“Even if you run into the portal, you are only rushing towards a bloody death. Behind this portal is your entrance exam, and although the demons we’ve collected don't even hold a candle to the higher-level ones, they are still enough to toy with guppies like you.”

“There will be no signing of death waivers, if you step beyond this point-“ as the man said this he gestured to where he was standing “- then I take it that you have accepted death as an option.”

“Note that there is no other way around this, the entrance exam has to be taken if you want to get a Dhia frame. Government issue Dhia frames are limited, so unless you have a personal one and are in the wrong place, there's no other way.”

“Also, forget about joining the Battle Academy without one, normal humans- gifts or not- are not fit to survive in the Academy wi-“

Before he could even finish his sentence, a raggedly dressed girl ran past him towards the front of the portal. After taking a deep breath she walked through it, her body trembling in fear.

“It seems this year the farming district will have a lot more fertilizer than usual.” After saying this the man strode to the side, allowing everyone access to the portal. It seemed he was done with his explanation, that or he had deemed that any more words would not be necessary.”

“W-Weapons, what about weapons?” asked one of the men amongst the group of people.

“What about weapons? You may go in with anything that you have, though it won’t make a difference in untrained hands anyway.”

“I-I didn’t bring any weapons, I thought they would provide that,” whispered a few people. It seemed like more and more people were becoming hesitant to enter the portal.

“What exactly are we doing in this entrance exam? Is there a quota we have to reach? Is there a specific target we have to kill?” The voice came from the back of the room, from the only person still sitting calmly.”

“Looks like somebody asked for once. All you have to do is survive 6 hours in there, after 6 hours we’ll send agents in to collect you,” replied the man.

“6 hours?”

“That’s actually not that bad, we just have to hide for 6 hours. We don’t even have to fight them.”

The man’s answer seemed to light a fire within the people, slowly but surely they began walking into the portal, determination blazing in their eyes. But a few of them remained, a few sharp-witted individuals. They walked towards the back of the room, and stood around Cehedia, waiting to see what he would do.

{It seems you’ve got yourself a few leeches. I say we cut them up and eat them as soon as we pass through the portal. We can’t let the demons have all the fu-}

“Do we get any extra points for killing demons?” Once again ignoring the voice, Cehedia stood up, pulling out the butcher knife that he had hidden in his pockets.

“Yes, you do,” replied the man, his eyes glued to Cehedia’s. As Cehedia walked towards the portal, the few people that had remained behind followed him as well. Soon only the 7-feet tall man remained behind.

“Interesting kid, I’m not surprised though. Surviving in the shanty districts is another war of its own,” whispered the man as he tapped on his watch and a holographic report of Cehedia came into display.

[Name: Cehedia

District: Shanty Districts

Gift: Unknown

Subject was added to the system 8 hours ago, there is currently no other information available.]

“What did I expect?”

***

A thick red mist clouded the air, its foul smell forcing the examinees’ airways shut. The mist -although intangible- felt almost slimy as it stirred past the skin. As it shifted about, it seemed to cling onto them, becoming thicker where there were more people. In fact, it was so thick that it was difficult to see past a few meters, the only things visible were the people directly next to you.

Cehedia was used to the smell, he knew it well, it was the smell of rotting flesh. He also knew that inhaling large amounts of it would not end well, so he tore a piece of cloth from his shirt and used it as a make-shift mask. Those around him followed suit, surveying the new environment right after.

From what they could see, it seemed to be a ruin of some sort. Although there were no structures in sight, they saw a few red-colored rocks on the ground which looked to have been chipped off from a building. However, what was odd about this place wasn’t the fact that it was a ruin, it was the fact that sound seemed non-existent here. A few of the examinees tried talking, however, the sound of their voices seemed to have been absorbed into the mist.

{They’re coming.}

*Hweghhweehghe*

The sound was inhuman, like a mix between a shriek, a cry, and a laugh. As a matter of fact, no living being was supposed to make such a sound. Within a few seconds, its pitch became so gut-retchingly high that a few of them began vomiting, unable to take the sound any longer. Just as they thought it couldn’t get any worse, a head went flying past a few of them, its blood trailing behind it.

It was odd, to see so many people running and screaming for their lives yet not a single word could be heard. In a matter of seconds, the ground was covered in viscera and blood. A few of the examinees who had survived the initial attack slipped and fell on the slimy intestines of the fallen, and fell victim to the invisible enemy.

{Don’t move, don't disturb the mist.}

A squelching sound could be heard a few meters away from where Cehedia stood, followed by a crunching noise, like bone breaking. The girl next to Cehedia heard this and decided to make a run for it, but like a rag doll, she was pulled and dragged back towards the sound. She twisted and turned, viciously trying to escape whatever was holding on to her. As she was dragged past Cehedia, she tried reaching out for his leg in a desperate attempt to save herself.

However before she could do that, her fingers fell to the ground, severed neatly at the knuckle joints. Blood dripped to Cehedia's feet from the bloody butcher knife in his hand, the girl's mouth opened wide to scream in pain, however, no sound came out.

{Idiot, I said don’t move.}

Cehedia felt something tug on his leg, before being pulled to the floor and dragged into the mist, right behind the girl who had been attacked earlier.