Zoe rushed into a room. She gasped for air and breathed heavily.

Dr. Avaline patted her back. "Easy now. Everything is alright."

"Why did she panic?" Loretta commented.

"It is because of the NCE. Similar to us using NES to affect it, it can also affect us. These NCEs have a natural aura that will mess with our mind. If you are weak minded, it will exploit that." Hank explained everything with a deep voice.

"I see." Loretta said.

Zoe went to a corner and sobbed silently. The encounter with the wraith was not as she expected.

"Poor little girl." Selina said.

"Alright. Who's next?" Dr. Avaline tapped the pen on his clipboard. He had no choice but to write down 'failure' next to Zoe's name.

"I will do it." The business man, Terry, and the brooding young man, Clive, said at the same time.

They both looked at each other in surprise.

"Alright. Clive goes first. Then it is Terry's turn."

The business man nodded. He really didn't care much about who's going first.

Clive entered the arena.

"Battle starts in... 3... 2... 1..."

The wraith reappeared. Clive used the same technique as Zoe but he was much more stable than her. The clock continued to run down and he seemed to be totally in control.

Only when the clock went past four minutes that sweat was going to form on Clive's head. His body swayed gently but he hung on to his feet.

The clock reached zero.

[COUNTDOWN: 0:00]

[SUCCESS]

"Congratulations, Clive Young! You have succeeded in our combat test!"

Clive finally showed the first smile since the beginning of the examination.

Then it was Terry's turn.

Terry was even better than Clive. He put one hand in his pocket and used the tentacles to completely restrain the wraith. The five minutes mark went down easily and he didn't even sweat.

[COUNTDOWN: 0:00]

[SUCCESS]

"Congratulations, Terry Lang! You have succeeded in our combat test!"

Then there were Loretta, Rebecca, and Selina left.

Mater was starting to feel bored watching these peasants doing tricks. He poked at Selina to tell her to volunteer.

But Loretta already volunteered first.

"Ugh. Now I have to wait more?!" Mater hissed.

Selina picked him up and petted his head, calming the little overlord down. "It's alright. It's okay. Mr. Mater. We will be done soon. Don't sulk."

Mater rolled his eyes in disdain.

Loretta entered the arena. Unlike the previous contenders, she did not use Chaos Tentacles, or Brain Freeze according to Dr. Avaline. Instead, a thin line shot out from her forehead and entered the skull of the wraith.

No one was able to tell the difference except for Mater and Dr. Avaline.

"Mental Link? She's a seer?" Dr. Avaline blurted out.

"What is a seer, Stephen?" Hank said.

"It's the type of psychic the public knows about. The one that can read minds, communicate with the dead, and stuff like that. Mental Link has much less restraining power than Brain Freeze.

Though it did have its advantages."

Mater perked his ears up and observed Loretta. "Finally. Something interesting to look at. Mental Link? A form of possession?"

As Dr. Avaline guessed, Loretta was only able to hold the wraith off for less than a minute.

The wraith rushed at Loretta. She opened her mouth and started singing. Her voice was soft and sincere.

"This bitch is more capable than I thought." Mater meowed.

The wraith stopped in place. Its eyes fluttered and its body swayed in place like it was hypnotized.

"I don't understand." Hank said again. "How can she pacify an NCE with a song?"

Dr. Avaline smiled. "There are many ways to succeed in this test. We have picked a very particular NCE that can be fought with, run from, and reason with.

By using Mental Link, Loretta found the only thing in its memory that can hold the NCE in place. The lullaby song that he used to sing for his deceased daughter."

Loretta continued to sing and sing. The wraith was completely harmless for the remaining time.

[COUNTDOWN: 0:00]

[SUCCESS]

"Nicely done, Miss Engleman." Dr. Avaline clapped. He pressed a button on the panel and retrieved the wraith to the floor.

Loretta entered the secured room. Sweat covered her face and made her glamour dress stuck to her skin. An unexpected alluring sight to say the least.

"Heh. This woman actually had a very nice frame." The cat meowed. Apart from him, no one else was really thinking about that.

Selina squeezed Mater's small cat head. "What are you looking at, Mr. Mater?!"

"Leave me be, woman. Beauty is to be admired!" The cat meowed loudly.

Loretta stumbled but Dr. Avaline caught her hand and helped her stand.

"Mind Link requires much less Psycho Force. But it will put a strain on your mind more. Always remember that." Dr. Avaline smiled gently and said.

Loretta nodded. "Thank you for the tips, Doctor."

Dr. Avaline turned to Selina and Rebecca. "Well. There are only you two left. Who wants to go first?"

Rebecca sighed and raised her hand. "Let me do it first. If Selina were to go first, I'm afraid I would lose all of my confidence."

"Very well. Please proceed to the arena." Dr. Avaline nodded.

"I actually want to see how good this short brat is." Mater jumped to the panel to be closer to the glass pane.

"Battle starts in… 3… 2… 1…"

The same appeared once again. Rebecca used the same technique as Zoe, Terry, and Clive. But she had a slightly different method.

"Oh? Chaos Tentacles again?" Mater's slit pupils constricted, focusing more on the short girl.

He saw the tentacles reach out and plunge into the floor.

"Yes… Solid matter can be a better conductor than air. That brat is actually smart." Mater stroked his whiskers.

The tentacles grabbed around the wraith's feet. It didn't restrain the wraith completely to the point of immobilization, only restricting it from movement. The wraith's only attack was the melee strike with the machete. Without getting close, it was basically harmless.

By limiting her power this way, Rebecca limited the energy she needed to expend to the lowest.

Dr. Avaline adjusted his glasses again. "Impressive. A very unique way of using Brain Freeze."

The clock ran out without any interruption.

[COUNTDOWN: 0:00]

[SUCCESS]

"Congratulations, Rebecca Martinez! You have succeeded in our battle test."

Rebecca was a bit tired but she could obviously go for another ten or fifteen minutes. She jumped up in joy when she passed.

"You are the last one, Miss Isles." Dr. Avaline turned to Selina.

"Um… Can my cat follow me?"

"Haha! Of course, Miss Isles. As I said, as long as it is related to your Psychic Ability, you can bring them in. Now go."

Mater jumped onto Selina's shoulder. The two of them entered the Arena.

The black cat rotated its neck. The popping sound of bone echoed. "Finally I can have some action."

"That cat is way too excited about fighting." Rebecca thought silently.

"Why does that cat look a bit like a thug?" Loretta said.

"Spot on, old lady. That cat is some criminal in his past life for sure." Rebecca gave her a thumbs up.

"Who are you calling old lady?!"

Dr. Avaline spoke to the microphone, "Battle starts in…

3…

2…

1…"

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