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* Thousand Foot Krutch - Lifeline *

"I see that you\'re still in need of my sword in order to defend yourself. It\'s sad to see how that past hasn\'t taught you anything about the nature of life..." Amongst all of the chaos in Raven\'s head, only one voice was clear, and it was whispering quietly with a faint echo. "I guess I\'ll have to give you a hand this time too..."

***

"What are you going to do, sir"? the boy called out with a disgusted tone, emphasising the last word especially, "will you kick me out? I sure f*cking wish you do! I\'ve been-"

Out of the blue, a sudden aura flare blinded everyone as the ground seemed to rumble under their feet.

Only a handful of people realized what was happening.

Raven\'s usual golden pupils were dyed crimson red in an instant as strange runes started to glow within.

Without a moment\'s notice, Raven disappeared from her spot and reappeared midair in front of the boy that was causing the trouble.

Raven\'s body seemed to flicker as her foot shot upwards and was about to connect with the boy\'s skull with a force powerful enough to shatter it on the spot.

However, seeing that, Adam took a stance to signal his readiness. Almost at the same time, with a snap of his fingers, Scott willed it so that Mr. Hans was replaced by Adam. The two switched places instantly.

Blocking against a B ranker\'s strike would usually be as easy as opening a bottle of water, but knowing better, Adam used a fortified version of the barrier he used earlier during his flight as an extra support.

Little did he know, some people even when they\'re being overestimated, they are in fact still being underestimated. And unfortunately for him, Raven was one of those people.

Raven\'s kick seemed to pass right through his bubble barrier and break his guard instantly as though it was the easiest thing in the world.

Hearing his bones crack before even feeling the paint, Adam quickly used his sheathed sword to protect against the attack and avoid it taking his face off.

The great sword in its sheath took the brunt of the damage with ease, but the force of the kick still forced Adam a few meters backwards, which in turn generated a powerful shockwave that sent many people flying and crashing against the wall of the test hall.

It all happened so fast, and so many still didn\'t know what hit them, nor what the in the world was going on in front of them

"Magnificent!" Scott muttered under his breath as a small smile spread across his face.

"Motherf*cker." Adam cursed under his breath as he tried adjusting his clothes, that is until he felt the pain radiating from his arm which forced him to stop and get ready for the next strike.

\'No-\' Raven whispered in her mind as everything seemed to get just a little bit clearer.

Waking up from her frenzy in a sudden confusion, her eyes retuned to their normal majestic golden light as she slowly started to realise what had just happened.

Although she was dead tired and found herself panting faster as her body required more oxygen than her lungs could supply, she knew that she\'s almost killed or heavily injured a person.

Rushing towards Adam with a worried face that made her look as if she had just awoken from ten years of slumber, Adam raised his healthy arm with the still sheathed sword to fight off against her.

"Wait, I\'m sorry, I didn\'t mean to!" Raven apologized quickly even though she didn\'t slow down.

Allowing her to touch his almost shattered arm, Adam could feel a warm sensation quickly washing over him and spreading across his injury, healing it back to normal, and even giving him an invigorating rush through his veins.

"Ms. O\'Bannon, colour me impressed," said Scott with a smile instead of being on his guard, "not only did you manage to land a good hit on Adam, you also healed his injury within a heartbeat."

Noticing the healers join the crowd in order to heal those who have suffered some injuries from the clash, Adam smiled awkwardly at Scott.

"Deputy General, remind me to have a word with you after we\'re done here..." Adam said while narrowing his eyes.

"Fufufufu, you got your a*s handed to you Adam, don\'t play tough now." Scott teased as Adam\'s aura started to grow denser, making it harder for some of the people to breath.

"And you, kid, we\'ll have a talk as well," unlike Scott, Adam wasn\'t happy in the slightest about Raven\'s behaviour.

"Uhm," Raven nodded, understanding that not only did she hurt his arm, but his pride as well. "I\'m sorry..."

"And you," Adam said while approaching the boy, Mr. Hans, "what do you have to say for yourself? I can guarantee your head would have been turned into dust had that kick hit you. Don\'t act superior to others, it\'ll only end in your demise..."

"Uhm," the boy nodded even though his throat was burning with defeat. He hadn\'t meant for it to reach this point as he wasn\'t a trouble maker to start with.

He was brought here against his will in order to take that Ranker Test and he knew that eventually, he\'ll be forced to join the EDA against his will.

"It\'s not fair..." he muttered as his eyes started to water up.

It seemed rather strange since no one had expected the kid that was playing tough to start crying all of a sudden.

"Now, now," Scott said calmly, "Mr. Hans, or rather Lloyd, I\'m sure Raven didn\'t mean to hurt you, but since you\'ve crossed the line, many times according to my knowledge, I\'m sure that witnessing someone else\'s Power would teach you to respect others, no?"

"I don\'t care about that..." Lloyd muttered while shaking his head slowly, "why did you bring us here? I never asked to be here, nor do I want to be an EDA ranker, I just want to go home! And above that, even though we\'ve been waiting here for the longest time, you just come here and try to take the test without a minute of waiting? How\'s any of this fair?" at the last sentence, Lloyd broke down and started crying.

Lloyd was in fact just a fifteen year old boy who was forced to start working at the age of twelve in order to support his family.

His single mother worked really hard when she was younger since she was the only person supporting her family, but as a result, she got sick and was unable to work anymore.

His older and only sister is now nineteen, but she was also forced to start working at a young age in order to support the family.

With him being brought here away from his family that needed his support, he was enraged, sad, and desperate at the same time.

He was brought here in the first place because a ranker had witnessed his powers against the aliens in the recent war while he was trying to fend off the enemies away from his house, and as a result he was recommended for future recruitment.

"Is this what I get for defending my family?" he muttered as tears ran down his face.

"Lloyd," Scott said, "I understand where-"

"No you don\'t!" Lloyd yelled, "I told you I don\'t want to be here! My family needs me, I have to-"

Suddenly, unable to hold herself back, Raven hugged Lloyd from behind and used her skill Angelic Touch to calm his aura down.

Feeling the calm aura envelope his core made Lloyd breath slowly and calmly again. They stayed like that for a few moments before Raven let go of him.

During that time, Lloyd had noticed Raven\'s fast and shallow breathing which made him rather confused.

Forgetting about his worries for a second, he asked: "are you alright?"

Raven who wasn\'t expecting the question was rather surprised the kid was worried about her. "Uhm, I\'ll be alright, don\'t worry about it. and I\'m so sorry for taking your turn, but I doubt I can wait any longer, is it ok if I take the test now?"

"Yes, if you think you\'ll be ok." Lloyd answered with a flushed face after realising how bad her situation was. \'God, I\'m such a jerk...\'

"Thank you," Raven said then looked at Mr. Hobbs who was still confused at how the events were unfolding rather quickly, "shall we get this done with please?"

"Yes, for sure," he answered hurriedly as they proceeded towards the Device.

[Raven... please, tell me what\'s going on?]

\'I... I think I know what\'s going on... but let\'s finish this quickly, we can\'t stay here for long.\'

"Deputy General," Adam whispered, "why are we still proceeding with the test? She\'s obviously an S ranker at least, there\'s no-"

"Let\'s watch for now, I have another test for her," Scott replied with a smile, "I think I know where the issue is..."

Adam didn\'t understand, yet he\'d kept quiet about it.

"Alright," said Mr. Hobbs after taking a deep breath, "you have to place both of your arms on top of the little orb above the platform, once you\'ve done that, make sure to release a small amount of your aura and the device will do the rest."

Proceeding as instructed, Raven inserted both hands into the structure in front of her. Inside, she could feel a soft orb floating midair, pressing her hands on top of it made her dizziness a little bit better as she was able to use it support herself.

Pressing a few buttons on a nearby platform, Mr.. Hobbs watched as the device started to glow, producing countless mana orbs of different colours that surrounded the hall, making everyone feel that they\'re floating in space amongst the stars.