“You’re serious aren’t you?” Claudia stares wide-eyed at the boy in front of her. In all her years of managing the city, she has never heard a single person reject one of her gifts to them. This was a first for her.

She found this young man had piqued her curiosity. “Why would you not want a free pass into the academy? Wouldn’t every candidate want that?”

“Well… I wouldn’t be able to do the trials right? I really need to participate in the trials because I promised someone that I would help them. Also, isn’t it kind of unfair for me to get a free pass?”

“Hahaha! Well said! I knew I picked right. Oi, how about this. Kid, if you want to honor your promises then you better get strong enough to back up your words. After these trials, come to this location if you want to get strong.” Corvus hands a piece of paper to me. On it is a map of the city. A street is marked on the map.

“Thank you sir.” I’ll get strong if I head to this place? I better check it out before I head there.

“Well if you excuse us, we’ll be heading off. We have so much time to catch-up. Isn’t that right Corvus?” Corvus is dragged off by Claudia to who knows where. Well I guess I’m free to go? What was I doing before this?

OH! I’ve got to rush back to the lunchroom! The trial has probably been announced already. Maybe some of those skills I took would be of use.

For some reason, my senses were enhanced while watching the fight from my mental space. I was able to grasp some of Corvus’ footwork. It’s pretty effective as a burst of speed, although it tires me out quickly from consecutive uses.

I propel myself down the hallways until I finally reach the lunchroom. Everyone’s already left. Now what? Before I can ponder my next actions I notice one figure hasn’t left. They seem to still be eating. I approach them.

I can’t tell if they are a boy or a girl. I don’t want to make the same mistake I made with Phoebe. I better be careful.

“Um hello. Would you happen to know where all the candidates have gone to? I’m sorry, but I was in the bathroom so I wasn’t able to follow them.” The person stares blankly at me before beginning to choke on their food.

“Augh… Ah… hahhh… sorry. It’s just… you surprised me there. I didn’t expect anyone to still be here.”

“Yeah. It happens. So um… where did everyone go by the way?”

“They went over to the field outside I think. They were talking about some sort of treasure hunt or something.”

“Ah. Thanks a lot! By the way, my name’s Cayden. Cayden Madley.”

“No problem. You can just call me Phil.”

“Well see you around Phil.” What a nice guy… wait a minute? Why was he there? Was that guy a candidate? I don’t have time to think about that. I’ll figure it out once I get to the field.

I make it out of the building and back into the courtyard. I don’t know where the field is, but there’s probably a map somewhere around here.

I’m able to find one near the entrance doors. I don’t think I can make it. The fields are over at the back of the building. I’m at the front. What do I do? What do I do?

“Are you having problems there?” A voice from behind startles me.

“Yes. I’m kind of late to the trials and the trial is taking place on the other side of the building. You don’t happen to know any shortcuts to the field do you?” I turn around to see nothing but thin air.

“Down here.” I looked down to see a small child in front of me. No older than seven. They’re wearing a lab coat way bigger than them. Round, tinted glasses cover their eyes. They look like a kid trying to imitate an adult.

“I know a way to the fields.”

“Really? I didn’t expect someone to actually know a way there.” Does he also know the way to the bathroom? Or how about the candy shop? I just can’t take this kid seriously.

“Are you trying to question my intelligence? If you are than you better pray to whichever god you worship or so help me-“

“Alright, alright. No need to get angry. So you really know the way to the field?”

“Yes. But it’ll cost you something.”

“Oh, do you need some money?” Does he want me to buy him some candy?

“I know what you’re thinking and I am not a kid! I'm just short! Just accept my deal now!”

“Fine, fine. Take me to the fields.” The kid grabs me by my hand. I didn’t expect this, but the kid has a really strong grip. He shouldn’t be able hold me this tight with his small hands.

He leads me to a janitor's closet. “Go through here and pull one of the dust pans off the walls. A pathway will lead you to the fields. Head straight and if you hear any noises then run down the pathway as fast as you can.”

I enter the janitor’s closet. It smells pretty bad in here. Kind of musty. It’s pretty cramped in here with all these cleaning supplies. I grab one of the dust pans off of the wall and watch as a doorway mysteriously appears where it once was.

“I’ve done my part. Now for you to hold on to your end of the deal. When you enter the academy, head to the Parallel Gene and Essence Research section in the labs. Find someone there and say Professor Felix sent you. Good luck.”

The door to the janitor’s closet is shut. I look down the pathway. It looks old and decrepit. I think I can see rust falling from the ceiling. It’s wet on the floor too. Guess I have to go in… there’s no other choice.

I enter the pathway and immediately feel cold. My body’s strong and all, but this cold penetrates deep into me. I breathe out and see my breath is now white. I begin to walk through the pathway. As I walk deeper the temperature shifts and changes. It went from freezing, to summer heat, and back to freezing.

The pathway doesn’t make sense. It’s going on way longer than I thought. I think I’ve already ran about two miles already. I can barely tell if I’m making progress or not. Did that little kid trick me or something?

GRAUGH

Hm? That sounded strange. Definitely not a sound made by a human and no animal I know could make that noise.

GRAUGH GRAUGH GRAUGH

I can hear it clearer now. It sounds as if the walls are making the noise themselves. Wait, I just remembered something. Didn’t that kid tell me something before? It was about the noises right? Oh right.

Before I can think any further, the walls begin to rumble and shake as if an earthquake was happening. The noise seems to come from all around me now. Sweat slides down my back. It feels as if something is watching me.

I rush down the hallway, not caring about reserving my energy for the trials. I can feel the threat of death overwhelming me. It’s as if the grim reaper is right behind me swinging his scythe to cleave my head off.

Lightning surges from my legs. Time slows down. I can feel my body begin to strain from the stress put on my legs. Each step leaves a dent on the metal floor. I still can’t see the exit.

Some strange fog is starting to seep into the hallway. Breathing it in causes my lungs to hurt. My eyes sting from it. I rush blindly into the darkness hoping that I can escape from this place.

I can feel someone breathing on my neck. They seem to be right on my back. My body begins to slow down. I feel heavier. All I can feel is the fear of death.

Before I can succumb to my fear, I hear a voice from somewhere. “Hey big bro. Looks like you need some of my help. But you were soooo mean to me last time. I think I deserve something from you.”

“...”

“Cmon big bro. I’m waiting.”

“...”

“If you don’t say it soon then something bad will happen.”

“... Fine. I’m sorry for being mean to you. Now can you please get me out of this place?!”

“Thank you so much big bro! You don’t know how much this means to me. Now up you go. I probably won’t see you for a while so this is goodbye. See you later big bro.”

“Hey wait! You didn’t help me! Is anybody there? Hello?” Damn. Now I’m all alone again… wait. It doesn’t feel like I’m about to die anymore. It’s not hot or cold anymore. I don’t feel any of the pressure from before.

I open my eyes to a bright green expanse. I shield my eyes from the sun. I’m finally out of that nightmare. Most importantly I can see a group of people off in the distance. “Thank you Bronya.”

As I walk over I notice that a lot of them seem to be searching the grounds for something. A few of the soldiers seem to be watching them. I guess this is part of the second trial. I think Phil said something about a treasure hunt?

I try to find Phoebe, but with all the people here I don’t think I can find her. What do I do now? Ah! I have an idea. I breathe in as much air as I can into my lungs. “PHINEAS! ARE YOU THERE!”

My shout causes the attention of the candidates to focus on me. Some of them look angry. Others seem to look at me as if I’m stupid. I don’t get any responses from the crowd. “Ah sorry. Wrong group.”

I quickly leave before they can get any angrier. I don’t want a crowd of people attacking me. I’ve got to find Phoebe. She probably knows what we have to find in this trial.

I met several groups afterwards, but most of them seemed too busy searching for something that I couldn’t get a good answer from them. I still haven’t found Phoebe yet. There’s one last place to go, the forest.

This forest looks normal enough, but my experience in that hallway makes me think twice about entering unknown places. I observe the entrance of the forest and notice no oddities. It looks just like any other part of nature. I head into the forest.

The forest seems to be active. Every now and then I can hear the rustling of leaves and songs of birds. It’s quite relaxing compared to what I’ve experienced in the past few hours.

My relaxation only lasts for a short while before I hear what seems to be the sounds of a fight going on nearby. The ground trembles in short intervals. My senses tell me something really dangerous is closeby.

I try to sneak over to the source of the noise. The fighting seems to be reaching its final stages as the noises grow quieter. The commotion is just beyond the bushes.

Two people are fighting it out. One of them’s holding a bow. The other wields a staff with a jewel on it. The person with the bow is losing the fight. As I look closer I realize that the bow user is actually Phoebe!

I instinctively charge up my lightning, but that alerts the other person to my presence. They pause for a second before aiming their staff at me. I see little blue particles appear on its tip before an icicle the size of my forearm appears. It begins to spin before launching itself towards me at high speeds. It embeds itself into my chest.

I can’t react to the attack. It’s too fast for me to dodge, but good thing I wasn’t trying to anyway. I pretend to collapse on the ground. Through the sliver of sight I have I can see the person looks surprised at my incapacitation as if expecting I would have dodged.

Before they can come over to check my body, I hear a noise akin to a lion roaring. I scoot my head over just enough to find the source of the noise. I see Phoebe’s eyes have turned red. Flames appear from her feet. They travel up her body until she is completely covered by them.

The staff user launches ice at Phoebe, but everything melts in midair before it can reach her. The flames recede revealing Phoebe's figure. Armor made of flames covers everything but her head. Fiery Wings spread from her back. A crown rests on her head giving her an aura of majesty.

Her bow changes its appearance. It’s limbs look like feathers. It’s grip is adorned with glowing runes. The whole bow is colored bright red. An arrow appears in Phoebe’s hand. She nocks it into her bow and prepares to fire.

The staff user watches her preparation solemnly. He pulls out a vial and drinks it. Something about him changes. His aura becomes stronger. The ground around him slowly begins to freeze. An orb of frosty air forms in his hand. At this point someone might get killed. I have to do something.

I can’t think of anything that can stop them. Their attacks seem too destructive for me to handle. I’ll probably die if I take a direct hit from one of them… I think I know what to do. I don’t know if this’ll work, but at least only one person will be in danger.

I gather up the lightning in my body. It circulates a few times before stopping at the core in my abdomen. I visualize the lightning being molded into a sphere. I observe the lightning changing in my core until it becomes a sphere. Wow. That was easier than I thought.

Now what would be the best shape? I remember Corvus’ sword from before. It looked really cool, but I don’t think I can use it in this situation. I racked my head for anything that could stop them, but I’ve got nothing. Nothing I think of can stop them.

I watch as their attacks seem ready to be fired off. I’ve got to block their attacks somehow. Ah, I see what I have to do now. It’s one of the few techniques I have. I’ve grown a bit since I last used it. Maybe this time I’ll stay awake for the whole trial.

Lightning gathers within me. I can feel my heart pounding as my blood boils in excitement. Let’s see how far I’ve grown in this short while.

[Lightning Attire]

Lightning appears over my body. Instead of enveloping me whole, it all goes to my arms. Two gauntlets form. Their form seems to be less transparent than when I fought Alissa’s maid. I get up from the ground.

The staff user seems shocked by my resuscitation. I’m too late to stop his attack though as it has already been fired off by him. I look over to see Phoebe has paused her attack. Although it doesn’t look like she can hold it back for very long.

I rush over to the orb of frost. The air around me is frigid. As I try to hold it I can feel my fingers going numb. I’ve got it, but now what. I really didn’t think this through. From my peripheral vision I can see Phoebe struggling to keep the arrow in her bow. I’ve got to think fast!

I glance at the staff user. He’s still in a state of shock. “Hey! Get out of here before you get hurt!” The staff user nods his head before rushing into the forest.

I turn to look at Phoebe. She’s barely holding on. “Phoebe just let it go! As soon as you release it, run!”

“I’m not… going to… do that!” Damn it all. Every girl I try to save never listens to me. I’ve got to do something before we both get hurt.

I kick up some dirt into the air. Some of it drifts towards Phoebe. Most of it is blown away by the hot air around her, but the sudden movement surprises her. She releases the arrow.

“Cayden!”

In mere seconds I feel the air around me heat up to a nearly unbearable degree. The hairs on my arm are starting to singe. I position my arms in front of me holding out the orb of frost. This better work!

The arrow collides with the orb. I feel as if I’m being hit by a truck. This is worse than that salamander from before crashing into me. The orb is holding strong, but I’m starting to see cracks on its surface. If it breaks I don’t know whether my lightning can protect me.

My muscles strain from the effort. I can barely think right now. I’m slowly being pushed back by the arrow. I’ve got to admit. Phoebe’s pretty strong if she can fire off one of these arrows. Heh, why am I even thinking about this. I’m probably dead already…

“Oi big guy! Hold on a wee bit longer!” I look to the side to see the staff user from before. Runes float around him. His eyes shine a blue light. “Ya better thank me for this after the trial!”

He starts to chant some sort of incantation. I can’t understand what he’s saying. Each word coming out of his mouth causes the runes around him to brighten. I can feel the orb of frost in my hands getting colder. The light of the arrow seems to weaken.

It’s still not enough though. The arrow is still slowly piercing the orb. The staff user has only delayed its path for a few more seconds, but that’s enough for me. I gather every bit of strength I still have in me into my arms. I fling the orb upwards redirecting the arrow alongside it.

The arrow shoots up into the air as it pierces and shatters the orb. The arrow reaches the clouds before exploding. It looks like a second sun is hanging in the air. It quickly dissipates before a cloud forms where it once was. Snow begins to fall down.

I collapse onto the ground. My body feels like it’s about to break down. Well on the bright side, I didn’t fall unconscious like last time.