"Hey! Is this some kind of glitch!"
"This has gotta be wrong!"
"Yeah, just what in the world is that score!"
Sacril stayed silent, although he wasn't technically in the top ten; a score of twenty-five wasn't terrible; in fact, the tenth spot was shared by 5 different people with that score.
Above them, the scores increased slowly, sometimes even only by one or two points, but none reached the thirties.
until the top five, that is.
The respective scores of 5,4, and 3 were 35, 38, and 42
and number two...
[Faene] [50]
But even then, the gap was surely too large... Right?
The teacher silenced the crowd with a hand.
"Unless disclosed by the individual, the results of the test are confidential."
from the crowd, a familiar face stepped free.
It was the raven-haired young man who wore a confused and angry expression.
"Hey! I had nothing to do with sealing the Actualisation, how do I have fifty points?!"
So, he had given his name, Faene, Sacril was just as surprised as he; if anyone from their event had fifty points, shouldn't it be either himself or Eira?
The instructor shook his head and shrugged.
"Seems all those clones you dispatched counted for points, I'm not sure of the exact system they use to calculate the totals myself, but im assuming based on the number each one was worth at least one point."
Sacril looked away sheepishly. He had left Faene to fend for himself against the clones after all, it had worked out, but he supposed he should feel a little guilty.
Faene himself looked a little annoyed, perhaps because he had needlessly revealed his name in exchange for information that hadn't ended up being very informative.
That didn't matter, as soon it was revealed who the top scorers were from the class.
[Eira] [15]
[Roy] [20]
[Sacril] [25]
[Faene] [50]
Faene observed him and Eira with a smug look, and Sacril glanced toward the gold-haired young man, whom he was almost certain was Roy.
It seemed no one else in the class had stood out, with the next highest score being just ten points.
Sacril wondered what could have possibly taken place in Unel's event for him to gather so many points, but it seemed he would have no way of learning.
The graph of the results disappeared, and the teacher gave a nod to the hooded man who left moments after.
"Now that you have all been accessed it is certainly safe to say one thing."
The class waited in tense silence as the teacher entered into one of his dramatic pauses, which he seemed to favour.
"With a few exceptions, you will likely all die very soon."
The silence did not break, as one might expect; this was because there was no questioning the matter-of-fact way he relayed this information.
"Not only did you all show a lack of teamwork, but you all also lack discipline, skill, tactics, and even strength itself."
The teacher shook his head.
"Some of you will understand what I say next, but the majority will have no clue. I suggest listening closely."
Then his lips moved, the lights in the room flickered momentarily, but nothing came of it.
The class exchanged confused looks, Sacril however, had instantly spied something that didn't make sense.
Faene wore an expression as if he had just heard something terrifying; he was even standing like he was about to flee, but was too afraid to.
"If you heard what I just said, there is no need to follow me; you may return to your quarters and continue doing what you were before, but those who did not, I am afraid you must follow."
Deep in his bones, Sacril had no wish to follow the teacher, especially after seeing the look on the face of the usually stoic Faene.
But he knew that he also had no choice; whatever this was, it was also his only opportunity to avoid probable death at the hands of the creatures of the nine-layered world.
.
.
.
Faene and a few others, including Roy and Eira, had left; the rest of the students were led in single file through the halls of the Inquisition's third headquarters, and eventually to a wide staircase that led straight down.
After a few minutes of descent, they arrived in a large earth-smelling room. The teacher led them inside, which seemed larger than the outside for some reason.
It was nearly pitch dark, making Sacril wonder what the place could be.
The teacher stopped a few feet in.
"You must press forward without me. I'm afraid I am not allowed to interfere with this selection, just know that you must fumble around in darkness until you find your source of light."
With nobody having a chance to respond, he simply vanished, and so did the exit.
He heard the sounds of panic around him, but they seemed to swiftly grow distant and then silent altogether.
And then he was alone, painfully alone.
The only thing that was there to show him he still existed was the ground beneath his feet.
There was no light anywhere around him; he couldn't even make out his hand in the pure darkness.
The teacher's words rang in his mind, and he begrudgingly took his first step forward.
.
.
.
He had walked, and walked, and walked some more, the nothing stretched like an endless dark desert, he wondered where his class was, where his light was, where anything was, what would happen if he never found it?
And suddenly, he ran.
A terror-induced sprint brought on by something he had not realized until he had stopped walking for a moment.
Just one moment after he had stopped walking, a second footfall had sounded out from behind him.
It had hidden itself well, but now it did not bother to do so.
He heard it grow closer, and closer still, he could feel the presence closing in on his back, imagining what kind of horror was about to grab his small neck.
And he heard it stop again.
But why? He was certain he could not outrun it. What could it mean that it had abandoned its prey so easily?
He learned that quite soon.
His footing left from beneath his feet, and he found himself floating for just a moment.
Of course, he could not do so for long, and in pure darkness, he began to fall.