The room remained silent after Dr.
Frost’s words.
Nobody laughed.
Nobody moved immediately.
The black crystal sphere floated above its metallic pedestal at the center of the lobby, reflecting distorted fragments of everyone standing around it.
The thing felt wrong the longer Damien stared at it.
Like it wasn’t just an object.
Like it was observing them back.
Dr.
Frost, meanwhile, looked completely relaxed.
Almost entertained.
He reached into his lab coat and pulled out a thin transparent tablet.
Streams of data flickered across its surface as he tapped through several files.
Then he looked up.
“Well then,” he said calmly, “we’ll keep things organized.”
His eyes scanned the room briefly.
“I’ll call you one at a time.”
No one objected.
Not that Damien expected anyone to.
The atmosphere had changed too much for casual behavior now.
Earlier there had been curiosity, tension, even small bits of arrogance floating around the room.
Now?
Everyone wanted answers.
Dr.
Frost looked at the tablet.
Then spoke the first name.
A tall blond man near the back stepped forward.
He looked athletic, confident, maybe around twenty years old.
The type of person who probably spent most of his life being naturally better than everyone around him.
He walked toward the crystal sphere cautiously.
“Just touch it?” he asked.
Dr.
Frost nodded once.
“That’s generally how touching things works, yes.”
A few people gave quiet snorts at that.
The blond man rolled his eyes slightly before placing his hand against the black crystal.
The reaction was instant.
A white circle of light appeared behind him.
It hovered in the air vertically like a glowing halo ring.
Then a second circle formed around the first.
The room watched carefully.
Several seconds passed.
Nothing else happened.
Eventually, the circles faded away the moment the blond man removed his hand.
Dr.
Frost looked down at his tablet and wrote something.
“Next.”
No explanation.
No reaction.
Just efficiency.
The second person approached.
Then the third.
Then the fourth.
Each time, the same thing happened.
A hand touched the black crystal.
White circles appeared behind them.
One.
Sometimes two.
Never more.
Dr.
Frost silently recorded every result.
The room slowly became more tense with each person.
Because patterns were beginning to form.
Most people got one circle.
A smaller number received two.
And even though nobody knew what the circles meant yet…
Everyone instinctively understood more circles were probably better.
Human ego worked fast like that.
Damien remained seated beside Ria quietly observing.
The crystal fascinated him.
Every activation felt slightly different somehow.
Not visually.
Emotionally.
When each person touched it, Damien could almost feel a strange pressure in the air for a brief moment, like the room itself held its breath waiting for the result.
Beside him, Ria crossed one leg slowly.
“You thinking too much again?” she asked quietly.
“Probably.”
“That means yes.” The source of this chapter is g.com.
Damien glanced at her briefly.
“You nervous?”
Ria looked toward the crystal.
“A little.”
“You don’t look it.”
“I practice.”
That almost made Damien smile again.
Almost.
“Adrian Vale.”
The silver-earring guy stood immediately.
Unlike the others, he walked toward the crystal with obvious confidence.
Actually…
Confidence was putting it lightly.
He looked like he already expected to win something.
His messy brown hair shifted slightly as he cracked his neck.
“Well,” he said casually, “guess it’s my turn.”
Several people in the room looked mildly annoyed already.
Damien understood why.
Adrian had the kind of personality that entered a room before his body did.
He placed his hand against the crystal.
The black sphere pulsed instantly.
One white circle formed behind him.
Then a second.
Normal so far.
But then—
A third circle appeared.
The room reacted immediately.
Several people straightened slightly.
One of the women near the wall widened her eyes.
Even Damien focused harder now.
Three circles.
First one so far.
Adrian stared behind himself before grinning widely.
“I don’t know what this means,” he said smugly, “but having more circles must mean I’m better, right?”
A few people visibly frowned.
Dr.
Frost simply wrote something on the tablet.
“No conclusions yet,” he replied calmly.
But Adrian clearly wasn’t listening anymore.
The guy looked ready to frame his own ego on the wall.
When he walked back toward the couches, he sat down with the relaxed satisfaction of someone who had just won a competition nobody understood.
His eyes briefly scanned the room afterward.
Especially the other men.
Like he was already ranking everyone beneath him.
Damien ignored him.
More names were called.
More circles appeared.
One.
Two.
Never three again.
At least not until—
“Ria Valen.”
Ria stood smoothly from the couch.
For the first time since arriving, Damien noticed the room paying close attention to someone without hidden competitiveness.
People naturally watched her.
Even Adrian.
Though his expression looked more interested than annoyed at first.
Ria walked calmly toward the crystal.
No dramatic movements.
No tension.
Just quiet confidence.
When she placed her hand against the black sphere, the room dimmed slightly again.
One circle appeared.
Then two.
Then—
A third.
Several people exhaled quietly.
Adrian’s grin twitched.
Only slightly.
But Damien noticed it immediately.
The guy’s eyes narrowed for half a second before he forced himself to relax again.
“Looks like we’re tied,” Adrian said casually.
Ria glanced at him.
“I don’t remember competing.”
That shut him up for a moment.
Damien looked away before the near-smirk on his face became visible.
Ria returned to the couch beside him afterward.
“You got three,” Damien said.
“Apparently.”
“You expected that?”
She leaned back slightly.
“But Dr. Frost probably did.”
That line stayed in Damien’s head.
Because Dr.
Frost didn’t seem surprised by any result so far.
Like he already knew something everyone else didn’t.
Eventually, only one person remained seated.
Damien.
The room’s attention naturally shifted toward him now.
Adrian leaned back on the opposite couch, arms spread casually across the backrest.
His silver earrings reflected faintly beneath the lobby lights as he looked Damien over.
And the thought running through his head was painfully obvious.
This loser definitely isn’t getting anything above two.
Damien could practically see it written across his face.
Not that he cared.
Dr.
Frost looked down at the tablet one final time.
Then raised his eyes.
“Damien Gray.”
The room felt quieter now than before.
Damien stood.
No dramatic confidence.
No hesitation either.
He simply walked toward the crystal sphere.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The black sphere reflected his approaching figure strangely, like its surface couldn’t fully decide what shape he actually had.
That alone made the hairs on the back of Damien’s neck rise slightly.
He stopped in front of it.
The room waited.
Even Adrian leaned forward slightly now.
Damien looked briefly toward Dr.
Frost.
The man said nothing.
Only watched.
So Damien placed his hand against the crystal.
Instantly—
The sphere reacted violently.
Far stronger than with anyone else.
The black surface rippled like disturbed water.
Then the circles formed.
One.
A white ring appeared behind Damien.
Then two.
Normal so far.
Then—
Three.
Several people immediately stiffened.
Adrian’s confident expression faded slightly.
But before anyone could fully react—
A fourth circle appeared.
The room froze.
Someone near the back actually stood up from their seat in shock.
And then—
A fifth circle formed.
Bright.
Perfect.
Impossible.
The entire lobby went silent.
Even the air itself felt heavier now.
Damien’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He could feel something moving inside the crystal.
Something unstable.
Then suddenly—
The fourth circle flickered.
The fifth destabilized violently.
And both vanished.
The third circle dimmed sharply afterward until it became faint and unstable compared to Ria and Adrian’s.
Finally, the result settled.
Two bright circles.
One dim third circle.
Then silence.
Damien slowly removed his hand from the crystal.
The room remained frozen for several seconds.
Adrian frowned immediately afterward.
“Must’ve been a fluke,” he muttered.
But the look on Dr.
Frost’s face said otherwise.