get so many rewards and also nearly meet his end here.
This was a more practical place for him to put his abilities to use since he hardly used every bit of his power.
He had never displayed all of his abilities before in a battle, but here he had to do that more than once.
Currently, it was almost midnight, and the rest also arrived back.
They had managed to acquire a few grandstones during their six hours search.
Gustav was unbothered about the issue of grandstones. He didn't have so many with him, but he remembered the number of points he already amassed so he decided not to sweat. Instead, he spent the rest of the time channeling his bloodline and analysing his current strength.
'I still don't know how to use Yarki. I don't have enough information about the system. I don't know how the quest it's preparing will clash with my goals... Too many unknowns,' Gustav had a lot on his mind.
"Hey Gustav, let's have dinner together," Angy arrived in front of his tent and called out.
"Is this everything you have to report from the time you spent there?"
Within the room where the higher-ups gathered, Great commander Shion asked Gradier Xanatus, who was currently standing on the opposite side of the table.
"Yes, great commander," Gradier Xanatus stated with a look of certainty.
"It would seem the research team sent there didn't conduct a proper investigation leading to this blunder," Great commander Shion's voice suddenly became very deep, and the entire atmosphere was plunged into silence.
They knew that whenever he started talking like this, it meant he was already pissed off.
The other commanders who were against sending an officer to the ruins shrunk back in fear. Great commander Shion wasn't one to forget situations like this, so they knew he would definitely find a suitable punishment for them later.
"Had the other four been here, some of you would have lost your rank already," Great commander Shion voiced out.
He didn't need to mention names since those who were against it knew themselves.
Great commander Shion sighed in relief before leaning against his chair.
"Who knew the energy that was lost fifty years back had already grown a sentience and empowered a being that hated earthlings," Grand commander Shion stated.
"According to your report, had this thing been successful in hatching its power level, would it have shot straight past the serial rank?" Great Commander Shion asked.
"Yes, according to what I sensed, this is so... It made use of the crystal energy to achieve this. This is why there is barely any energy left within the crystal," Gradier Xanatus answered.
"If this is so, that means those candidates are saviours not only to themselves but to the rest of the promising candidates participating in the final phase," Great commander Shion said with a pleased tone.
"We have to reward them properly," He added.
By the side, the rest of the commanders nodded. No one dared to refute Great commander Shion's statement after what had happened so far.
Yung Jo and miss Aimee were also sitting on opposite ends of each other.
Yung Jo had a smile of defeat on his face while miss Aimee kept staring at him with an aloof expression.
"Aimee, you have truly trained a talent," Great commander Shion turned to face miss Aimee and voiced out.
Miss Aimee didn't respond to his words. Her poker face was still on.
"With this, the Test phase comes to an end. I want every single candidate evacuated from the ruins and brought back to base in the next thirty minutes. I will have a talk with the other four, so we can make plans to deal with the mess the research team caused." Great commander Shion voiced out and stood to his feet.
The other commanders also stood to their feet and gave a kind of military salute since this showed respect.
All, except miss Aimee. Even Yung Jo had to do it since he was literally a part of them.
Miss Aimee just stood to her feet and walked out along with Commander Shion.
The rest of the commanders weren't surprised. She was well known for not giving a crap about anyone regardless of their standing.
Yung Jo watched as Miss Aimee disappeared through the door with Commander Shion.
'She really ruined my plan,' Hung Jo said internally.
'Let's see if I can get him to release some more detailed information,' Hung Jo turned to stare at Gradier Xanatus, who was conversing with some other commanders.
It was already midnight within the ruins.
However, the participants were being guided out of the ruins by armed MBO officials.
The test phase had officially come to an end now, so they were being transported to a safe lodge.
Apart from MBO officials in uniforms, some officials were also equipped with some technological device that scanned each of the participants as they left through the entrance.
More officials in laboratory outfits and research devices kept arriving within the ruins.
Most of the participants wondered why there would be a need for all these, but only Gustav knew precisely why.
Gustav arrived outside the ruins with Angy and the rest, where numerous aircraft could be seen.
'Finally, it ends,' Gustav said internally with a sigh of relief.
They had only spent four days within the ruins, but it felt way longer to a lot of people.
"Gustav, Angy, E.E, Falco, Maltida and Glade, this way please," An official dressed in orange and black uniform like the supervisors they met within the tower walked up to them while speaking.
"A special aircraft has been prepared for you six," She said with a smile while gesturing at them and pointing towards a silver and blue coloured aircraft by the side.
Angy and the others stared at each other in confusion while Gustav wasted no time following behind her.