Lani thought about it for a moment. She didn’t even know that she would be able to go to another floor or trial.

How many people try that and end up dying? If I went to another floor, would they wait for me outside? I heard that sometimes it can take days to finish a floor. I don’t think that I should do that. I barely made it through my first trial.

“Exit,” she said aloud to the darkness.

The moment she indicated that she wanted to exit, Lani was transported out of the Monolith. There was no flash of light, nor sounds. One moment she was standing in the dark and the next she was standing outside.

It was also dark outside so she was unable to tell what time it was. Lani glanced around and noticed that she was about a hundred meters down the side of the Monolith from where she entered. At the edge of the clearing, just before the woods started there was a table set up at the end, close to the exit path. It was manned by two of the Ascendant. They beckoned her over and there was nothing to do but walk over there.

“Good job surviving, Trainee,” the first Ascendant said. He had a genuine smile on his face that surprised Lani. She had seen little other than disdain on the faces of others since she was arrested and given the chance of going to the Monolith.

“Trainee?” Lani asked in confusion.

“Now that you made it out of the Monolith and acquired a Core, you’ve moved from recruit to trainee.” He didn’t give Lani a chance to say anything, though. “Speaking of Core, we’re required to log all abilities gained by newly minted trainees. So, what ability did you receive when you initiated your grey core?” He turned on a tablet and prepared to type as he asked the question, a blue glow lighting up his features.

Lani thought quickly about what to tell him.

“Something called Point Defense,” she said. She didn’t want to tell them about all the abilities she gained in the Monolith. With them not knowing the real extent of her abilities, she would be at an advantage. She could hide her Advanced Intuition and her Advanced Aim, but she was unsure if she could hide whatever Point Defense was.

“Ok. I don’t think I’ve heard of that one, but defensive powers aren’t the worst,” he said while tapping on the screen. “One more question and then we can all get out of here.”

“All of us?”

Uh-huh, you’re the last. We’ve been waiting a while. There was a bet to see if you’d make it or not.”

“Oh,” Lani said flatly. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“I’m not disappointed. I won,” he said smiling. “Anyway, about that question. What is your current completion percent to advance your Core?”

“0.01%,” Lani said. She inwardly smiled. She didn’t even have to lie.

“Ouch,” he grimaced. “You didn’t absorb much before leaving, huh? No worries, one day you’ll absorb enough energy to be at the peak of gray, like me.” He looked smug after he said that and not knowing what else to do, Lani could only smile and nod.

The other Ascendant, a female who Lani thought might have been the one trailing the arrival party, handed her a backpack. She had seen the woman throw a few things in it while she was talking to the other Ascendant. She didn’t bother to ask what was in there, she would find out later. She just took the bag, slung it over her shoulder, and headed toward the exit.

Lani didn’t bother waiting for the others, they still had to pack up the stuff they had and she definitely wasn’t afraid of any slimes on the path back to the busses.

As Lani exited the path to the busses, she noticed that there were only two of them. They weren’t normal busses either. Parked where the busses they arrived on were two hover busses. Lani wondered why they couldn’t arrive there in those, but she actually knew the answer.

They didn’t want to spend any extra money on people who were going to die.

Leaning on one of the busses, next to the door with his arms crossed was a boy. He towered over Lani height-wise, but his face lacked the hardness of a man. Lani moved to get on the bus, but his arm lashed out baring her way.

Lani looked at him and raised a questioning eyebrow.

“The convict bus is over there,” he snarled while pointing with his chin.

Lani thought about putting up a fight or even saying something, but she was too exhausted. She just turned and walked to the other bus. Getting on the bus, she noticed that there were only three people on it, four with her.

Two people were sitting toward the rear and in the dark, she couldn’t tell who they were, but sitting halfway down, passed out on one of the seats, was her recent acquaintance, Imogen. Lani shrugged to herself and went and sat down on the seat next to her. She leaned back and closed her eyes to wait for the ride back.

As Lani stared out of the window, the derelict and abandoned city passed by in a green and grey blur as the sun slowly illuminated the landscape. The ride back by hover bus was much faster, especially compared to the ride out to the Monolith. It really was apparent that they didn’t want to waste resources on those that were un-Ascended.

She was nervous about the next phase of her life. It would be a long and difficult time. She thought about how others expected her to act; was it fearful, or hopeful? She was going to be in the company of Ascendants and their powers were wide-reaching and highly unknown by the population. Her thoughts and mind would have to be an unbreakable trap in case there were those who could look into them.

Lani would make sure to hide the rage that was always rising in her heart. Lani tapped her finger on her knee. She didn’t want to move too much and disturb the already sleeping Imogen in the seat close by. There was plenty of room on the bus and she didn’t understand why she had chosen to sit next to her, but it was probably because after so long in the slime cave alone, she might have wanted the company, even if it was in silence.

The hover bus she was riding on was going back to the city and to the training area of the Ascendants. It was a large compound at the rear of the city’s protective wall and took up at least twenty percent of the city. It was one of the reasons that finding places to live in the city was so difficult. Most of it was in control of the Ascendant King and his army, which she was now a part of. Stage one of her ill-conceived plan was complete. Although, it was only because her brother had failed in his promise that she was forced to do what she did.

Her plan was why she let herself be arrested in the first place. It was why she decided to face the trials of the Monolith instead of facing death and seeing her parents, and perhaps her brother, again. She had thought her brother would always protect her and that she could leave the acts of revenge up to him. But those thoughts are why, Nalani, who was always joking and never wanted to take anything seriously, had to take a leap of faith and risk her life.

Lani never thought this would have been her life when she was younger. When she lived with her parents closer to the Ascendant compound and on the affluent side of the city, she hadn’t a care in the world. Her thoughts had been only about friends and clothes and who like whom. Now she was past the Recruit stage and was an Ascendant Trainee.

She didn’t have time to regret any actions before now. After the deaths of her parents, her brother did his best to look after her, but then he disappeared. Lani stopped tapping her leg and clenched her knee. The pain helped her deal with the thoughts of her brother. She had not seen nor heard from him in some time and she decided to treat him as if he was dead. It took her a while to come to terms with that decision and many nights in despair. Being on her own afterward forced her to confront life and the harsh realities of her world. It was one where the strong were in charge and they took what they wanted. Once Lani found out what she wanted, she needed only to determine how strong she would have to be to get it.

This was the reason for her trial in the Monolith. This was why she was still on the hover bus. This was why she was going to the Ascendant compound.

Normal people would trip over themselves to be in her position. Not the position she had been in the Monolith, but surely in her position now. The only ones not born of privilege who had passed the Monoliths trial had been her, Imogen, and two other boys, both of whom were at the back of the bus. To be an Ascendant trainee, one might as well be a full Ascendant to the rest of the population. She already wielded more power than ninety percent of the population. Now, she only had to keep ahold of that power.

On top of worrying that her ultimate goal would be discovered, she was also nervous about wielding such power. Such power tended to corrupt those who wielded it. She didn’t want to become that which she sought to destroy. But, that was a long way off. Even if she didn’t complete her goal, she would take steps to enable any more who might have the same goals.

So, for now, she would go along with the machine. She would train with the Ascendant and become one of them. She would go on their missions and follow their orders, all the while, she would grow in strength. If she could manage, she would bring up a loyal base of support as well. Then when the time was right, she would change it all…one way or another.

Lani just had to have patience.

Lani took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Then she closed her eyes for a moment to center her thoughts. She turned away from the window and the miles of derelict buildings. She could hear the soft breathing of Imogen next to her. The girls must have had quite the adventure inside the Monolith. Lani was sure that she would hear about it all too soon.

With her remaining time left until they arrived at the city gates and subsequently the Ascendant compound, Lani decided to get out of her head. She pulled up the bag that she had been handed before getting on the bus onto her lap and started to rummage through it. They handed one to everybody that passed the Monolith. Inside the bag were some shoes that she hoped fit her, what she assumed to be a grey uniform that looked like sweats, but she thought was actually a more robust weave. There was also a pair of gloves, and to her surprise at the thoughtfulness, a bag of women’s products.

Additionally, the bag had another bag of basic toiletries including brushes for her hair and teeth, soap, shampoo, and a few other small items. She looked around at the small bus gliding silently off the ground, at the back was a small bathroom attached, and figured that she should actually use it to change out of her ragged prison clothes and into the proper uniform. She didn’t want to make a bad impression when they arrived at the compound.

Lani thought that it would be the best time to make a good impression. It wasn’t as if she had the time to get presentable as she was taken from the jail to the Monolith. She couldn’t be sure, but there was a good chance that as soon as they got off the bus, they would be bombarded by whoever was going to train and take care of them while they were recruits. She thought that she might as well try since she had the time and it aligned with her goal. Lani moved to the back and entered the bathroom. Taking out all the items she would need to be presentable from her bag, she got to work, quickly, she wanted to finish with enough time to wake Imogen and have her do the same. It would be nice to have a friend that wasn’t on the shit-list.