"You are Terra's second human Expert Pilot." After saying those words, the Examiner did not know what he expected, but Suzuki's even stare was undoubtedly not the reaction he sought.

Oblivious to the older man's thoughts, Suzuki plainly asked, "What is an expert pilot?"

The Examiner's brow rose as he examined the odd youth. There was no arrogance or pride as expected from someone who received a massive commendation. It was like the title of 'second human Expert Pilot' meant nothing to Suzuki. Shaking his head, the Examiner pushed the matter of Suzuki's psyche to the back of his mind—that was for the psychologists to figure out. Instead, he candidly explained, "An expert pilot is a pilot who has triggered their force of will, breaking the laws of causality in the universe. This grants them the ability to influence the plains of reality with special phenomena, a feat greatly enhanced by piloting special expert mechs." The Examiner brought up a picture of Cassia. "What you faced in this battle was an ace pilot. These pilots are countless times stronger than expert pilots. Their ability to influence reality in their field is enhanced by several magnitudes, and the mechs they pilot can take on several expert mechas at once." Looking at the reticent youth, the Examiner sighed. "Truthfully speaking, you were never supposed to win this exam. We designed this exam to reveal what you should be aiming for after suffering humiliation and damnation. Do you understand that your little stunt messed up this valuable lesson? How should you compensate for this loss?"

Faced with the Examiner's aggressive stance, Suzuki only shook his head. "Your intentions have nothing to do with me. You issued a mission, and we put everything on the line to complete it. That's all there is to it." Suzuki paused. His brows slightly bunched together and then added, "Besides, I don't need despair to know I need to get stronger. Just tell me why I need to get stronger."

The Examiner's lips twitched. The brat was even ruder than his files stated, or was he too frank? "I won't be the one to explain that to you. You need to know that as an expert pilot, your Neural Sync levels will be on another level. You should find it easier to master many things, such as languages, skills, etc.

"Furthermore, with training, you can pilot an expert mech, which is a massive advantage on most battlefields." Pausing, he added, "As for your alter-ego, being an expert pilot has perks in the game world. You will find that you can more easily control your ki and mana. Creating and mastering new skills will be as easy as breathing."

Suzuki's eyes widened in realization. "Syel. That's why he's broken. He's the first expert pilot, isn't he? Then there's also Shokō. I wondered how she could create so many original sword skills in such a short time."

"You are perceptive." The Examiner nodded. "Yes, but you are wrong. Those two are not simple expert pilots but proto-ace pilots. They only lack the necessary stimuli to break through to the next level—hm?" He suddenly looked away, brows slightly furrowed. After a moment, the Examiner sighed and turned to Suzuki. "I can't say any more on that topic, back to you. After a comprehensive evaluation, we decided to grant you a B grade. You were instrumental in defeating Cassia, but we cannot encourage wilful acts as they could backfire in a real war."

Suzuki nodded, accepting the evaluation. "I understand you do not encourage wilful acts, but do you discourage them? What I'm asking is: do you want soldiers or special operators?"

"I like you, kid!" The Examiner's lips spread into a wide grin. "Yeah! That has been a point of contention all the way to the top. An expert pilot is akin to a tactical nuke in terms of potential. Some higher-ups believe we should shackle these nukes and have them follow strict military protocols. Others want to train independent operators who can make snap judgments on the field without seeking approval from higher-ups. Which one do you think is better?"

Suzuki's brow rose in disbelief. "That is a stupid question. Why don't you train both? Some people operate better under strict orders, while others are thousand times more effective working on their own. Identify who fits in where, and train them accordingly."

"What makes you say that?"

"Have you ever run a guild? I haven't either, but my friend, Yumi, has run several. It's one of her tricks to running an effective guild. She gives rough directives to the brilliant, independent weirdos and detailed instructions to the hardworking but less creative minds. The brilliant weirdos often use hard workers to achieve the objective in their special ways."

"I see. So something like gathering the elites and putting the more creative minds as leaders?"

"Yes, and I can smell your sarcasm." Suzuki snorted. He fell for the older man's trick. Genaco already took that into consideration when creating the teams. The leaders were the creative minds, while the rest of the members were the hardworking type that needed instructions. This test was enough proof. Genaco gave the leaders a directive but no more instructions on completing it.

The Examiner chuckled. "Don't underestimate us, adults. We might not be as sharp as you kids, but we've been around longer. That comes with its advantages. More importantly, we have revised your score to S due to your awakening. However, although your insubordination reduced your score, we cannot deny that you eliminated five expert pilots, saving your team and drastically altering the course of the planetary war. For that, we have increased your score to triple S. Now; you can look at the tablet for your rewards."

Suzuki lifted the tablet, which turned on this time, revealing a congratulatory screen. Several rows of categories flanked by scores scrolled by under a golden 'SSS' banner. Over a dozen seconds later, the screen finally transitioned to the rewards menu.

"The grand prize of the SSS score is A-score's free upgrade to one module, S-score's free starter mech, SS-score's comprehensive intel on the next mission, and SSS score's option to choose one item from the shops for free on your next deployment," the Examiner explained. "Next, The payment for killing an ace pilot is 600 million yen. Split thirty ways, and your reward is 20 million yen. Each expert pilot is worth 140 million yen. You and Yokina-kun killed six in that explosion, so that's an additional 420 million yen split both ways. No one perished, so we added a 5 million bonus to all members. Finally, your bomb destroyed the elevator's foundation. Even if we choose not to intervene, it will take the aliens several months to fix that damage. We're adding a bonus of 100 million for that. Finally, your expert pilot bonus is 100 million for 645 million yen."

Suzuki's gaze remained even while listening to the extreme rewards. Ignoring the monetary rewards, he muttered, "Comprehensive intel... That would cover something like differentiating between an expert pilot and an ace pilot, right?"

The Examiner's smile stiffened. "That was a deliberate error on our part. We will not do that again. More importantly, are you not excited at all? That's just over half a billion yen!"

"What am I going to spend that on? Will you let us buy a Ferrari for a spin on the KK?"

The Examiner snorted. "Fine, consider yourself grown up. Normal things can't excite you. Alright. That's enough. When you get back, you'll see a list of missions. Choose one and execute it next week Saturday. You can return to the game tomorrow and play as you please. But you must complete your weekly missions or be punished."

Suzuki nodded. "That's fine. I can work with that."

"All things considered, you did a great job, Suzuki." The Examiner's gaze turned solemn. "Terra will be in your care."

Before Suzuki could ask what he meant, a familiar sucking feeling overwhelmed him. Moments later, Suzuki opened his eyes to see Yukino examining his face through the pod's glass. The feeding tubes receded as the pod opened, allowing Suzuki to stumble out of the pod.

"Hey, be careful," Yukino cautioned as she helped stabilize the young man. "You're body's undergoing rapid strengthening due to your awakening. You're not used to your new strength, so it might take some time to familiarize yourself with your body."

"Thank you, but I'll be fine," muttered Suzuki as he gently pushed Yukino aside. Then, without caring for the onlookers, he got into a low stance and slowly punched out. His muscles rippled with tremendous power as he extended his arms. Once satisfied, he raised his stance, lifted his leg and delivered slow but deliberate kicks at varying heights. Finally, he stood straight and hopped on the spot.

Finished with his warm-up, Suzuki nodded at Yukino. "I'm fine now."

Yukino looked Suzuki up and down like he was a rare animal. "Should I say as expected of the person with the highest adaptive parameters?" Smiling, she placed a sensor on his arm and her tablet. "Good, your vitals appear to have stabilized. However, we will run more tests later to ensure no adverse effects are left behind. Is that alright with you?"

Suzuki nodded. His body's health was more important than anything else.

"Suzuki! We earned big time!" Usman shouted as he ran up behind Suzuki. Wrapping his hand around Suzuki's neck, Usman shoved his phone in Suzuki's face, revealing his winnings of 50 million yen. "Dude, apparently, destroying the dam netted 30 million in damage rewards. Crazy, right? You delivered the final blow. Your earnings should be like two hundred, right?"

Suzuki wordlessly pulled out his phone.

Usman's smile froze when he saw the numerous zeros on the screen. "Hah, what did I expect? There's no way Kashi was born from a reasonable person." Shutting his phone, he glared at Suzuki, "You're treating everyone tonight."

The corners of Suzuki's lips twitched, a hint of mischief shining in his eyes. "Sure, why not." The sound of clapping hands drew Suzuki's attention to the front where Seki and James stood. "Alright, everyone, take your seats."

"Let's go." Usman pulled Suzuki over to Taiga and Saeko, where they met Jade and Ayumi.

Taiga grinned at Suzuki but held his comments out of respect for Akari. Instead, he held out his fist and mouthed, 'Awesome!'

Suzuki snorted, bumped the fist and sat down.

Akari stood before the excited trainees. First, he spread his hands and said, "Congratulations. You rose above your limits and achieved something we all thought impossible. No one here imagined you could complete this mission. We assumed you would fight and sabotage yourselves, seeking to acquire the highest possible rewards. But, contrary to our expectations, not only did you cooperate, but you all put your lives on the line, pulling out everything you had to accomplish the task. I am immensely proud of all of you. I can confidently say that if it were up to me, I would happily choose any of you to become an expert pilot. You all have already been briefed by The Examiner, so I will not go over your individual performances. Instead, I have interrupted your celebrations to fulfil a bet with one of you." Turning to face Taiga, he said, "Taiga, here, bet you would complete this mission. Due to his victory, I am obligated to share the true reason for your training with you."

The trainees sat up straight, ears peeled and eyes wide. They'd all had assumptions, but this was the first official confirmation that there was something more to their training.

Faced with the trainees' eagerness, Akari coughed and turned to James. "Your turn."

James chuckled as he stepped forward. He tossed his popcorn aside, but to the trainees' shock, it floated as if frozen in time. The rooms suddenly went dark before they could understand what was happening.

Then, a figure emerged from the darkness, its presence both ethereal and haunting. The strange being's slender and graceful form seemed to shimmer with elusive energy as if it were manifestations of celestial enchantment.

Skin as blue as the midnight sky on the cusp of a storm, radiant and luminous, illuminated the darkness with an otherworldly glow. Eyes the colour of deep sapphire, brimmed with cosmic knowledge, held a pearl of ancient wisdom tempered by deep melancholy. They gazed into the depths of the trainees' souls, their intensity seemingly ripping through their mundane existence to gaze upon the mysteries of distant galaxies and long-forgotten realms.

"Heh, how is it?"

The trainees' jaws gaped in shock when a familiar voice reverberated directly in their minds.

"This is why we're training you. Humans on Terra are about to face their greatest threat yet....."

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A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Grimnir, who's graduating tomorrow! Life after Uni might be scary, but it's also immensely exciting. No matter what, we've got your back. Whether as Maggots or Wolves, we never travel alone!