Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 1858: Red, Gold, and Black

Blake waited for Ning outside the test area, with a large plastic bag in his hand, seemingly holding onto something.

Ning got out of the van and stared at the man with a curious look.

”Good luck,” Larissa said before driving away, leaving Ning on the sidewalk.

Ning walked toward Blake, gesturing to the bag before he even got close. ”What’s that bag for?” he asked.

The angel held it up, and only then did Ning realize that it was a garment bag.

”Did you bring me a change of clothes?” he asked. ”I think I’m fine as I am.”

He had been wearing a shirt and pants, but he could take the test in those.

”You can stay in that,” Blake said. ”Or... you can wear this.”

He opened the zipper, revealing an outfit with a giant red bat design at the center with wings extending to the shoulder. The bat wasn’t drawn onto the costume but was rather a metal piece attached to it, with two black fangs jutting out of its face.

Ning couldn’t see the rest of the costume, but he saw some red and gold color on an otherwise mostly black suit.

Ning’s eyebrows raised slightly as a smile formed on his face. ”That’s my new costume?” he asked.

”I figured you would want to keep your identity a secret,” Blake said. ”Do you?”

Ning thought for a bit and nodded. ”Let’s go wear my new fit.”

Ning found himself a room and got into his new costume. The entire outfit was a one-piece that was surprisingly flexible. The only solid thing was the red bat piece on his chest, which Ning could see acted more defensively than anything.

He looked at the rest of the outfit, surprised by its texture. It was very much cloth that covered him, but somehow, he almost felt that his suit was made of metal.

The black tight-fitting suit covered him entirely, revealing muscles all throughout. The scarlet and golden threads that wrapped around him made him look quite stunning, even though most of his suit was entirely black.

The suit came with a mask that covered just the front of his face. The mask was an oval shape, fully golden, with no design other than two black strips that came down from where his eyes should’ve been.

Black fangs.

Ning put on the mask and found it attaching to his face with no string or clips. It just stayed there. He took it off in surprise and found it coming off him easily.

At first, he was surprised, but then he realized that someone had used their powers on the mask. They had made it so that the mask stayed on once it was put on.

Ning walked out in his costume, revealing it to Blake. ”How do I look?”

”Incredible,” Blake said with a look of awe. ”You... you look better than most heroes out there.”

”Thanks,” Ning said. ”I think I like the costume. Although, I’m not sure about the mask. Does it look good?”

”It looks fine to me. Can you see well from behind it?”

”Yeah, there’s no issue there,” Ning said. ”I guess this will do then. I’ll see if I have any problems later on. For now, let’s go. The test might start soon.”

Ning and Blake made their way to the waiting area. A few people stared at Ning for a while, his stunning costume making for quite the attraction around there. There were other people with costumes as well, but only his looked so... expensive.

Ning looked around at his competition. Not everyone who was going to take the test would pass. As far as Ning was aware, their testing criteria was very strict, causing most of the people here to fail.

There were months where every single person would fail.

Of course, Ning had no plans on failing.

”Please remember everything I’ve told you,” Blake said, with the test now being no more than a few minutes away from starting. ”You won’t be taking the test alone. You will be going up against others, each of whom will be doing their best to get their points too. Save as many people as you can, try and talk to them, and keep the damage to a minimum. Those three are the most important parts.”

Ning nodded as he listened to Blake’s words silently.

”Try not to get into conflict with anyone beyond what is necessary. Some will try to do that, so fix the situation as calmly as you can. And definitely don’t get into a fight with the other contestants. The other agencies will send their own conflict-makers to lower the other heroes’ standings. Do not fall for their bait.”

”I won’t,” Ning said. ”I’m allowed to fly, right? I got my license.”

”You’re free to do whatever you can in order to help the citizens,” Blake answered. ”Even breaking any rules is okay, as long as that leads to saved lives. But do try to adhere to them whenever you can.”

”I have no plans of doing anything otherwise,” Ning said and looked toward Blake. ”Don’t worry, I’ll pass.”

He wasn’t worried about failing all that much. There were only two reasons people usually failed from what he could tell.

They either didn’t have the power to protect others, or they held an ego about them or an attitude that just didn’t lend to becoming a good hero.

Ning had the power. And as long as his personality didn’t come off as negative to the judges, that would be enough.

Of course, that didn’t mean he was without any worries. There would be people trying to make things difficult for him, which was fine. But what if one of them was someone belonging to Tritus’ apostles?

He would have to look out for the red herring here too.

An announcement came just then. ”All participants, please make your way to the testing area.”

The crowd came awake, and Ning stood up as well.

”I’ll see you a few hours later.”

Blake nodded. ”I wish you the best of luck.”