The eleventh floor testing area was a rather simple affair. There was no need to test the mettle of anyone attempting to climb, or even for the adjudicators to cull the herd of Challengers that came through. There was a hard floor on entry to the eleventh floor, and if a person did not pass then they were not allowed to move on.

Laurence and his friends stood in the long, nondescript hallway as they waited for their turn to come up. Generally speaking they would not have to wait long, as the check seemed to take a matter of seconds, but occasionally people would kick up a fuss over the fact that they were not allowed to move on. It usually happened once every six or seven hundred people, but every so often a real hothead would show up soon after the last indignant figure, and then the people queuing were given a real show.

There were about a thousand people in front of Laurence in the insane queue, but at the speed they were moving, it would likely only take them an hour before they reached the adjudicator. They were lucky they had arrived at a down period. The fact that less than five minutes into them waiting, the length of the queue had doubled. Laurence could tell that led than one in five people would pass the tests, but it still amazed him that there were so many Saints in Spirit. The fact that the executioners pen and the desolate strip were so poor was likely the only reason he had not seen more of them.

As they waited, Winoa frowned. She seemed like she was battling something in her head, a concept that was particularly difficult to swallow. Laurence could not tell if it was right for him to intrude on her thoughts and ask though, as the last time he had done it she had scolded him. He did not really care if he was told off, but life was a lot simpler if he went without it. Eventually she decided that whatever was bothering her had to be shared, so she began walking towards him.

“Laurence, I need to tell you something. I don't want people to worry, so you're the only person I can really tell about this, but I think you should know that Cleo is severing her ties to the Ignis clan”. Her voice became a whisper, “She's doing it because her last encounter with them would have stunted her journey. It was pretty obvious that it was done out of spite”.

“What has she done to deserve that? I know she doesn't like me, but she's a nice girl,” Laurence replied. What Winoa said made sense. Cleo had been her usual contrary self when it came to Laurence, but she had rushed their exit along as much as she could, and even now Laurence could see how panicky she was looking. Every couple of minutes she would glance behind her and scan the crowd, then return back into the group with her head low and hood up.

“She's just cultivated better than any of her peers. That's all. Didn't you ever wonder why she was living in Spring Street with you, and not the Ignis clan headquarters?”

“Of course I did, but that was after you told me off over looking into people's issues of they don't ask you to. I just kind of sat on it”. Cleo had told him about her issues with her clan when they were still talking, but he had never looked into it further than that. Not too long after he had begun drafting up plans to revive the Hephaistia clan, and Cleo stopped telling him anything.

“Damn it, Law. I didn’t mean for you to stop looking into everything, I just meant don't spread around what you find out. I know you have difficulty understanding people at the best of times. If you understand Cleo a little better, you two might get along better. The point I am trying to make here, Law, is that when we left the clan someone chased after us. Someone chased after Cleo to stop her climbing Babel, and I’m worried they will come after us”. Winoa looked off to the side and began fidgeting with the rings on her fingers. “Look, Cleo is a bit too proud to tell you of all people this, but we may need to run at the drop of a hat if someone comes for her”.

They looked meaningfully at each other as Laurence thought about what they would do if someone really did try to hunt them down. It was a difficult thing to think about, as it involved someone they had been friends with for a long time. In the end Laurence smiled, he tried his most honest smile, but he still felt awkward doing it. “Look, Win, you guys are my friends. If it was anyone else, I wouldn’t care, but you’re mine. We’re going to keep Cleo safe, no matter what. You have my word on that”.

Winoa looked surprised. This was obviously not what she was expecting from Laurence. “You never fail to surprise me, Law,” she said. “I assumed you would eventually accept, but I didn’t think you’d be so decisive about it”. She paused, letting go of her rings. “Thank you. It’s a weight off my mind if it comes up in discussion. I know she won’t say it, but thank you for Cleo, too”.

Winoa smiled, and they were about to continue chatting, when a man pushed past them. “Excuse me, don’t mind me,” he said, quickly walking to the front of the line. It seemed like he had pushed past the majority of the people queuing, leaving a string of disgruntled people behind him. No one was willing to interrupt him, however, because one had to have a certain level of bravery to push past everyone in the queue. They could only really assume that his bravery was backed by one of two things. It could have been strength, and if that was the case then it would be suicide to try and call him out. If it was not strength, then it was likely stupidity, in which case they would wait for him to be sorted out by an adjudicator.

He walked up to the adjudicator and handed him a small metal tablet, by this point the group was only twenty from the testing zone. “Good sir, I was sent here today to deliver this. With that, I would also like to take the test with the blessing of the clan written on the note”.

The adjudicator looked him up and down. “Twenty seven years old, low Saint strength. Pass, but barely. Be careful on the eleventh floor,” the adjudicator said, quickly ushering him on. The man looked at the slate for a moment and just waved the next thirty people through, including Laurence and his companions before finally looking up. He looked back down at the face that was printed on the tablet and although he was sure he had seen the face before, could not see it amongst the people in front of him. He sighed and put the tablet aside before continuing his job and testing whether people were capable of going through to the next floor.