Liam sat in silence, elbows on knees, fingers laced together against his forehead. He gave off an air of extreme focus, which was to be expected, as the Evaluation was taking a lot longer than expected.
...398...399...400... he counted in his head.
The "Exam" had started roughly five minutes after its announcement, and the first to be called on was Caesar. It was announced through a speaker panel at the top of the door, and several people had jumped from sleep when the voice came out.
"Why am I the first one~?" he had muttered dejectedly as he trudged over to the door.
Liam had a sneaking suspicion that they had been startled intentionally, and that it was probably gonna get worse later on.
So he waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
Unknown to any of the participants, ten minutes had passed since Caesar had walked through the door.
Liam began to feel fatigue slowly creep up over him when the loud voice asked the next applicant.
My heart won't calm down., Liam exhaled as the organ kept pounding in his chest, Why does this feel like some sort of stakeout like on TV?
As he calmed down, his mind immediately latched onto that idea.
Wait, a stakeout? Do Hunters do something similar?...of course they do; waiting for prey and stuff. So is this a different kind of endurance test? I'm so confused...
Liam pulled at his hair a little, both in frustration at the exam and to stay awake.
Calm down, don't get to frustrated... no wait, frustration might keep me awake right? Or it could drain my mental stamina... Of course!
Liam shook his head in surprise at his own blindness. How could he not have realized it sooner?
I'll speed up my heart rate. That's bound to keep me awake-
"Nanami Chirin, please make your way to the test room."
GAHHHH! Liam flinched as the voice broke through his thoughts. His heart rate spiked, and he focused, took a few deep breaths, and sped it up even more. In response, his breathing quickened, and his body heat increased.
Okay, Caesar went in and didn't come back. Now they call Nanami, who's all the way at the back. That means at least seven minutes have passed, although...
Liam glanced up at Nanami, who was making his way to the door with a goofy smile on his face.
It felt longer than that... alright, I'll just have to make certain.
As soon as Nanami opened the door and stepped in, Liam began counting the seconds. He wasn't completely confident that he was perfectly counting, but he was definitely confident about it being a close estimate.
...418...419...420 seconds. They should announce the next person any second now.
Liam looked up at the panel above the door expectantly.
Nothing happened.
Did I miscount? he wondered, That's possible... maybe I'll wait for one minute to pass.
After one minute:
Maybe another?
After three minutes:
...Their doing this on purpose, Liam sighed silently, almost in tears on the inside.
His heart had calmed down after seven minutes; it was his limit for maintaining a fast beat, and now he was filled with worries and theories until he reached a final conclusion:
They're testing our patience. That has to be it.
And his patience was tested. Every participant's patience was.
After twenty minutes and only two people entering, most were relaxed.
Suddenly, five people passed through within thirty minutes. That set everybody on edge.
After an hour, some had resigned themselves to confusion.
Two hours later, tempers were either frayed, or candidates were asleep.
Three hours later...
There were four people left.
Liam, the boy in front of him, the pale guy at the back, and the boy with red mixed in his black hair. They had been overlooked and kept waiting for a long time, but now, they remained resolute.
And they were all standing.
The blonde was a statue, his expression almost bored. He gave of a strong air of apathy.
Pale skin's eyes were closed, as if he was meditating on his feet.
The air around the red-black hair seemed to ripple, and his jaw was set as if in defiance.
Liam had developed seventeen different conspiracy theories in order to stay awake and on his feet.
Finally, after ten more minutes:
"Liam Paxton, please make your way to the test room."
Finally, Liam thought, weeping quietly with a straight face, FINALLY!
All his previous worry about not doing well had vanished, replaced by fatigue, several weird theories, and a resolute will to do his absolute best.
After all that, there's no way I'm going to half-ass this!
When he opened the door and stepped in, he was met with a dark room and four people sitting behind a glass wall, a light shining on them. One of them was Mark.
Liam took his place at the center of the room and waited with his hands behind his back.
One of the examiners spoke first. He wore glasses that rested on a short, whiskered snout:
"Alright candidate, we will be grading you on presentation, control, precision, capability, composure, power usage, and practicality. You may begin."
Liam blinked, almost sighing in relief.
At least I don't have to listen to some long explanation, he thought as he widened his stance and took several deep breaths and closed his eyes.
"Remember boy, when your mom gives you your marching orders, you gotta process it within the moment and act out immediately, got it?"
"Yes sir!"
Liam smiled a little at the memory of his father, then focused his breathing. As his heart rate steadily climbed and his body temperature increased, he opened his eyes...
And activated his Venma.
****
"So what exactly did you do for that test?" Liam asked as he came out of his room, wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt.
Lisa, who was lying on his couch, shrugged.
"Well, one of the examiners asked me test it out on one of them."
Liam nodded before sitting on the rug in front of the couch and opened his laptop on the coffee table. As he opened a search browser, he said:
"You know, if you want to talk, I'm right here."
Lisa chuckled as she scrolled through her CID's holographic menu, "And what exactly do you think I should talk about?"
Liam pursed his lips, feeling as if he was treading on thin ice. A Venma was one's personal secret, and it was also a part of one's identity. Revealing it could lead to several assumptions about the user's personality, and it was those same assumptions Liam feared.
He lowered his head. However, Lisa straight up gave her secret out. It's as if she isn't scared of the implications. Why? I don't know. But it has to be eating her up inside, knowing how people will react to her. But how do I put it into words?
Liam remained silent for a few minutes, his hands resting on his computer's keyboard. Lisa noticed how hard he was staring at his screen, not doing anything, and frowned.
Not again, she thought before hitting his head with her fist.
"Earth to Liam! Come back doofus!"
Liam flinched away from her, holding his head and groaning, then he froze.
"That's it!" he exclaimed before surging to his feet and charging into his room.
Lisa stared at his closed door in confused surprise.
"...What the heck?" she muttered.