CHAPTER 59: 24.5

If it were just the speed test that Nick had scored so abnormally high on, then Beast Slayer could at least give it a pass.

But after Nick took the Strength test next...

...He could no longer hold his shock and suspicion back.

***

"Twenty four point five..." Nick muttered under his breath, in clear disbelief.

"Twenty four point five..."

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Everything he knew and believed in told him that it was impossible to be like this!

’24.5 BF... That’s basically on par with my speed, what the fuck is happening!?’

Nick was practically in hysterics after seeing the results of his strength test.

At first, he just thought that his abnormal results from his speed test were the result of his speed augmentation. He considered that maybe the speed augmentation was just even better than he originally thought, even though it was already overpowered for a Beast Armament of just Awakened rank.

But after seeing the result of his strength test, where he was placed up against an incrementally challenging humanoid bots that increased with strength with each level, he knew that couldn’t be the case.

The accuracy of the data obtained through the strength test was even more accurate than the speed test, so his results couldn’t have possibly been altered or faked — or just getting plain lucky with the procedural generation of the environments, which was also something that Beast Slayer had considered at first.

After all, there were an infinite number of possibilities, which meant there were an innumerable amount of ways that the speed test could provide results that were higher or lower than expected.

Which, although sometimes portrayed results that didn’t accurately reflect one’s real speed, was more accurate when considering real world situations.

Since, just like with the test, an infinite number of things could occur that could alter one’s speed.

But with the strength test, there was no such thing.

It was simple, and the bots that one faced were the same strength for everyone that took the test.

It was nigh impossible to fake, unless one took performance enhancing drugs beforehand, which everyone knew was just plain stupid.

What was the point of damaging one’s body just for a minor boost to their strength, just to look a little stronger in a test?

Nick was left astounded at his own results, not even knowing what to do with himself.

Those results basically placed him in the top 1% of War Beast sanctuary, and probably high up in the entire first layer of the Beast Domain as well!

It was just insane!

His combined BF between the two tests, which would be his overall result, would be around 27, although his real BF should be 25.

But still, even with his real strength being lower, that still placed him amongst Altered who were at the pinnacle with a Mutant Soul Star, having near or already maxed out Soul Seeds!

That was just insane to think about!

Nick didn’t even have 10% of the number of Mutant Soul Seeds as they did!

This caused him to reevaluate his whole plans for his future development.

No way in hell would he have even considered himself to be at this level of strength before taking these tests today.

And it would have been a while before he did find out either if he didn’t!

He attributed the ease he was able to take down the Awakened Sabertooth Wolves and even the Mutant Lamboda Beast to the sheer brutality of his Radiant Beast Armaments, but now that he knew his own strength, perhaps it was the combination of the two!

But, with only a single idea for what could even be remotely close to causing this, Nick now had a linear goal.

He wanted to set back out and hunt another Lamboda Beast, before coming back to test his strength and speed once again.

Only then could he find out whether his theory was correct or not...

***

Beast Slayer, who had long moved over to the control room above the testing area with silent intensity, finally moved his gaze away from the display in front of him.

Confusion and concern still evident on his face.

A slender woman next to him, nervously addressed him.

"Sir... you saw the results. It wasn’t a glitch, you’ve already mad me re-run the diagnostics three times!"

"I know." Beast Slayer said with a voice like cooled iron.

"And that’s what worries me..." He muttered under his breath, not speaking directly to the slender woman.

Contrary to Beast Slayer, the slender woman was utterly confused as to why Beast Slayer was so interested in Nick.

To her, he just seemed like another Mutant Altered on the verge of ascending to the second layer. Nothing about him struck her as out of the ordinary or peculiar, especially after she watched Kye, Beast Slayer’s younger brother, produce such record breaking results in the speed test earlier that day.

...After watching his performance, even Beast Slayer’s own results seemed ordinary in comparison!

Seeing that neither the slender woman, nor the diagnostics systems could figure out whether Nick’s results were fake, Beast Slayer could only force himself to accept them for what they are — real.

Which honestly worried him a little.

Dido was already his biggest obstacle in the War Beast Sanctuary, overpowering him with her strength and higher potential, and monopolising most of the nearby discovered Radiant Beasts before he could even catch wind of them, which slowed his progress even further!

If it weren’t for Dido’s interference in his advancement, he wouldn’t be so far behind his little brother right now!

After all, Kye was the sole leader of his Sanctuary in his part of the Beast Domain, and nobody there could oppose him even if they wanted to, due to his overwhelming power at the pinnacle of the first layer.

The only thing Beast Slayer had going for him was his gang, the Radiant Slayers, constantly on the hunt and lookout for any Radiant Beasts that have managed to escape the War Beast’s own scouts.

If it weren’t for that, he would be forced to sit back and halt his progress while he waited for Dido to complete her Soul Star and advance to the next layer...

That would set him back by over a year, which he could never accept!