—The next day, Jay, Axel, and Ivy meet up at their usual meeting place, next to the Apocylade. Axel was still giving his all at pulling it out of its rocky tomb, and Jay waited for his turn at it. Ivy was training her Aspect more in the Wilds nearby.
"Ack!!" Axel says as his fingers slip on the Apocylade's handle, falling on himself.
"Does it feel close?" Jay asks sarcastically, "Maybe you'll loosen it up for me!"
"Yea, right..." Axel smiles as he regains his breath.
Jay and his friends had no idea when the next part of the tryouts was scheduled today, so they waited around until they absolutely had to show up at the arena. Stan or another organizer would surely give them a heads-up beforehand. After Axel jumps off of the Apocylade's boulder, Jay steps up and tries to pull it out as well.
Although he tried with all of his might, he too was unable to pull the legendary blade out of its mantle. Jay lets go before his hands start to cramp.
"Does it feel close, Maguire?" Axel asks.
"Shut up..." Jay smiles as he stands up straight.
Looking to his left, he spots Ivy walking to their direction with her hands over her face. She looked embarrassed.
"Hey Ivy! Are you ok?" Jay calls out.
Ivy looks up to Jay and waves to him, signaling she was okay. As she gets closer Axel walks closer to the two.
"You looked sad, shrimp!!" Axel laughs.
"It's nothing serious!" Ivy says, "I just lost one of my arrows, is all..." Ivy mumbles in heartache.
"Oh." Axel says abruptly.
Jay and his friends continue to wait patiently for a text message or a call from someone. As they waited, Jay felt something odd. He looked around cautiously into the Wilds nearby, scattered with dense bushes and relatively short trees. Compared to the trees where the tryouts have been taking place so far—next to the recently built arena—these trees could not compete in size.
Jay continued to peek through the leaves and around rocks as he stood as still and as calm as possible. Ivy catches on and knows why Jay is surveying his surroundings.
"Someone's watching us," Ivy whispers to him.
"Yea, I sensed it too," Jay says.
"How'd you know that?" Ivy whispers in disbelief.
"U-uh, I don't know. Just had a feeling." Jay says.
"Whatever, I'm telling Axel. We should get out of here as fast as—"
"What are *you* doing here?!" Axel yells in a shocked tone.
Jay and Ivy turned to Axel, who was shifted to the Wilds in front of him. Looking in the same direction, Jay and Ivy gasp in surprise as they lock eyes with the player watching them.
"H-helmet?!" Ivy mutters.
"What?" Jay mutters as well.
"Hello." Helmet says, holding up his hand to signal a friendly greeting.
Helmet approaches the group, who are all still confused why he's here. Helmet tasks a couple more steps before stopping in front of them. However, he wasn't focused on anyone here and instead looked past them, pointing in that same direction.
"So you guys are trying to pull an unobtainable sword?" Helmet says.
"W-what?! It's for *sure* obtainable!!" Axel says back.
"So you've got it close? Or have you seen its item description as you hold onto it?" Helmet replies.
"N-no..." Axel admits.
"That's because it isn't gonna be in the game any time soon." Helmet says, turning to Jay.
Helmet holds a thumbs up, "Good job, kid." He says in a cheery voice.
'He's being nice?!' Ivy thinks.
'He's being nice?!' Axel thinks.
"I will say, it was a surprise to see you all passed the first run of the tryouts, so good job." Helmet follows up.
"What?" Ivy starts, playing with her hair, "Did you not believe we could beat it or something?"
"Yeah." Helmet says, "I thought you guys had no chance."
"What?! Why you little!!" Axel grovels as he stomps closer to Helmet.
In reflex, Helmet draws his gun at lightning speed and shoots three bullets at Axel's feet. They all miss on purpose, but it stops Axel in his tracks. He looks at Helmet with a scared expression.
"Only because you guys have flaws," Helmet explains, putting his gun away, "Just like me—"
"You with the metal fists, first off, have anger issues. Rushing into a fight without thinking is stupid and will ensure your failure later on in the tryouts—"
"—The girl with the sticks and string has too much of a heart. If you feel compassion or any other feelings during a fight, I see you failing to win. Sometimes feeling sorry for someone can't be controlled, but it shouldn't control your decision to win or lose in battle—"
"—And the Aspect-less swordsman. I mean, your flaw is right there. Fighting someone on the professional level without an Aspect will be impossible to win, so you try to make up for it with your playstyle alone."
Jay and his friends feel upset after Helmet's words, looking at the ground or away from Helmet in anger and frustration. He had just made it a point that they aren't strong enough to make it on the professional level.
"With that being said, though," Helmet adds, "You have strong suits you can work on."
Everyone looks back to Helmet, intrigued by what he meant.
"Axel, is it? Your flames can condense, which, if you train correctly, can definitely create some serious power. Also, you're very athletic, which I can see when you attack."
"Ivy, although I think bows are inferior to firearms, they too can pack a punch. Your life Aspect seems to affect plants and other player's Aspects in particular. Continue training your own power in the meantime."
'He said my name!!' Ivy fangirls.
"And Jay. It's going to be hard, but training your swordsmanship can prove to be deadly." Helmet says as he reclines a bit, "especially if you train what I talked to you about previously."
Jay instantly knows what Helmet references, the concept of «Preloading», which allows a player to predict an attack before it's thrown.
"Wait, what'd you tell him to train?" Axel inquires.
"Just basic attack patterns." Helmet adds to throw the rest of Jay's friends off, "Combos are key in swordplay, which is another reason I enjoy long range weapons."
After Helmet concludes his speech, the team seems to be fired up, like they just received some sort of secret pep talk. Helmet opens up his game menu.
"So, onto why I'm here," Helmet says, "Stan sent me to make sure you guys made it on time to the next section of the tryouts."
'The freelance announcer?!' Axel thinks.
"Oh! When does that start, by the way? We have no idea since no one told us." Jay asks.
Helmet continues scrolling through his game menu, almost like he didn't hear what Jay asked. After a couple more seconds of navigating his interface, Helmet extends his right hand forward.
"Everyone put your hands on mine." Helmet says casually.
'What's he planning!?' Ivy blushes.
After a couple of moments, Jay and his friends turn to each other, nod, and put their hands on top of Helmet's. Once they were all making contact with each other, Helmet pressed a button on his Menu's display, Displaying a text box to appear in everyone's vision.
In a flash, the group of players disappeared from the Apocylade's side and reappeared next to the makeshift arena they were at yesterday. They had teleported to the location where the tryouts took place.
Jay looks around and sees a majority of the players that had finished the race yesterday present already. He had no idea what the next part of the tryouts would occur, but it had to be soon. There was no reason for Helmet to bring them here right now unless so.
"Hey Helmet—" Jay starts to ask, wanting to know when the second round of the tryouts was going to start.
But Helmet was gone. Ivy and Axel notice as well when Jay starts to look around him. He had vanished from them once again.
'How mysterious does he have to be?' Jay thinks.
As he tries to put two and two together, his game menu notifies him that he has one unread message in his inbox. Having a hunch that it was Helmet, Jay scrolls through his messages to see who was contacting him.
It wasn't Helmet, but it was someone else he knew well.
>Hey!!! To your left!
>—Dillan
ˆˆsent 1 min ago
Jay looks to his left and sees Dillan's signature Jacket flap in the wind. He seemed to look brighter than yesterday, almost confidently walking past his competition. Although there were many players here, Jay could not spot Tide, or...
"Kira! Over here!" Jay hears Ivy call out.
Sure enough, Kira was walking a small distance away from them as well, making her way through the dense Wilds around the arena. She had her hair parted the other way than average but shifted back when she saw Ivy calling for her. Axel looks from Kira and spots Dillan approaching as well.
"What are *you* doing back here?!" Axel teases.
"I'm here to take your spot in the Guild, obviously!" Dillan laughs.
Axel didn't find it funny, and the two of them bickered back and forth, nitpicking at each other's flaws.
Jay turns his attention to the arena once more and its paper-mache style of structure. It wasn't literally made of paper, but it didn't look stable, with exposed foundation and wood supports leaking out of its overall shape.
"What did today have in store for them?" That was the question on Jay's mind.
"Hello, contenders!" A familiar voice calls out through the speaker system around the area, "I'm your host, announcer, and handsome magician for today!"
"*Stan Stanley*—"
'Stanlington...' Jay thinks as Stan recites his full name for the crowd.
Kira makes her way to Ivy's side, and the party from yesterday was reunited once more for the second part of the tryouts. They listened carefully for what they would have to endure today.
"I'm sure most of you have these questions on your mind," Stan explains, "When do the tryouts today start? What are we doing? How is this announcer so perfect?—"
"—Don't fret! Everything will be explained shortly!" Stan calls out.
"I wonder if it's gonna be a team deathmatch!" Dillan says to the group.
"Or an all-out brawl!!" Axel says, cracking his knuckles through his giant metal gauntlets.
"Maybe it's gonna be another race or puzzle!" Ivy says cheeringly.
"I'd rather do a ~standardized test~ than another goose chase." Kira whispers.
"Maybe it's going to be a power scale? Or like a trial to test our strength?" Jay suggests.
Whatever it was, no one was ready. Everyone in the crowd of players waited impatiently for Stan to tell them what they would be engaging in today.
"So! Today's tryouts session will consist of..." Stan starts.
Everyone tenses up, ready to jump up in celebration at which person was right in their guesses. A strange aura rushes through each player present, and the feelings of pressure in the area were so strong you could cut the air with a knife. Jay's eyes widened at this moment in anticipation.
"An exam of game knowledge! We'll be doing it in a ~standardized format~, so make sure to bring a snack and something to read or to do..." Stan announces half-heartedly.
There was silence in the clearing.
Then chaos.
"*A TEST?! LIKE THE ONES I DO FOR SCHOOL*?!"
"You're out of your *MIND*!!"
"*THE SLAYER'S PACK ARE JOKING, RIGHT*?!"
"First a race, *THEN THIS CRAP*?!"
The frustration in the players around him made Jay even more upset. A standardized test? What was the benefit of this?
'I didn't *mean* it when I said it!!!' Kira thinks to herself in a complete panic, covering his face in embarrassment.
Axel and Dillan look at Stan in complete anger together, almost looking like they want to kill him. Ivy sees this and starts to feel even more frustrated.
"When are we gonna fight or do something *fun*?!" A random voice in the crowd spits out.
"Oh!" Stan responds to them,
"You'll have plenty of time for that in round three of the tryouts." He says in a severe tone.
The clearing quiets down after Stan mentions this. Fighting will take place in the future of the tryouts, which everyone was confident they would be participating in today. Jay didn't know what Stan meant, but everyone else wanted to know more, asking Stan questions. Stan didn't answer any of these and opted to explain the tests today further.
"Pipe down! Let me run you through the tests for today!"
Stan then explained the procedure for today's tryouts session before letting each participant make their way inside the makeshift arena to take the test itself.
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-
The rest of the day was quite boring actually, consisting mainly of the test Stan mentioned earlier. It was a standardized test, with the sheets with the questions and the sheets where the players input their answers.
Instead of having many desks and chairs in an open room, players could roam around the arena in its entirety. There were only about 100 participating Prospects, so the stadium was a playground for those wanting a quiet time. Some players used their aspects to find comfortable ways to take the test.
Jay spotted at least three players using their water Aspects to sit on waves liquid. Some air Aspect users were just floating as they participated in the test.
The party split up once they entered the arena to take the test, as Stan made it a note to "give each other room."
The actual contents of the exam were pretty straight forward as Stan put it. It consisted of three different phases. Number one consisted of Area knowledge, like the five main cities, points of interest, «Dungeon» locations, and many other questions. It was a walk in the park for anyone who's been playing the game for a long time, especially since one question asks the player when they joined the game.
The second section had to do with combat. Hypothetical situations with the player giving answers on what to do. How much damage certain weapons would do, different styles of combat, Aspect charts, and other questions pertaining to battle. This was the most challenging section for Jay to answer since all of the questions with Aspect usage were more of a personal agenda.
The third section dealt with Guild questions and structure. Players had to answer questions on how Guilds are formed, operated, and other inquiries. It was the section that stumped many players, being hard to answer if you were never in a Guild or didn't do research.
After around four hours of this trial, all of the players in the arena had turned in their tests, respectively. Most were tired of it all, and some left immediately after they turned them in. Stan had explained earlier that once a player is done with their test, they can hand them to a tryout's manager and be excused.
Players would be contacted if they were accepted into the final stage of the tryouts, which would be the elusive third stage. They never mentioned how a Prospect would be contacted, but that's how it was.
Jay wraps up his test and walks up to Stan to submit it. Stan gives him a lookup and down.
"So you don't have one?" Stan asks Jay, which he intended about Jay's Aspect.
"Huh?" Jay responds.
"I meant an extra sword! I don't see one on you!" Stan plays it off.
"O-oh!" Jay says in surprise, "Yeah, it's just stored in my inventory!"
"Well, someone from the Slayer's Pack will contact you if you made it to stage three!" Stan says, "Have a splendid rest of your day!"
"Thanks! Um, and when will stage three take place?" Jay says.
"Who knows! I sure don't..." Stan slumps over.
Jay meets up with Ivy, Axel, Dillan, and Kira after finishing up since they had all turned in their tests before him. In fact, Jay was one of the last prospects to turn in his exam forms since section two was so daunting to finish.
"Hey, Jay!!" Axel yells as he gets closer, "Did you ace it?!"
"Ha, We'll see, I guess..." Jay responds, looking up to the sky.
It was nighttime in-game, meaning it was probably early in the morning in the real world. Several large and intricate star patterns stretch across the sky.
"So..." Dillan starts, "If we do have to fight each other in this next part of the tryouts, what are we going to do?"
There was a pause in the conversation, with each player eyeing the next. Fighting each other hadn't been a topic of thought or conversation yet.
"We do our best!!" Axel says, pointing at Dillan, "And I'm knocking you out the first chance I get!!"
"I'm sure teaming up will be banned, so Axel has a point." Kira mumbles.
'She acknowledged me?! That's rare for her loner attitude...' Axel thinks.
"Yeah, I'm not too sure what's gonna happen," Jay adds, "But if it comes down to it, I'll try my hardest to fight anyone else instead of you guys."
The group all starts to develop smiles as Jay says what was on his mind. If they were pitted up against each other, taking everyone else out was an optimal strategy.
"When it comes down to it, you're first." A voice says behind Jay.
Jay turns around as he sees a large shadow fall over him. The player behind Jay was none other than Tide. Jay's heartbeat accelerated, and his body started to freeze up. Tide leaned in just like he had done yesterday.
"You're my target, remember?" Tide whispers to Jay.
"Y-yeah," Jay utters, "You're mine t-too."
"*HA*!" Tide exasperates, "I'd like to see you try."
Tide walks away after he says that. Axel's teeth grit as the prominent player strides off, but before he can say anything, Jay raises his hand to him.
"It's not worth the trouble," Jay tells Axel.
"I just can't stand that character." Axel admits, "He's such a hard-ass for no reason!!"
Jay couldn't help but agree with Axel's call, but he did aggravate Tide in the first place, challenging him a little bit. If Tide were going to bring the fight to him, Jay would have to bring some fight back.
The party says their goodbyes once more tonight, giving each other good luck for the coming days. They would need it to be accepted for the next section of the tryouts.
Jayson logs out of the Nexus, finding himself once again on Isabelle's couch. His eye bags were droopy as he was exhausted from the last couple of days. A lot of things were going on simultaneously, but he had to progress in training to become the number one player in the Nexus. As far-fetched as his ambitions were, he had to protect his mother at all costs.
As soon as he sat up straight, he received a text message through his NIE. It was from Josh. Not seeing anyone in the Davis household around, he opens it up in his vision.
>Hey Maguire!! I know you'll be busy this upcoming Sunday, visiting the hospital like usual...<
What Josh asks next gives Jayson a burning feeling in his heart. It was a question he had been waiting to hear for a long time.
>Me and Isabelle talked it over a couple of times in the past. Can we visit your mom with you this time?<
ˆˆsent just now