Fubuki had deliberately given everyone a day to rest. On their third day in San Francisco, the California qualifier's preliminary screening began.
The screening was meant to weed out unqualified entrants, including non-Espers and Espers whose abilities were too weak.
There were two main tests: a strength test and an Esper Ability Showcase. Entrants only had to pass one to reach the main competition.
In other words, anyone who displayed superhuman strength or a unique ability could pass with ease.
To save trouble and avoid drawing too much attention, Luke and the other three all chose the strength test. Unsurprisingly, they passed with ease.
Once the screening ended, the main competition began the following day.
It was held in a large stadium in downtown San Francisco with more than thirty thousand seats.
Even in the opening round, every seat was filled. The Rising Star Tournament was clearly a major draw.
The ticket revenue alone made the tournament a lucrative event for the states hosting it.
According to the official pre-tournament figures, more than two hundred entrants had reached the main competition in California, while over three thousand were competing across the Federation.
News outlets had previously estimated that there were fewer than ten thousand Espers in the entire Federation. Over three thousand entrants was an astonishing proportion.
At least half of those who had recently gained Psychic Powers through injections of compound V had entered the tournament.
And the Federal Government had clearly played a part in that figure.
The Military also wanted to assess its new recruits' combat abilities. After all, the Pentagon had already poured tens of billions of dollars into creating special operatives with superpowers. This tournament offered a convenient chance to see what level those recruits had reached.
As one of the Federation's most developed states,