"CANDIDATE 00126 COMBAT CAPABILITIES HAS SURPASSED THE LEVEL OF THIS SUB-PHASE!"

"SCORE CANNOT BE CALCULATED CORRECTLY!"

"REQUESTING PERMISSION TO INCREASE LEVEL OF SUB-PHASES TO SPECIAL CLASS LEVEL!"

The robotic voice announced its request.

Chatter! Chatter! Chatter!

-"What is going on?"

-"His performance surpassed the level of this sub-phase?"

-"What does it mean by special class level?"

-"Oh, my goodness, I could hardly follow their movements,"

-"Why is everything always different when it comes to him?"

The voices coming from the spectators' seat was loud and clear.

Most of them couldn't even follow the battle between Gustav and the AIs with their eyes, so they had no idea about how well he performed.

They even felt Angy should have gotten a higher score since she finished first. Nevertheless, they knew the AI was calculated based on the input of the supervisors.

They believed that the supervisors wouldn't input the wrong data.

Everyone watching in the city was just as surprised and confused. They wondered what the AI meant with its words and waited for the supervisors to clear the air.

"Candidate 00126, it would seem your combat ability is on a higher level than the setting of the sub-phase. Do you wish for the difficulty level of the sub-phases to increase to that of a special class?" Gradier Xanatus voiced out from his position.

The screens were now split in three. The first part showed Angy, who was currently going through the second phase, while the second and third displayed Gustav and Gradier Xanatus.

Gustav stood in place and stared at the supervisor's area with a contemplative look.

"What would happen if I agreed to the increase in difficulty level?" Gustav asked.

He spoke with a normal pitch, but his voice was broadcasted across the vicinity and the entire city.

"First things first, although the sub-phases will not be changed, the difficulty level will increase, which means a performance that would get you a 9 when participating in the normal sub-phase would only be able to get you around a five or lesser when participating in the special class-level sub-phases," Gradier Xanatus revealed.

Gasp!

The participants, as well as those watching, bantered amongst themselves about what the purpose of the special class-level sub-phase was for.

"Second, increasing the difficulty level to that of the special class-level allows you to get enlisted into the special class squad if you successfully complete it with good scores," Gradier Xanatus added.

Within the Oslov household, the parents of Gustav watched with looks of disbelief.

"Isn't that the same squad our precious son was enlisted for?" The father voiced out.

"How could they be thinking of giving him the opportunity to become a part of it?" The mother voiced out in disbelief.

"Are you stupid, woman? Didn't you see his performance just now?" The father voiced with a look of annoyance while pointing at the screen, "Not even your precious son can do that!"

He turned back to stare at the screen where Gustav was being displayed.

"He is no longer the Gustav we used to know,"

--

'He mentioned this special class earlier... I'm sure it has something to do with grouping the elite participants together,' Gustav said internally as he kept listening.

"You might wonder what being a member of the special class is all about, so I will tell you one or two things... A special class recruit has certain privileges that normal recruits don't get upon entering the MBO. There are some youngsters who have been chosen to be special class candidates right now. They are a group of elite candidates," Gradier Xanatus explained.

-"Oh my goodness, there was such a squad?"

-"Looks like he's hit it big,"

-"His brother is also one from what I have heard."

-"What! he has a brother?"

The participants argued among themselves as Gustav contemplated.

'That kid must be a special class candidate, I'm sure,' The image of a curly-haired kid appeared in his mind as he thought of this.

'Becoming a special class looks good, but it definitely has its pros and cons... Special class recruits might get opportunities and privileges, but what if they aren't given freedom like the others or something. I could decide to participate in the test, but I have to find out more about it before deciding to actually become a special class. If I pass the special class-level sub-phases, I could still turn down being a special class at the end of the test phase if I find out that it isn't favorable,' Gustav processed these thoughts in less than three seconds within his head and raised his head up once again to stare in the direction of the supervisors.

"I agree to partake in the special class-level sub-phases," Gustav voiced out.

The entire vicinity quietened down upon hearing him speak.

They had all expected that he would agree to it after all, who wouldn't jump at such an opportunity. However, they had no idea that he almost declined.

"Are you sure?" Gradier Xanatus asked to confirm.

"Ye,s I am," Gustav replied instantly without a shred of hesitation.

"Alright, before I give the permission, you have to understand that getting below a 7.5 score in any of the sub-phases would result in an automatic fail. Even though a 7 score is higher than a perfect score for a normal assessment test, it is considered too low for a special class. Hence you're not special class material if you don't get at least a 7.5 in all sub-phases." Gradier Xanatus stated.

'Hmm, so this is the case...' Gustav smirked,

'7.5, eh?'

"If I may ask, what is the highest assessment score a special class candidate has gotten?" Gustav said with an inquisitive look.

Although Gradier Xanatus wondered why he would ask such a question, he didn't see anything wrong with answering.

"The highest so far is an 8.8 in attack power," Gradier Xanatus responded, "Now, if you don't have any more questions, I will now grant the permission," He added.

Gustav nodded and stared at the front, 'Since I decide to play it this way, I will have to go beyond... Besides doing things this way will have more benefits when I make up my mind on deciding whether or not to become part of the special squad.'