A few days had passed since the elimination event. Thankfully, I got much-needed rest, though I still had to maintain my mundane activities; attending Alren's laboratory, school, and normal in-home activities with my family. It wasn't as horrible, considering performing non-physical activities was quite relaxing. Though my relaxation would shift as the culling game officially began.

Tehla stepped out of the house with me. She stood tall, walking forward, but she stopped, turning her gaze down to me. She grew a smile and asked, "How do you feel?"

"I don't know," I said, looking at her while continuing forward.

"I would like to reiterate," Tehla said, grabbing my shoulder. "Refrain from using your linkage magic."

I nodded, waving my hand in the air. "I know, I know. I'll only use singular links."

"Good," Tehla said, letting go of me and sighing. She smiled, raising her head up and looking at me. "Good luck."

I lifted my hand and waved at her again, hurrying out of her view. I made it through the portal guards and to the BCMS, and at the front, the student board showed me which room to go to. Although the room I entered seemed ordinary, magic does not obey an intuitive law. The room was much larger on the inside than it looked on the outside.

The room emitted heat. Sweat formed on my body, drenching my clothes. Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I walked forward on a flat rustic platform with many squared crevices, and in the middle of the room was a massive open hole. A large number of individuals stood near the hole, looking down at it.

"Finally," a voice said, coming from behind me. "The last participant is here."

I turned around, seeing a tall male place both his hands against his red mohawk, straightening it. His blue sunglasses didn't allow me to see his entire expression, but he smiled and clapped his hands. "Everyone, get into your groups! We will shortly begin the culling game."

In an instant, everyone in the room organized themselves into their groups. I glanced around, finding my group: Allura, Ash, and Melia.

I half-smiled, placing my hand behind my head. "I'm not late this time."

"Pay attention," Ash whispered, shushing me by placing his finger on his lips. "The board member is speaking, you idiot!"

I raised my eyebrow, staring at the supposed board member. I scratched my head and blinked. 'How did I not notice him at the dinner?'

"For those who may not know, my name is Jasht, and I will proctor this area," he said, unkinking his tuxedo. "As you may have noticed, we divided your age group. We arranged four divisions in this age group."

I skimmed around, seeing fewer people than I did at the dinner. Around a hundred people occupied the room, but it wasn't congested. There was more than enough room to move around and about. It made sense, considering the massive room, though the archaic floor made me question the stability of the area.

Board member Jasht snapped his fingers, a notepad falling into his hands. He caught it with his right hand, skimming pages, but he shook his head, scrunching his nose. He threw the notepad onto the floor and stepped on it, shaking the already fragile ground.

I wanted to question why he randomly threw his book, but it was far from why I was surprised. I gazed up at the board member and then at the floor. 'Did he cause that, or is the ground just that weak?'

He picked up the notebook and opened a page, reading off of it. "I must inform the participants of the match rules before beginning." Jasht nodded and scratched his ear, looking up at the participants. "The first round will be a classic game: the king of the hill."

I turned around to my group, expecting a reaction, but they all remained focused, not letting their emotions show. I darted my gaze to the floor until I met Jasht's feet. From his feet, an immense aura radiated, shaking the floor. A dim blue light etched through the floor, revealing multiple square cracks on the floor. Blue lit-up squares illuminated everywhere.

As he read from his book while tapping his feet, Jasht said, "Every faction needs to stand on one square without their supervisor."

Allura and I stared at Melia. She shrugged, shaking her head and getting ready to talk. Ash ignored her, already walking onto a square crevice.

Melia lowered down to the both of us, whispering. "Allura, inform Wryn about the plan. As for this stupid game, we need to wait for all the rules."

Allura nodded, walking to Ash, but she neared me as we both walked. Looking down, she smiled. "I hope you're ready."

I opened my mouth but closed it, and instead, I nodded, stepping onto the square. Pacing my breaths, I maintained my focus on Jasht. The board member skimmed through the pages of his notebook, scanning every page.

"You ready?" Ash Asked, nudging my hip.

"Yeah, I am," I said, mumbling my words.

Jasht closed his notebook and crossed his arms, looking down at the floor. He continued to tap his foot, looking back up. "As you know, only two individuals per faction can participate, and you all are probably wondering how we decide?"

A rumble echoed in the area, and my body shook as I tried to regain balance. The blue light intensified, appearing as a dark blue light in the crevices of the floor.

"It's random," Jasht said, growing a devilish smile. Taking off his glasses and glaring at the ceiling, he moved his fingers like he was seasoning food. He blew onto his fingers, sand falling onto the floor from the tips of his fingers.

"Is that what I think it is?" Ash narrowed his eyes.

"Sand bunnies?" Allura muttered, blinking at the scene.

The sand formed into rabbits, but they didn't stop at a few. Approximately a few hundred of them formed. The bunnies piled onto each other, falling onto the floor, but Jasht continued.

Jasht waved his hand in the air, kicking the rabbits forward. "If the rabbits push you off your square, you won't be participating."

Multitudes of rabbits scurried to every faction, swarming towards us. The rabbits jumped in the air, nearing Allura, but she pulled me in front of her. She moved, all the rabbits hitting me. The rabbits exploded onto me as they pushed me out of the square.

"Damn," I clicked my tongue, trying to stand up, but I couldn't. I tried shaking the sand off, but it was far too heavy. I clenched my teeth as I remained pinned to the rustic floor.

"Before I forget to say, any team that is completely pushed off the terrain loses points. You have ten minutes... blah, blah, blah, begin!" Jasht said, checking his watch.

The dim blue light from the squares extended outwards and twisted into a rope-like material, wrapping around those on the squares. The square bases sank into the ground as the terrain shook. The empty spots were encrusted with metal fillings.

The sand from the bunnies lessened in weight, allowing me to stand up.

Melia came over, ushering me to follow her. Everyone neared the enormous hole, looking down into the abyss. Like a puzzle, massive pieces of squared rocks shifted on the floor, forming something. The plethora of squared rocks emitted a blue light at the edges and moved away from one another, merging onto the floor.

"We need to discuss something," Melia said, placing her hand on my shoulder.

I tilted my head, staring up at her. "Go on?"

She lowered her body, whispering, "This isn't going to go smoothly. It's almost like the..."

We both shifted our heads, gaping at the board member in-between us. He placed his head between ours. His gaze moved to the hole, and as he stared, he smiled and tapped his fingers on his book. "The tournament will start soon."

The massive squared rocks became arenas of a sort. And on the floor, water poured crashing against the rock. The water made it halfway to the rocked platforms, and if anyone were to fall off them, there was little hope of them getting out of the surging water.

"It seems the rabbits chose you," Jasht said, looking at me and twitching his right eye. He turned his head, glancing up at everyone. "Try not to fall into the hole. That would be annoying to explain."

The chatter died down as soon as another quake erupted. From the deep hole, smaller squares appeared, and on them were participants. Smaller squares were attached to the rim of the hole, and steps from the small squares led to the lower platforms. Each small square was designated its own platform.

"What the hell," I muttered, mouth wide open.

The participants walked down to their own platform, and once they all did, another quake occurred. All the platforms moved against the water. Randomly, every three platforms combined, forming one massive platform.

Jasht cleared his throat, holding a microphone. He spoke into the microphone as he read off his notebook. "Participants, you have ten minutes to not fall off your stage. You may begin!"

Some groups began fighting, but some were unmoving, almost like they were talking. I found my group; they were to the left, near the bottom. I could barely make them out, but they weren't moving.

"Hey you," Jasht said, looking at me with his condescending eyes.

I pointed to myself, jolting my head back. "Me?"

"Yes, you," he said, adding. "If you were down there. What would be one motive to not eliminate the other team?"

Melia forced her head forward, purposely not looking, even though she could hear us. The other students also tried ignoring us.

I gulped, glaring at the floor. I wasn't sure... No, maybe I knew a reason, but I couldn't answer.

"Come on, it's not that difficult," he smiled.

"Maybe they decided to not fight. I mean, why would you, if you can exit the round without losing points?"

"No, no. The answer is simpler." He said, placing his hand on his face. He pointed to the hole, shaping a gun with his fingers. "They aren't being pushed hard enough, so I'll push them to their limits."

Magic formed on his finger, ready to discharge, but I grabbed his wrist and looked up at him as my eyes widened. "Stop."

He pulled his arm, breaking my grip. He took off his sunglasses and crushed them in his hands. "What's your name?"

Taking a step back, I remained in eye contact. "Wryn... Wryn Radcliffe."

He threw his broken glasses onto the floor, and his lips twitched upwards into a smile. "Where have I heard of you... Where?!" He lifted his chin, looking up at the ceiling. "Oh, I see."

I straightened my face, gripping my fist as I neared him.

"Say, why don't we make a wager?" He grabbed his finger and squished it. He let go of his finger, pointing to the floor. "Today, three rounds will partake, but one of them will be a wager. If you want-"

"No," I cut him off, keeping my voice steady. "I'm not here to play any games."

Jasht ignored me, kicking his broken sunglasses down the hole. He lifted his wrist, staring at his watch while grinding his teeth.

I looked at my right arm, and time ticked down on my faction's armband. There were still six minutes left.

Jasht suppressed his laugh, stepping toward me, but he stopped and slouched in my direction. He opened his mouth and raised his index finger, pointing to me. "Fine, enjoy the show."

Continuing eye contact, I said nothing. I stayed silent, waiting for Jasht to walk away, and it worked. He walked away after a few seconds. Everyone else was still ignoring my general area, and so was Melia...

I shrugged it off and tried getting a better view of my teammates. I focused on Ash and Allura, who were stationary, but so were the other groups on their platform. That could mean only one thing. They made a truce to not eliminate one another.

Everything was going perfectly, but it all changed when three minutes remained. The waves crashed against the platforms, breaking them. All the platforms were affected.

Around me turned into a zoo. Every participant was baffled and loudly conversed with others, but no one dared question Jasht. Still, our bewilderment changed nothing because the waves tore apart all the platforms, causing everyone to sink.

"Well, that does it for round one," Jasht said, clapping. "Everyone here loses one and a half points. We will proceed once all the participants are brought back up."

I widened my eyes, staring at Jasht. He continued clapping, but when he met my eyes, he stopped. He smiled and turned away.

"Allura was right," Mela said, squinting her eyes. She fell silent, standing in disbelief.

From the ceiling, water spewed down, and in that water were students. I wasn't sure how they weren't hurt from falling, but it wasn't relevant.

Allura remained standing as she fell to the floor. She held Ash by his combat gear collar, dragging him towards Melia and me. She threw Ash in front of me and shook her head. "New plan."

"I think that board member is purposely attempting to screw us over," I said, but no one replied, and instead, Allura glared at me.

Allura stood tall, looking at Jasht, then at me. "The fundamental purpose of the culling game was to use points to our advantage, so why would they want us to fail? The board members purposely made us lose points through this round."

I opened my mouth and tried to talk, but Allura interrupted.

"They tricked us," she said, frowning and clenching her teeth. "If a team loses, they could lose three times without being eliminated. But if a team were to concede, they could do so four times."

"So they want us to use concessions," Ash said, standing up and drying his glasses with his clothes.

"Why start off with five points?" I questioned.

If each team had five points, it wouldn't make sense to be allowed so many chances. A loss counted as one and a half points, but a concession, if done, was only one point. It made little sense to me...

"There is no reason," Allura said, twitching her right eye. "They simply want to reduce the population..."

My mouth widened, but I closed my eyes, raising my chin. "There are only two more rounds left. We'll just concede them both."

"It won't be that simple," Allura said, clicking her tongue and passing. Her eyes gazed at Jasht. "I have a feeling none of this will work according to plan."

Ash yawned, flicking Melia on the shoulder. "You guys need to stop worrying."

"Ash is right. We'll wait for further instruction, then work from it." Melia stared at the floor, her gaze far from concentrated.

All the teams regrouped with their members and discussed plans frantically. The atmosphere was uncertain. Worry showed on everyone's face, and everyone was far too scared to dare question it.

"Round two will," Jasht read off his notebook, but he paused and sighed. He closed his book and continued. "It will unfortunately not begin."

"What," I muttered.

Ash and Melia seemed as confused as I did, but Allura didn't appear surprised. Allura's eyes darkened as her pupils narrowed. Her body seemed to resist moving, almost like she forced every muscle in her body to not move. Her eyes were fixed on Jasht, not allowing a single blink to escape her.

Jasht took a step back, stomping on the floor. Blue light emitted from the massive hole. The hole erupted with a burning liquid, but that liquid soon encrusted, leaving a flat purple and green floor.

"An event of redemption will now commence," Jasht grew a tight-lipped smile while tapping his feet. "After all, the culling game is one of randomness."