Tapper opened his eyes.
Dresser. Bed. Wall. Wall. Wall. Wall. Ceiling. This was what he saw. He was in his room.
But Tapper did not get out of bed.
He reached out his hand and touched his left wrist. What should have been empty air suddenly turned solid and had a luxurious matte black color.
It looked like a wrist band.
But Tapper knew it was more than that.
It was a reminder that what had happened last night at his second naming ceremony was not a dream.
Tapper had been amongst the small crowd of people that had descended into the dark stairways. Prior to the meeting, Tapper had been pulled into a training room by his dagger teacher.
The conversation had gone something like this:
"Stain." His dagger teacher said.
"....huh???" Tapper who looked confused.
"Your naming ceremony passed. I just introduced myself."
".....oh. Nice to know your name, Sta—"
"Call me Teacher"
"Yes Teacher, so my name is—"
"I know. Tapper"
At that moment, Stain leaned forward and without breaking eye contact, calmly say.
"Tappiokramikabonoksaylemchocoflufochirper."
Tapper was caught completely off guard. How did his teacher know about that (and remember how to say it) even though it was only repeated twice in the naming ceremony hall? Did his teacher attend that naming ceremony?
Once again, Tapper was reminded of how powerful his teacher was.
But compared to the talk afterwards, that was considered light hearted.
Stain began to hint at something. As per usual, he didn't say much but unlike usual, it seemed that he wanted to speak more but could not.
"Make sure to be on guard."
"It's a test of some sort."
Tapper had then asked. "A test? For what? About what?"
Stain hesitated but only repeated what he said earlier. Tapper almost thought he had seen a worried expression on his teacher's face.
"Be on guard, Tapper."
Tapper had also been slightly alarmed. He was always on guard. Even when he slept. Habits from the AlleyWays die hard.
Except what really happened after descending into the darkness still left him shook.
Tapper shook the nagging memories out and went to wake Roman up. Roman was in a bad mood since Wayde had changed all the names he had chosen…
Even when they were perfectly good names!
He felt much better when Tapper still retained his name. Roman spent the entire day preparing for school that will start in around a week or two.
Tapper also grabbed necessities for himself since he would also be attending. But his energy wasn't in it.
He continued to think about the events of the previous night.
After descending the stairways was a door. Behind the door was a room with strange dark red tubes that stuck out of the ceiling. The tubes were large enough for a large fully grown man to fit nicely inside.
All the younger children had been pushed to stand in a line for one of the tubes. There were seventeen children and four tubes.
Stain had explained how to activate the tube.
Tapper went underneath one of them. He gave the ground a mighty stomp.
What should happen is that the tube will descend to the ground and suck the person to the destination decided beforehand.
It did.
However, upon stomping, a strange rush of coldness had suddenly spread from within Tapper's body.
No. It should be said that it had always been there but he never noticed.
The coldness had made Tapper feel as if he got suddenly stuck into a glacier. Or the Arctic Ocean.
The coldness rushed to his arms and brain as well as his stomach and legs. It spread all around.
Surprisingly, it wasn't unpleasant at all. The coldness had felt comforting. It gave him clarity.
But the feeling was soon gone and Tapper rushed up and away. It wasn't a good ride so Tapper had pushed the memory of the coldness to the back of his mind.
The tube suddenly popped him out in the middle of… a strange place.
He was still underground but there were rocks and half crumpling walls all around. Some of them were very large and obstructed Tapper's view. The ground was uneven and the area was not properly lit casting everything into shadow.
No big deal. The AlleyWays' most prominent trait had always been darkness. He could navigate.
However, there was something incredibly desolate about this place. It's the feeling one would get when entering a graveyard.
Tapper was reminded of Stain's words.
'"Be on guard, Tapper. Be on guard."'
Tapper quieted himself and roughly estimated the locations of the other children. He took note of various strategic areas around him as he silently explored. What's more, he was able to tell the other kids were doing the same.
It seemed to be a treasure hunt? No, it should not be that simple.
Suddenly a voice began to broadcast over the strange arena.
"Younglings. This is your master speaking."
Wayde's voice echoed through all around.
Tapper stopped moving and hid. Stain's words still repeated in his head.
"I am your master and my word is law. Obedience and loyalty is the key if you want to enter under my command."
Tapper slightly frowned. Thanks to Wayde's action of granting him a school application, other than Ink, nothing could shake his loyalty. Why was…
'Wait.
'Since this time, only the "younglings" have entered the strange place. And suddenly he begins to talk about obedience and loyalty.
'Crap.. this is not good.'
Wayde's voice continued.
"Prove it to me…"
Suddenly his voice took a sharp turn.
"Heed my command!
"Within fifteen minutes…
"End the lives of two others.
"Begin!"
Tapper froze in shock.
Thud thud thud thud clang!
As soon as Lord Wayde finished speaking, the sounds of weaponry clashing rang out.
A boy flew over the place of Tapper's hiding spot. A girl vaulted over just as quickly and stabbed the fallen boy.
The boy gave a feeble cry but the girl only had an indifferent gaze in her eyes.
The girl intended to turn around to search for her next target but something had hooked around her ankles.
A sudden yank threw off her balance. She opened her mouth as an instinctive reaction to scream but a tightness around her throat prevented that.
The girl struggled but to no avail. She didn't even know who or what was restraining her!
Then a shadow reached out for her neck. With a violent slash, a blood spurt, and a look of horror, the girl finally lay motionless.
Tapper withdrew his dagger. He felt shaken.
'I think… I just killed someone…'
Watching death compared to killing others personally was two vastly different things.
The sensation of the girl's neck breaking under the pressure from his dagger was heavy on his mind.
Tapper felt his stomach churn. He wanted to hurl.
Suddenly, a familiar feeling of coldness rushed up again. It drove out all of the confusion and doubt from his mind.
'What is this… am I getting sick? Or is this a trait specialized to the location?
'If it's the latter… it means the others have it too…"
Immediately, Tapper wiped the blood and hid his tracks.
The coldness then spread to his ears.
'Five dead bodies.
'Twenty feet left are roughly three people.
'Two are fourteen feet to the center right watching the fight.
'A few more behind. And…
'Someone approaching me.'
By now, the coldness had spread to his entire body.
It was cold. It only got more cold with each passing second.
So cold that Tapper was extremely clear about the number of warm things in his environment.
Including the idiot who thought he was stealthy.
Pretending as if he didn't notice, Tapper moved forward towards another combatting group. But in a hidden corner here and there, he stuck the anchors of his fishing wire.
The boy had noticed the scent of blood in this direction. He had passed the corpses of the boy and the girl.
They both had combat marks. The girl was killed after some sort of immense struggle. Most likely from the battle with the boy. The boy looked as if he got stabbed in the back.
'This stab on the back displays great power and speed. An ambushing combatant who specializes in close quarter fighting.'
The sneaking person analysed.
'I have to stay cautious and ambush the killer!'
Well, he wasn't wrong. The girl did specialize in fighting close quarters but the sequence of events that had occurred was misjudged.
'Mom… forgive me… I don't want to kill but it's for the best.'
With that, the boy launched himself at Tapper.
"Die." He growled.
He aimed the sword in his hands at Tapper's neck.
Tapper suddenly crouched.
Taken by surprise, the boy was unable to stop his momentum and tipped forward out of balance. Tapper took this opportunity to deliver a reverse dagger style slash at his attacker.
Alarmed by the unexpected circumstances, the boy did not panic. He was used to fighting and killing. But he could not dodge the strange angle that the opponent's dagger appeared in.
Clang.
It was followed by a rain of sounds.
ting ting ting ting ting ting….
Tapper and the attacker traded blow after blow.
The opponent was very good. His blows were hard and unyielding but at the same time, flexible and crafty. Both of their speeds were getting faster and faster.
But the boy wasn't used to fighting on uneven ground. The darkness was a weakness to him. Tapper, on the other hand, had lived in an area that was considered precarious. He knew how to use every foothold to its greatest advantage.
Both of them were relatively even. Also, by now, Tapper and the boy were approaching Tapper's preset fish wire trap. He could pull the trigger any moment but he knew that an experienced fighter like the fighter in front of him.
Tapper attacked again with a slash however, his instincts suddenly sent chills down his back.
Above!
On a whim, Tapper threw himself forward and crashed onto the ground.
Boom.
Even though he wasn't looking, a series of vibrations on the ground told him that had he stayed still or jumped backwards, he would have been dead. A deep crack split the ground.
After that, all was still.
Tapper heard loud panting behind him. As well as some coughing.
'That fellow had probably used a lot of his energy on that attack. I'm breathing hard as well but it's not unbearable thanks to the coldness…'
For both a period of time, both parties remained quiet. Tapper had decided to not move. He wasn't injured and had narrowly missed the attack.
He observed the opponent. To the boy, Tapper looked badly injured and utterly unable to fight.
Tapper gave out a few feeble sounding coughs.
"Hey… great fight. Man… what a memorable final battle. Ha.. ha.. cough cough."
The boy stared at Tapper. He threw away the sword hilt in his hands. The blade had been shattered to pieces thanks to the boy's last move.
He slowly approached the "dying" Tapper and lightly placed both hands around Tapper's neck.
Tapper felt that the boy's hands were shaking and felt a surge of pity.
He smiled sadly and said.
"Don't hesitate in the next life, my comrade."
And released the fishing wire he had pulled with his finger.
Tapper had laid onto his own trap. It wasn't harmed by that boy's attack earlier.
The boy who was distracted by his own dilema felt a strong force tug him backwards. He tried to struggle as the girl had done but to no avail.
The fishing wire had wrapped around him and suspended him in midair.
"Urk!"
Tapper did not hesitate like what the boy in front of him had done. Partly because the coldness had resurged and his instincts urged him to do so.
Swiftly, Tapper stabbed his dagger into the neck of the boy. And without a second glance, he released the fishing wire trap.
Fwump
The body fell to the ground.
Gurgled for a bit.
Twitched.
Then, motionless.
Tapper leaped away from the scene. He must not let his second kill cloud his judgement. It was best he left this spot.
For the rest of the time, Tapper spent his time running away or hiding. It was so much easier than fighting.
Escape was what he was very good at. Since in the AlleyWays, fighting was often a last resort for Tapper and Ink.
He conserved his energy as much as possible for the possibility of another fight and escaped from any other person he saw.
Tapper didn't hesitate to utilize any dirty trick in order to escape, be it dirt throwing, tripping, or playing dead (he's gotten much better).
Soon…
"Enough." Lord Wayde's voice once again broadcasted throughout the area.
The ground tumbled and the walls and rocks sank into the ground like weights in quicksand.
Tapper looked around him.
Out of seventeen kids, four survived.
"Line up."
Tapper moved to the center and stood next to a bloody kid with a badly wounded arm. Actually, all the others had some sort of a grievous injury.
All of them were at least seven feet apart from each other.
All was silent. Only sounds of loud breathing and the occasional cough could be heard.
"I had said… kill two." The voice stated darkly.
"You… only killed one…"