Infinite Ascension: 100,000x Amplified-Chapter 39: Registration and Revelations

"Next registrant for Tier 1 Warrior assessment: Garrick Ironside, Warrior profession. Please proceed."

As the staff member called the name, the muscular young man in the fitted vest stepped forward confidently. He placed his palm on the energy measurement crystal and channeled his energy into it.

The crystal hummed for several seconds before displaying results.

"Energy stat measurement: 11.321. Passed."

The staff member nodded professionally. "Next is the combat power assessment. Please strike the testing apparatus with full force. You must achieve 1,500 or higher to pass certification."

The muscular man — Garrick — positioned himself before the combat analyzer, taking several deep breaths. He adopted a martial arts stance, drawing stares from other waiting registrants who watched with interest.

"I’m guessing he’ll break 2,000 easily."

"Looks more like 2,500 to me."

Murmurs of speculation rippled through the crowd.

"HAAA!"

Garrick’s shout echoed through the testing area. His right arm visibly swelled with surging energy as he threw his full power into the strike.

BOOM!

3,783

"Oh, not bad at all!"

"Quite capable!"

Scattered praise emerged from the audience. Garrick’s face split into a proud grin.

The staff member announced, "Combat power assessment passed. Congratulations on achieving Tier 1 Warrior certification. Here is your official badge. You’ll receive a monthly warrior subsidy of 5,000 points from the Association."

Garrick held his badge up and stared at it for a long moment before clutching it to his chest.

"Finally." His voice came out rougher than he intended. "Finally."

He had failed his awakening three times during high school. Three separate ceremonies, three trips to the Origin Temple, three times the crystal had produced nothing. No talent. No job awakening. The examiners had been professional about it each time, which somehow made it worse. He had sat in the back of his classroom after the third failure while his classmates received their results and looked at their new panels and started planning their futures, and he had understood clearly that he was not going to be part of that conversation.

What the examiners had told him afterward was this: failed awakenings came down to two factors. Insufficient physique — a body too weak to handle the crystallization process — or insufficient soul strength — a consciousness too underdeveloped to anchor the law etching. Most people who failed once fell into one category or the other. Most people who failed twice fell into both.

Garrick had failed three times.

So he had done the only thing he could think of. He had trained his body until it didn’t qualify as insufficient anymore. Six days a week, every week, for two years after graduation, building the physique that high school hadn’t given him the time or discipline to develop. The soul strength had followed gradually — a byproduct of sustained cultivation effort combined with the Basic Spirit Refining Method he had purchased with three months of part-time salary. It was slow. It was unglamorous. Nobody had written any web novels about his process.

AN: you will be remembered Garrick

On his fourth attempt, the crystal had responded.

"After my multiple failures during high school—" he started, then stopped, because his voice was doing something embarrassing and there were people watching. He straightened up and finished with the volume restored. "The era of Garrick Ironside has arrived!"

It was not the most dignified declaration he had ever made. He didn’t particularly care.

This was not an unusual story in Thornhaven. Failed awakenings were quietly common — the Origin Temple’s process demanded a physique and soul development that high school training often hadn’t had time to produce. The warriors who made it through on determination alone rather than natural readiness tended to be quieter about it afterward, or very loud about it, depending on personality. Garrick was clearly the second type.

The next registrant — a young woman — passed her energy stat test but failed the combat power requirement despite multiple attempts.

"How is this possible? I always exceeded 1,500 at my martial hall’s testing equipment..." She protested with frustration and disbelief.

"Is there something wrong with your machine?"

Elara approached with practiced professionalism. "The Warrior Association’s equipment represents the highest calibration standards available. If there’s a discrepancy, the error lies with your martial hall’s apparatus. Please return when you’ve trained further. Next registrant!"

Some succeeded, faces lighting with joy. Others failed, shaking their heads in disappointment as they departed.

"Next registrant for Tier 2 Warrior assessment: Theron Stormwind, LV9 Warrior profession. Please proceed."

A dignified middle-aged man who’d been sitting near Kaelith stood and approached the testing stations.

"Energy stat measurement: 103.232. Passed."

BOOM!

"Combat power assessment: 21,432. Passed."

"Congratulations on achieving Tier 2 Warrior certification. Here is your badge. You’ll receive a monthly subsidy of 10,000 points." Elara smiled warmly.

Theron accepted the badge with a satisfied nod.

Everyone who’d remained to observe — including Garrick — gazed at the middle-aged warrior with genuine awe. In their perception, Tier 2 Warriors represented genuine power. Such individuals could command captain positions in military units or earn monthly salaries exceeding 100,000 points working as guild officers or bodyguards for wealthy families.

"Next registrant for Tier 1 Warrior assessment: Kaelith Frostborn, Medic profession. Please proceed."

Kaelith opened her ice-blue eyes, rose with fluid grace, and walked forward.

Nova’s clone felt mild surprise upon hearing the name and profession.

Frostborn? Same family name as Rowan from the Elite Class. Related somehow? And she awakened as a Medic — a healer support class. Interesting choice for someone with her apparent combat capability.

Kaelith placed her hand on the energy measurement crystal without hesitation. She channeled only the barest fraction of her actual energy output into it — the equivalent of a Tier 1 warrior’s baseline, nothing more. Her true energy stat would have shattered the crystal’s measuring range entirely. She kept her expression completely neutral as she waited for the reading.

"Watch this. She’ll definitely fail," Garrick muttered, arms crossed defensively.

"Energy stat measurement: 12.838. Passed."

Elara’s eyebrows rose with genuine surprise. She hadn’t expected another young prodigy to appear for testing today.

Shocked exclamations rippled through the crowd.

"What?!"

"Her energy stat is nearly 13! That’s incredibly high!"

"Who said her energy stat would never break ten?!"

Garrick’s face flushed crimson with embarrassment, but he stubbornly doubled down. "That’s nothing special. Obviously supplemented with expensive genetic medicines. Anyone with money can inflate their energy stat artificially. A girl who awakened as a Medic definitely won’t have the combat power to reach minimum threshold..."

Kaelith approached the combat analyzer.

Without ceremony or visible preparation, she struck. She held back almost everything she had — a controlled output, nothing that would cause the machine to malfunction or the room to question what was standing in front of them.

Nova’s enhanced perception caught details others missed - Her force generation technique was exceptional even at this fraction of her actual capability. Perfect economy of motion. Zero wasted energy. Her strike carried the refined precision of someone with years of genuine combat experience compressed into a single restrained movement.

To everyone else her motion appeared almost casual.

The number appeared.

6,932

"Six... six thousand nine hundred thirty-two?!" Someone’s voice cracked with disbelief.

Gasps echoed throughout the testing area.

"How is that possible..."

"The machine must be malfunctioning!"

Even Elara looked stunned. "Could you... could you please test again?"

Kaelith complied without complaint, striking a second time.

6,947

The margin of error was less than fifteen points — well within normal variance. The results were accurate.

"Nearly 7,000 combat power... and you think that’s from supplements?" Someone looked pointedly at Garrick, whose earlier confident proclamation now seemed absurd.

The muscular man stood completely frozen, mouth hanging open. He couldn’t comprehend how a teenage girl who appeared barely sixteen or seventeen possessed nearly double his combat capability.

"How can a support-class Medic have such tremendous combat power?" Multiple people voiced variations of the same confused question.

"Absolutely incredible!"

The newly certified Tier 2 Warrior, Theron, shook his head with genuine admiration. "I didn’t expect to witness such exceptional talent today..."

"Here is your Tier 1 Warrior badge." Elara handed over the credential with newfound respect.

"Thank you." Kaelith accepted it calmly, as if the achievement meant nothing significant — which, given her memories of a previous lifetime, it genuinely didn’t.

Kaelith looked at Elara directly. "I recall the Warrior Association maintains a policy providing 100,000 points to warriors who certify before age eighteen."

"You’re referring to the Genius Development Fund? That’s correct. Would you like to claim it now?"

"Yes."

"Please follow me to process the disbursement."

As Kaelith departed to handle the financial paperwork, attention shifted to the final registrant.

"Will he pass too?" a young man whispered nervously.

"How is that possible? One prodigy is remarkable enough. Two appearing consecutively, one after another?" Garrick forced confidence into his voice despite his earlier humiliation. "That’s astronomically improbable."

"True enough..."

Agreement murmured through the crowd.

"Registrant Nova Stern, Shadow Reaper profession. Energy stat measurement..."

The staff member’s voice trailed off, eyes widening as she stared at the display.

Nova had placed his hand on the crystal and channeled only a Tier 1 equivalent output — a carefully measured trickle, the absolute minimum that would register a passing score without raising impossible questions. His actual energy stat would have done something unflattering to the measurement crystal’s structural integrity.

A long, pregnant silence stretched.

"...24.322. Passed."

Her voice carried unmistakable shock.

The entire testing area fell absolutely silent.

Garrick nearly fell off his chair.

Kaelith, who’d been signing documents at the side counter, couldn’t help but turn her head sharply to stare.

"Another one?! ANOTHER ONE?!"

"24.322?!! That’s absurdly high!!"

"That’s already reached LV2, hasn’t it?" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Dear gods, how many genetic enhancement serums must he have consumed?"

"This is insane..."

"Young people nowadays are all monsters, aren’t they?"

Everyone gazed at Nova with expressions mixing shock, disbelief, and something approaching existential despair.

One genius appearing was remarkable. Two consecutive geniuses shattered probability into dust.

Garrick sat completely dumbfounded, unable to process that both high school students he’d openly mocked possessed energy stat measurements dramatically exceeding his own.

The staff member’s voice actually trembled slightly. "Please, please proceed to the combat power assessment station."

All eyes locked on Nova as he approached the analyzer.

A man swallowed audibly. "Will his combat power exceed that girl’s?"

"Should be possible... after all, Shadow Reaper is more of a burst-damage assassin class."

Everyone watched with laser focus.

Nova stood before the combat analyzer and ran his calculation quickly. His actual battle power with Limit Break and the Divine Scripture active exceeded 100 million. Kaelith had shown 6,932. Showing anything in that range would be consistent with the energy stat reading and wouldn’t break the story he was maintaining.

He needed to show something that justified LV2 and his energy stat without triggering questions he couldn’t answer. Peak Tier 2 range. Approximately 50,000. Strong enough to be remarkable, not so overwhelming that it became a different category of problem.

He channeled a controlled fraction of his strength and struck the analyzer with a seemingly casual punch.

BOOM!

The impact resonated like thunder contained within metal. The combat analyzer shuddered — not from excessive force, but from the sheer density of the attack despite its moderate power output.

The display flickered, processing...

49,847

CRASH!