Mr. Robert, the man in the purple shirt, returned to the reception hall. His look of satisfaction was now overlaid with an air of complete authority.

He addressed the applicants, his voice cutting through the remaining tension. "Listen up. The organization you are applying to is known, while previously unofficially is now official". With this his smile widened.

Hearing his words and his facial expression, anyone could guess that it was this piece of news that got him excited.

"Is known as the Apex Doctrine". He let the name sink in. "We are pioneers, not people waiting to retire. We are funded by private money, which means we cannot afford mediocrity."

Mr. Robert gestured around the spacious ground floor— the reception area— then toward the stairs.

"The second floor is our operational command center. The third floor is where we live and eat. Every part of this building is set up for efficiency, and we expect the same dedication from you".

"The truth is simple". He continued, planting his hands on his hips. "We are looking for the absolute best, the ones with the most potential. We need sorcerers who can act. We need unwavering loyalty because this work is kind of dangerous, and we will protect our own".

He tapped his fingers on his notepad. "Your background doesn't matter to me. Your power does. Your willingness to serve the A.N.G.E.L. mandate does."

Levi rolled his eyes at the words, he was certain Mr. Robert was bluffing. As soon as Mr. Robert got his hands on the A.N.G.E.L resources, his first priority would be researching everyone's background— starting with Levi's identify due to his foreign nationality.

The reason Mr. Robert could be so dismissive was simple: accessing cross-domain data was almost impossible for any established group, talk less of a upstarting private one like their's.

The A.N.G.E.L. network was designed to be a secure information hub. As a citizen, Levi's identity was recorded at birth and updated every ten years in his home Domain's database.

And it was even more so for sorcerers who were mandated to re-record every three years.

The A.N.G.E.L. website did have access to all those Domain databases, but the verification process was slow and highly secure.

Getting access to the website could take anywhere from a year to a few years, because in the wrong hands, access to the true sorcerer registry of another Domain could be and has been proven lethal.

Mr. Robert simply didn't have the high-level clearance to confirm Levi's or any of their background right away.

So if they could manage to get access to the website they would just need to provide Levi's facial picture and boom, everything about him from the time of his birth to when he became the bulter, would all be available.

But Levi wasn't too worried, to gain that access, they needed to be a G3(grade 3) sorcerers in the organization and Levi knew that Mr. Robert wasn't a G3 sorcerer..... At least he hope he wasn't.

Levi knew he only had to maintain his lie for a few months. After that, he planned to be too valuable for them to care about his past.

"We'll skip the small talk". Mr. Robert declared. He looked over the applicants, ignoring the anxious faces of the delinquents, and focused on the mother-and-son pair.

"We will begin with our first candidate.... Judith McLaren."

The woman, Judith, rose from her seat. She was quiet, but she wasn't weak; her movements were steady, and her red eyes, though showing nerves, held a deep, firm line of resolve.

She looked at her son, Jillian, and gave him a quick, affectionate, almost possessive squeeze of his hand.

Jillian, the sixteen-year-old, stiffened visibly at the touch, his neck and cheeks immediately flushing pink with embarrassment at the public display.

He quickly pulled his hand away, giving his mother a tight, pained look that clearly said, 'Not in front of all these people'.

Ignoring his reaction, Judith turned to Mr. Robert.

"Follow me, please."

Mr. Robert led Judith toward the staircase tucked into the corner. They ascended to the second floor, leaving the rest of the crowded reception hall in silence.

Jillian sat rigidly in his chair, his wondered the hall to see if anyone saw the display of affection.

Only for him to lock eyes with Levi, who in his supportive heart gave him a supportive nod.

Julien wanted to scream that it wasn't like that, but Levi had already turned his head away.

****

A few minutes later, the door to the second-floor office opened, and Judith McLaren emerged. Her face was paler than before, but the firm resolve in her red eyes was even stronger. She walked past the waiting crowd and took her seat without a word.

Her son, Jillian who was called a moment later, immediately rose, his initial resentment fading to nervousness. He quickly walked toward the door and disappeared inside the office.

Levi knew his turn would come next, and he was absolutely certain he had done an excellent job crafting his fake identity.

Then, Mr. Robert looked down at his notepad, reading Levi's entry aloud. His professional composure cracked, and a strange, stifled expression— a mix of confusion and suppressed amusement— crossed his face.

"Errr... Teddy Baer" Mr. Robert announced.

Levi stood up instantly, walking toward Mr. Robert. As he passed Jillian, the boy seemed to be clamping his hand over his mouth, suppressing a loud laugh at the ridiculous name. Levi ignored him, focused only on the challenge ahead.

Levi walked behind Mr. Robert and began his ascent up the staircase. The stairs themselves were solid wood, carpeted down the middle to muffle footsteps.

The walls along the stairwell were plain, simply painted off-white, maintaining the building's overall aesthetic of being clean but entirely unassuming. There were no flashy plaques or framed awards— nothing to suggest this was the HQ of a supernatural policing organization.

On the second floor, the landing opened onto a short, narrow corridor. This floor was markedly quieter and less spacious than the ground floor. It was clearly divided into smaller, functional rooms: a few doors likely led to offices or meeting spaces, and there was a water cooler and a small filing cabinet tucked against the wall. This was the operational hub— the space for quiet work and private assessments.

Mr. Robert directed Levi to the very first door on the left.

The office Levi entered was small and stark. It was clearly designated for interrogation or serious interviews, not comfort.

The room contained only a few key items:

A simple wood desk sat in the center near the end wall, free of clutter, two uncomfortable-looking, straight-backed metal chairs faced the desk. One high-backed, cushioned chair sat behind the desk, clearly for the interviewer.

The office was small and intimidating, designed to put anyone on edge. It was sterile and bright, with soundproofed, dark gray walls and no windows.

Behind the simple wood desk sat the black-haired woman who clearly resembled Hazel— the girl's mother. She was positioned in the high-backed chair, and a crystal ball rested in the table before her.

Mr. Robert closed the heavy door behind Levi, plunging the room into quiet isolation.

"Welcome, Mr. Baer. My name is Emi Lorian. Please take a seat."

Without waiting to be told twice, Levi slid into one of the uncomfortable metal chairs facing the desk.

"The test will be simple". Emi stated, her tone direct. "First, we test the potency of your origin energy. Then, we will check the Constellation you are aligned to, and finally, your avatar and element."

Levi simply nodded.

Seeing Levi's nod, Emi gave a discreet signal to Mr. Robert, who nodded back. Mr. Robert then released a technique.

Null Crest: Sonar Sense

This was a utility technique that sent out a wave of pure, non-attacking origin energy. Like a bat's sonar, the wave would slam into objects— walls, rocks, or a human body— and send the information back to the caster, forming a spectral map of the target.

What Robert saw made him gasp.

He immediately focused on Levi's bellybutton. He saw a ball of origin energy inside Levi's bellybutton.

This misty, silver energy was being corrupted and actively transformed into a starry lavender color, although this seems as a good thing as the energy became more potent.

But then Robert saw the true horror: a terrible crack in Levi's spactral body, and a harsh lavender light was actively dripping from the fissure.

'Could that be the reason for his eyes?'. Robert thought, he had noticed the faint light coming from Levi's eyes earlier, assuming it was a residual effect of some combat technique.

Now, he realized the faint glow was not a technique at all, but the dangerous overflow of leaking, soul power.

Coming back to his senses, he quickly gae the result.

"His origin energy is potent". Nodding Emi continued the test.

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