The Ascension Age

This time, however, Aire's score was truly a wonder for his team. With a total of 786 points, his overall ranking instantly jumped to the top 5000. Those points were acquired after Due considered everything. Aire's control over the equipment, his Stellar Energy Aptitude for the specific jobs, his sense for the various processes, the results, and so on.

It was truly an impressive number since Aire only got 125 points on his first test with Zule. In the end, he finished both tests with 911 points.

"This...isn't this too good?" Aire muttered in surprise. The score he got was way beyond what he expected.

Cala shook her head as she said, "Of course not! You're truly underestimating your Stellar Smith Aptitude. If you paid attention to the other Risers going through the test, you would have noticed that none of them got even close to what you did."

She then continued as she asked, "There's also another benefit for you, have you noticed?"

Aire immediately looked back at his overall score and immediately noticed what it was. "Oh! Both my scores are added together, but it isn't possible to see how much I got from each test."

Cala smiled in response as she replied, "Exactly! You seem to have some issues you wish to hide, right? That's just perfect for you. Although your position of rank 4567 is pretty good, it isn't to the point where the whole school will come after you. After all, there are thousands of Risers above you. Besides, your position will most likely fall once the three days of testing are over."

Aire was more than happy with that. He was able to help his team with that by not dragging them down while he didn't stand out too much. That was perfect for him. "By the way, what position you think I'll end up at?"

"Hmm..." Cala pondered over the question a bit before responding, "I would put your final score around the 8000 to 9000th position. This, of course, is based on the score from last year. You can check that as well in your communicator."

Aire quickly did as she said, and sure enough, he got access to the last years' scores. "Oh, I see...well, that's good enough for me. Is there anything else I should do?"

Cala shook her head, saying, "Not really. You can head back to your dormitory. You might as well use the day to do other things since your friends will most likely take a long time to come back."

Sure enough, Aire's Stellar Smith Test finished much faster than Altina, Kymei, or Sera's occupational tests did. He called them through his communicator and found out that none of them were even close to starting their tests yet. That showed just how many people filled their test locations. "As expected of the most undesired occupational job, I guess?"

Without anything else to do, Aire headed back to his dormitory to organize his things. After all, he spent a lot of time with the school's arrangements that he didn't have the opportunity to do it before.

*Beep.*

Out of nowhere, Aire's communicator flashed as he obtained a video message from Zule. "Hey, Aire. Have you already selected your Riser Training Technique?"

Zule seemed to be doing something in the background as he continued, "I looked into your files, but I couldn't find anything related to that."

Though, Aire's only response was that of confusion. Riser Training Technique? He had never heard of such a thing before. "Could it be something related to the skills Risers can use after entering the Stellar Manipulation Level? Like attacks and stuff like that?" Aire asked.

He had seen some demonstration of Risers' abilities online before. The government used it to attract even more people with the talent to become Risers. There were many uses like flying, offense, defense, and so on. Of course, it wasn't only battle-related. Their abilities could also be used in many other fields like construction, transport, research, etc.

Zule shook his head as he clarified, "That's not it. Well...you could say that all those abilities are related to it somehow, though. Anyway, these techniques are used to increase the speed of your development. Depending on your affinities, a special technique will be selected. That should increase your development speed a lot."

Aire was surprised to hear that. However, a question quickly popped into his mind right after, prompting him to ask Zule, "Wait, should I have taken this technique before going through the tests today? I could have done much better."

Zule shook his head as he said in response, "It would be useless. After all, you just arrived here a few days ago. There's no way you could get used to it before the tests. You would need at least a few months to get used to it so that it could present a significant change to your overall ability."

Zule then smiled as he continued, "That's why Altina's Spiritual Energy Aptitude Score increased by over 50 points after a year. Well, she had always been the effort above talent type, so the technique helped a lot in her case. Others wouldn't have gotten that far in a single year."

Aire understood what Zule was getting at. "I see...well, I'm up for any extra help in improving," Aire said, becoming slightly excited to get a technique that would make his already good aptitude even better. "Where should I go to get one?"

Zule nodded as he answered, "Come to my private lab. I have access to most of the techniques available in our school. I can help you find your affinities and then select the best technique."

"Private lab?" Aire got even more curious about Zule's identity, asking him, "I've been wanting to ask you this before. Just who are you?"

Zule laughed in response as he dodged the question. "Me? I'm no one special. Let's just say that I have a few perks that give me a few advantages, that's all."

He then changed the topic as he said, "Anyway, come by my place. I've already sent the location to your communicator." After that, Zule ended the call.

As soon as he did that, Stella's voice echoed in Aire's mind as she told him, "Riser Technique! Aire~! Let's head there, quickly! I want to see them!"

Aire nodded in response before leaving his room.