"How was your test two? That examiner wanted me to walk across a broken and dangerous bridge with a fire pool below!" Viviana said indignantly. "I almost fell and die!"
Mike, Viviana and Wida were sitting in the room, along with sixty five other participants, awaiting for test three. Apparently, some accidents had occurred in their venue of test three and the examiners were now handling them. Test three was postponed to one hour later.
"I was supposed to succeed in dodging a small dragon-like monster by thinking up ideas and running swiftly but silently," Mike said.
"A monster? That's scary! It's lucky that you succeed. You might have been torn to pieces otherwise!" Viviana said. "If it was me, I'd panicked and forget to run or think of any ideas!"
Mike nodded. "It was pretty scary. Lucky thing Wida's words are still in my head and I fought on."
Wida nodded half-heartedly. She was still pondering what to say to them. Finally, she said truthfully, "I was fighting a monster."
"Fight? You?" Viviana said wide-eyed.
"It isn't that much of a big deal. That monster was very slow. I just need to ready the gun they gave me and fire," Wida lied.
"Wow, these tests sure are weird. I wonder what's next!" Viviana exclaimed.
"Are you sure you are fine? A monster isn't easy to handle. I was only supposed to dodge it, not fight it. I couldn't imagine how tired that must have been. I'm already exhausted just to hide from it," Mike said in concern.
Wida smiled a bit tightly. "I'm fine."
Viviana and Mike sensed the subtle tension and changed the subject. Soon, one hour passed.
The examiner in purple outfit came in again and announced, "As everyone can see, the group here mostly consisted of specialists. Test three onwards were aimed mainly at specialists. However, to ensure fairness, the non-specialists are allowed to choose their weapons for the following tests. Not to worry, these weapons are able to defeat specialists too. But they will depend on your stamina and mental strength. The stronger you are in these area, the stronger they will be. Now, I shall brief you on test three. Everyone had to be grouped in five. There must be at least one non-specialist or more in each group. Every group will be given a map, and you have to find the item situated on the place shown on the map."
"Treasure hunt?" Viviana said dubiously.
"Weapons?" Mike said dazzledly.
"However, there are obstacles along the way. You have to overcome them to get it. There is a time limit of three hours. Once anyone in the group gets the item, you passed. But everyone must be present in the same room as the item or the whole group failed. Please group yourself now and write down your names and the group. Pass it to my assistant here and you will get the map." The examiner gestured to her assistant for the map and weapons.
"what do we do now? We only have three people at the most," Viviana said quite desperately.
Wida was silent. Mike looked around for potential participant to invite. Viviana was nervously searching the crowd too. Everyone seemed to look dangerous. Even worse, nobody would be silly enough to join a group with three non-specialists.
Wida and Thelia's eyes coincidently met. They stared at each other for a moment. Finally, Thelia walked to them.
"Can I join this group?" Thelia said politely but stiffly.
Viviana's eyes brightened up. "Sure! Great! Now we only need one more!"
Suddenly, someone grabbed Mike from behind, which shocked Mike.
"Mike! I didn't know you are so brave to join this exam!"
"That voice....Dave!" Mike said, freeing himself from the armhold and turning around.
"Hello!" Dave, the man grabbing Mike, said. "Oh, look, three pretty girls! Wow, you sure are popular here!"
Mike blushed a bit. "It's not as you think-"
Dave boxed Mike's shoulder lightly. "You can't take a joke as usual. Relax, man."
Mike suddenly remembered where he was. "Dave, want to join us? We are just one member less."
Dave suddenly became serious. "I can but I want a guarantee."
"A guarantee?" Viviana asked.
Dave turned to everyone else. His eyes looked like he was faraway. "I need that license." His eyes turned solemn and stern. "I want everyone to do their best. I won't allow anyone anyone to be a drag to me. A promise?"
"Gulp. Sure, I promise," Viviana said, feeling a bit scared of this imposing person.
"I have an important reason too. I won't give up that easily!" Mike's eyes were similarly determinedly and solemn.
"I promise," Wida said softly.
Thelia stared at him. "I hope you won't be a drag too."
Dave stared back at her silently.
"Alright, let's get the name list settled and get the map and weapons," Viviana said.
Everyone wrote down their names. Mike, Viviana and Wida got their weapons and the map.
"Dave! You didn't get the weapon...which means..." Mike said in shock, returning back. He never thought his friend was a specialist too.
Dave nodded. Dave stretched open the map that he took from the assistant. It showed the current building they were in. The item they had to get was on the right corner of the fifth floor. They were on the first floor. The map also showed the route they had to take to go to the special room.
"I know where to go now. Let's go," Dave said and started to walk, leading the rest.
Thelia was the last. She kept staring at Wida, which made her uncomfortable.
The group left the room and walked straight for the staircase. After about ten minutes, they reached the staircase. Just when they were about to climb it, it started to crack and broke.
"What's going on?" Viviana asked, stunned.
The staircase soon sank into the darkness below it, with a huge gap where it originally was. There was a sculpture on the second floor, just beside the gap.
"How do we cross now? There is nothing to climb!" Viviana asked, slightly panicked.
"Stand away," Dave said and got out his weapon. It was a long thick rope. He flung it from one end of the gap to the other end. It caught hold of the sculpture at the end of the gap. Dave put the other end of the rope to the other sculpture at their end. "Follow me."
Then, he grabbed hold of the rope and jumped down into the gap. He started to climb up the rope to the other side. There, one of his hands grabbed the ground of the second floor and climbed up easily. He hollered for the rest to do the same.
Viviana hestitated, looking at the huge gap. Mike determinedly followed Dave's actions and reached the other end. Dave grabbed his hand and Mike climbed to the second floor. Thelia did the same.
"Viviana, do you want to go first?" Wida asked.
Viviana's face was pale. She gulped and shook her head fervously. Wida knew if she go first, Viviana would be stuck on the other side forever. Against her will, Wida tried to encourage her.
"I think it's better for you to go first. Come on, I know it's scary. I'll be behind you and help you if anything happens. I'm sure Dave will find a way to do it too. Gather your courage," Wida pushed Viviana lightly.
Viviana gulped.
"Don't look at the hole! Just grab the rope, jump down and start climbing! You'll reach there in no time. Look at them over there, encouraging you," Wida put Viviana's hands over the rope. Indeed, Mike and Dave were looking at her encouragingly.
Viviana closed her eyes and jumped down, holding the rope tightly. Gradually, she started to climb up, her face squeezed tight. Soon, she reached to the other side. Mike and Dave grabbed her and tugged her to the second floor.
"Your time, Wida!" Mike shouted.
Wida was about to grab the rope when something shot from behind and broke the rope.
"What?" Dave grabbed hold of his broken rope.
Wida turned behind and saw what broke it. A four-legged creature slowly crept forward.
"Oh no, a monster! Wida is in danger!" Mike shouted in alarm.
"Is that monster part of the obstacle too?" Viviana asked, panicked. "Look out, Wida!"
Dave cursed and was about to loop his rope on the sculpture again. Suddenly, that creature shot out something from his mouth onto the sculpture. It melted instantly.
"Bloody hell! It deliberately don't let her use the rope!" Dave said angrily. "No choice, Wida, grab my rope! I'll throw it as far as I could to you!"
That creature seemed to know Dave was planning and rushed forward. Wida had no choice to dodge and stepped further away from the staircase. That creature blocked her way to the rope.
"Damn it! Isn't there anything we can do? Wida is about to be eaten by that thing!" Mike said desperately. "You two are specialists! Can't you do something to help her?"
He turned towards Dave and Thelia.
Dave looked at him quite helplessly. "My power is creating a barrier around me and someone beside me. I can't help her that far away."
Thelia said calmly, "My weapon has special power but it couldn't reach that far as well. We have to count on the weapon she got."
"No weapon is able to handle that huge monster!" Mike said agitatedly.
"Oh no, that monster is throwing that thing from his mouth at Wida again!" Viviana exclaimed.
That creature shot lots of poisonous and acidic saliva at Wida.
"Wida!" Mike and Viviana shouted helplessly.
Wida sighed. "I guess this can be counted as emergency." She threw away the dagger she got.
"What is she doing? Is she crazy? She throws away her only protection!" Dave said in disbelief.
Thelia's body tensed. She knew what was next.
"Count yourself lucky that you can see this," Wida muttered under her breath. Wida held out a hand which glowed slightly. Her scythe appeared instantly from her hand. With just one slash move, Wida removed all the saliva thrown in her direction.
"What the-?" Dave said, stunned.
"Where did Wida get that scythe?" Viviana said in amazement and shock.
Mike was shocked speechless.
Wida instantly rushed towards the creature. It shot its dangerous saliva again and tried to scratch her. Wida dodged them easily, with a speed same as the wind. She flung the scythe down. It landed on the creature's head and slashed it into two. Wida once again put the scythe back into her palm.
"What? It disappeared?" Viviana asked, her eyes bugging.
Wida looked at the group on the second floor. She walked to where the hole was and closed her eyes. Then she jumped. Amazingly, her jump landed her exactly on the other edge of the gap. The rest had to step backward for her.
"What-? Who the hell are you?" Dave demanded.
"Wida, you...." Viviana trailed off.
"A specialist?" Mike asked on behalf of everyone.
Wida opened her eyes and smiled. "Let's go." She ambled off.
"Wait a second! Does the examiner knows your identity? We won't be disqualified because of you, right?" Dave asked urgently to her back. "I won't allow this!"
Mike and Viviana stared at Dave in shock and then to Wida. Thelia only calmly looked at Wida.
"Only if you offend me, I guess," Wida said calmly, turning back to the group and smiled slightly.
"What does that mean?" Dave determined. Mike and Viviana were at a loss of words.
"If I didn't guess wrongly, you are an "undercover examiner" here," Thelia said.
Mike, Dave and Viviana gasped and spun their heads to Wida.
"How'd you guess?" Wida asked. "Am I that lousy in disguising myself?"
"I can see that scythe was a sign of a specialist yet you take the weapon that examiner gave. That shows you don't want to let people know you're a specialist. The examiner should know of this too but they didn't interfere, which shows plainly you are "one of them"."
"You see the scythe before?" Viviana asked in surprise.
"An undercover examiner? No wonder you are strong. I researched briefly and that creature must have been of at least "C" class, yet you could defeat it so easily," Dave said.
"I can't believe this! Even you are a specialist too! How many around me is one too?" Mike said in shock.
"I can't believe this too! How long do you plan to hide it from us?" Viviana punched Wida teasingly.
Wida said,"Sorry. That was my job. I wouldn't have used the scythe too if it wasn't an emergency then."
"So you are keeping an eye on us?" Thelia said.
Wida smiled slightly, although a bit tightly. "As I said, just don't offend me and pass your tests. I am just a "passer-by"."
Everyone lessened the tension in their body slightly on hearing that. But they were more or less still on guard. Their conversation later on turned quite tense and short.
Soon, they reached the second staircase leading to third floor.
"There won't be any monster popping out again, right?" Viviana said nervously.
"I'm more worried about the stairs," Dave said frowning.
They waited for it to start breaking down again. Nothing happened.
"Walk with caution," Dave cautioned and led the way up the stairs.
One quarter up, the stairs started shaking.
"Don't tell me it is going to break now!" Viviana said in alarm, grabbing the staircase hand-hold.
"Look!" Mike pointed upwards, whereby posters of armed men appeared. Suddenly, bullets were firing at them.
"Ahhhh!!!!" Viviana said, jumping and hopping, dodging the bullets.
"Where did they come from?" Mike said, dodging the bullets too.
Dave got a hunch and whipped out his rope. He flung it at two of the posters. It vanished and the bullets coming from there stopped. "Attack the posters!" He shouted.
Mike took out his gun and fired quite wildly, as he kept dodging the bullets. Viviana flung her weapon, boomerang, towards the posters. Thelia swiftly dodged the bullets and cut many posters at one go with her sword. Wida, as expected, took out her scythe and cut the posters too. Her feet barely touched the ground as she hurled her scythe around at the posters.
Finally, with everyone's effort, the posters were "defeated" and they reached the third floor. No one was hurt, fortunately.
"Wheew. I thought I'm done for. A bullet nearly blew my head off!" Viviana said, taking deep breaths.
"Now for the four floor," Dave said and started walking.
This time, the walk to the staircase leading to the four floor was relatively shorter. The staircase, unlike the others, was dusty. It was also in a very dark corner. The group could barely see themselves.
"What is it this time?" Viviana said, feeling quite frustrated.
At that moment, they heard a loud growl. Many monsters started to emerge and surrounded them. The monsters looked like dolls but with sharp teeth, sharp nails, messy hair and big buggy eyes. They were holding onto a weapon each, like a sword, a bow and arrows, and axe.
"Wahh!!" Viviana exclaimed in shock, retreating a bit.
Mike, Dave and Thelia readied their weapons.
The "dolls" came after them. Each person fought a hard battle with them. Viviana had to use her boomberang to defend herself against a "doll" holding a sword. Mike was running around, using his gun to try to fire at the "dolls", while arrows were shot at him and Dave and Thelia. Dave used his power to protect himself while he used his rope to hit the "dolls", which dodged it quickly.
The only ones successfully attacking many of the "dolls" were Thelia and Wida, which proved that they were indeed powerful. Thelia's sword skills were so good that she could attack three "dolls" at one go. The dolls could not even defend themselves.
Meanwhile, Wida took a deep breath first. A red glow surrounded her. The "dolls" near to her were blown away by the sheer force. The "dolls" all retreated from her, instinctively knowing she was dangerous. Wida's eye turned red, even as the force around her turned even more violent.
"What?" Viviana noticed this phenomeron, as Mike, Dave and Thelia did too.
The violent wind stopped just as suddenly as it started.
"Play with me, will you?" Wida smiled, her eye remaining red. Thelia stopped attacking the "dolls". She sensed an evil aura emitting from Wida.
The "dolls", thinking it was safe after the wind force was gone, rushed at Wida. Wida just smiled even more widely, her palm stretched out. Instantly, all the "dolls" rushing at her vanished with a "whoosh" sound.
"What?!" Viviana exclaimed again. Even Dave's, Mike's and Thelia's eyes widened.
Wida lowered her head a bit. Then, she vanished. She appeared again with her face hidden in the dark, behind the group of "dolls" attacking Mike and Dave. The "dolls" could barely react when Wida put one hand out and muttered something from under her breath. The "dolls" vanished.
The rest of the "dolls" knew she was too powerful too and tried to escape. Wida stood at where she was and grinned, her red eye was seemingly shining. Mike, Viviana, Dave and Thelia could not stop their studder at that grin. It was as if Wida was toying with the "dolls". That was how easy she could destroy them. A that moment, the group knew how strong Wida was and how dangerous.
Wida's hand made a slash in the air towards the escaping "dolls". A blade-like tornado rushed in their direction. Then their bodies were then all cut into pieces by it. Viviana gasped, the rest were seemingly shocked too.
"She is already so powerful without the scythe?! How many powers did she have?! Is this what a specialist in CHESS is like?!" Thelia thought to herself, her body inevitably shaking with some awe and fear.
Wida's eye returned to normal. Her body seemed to sway a bit as she walked a bit. She leaned onto the wall nearby her. Her eyes were closed. Viviana was about to go to her when she saw that her feet were frozen to the ground in fear. Mike seemed afraid too to go near her. Dave was expressionless, seemingly examining the situation first. Thelia sheathed her sword.
Wida seemed to regain her energy. She opened her eyes. She seemed to know that everyone was afraid of her. "I guess I have overdone it a bit." She sighed. She walked to the staircase, not meeting other's eyes.
Slowly, the rest followed, although they were subconsciously a few steps away from her. Suddenly, Wida stopped on the four floor. She fetched a handphone from her pocket. Everyone else stopped too and watched her.
"Yes, Tiffany?" Wida said into the phone.
Tiffany said something.
"Now? You got Her Majesty's approval? Fine, I will go with you," Wida said and then turned her head slightly around. "You do know you owe me one dinner for this, right? Alright, I'll be there." She closed her handphone, turned around and said, "You have to go through the rest yourself. I'll inform the examiners so that you won't be disqualified with my absence. Good luck. Hope you don't fail me." Wida then simply clicked her finger. A red glow appeared again and then she vanished without another word.
"Hey, Wida! Wida!" Viviana finally spoke but Wida was gone.
"Who is Tiffany? Her Majesty?!" Mike said, a bit puzzled.
"No matter. Let's hurry to the fifth floor. We only have about one and a half hour for the test," Dave said, continuing on the way.
"Her Majesty? Is she closely related to her too?! Who the heck is Wida?!" Thelia thought to herself, tightening her grip on the sword sheath.
They walked in the direction of the staircase leading to the fifth floor. Little did they know the fifth floor was full of traps and danger, not to mention the "special room" where the "treasure" was.
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