Author’s note- Thanks to a suggestion by AMBibonlee, this chapter is coming out today. I hope there wasn’t too much of a disconnect since I was gone for so long, and I apologize for the delay! The situation details will be after the chapter.

__________________________________________________________________

Start of the Trial

When the teleportation finished, I entered the room on the podium. And all eyes turned to look at me, each one looking at me strangely. Was it the mud I used to mask my face?

Summoning the golden aura as a shimmering, metallic mask, I walked down the steps slowly. Why were they still staring at me...

Viola was sitting next to Stella, the cat girl, and they looked like they were engaged in conversation before I came. But now they both looked at me with gazes of hatred. Well f*ck them, who said I cared about whether they liked me or not?

Stewart, the Iron creation guy, and Adam were sitting on the same couch. Adam was looking at me with pity in his eyes, but a resolute frown took hold on his face. He intentionally took up more space, so I couldn’t sit next to him.

I paused, pondering. Was Adam always this sort of person? Or was there something I wasn’t aware of? Looking for another spot to sit, I glanced in Natalie’s direction

She was alone, isolated from the group. She gave a weak smile and invited me over.

Natalie- “...That’s creepy.”

Pulling the hood further over my face, I replied flatly,

Me- “It serves its purpose.”

Natalie grimaced in response, but seemed to pay no heed to it afterwards. There was another matter on her mind.

Natalie- “Word has gone around, that you’re going to be taken care of by the Lynch family. Apparently you went too far with Viola and Stella, and they want compensation!”

Oh? Mess with the young, and the old comes out to play? Good, GOOD!!! If they want to mess with me like everyone else in this god forsaken world, they would have to pay the price!

I seethed out, hints of rage leaking into my tone,

Me- “Let them come! But they might come with an even greater debt!”

Natalie- “You don’t understand! They will-”

Mrs. Kim- “Silence! Mrs. Rose, I assume you know what I mean when I say silence. Consequences will be due if you continue.”

Natalie started to shiver next to me, and I took the chance to glare at Mrs. Kim, imprinting her figure and face within my mind. If they came at me, she would be the first to pay the price...

Mrs. Kim- “Good. Class will be starting shortly, but first, let me take a moment to deliver the results from yesterday’s fights. The battle potential rankings are as follows, from S+ being the highest, and D- being the lowest acceptable for the organization.”

She took a moment to procure a fancy looking scroll from her purse, then began reading out loud.

Mrs. Kim- “1st place- Viola Lynch, for showing amazing combat precision when attacking and ingenuity worthy of praise, especially the creation of her family's trademark combat armor. Due to being unable to showcase more abilities because of a break in the rules, her rank was moved up from B to compensate. B+ rank.

2nd place- Nathaniel Belair, for using his ability in ways most would not think of to both boost himself and damage his opponent. However, an absence of both honor and chivalry befitting of the organization, and the fact that he relied upon his superior body from previous martial arts training, shows his lack of future potential. B rank.

3rd place- Stella Page, for making use of her crafty intelligence to make a difference in the battle and pressing the advantage of speed from her bodily transformation. C+ rank.

4th place- Stewart Clayton, for using his ability as a way to create weapons, such as a knife. However, the fact that creation is too slow leaves an area to easily be exploited by opponents. C- rank.

4th place- Adam Kepler. He was not able to use his strength to his advantage, but however he knew when and how to obey orders. C- rank.

5th place- Natalie Rose. Fought crazily, without rhyme nor reason. Did not obey orders. D rank.

Rankings will be used to decide preference in how prizes for both the end of year and at the end of every month are distributed, and they will also be delivered to C.H.I.B.I. for consideration of future placement. And as of now, these rankings will stand unless proved otherwise by the end of year examination, or offset by another preliminary test.

Today is another opportunity to obtain a ranking, so it would be in your best interest to come to the portal quickly. Like, right now.”

She stood by the portal, waiting for us to come inside the purplish circle. I strode forward to the area, and with a flash of light, I was gone.

********************

When the purplish crystal faded away, my eyes started to adjust to my surroundings. It was a room, a relatively small one, that was lit with candlelight. The walls seemed to be made of a sort of yellowish crystal, that seemed to pulsate with an aura that repelled my golden aura just enough that I could feel it. Not enough to affect my ability, but that left me with a question. Was this room part of an ability?

That was possible, but there were most likely other means by which this was achieved. The teleportation portal was partial evidence of this. Although it had to be activated with an activation of one’s ability, there was no-one actively using their ability to teleport.

Breaking my line of thought, a red pulse from the portal forced me forward. Then the purple light came in, signifying a teleportation. Was I not supposed to stay on the podium?

I gave a mental slap to my face for my stupidity, and I found a spot in the corner to sit. Then I watched the light fade away to reveal a transformed Adam walking down from the podium. He looked calm, composed. Walking with a steady stride, he found a spot in the corner opposite to mine.

Soon afterwards, the room filled up with more and more people, till our whole class was in the room. And with the last flash of purple light, a man wearing a long, black trench coat walked in.

He had flowing, blond hair that cascaded down to his shoulders, and he wore an eternal smile on his face. And if he was dressed in that wretched black uniform of the organization, you might recognize him too. His code name was, Daydream.

Daydream- “Hello class. I will preside temporarily over this examination, as your instructor’s powers are more suited to say, torture. You need not to know my name, as I go by my code name, Daydream. Any questions?”

Adam- “If I may, what will be the subject of this test?”

Daydream’s grin intensified, and he answered smugly,

Daydream- “Polite. But unfortunately, I am not inclined to answer that question. Any others?”

No one else spoke up for a short period of time, so Daydream shrugged.

Daydream- “Then let us begin!”

Dropping to one knee, Daydream slammed his arms to the floor.

“Thump”

I was the only one left standing, but an extreme coercive pressure came upon me from all directions! Both the body enhancement and my golden aura were operating at max power, working to resist the yellow light that was now pouring in from all directions. My abilities were slowly giving way though, and the barrier that consisted of my golden aura suddenly revealed a gaping crack!

It expanded rapidly, and invaded my body within seconds of my ability failing. My vision darkened, and in a matter of seconds, I fell to the ground just like the others. My consciousness faded away soon afterwards.

***********************

I opened my eyes to find myself on top of a skyscraper. The wind swirled and billowed around me, forming a barrier that prevented me from moving from my position. I assumed I was trapped within because I had lost the battle between my abilities and the yellow light, and I would be trapped until Daydream felt like letting me off.

There were five other skyscrapers with wind barriers, and they were positioned in a 5 pointed star around a lake, which had an absolutely massive pillar that ascended past the clouds. I could not see where it ended.

The surrounding area was an urban city, consisting of streets, buildings, and highways that inevitably all led to the pillar. Behind the skyscraper I was on, there was a wall.

Yes, a large, circular wall that seemed to cage all of creation. It was made of an unknown metal, which had a blood-orangish tint. Black lines extended along the surface of the wall, forming a hive like pattern.

The lighting came from the top of the tower. The top at least, from what I could tell. It was a spherical globe of light, held in place by a black pillar on the top and bottom. Pale blue markings ran along the surface of the globe of white light, hinting that it was some sort of high tech.

I continued to observe the surrounding terrain until suddenly, the wind around my eyes intensified. I could no longer leave them open.

I felt my body rotate around, and when the wind faded, I was positioned back towards the tower. A voice came from all directions, and it sounded like there was a person speaking right in front of me.

???- “For today, we will be playing a little game called Orbs of blood. The goal is to bring your orbs to the center of this world, namely The Tower of Resurrection. Whoever brings an orb to the tower, wins. But there is a catch. There are only 3 orbs...

Among you, there will be two teams, and if a team member from the same team attacks one another, they will be disqualified. The first team: The Protectors. They start off with 2 orbs, and their job is to keep all of the orbs on their journey to the tower.

The second team consists of The Hunters. They start off with two trackers, and those trackers will display the position of all the people every 10 minutes. Their goal is to kill those with orbs and to take them. And as for the other two people?

The first is the independent. They don’t have a team affiliation, and they start off with both an orb and a tracker. Their goal is to remain undiscovered by both teams, and on the same token, get to the tower with as many orbs as possible..

The second is the negotiator. The negotiator has an immune status; if anyone from a team attacks them, the attacker will be disqualified. But on the same token, the negotiator cannot attack anyone else, or they will be disqualified. The negotiator has a map that can display the positions of every person along with their affiliation at all times. But they cannot show anyone else their map. Their goal is to create chaos and take an orb once it is exposed.

Once an orb holder gets to The Tower of Resurrection, they have to put an orb in one of the 3 slots in order to win. Winning allows you to raise the rank you get in this trial. That is, say you get a B- without an orb. That B- will turn into a B if you bring 1 orb to the tower. If you bring 2 orbs to the tower, then that B- will turn into a A-. And if you collect all 3 orbs, that B- turns into an S.

Other than killing people from your group, there is another way to obtain orbs: killing outsiders. You will know when you see one.

As an added protection, your team will be hidden from everyone, including other teammates. Now that’s over with, Orbs of Blood will be starting shortly. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Start!

__________________________________________________________________

Author’s note 2- So, my laptop is still gone, as I predicted. It might still be a while before I get it back. But, now that I’ve kind of acclimated to the situation, chapters will be coming out at a faster rate. See you later with another one!