Bernard and Niko alongside the female employee entered the room where Loki and his siblings were waiting. The two Grandmasters stared at the three siblings assessing them. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be anything special about them, but when the two looked at Loki they noticed something.

Even though it wasn’t obvious at a glance, but Bernard and Niko could see that Loki has a body that looks to be forged for battle. 

‘Oh, this kid is pretty good, even though he didn’t have any inner energy before he still trained his body to this extent.’

‘Even those non-martial artists that train their body have exaggerated muscle mass which would only hinder you in a real battle. On the other hand, this boy seems to have a body that’s nearly perfect for battle. He isn’t too muscular nor too skinny, the muscles he trained are all in the right areas. I wonder did he train his body like this on purpose, or was it just a coincidence?’ 

“Mr. Matsuda these over here is the esteemed Grandmaster of the Leim City Martial Arts Department, Sir Bernard.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, child.” Bernard extended his hand for a handshake. 

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Sir Bernard.” Loki took Bernard’s hand and shook it. The moment their hands touched Loki could already feel Bernard was probing him. 

“Oh right, over here is my good friend Niko, the Sect Master of the Raging Spear Sect.” 

“Hey lad, I see that you have worked hard.” 

The two Grandmasters were also introduced to Liam and Alisa, and after a round of greetings, the people from the Martial Arts Department finally got to the main topic. 

“I heard that your two siblings over there have the inner energy of rank two martial artists. Even though they started very late compared to the others, but if they work hard enough they would be able to catch up rather quickly. So as a gift they can take any meditation technique they want from the second floor of the hall of skills. The lovely lady over here will guide them.” 

Bernard gestured at the young female employee who was shocked to hear what was said. The first floor of the hall of skills could be accessed by nearly every martial artist from rank one and above, the techniques there could be borrowed after trading with a certain amount of points handed out by the Martial Arts Department.

The second floor that could only be accessed by martial artists ranks seven and above. The third floor is for Grandmaster Martial Artists.

Then there was the special skill hall located in the Capital City that place could only be accessed after all the Grandmasters of every branch of the Martial Arts Department agree to open it.

Knowing that the Head of the Department had allowed two non-ranked martial artists to access the second floor was a true shock. Not to mention it was given to them for free. Each skill had a certain price to them, the ones on the first floor were pretty affordable, but those from the second floor upwards would take a large sum to purchase. 

‘Was their potential that great?’ 

“Ahem, miss please guide the children.” The female employee finally realized what was happening and bowed her head. 

“I’m sorry, I will gladly guide them. Come one please follow me.”

The female employee gestured to Liam and Alisa. Liam continued to be excited as things were unfolding the way he had dreamt it to be. It was like he had become the main character of a novel. On the other hand, Alisa was still hesitant as she looked at Loki. Seeing her expression Loki smiled at her and nodded his head. Alisa felt a little more assured after seeing her brother nodding his head. She and Liam then followed the female employee out. 

Now alone with the two Grandmasters made Loki feel a little bit of pressure. With his current strength and abilities, these two only needed to use one finger to finish him off. The difference of strength between them and the highest rank martial artist he has fought was like heaven and earth.

“So child I wonder if you don’t mind that I will be your examiner for this Rank Assessment?” 

“Of course, I don’t mind. It is my honor that someone of your prestige will personally guide me through my Rank Assessment.” Loki wanted to say the opposite of what he just said but of course, couldn’t. At this point, he could only sigh at his bad luck. 

“Alright then, I have read your file. It says here that the person who confirmed your inner energy was the Patriarch of the Mutou Clan, and a Captain of the Elite Dragon Brigade gave you a scroll for a fist technique. Still, before we can start the Rank Assessment we need a more accurate gauge of your inner energy. Follow me we need to head to a different room.” 

…

The room they arrived at was similar to the last one, the only difference was the large ball-like object in the middle. It was larger than the one in the other room. 

“This is the detector we use for those that have inner energy above a rank two martial artist. Child, please touch it to start the assessment.” 

Loki approached the ball-like object and unlike the broken one in the other room, this one had a weird glow to it. Seeing the curious look Loki had, Bernard chuckled before he spoke. 

“I can see that you’re curious about the detector.” 

“… Yes, I’ve seen one before when I was a child, at the time I didn’t really think much about it, but now that I’m an adult I find it rather curious. What is this thing made of, and how can it gauge the inner energy of a martial artist?” 

“The outer shell of the detector isn’t anything special it’s just metal and glass. As for the inside, I can’t tell you much about it since even I’m not that good with machinery, but there is a particular item inside that is the core of the detector. It’s a mineral that is found near the forbidden lands, this mineral reacts to inner energy. It can detect the true inner energy of a person even if one tries to suppress it. Even Grandmasters like us cannot fool the device.” 

Loki knew a little about the forbidden lands as it is mentioned in numerous books but never in detail. All he knew was it was one of the reasons as to why the Empire stopped their advance. Even though he was curious and wanted to know more, Loki couldn’t ask about it since he was feeling even more pressure now and was panicking on the inside. 

‘The device can measure the true strength of my inner energy?! Can this thing also detect my mana?’