Chapter 3

Testing

Oct. 4, 2054. Sunday. 2:30 PM

Kiyro sat sitting on the gym floor with over fifty people of different ages and size wearing the same outfit: a black shorts and a white t-shirt. He was not to thrilled in being here at the gym. The testing of abilities were bound to happen, but he was wished that he could slide out of it the whole day. They caught him slipping away behind the Academy building. If it wasn’t for the tracking device on the silver collar, he knew he wouldn’t have been found.

With a frown plastered on his face, Kiyro sighed as he leaned back. His feet crossed in front of him, while he waited for the examiners to arrive. He was a bit peeved that they took longer than the students to arrive. The one that walked in from the door was none other than Angel twirling his silver cross chain in his hands, walking behind him was Angela with her white lab coat that she always wore and her trailing golden locks flowing behind her. Her glasses slipped forward as she pushed it back up. A large group of people in black suits spread out across the large gym.

“Well, ladies and gentleman.” Angela was the first one to speak up. “We will be having our monthly examines. I expect you to do your best for they will be consequences.”

A young man sitting across from Kiyro raised up his hand.

“Yes, Ling?” Angela tapped her pen impatiently against her wooden clipboard.

“What would the consequences be, if I may ask?”

Everyone was on edge when Ling asked such question. There were rumors flying around that the consequences led to inhumane experiments. Even Kiyro quietly listened to what Angela would say.

“You really want to know?” Angela drawled out her words, making the surrounding more tensed.

Ling slowly shook his head, he was not sure if he should continue asking or not.

“Death.”

Everyone gulped and froze.

Angela gave them a beautiful smile. “I’m just kidding you know. I always wanted to say that once.” Even though she joked, Kiyro couldn’t help but feel as if they were a bit truth behind those words. If it was not for the rumors that seem to spring up every time there was a ‘test’ that the Academy administrated, one couldn’t help but feel uneasy at the predicament in hand.

“Well then,” Angela clicked her pen and clipped it to the board. She gently lowered it and walked forward. “The test is actually quite simple. First will be the practical physical examines. They won’t take too long. Then we will be going to the Psychic portion. We’ll start with a simple running.” She directed them all towards a cones that were being set up by the men in black.

Kiyro got up and followed the group that all started to line up, waiting for their turn.

“Angel will be taking one half, while I’ll be taking the other. We will be timing your 100 meter dash. The first one up is Abbey Zaro.” Angela called out. A short girl with black ponytails stepped forward. She walked over and got ready to run.

Angela walked over towards the end and held up a stop timer.

“Well then.” Angel smiled his usual gentleman smile. “I’ll start on my end. Xerxas Bion, please get ready.” He then walks towards the opposite side of Angela and stood there with an timer.

A young teenager with skinny arms and legs stepped forward and waited on the line.

“When the alarm goes off, it signals for you to begin,” said Angela.

A man in black steps forward with a small round gun like object. He raised it above his head and shoots it off in the air. A loud popping sound reverberated inside the room, and both of them ran forward.

“14.05 seconds for Miss Zaro.”

“13.24 seconds for Mr. Bion.”

Angela quickly jotted down the numbers. The testing continued, Kiyro watched the students run forward. Out of the whole group so far, only two broke the 11 seconds mark. It was one man that look around the age of twenty-four and a young girl that could pass as a middle schooler.

“Silvia Sylvester.”

“Kiyro Koga.”

Kiyro walked over and squatted down and were in a running position that he remember seeing in the Olympics. He wondered why everyone was literally almost on their hands and knees, ready to bolt off when the whistle blew. Just for the hell of it, he tried the same position.

“What the hell is he doing?”

People’s voice started to whisper behind his back.

“Is he from a track and field team?”

“I don’t know. I guess he’s really serious about this.”

A tinge of heat ran up to his cheek, Kiyro felt a bit embarrassed that he was in such position, but now he couldn’t just get up as if nothing happened. He calmed his nerves and faced forward towards his end goal. A loud bang like sound echoed, and Kiyro sprinted off the ground. He felt a surge of power bursting through his legs and up into his body, pushing him forward in leaps and bounds. Without a second thought, he ran.

“10.15 seconds.” Angel called out when he clicked the stopwatch. “Not bad.” He gave him a smile.

“13.22 seconds.” Angela voice out the time and was busily scribbling away.

Kiyro let out a breathe of relief and went back over towards the group.

“Nice.” A young man with disheveled brown hair replied cheerfully, giving him a thumbs up. “You got the highest time out of the group. Do you do track and field?”

“No, I’m just wanted to try it out. I saw it done on the olympics before.”

“Pfbt.” The young man snorted and laughed. “Never heard someone ever try doing that just from watching a tv. My name is James.” He stuck out his hands to shake.

“Kiyro.” Kiyro took James hand and shook.

“Well, I don’t know about you but these physical exams in my opinion are pointless. If you know what I mean.”

“I’m not so sure about that. They must have a reason for doing all this. If not, then we wouldn’t be doing any of this.”

“True. Maybe it’s just me then, because I just don’t like doing the physicals. I’m not fast on my feet or strong.”

“Everybody has a different thing that they are good at.”

“Yea. What I’m looking forward to is doing the psychic exams. I got a thing or two up my sleeves.” James chuckled as he boastfully stated.

Kiyro wasn’t to sure how he should reply. He was curious on what he would have up his sleeves, but at the same time he wasn’t so sure of what else to think.

Through the next hour, they did push ups, sit ups, jumps, dashes, weightlifting, and even weight throwing. Kiyro was able to go through most of the exams at being in the top three, he didn’t know what would happen if he failed. So he gave it the best of his abilities as he could.

“Well, now that is all done with.” Angela clapped her hands, bringing back everyone’s attention back to her. “The next test would be initiated in an one-on-one interaction with one of us. You will be entering in the room on the left.” She pointed towards the direction where a small room with a large glass tinted window that showed the interior. Two large TV screen was plastered above the glass walls, showcasing the interior of the room.

Everyone walked over to the T.V to see what they would be doing. What Kiyro saw was two rooms divided by a wall. Inside each room was a table and two chairs. The whole room was plain white and yellow, making anyone who steps in feel a bit empty.

“Abbey Zaro and Xerxas Bion. Miss Zaro please come with me and Mr. Bion will be with Angel.”

Both of them stood up and followed through the door. Everyone gathered around in front of the TV, wondering what they would be tested on. Angel and Xerxas went inside the left room, while Abbey and Angela went in the other. They both sat across from each other.

“What are they doing?” People started to chat, they all were searching for some answer through the TV..

Angela and Angel both pulled out a stack of cards. Each one of them faced down and spread out in front of them. They could see Angel’s and Angela’s mouth opening and closing, but none of them could hear their voices. In the TV were the student’s face and the picture of the cards that are hidden in front of them.

“Yep, they’re doing the stereotypical guessing game for Remote Viewing.” James spoke. “People who don’t have the ability will fail, while that do will pass with flying colors.”

“Though, is there really a necessary to do this? I mean what’s the whole point? What do you mean Remote Viewing?”

“That’s a good question. Doing a guessing game is all good an all, but in practical use it’s quite useful. The more specific you are at visualizing what it is the better chance that you are powerful in that ability.” James thought for a moment, and continued on speaking. “Remote viewing differentiates itself from other psychic abilities in that it follows a set of protocols. For example, remote viewing uses a blind “target” or items to psychically view a place or the numbers.”

Kiyro quietly watched the whole testing begin. From card guessing to talking with each other, Kiyro was not able to hear nor understand exactly what was going on. He wondered why they were showing everyone what they were doing. For what purpose, he wasn’t sure.

“Look. Look.” James pointed out as they saw the Xerxas concentrating on his hands in front of him.

What they saw amazed everyone. Xerxas was holding a small tissue paper rolled tightly into a small stick that was handed by Angel. At first Kiyro was wondering, what purpose it was even used for. Xerxas was staring intensely towards the paper, couple minutes passed till finally a small gray smoke started to appear from it.

“What?!” James cried out in disbelief. “A-are you seeing that?” He excitedly spoke out loud, and the others around him were chattering in disbelief.

A small fire slowly erupted, burning away the paper. It reminded Kiyro of a lighter that sparked a small flame by putting the paper near it. It didn’t take long, before the fire started to grow bigger, but eventually was snuffed out because there were no more paper to burn.

“Holy cow!” James was literally jumping up and down from where he was sitting. “Elemental Control is real! I knew it!”

Kiyro felt a bit uncomfortable being next to him. Majority of the people were giving him a strange stare, but some were slowly starting to agree with him.

More and more people were called out to take the test. Not everyone was able to do something extraordinary like Xerxas. They were people who can visualize a place with pictures, guess numbers, sensitive to surroundings, and some just did not show much of a progress.

“Kiyro Koga.” Angel’s voice spoke out from the speaker.

With steady steps, he got up. He felt uncomfortable in staying in the same room as a psychopathic killer. The thought of being examined by him made him shiver. He entered into the room that Angel was waiting.

The moment he entered, he felt a wash of cold air hit him. His breathe let out a puff of hot air that he could be seen in front of him. A sudden strange feeling of being watched could be felt inside the room. With a quick glance, he scanned the room. He noticed that the window was tinted making it impossible for him to see outside.

What stood in the corner of the room was a human silhouette that he could barely make out. A blurry figure that seem to fade in and out between the light. Whatever it was, it gave him a very creepy and uncomfortable feeling. He quickly took his eyes away from the shadow and instead rested on Angel.

“Well Mr. Koga.” Angel tapped the paper he had in front of him and laid it down. “I been expecting you.”

“Isn’t that a given sir?” Kiyro spoke his mind way too soon. He felt himself blunder, before he could catch himself.

Angel’s lips curled up and he examined Kiyro with interest. “Yes, that’s absolutely true. Why don’t you take a seat.”

Kiyro walked over and sat on the chair. He felt an uncomfortable stare from both Angel and the shadow. It was a nagging feeling of being watched that he was very familiar with. Honestly, he was holding himself back from unconsciously moving his head towards the shadow.

“It seems you’re quite nervous. Is there something wrong?” Angel slowly search Kiyro’s movement.

“Yes. I’m not sure what to expect.”

“Well you don’t have to be so nervous. I mean, there’s nothing bad that would be going on.” Angel chuckled.

“I dearly hope not.” Kiyro dryly coughed. His instinct was screaming to run away. Monster on both sides, he felt cornered. Taking a deep breathe, he tried his best to calm his nerves.

“Well then, the first test is really system. Please guess the number that I have in my hand.” Angel had a deck of card in front of him, he picked up one card and took a quick glimpse. “Relax and open up your senses. Being a bit too stiff won’t get you the result that you need.”

Kiyro slowly nodded. He closed his eyes, and tried his best to calm his turmoil. Counting his breathe, he eventually started to reel in his running emotions and focused. A rough silent breathing could be heard from Angel, and the light buzzing sound of the air conditioner turning on could be heard loudly in his ears.

Clearing his mind, he patiently waited. His instincts were guiding him through the steps telling him to quiet his mind, even though the two dangers were in front of him. Even still he knew that if he didn’t do anything rash, the two wouldn’t react. This gave him a temporary relief, but it did not give him full sense of security.

“What would this little brat be showing us today?” A clear dark voice cut through his ears. It was almost like a whisper, but still loud enough for him to hear every word. He knew this was not telepathy but actual voices, coming from the shadow behind him.

Kiyro couldn’t help, but go rigid. He opened his eyes and noticed that Angel did not seem to hear the voice and instead was waiting for his answer.

“Why play these stupid childish games? These are nothing compare to what I can do.” The shadow said with a grumble. “It’s 9 Spades! For crying out loud. Hurry up and answer brat!”

“9 Spades.” Kiyro spoke out loud.

Angel was silent for a moment. “Good. Next.” He pulled out another card.

“Why is that brat so slow? I mean it should only take a second to answer such question. 3 Hearts. Come on. This is too easy.”

“3 Hearts.”

Angel nodded and pulled out another card.

“2 clubs with an x mark on the bottom club.” A low rumbling laughter could be heard from the shadow that made Kiyro’s hair stand up on edge.

“2 clubs with an x mark on the bottom club.”

Angel eyes went wide when he heard Kiyro’s answer. He looked towards Kiyro interested.

“Did I get it wrong?” Kiyro slowly asked. He felt uncomfortable with the silence.

“No. You actually got it right, even the small detail that nobody so far had mention.”

Kiyro furrowed his eyebrows and rubbed his fingers. He was not sure if answering everything was a good idea. The thought of being to extraordinary was not something he wanted to be right now, escaping out of this place was more of a priority.

Angel placed down the card and picked up another one.

“This brat’s not bad.” The shadow spoke. “Let’s see if he’ll continually guess them right.”

Kiyro waited for the shadow to say more, but instead there was only silence. He waited for another minute and he shook his head telling Angel that he did not know. Angel tapped his finger on the desk and placed down the card and pulled another one.

Once again he waited, and only silence followed after. For the next three times, Kiyro shook his head. He did not wanted to stand out too much at the same time the shadow did not speak a single words. The advantage that he had was gone.

“Ah come on!” The shadow spoke out in frustration. “Its seven spades for crying out loud.”

With steady breathe, Kiyro waited a bit longer. Angel tapped his hands waiting for him to say something, when he was about to put it down, he spoke. “Seven of Spades.”

Angel stopped from placing it down for a moment, and then he placed it down. He choose another card.

“Come on let’s get this over with.” The shadow impatiently stated. “I can guess it perfectly without even picking up the cards. Jack of heart. The next is Queen of Spades. Ten hearts. One of hearts. Four of clover. King of Clover. Nine of Hearts. Six of clover. Three of diamond. One of Diamonds. Queen of Diamonds. Seven of Spades. This is why humans are so weak.” The shadow arrogantly stated with disgust.

“Jack of Hearts.”

Angel picked up the next card.

“Queen of Spades.”

Kiyro spaced out the length of answering, so he wouldn’t be too fast like the shadow that spoke.

“Ten of Hearts.”

“One of Hearts.”

“Four of Clover.”

“King of Clover.”

“Nine of Hearts.”

“Six of Clover.”

“Three of Diamonds.”

“One of Diamonds.”

“Queen of Diamonds.”

“Not too bad for a human, but it’s a bit strange. Why is it that he was able to guess one of my incorrect answer? The Queen of Diamonds was actually Seven of Hearts. Is he listening to me?”

Alarmed, Kiyro shook his head at the next card stating that he did not know. He felt his heart jump into his throat, making it difficult to actually speak. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t for the fear of being found out.

“Hmmm….Maybe I was overthinking it.”

“Well. You did quite well.” Angel finished jotting down his notes. “You have successfully answered sixteen out of twenty. For a first timer, that not too bad.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly would we need to use this for? I mean isn’t there a better and faster way of obtaining information that this guessing game? You seem like a logical man, the chances of getting the right answer that’s not fabricated by a what if situation is lower than directly getting Intel for oneself. This is just seems a bit useless if you ask me.”

“That is quite true.” Angel spoke as he crossed his hands. “Though they are times when it could be useful.”

“You need to give me an example. I mean, do you really believe it would help?”

Angel tapped his fingers twice on the table and folded his hands. “I believe so. For people who actually can control such information, it would be vital in infiltrating or obtaining information that one normally wouldn’t receive.”

“That sounds like a double edge sword.”

“It is.” Angel leaned back with his hands in front of him. “That is why we seek such people”

Kiyro felt a sudden shudder. He took a deep breathe.“I know this isn’t anything pertaining to the test, I am curious. Do you know my brother?”

Angel searched him carefully. “Yes. I read your files. You have a twin brother.”

“I been looking for my brother and I felt like you might have a bit of information.”

This time Kiyro focused on Angel, trying to open his mind to what he could actually hear.

“Not much really. For three years, your brother has going missing. It seems that you have a older sister, your mother passed away, and you had a bad falling out with your father. Though there was one thing…”

Kiyro gripped the end of the chair, making his knuckles white. He leaned forward to hear what Angel had got to say.

“Ah, yes.” Angel snapped his fingers. “There was one thing…by any chance do you know anything about the White Rabbit?”

“White Rabbit?” Kiyro tilts his head confused. “Are we talking about an animal or are you implying something else?”

Silenced followed after, Angel was searching for some kind of answer from Kiyro, but in reality, Kiyro really did not know what he was talking about nor did he understand what his had to do with Kyle at all.

“White Rabbit? How did he find that out? This is something I must tell the others.” The shadow started to move to the left towards the door.

“I wouldn’t leave if I were you.” Angel’s voice spoke out clearly, freezing both Kiyro and the shadow at the same time.

“Excuse me?” Kiyro wanted to look over his shoulder, he knew instinctively that Angel was not talking about him but the being behind him, but he did not move. He did not wanted to get caught between the two.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was just talking to myself out loud.” Angel played it off like there was nothing wrong.

“Like I was saying, White Rabbit is a simple program you see,” Angel tapped his finger together as he leaned forward. His voice was a bit lower so Kiyro could hear. “I heard your brother created it.”

“He what?” Kiyro wasn’t sure what these two were playing. One was a shadow person that was behind him, while the other was talking out loud to catch both Kiyro’s attention and the shadows. This whole time, he thought that they were working together.

“You lost me awhile back. I’m not sure what my brother has to do with the White Rabbit program or whatever you call it. This is the first time I’m ever hearing this at all. Are you sure you know what you are talking about? You could’ve gotten the wrong person.”

“It seems you don’t know.” Angel frowned and he picked up a couple of cards in his hands. He twirled it back and forth in between his fingers showing the Ace of Hearts every three seconds. “That’s too bad.”

With a flick of his wrist, the card slipped past Kiyro’s face, and with a thud it hit the wall. A thin red line appeared on Kiyro’s face, he could feel his blood trickle down his cheek. In front of him, he saw a strange, black transparent aura around Angel’s hand that threw the card that no normal people could see.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!” With a thundering scream that seem to rattle the room and make the hair on Kiyro’s skin stand on edge.

A blast of pure malice energy spread outwards overriding ALL of Kiyro’s senses. He bolted up, ready to run. A second when he was turning to run out the room, Angel’s hand snaked outwards and grabbed his hands into a tight grip.

Kiyro pulled, but he was locked in Angel’s grip. He couldn’t move any further anymore, because he felt a dreadful feeling that if he moved a single inch, the shadow person that was hiding would retaliate at him instead. Not only that, he could feel an even more dreadful energy coming from Angel himself that shook him to his very bones.

Sit.

A clear commanding voice cut straight into his mind. Unconsciously Kiyro listened to the voice and sat down. The over oppressive energy from the shadow and Angel’s was gone, even the presence of the shadow was nowhere to be felt.

“Are you alright?” Angel’s voice was sweet but demanding.

“Yes. I’m sorry I just felt uncomfortable.” Kiyro feigned innocent. He could feel his back and his armpit getting sweaty from nervousness.

“Uncomfortable? Please share your experience. I get the feeling that you have something more to say.” Angel let’s go of his wrist. He sat back as if nothing was wrong.

Kiyro wiped his cheek, and noticed a stinging pain. A streak of blood painted the back of his hand. He was debating on telling him the truth or to feign as if nothing happened, but his gut instinct told him that Angel knew more than he ever show on his face.

With reluctance, Kiyro gripped his hands into a fist and released. He took a small breath and faced forward meeting Angel’s eyes. “I felt a heavy presence or should I say pressure. My instinct were telling me to run away.”

“Really now?” Angel slowly leaned forward interested in what Kiyro had to say. “What else?”

“I thought for a split moment there was someone else here.”

“You too?” Angel furrowed his eyebrows, thinking about what he was saying.

So does that mean that Angel can feel the same thing? Kiyro was curious on how much Angel knew. He was either a great actor or he did not know. From his guess, he got the feeling that Angel was pretending.

“This is a problem. I did not think we would be attracting the shadows on the other side of the veil so quickly.”

“I’m sorry? Other side of the veil?”

“Haven’t you ever thought there was more to this world?”

“At first no, but these days I been having reconsideration in my thinking.”

“That’s good to hear to see that you are more open minded than the people around here.” Angel growled low. He raised his hands in front of him and he coughed to clear his throat. “Well Mr. Koga or should I just call you Kiyro?”

“Kiyro is fine.”

“In this world, there is always something more exciting and unknown. It’s up to you to find it.”

“But is it worth it?”

Angel barked out laughing and threw his head back. Tears streamed out from his eyes, making it seem like he was crying.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Absolutely not.” Angel wiped his tears. “I’m just a bit surprised you aren’t jumping up from joy hearing that there is something more to this world that what you see in front of you.”

“I’m honestly don’t know how to take it. I been living with my eyes open for a long time, there are things that normal people wouldn’t be able to comprehend when you state something of that level. It wasn’t till I was here that I came to grasp that there is something more that this world has to offer.”

“True. The media does not like to talk about such superstitious things. It would scare the people or make you look like some kind of insane person.” Angel was calming down. “You seem to have a straight head, not like the many people here who thinks that they will become some grand superhero.”

“Are you sure this Academy is not for creating superheroes? You have stated yourself that we will become heroes one day.”

“Yes, there is a difference between a Hero and a SuperHero. A hero are just everyday normal people who saves a life through normal methods. You could say that they are the true faces of today’s society of heroes. While a superhero…..we are not in a comic book world. So do you believe you will become one yourself?”

Kiyro shrugged. “I don’t know sir. I’m just a student that been forced to come here with a bomb strapped to his neck.” He tapped his fingers on the silver collar.

“Just a student, you say? I hardly see it as that. Please be reassured that silver collar is for safety reasons.”

“I highly doubt that.” Kiyro lazily stated, he felt as if he was being played by Angel’s words. “Nowhere in the American constitution is there a law that states that regular citizens are allowed to be strapped to the neck with an explosive. This is kidnapping and our rights are being taken from us.” He smashed his hands in anger. The pent up frustration of being trapped in this forsaken hell hole was not to his taste.

All his freedom was taken away from him, and the only comfort that he had was in the game. His future gone, the answer for his brother elusive, and a psychopath in front of him talking about heroes. To him, things just couldn’t get any more stranger.

“Who said that we are in American grounds?” A sliver of mischievous smile erupted from Angel’s face.

Kiyro felt an very uncomfortable feeling coming from Angel.

“You are in the middle of Atlantic Ocean, a man made island hidden from the world.” He proudly stated like nothing was wrong with it. “No one is going to find you here.”

His heart dropped to his stomach. Was what Angel saying was true? He felt panic starting to rise. This made the whole idea of escaping ten times more difficult to escape than before.

“Your not kidding a-are you?” Kiyro stuttered, trying to take this all in. “I mean, a man made island?”

“I was joking kid. Relax.” Angel snorted when he saw Kiyro’s face contort.

This kid is fun to tease, though this is a manmade island. Ah~ What would I give to kill him and the others now. They all seem to have quite high quality souls. I haven’t touched a single soul since my last artwork. I’ll be patient for now and wait for the fruit to ripen. Angel’s voice intruded into Kiyro’s thought.

“Eh..heh…he..h..” Kiyro weakly chuckled. He knew that the was walking on a thin line. “Are we done with the test?”

Angel thought it over for a moment. “Actually yes. You may leave.” He waved him off.

Kiyro got up, and headed towards the exit. He turned towards the wall and noticed the card sticking into the wall. A black shimmer of energy pulsated around the card, and pieces of the black shadow decorated the wall like confetti. With silent hurried steps, he shuffled straight out of the room.

#####

Oct. 14, 2054. Wednesday. 2:33 AM

It took both groups to finish a clean copy of the world of both the Living world and the Spirit World Dungeon map up to the 40th floor. Everything about the Spiritual World was the almost the exact mirror of the Living world, the only difference was the monster’s power were three times stronger than their forms in the physical world. New abilities that he did not see from the physical plane were shown in the Spirit world.

This gave Zero’s team a lot more experience, allowing them to push through in levels, but the trouble started the moment they had died.

“Damn it.” Agnis cursed, while stomping out the Mummy that was slowly dissipating. “What does it take to obtain a freaking armor! There attacks are too dangerous with nothing, but our own spiritual weapons.”

“Be glad that we are brought back at the beginning of the first level when we die.” Zeraph voiced his opinion. “If not, we would all be fighting by ourselves in this forsaken death trap.”

Zero’s group were in the thirty-eighth level, trekking through the Pyramid’s dungeon slowly. The dungeon was damp and humid, reminding Zero of Georgia’s summer weather that he especially disliked. For some reason, he could feel himself sweating even in the spiritual world.

Even the air was rank and stifling, making it a bit difficult to breathe. The only light that was present were Agnis’ flames and the magician orbs that danced around them. His group closely stay together, watching over each other’s back. Zero, Agnis, and Zeraph was leading the group from behind. The darkness from behind was ten times more difficult to bear than Elron who were leading the front.

Monsters constantly attacked the front and the back, but it was worse in the back. Zeraph, Zero, Elron and Agnis were the only ones who were strong enough to hold back large numbers of monsters by themselves. The group were a lot more at ease to know that their strongest was watching their back, while Elron took the front.

The monsters were a lot more vicious and powerful, and only a very rare few would drop a piece of accessory or a weapon. Even still, this gave a huge boost in fighting power for Zero’s group. They were all armorless with no item recovery, but the clothes on their back.

“Calm down Agnis. The creator did not make this game impossible.” Zero spoke. He was carefully scanning their surroundings for any traps or possible monsters ahead. “We got some drops you know.”

“Yea, but we can’t even uses these drops that we obtain in this world with the other world and vice versa. I mean seriously? I get the saying you only leave with your birthday suit when you die, but this is quite a bit of a set back in conquering this dungeon. Not only that the penalty for second death is a lot more higher than before…” Agnis voice trailed off with displeasure.

“True. You lose three levels and you have to walk through the Void, but it’s not that hard to recover you know.”

“I’m not like you. Walking through the Void is a lot more scarier than I ever anticipated. I’m not the type to get scared easy, but this is on a whole different level. There is nothing there, Zero. It’s…..terrifying.” Agnis shuddered. “I thought I was in there for a thousands of years.”

“I know I’m not a fan of dying, but she has a point.” Zeraph worded with a slight uneasy voice. “I never felt so alone. It felt like my soul was unraveling every second and becoming nothing…no one…I was just no more.” Even Zeraph zoned off and the light in his eyes became cloudy.

Zero understood what they meant. The Void was not something that any one of them ever experienced in their life. He could still feel the cold piercing darkness that enveloped his existence. He would stay unmoving, accepting his death like it was natural, letting his existence disappear into the unknown. It wasn’t until a light orb appeared in front of him that he was guided out of that depressing darkness. The constant warmth of that light helped him move forward, a soft voice echoing in his ears and soul telling him to keep going. Repeatedly stating everything is going to be okay.

Till they finally reached out from the void and entered into the Church of Infinity Resurrection circle. If it was not for that light orb, he feared that he would’ve stayed dead in a vegetable state. So far everyone in his team had experienced the Void, and they all shuddered at the thought of dying a second time. This made everyone more diligent in staying alive even in the spirit world.

“See, you got that same look that everyone gives off.”

Zero opened his eyes, and noticed Agnis pointing at his face.

“What face?”

“That face filled with dread.” Agnis touched her face. “Your eye’s become scrunched up and even you mouth does that twitching motion.”

“Then do you have an answer for the armor problem, because I really don’t.”

Agnis thought it over. “You know. I had to wonder all this time.”

“Yea go on.”

“You know how you have to will your weapon right?”

Zero slowly nodded, trying to understand where she was getting at.

“Why don’t we do it with an armor as well, basically coating our body with the same energy, but focusing more into an armor with a purpose. Basically hardening the energy around our body to create an armor.”

“Do you think it will work?”

“Why not?” Agnis pulled out her sword and kicked the dead mummy. “I’ll go first.” She closed her eyes and started to imagine the armor that she wanted.

Zero and Zeraph watched her, wondering what would happen. A second later, a shimmer of energy as thin as a paper started to wrap around Agnis’ body. Slowly but surely, the energy became thicker and thicker.

“I..think I got it.” Agnis huffed with uneasy breathe. The strain on using her own energy to create an armor was a lot more taxing than creating a weapon.

“You don’t mind if I test it?” Zeraph walked around her, examining the so called armor that she created.

The only thing that was different was now there was a thick blue aura, protecting all over her body. Even still, one could see the clothes and skin that she was wearing.

“Yea. Go ahead. Just don’t kill me.” Agnis folded her arms, while she waited for the impact of Zeraph’s attack.

Zeraph at first tapped her armor with the back of his knuckles. The reassuring sound of metal could be heard. “Not bad. I thought it wasn’t impossible, but this really might actually work.” He then pulled out his dagger and took a stab at her shoulder.

A loud spark of energy fluctuated outwards, making it impossible for the dagger to penetrate. A sizzling sound could be heard following after as they disengaged.

“Did that hurt?” Zero asked worriedly. He tiptoed forward to see if there was any damage.

“Nope. Not at all.” Agnis grinned from ear to ear, excited that her armor was holding up.

“So you said you did it the same way?” Zeraph put away his dagger and he backed away from her. He closed his eyes and did the same thing. For him, it did not take him quite as long, but was quickly established in matter of seconds. His armor was a mixture of black and blue. There were at times when, Zero saw sparks of light blue erupted outwards into flames, but just as quickly disappear back into the armor.

Zero followed both of their example and willed the armor into existence. It was a strange calming but ticklish feeling that ran across his whole body.

“You missed a spot.” Zeraph poke a side of Zero’s stomach. A snapping electricity bite back at Zeraph’s finger, but it did not phase Zeraph at all.“It’s too thin on this side. Your enemy is going to notice.”

Zero glanced over where Zeraph was pointing at. His armor was the mixture of gold and black. Gold being its base color, while black energy sparks outwards like lightning.“Ah. Thanks.” The next second, the armor was perfectly covered over allowing it to become thick and sturdy.

“We should inform this breakthrough to the others.” Agnis happily replied.

“I agree.”

They ran forward, catching up to group. When they arrived they noticed that they were in a small skirmish between the mummies.

Zero, Zeraph, and Agnis dove into the frenzy of the battle, their attacks quickly dismantled the oncoming waves, pushing them back. The armor that they wore kept themselves safe, so far not a single weapon pierced through, giving them a lot more freedom to attack. It did not take too long before the battle was over.

“That’s what I’m talking about.” Agnis gave a fist pump in the air. “Ah….” Her hand fell down to her side and she bite her lips.

“What’s wrong?” Zero came up next to her. These days he was a bit more conscious of Agnis, but it was not too much that it was noticeable.

“I’m not sure about you, but fighting with both the weapon and the sword just siphoned away a good chunk of my MP. At this rate, we’re going to be in trouble.”

Zero checked his state. He also noticed that he felt a heavy mental fatigue, it was double the amount of when he just use the sword itself.

“I’m not so sure, if this was even a great idea anymore.”

“No. It is. We just need to be conscious when our MP hits two-third of the way down to disable it and focus on the weapon and recovery.”

Everyone who saw their fight were excited about what they just saw. The three of them look like they were wearing an armor, and they swarmed around them wondering how they were able to obtain it.

“Hey Zero!” Valiant galloped over with Reed on his back. “Is that a new armor? Where did you get it? I mean how?” He excitedly asked, his neck snaked over towards Zero’s armor and sniffed it.

“Valiant!” Reed smacked the side of Valiant’s neck. “That’s rude!”

“What? I’m just looking.” Valiant turned his head over towards Reed with a frown. “I’m not doing anything bad you know.”

“Your right up in his butt, seriously, are you some kind of dog?”

Valiant blushed completely red from embarrassment, realizing what he has done and coughed. “My mistake okay? Give a dragon a break.”

“Your turning more dog than dragon. It worries me sometimes.”

“Its seems our two lovely couple is doing well today.” Zeraph joking goaded.

Reed turned scarlet, even her ears and neck turned red. She glanced away and mumbled underneath her breathe.

“This is Agnis’ idea of creating an armor. You’re basically coating your body with the same energy, but focusing more into an armor with a purpose. Basically hardening the energy around your body to create an armor.” Zero replied as how to do with.

Everyone was amazed at this new finding at were already quickly focusing on doing the same thing.

“One last thing.” Zero called back there attention. “It drains twice as much more energy having both the armor and the weapon out. So I recommend that you watch your MP when it hits two-thirds of the way. You got to take of one of the two to allow your MP to recover. It’ll be slow, but it should keep you safe.”

“That’s a problem, but this does gives us an edge in this dungeon. I was worried that I had to fight naked against the monsters without any protection. It’s already nerve racking as it is living in this dimension.” Valiant spoke.

“Yea.” Zero understood Valiant perfectly. “Well then, time to get ready. We’ll be flying through the dungeon!”

“Hell yea!” Dragons and their companions yelled with excitement and hope filled in there eyes. No more were the dreary atmosphere that followed behind his group and instead they were all fired up to tackle on the difficult dungeon.

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