CHAPTER 9: ALL-TIME CHUMP

In the observation room, Idia and Ortho were looking over multiple screens which showed identical testing rooms. Riddle, Vil, and Azul were in one, Jamil and Leona were in another, Jill was by herself, and Grim was the last one. It wasn't the ideal way Idia wanted to test everyone, but since when did things ever go his way?

"Strange," Ortho noted. "There's no significant blot spikes with any of them. Their blot levels are all normal."

"How did these guys overblot?" Idia asked. "I guess the next step is to go over their test results with them. Some of them figured out they were in virtual reality, so the whole 'make them fight their classmates' trick won't work again if we retested."

"We also analyzed their blot levels during their questioning," Ortho noted. "They were stressed when recounting their overblots, but it wasn't extreme. Though Jill Bones' questioning was… unusual." He glanced to his older brother. "She wasn't lying, but what she said didn't seem very relevant."

"It was just her theory on why the overblots were happening," Idia said. "Would be convenient if there was some big bad running around and making people overblot, Too bad there's no evidence."

"Quite the mystery," Ortho agreed. He turned back to the screens, where the subjects were finishing up their tests. Grim had just beaten a virtual Jill, and he burst into tears as his researcher pulled off the goggles and explained the situation.

"Say, these guys all have different fighting styles," the younger Shroud said. "Think they would be good characters in an RPG?"

"Definitely!" Idia chuckled.

The two went back and forth for a while, assigning different roles to the subjects based on their test results. Riddle with his high attack and low defense was a glass cannon. Jamil and Azul were both more reserved with their magic output, putting them in the support category. Vil and Leona were considered tanks with their high overall stats and stamina.

"What about Jill Bones and Grim?" Ortho asked.

"They're both newbs, so I'd level them up before putting them in a party," Idia said. He looked over the recent results. "Although… they have potential. Grim as a direbeast has a decent magic pool, but he's impulsive and just blasts instead of thinking. Jill has a weak magic pool, since she didn't know she was a mage for most of her life and so never practiced until she was isekaied."

"But she studies hard to make up for that lost time," Ortho said brightly. "She showed a good amount of magical control and a variety of spells during her test."

"Grinding until you're on par with the rest of the party… that takes some talent," Idia agreed. "She doesn't seem to have any specific strengths or weaknesses. She's an all-around that could handle any role you put her in. Grim is a pure attacker. We've seen them fight together in the past; he's at the front while she supports him."

"Wonder if we could do a test where everyone's fighting at once against a horde of enemies?" Ortho suggested. "I would love to see them all pushed to their limits!"

"That would be fun to watch, but they might get hurt," Idia said. "If we go against that NDA they signed, we'd be in for a HR nightmare."

"Shame," Ortho said mildly. He pushed a button, rewinding the footage and watching the subjects fight against virtual enemies again.

"The next step will be discussing test results with the subjects," Idia said. He was starting to feel like a doctor. "Then we should—" His phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket, and he had a sense of dread.

"What's up, Idia?" Ortho wondered.

"Just got a text," Idia said. "Lemme step out and answer it. You're in charge for a while."

"Got it!" Ortho said as his older brother left the room.

Idia secluded himself in one of the generic waiting rooms, which was thankfully empty. He checked his phone to see a message from none other than Muscle Red.

Gloomurai, I'm sorry to inconvenience you, but I can't play any games for a while. Something's come up.

Idia smiled. Muscle Red was always so considerate. And he had excellent timing, too.

It's fine, lol. Don't worry about it, Idia texted back. I got some stuff on my plate too. Once I'm free, I'll message you back and we can hopefully do another grinding run soon.

Will do, Muscle Red said. Thanks. I'll talk to you later.

Later, Idia said, and put the phone back into his pocket. He didn't want to think about all the games he was missing out on—Muse Melody, Hero's Distance, Pegaflight Academy. All those sweet daily bonuses and quests, gone. Not to mention that Conquest of the Titans was still in the middle of its River Guardian event, so if Idia couldn't finish that by the end of this week, he was going to be River Guardian-less.

"Everyone's upset about their dorms, and I'm just upset at missing out on games," Idia admitted to himself. "Wonder how the guys at Ignihyde are doing. Bet they wouldn't miss an all-time chump like me, heh…"

DRIP…

Idia took out his pen. There were a few more spots of blot on the light-blue surface of his magestone. Okay, now this was starting to worry him. Shouldn't this blot have disappeared by now?

He grabbed a strand of his hair and held it up to his pen. The blot started to dissolve in the light of his fiery follicles, but more blot appeared to take its place. Idia reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a device that looked like a pen holder. It was a special Styx device—an analyzer that would scan any pen placed inside it. He practically slammed his magestone into the device, watching as it analyzed his blot output.

Blot Acceleration: 13% was the reading. For whatever reason, Idia's blot was accumulating faster… so fast that his curse may not be able to keep up.

"This is bad…" Idia said. "I really don't have the time for something like this…"

The responsible thing to do would be to start testing himself, but that would only eat up more of his time here. He hated Styx, he wanted to go back to the safety of his room in Ignihyde. The blot acceleration must be due to his recent stress, yes, that was the most logical reason. Just finish these twenty-four hours, and then everyone could go home…

"Director!" One of the researchers entered the room, a wiry man with light hair and sunglasses.

"Herald!" Idia snapped. "Try knocking next time, geez!"

"Sorry, but you weren't answering my messages," Herald said. "The subjects are all done with their batch of tests. They're waiting for you and Ortho."

"Got it," Idia sighed. "I'll be right there…"

He followed Herald down the corridor, running a hand through his hair awkwardly. Not only was everyone's blot levels normal, but his levels were accelerating… what the heck was this about?

Wish I could skip this event, Idia thought snarkily.

Author's Note: Heads up, updates are gonna be a little slower than before. Book 6 has so many moving parts that I need to take extra time to double-check everything to make sure it all fits together with my AU.