From under the floor of the arena, a metal box emerged. It broke apart. Smoke flooded out from the inside. Its walls retreated under the arena, revealing a semi-transparent inside.

The wraith had a brown color and was made mostly from decomposing bones and tattered clothes. Its head only had a few strands of hideous hair.

Mater flashed his red eyes, scanning the wraith.

"It doesn't have that much Chaos. A level 1 wraith." The cat thought to itself.

The expressions of all the candidates darkened and turned serious. Their gaze turned to the long machete in its hand.

"This is the weakest Menace level NCE." Dr. Avaline adjusted his glasses and said, "Its NES level is lower than 100. For a capable Psychic, it is harmless. But for ordinary people, this thing can kill their entire family.

As a matter of fact, it did."

Loretta gasped. The carefree attitude of Zoe changed, her eyes stayed fixed on the ugly wraith.

The wraith growled. Its head snapped toward Hank and it rushed at him. Hank channeled the Psycho Force inside him. His hair immediately straightened even more than normal.

Hank swirled his hands in front, creating a circle, then chambered his fist next to his face.

"Compacted Air Emission Combat. It's a martial art that uses the power of NES. Most common in the military." Terry said.

Dr. Avaline nodded. "Very knowledgeable. You are correct. It is a simple art but is very effective."

Selina tilted her head slightly. She couldn't wait to see what this 'combat' was.

Mater kept his eyes fixed on Hank. He could see that the veteran was channeling his Chaos to his muscle in a particular way.

"Very similar to how I use Demonic Arsenal. Interesting. The people of this world might be more competent than I thought." The cat meowed.

The tattered wraith rushed at Hank. The veteran punched his fist forward. All of his Chaos was released through his pores. A visible gust of air formed in front of his fist and turned into a large air bullet.

The air bullet smacked the wraith's hand, knocking its machete out of its hand. The machete faded in mid-air and reappeared right inside the wraith's palm.

Hank didn't stop. He continued to chamber his fists and launched them forward repeatedly. The wraith was broken down part by part. Its bony body cracked and was crushed.

Soon, it crumbled to the floor and lost all of its power. Hank raised his hand and intended to launch one final attack to disintegrate it.

"Enough." Dr. Avaline said. "It is still a property of the Institute. You have proven yourself to be capable."

Hank didn't say anything. He retreated his hands and nodded.

"Crazy... That guy didn't need to survive for five minutes. He straight up beat the ghost to a pulp." Becky murmured.

Her words were heard by everyone. They couldn't refute her. In their mind, Hank had become the most dangerous of them all.

Hank left the wraith and entered the secured room with the others.

"Please sit, Hank. You have a wonderful performance." Dr. Avaline wrote down on his clipboard.

"I'm not tired." Hank simply said.

The scientist nodded. He then turned to the rest.

"Who's next? If no one is volunteering, I will call by name."

Zoe raised her hand. "Let... Let me do it."

"Oh? The young one? Very brave. Please proceed to the arena." Dr. Avaline pointed to the door.

Zoe took a deep breath and entered the arena. Everyone watched as she stood on the same spot Hank once was.

The floor opened up and brought the wraith downward. Dr. Avaline pressed something on the panel before speaking to the microphone.

"Alright. The wraith is healed up. Get ready. Battle starts in... 3... 2... 1..."

The wraith emerged from the floor again. This time, it returned to its original state. No amount of damage could be seen.

Hank widened his eyes for a bit. Dr. Avaline, seemingly expecting his reaction, said, "Impressive, right? The Institute has figured out a way to heal the NCEs. This way we can experiment on them all we want without breaking them."

The wraith rushed at Zoe. The high school girl closed her eyes and took the lollipop out of her mouth.

In Mater's eyes, he saw red tentacles reaching out from Zoe and struck the wraith.

"Huh... Chaos Tentacles. A barbaric way of using Chaos." Mater meowed.

Apart from him, no one was able to see the tentacles.

The tentacles plunged into the faded body of the wraith. It was immediately restrained. But that was it. The Chaos Tentacles couldn't hurt the wraith or did any damage to it.

"Restricting an NCE is the most basic skill you will learn if you train in the Institute. We call this skill, 'Brain Freeze'." Dr. Avaline explained.

The clock had been ticking and the count down of five minutes had begun. Sweat poured out on Zoe's forehead. She did her best to maintain the tentacles and restrain the wraith.

"Too shaky. She can't hold it for more than two minutes." Mater meowed.

For some reason, Selina actually was able to understand him, even though for only a few words. "Two minutes? You said she can only hold it for two minutes?"

"You can understand me?" Mater meowed.

"Less than two minutes? How can? She seems so confident."

"That is definitely not what I said." Mater meowed again. Because of their connection, Selina was able to understand him from time to time. This was not due to any special reason, she just simply 'felt' his intention.

Everyone heard their conversation. Rebecca turned to her.

"Your familiar said that?"

"Well, I can't understand him entirely but he definitely said something about two minutes."

When the clock reached 3:01, Zoe's grasp upon the wraith broke. The wraith rushed at her with murderous intent.

"Focus, Zoe. You need to establish the connection with the NCE again to restrain it." Dr. Avaline spoke to the microphone.

"Her Chaos Well is completely empty. She can't do it." Mater meowed.

And as he anticipated, the wraith reached Zoe. Dr. Avaline slammed his hand on a red button and immediately, the wraith was isolated by a glass cage. Electricity shot up from the floor and immobilized it.

[COUNTDOWN: 2:37]

[FAILED!]

The screen showed the result. Dr. Avaline sighed deeply.

"You can return to the room, Zoe."

Mater stroked his whisker and analyzed the situation. "The Chaos Tentacles can affect specters directly. But it is a stupid way to use Chaos. It costs way more Chaos than spell and will render you completely helpless.

Spell is still better."

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