The hivemind is conquering for me?

”Wow, Apollo, nice pussy. Can I stroke it?”

I looked at Lena confused as I sat down before she began laughing like she heard the funniest joke in the world. ”Hahaha! Just kidding! That time I was being dirty on purpose.” Her face then lost its joking tone and she asked intensely. ”Seriously, can I pet your cat?”

Sapphire took a seat directly next to me, resting her head on my lap and I began to instinctively give her scratches behind the ears. ”Sure, but ask Sapphire if it’s ok. It’s her consent you need.”

”Mow.”

”Oh? She said It’s fine, go ahead.” I stated and Lena and Mindy both went and began petting Sapphire. Mindy smiled as she rubbed her hands along Sapphire’s side and said. ” I thought your soul beast was already cute, Apollo, back on Alexandria, but with this form, I am literally dying at the cuteness overload I am receiving.”

I smiled and nodded my head. ”Yeah she is a cutie isn’t she?” I said and began doting on Sapphire before Lena asked. ”Oh, you two knew each other before coming here?” That’s quite rare. I don’t know any other fucker here. But hey. A good ol’ chum of my best friend is a good ol’ chum of mine, bring it in sister!”

Lena then forwent waiting for the confused Mindy and hugged her tightly, entrapping Mindy for a moment before said trapped individual asked. ”Wait, best friend?” Her eyes darted to Apollo in confusion.

Lena then pulled back and nodded her head before standing up, she then walked behind Apollo and hugged him from behind. ”Oh Yeah. Me and Apollo are bezzie mates now! We are practically inseparable!”

Mindy looked at Apollo then back at Lena and gulped softly ’This girl has the worst case of crazy eyes I have ever seen! And the fact they are red makes it way worse for some reason... I want to help, but I think she will eat me if I do...’

Thankfully, the topic was changed as two women walked over and announced themselves.

”Um, hey, excuse me. Can we pet your cat?”

...

I ended up missing a great deal of the Psionics shown in this group due to the snowball effect of everyone wanting to pet my cat. My view was constantly obstructed. But even then, I could feel some incredibly dense and even a couple of times, dangerous Psionic displays before they left the stage.

When the other group behind us arrived, it didn’t take much longer and we were off to the next and final round of tests for the day. As we were walking, someone called out to me. ”Apollo, my friend!”

Turning to the voice, it was Iilr and he was walking over. and joined our pace. ”Iilr, good to see you. How did the ’fishing’ go today?” I asked. Iilr laughed and smacked me on the back. ”Not well, not well at all. Since our little victory the other day, I think the beast is a bit embarrassed. It’s not been toying with us in the slightest. It’s been using its whole power from the start. I nearly lost my arm this morning from the pull into the drink. But don’t worry, I’ll still be going back next dawn. Haha. I have got to go and join the others, good luck with your last test.” He said before running ahead.

It didn’t take long for us to arrive at the next section and it was clear as to what this section was about even without context. Weights. Weights everywhere. The teacher for this section stood there with his arms crossed waiting for us.

Once we were close enough he shouted. ”Alright! Shut it! We are already behind, so I am skipping the pleasantries. ”This test is all about your physical strength. We will be starting you off by seeing how much weight you can hold above your head and after that, we will be testing individual muscle groups. There will be no Psionics used. No enhancements whatsoever, even if your Psionics are tied into your strength. You will dampen your ability to only use your raw muscle power.”

He then looked over the group, nodding his head at the lack of complaints. ”Good. Now, for those without superior strength, please do not feel you failed if you see someone holding up multiple tonnes at once while you can barely get up half a tonne. Psionic energy builds some people differently. Just focus on yourself and yourself only. Got it? Let’s get going!”

We were then put into roughly five groups of eleven before being escorted to separate weight locations. I was temporarily separated from Lena and Mindy and was in a group with the green haired man and the two women he was accompanied with, alongside the teleporter guy.

The man with the green hair was called Sigfried, the woman with blonde hair, Francesca and the pink haired woman was called Tamara, but I heard her be called Tammy a bunch. I remembered their names as all three were very strong in their own right.

Tamara was able to injure Valerica, but got too angry to be able to capitalize on it. Francesca I remember had Aero and Hydrokinetic, with the latter having healing elements? I wasn’t sure how water could cure wounds? But it did and Psionic bull-shittery was the best explanation I could come up with.

Meanwhile Sigfried, although he got beat by Valerica rather easily earlier, that was to his own hubris. He also didn’t show anything during Hecate’s test, but I am almost positive he was one of the ones that gave off that dangerous feeling during the last test.

Getting lost in my own thoughts, I had forgotten that other people also have eyes and the pink haired girl, Tamara, noticed me staring. ’Hmm, I wonder where she is going with that frown on her face?’ I wondered curiously, before she arrived in front of me and asked.

”Had a good ogle, pervert?”

I suddenly picked up on the fact she was addressing me and replied. ”Ogle?”

”So you admit it? Undressing Franny and I with your lecherous gaze... Do I need to put you in your place, pig?” She said, tapping my chest aggressively.

I looked down at her and said from the bottom of my heart. ”I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.”

Tamara did not seem to like this and huffed. ”Thats it. You are going down you f-” ”-Tammy.” ”Yes~?” The woman did a complete u turn in her emotions as she turned back all smiles towards Sigfried.

The man walked over, hands in his pockets and maneuvered his head, beckoning Tamara back. The woman did just that and linked her arms with his. The man and I maintained eye contact for a while, his pale blue eyes had a curiosity within them that I matched.

In the end, it was he who spoke first. ”It’s Apollo, right? Sorry about Tammy here, she is a bit unstable.” He outright declared, prompting the pink haired woman to look away embarrassed. ”Siggy~”

”It’s alright.” I said. ”I have no idea what just happened, but it’s alright.” I said honestly, causing a nasal chuckle to come from Sigfried. He then nodded. ”Yeah, I doubt you were perving like she suggested, you don’t seem the type. But you were staring, I could feel your gaze against my neck. I hope there is no trouble?”

The man spoke with a casualness that bordered on him sounding tired. Slow, methodical, with a twinge of superiority in his voice. It would have sounded slightly condescending to most people. Most.

”No trouble whatsoever, I was just thinking about your respective strengths. All three of you are very powerful, it has made me curious if the others you came with are equally powerful?”

Sigfried let air out his nose again to show his amusement. ”The three of us are the strongest of our little friend group, but the others are no slouches. Each one of us pushes the other to greater heights. It’s always been that way.”

”Always?” I asked curiously.

Sigfried paused for a moment and looked me up and down before smiling. ”Hey, enough about us. You are pretty strong yourself no? Fighting with that first teacher, that display of multiple Psionics in the second and your big companion? It was very cool.”

”And cute.” Francesca spoke for the first time, her voice like silk before turning away, embarrassed. ”Yes, cute as well, naturally. Heh.” Sigfried said before looking away towards the weights.

”I wonder how well you will do on this strength test? Are you a jack of all trades? I am betting on yes, though, I think Tammy here might have you beat.”

I smiled at the three. ” I guess we shall see won’t we?” I said, seemingly cryptic. But in actuality, I don’t know my max lift weight in this new body without Psionic enhancement. It will be over a few tonnes sure, but I am not sure how many exactly.

That didn’t matter though, I was simply excited to find out.