Chapter 34: Importance of vision

Eren kept his ears peeled. Listening intently on Kaiser’s words.

Geister already told him this fact a week ago. Even experienced Awakeners had to use their vision to imbue Reinforcement. Eren didn’t believe it at first, but this officially sealed it.

Now, he needed to be sure. Information was his true advantage here. Meaning, keeping the asymmetry of knowledge between him and everyone else would allow him to maintain that advantage.

He needed to know exactly what they knew about cultivation, so he knew which part to keep to himself.

Kaiser continued his demonstration. The aura of red globules surrounding his hand was a flare that attracted all attention to him.

"Reinforcement empower your strikes, but it will also protect you from attacks. Reinforce your body with Psions, and you’ll defend against most physical strikes. Blades will not cut you. Bullets will shatter upon contact.

Reinforcement is what distinguishes you from mortals. With Reinforcement, no normal human would be able to lay their hands on you, no matter the weapon they hold.

That is if—IF—you make proper preparations."

Kaiser directed those words to a certain young man in the front of the auditorium. A youth who had his legs perched atop of the chair in front of him and barely even listened to the proctor’s words.

"As long as we Reinforce our body we don’t have to worry about it, right?" the young man asked, shrugging, half in defense, half in derision.

The rest of the gymnasium agreed with his words. Awakeners were untouchable against mortals.

Despite the youth’s conceited words, Kaiser nodded. "Yes. Reinforcement should make you invincible against normal attacks. At least, they’re supposed to. But recently, I’ve been proven wrong."

Kaiser’s eyes snapped up, towards Eren in a temporary glance. A knowing gaze was exchanged between them.

Geister must have told him about what happened in the hospital. Not an unwelcome introduction. Impressing the proctor may come into play as the License Exam progressed.

"But a lot of accidents can happen. Awakeners can get caught off-guard. Their eyes can get blinded even before they could Reinforce their body. And they may become too overconfident of their own meager skills.

Ask yourselves truthfully. Have you really mastered the basics?"

A sea of red particles permeated the seats down below as examinees began Reinforcing their fists, accepting the challenge in Kaiser’s words.

A few struggled for a moment, but were able to coalesce their ’Psionic’ aura around their arms. Overjoyed and eager, they bragged their red-saturated hands to their friends around them.

Reinforcements were achieved easily amongst the examinees. Density was the only difference. Some were more ’solid’ than others.

Soon, awes and exclamations boomed through the gymnasium as the overconfident young man from earlier showed off Reinforcement in both of his hands. It was effortless. A single glance set his fists afire with clouds of red particulate matter.

And he was not the only one. A select few, those who seemed to be the heirs and scions of the Prominent Families, achieved Reinforcement with little to no effort, earning the applause of the other examinees.

Kaiser released an aura of ’Psions,’ regaining the attention back.

"I am not expecting much from you. Most of everyone here will only be in the beginning stages of the Genesis Phase. And hopefully, whatever Martial Manual you have chosen has at least reached the Lower Proficiency rank.

Take this chance to practice and hone your skills. It’ll be the only time you’ll get to prepare before the official start of the first test.

If you aren’t sleeping in your dorms, spend every waking hour in this gymnasium practicing until you’ve mastered the Primal Strike.

If you can’t, I’ll be in the other room. Say the word, and I’ll escort you out of the venue."

Kaiser snapped his fingers. Above, metal whirred as gears roared into activity.

Industrial, robotic, three-pronged claws unfurled from the roof. They clamped onto the ceiling, which turned out to be slabs of concrete arranged to create a facade of the true dome of the gymnasium.

Arranged in rows of columns, these slabs of concrete were lowered onto the gymnasium floor.

Twenty feet high and twelve inches thick, these slabs stood stalwartly as if some relic of an impressive bulwark of a bygone castle.

As the auditorium became abuzz with anticipation, Kaiser walked out of the gym with measured steps.

The seats around Eren rumbled as his fellow examinees anxiously got out of their seats and raced onto the gymnasium floor. Their haste was unneeded, in the end. There were enough concrete slabs for everyone to practice on.

Eren walked down the steps of the bleachers. His eyes weren’t focused on the concrete slabs, as everybody’s were. Instead, he turned his attention on the doors where Kaiser left.

No announcement on how long this practice session lasts. They’re giving us one day, at least, if they’re giving us dorm rooms to sleep in. There’s something more going on here.

Nothing was as simple as it appeared. Athan hammered that lesson into his head when he got trapped in the Immortal Library.

But there was no use wondering. Preparation was the key to winning this License Exam.

He looked at his own hands. Visualization became his one and only focus.

And as he reached into his mind and imagined the connection between his eyes and his Dantian, blobs of red globules seethed around his skin.

They boiled in excitement. His eyes became the window that allowed the Ræzoň in his Dantian to flow into the real world, manifesting as a granular aura of red mist that seeped around his fingers like mischievous smoke.

More drops of Ræzoň flowed out of the pool in his Dantian. It reinforced the mist, letting it become denser and denser till it almost turned the red mist opaque.

Concentration allowed him to keep Reinforcement.

Once he took his eyes off of his fist, Ræzoň stopped flowing from his Dantian.

From then on, the red particulate vapor would remain Reinforcing his body, only slowly losing its potency and power as time passed, or until Eren unleashed it in an attack.