Pyke continued his explanation after Maya and her group joined the crowd. "As you can see, this platform is where the first test will be taking place. It will be a duel between you and an RTD. What's an RTD, most of you might be asking? That," Pyke said, pointing to the wall on his right, "is an RTD."

The wall hissed and one after another, large rectangular pieces of it retracted into the ground, revealing white humanoid robots stacked shoulder-to-shoulder. There were a few gasps, but most contestants looked on in shocked silence. Maya looked around to gauge reactions.

Ann was shaking. Simon was firm, impassive. Nathan. . . Nathan wasn’t even looking. He was studying the base of the platform the supervisor stood on.

"Okay, now that you know what they look like, let me explain the rules of the exam." Everyone looked back at the supervisor. "The exam will consist of two parts: a duel with an RTD and an all-out battle royale of sorts on an isolated island that we own. "

Some participants were shocked to hear that Occidendum owned a private island. Others were bothered at the words “battle royale.” All of them had signed a disturbing waiver that they hadn't known about prior to arriving. On it, they had agreed to take full responsibility for any injuries, up to and including death, that they might sustain during the test. Over half of the contestants had turned around just at that.

"Any questions?" Everyone remained silent, so Pyke continued. "During the whole exam, you will be gathering points. How these points are gathered during the first exam can be seen on the sides of the platform." The previously black faces of the elevated platform turned into multiple bright displays and showed a neat infographic summarising the point acquisition process.

[Rules of the RTD Duel:

1) Every candidate will fight against an RTD, whose difficulty will be set to a 5.

2) The candidate has 5 minutes to immobilise or destroy the RTD. Any candidate who does so will receive a passing grade and be awarded 50 points. Any candidate who does not immobilise or destroy the RTD will fail automatically.

3) After the candidate eliminates or incapacitates the RTD, every whole minute the candidate did not use to fight the RTD will grant the candidate 10 extra points.

4) The following bonuses apply:

Not getting hit by the RTD - 10 points

Eliminating the RTD in the first 30 seconds - 10 extra points

5) The maximum number of attainable points for a single candidate in the first stage is 110 points.]

Pyke paused to give everyone a chance to take in the information. Maya sneaked one last glance at Nathan, who, to her relief, was studying the rules like everyone else. But she had time only for one glance, as she couldn’t predict how long the rules would be displayed.

Just as she had finished reading the rules, an older woman standing on the other side of the ring shouted a question she’d meant to ask, as well: "The first rule says that the difficulty will be set to a five. What strength are we supposed to expect?"

Pyke turned towards the woman speaking. "I'm glad you asked. The robots act differently based on the level. The bigger the number, the stronger they become. This model has a 1-10 difficulty range, so we're going for the one in the middle. 1 makes it stand still—that’s the setting they're on right now. 10 makes it fight like a professional, experienced assassin. The difficulty doesn't just influence things like its physical strength, but also intelligence, planning skills, and even knowledge of martial arts and tactics

Pyke scratched his chin. "It's hard to quantify or explain how strong they are, but the best comparison I can make is that it will be about as strong as an amateur boxer. By amateur I mean someone who has experience, but who doesn't box in the big leagues." At that, some people went pale, but the majority heaved a big sigh of relief.

"Can't we just shoot them?" a young voice asked from somewhere in the crowd. Maya’s head swivelled around to face a young man close to her own age.

"Well, there's no rule forbidding you from using a gun. But you do know how we view guns, right?” Pyke spoke sternly. The young man lowered his gun and gulped as he noticed the glares he was getting.

"Since you seem to be unaware,” Pyke continued, “let me elaborate. Guns have always been viewed as a disgrace for us assassins. Any idiot can take a gun and pull the trigger. But we're not idiots. We're supposed to be the elite warriors those idiots fear. So, go ahead. Use a gun. The rules don’t prohibit it. But I’m not sure how long a gun-using assassin will last in this environment.” The man immediately holstered his gun and looked down.

"Wh—where can I resign?" the young man stuttered.

"Go back through the entrance door and to the left. You'll fill out some paperwork and then you'll be free to go. I would say that I'm sorry, but someone who doesn't even know this much about our profession clearly doesn't have it in him to put his life on the line for it. The same thing goes for anyone who would like to leave. Whatever the reason, we won't ask. But this is only your first chance to leave. You'll get the second, and final, chance after everyone finishes their duels and we explain the rules of the second part of the exam. Is that clear?"

Pyke paused. "I'll take that as a yes. Any more questions?"

"Do the robots behave like humans? In the rules, there's immobilise or destroy. What does the first part mean?" yet another contestant asked.

"They behave, feel, and react like humans. If you smash their skulls, they will 'die'. Of course, they won't be destroyed permanently, but in that moment they will be considered dead and the win will be yours. As for the immobilise part, let's say you get the robot into a headlock. At that point, if the robot can't move for more than ten seconds, it will be considered your win. Any more questions?" Pyke looked around the silent room. "Great. Then let's start. You can see the order on the screens."

Maya looked down and searched for her name. As she scanned the list, she noticed Simon was fifth and Manny eighth. She went through a dozen names and still his name hadn’t come up. She found her own at last, and Ann’s right below, at twentieth and twenty-first place. And there was Nathan’s, in the very last place. Was it a coincidence that he was last?

"Looks like me and Manny will be up early," Simon said nervously, breaking into her reverie. "I hope we'll make it."

"You'll be fine. I think your Capoeira will have no problems with a petty robot." Maya gave him an encouraging wink.

"I hope so," he smiled stiffly.

The first contestant was a man named Ryan Berkley. He had a slender figure and long brown hair tied in a ponytail. His hands shook as he stood in the middle of the arena, waiting for the RTD to walk over from the distant wall where they were stored. Everyone was stressed, but the effect was magnified for the first contestant to take on such a foreign task. Maya could see how Ryan's lips trembled.

The RTD soon arrived at the edge of the platform and jumped up. Maya was surprised at how agile and fluent it was. She would have thought a humanoid robot would be stiffer.

The RTD and Ryan both took up a stance. The RTD adopted a neutral pose, while Ryan positioned himself as a boxer.

"Are you ready?" Pyke asked for the last time, as he walked to the edge of the platform.

"Y—yes."

"Well, then. Off we go." With that, Pyke jumped off the edge and the RTD launched a frontal attack at Ryan. Maya monitored both of their movements. Ryan fought for a while and exchanged blows with the humanoid robot. Even though she wasn't sure, Maya thought she had a good grasp of the robot's power. She should be able to beat it.

Ryan struggled, but eventually managed to land a solid hit on the robot's jaw, knocking him out cold. "Good job," Pyke said, jumping up on the stage. "Candidate number 001,” he read from his phone, “your total points after this round amount to fifty points. You didn't fulfil any of the requirements for bonus points. Please step off the platform so that we can proceed. The sooner you lot are finished, the more time you will have to analyse the rules of the second exam and prepare strategies."

Ryan jumped down off the podium. "May I go and sit back there?" He pointed at the corner of the room.

"Do as you wish. Just don't leave the room. If you need water, there's a bathroom back there. Just tap on the wall." Pyke pointed at the far end of the room, then gestured for another fighter to come up.

The next several contestants passed, some of them with bonus points. Soon it was Simon's turn. Maya watched him as he finished stretching. The stress she had read in his eyes earlier was nowhere to be found. With complete confidence, he gave Pyke the “OK” sign to begin the fight.

Simon used Capoeira, an ancient martial art that more closely resembled a dance than a deadly fighting style. No one really knew when the style had come into being, but its twists, jumps, kicks, and acrobatic elements were said to have been developed by the common folk of Raelethe during the time their oppressive Lords forbade martial arts.

Simon moved rhythmically from side to side in a triangular motion. This form, known as Ginga, was the basic manoeuvre of Capoeira that helped the fighter prepare and confused the enemy. Maya wasn’t sure how confusion would work on a robot, but she knew she would soon see.

The robot didn't seem to care. It attacked Simon frontally. With his continuous momentum, Simon dodged the robot's fist and, in a fluid motion, dropped down on his arms and used his left keel to kick it in the head. The scorpion kick, as it was called, failed to connect and the robot dodged and launched a kick towards Simon’s exposed torso.

Simon shifted his weight forward and dived out of danger, immediately launching another kick. Once again, he danced around the platform, trying to read the incoming attacker. He appeared to be looking for a weakness he could exploit. As the robot dashed forward, the opportunity showed itself. Simon dodged its incoming high kick and used his right arm and leg to support a devastating kick to the robot’s head. Though the robot blocked the attack, Simon succeeded in bending its arm and pushing it back.

He clicked his tongue and resumed his Ginga stance. When the enemy rushed in, Simon took a step forward, surprising it and making sure it didn't have time to prepare an attack. With an uppercut to the chin and a spinning back fist to its face, the robot collapsed. Simon spun on his heel one last time. He launched a roundhouse kick, called Armada in Capoeira, and the robot flew through the platform and landed on the edge, right in front of Maya.

Simon was out of breath, but he smiled from ear to ear. He raised a fist in triumph. Maya smiled back as he joined her offstage.

"Another interesting candidate," Pyke said as he walked back towards the middle of the stage. "Candidate number 005, your total points after this round are 80. Good job!"

"Well, then. The next candidate." Pyke kicked down the demolished robot and a new one walked up to the stage. "Let's go."