“I guess I’ll have to tell them I can’t participate,” Gustav voiced out with a conclusive tone.
(“Don’t be so quick to come to a conclusion,”) The system suddenly chipped in.
“Hmm? Why do you say so?” Gustav asked.
(“This is an opportunity for intergalactic travel,”) The system added.
“I know but unless I have finished with every task I have on earth there’s no point… It’s better to put that aside until I am done,”) Gustav responded.
(“Check where Flalencia galaxy is located before you make your decision,”) The system stated.
“Huh? Why?” Gustav asked.
(“Just check,”) The system responded.
“Okay,”
—
Gustav spent the rest of the day visiting the libraries in camp. He was sourcing for intergalactic information and the planets involved in this intergalactic alliance.
Gustav found out that there were over three hundred planets in the alliance.
Earth was among the top five leading planets, and Gustav already knew this, but he had no idea initially that there were over three hundred planets in the alliance.
According to the IYSOP, one planet could have no more than fifteen and no less than ten participants. They could also have a substitute team of ten members besides that just in case the main participant ended up getting indisposed.
The last piece of information Gustav found out about where the Flalencia galaxy was situated was what made him rethink his decision on whether to join or not.
–
The next day arrived, and Gustav had his test today with the instructors. When he arrived at the Isshur mountains, they first questioned him on his decision.
“I haven’t decided yet, how long do I have?” Gustav asked.
“Registration doesn’t close till five months from now but the MBO would like to be sure of the people participating as soon as possible,” Officer Mag replied.
“I will decide later,” Gustav stated.
“It’s best to decide now, or another participant will be used as a replacement,” Instructor Kora voiced.
“All the best for them then. I will make my decision when I’m ready, if y’all want to replace me then go ahead,” Gustav said with an unbothered expression.
The instructors had conflicted looks on their faces as they heard that.
Instructor Kora wanted to speak again, but Officer Mag stopped him and replied to Gustav.
“I will pass your response to the higher ups, so they can reserve a slot for you till you’re ready,” She voiced out.
“Sure,” Gustav stated.
“Alright now to start the test, are you ready?” Officer Mag asked with a serious expression.
“I am… Let’s begin,” Gustav replied.
—–
Minutes later, sounds of blasts could be heard across the Isshur mountains as the test was currently ongoing.
Gustav found himself in a hostage-type situation as many people with duffel bags over their heads could be seen standing at the edge of a tall mountain.
One of the instructors, whose head was that of a bear’s, held the neck of one of the hostages right over the ledge of the mountainside.
“Stay back or they die!” He voiced out like a villain.
Gustav was currently thousands of feet away, but he knew well there wouldn’t be time to save everyone, especially when they had explosive vests wrapped around their bodies.
This was a case where he’d have to take out the villain without causing harm to any of these hostages.
pAnda (nov)e1 ‘Sixteen in total… I just have to disarm him,’ Gustav thought, but then this was an Instructor who was higher than him in bloodline rank, so it was easier said than done.
The hostages were all around him, so it was easy for him to harm any of them easily before he arrived there.
Zhinn~
The sacred jewel suddenly appeared from his storage device.
“You ready for an exchange?” Gustav asked.
The light within flickered twice, and Gustav nodded, “Alright, do it,”
Zing~
The orb suddenly disappeared, and what appeared in its initial location was the hostage instructor Cole was holding onto.
“Uh?” Instructor Cole noticed he was now holding onto a head-sized looking jewel with a flicker of silver light within.
In that instant, he knew Gustav had done something and released his grip so he could detonate the bombs, but then he found himself restricted for a second and unable to move.
Unbeknownst to him, the shadow beneath his feet held onto him from behind.
Fwooosshhhhh~
A loud whooshing sound reverberated across the place, and by the time he regained control of himself, a strong force crashed into his back, sending him flying over the edge of the mountainside.
Gustav was now standing in place with the detonator as he disarmed it.
—
Minutes later, Gustav was running across a sloppy environment with two humans in his grasp. Apparently, he was supposed to get them to a particular safe zone without any harm or injuries.
Above, a massive aircraft could be seen firing orbital attacks toward the ground as Gustav dashed across the place.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Multiple sounds of explosion rang out as Gustav leaped from place to place, dodging most of these projectiles.
Fwhoooomm~
A massive wave suddenly shot out, surrounding Gustav from every direction. Even though this wave wouldn’t hurt him, the two he was taking away would most likely be harmed by this wave.
[Size Manipulation Has Been Activated]
Gustav suddenly increased in size, becoming over a thousand feet tall as he held these two in his palm.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
With every stomp, the mountains vibrated intensely, and the attacks were no longer able to reach the humans.
He later arrived at the safe zone, passing this round of the test.
So far, all the hostages and humans they had used were fake. One of the instructors had the ability to replicate himself, so his dummies were the ones being used in different aspects of the test.
They moved on to the next test category.
–
Over an hour later, Gustav had managed to pass one category after the other with different instructors. Even the part where he had to race with a spacecraft and perform some actions was done well.
He also had to race across the Isshur mountains as he did on the first day, and his speed was recorded once more. To their amazement, Gustav was almost two times faster than before, which showed immense progress.