As fun as it was, the potluck is wrapped and done within 10 minutes before the next test starts. No one eats much either, just small bites here and there to be included in the event and to not feel sluggish before the next test.

  A few minutes before the next test starts, Adrian brings out his Sacrifices to see if he can theoretically gain some semblance of understanding about the new one, and maybe guess where it comes from. Of course, even here, he has to be careful about inspecting them, lest someone get some funny ideas. Especially with the Spirit Wyrm.

  His Spirit Wyrm is the same warm yellow colour, and yet when he looks closely into it, he can see the Spirit element manifesting in its own ways. There appear words, maybe runes, inside the blood itself. These characters constantly change and transmute into something completely different, never staying the same. Adrian has previously tried, and he does too once again, but even trying to decipher bits and pieces of the runes leads to a massive headache, so he stops.

  His Khalkatouri is pretty standard. A bronze blood that exists in two separate streams. Like two whirlpools trying to merge, they revolve around each other, but never to merge.

  Adrian sighs in relief that the Spirit Wyrm blood isn’t violent. He had been too hasty when he prepared the blood, and neither was he able to gather a vial good enough to store Spirit element because of secrecy. In fact, Adrian is not even sure there exists vials for those, or what kind of material would be used to treat the vial for Spirit element. No one in his clan has ever really Sacrificed a Spirit creature.

  Adrian, now that he thinks about it, couldn’t help but wonder why. There are kids with high ranking climbers in the clan, and yet no one ever really does it. Why? Is there a reason behind it? Something forbidden, something dangerous that he does not know about?

  A momentary fear takes hold of him, but then he lets it wash away. There is nothing he can do now, and he has already made his decision. For someone so normal like him to ever reach somewhere, risks are the only things he can take.

  Adrian then checks the new addition to his deck, the blue human element. This one is weird.

  In the vial, droplets of blood would suddenly bubble into existence and then coagulate together, as if stubbornly trying to become something and yet failing the next instant, once again dissolving into liquid.

  A few creatures come to his mind, but he’s not really sure. There is a high chance that it could be from a Human Worm, but maybe not. Human Worms are fantastic creatures. Hundreds-thousands of them bundle up together and are able to recreate humans and change their shape and face at will. If he really does get that, then he can count himself lucky. Although…

  It can cause conflict against the Khalkatouri.

  Khalkatouri is a bull-like magical creature which can generate several streams of fire and is also bronze plated in the form of defense.

  In essence, a Khalkatouri is a bull, and Human Worms are creatures with a tendency to always become more human-like. He’d never be able to Sacrifice them to get himself a class, or even if he does, it’ll be a very weak class.

  I should’ve thought about it more thoroughly.

  There is nothing he can do now though. He’ll have to change one of his Sacrifices with something else now. It is a gamble, if he’ll even gain something good, something amorphous which will be compatible with the Human Worms, but all he can do now is try.

  The next station appears while Adrian is still lost in his thoughts. The announcement returns with the static that he is starting to hate a little,

  “This is the third test. This will be a group test. Everyone, please gather in groups of three. The remaining two participants will be given a different test with an adjusted difficulty. You have five minutes, for which every minute wasted here will be counted out of your test.

  “Once the groups are formed, they will be instantly teleported to their test location. All the best!”

  Chaos scrambles around him, as people move. Looking for teammates among people they have already talked to or interacted with. Within a few moments, Adrian sees many flashes of light as half of the train is already empty.

  “What do you wanna do? Should we team with Mark? Or maybe Michael? Or…” Ji-a fires a few more names. Adrian remembers Mark, and he mentally assigns the earring guy with Michael, but after that he lost track of the names.

  “Um, I have someone in mind. What do you think about him?” Adrian asks as he points towards the guy in mind. With a start he also realises how she has picked him up as his teammate without even asking him first. He wouldn’t have disagreed, but still…

  “Him? I don’t really mind, he is decent too,” Ji-a shrugs, and they go to the guy in question.

  “Hey, you wanna team up with us on this?” Adrian asks, as he looks at the guy who is still meditating with his sword in his lap. He doesn’t know why he exactly picked him, but just a tug at the end of his senses told him that he should party with him. It has been tugging at him for a while now, since the Trial has started.

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  I sound crazy.

  The man in question opens his eyes, looks at both of them up and down, and finally says, “I don’t really mind. I just hope you’ll be able to keep up with me though,” He stands up as he says it.

  Adrian’s eyes twitch at the response. Subtly, he looks at Ji-a, and then back at him, and realises he is really stuck with some big egotistical maniacs.

  How do I catch em al-

  Adrian’s question is cut short by a blind ray of white light which covers him in every direction, carrying him in its milky glory, before it suddenly disappears, leaving him and others in a-

  Dark room.

  Adrian moves and instantly hears an ouch from his right, his leg on someone else’s and so he tries to move to the left, but another foot appears beneath him–this time no complaint, so Adrian completely stops moving.

  Then a flash cuts through the darkness and Adrian’s eyes sting from the rapid change in light in such short timing, but he soon adapts. Only then does he notice Ji-a holding a torch, pointed towards him. Towards him and the other guy.

  “Can you move away from my leg?” He says calmly, and Adrian looks down to notice his boots pressed on another boot, and instantly moves away.

  “Are you done? Can we move on now? We don’t have much time,” Ji-a complains, and roams the torch around the room they are in, looking for an exit. In the meantime, Adrian and the other guy also find their own torches, attached to their waists by some absurd magic.

  Adrian tries to see if it’ll magically attach there again, but it will not.

  “What kind of test is it?” Adrian asks, his eyes travelling to the two doors now visible under the light from the torches. As if on cue, the Tower comes with its quest.

  Third Test: Stumbling through the dark.

  In the Tower, there are cultures where Darkness is a taboo. A fear, more primal than anything. Yet often, it is also the condition for courage and teamwork to blossom.

  Pick one of the two doors by pointing your torches on them, and face the consequence behind it. It might be nothing, or it might be a world of hell.

  Goal: Leave the building within the allotted 30 minutes.

  Handicap: Dark rooms.

  Time limit: 30 minutes

  Adios!

  “Teamwork based challenge huh, that makes sense,” The other guy says from beside him. Adrian realises that all this time he has been calling him the other guy or the meditation guy.

  “What is your name?” He asks.

  “John Atkins. Yours?” John asks calmly. Honestly, Adrian is getting unnerved by how calm the guy is at all times. He decided he’d find something which can make this monk of a person lose the mask.

  “Adrian. Adrian Alpohona. She’s Ji-a,” Adrian says pointing at her, who is standing by what appears to be the only window in the building. It is dark outside, with just stars glittering outside. Adrian walks to the window, and finds a city sprawled in front of him.

  It is a dead city. Broken windows, broken doors, and so broken walls. It is like someone had broken into each house and taken away everyone else who once lived there. Maybe it was one silent killer–although the broken windows and glasses painted a completely different picture–or an army.

  Beside him, he notices John too peeking through the window. He looks calm, and yet a little more enthralled than literally anything else. Muttering under his breath, Adrian leaves him be for now.

  He looks down and gauges that they should be 10 or so floors above the ground.

  That… is not enough time to get through all of them if we run into something bad every time.

  They need luck. And perhaps lots of them.

  “Okay, so we know what the test is. Let’s complete it as soon as we can,” Ji-a says and motions them towards the doors, the torch lighting the way through the unnaturally dark room.

  Standing beside the two doors now, Adrian asks, “So, which one?”

  Ji-a points at the left door, and John points at the left too. Adrian is saved from the difficult choice for one floor.

  The door opens automatically, as if registering their intent, and opens wide into a dark stairway.

  Guess we are not getting any light except the torches at all.

  Adrian moved down, one hand still holding the torch while the other holding his blade. John has done the same too, but Ji-a did not seem to be wishing to take out her weapon as of yet. If she has any weapon at all. Adrian is still doubtful, but trusts that she knows what she’s doing.

  Unless she’s a suicidal maniac who doesn’t care about her safety at all.

  Adrian moves a little away from her, the light of the three torches suddenly not that bright around him. The way it leaves blind spots, and ominous half lit corners, creating shadows and gaps for someone to live and attack them is a very real possibility all of a sudden.

  Then the shadows did move.

  It is not very obvious initially, until it becomes a glaring hole in your view, at your throat with a knife made of shadows itself, and ready to bisect you into two.

  MOVE!

  Adrian has never moved his body as fast as he did that day, moving his blade to block the shadow knife which simply disintegrates when it touches his blade, forming on the opposite end of it, continuing their momentum towards his neck. A phantom pain, a feeling of death has already descended upon him, until it suddenly vanished with a burst of light.

  “Shadow hunters. We can’t hurt them, but they can’t exist in light. We need to move quickly,” John said in his calm voice, and yet in his rushing adrenaline, Adrian detects something more. Is he excited?

  “Don’t worry about the attacks too much either. It is just the 3rd test. The most they’ll cause is mere scratches. Obviously, don’t get hit by too many, but don’t panic!” Ji-a commands.

  They nod, and fasten their pace. It is unnerving, eerie, and dangerous to be on the stairs when being attacked by beings who can attack you from any possible angle. The paranoia is worse than the actual threat, and every step seemed to culminate like a volcano, ready to burst into a geyser of blood and organs at the slightest twitch.

  Ji-a’s words calm him down.

  Nothing happens until they reach the next floor.

  Adrian is soaked with sweat, his palms sweaty and even holding the sword feels heavy. The feeling is a rush, and although it terrifies the shit out of him, something about it he just can’t get enough.

  #