Smirking because of his victory, Fen settled all his equipment where he could find it quickly before sleeping, for once choosing not to enter Dey's reality to train even further. His mind and body needed to rest before he pushed himself beyond his limits in the second Task and he wouldn't be able to do that if he didn't sleep now while he still could.
When he woke up there was still some time before they needed to gather in the main part of the Squad room so Fen, Qin, Gray, and Amelia all went together for breakfast in the Common Grounds. Qin was a little unwilling to go because he wanted to get some last-minute training in before the Task, but just like on Earth, last-minute anything never helped.
"Let me go! Come on, I won't run away this time, I can walk on my own- wait, don't help them Amelia!" Despite his begging, they didn't let go of him until they reached the Common Grounds and just endured the staring of everyone that they passed while walking through the facility's long and complicated corridors.
"Perfect! Alright, I know what you want so just go find a space in the Garden; I'll bring your food." Fen told Amelia, plopping Qin's limb body to the ground after carrying him the entire way.
"K', you there then."
The Common Grounds was unnaturally empty today, most likely because it was the day of the second Task. Most days, there were at least hundreds of Opfer in the Garden with even more hanging out near the kitchen. The place settled very nicely within the hearts of all the candidates with very little issue which was exactly what the Foundation wanted. The organization needed the Opfer to be in peak mental condition so they could absorb as much information as possible after all and gain more strength before the Succession.
"Seasoned chicken breast salad and tacos please." After ordering, they headed into the garden and ate together with Amelia. A few Mana constructs resembling Earth's animals gathered near them because of the lack of other Opfer to interact with and Qin was finally able to relax for a little bit.
"...You guys are going to be fine." Fen was the first one to break the silence that started once all of them dug into their food. "It's not going to be like the first Task; you worked hard and gained enough strength to protect yourselves."
Gray unconsciously raised his hand near the jagged scar on his neck as memories about it's origin flooded his mind.
"Hey." Fen pat his shoulder. "That won't happen again."
A flicker of life returned back to the kid's eyes. Out of all of them, he was the one that handled the Program the worst, having engaged in a deadly battle only a month after thinking that being in the Program was a gift that could allow him to gain magical powers. Reality came like a slap to the face to Gray, a memory that he was never allowed to forget thanks to that scar.
"You're right." A strained smile appeared on the kid's face. "I don't have to depend on luck this time."
"That's the spirit Gray." Amelia flashed a confident grin. "But... just in case, I have a favor I want to ask you guys. If I don't live past this Task-"
"You will." Qin frowned. It was common knowledge that among the four of them, Amelia was the second-strongest that only Fen was able to beat in a spar. "Only a monster like Fen could beat someone like you."
"Let me finish Qin, this is serious."
"When is anything in this damn Program not serious?" Fen sighed. "Your favor has something to do with your life on Earth, doesn't it? Well, I fully intend on going home at the end of all this, so I'll make sure to go along with you when this over to do whatever favor you need." A faint smile hovered just above his lips.
Amelia replied to his remark with a sour expression, "Thanks. I appreciate your 'generosity'. So, Fen already knows a little about my situation at home, but I don't think Gray or you know, so... yeah. I don't need you to tell my family that I died or anything- they probably wouldn't care anyways- but I have this friend, Carla. She was my rock for most of my life, for lack of better words," she laughed while the rest of them listened quietly. "Just tell her that, uhm, that I did my best. She always made sure I was eating and taking care of myself, and if she knew I was here then I'm sure that she'd be yelling at me for even being scared of failure; she never let me doubt myself on Earth."
By the end of her story Amelia was doing her best to keep her voice from wobbling. Fen was a little more experienced with events like this than at the beginning of the Program so he was immediately by her side, not saying anything but making sure that she knew he was there.
"Of course. Carla have a last name?"
"*Sniff* Yeah, Carla Timber."
The three of them took a second to ingrain the name into their memories.
"Uh, while we're talking about stuff like this. I kinda also have a favor to ask..." Gray said while nervously scratching at the back of his head. "I told you guys I have a large family. I worked a lot when I was a kid to help my parents support us, but none of my little siblings know how to do what I do. If I don't make it back home, just make sure my family's okay."
Gray couldn't look any of them in the eye when he finished his explanation, and the silence that took place after he stopped talking only increased the amount of shame that he felt.
"That's it? That's easy Gray, I'd do that even if you didn't ask us. We'd all probably do that anyways, right?" Qin looked at Fen and Amelia for confirmation.
"Yeah. I don't think any less of you for worry about your family. It doesn't have to be something as sad as Amelia's stuff to make us want to do it." Qin wrapped his arm around the youth's shoulders while laughing.
"Well, I guess I don't want to be left out of this chain, but I don't think I have any favor I want to ask you guys. Maybe the same thing as Gray? Just check in on my family and make sure they're okay if I'm not able to come home." He finished, patting Gray on the shoulder after thinking for a little bit. He looked a little embarrassed for not having anything else to ask.
"What about you Fen? Got any favors to ask?"
Fen's eyes narrowed for a moment at the question before returning to their usual calm brown appearance. Even the thought of not returning back home was enough to make his blood run cold.
"...Tell my girlfriend that I loved her, and that I never stopped thinking about her." Fen whispered, worried that if he spoke any louder than the chances of his worst fear coming true would increase. "Her name's Miko Kawasaki, and she's the most beautiful and terrifying girl that you'll ever meet. When you meet her, you'll understand what I mean. Just tell her that I didn't leave by choice, and I did everything I could to make sure I got home. But if you're telling her that, then it means I didn't survive the Program, so just tell her I tried."
The atmosphere that had recovered somewhat from Amelia asking her favor suddenly became much more somber after Fen revealed some of his real thoughts and feelings. The four of them were a lot closer than in the beginning of the Program because of their shared living space but even then, Fen very rarely shared anything about himself, at most talking about his sister.
Fen had another favor to ask, "And take care of my sister. She'll probably be worrying about me if I don't come back home. My parents too, haha. But you guys don't have to worry about that, because I'm going home at the end of this Program, no matter what!" Fen stood up and cleared the frown on his face.
"And I don't want to meet the person who can be best friends with somebody like Amelia, so you better live." Fen got a punch in the ribs for that comment, but at least he got a smile back on her face.
"And, no offense Gray, but your siblings sound like brats! So you're going to survive too so I don't have to meet them! Especially little Eddie," Fen wrinkled his nose in disgust, "How can a kid do stuff like that? The stories you tell us about him are disgusting."
"Dude, that's my brother! Don't say stuff like that, jeez." Gray said with a mad tone, but his face revealed his true feelings and had a small grin. "Just 'cause you said that, I'm making you see my family whether or not I survive past the Program."
"And Qin-"
"Hey, you don't need to hurt my feelings like theirs. I got the message." Qin raised his hands in a cease-fire gesture. Fen smirked and opened his mouth to speak his mind anyways, but another jab from Amelia shut him up before he could say anything.
With a much better atmosphere, the four of them headed back to the Squad room. All of them were much less nervous than before, though they still couldn't help but think of the worst case scenarios that might happen in the near future. If any of them (excluding Fen) had a Chosen as an opponent, then there wasn't much they'd be able to do besides hope for a quick death. Not all of them possessed amazing abilities and skills like him after all.
****
The same speech played on the large interface in the Squad room, with Archon Ellora's face appearing in front of them. However, just before the speech ended the Archon announced that she had a surprise for all the Opfer.
[After analyzing the data and battle records of every candidate in the Program including the Chosen that wanted to participate in the first Task, the Virtue Procural Foundation has made a decision regarding the path of development for the Program going forward.] Ellora clasped her hands in front of her while Yor appeared at her side like always. If Fen looked closely enough, he could see that there were noticeably less damage marks on Yor's Executioner armor, and the Archon looked much less tired than the last time he saw her. It was hard to tell through the interface video feed, but Fen's overall perception was enhanced quite a lot since he advanced into Stage two. [Overall, two major changes have been made to the Tasks. Following this Task, the next Task will be a group battle involving different Squads of Opfer and Chosen, and candidates will be prohibited from fighting candidates in the same group as them. No Opfer can fight another Opfer, and the same will go for the Chosen.]
Fen blinked in surprise while the others behind him celebrated out loud. They were all confident in Fen's abilities and thanks to their infrequent sparring they were all more or less aware of each other's skills, so it wouldn't be too difficult to fight together rather than against each other. Fen however, was worried. He didn't want to reveal his true nature yet, and so had always been holding back his actual strength whenever he sparred with his Squad mates.
If he fought together with them against Chosen then there'd be no way he'd be able to hide his true abilities; at least not if he wanted to keep them alive. As far as his knowledge went, he was the only Opfer in the entire Program to know the extent of a Chosen's power. He knew that there was no way that even the second strongest person in their Squad, Amelia, could fight with a Chosen unless she became a Stage two Mage, and even then the difference in power might be too much.
And if she couldn't, then there was no way that Qin or Gray could either. Just thinking about them going up against someone as powerful as Edmond... it made his blood boil with rage at the Foundation. Fen never forgot the image of Gray coming back to the Squad room from the first Task with that scar on his neck; he made sure to engrave it into his head.
'He's just a kid. If I don't use all my power in the third Task to save them, how could I live with myself? We just talked about coming home together.' Fen frowned as his thoughts cluttered his mind. Before he could process them all, Archon Ellora continued speaking.
[And the second major change is happening immediately, but it will only affect a small portion of you, the Opfer. Well, to be exact, only one of you will be effected. The main cause of this change is the miraculous event that occurred last month in which an Opfer, with only a month of training, succeeded in killing a Chosen Mage who broke through into Stage three.]
'Huh? Isn't she talking about me?' All of a sudden Fen got a sinking feeling in his gut. '... Damn it, don't tell me the Death Mark-'
[So, the change that will be made is that none of the Opfer will face Chosen in this Task. However, in order to bear with the numerical changes that will occur within the Opfer because of the changes, Fen Altairus, will have to defeat two Chosen in the Task. The added challenge was implemented because certain members of the Foundation complained about the unfairness of the changes and were being brats.]
[Although our organization has spent dozens of years diligently working on a plan that best fits our needs for Guardians for the planet, the unexpected death of a Chosen within the first three months of the Program forced us to reevaluate our plan. As always, I hope that you perform the best you can within the Task. I will personally ensure your family is taken care of if you don't make it.]
With those last words, the interface flickered off and the golden particles retreated back into the energy vein walls. Within the Squad room, there was an awkward silence with everybody staring at Fen. There was worry in their eyes but among them, Fen was the only one who perfectly understood the strength of a Chosen. Even he couldn't guarantee victory against two opponents at the Stage three level. But despite his knowledge, Fen didn't despair.
No. In fact, the youth who was most affected by the changes had eyes full of determination while his body tensed with anger.
"No matter what, I'll survive this task." In such a time where breaking down into despair would be an okay thing to do, Fen managed to smirk. "I still want to see my family again, so what choice do I have but to fight with everything I've got? I didn't train and put myself through hell for nothing. If I could already beat one Chosen, then I'll beat two this time, and the next time three, and by the end of this damned Program I'll kill them all."
Mentally, Fen pictured the faces of his beloved family before storing that memory away and recalling the expressions of the Wolves' leaders, who he suspected to have played a major role in the changes made in the Tasks. They were the only ones who knew that something was off about his abilities because they were the only ones who even bothered sending their own people- or in this case, monsters- to find out more information about him.
"Well. I'll just head to the Task room now."
Fen picked up all his gear and the pack containing all the items he might need and left after they all said their goodbyes.