Admiral Negus was sitting at his office desk aboard the space cruiser orbiting the trial planet.
The room was decorated modestly; a large, soft rectangular rug with a small table sat in the middle of the room, two couches on either side.
The small table was covered with papers and a half-filled mug with liquid from a warm drink long gone cold.
Wall-length bookshelves covered the wall behind him, housing a collection of rare and unique books covering many topics.
The wall to the right of him featured a large window with plants on either side, allowing for an impressive view of space.
At the back of the room, a door led to his personal quarters, while the one on his left opened to one of the many corridors that ran through the ship, giving access to other areas.
Negus was holding a tablet-like device in his hand. "Really, can't they deal with this?" he muttered as he signed a document. He then continued glancing through reports, stopping occasionally to sign one every now and then.
A low hiss broke his concentration as the door to his left opened. A small, slender female Uvoxyn with pale skin and violet eyes stepped into his office, her black combat suit flickering with red energy. She had a small, clear tablet similar to his in her hand.
"Sir, I have the trial reports you requested," she addressed him, holding the tablet out.
"About time. Thank you, Sombra," he replied, taking the tablet and swiping it a few times to transfer the reports.
"Lieutenant, I need you to return this request to the logistics department," he ordered as he sent the document to her tablet before passing it back.
"Right away, sir," she replied before leaving, the door hissing closed behind her.
Negus opened the report and began to read. Several minutes after he started, his expression changed, showing mild surprise. "They survived a void swarm by themselves. That female Veralyn has good tactical skills, and it's not just her. Her teammates are unusual as well," he muttered "Arctivian."
[Yes, Admiral]
A familiar voice that any trial participant would recognize responded instantly. "Explain the culture and ruling body or government of the Veralyn's home world," he ordered.
[Yes, Admiral. Their dormant homeworld is called Verdis; it orbits a warm star, allowing for rich biodiversity. The planet is covered in lush forests, towering mountains, and rivers that run freely through the grassy plains and valleys, feeding its two oceans.
They are advanced technologically but value nature, their cities blending technology seamlessly with nature. Currently, their culture is unified, having learned from past wars. A ruling council that governs the whole race is elected every four years.
They have a strong military in comparison to other dormant worlds and are capable of space travel, having built several orbital cities, though only in their system.]
"How advanced is their technology in relation to ours?" Negus asked.
[The only thing separating our technology from theirs is that we combine ours with mana, and they don't. If they awaken and mana is introduced, they will advance quickly.]
"What an interesting race," he said, intrigued as he resumed reading the report. But after swiping to the next page and reading several paragraphs, he was once again shocked. "Arctivian, why has the female Veralyn… Aura been given such a high score? Isn't that a little too much?"
[The score was based on her kills, assists, performance, and battle suit data when they arrived at the rendezvous point. Checking the score calculation, no error was detected]
"But even taking all that into account, that doesn't make sense. Unless, Arctivian, send me her battle suit data," he ordered.
[Yes, Admiral, sending data]
Negus's tablet chimed, and he opened the data file, beginning to read through the battle suit's sensor logs. At first, everything seemed normal until the logs showed something impossible… a glitch… he thought at first.
But then the data showed the same glitch reoccurring again and more frequently, always at random times when battle was occurring… not possible… his mind refusing to believe the data before him. But then the suit's sensor showed the impossible occurring again, and this time for longer, long enough to rule out that it was a glitch.
"Arctivian, seal her suit's data; no one views this without my permission," he ordered.
[Affirmative, sealing data]
Negus sat back in his chair… shit, natural mana awakening from a member of a dormant race… he thought… it was impossible… she should not be able to sense it, let alone control it. Mana use was reserved for late-stage awakened or sentient worlds, worlds whose races had been bathed in mana for centuries, and even then, natural mana awakening was rare even on awakened or sentient worlds.
Mana awakenings were usually done when a race's young reached 15 or 16 years of age. They were placed in chambers with a high concentration of mana, a forced artificial awakening, but even this was not guaranteed.
It depended on the Innate talent an individual unlocked before mana awakening . If an individual's talent was mana-related, then it was more likely that they would succeed in the awakening.
But the real reason he was shocked was that individuals who underwent natural mana awakening were extremely powerful; it was both a blessing and a curse, as she would attract both wanted and unwanted attention. But if she succeeded in awakening her mana naturally, she would have unlimited potential.
"Arctivian, where is she now?" asked Negus.
[Current location: Boulder settlement 4, wall section 12, about to engage an incoming void swarm.]
"Send me her suit's data after the battle," he ordered.
[Affirmative.]
**********************
At the trial voice's warning, the participants on the wall burst into activity. They ran to the edge of the wall, and Aura noticed four small blue platforms, similar to the stairs, appear on the outer wall's edge.
All the participants stepped onto the platforms. Aura turned to look at Navi, Lucas, and Kai.
"Guess we should do the same," she suggested and hurried to hop on one of the platforms on their wall, her teammates followed her.