Gindur stood in the middle of the arena, his fingers tapping lightly at the end of his warhammer as the thousands of participants spewed out onto the battleground. After what seemed like forever, one of the proctors gave a quick nod letting Gindur know everyone was ready. Doing a few stretches, Gindur reached towards his metallic belt and pulled out a square shaped piece of metal with a shiny purple jewel encrusted in the middle. Taking aim, he threw the flat square towards the sky. The item suddenly stopped mid-air, the jewel beginning to shine brightly. The square widens, the edge of which covered a third of the arena. The jewel stood static in the middle, arcs of lighting occasionally bolted out towards the perimeter of the thin metal wire. More and more frequently the jewel would shootout lighting like a flat Van de Graaff generator. The lighting grew so frequent an electric net formed from the floating device.

“What the hell is that?” Trent said in a panicked voice.

“Not good,” Break replied, holding up his shield.

A booming whoosh swept the arena stage as a gale force wind slammed down towards the floor threatening to take many of the participants with it. Break quickly ducked down behind his shield, making his area smaller and reducing his drag. Many groups cast spells, some conjuring large walls of rocks and ice, other making large umbrella sized magical barriers. Gindur still stood in the middle of the arena tapping away at the end of his large warhammer. Trent got behind Break, bolstering his back like a makeshift stopper. Slamming his sword into the concrete floor, he guided Emmy’s and Grail’s hand to the hilt. Grail’s feet lifted as the wind picked up in speed. A female mage wearing a flowing white robe was hastily picked up like a kite and was sent flying towards the arena wall swiftly eliminating her from the exam.

“Wooooo,” the boisterous crowd of onlookers cheered. The stadium was packed with hundreds of thousands of people, some wearing shirts, armor, and cloaks with embroidered symbols of the mage guilds. “Kebabs, stews, beverages,” a vendor yelled walking down the aisle as the fans all cheered at the elimination of the many contestants. Spectators near the front held signs and banners that had motivation sayings that were aimed at either friends or family members. Some of the more wealthy people had paid for a full exam round of magically cast signs that hovered over the arena.

“Over there?” Grail yelled over the deafening wind as he pointing toward the purple portal. Specs of shiny dust could be seen, each one growing larger as they shot down from the sky. One slammed near the party creating a massive divot the size of a bucket.

“The hell?” Break shouted, gripping harder onto his shield.

“Looks like a small box,” Trent answered.

More of the boxes buckshot the floor, causing the whole arena to crack and ripple. A mage standing near the front line began to waver as his arcana shield weaken. One of the boxes hit the shield with such ferocity, it cracked the barrier and struck the mage like a two-ton truck. The mage’s health instantly hit zero as his body began to vanish out of the arena.

“давай сделаем это [We can do this],” a group of paladins said, each one holding a kite shield. They stood in a line, back to back pushing the next forwards towards the yawning dwarf standing half asleep in the middle of the arena. The front-most paladin’s health dripped lower and lower as the metal boxes berated his shield like a hail storm. The secondary paladin standing behind him pushed out healing spells as they marched forward.

“Я из маны [I’m out of mana],” the second paladin in line yelled.

“Переключатель [Switch],” the front paladin said, ducking down the side as the line moves forward. Once the line had overpassed him, he got back up and marched towards the rear re-bolstering the line.

“Who are they?” Trent asked.

“I think they’re a pro Russian team,” Break answered, looking at the badge of a wolf etched into the side of their pauldrons.

“How can the NPCs understand them?”

“The game uses a program to convert all language to a universal language. If you go into your settings, you can turn on the universal translator.”

Taking heed behind Break’s shield, Trent opened his menu and scrolled down to a switch toggle that read “universal language.” toggling the switch he said, “I think I got it.”

“Viri usa me,” Emmy said, dragging his head downwards as a box flew towards his direction.

“What did you say?” Trent asked turning to Break.

“Hsven, miknivun osken,” Break said.

“What?” Trent shrugged, opening his settings and reverting the changes.

“You got the wrong setting,” Break grunted, his shield battered by a hail of cubes.

“What was that then?”

“I think you turned on the universal language, hardcore players use it when they want to immerse themselves in the game. Try the setting that says universal translate.” Trent scanned his menu and after a few scrolls under the universal language, he found the correct toggle.

“I got it,” Trent said, looking over towards the Russian players.

After two more sets of healing and switching, the group of russians made it ten feet to Gindur before the wind abruptly ceased and the portal collapsed back into its rectangular form. Looking at each other with great pride and accomplishment, they gave one another high fives as they stood shoulder to shoulder in stoic pride waiting for Gindur approach.

“That was one hell of a trial,” Trent said, attempting to get up from his huddled position. “You can let go now,” looking at Emmy, who was wrapped around his shoulders.

“Oh… yeah, looks like it is,” Emmy replied, quick letting go.

Picking up a cube, Gindur walked towards the group of paladins. Coming up to them, he raised one eyebrow in confusion before making a wide arc around them.

“Hey, what do we win?” one of the paladins yelled, turning around to meet eyes with the dwarf.

“What?” Gindur replied, looking even more puzzled.

“Don’t we get anything for beating your exam?”

“Don’t be an ore, the exams not started.”

“Then what's all this?” motioning his arms out towards the half-destroyed arena.

“I’m getting to that you vein.”

“I wonder how many mining puns he has in that blockhead of his,” Avana said with a slight chuckle to Grandmaster Pen.

With a downcast face, the group of paladin slowly trudge back towards the group of participants.

“Now let me explain how this exam works. Each one of these cubes is a different basic element for crafting. You grab me that cube,” he said, pointing at a mage near the front. The mage reached down towards the six by six-inch cube and picked it up. Cautiously walking up to Gindur, he places it in his hands. “This is a cube of purite,” holding up a foggy white translucent cube, ”and this is a cube of lumini,” holding up the other which was handed to him by the mage. “When I combine these two what do I get?” Gindur asked, waiting for an answer like an overworked college professor.

“Purelite,” a majority of the crowd mumbled.

“Good.” Slamming the cubes together, an orange molten sizzle formed as they melded into an orangish yellow cube. “As you know purelite is mostly used for arc-enhancing. If I take this cube of deminum and combine it with the purelite what do I get?”

“Demilite,” a handful of participants said.

“That’s right. Now that all of you get the gist of the exam, you have exactly one hour before turning in a cube. You may combine as many cubes as you like, but know that at the end of the exam, you may only turn in one.” Walking towards the edge of the arena, he cast a spell calling forth a spectral chair. Taking a seat, he nudged back and forth trying to find a comfortable position. “Start.”

“We're fucked,” Break said, watching as a horde of players and NPCs hoarding large stashes of the cubes.

A streamer by the name of PeakMyLeak rushed for the cubes. “So what cubes should I combine,” he said into a small floating orb. “Thanks for the sub,” giving a thumbs up at the screen. “Guys look how shiny this one is.” Grabbing an orange tinted cube he slammed it together into a dull metallic cube creating a somewhat brown burnish cube. “This is awesome.” Taking another random cube from the ground, he rammed it into the one he was currently holding turning it into a pale red cube.

“Donation thirty credit. Do that purple one,” the robot orb droned out.

“Thanks for the donation Juliantheighthslashfith.” Taking a pale purple cube, he fused it causing his cube to radiate a low heat like a packet of hand warmers. “Guys check it,” he said picking up a green cube. “I have a red cube, I have a green cube, uhhh,” slamming together the two cubes, “ouch.” PeakMyLeak let go of the cube as it sizzled his hands like a hot iron. Dropping to the floor, the cube began to radiate a neon red light so bright it threatens to blind anyone who gazed directly at it. Like a collapsing start, the cube change to an eye-gouging white. “Guys, are you seeing this?” he said, his hands covering a part of his eyes.

A huge explosion rippled across the arena, gouts of flame and lighting sparked from the epicenter. A huge plume of dust and debris flew in all directions as groups of players huddled behind the ice and rocks walls that had previously been erected. After the dust settled, a large crater, as well as a fifth of the participants, were nowhere in sight.

“Behind me,” Break said, holding up his shield.

“What was that?” Trent asked standing behind Break.

“Unstable conflux,” Grail answered.

“A what?” Break replied.

“An unstable conflux is what happens when you try to combine elements that are volatile to each other. Judging by the fire and lighting, my guess is someone tried to combine a lodestone with a ferrox. They are both highly unstable and just a pinch of each is enough to cause an explosion the size of a fireball.”

“Wow, you really know your stuff,” Emmy said.

“Since traveling with Krane, he has taught me alot about basic elements and how to make money combining them. For instance take this block of unium,” grabbing a dark gray block from the ground. “If you try to combine it with this block of plack, they will repel each other because they have the same magical base harmonics. But if I add this block of stabilizer,” pressing it to the unium, I am now able to combine it with the plack.” The block fizzed as a solid gray cube formed.

“What is that used for?” Trent asked.

“Nothing,” Grail said, tossing the block behind his back and out of the arena. “That was nure fulcrum or just null for short. That material will not combine with anything and is practically useless.”

“Could you use it to build a house?” Break asked.

“They tried. You can't get any adhesive to stick to it, and it’s brittle like glass, so putting any weight on it causes it to crumble. Also, the base material is much too rare to be used as a building material. Even if you could build a modest house out of null, the same money used to create the material could be used to buy a castle.”

“That’s interesting,” Break said, looking at the different colored blocks.

“Guys we got fifty minutes left, better hustle,” Emmy said, grabbing a set of different blocks.

“If you need me I’ll be other here,” Grail said hopping over to a stash of cubes.

The three sat in a circle around a large pile of cubes. Emmy started sorting them by color, while Trent sorted the colored piles by weight. Break opened up his log and documented the array of different cubes.

“Should we just try to combine them by color and see what happens.” Break said.

“I don't know, sounds a bit dangerous,” Trent replied.

“Well we need to do something,” Emmy said, looking at a stopwatch she had set at the beginning of the exam. “We have forty minutes left, I say we just go for broke.”

Trent took two yellow cubes, one weighing three times as much as the other one. “We only have two yellow cubes, might as well start here,” he said, combining the two. The cubes merged with a gurgle causing a weird odor of rotten eggs and cherries to form. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not,” half gagging under his breath. Once finished the cube turned to a rosy color with an almost see through complexion.

“Here,” Emmy said, handing Trent a dull red cube.

Taking her cube he placed the two cubes together, but the cubes refused to fuse. “This one is no good, hand me the next one.” Taking a slightly darker red cube he began the fusing process once again. This time the cube complied and merged causing the cube to pulse a low radiating heat. “This feels kinda nice,” hading the cube over to Emmy.

“Yeah feels kinda like a warm cup of hot chocolate on a winter's balcony.”

“Thirty minutes remaining,” one of the proctors standing next to Gindur yelled, waking him up from his stupor.

“What next?” Trent asked.

“Here this one,” Break said, tossing Trent an almost opaque cube. Trent held his hand out towards the cube and was surprised by how heavy it was. His fingers slipped as the weight was the cube was too heavy to bear. The cube landed with a heavy thud as it crashed towards a purple cube. They fused causing the air to smell a bit like a claustrophobic ozone.

“Give me a warning, that thing weighs like twenty pounds.”

“Sorry,” Break said with a tinge of regret. “But hey, look at this cool cube we made,” holding it up towards the group. The cube was dark and translucent with small specks revolving the interior like a dark starry night. “Let me have your cube,” Break said, holding out his hands towards Trent. Placing the cube in Break’s hand, Trent watch as the two cubes merged. Break’s hand sagged as the cube started the merging process. After two seconds Break shoulder slowly drooped as he struggled to keep the cube in his hand. Letting go of the cube, it slammed towards the concrete floor like tank dropping from a mile above ground. Staring at the abysmally black cube, Break shouted, “I think we have a winner.”

“Should we keep combining it with other cubes?” Trent said with a bit of hesitation.

“I don’t see why not,” Break answered in enthusiasm. Taking a shiny reflective cube, Break held it over the black one. With a quick press, the cubes rapidly merged. There was no change to the color of the black cube, but it radiated a burning heat while letting loose a pungent smell of potpourri wrapped in week old gym socks.

“Eww,” Emmy gasped, dashing a good six feet back.

“Minor setback, let try this one,” Break said, slamming a light metallic purple cube down. Again no change in color, but this time the cube shed a smell of fish left out in the sun after being filled with a charcuterie board of old ham and cheese.

“No more,” Emmy shouted taking a larger dash backward.

“My guuuuuuured,” Trent try to say as his body heaved.

“It’s not that buuurrgg,” Break heave once the putrefied stretch reached the back of his nose. Break crawled towards Emmy, his face twisted in agony as the smell pierced his lungs.

“Take me with you,” Trent muffled out from under his shirt as he grabbed onto Break’s leg.

Emmy took in a large gulp of air, as she made the murderous march towards the black box. Grabbing both Break and Trent’s arm, she pulled them away from the miasma of the box. After what seemed like forever, Emmy took another large gulp of fresh air as she set them ten feet from the box. Break slowly sat back up, his arms shuttering from the traumatizing smell.

“That must be what the seven layers of hell feel like if you condensed it into down to a few seconds,” Break said, trying to get back on his feet. “You okay?” giving Trent a gentle nudge on the back. After a few seconds of not responding, Break turned Trent’s body over. “I think he passed out.”

“Is he eliminated?” Emmy asked.

“He hasn't been kicked out of the arena, so I'm going to guess no, but we need to do something before the proctors see. Try healing him.”

Emmy thought about her healing spell as a wave of healing water surrounded her hand. Pressing down on his chest she got a notification.

System: Spell ineffective, the user is at full health.

“No good, system is telling me he is already at full health.”

Break laid his hand down on Trent’s chest, with a quick and decisive movement, he let loose a punch bringing Trent’s health down to 96%. “Now try it.”

Giving Break a dagger-like stare, Emmy placed her hand over Trent and recast her healing spell. Like coming up from a dark ocean, Trent grasped at the air like a hungry wolf. “What happen?”

“You passed out,” Emmy said, looking over at the ominous dark box.

“Ten minutes,” the proctor shouter.

“If anything we have one good cube,” Break said with a grimace chuckle.

“Guys, guys, I need your help,” Grail said, rushing over to the group, his arms filled with a variety of different colored boxes. “I need to combine these, but I don’t have enough arms.” holding out a set of seven cubes.

“Why not just do them one by one?” Trent asked.

“Won't work, they need to be done at the same time. So, can you guys help me.”

“Sure, why not,” Trent answered.

“Here take this, and this. This one over here. Can you switch that cube with the one in his left hand? Yeah, I think we're ready,” handing Break, Trent, and Emmy two cubes each. “Stand here. Miss Emmy, can you move here. I think this will work.” Grail held his single cube out, Break holding his above and below. Trent held his cube towards the front and right side of the cube. Emmy was in the same position, but her cube was held to the main cube’s back and left. “When I let go of my the main cube, everyone pushes in at the same time.” Giving a three count, Grail let go of the cube, the group hastily pushing their cube towards the center. Every cube simultaneously merged as it shook and sputtered. The end result was a cube of solid wood, with each side covered in dark cracking bark.

“Five minutes,” the proctor yelled once more.

A group of players walked out towards the middle of the arena. Eyeing the crowd, a man dressed in a pink and yellow starburst colored trench coat held out his hand. An orange ball of flames erupted, growing brighter and brighter as the man hurled it at a cluster of competitors. A large explosion slammed the arena, many of the unused cubes flew outwards like shrapnel knocking out many many unaware mages. The group dove towards the ground as an exchange of icicles and lighting bolts flew overhead.

One of the instigators ran towards the epicenter of the fireball and scooped up a heavily polished onyx cube from the hands of a dead vanishing mage. With another exchange of spell, the group crawled towards the edge of the arena.

“Are you getting this,” Trent heard from behind.

A woman with bright blonde hair was talking towards a floating orb, her wand held out casting a magical barrier. With a shy wave, Trent gave her a smile. Giving him a wave back, she trudged towards the group.

“You guys know what’s going on?”

“Umm… uhhh… Hi Serena” Trent said with another wave.

“I think the players are stealing cubes,” Break said, pointing at a rogue holding a set of five different colored cubes.

“Why aren't the proctors stopping this?” Trent asked.

“Its expressly not forbidden,” Grail said, ducking behind Serena’s shield.

Another ripple of spell shot out towards the center of the Arena. Break walked forwards toward the black cube holding out his shield against the debris of spells. A player by the name of TKT Vriskin, dashed over to them eyeing the dark cube they were slowly trudging towards. Like a sixth sense, Vriskin weaved across the field like a hummingbird, dodging every spell shot towards him. Approaching the cube, he reached down and attempted to scoop it up, but was slammed face down on the pavement as the cube refused to budge. Reaching the cube Trent held out his sword and slammed it down towards Vriskin. Pushing his legs away from the immovable box, Vriskin dashed backward like an olympics swimmer. Vriskin sent a dagger sailing towards Trent but was easily blocked by Break’s shield. Emmy held her bow up but was surprised when Vriskin was nowhere to be found.

“Where is he?” Emmy yelled, arching her bow left and right.

“Since our box can’t be stolen, he probably went for a different prize.”

“Five, four,” the proctor said.

“Put your hands on the box,” Break said, leaning over to Trent.

“Two, one. Time is up, anyone who is currently not holding a cube will now be eliminated.

Break and Emmy both blinked out of existence along with several thousand other contestants. Trent sat up next to his box waiting for the next part of the exam. Grail walked over to him, his wooden cube in hand. Serena trailed behind him, a dull purple box in hers. Taking a stand next to him, they both looked at the half-empty field. Gindur stood up from his aether chair and walked towards the middle of the arena. Clapping his hand, the unused boxes all glowed a faint white before vanishing from the field. The cubes in everyone hands rumbled and shake. Sets of magical floating numbers appear as many of the contestants wonder what they mean.

“Hey what number does your box say?” Serena asked, showing a box with a seventy-two pasted to the side.

“Uhh…,” Trent uttered, still waiting for the numbers to appears on his box. “I’m not sure.”

“Trent, Trent, look at mine,” Grail hollered, showing a box with the number one on it. “I wonder if this ranks us by how well we did.”

“If that’s the case I don’t think I did too well,” Serena said.

Gindur stood up from his magically summoned chair and walked back towards the middle of the arena. Clearing his throat he said, “These numbers represent how complex your cubes are, the number can range from one to one hundred. There is currently only one material I know of that has a score of one hundred, so if anyone does have a score of one hundred please come forward. Disappointing,” Gindur groaned as a minute past with no motion. “I will now be going around and looking at all the other materials, I will ask questions so be prepared to answer them.”

Grail dropped his cube as his face swelled up in disappointment.

“Hey what’s wrong?” Trent said, giving him a consoling pat on the back.

“I got a one, Krane is going to be so mad.”

“Hey, look at me. There is no way Krane could be mad at you if anything I think Krane is proud that you entered the competition.“

“Thanks,” Grail said, still gazing down at his measly one.

“Aww, that so nice,” Serena said, looking at Trent. “So is he your brother?”

“No, he’s an NPC,” Trent answered.

“What. Really? His AI is so lifelike. Who is Krane then?”

“Krane is the caravan master I travel with. He took me in when I was six when my town was invaded by a pack of Vierals.”

“If he is an NPC then why are you looking out for him?”

“It’s because Krane entrusted me with him for the exam.”

“Ahh, that explains it, an escort quest.”

“No, not a quest, more of a request.”

“What do mean a request? What about a reward?”

“No reward, Krane was an extremely helpful NPC when we first started the beta, so we are repaying the favor by looking after Grail.”

“Intriguing, does this Krane give reputation of some sort?”

“Not that I know off, he’s more of a traveling salesman.”

“Like a limited time NPC?”

“I guess,” Trent shrugged. His box rumbled, a remnant of the fishy order spewed out as the box heated up. Taking a big gulp of air Trent grabbed the wooden box in one hand and Grail in the other as he dashed back from the box. “Get away from the box,” he yelled at Serena.

“Why? Does it do some type of aauurgg,” she started to say but was abruptly cut off by the lingering smell. “What the hell is that abomination?”

“I don’t know. Grail do you know?”

“I have never heard of any material that spews odors like that, I think you may have found something unique.”

The box once again started to rumble, a series of three digits flew across the screen like an out of control race car. The numbers all slowed down eventually setting on a series of three dashes. “What does this mean?” Trent asked.

“Maybe you created something so amazing the item can’t measure it.”

“That’s amazing,” Serena said using him as a shield as she gazed over his shoulder.

A snap rang out in the amphitheater as Emmy balled her hands into a tight fist. “Who does she think she is,” Emmy grunted while gazing at the many screens floating above the center stage. “Calm down, They're probably just talking about the weather,” Break said with a wide smirk.

“He’s coming,” Serena spurted grabbing onto Trent’s hand and dragging him back to the ominous black box.

“What do we have here?” Gindur said walking up to the group.

“Hi, im Serena, nice to meet you,” holding out one hand.

“No time for pleasantries, show me your cubes,” Gindur spouted in a rushed voice.

Pushing her cube forwards, Serena showed off her dull purple cube. Grabbing the cube, Gindur took a scant glance at it before handing it back. “Where yours?” he asked taking a few steps towards Trent.

“Uh… right here,” Trent answered, motioning to the immovable cube stuck to the ground. “Ha… hahahaha,” Gindur laughed shaking his head. Taking a step closer, Gindur gave Trent a heavy slap on the back, “These exams never seems to amaze me. I don’t know how you did it boy, but you have made naether.”

“No wonder I couldn't figure out, it makes so much sense now,” Grail said in excitement.

“What is it?” Trent asked.

“I’m not sure how to explain it, naether is not a substance, but a lack of substance. Anything you combine with that cube will burn and evaporate into its basic element. It’s like the equivalent of a furnace. I’m more surprised to see naether in a solid form. Naether is usually formed during the casting of destructive spells. Take fireball for instance, when you first cast the spell a bit of naehter is formed at the core starting a chain reaction of fire. When you hurl the spell and it hits a solid object, the remaining naether becomes unstable, and that is what causes the large explosion.“

“You really know your stuff kid, what’s your name.”

“Grail.”

“Well, Grail let me tell you a secret. During the creation of the puzzle box, that’s what I call my exam contraption, I put in a failsafe. The failsafe activates when one of two elements are formed, plazenite, or infusanite.”

“Oh...” Grail gasped.

“Was that a good oh?” Serena said over Trent’s shoulder.

“No, either of those elements is highly unstable and in the quantity of this cube is enough to wipe out an entire city.”

“Hahahaha, I still can’t believe someone was able to make something like this. That’s going to be an automatic fail,“ Gindur said in a chucking tone.

“You, Grail, what did you make?”

“Umm… this,” Grail said with a gloomy complexion. Grabbing the wooden box that laid on the floor he handed it over to Gindur.

Holding the box Gindur tossed it back and forth. The rough bark scraped against his calloused hand making a low rasp. Putting it to his nose, Gindur took a whiff of the box. The aroma that emulated from the box was faint, but with Gindur trained nose he could pick out hints of terrace leave, along with an after smell of copper and tin. “How did you make this?”

“Well, I took the three basic elements of...” Grail spewed out a combination of different elements that sounded like gibberish to Trent. It was like he was six years old listening to a college calculus courses. Gindur just stood there shaking his head every few seconds.

“How did you combine them?”

“Well, Trent, Emmy, and Break helped me, they each held two cubes, while I held the catalyst in the middle.”

Gindur with a big smile gave Grail a pat on the back and walked towards the middle of the arena. With a clap of his hands, he announced, “the exam is over.” Each contestant slowly faded from the arena except for Grail who stood in the middle of a vacant desert of concrete. A rippling surge of cheers rocketed the stadium as Gindur ushered him to come forward.

“Why me?” Grail said as he approached Gindur.

“I have been using the puzzle box for the last two years, and never have I been successful at creating an organic material.”

“Boss, boss, the kid actually did it.” Krane stood there, his arms crossed with a smile on his face. Grabbing a drink he held it up towards his troop.

“With the brains on that kid, I knew he was going to pass,” Krane said taking a large gulp.

“But boss, who going to do the accounting?”

“Ha, I was doing that long before I took in the kid.”