Behind Vice Chancellor Darrow, a shimmering portal flickered to life. The arch of stone shimmered, and glowing silver veins and sigils began to crawl across its surface like living ink. A soft hum rose beneath their feet.
“This relic may be familiar to some of you, depending on your year of entrance. It has long served as a gatekeeper of our college’s standards. Many of you encountered its most basic functions during your entrance exams. That was merely its most elementary façade. Today, you will see the full extent of its capabilities.”
Murmurs spread through the student body.
“You will be sorted into one of many dynamic event formats. These formats will be randomized upon entry and will test varying aspects of your bond with your contracts and adaptability: survival instincts, domain adaptation, spiritual control, cooperation under pressure, and more.”
Darrow’s gaze sharpened.
“Some of you will be placed in teams. Others will face challenges alone. Some events are strategic. Others are combative. A few—very few—will be trials of negotiation, logic, or endurance.”
Kain tilted his head slightly. Trials of negotiation? In a relic? Negotiate with who? He wasn’t sure whether to be curious or concerned.
“All events have two purposes: to evaluate your strengths and weakness—and to reward and/or eliminate you based on said strengths and weaknesses. The relic itself can provide spiritual materials, evolutionary base materials, enchanted equipment and more. While the professors next to me will assess your performance in order to also allocate College credits. Many opportunities to rapidly increase your strength are on the line. But so is failure. Keep in mind that every injury you suffer within the relic will also remain after you leave—so death and extreme injury are real possibilities.”
Some muttered anxiously at that. With the final re-ranking in only more than a month, nobody wanted to have their strength decreased until then due to injury.
The relic behind him pulsed once, a low, resonant beat that echoed through the marrow of every student present. It felt almost…ominous.
“And be warned,” Darrow added, his voice deepening, “this relic’s ultimate creation was not only to ‘strengthen the next generation’ like some trial relics. Its ultimate purpose was to weed out the weak. It will actively try to eliminate you all.”
Darrow looked out over the crowd once more. “Enter with caution. Exit with growth.”
Then, without further ceremony, he turned and stepped down from the platform with the other staff and walked away to where Kain assumed the professors would be monitoring the inside of the relic.
Bzzzt
As if aware that the time had come, the portal into the relic let out a low buzz that seemed to vibrate in the bones of everyone watching.
“First-years,” called a voice from the side, “proceed!”
The lines began to move, first slowly, then steadily as class by class began their approach. Serena stepped forward when the second-years were called, posture relaxed from the confidence of being able to tackle whatever the relic through her way. Kain followed directly behind, similarly at ease.
Despite what the Vice Chancellor said about injury, he didn’t think it could be even half as bad as his previous two missions, right?
As they reached the threshold, the relic seemed to flare brighter.
He stepped through the light.
And vanished.
———————-
When Kain emerged, the world around him was drastically different.
The air smelled like metal and moss. Overhead, the sky was a sickly gradient of violet and green, the clouds swirling unnaturally fast. The terrain beneath his feet was soft and spongy, like stepping on half-melted carpet moss—except it pulsed faintly, as though it were alive. In front of him stood a series of platforms, some floating midair, others tethered together with strands of glowing thread. A few platforms also had these threads extending to the ground within reach of Kain. Tall, black obelisks jutted from the ground and a few of the platforms at irregular intervals, their purpose unknown.
“Great,” Kain muttered, scanning his confusing surroundings. “This doesn’t look at all straight forward—just what I wanted.”
‘Whatever happened to just defeating the boss, maybe a few of its minions, and being done with it…’ Kain didn’t at all appreciate the ‘creativity’ of this relic trial.
Then came the sound of shifting clothing.
He wasn’t alone.
A few meters to his right, Bridge stood up from where he’d been sitting and waved at Kain with an exuberant smile.
Much further away, Addison and Aiden were standing beneath one of the platforms with a thread hanging to the ground, bickering over whether or not to ascend and which way looked safer to walk across once they got up there. Leonara stood beside them, arms crossed, silently scanning the floating platforms overhead with narrowed eyes.
So far, so good. People he actually knew and was used to working with.
Then a tall boy with coal-black hair and a silver scar curling over one brow strode past him. Kain blinked. Was that… Michael? Kain only vaguely recognized him and never really held a conversation with him. He remembered he was within the top 20—maybe even top 10 of their year. Which was the only reason Kain even vaguely remembered his name. Majority of Kain’s classmates outside of the top 20 were still nameless to him. Michael (?) gave Kain a brief nod but didn’t speak.
Two more figures approached—one wearing a violet hoodie with feathers stitched into the hem and the other a girl with vivid green streaks in her hair and spiralling tattoo marks crawling up her neck just to the edge of her cheekbones. Kain didn’t know either of them. Not their names, not their rankings. Meaning they were likely outside of the top 20. He mentally labelled them Feather Sweater and Tattoo Girl.
And then another stranger walked up. This one had a massive spiritual weapon slung across his back—a brutal, jagged axe that looked more ornamental than practical—and a gaze that lingered on Kain half a second too long. Kain gave him a blank look back, not recognizing him at all, internally dubbing him Big Axe Guy.
Eight people, then. Nine including Kain. A pretty large team.
A faint chime echoed through the air and a soothing female voice rang out.
[Team Trial Initiated: Obelisk Sync]
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