(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don't hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

(Missed a day, my apologies. I was swamped)

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"Entropy", Orion muttered.

'Disorderliness or randomness.' He thought.

'Wait, does that mean her stats are just random?' Orion thought with alarm.

He frowned slightly.

The numbers shifted every few seconds, fluctuating. Strength increased, then dropped. Agility changed. Even mana output was inconsistent.

He stared longer, his mind trying to understand her situation.

He closed the window, watching her quietly. She was still standing there, unsure of what to make of his silence.

'So that's why her performance shifts,' he thought.

'Her talent isn't low; it's unstable. High at some point and low in the next, or maybe it's just ETF that's struggling to read her,' Orion thought.

[I highly doubt that, considering you've raised your proficiency on ETF to the highest, it should display her status exactly as it observes.]

'So it's not just deliberately destabilising ETF.' He thought.

[I believe so.]

'Still, regardless of the change, her mana is still too low for someone of her rank.' He observed.

[That might be innate for her, bloodline or not.]

'I guess.'

He suddenly remembered something, his eye turning resolute. If he wanted to confirm what he suspected, there was a simple way.

"Let's fight," Orion said flatly.

Margaret froze.

He didn't explain. He simply stepped forward, activating Protocol. Blue lines formed faintly within his closed eyes, drawing projections and predictive traces of motion.

The girl tensed, instinctively falling into a defensive stance.

Orion remained still. He wasn't using mana reinforcement, only spatial sense and protocol. The duel wasn't about strength. It was about information.

He watched her work through her hesitation; fear wasn't natural for her, she was just being cautious, but she had no choice but to fight in this scenario.

She attacked first. He let her. Her step was fast, her arm movement strong, her punch aimed directly at his head.

Protocol adjusted. The world slowed slightly. Orion leaned away just enough for the blow to graze past him.

Her follow-up came faster, her power jumping higher. He parried with minimal movement, deflecting the strike using her momentum.

Then, for the second time today, Protocol faltered. Orion blinked once and recalibrated.

'There it is again,' he thought.

He adjusted immediately, moving by pure instinct. The next strike she threw was weaker, almost sluggish. Protocol realigned itself, regaining stability.

When her power spiked again, it collapsed.

'So it's her,' he thought.

'Her instability is interfering with the calculation threads. My predictions lose coherence when her output fluctuates.' He thought.

That explained the earlier malfunction near her trap. The interference wasn't environmental; it was personal.

Orion relaxed his breathing and kept dodging, studying her.

Each movement she made told him more. Then he noticed that when she lost confidence, her power dipped. When emotion surged, her strength soared. Her rhythm wasn't random; it followed her emotions.

'Her stats aren't random; they mirror her state of mind.' Orion realised.

The next few exchanges went quickly. He dodged with measured precision, letting her aggression burn itself out. She was fast and trained, but she lacked control.

He moved through her attacks. Protocol continued to flicker but didn't fail completely. Even interference could be useful; each disruption helped him adjust and adapt to instability.

After another exchange, he stepped slightly to the right, letting her punch pass. His palm tapped her shoulder, turning her momentum aside. She stumbled and caught herself.

He'd seen enough.

Orion lowered his hand, the faint glow in his eyes fading.

Her breathing came in sharp gasps while she watched Orion warily.

"You've trained hard, but you're fighting your own body more than your opponent." He said, not expecting her to understand.

He wondered if he should tell her. The more she believed in herself, the stronger she'd become. Of course, she might not take his word as anything; he himself was still in doubt, because someone with that kind of power would surely have noticed if something like that was true. All he had currently was a preliminary hypothesis.

Margaret looked down silently, her breath still laboured. A few seconds later, she started chuckling.

Orion studied her, perplexed as to what was funny.

"That's what they all say, I'm somehow fighting myself. Now I'm hearing it from a ten-year-old, the same stupid way of telling me I'm useless." She muttered with a self-deprecating smile.

Orion's eyes widened. If what she said was true, it seemed someone out there was aware of her bloodline and that same someone was most likely the one pushing her to join the academy.

To him, that meant his hypothesis wasn't completely wrong.

"Well, useless or not, I'm not going down without a fight." She said, raising her hands up again for a fight.

Orion just stared at her before bursting into laughter.

She scowled, annoyed at his amusement.

Orion soon stopped laughing, his gaze turning back to her. He had found someone quite interesting in this trial, and he intended to keep him. Whoever had set her up for the academy was quite lucky she'd encountered him; he'd help her, and someday get his payment back, and if he didn't, at least she'd be useful in grinding protocol.

"I'm not calling you useless, you're far from useless," Orion stated.

"Says the person who just mocked me." She said with a frown.

"If you're talking about my laughter, I was simply amused by your misunderstanding." He explained.

She fell silent, not sure whether to trust him.

Orion just smiled and turned away.

"You're coming with me." He said.

Her head snapped up. "What?"

"I'm not going to repeat myself," Orion said.

"Why would I do that?" She asked, her gaze still hard.

"Because you want to pass this trial, unless you've changed your mind," He said, turning back.

Margaret stood frozen, confused. He didn't even sound condescending, just matter-of-fact, as if the decision wasn't up for debate.

Orion turned around and started walking. The conversation was over.

She hesitated, then followed.

"You're not taking my sigil stone?" She asked.

"No." He replied.

"Then what do you want?" She asked again.

"I'm not completely sure yet." He replied honestly.

She muttered something under her breath but followed.

Protocol was running again, smooth, stable. Yet, every time she came too close, it fluttered slightly. The interference was subtle now, no longer overwhelming.

He smirked.

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