Chapter 216- Ascenders Test (Part 2)
The two stood in the street waiting for a taxi. All the people pa.s.sing by took secret glances at the beautiful blind girl. Perhaps the fact that her beauty was mixed with the tragedy of her blindness made her even more captivating to the eye or maybe it was simply because of her appearance.
Meanwhile, Aria simply stood there, ignoring the people around her, and instead was focused on something completely different. She was silently enjoying the warmth of Kai"s hand. This simple gesture of touching her was so impactful on her that she was shocked at her own self.
Her heart was beating loudly and her breathing was uneven. She knew that it was all simply a part of their acting, she really knew it… But, it still made her feel way more emotions than anything in the past few years.
Aria wasn"t always the quiet, emotionless type. If anything, she was a very energetic and cheerful kid. However, when everything unfolded, a part of her was torn apart and thrown away, a part that she cherished greatly. That made her unable to react to anything even if it was problematic. She just faced everything with unbreakable stoicism.
She even believed that nothing could faze her anymore. That was all crushed in a moment when she heard Kai"s voice that night through the phone. His cold tone crushed her defenses and made her dead heart revive again and beat loudly from longing, guilt, pain, and a myriad of other emotions.
Ever since then, she wasn"t the same. Her long-lost purpose in life resurfaced forcefully and made her realize that… She"s already far gone from where she intended to be. That"s what led her to do that concert, to simply end her life with the last thing she considered precious to her… Music.
She wanted to bid this world farewell before she gave her life to Kai. Perhaps that wasn"t enough of a repayment. But, that was the only thing she had left that she thought would make Kai feel better, if even by little.
If someone told her that she wouldn"t die that night and instead would be here, with Kai, holding his hand… She would think they were just spouting nonsense. Yet, reality was ironic, more than one would expect.
As the girl was deep in thought like that, Kai stopped a taxi and helped Aria inside before they made their way to the HQ. The trip took a few minutes because of the ridiculous traffic in the city.
Reaching their destination, they were met with an impressive sight. Countless people of all ages filled the whole entrance of the building and even the street in front of it. Kai easily counted a few thousand with a mere glance.
"Already this number of people?" Aria murmured.
"We won"t be able to enter at this rate." Kai thought as he sighed. He had no patience nor will to wait for days just to be able to join Divinity.
He really had no choice if he wanted to quicken the process.
*Snap*
Using a small amount of Origin, he snapped his fingers, which made the group of people in front of him unconsciously move to the side, allowing him to pa.s.s with Aria. He made sure to make this sudden shift look so seamless and natural.
"Don"t let go of my hand, ok?" He smiled at Aria gently.
"Mmm…" The latter blushed slightly and nodded her head. "I won"t."
"Good."
The duo quickly reached the entrance of the building and made their way inside. The gigantic reception lounge was filled to the brim with a huge line in the middle. Kai decided not to do any more mind-altering moves since he could be at risk of catching the attention of an Origin User.
"There are many of them hidden from sight… Watching." He was able to pinpoint their positions with great accuracy as he looked ahead of him.
Aria also caught their presence. After all, one of her strongest suits was being able to feel everything around her way better than the average Origin User.
They stood in line for almost an hour before they finally reached the reception where they found a receptionist drowned in papers and doc.u.ments.
"H-h.e.l.lo, give me your ID. If you don"t have one, we need doc.u.mented permission from your parents or your guardian." He said in a monotonous tone.
Kai nodded his head before he pulled out their IDs and slid them to the man who took them before he tapped on his computer and then pulled out two forms for Kai and Aria to fill in.
Kai looked at the papers. They had to fill in their names, age, and other information. They also had to answer a questionnaire with many questions that concerned their preferences, experience in fighting, or any other field related to what Divinity deals with.
Kai looked at Aria for a moment before he picked up the pen and started filling in the information. A few minutes later, he returned the papers to the man who took them and read them before he looked up again.
"Please come back tomorrow at this same time to proceed. Welcome to Divinity." Kai nodded his head before he turned around and led Aria outside.
"What did you put?"
"What we agreed on. But, there was one question I didn"t expect."
"What is it?"
"What kind of Ascenders do we want to be?"
"What?"
"Apparently Divinity offers new Ascenders the choice to be simply indoor Ascenders: Researchers, office workers, or the suck. Or, outdoor Ascenders or combat ascenders: like Treasure Hunters, Archeologists, Mercenaries, and other types."
"Wasn"t that how Divinity worked from the start?"
"No, at first, they simply a.s.signed Origin Users according to what Divinity needs. Now, they are giving the choice to the people… That makes no sense." Kai said.
These people weren"t experienced at all so they don"t really know what they want from becoming Ascenders. Giving them this choice was akin to giving a clueless kid a career choice when he can"t even speak properly.
"Why is Divinity doing this?" He thought to himself.
"Maybe they want the world to think that they are actually giving the people a choice to be who they want to be and that they"re simply helping them out guide their new powers in the right path," Aria said.
Her words did make sense as twisted and roundabout as they may sound and Kai agreed with them.
"You might be right. You"re really smart, Calia." He said with a perfect smile.
"..." The girl quickly averted her eyes and then coughed before changing the topic. "So, what did you put in the form?"
"Treasure hunters."
"Is it because of…"
"Yes, I"m interested in what Mikayla said. If I become a treasure hunter then I can put my hand on more clues and also have more freedom to explore those places. It"s also a perfect disguise since most people would be inclined to treasure hunting if they don"t want to be researchers or academic individuals in general."
"Maybe the a.r.s.enal does exist… If it does, I can"t let that man get to it before me or it will be a disaster."
Kai knew the disaster that could befall him if that man reached his goal. It will be something that he wasn"t sure if he could stop. Even with his powers, Kai didn"t know how powerful an army carrying those weapons could be.
"Let"s go back." He said as he led Aria ahead. During this whole time, their hands didn"t let go of each other at all. It even made Aria so anxious that her hands became sweaty.
However, Kai didn"t seem to mind at all even if that was the case. His mind was too occupied to care.
The two came back to the hotel and entered their separate rooms. Inside, Kai sat down on the bed thinking about his next step. The test will start tomorrow so he still had a lot of time before that.
Looking from the window, the gigantic skysc.r.a.per that was Divinity"s HQ loomed over the city like a behemoth. Its menacing presence is as vivid as ever. For some reason, even the Hitman Guild"s HQ which looked more menacing in reality, didn"t give Kai the feeling of unease Divinity"s HQ did. It was as if there was a looming presence within that place, glaring back at him with threatening eyes.
It was a look he was all too familiar with. The more he looked at it, the more he wanted to look away. But, he knew that he couldn"t allow himself to fear it… After all, he had chosen to face it head-on.
"We will meet again soon, b.a.s.t.a.r.d." He whispered before he stood up and went to take a shower to get rid of his dark thoughts.
***
A few hours pa.s.sed quietly before Kai heard a knock on the door. When he opened it, he found Aria there, standing in awkward silence.
"What?"
The girl flinched at first before she took a deep breath and calmed down. Then, she replied.
"Can I spend the night here?"