Flynn floated in the endless expanse for a few moments before boredom began to run its course. The space reminded him of the worst moments in his life, or at least the afterlife, and he found himself playing 108.7 Flynn's top ten worst days on repeat. It didn't help that the longer he stayed within the endless space, the more he felt he understood it.

The endless expanse felt as if it was calling to Flynn, begging for his embrace. Whispering for him to give up.

Something foreign, something he couldn't quite comprehend, seeped its way into his head, but luckily it didn't take long before he felt the pull of reality upon his soul.

Cyan light rolled off Flynn like smoke once again, leaving him in a room. Like the last, this one held a door, but that was as far as the similarities went.

The room was small, only big enough for a few people to lounge in comfortably. No Trinkets or wonders decorated the area replaced instead by chains, moss, and cold stone brick. The only sound in the room was the trickle of water that ran down the rugged stone near the far right corner.

The only interesting feature of the entire place was the door.

Faces etched in a range of emotions sat chiseled into the thick rounded frame of the door, which was a deep gold. The wooden planks held a cold grey hue, and it looked as if someone had etched the design of wood grain into one giant stone slab. Flynn felt it was a door even a man with twice his strength would struggle with.

"Two trapped in a hole." Laughter spoke up first, and if Flynn hadn't been expecting it, the sudden sound might have made him jump. The voice reminded Flynn of someone trying not to laugh before telling a joke.

"Together, they must bond." Apathy's monotone bounced off the walls next, followed quickly by sorrow's tragic chorus.

"No greater there will be the link between there."

"For those with wisdom are forged in mistakes." Pride allowed his input to be heeded.

"So tell them your deepest darkest mysteries with glee. Only then the other side, you will see." Cunning finished in a low whisper of a voice that sent chills down the lazy swordman's spine.

Honestly, the whole thing was creepy, from the faces to the voices. It was not a part of the assessment Flynn enjoyed. In fact, this was the only part he was remotely worried about. His score was based on what secret Flynn gained and gave up. Of course, he could pass the trial quickly enough by telling a simple secret of the first floor, but he'd have to give up more than he was comfortable with to perfectly clear the phase.

It seemed he had a decision to make, just how much would he tell his new roommate.

"Did you miss me?" Flynn spoke before even looking over towards the girl. He knew who it was, the same person he had just left. A blonde-haired, green-eyed brat. He had noticed it in his first life, but the system liked to keep those who had already met together, and Flynn found it to be a poor imitation of fate.

She rose from the hard ground with a groan.

It seemed not everyone was as used to getting their soul swept away; then again, not everyone had spent what felt like decades in a corporeal state reliving their worst moments. Luckily for Flynn, he had and was casually leaning back, already relaxing against the cool stones.

"Where, Who?" She looked over to Flynn, and her expression soured. "Oh, you again, joy." Flynn thought her voice far better-reflected apathy than that of the door. She ignored Flynn and turned to the exit studying it. The delinquent having nothing better to do, decided to check his prompts.

| Congratulations, you have completed phase two of the Mental Assessment! Calculating…

| Escape Method: Wisdom |

| Phase Three: Convince the door of emotions to open by solving their puzzle. |

Flynn watched the girl as she argued with the door. He didn't have a single memory of her. She was unimportant. Hell, he hadn't even gotten her name on his first try. It might not be terrible to tell her his secret. This phase had a condition of sorts. After hearing the other person's secret, you couldn't tell others anyway. The system made it physically impossible for you to speak about it to anyone who wasn't the secret's owner. It also made any attempt outside of speaking impossible as well, at least until you heard or discovered the secret from an outside source. Since this girl was not very important overall within the trials, he figured telling her his secret could only get him into so much trouble.

"No." Anger bellowed.

"And why not? I wasn't even conscious when you started speaking; how am I supposed to pass if I don't even know the question." She mocked Anger with his own emotion.

"Not our problem, goldy locks." Cunning quipped back, not helping the situation in the slightest. The girl closed her eyes, a slow ember of fury creeping up her posture. Flynn could see her jaw tense from across the room, but to his surprise, she took a deep breath through her nose before exhaling out of her mouth. It was a remarkable display of control, and Fynn wondered what had happened to the blonde-haired brat. She had the makings of a ranker, yet he had no memory of her on the first floor. Flynn half expected her to try and break down the door with brute strength.

Flynn found the angry girl quite cute despite her attitude problem. The thought troubled him, and he wondered how old he really was. Do the years even count if you don't remember them? He decided not to think about it in the end and just focused on the girl. He hadn't really noticed her too much in his first life. Of course, she had saved him in the following assessment, but he had been too worried about his own survival to care too much about a pretty face. The most exciting thing he remembered about her was her…

"Secret," Flynn spoke the word aloud, letting it hang in the air. She turned with an annoyed expression on her face, and it was clear she saw him as a nuisance, if not an outright idiot. He held up both his hands placatingly. "It wants us to share our secrets."

"At least one of you was listening." Apathy responded before she could.

"I'm supposed to tell a secret to someone I don't even know?" She scoffed. "These trials are getting exceedingly ridiculous."

"No, you're supposed to get the person you're paired with to tell you their secret. The deeper and darker, the better your reward. It's a test of charisma, kinda." Flynn explained with a roguish smile making her narrow her eyes.

"And you know this how?" She asked, her tone more sass than a question.

"The riddle was simple enough." Flynn lied. The girl took a long pause before she spoke.

"So, in the end, you're just guessing?"

"Maybe, maybe not." The girl's expression soured again as if something smelled, and Flynn stifled a laugh to his surprise. She spoke up again.

"I snuck out one time and stole from a conscience store." The girl lied, making Flynn laugh despite his efforts not to just a few moments ago. He didn't know why, but hearing her lie a second time after knowing her true secret was funny. "It's not funny." The girl instantly corrected his thoughts. "I wanted the candy they had, and grandfather wouldn't get it for me. "Things like that will only stunt your growth, He said." She wasn't lying per se, but it definitely wasn't her darkest secret. In fact, knowing her background made the story make perfect sense, and Flynn could see it happening.

Flynn didn't know for sure, but it felt like this was his first genuine laugh in years. And the burden that weighed on him so heavily over the last few hours lightened, if only a little.

"I don't have the patience to slowly scale up secrets until we both reveal our deepest darkest secrets, so instead of telling you something we both know isn't true, I'm just going to tell you." She looked confused, but Flynn continued. He had already made up his mind. He would not settle for mediocracy a second time. "Unless I change something, unless I make a significant enough difference, the entirety of humanity will die. I am the only thing between humanity and extension. Billions of lives..." Flynn trailed off as the words threatened to upend his lunch. Luckily, that had already happened earlier today, and there was nothing to come up this time.

Silence filled the room, and she looked at him like a teacher fed up with a class clown's pranks, but when Flynn didn't laugh or joke, she rolled her eyes.

"You have a serious case of mellow drama." Her tone was condescending at best. "How would you even know something like that?" Flynn simply shrugged in answer to her before laying back and resting his head on the floor.

"Seen the Future." His answer was simple, but he could feel the tension in the room rising.

"Just what level token did you get?" It was clear she was a bit flustered. "And if you've seen the future, what is my secret?"

"Living with a family of assassins must be tough." Flynn interrupted her tirade before she could continue asking questions. She just stared blankly at him as if a deer caught in the headlights. "Look, I can guarantee that that is my secret. When you get graded at the end of this phase, you'll see for yourself. Since I already know your secret, I'm sure the system will give me a decent grade. I'll be napping until the next part of the trial. I want to be fully rested for the next part." With those words, he left the girl wondering just what kind of Monster she was trapped in a room with.