Chapter 185: Physical Test
The next phase of the interview involved us diving into the rift that we had left open.
This was the practical part of the interview where we see how they would handle real Anomalies that they would be expected to fight against.
It would be pointless if these Guardian candidates end up saying all the right things for the theoretical side of the interview but end up faltering when faced with Anomalies on the practical side.
We were all gathered outside the portal and I heard some murmurs coming from the people behind me.
"There’s an active rift here?"
"I thought they closed this one, didn’t they?"
"No... They only reported that they cleared it but never said anything about closing it."
"Isn’t that dangerous?"
"I mean... The Mortal God is literally living here so I think it’s fine?"
I tried my best not to comment on it and just acted like I was surprised to find the portal there as well.
Of course, Dan was not buying that since he knew I already knew about it but he didn’t expose me at least.
Though he did shoot me a conspiratory smile while wiggling his eyebrows at me.
Please don’t do that again...
Olivia stepped out to the front of the group and addressed all of us with a serious tone.
"Alright... As you might be able to tell, this is an actual portal that leads to a rift. The next part of your interview would be showing us how you can handle Anomalies on your own."
Someone behind me seemed to have raised up their hand in question, prompting Olivia to nod at them, "I see we have a question. What is it?"
"Umm... We won’t be expected to clear this rift right? I... I don’t have my weapon with me..."
A few others also started murmuring amongst themselves, clearly also worried about the same thing.
Olivia raised her hand to get their attention, "Do not worry. We have already prepared your weapons according to your records in the Ministry of Anomaly Management."
She then gestured to the side where a tent had been set up with a few Bunarfs working on bringing out several weapons to place them on the table.
The red Oni then continued, "Also, you need not worry, we are not expecting you to clear the rift either. The rift itself has already been cleared and the Gatekeeper is properly secured. Right now, we still have uses for this rift which is why we have not closed it off yet, as you can see."
All of them shifted their gaze to the conveyor belts that were transporting materials out from the rift.
I guess it was easy to tell what we were using the rift for with that sight.
"Even with that, there are still Anomalies that prowl the rift so we still need to go in and clear it periodically. We will be seeing how all of you handle yourselves inside the rift. Now, those who rely on their weapons, please go and pick up your weapon of choice," Olivia finished.
Almost everyone headed towards the tent as they collected their weapons from the table.
I went with Dan while the elf and that pale skinned woman remained where they were, probably because they don’t use any weapons.
I took my sword from the table which had been planted there ahead of time while Dan went to pick up his shield and mace before we moved to rejoin the group again.
Once everyone had picked up their weapons, Olivia directed all of us to split up into groups of four to better coordinate us as each group would have a Guardian attached to watch over them.
The Guardian would serve as our examiner and also our protector in case we encounter an Anomaly we could not deal with.
I was grouped up with Dan, the elf and the pale woman which was something arranged ahead of time while the Guardian attached to us was Olivia herself.
I knew later that the Guardians once again resorted to drawing lots to determine who would accompany me which I thought was a little unnecessary since I was there anyway. But obviously it would be weird if our group was the only one without a Guardian.
With the groups prepared, we entered the rift with our own group members and assembled on the other side once more.
Several of the interviewees gawked at the machinery that was set up in the cavern, which was understandable since no one would expect to find an entire production line being inside the rift.
Each of my Guardians then took over the groups as we were split up to explore different parts of the rift so that we would not run into each other.
I’ve been in these caverns so many times so when Olivia started leading us down one of the tunnels, I already knew where we were headed to.
When we had properly separated from the other groups, Olivia turned to nod at us, "First things first. As you already know we would be testing all of you against Anomalies. First I will see how you do on your own before I let you fight as a group. Do not act outside of my directions. Do not stray from the group. I will not hesitate to kill anyone who puts the rest in danger."
I’m pretty sure she’s only saying that because I’m here... Which is understandable I suppose...
But come on, Olivia... I can handle myself here just fine.
Dan gave me a side eye to ask if she was serious and I gave him a curt nod.
I’m pretty sure if Olivia thought Dan was endangering me, she would also kill him without a second thought even if he was my best friend.
I guess he’ll at least take this seriously for now so I don’t need to worry about him fooling around.
As for the other two... I’m sure they could handle themselves.
Once Olivia made sure we understood the severity of this test, she led the way through the tunnels until we came to a cavern where a single Anomaly was standing.
Judging by the fact that there were broken pieces of rock scattered around it, there must have been other Anomalies in this cavern and they probably came here to kill off all of them except for one which they were planning to use for this specific instance.
Olivia turned to nod at me and I understood she wanted me to go first.
I guess they had planned this for me to be the easiest to deal with since I was obviously just here to check the candidates out and not actually trying to be a Guardian.
I nodded back at her to indicate I understood and stepped towards the anomaly that was already lumbering its way towards me.
This one was just one of those simple human shaped rock Anomalies which I have already dealt with plenty of times so there was no need for me to fight it with my full strength.
I cracked my knuckles and settled into a punching stance instead of drawing my sword.
Focusing myself, I made sure to limit my strength to only about ten percent before I leapt towards the Anomaly and gave it a single punch in its chest.
The Anomaly practically exploded as my fist completely crushed through its chest, pulverising it and blasting out a shockwave that disintegrated the stone around its body.
What remained of it got sent flying towards the other end of the cavern where it crashed into the wall and splintered into even smaller fragments before crashing onto the ground.
I turned back and Olivia nodded, "Impressive strength. Good job."
I decided to have a little fun with Olivia and gave her an exaggerated bow, "You flatter me, Miss Olivia."
She actually got a little flustered but managed to recover quickly by clearing her throat to point at another tunnel to the side.
"Ahem... We will be going over there now... Follow closely."
Before we could move however, there was a loud crash as the part of the wall that the Anomaly I had sent flying into suddenly broke apart.
The pieces of the wall fell into a pile and the ground rumbled as several Anomalies stepped out of the newly made hole.
There was a mix of the normal slow moving rock type Anomalies as well as the fast moving quadrupedal Anomalies and the larger sized Anomalies.
Olivia reacted immediately as she placed herself in between me and the Anomalies while she shouted out her orders at the others.
"All of you! Change of plans! We’re moving to group combat right now! I will lead the charge, handle all the other stragglers and wipe them out! Do not let any of them get away!"
While I was not surprised to see Dan immediately take a defensive stance alongside me, the elf and the pale woman also did the same like they had experienced this before.
Well... I guess we’ll see how well they can handle this then.
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