I had heard from the teacher a few weeks ago that the test would start by putting students alone and then grouping them into groups, but I didn't expect that I would have to be one of the team leaders or that I would have to recruit them into the rune matrices and I have no choice in deciding who will or will not be a member of the group as it normally would.
If I choose not to recruit a person I will have a group with one less person, I have to admit that the principal was very creative in this test, by the number of students there must be at least ten groups of ten as there must be around 100 students inside the rune matrix maze. I hope to be lucky is to find competent people, it would be great to meet people I already know, but considering that we are being watched I would not doubt that the examiners will not try to alienate my acquaintances and force me to form groups with people I do not know.
I just don't expect to find even an elf since not one of them will join my group and then my nine vacancies will decrease even more. I just hope to get some non-useless people to set up my group so I can pass the next part of the director's test.
Better start making my way again through the rune matrix maze, I don't know if I keep going in one direction or start to have a more curved route, getting out of the maze shouldn't be my only goal anymore, so maybe I should move to different directions to see if I can increase the frequency of bumping into someone. The sooner I finish recruiting people to my team the sooner I move on to the next part of the test.
I advance to the next array only to find a huge hole in the ground, it's really a big hole in the ground, the earth is scattering all over the place. Someone works hard to dig a hole, did the person responsible for that hole dig to try to get around the matrix? Because I doubt that the matrix test is digging a hole in my matrix, it's a shame they don't nick it inside the hole, I think the person responsible for the hole has already gone to another matrix.
I look up and wait for some message, but nothing comes, so I look into the hole and find nothing else. It's completely empty, that's really weird, and to add to my doubts, a door opens on the other side of the matrix by itself, I'm pretty sure I didn't even pull a trigger.
Maybe they should have broken this matrix by simply destroying its environment, I must admit this is even more creative and a waste of mana in my opinion, but the good news is that the hole looks fresh so there's a good chance I'll find the one responsible for the hole in the next array. So, I run through the portal only to be greeted by several screams of pain, but they were coming from animals and not humans which is always good news as it's never good when you hear human screams.
I encounter an earth and fire elemental mage killing a small horde of level two animals, a bunch of wolves, bugs and some birds are attacking him, and this is my chance to help the mage and increase my chances of recruiting a good one. mage to my group, even though he doesn't look like a mage.
This mage looks more like a warrior than me, the guy is over six feet tall and he has the body of a bodybuilder and is swinging a massive iron staff like a fighting staff. He is keeping his enemies both with his magic as well as using his staff, he just blew up the skull of one of the wolves with the staff reinforced with the earth element.
I know mages who use styles other than the traditional mage like Vali in the first test fight a light warrior, but I hadn't heard of a brute mage like this before. That kind of person should easily stand out from my students, like Erick or Raziel who loves to gossip won't tell me that they run a wizard like that at the institute.
The two gossips will even tell me about marriages that were broken up because one party was caught visiting another student's bedroom at night, but nothing about a six-foot-tall wizard who behaves like a warrior and he shouldn't be much older as its gray core is still in the middle stage. I draw my makeshift bow and start shooting arrows at the animals, unfortunately I can only kill level one monsters and level two monsters with one arrow and at most I can hurt them so better aim for their eyes.
Obviously, the mage noticed my interference, but as I only hit the monsters, I am not his enemy. But it didn't take long for all the animals to be killed and he realized who I was, as well as the previous fat guy's reaction when he saw that I wasn't even wearing armor, he realized that I had ivy, but I still don't know if that is something good or bad.
"I remember you. Looks like you got some equipment, I don't know if the principal should be happy or sad about your success, may I know why you helped me?"
He looks like he's a pretty straightforward person, which is good. Since he's not in a good situation, but he doesn't know it yet.
"I helped you for a simple reason, the test demands that I help you. Simple, isn't it?"
I've managed to confuse him; he's looking at me like I'm crazy as well as unlucky.
"Do you look surprised my new friend?"
"I'm not your friend, it's just I find it hard to believe that. As far as I understood, this test is aimed at getting out of the maze and for that it is not necessary to make a group."
Now I'm sure he's not another team leader, I see real confusion on his face, he's not confident in his analysis of the challenge.
"It's normal for you to be confused, you weren't chosen as a leader, if you had been chosen you would have to recruit the people you meet at headquarters. That's the reason I helped you before, I want you to accept being part of my black group and for us to work together on the next phase of the test."
"Why should I believe you or because your group is black?"
"I didn't choose this name; I was designated as the leader of the black group. If I were to give a color to my group, I would have chosen red or blue, I don't have anything black in me now, I understand why this is weird, it doesn't make sense for me to be the leader of a black group, I should have at least a black beam to signal the color of my group, but the examiners didn't give me anything other than the notification that by the way was late."
The confusion on his face only grows, the more I puzzle him the better my chance of recruiting him, if I don't start laughing at my speech.
"Why was the notification late?"
"Because one of the rules is that if I fail to recruit whoever I find inside the maze, I automatically lose one of my team's spots. Obviously, the examiners will wait until I leave behind the fat idiot I stole this equipment, the moment I move to another headquarters, I am notified that I am the leader of the black group and I need to recruit the other team members."
"They did it on purpose, just to harm me."
His face is paralyzed and only after a few minutes he speaks again. It took him a long time to process the information I dumped on him.
"I believe you; your story seems true. The director wouldn't do a simple test like a maze, I already suspected that there would be some trick in my test, but I didn't think she would make the test a team match, I thought the second test would be an individual match."
"But I believe in your story, because the examiners will screw you on purpose. If it weren't for that, I admit that I would have difficulty believing in you."
It seems my plan worked, sometimes the truth is the best way to convince someone to do what you want them to do. Especially when you put a truth in your story that he can relate to, everyone feels screwed up by the deadly test.
Before I can talk any more to my teammate, a small flash of light blooms above us. As I look up, I see an origami shaped like a snake with wings descending towards me.
'Congratulations on recruiting the first member of your team, your grade is:'
"Because you can sound so fake, you sounded like a pervert mistaking a small child to accept suspicious candy, and you didn't even tell a lie."
"We're waiting to see how you trick the rest of the people into joining your group when their leader doesn't even have good equipment."
The note caught fire in my hand again, if I didn't have the fire element, I would have my fingertips burned by these flammable papers.
"Well, you're officially a member of the black group now, what's your name again? Mine is Ulric, but I think you knew that before."
"My name is Amael I am a member of the Etna family. I remember the principal introducing you to all the students before the test."