The Broken Halo

”Next.”

The official called another name, and a demoness with four arms stepped forward.

She was also a Prime Archfiend.

Unlike Harvek, she did not look bulky. Her body was lean, and the muscles on her arms were not exaggerated, but her steps were steady. She stood before the Impact Crystal, exhaled, then struck it with her upper right palm.

Bang!

Two crimson rings appeared.

The third did not even flicker.

”Prime Archfiend physical strength.”

The demoness nodded calmly as if she had expected it.

When the official told her to use demonic energy reinforcement, faint dark silver light spread across all four of her arms.

When Simon saw this, he knew that she had a metal affinity.

She struck the crystal again, this time with two palms landing almost at the same time.

BAM!

Three crimson rings appeared clearly but the fourth did not flicker into existence.

”Superior Archfiend physical strength.”

The demoness stepped back without any visible disappointment. Compared to Harvek, she seemed far more satisfied with her result.

Simon looked at her briefly.

Her raw strength was not special, but her reinforcement was clean. More importantly, she did not waste much movement when she struck. Her palm had looked simple, but the force entered the crystal properly.

After Harvek’s test, Simon had already confirmed one thing.

The Impact Crystal did not only measure how much noise a strike made.

It measured the actual force that entered it, and that meant useless strength would be ignored.

A punch that looked powerful but lost half of its force through poor movement would not impress the crystal. A simple strike that gathered force properly might produce a better result.

’Interesting.’

Simon became a little more interested in the test.

More demons stepped forward after that.

Some performed well.

Some disappointed themselves.

A Prime Archfiend with a large tail used his tail for the first strike and produced two rings. With demonic energy, he produced three rings and a faint fourth.

It surprised a few, and some took note of him so as to be wary of his tail.

A Superior Archfiend with sharp claws produced three rings with raw strength and four rings with demonic energy reinforcement, earning a few looks from the crowd.

Then a thin demon with pale skin and long fingers stepped forward. Many expected little from him, but when he kicked the Impact Crystal without demonic energy, three rings appeared clearly. With reinforcement, the fourth ring appeared brightly.

”Supreme Archfiend physical strength.”

The thin demon smiled faintly and walked back.

However, the crowd barely reacted despite not expecting much from him.

The thin demon was a Superior Archfiend, so it was not shocking that he was able to produce a Supreme Archfiend physical strength result after reinforcing his body with demonic energy.

It was only because the demon was thin that they didn’t expect much from him.

A Superior Archfiend possessing Supreme Archfiend physical strength after reinforcement was a good result. It was not enough to shake the compound, but it was enough to make some demons remember him.

The test continued like that.

Bang!

Bang!

BAM!

The sounds of fists, claws, horns, tails, knees, and palms striking the Impact Crystal echoed throughout the compound.

The crystal did not move from its position, but every strike caused crimson rings to appear and fade.

Most Archfiends produced results that matched their ranks without demonic energy and even with demonic energy.

Minor Archfiends usually produced one ring without demonic energy and two rings with reinforcement. Those whose demonic energy reinforcement was poor produced one ring even when they used demonic energy.

Prime Archfiends usually produced two rings without demonic energy and three rings with reinforcement.

Superior Archfiends usually produced three rings without demonic energy and four rings with reinforcement.

Supreme Archfiends were different.

Their results varied more.

Some Supreme Archfiends only produced three rings without demonic energy, but four rings with reinforcement. These were the Supreme Archfiends with poor control over their demonic energy.

Some produced four rings even without demonic energy. A few almost touched the fifth ring with demonic energy enhancement, but it only flickered and disappeared.

That fifth ring became the focus of many demons.

Half-Step Greater Demon physical strength.

The moment that ring appeared fully, the demon who produced it would immediately become important.

However, after almost twenty demons, nobody managed to make the fifth ring fully light up.

A few demons became restless.

The affinity test had produced too many surprises, so they had expected the strength test to produce similar results. But physical strength was different from affinity.

Affinity was talent.

Strength was something that had to be built, refined, and bled for.

A demon could be born with S grade affinity.

But nobody was born with a body that had been tempered through pain.

At least, not most demons.

Sonya looked bored after a while. Her earlier smile slowly faded, and she rested one hand on her hip.

”Too many of them are punching like drunk goats.”

Akaza glanced at her.

”You have seen drunk goats punch?”

Sonya shrugged.

”I’ve seen worse.”

Akaza was silent for a second.

”I don’t want to know.”

Simon remained silent, though he understood why Sonya said what she said.

Somebody like her that was talented with her fists would surely notice so many errors and inconsistencies in the way these demons punched the crystal.

To her, it might even seem disgusting and annoying.

Simon also knew that he, Akaza, and Sonya were finding it strange watching how these demons controlled their demonic energy.

Simon was not judging them based on his talent or how he controlled his demonic energy.

No.

He was comparing their demonic energy control to the Initiates of the Shadowgrave Academy.

Many of the demons present had poor control over their demonic energy. The Initiates of the Shadowgrave Academy were much better at controlling their demonic energy, and this made Simon to realize the importance of attending a good academy or organization.

The Initiates were taught how to properly and efficiently control their demonic energy at a young age, but many of these demons were not able to join a good organization that could teach them.

They were using their instincts to control their demonic energy and this led to them having a poor control over their demonic energy.

’Hmm. A few are not bad though.’

----

I’m starting a super gift exchange for bonus Chapters.

A magic castle for one extra Chapter which means I’ll upload five Chapters instead of the normal four.

A spacecraft for two extra Chapters which means I’ll upload six Chapters instead of the normal four.

A golden gachapon three extra Chapters which means I’ll upload seven Chapters instead of the normal four.