As every student made their way towards the exit, all their paths converged again in the spacious hall. Everyone buzz and a worried look crept on their faces when they realized they were back at the starting hall.
One group after another appeared, filling the once empty hall. They conversed about what happened, what was going on, or should they go back. As noises filled the room, the last group of students appeared.
Rain, Ethan, Alfonse, and Rever had exhausted defeated looks on their face with their torn jackets and burnt hair. They were even covered in dirt while Arca came out looking all satisfied and smug.
All the students stopped when they saw this group of people. Some snickered, others gossiped while most were curious about what happened that this group came out like a battered bunch of losers.
"Geez, how did I even got myself involved with this? Rever, this was all your fault for teasing Arca too much." Ethan lamented in a dejected tone as he wiped off the dirt on his clothes.
"How is it my fault? I didn't know that she carried all sorts of duds on her. If it's anything, it should be this prince's fault for teasing missy first." Rever's face was unrecognizable because of the dirt as he pointed at Alfonse.
"Remind me again why you decided to tease the only daughter of the CEO of Deux Machina, the developer of Armalest?" Rain said in a resigned tone as he wiped off the dirt on his face.
"Hmp! How unmanly of you to put all the blame on me when you all joined in teasing her." Alfonse held his smug face.
Among the three men, Alfonse was the only one who suffered less with few holes and dirt on his clothes.
"Unmanly my ass! That's rich coming from someone who shamelessly used us as a shield a while ago." Rever sneered while Alfonse just raised his eyebrow, amused.
No one dared to cruse nor said terrible things about the sons of Duke Vormont. If they were in Alistar, Rever was executed by now.
Alfonse hid a smile on his lips. Although he didn't show it, he was happy that he found people who treated him as equals and not just the son of the mighty Vormont family.
RUMBLE!
RUMBLE!
The ground shook as the rumbling noises silenced the crowd. And like a cue, all the ten passageways from where different groups of students came disappeared without a trace as a new single passageway appeared.
"Finally. It's the exit!"
"It's got to be the exit!"
"I can finally breath again."
Different feelings rose in the air as one student after another rushed towards that passageway.
"D-d-do you think . . . t-there's another . . . b-beast in there?" Ethan whispered and moved closer to Rain.
"Only one way to find out." Rain and his group of five strode towards that passageway.
Everyone was padding in the hallway. No one dared to make a sound as everyone seemed to be on alert and ready for an ambush.
Rain and the others didn't let their guard down one bit.
After a few kilometers walked, they finally reached a set of stairs and at the end of the stairs was a blindingly bright light.
The students all look at each other. They now know not to rush inside that blinding room after everything that happened. There might be beasts waiting for them on the other side.
As they climbed the stairs, the tension grew, and the silence was deafening. Everyone was trying to feel the surroundings, trying to wait for the action of their fellow students. When nothing seemed to be a miss, they took their first step into that light.
"W-what?"
"Where are we?"
"What is this place?"
Questions after questions filled the dilapidated room. After the endless bricks and molds, the students were transported into a spacious hall. It was different from the previous halls as now the floors were carpeted with broken decaying wood planks, flanked by dirty, tattered cracked walls as the light penetrated the rose shattered windows.
"P-p-please . . . t-tell met-there aren't any b-beast," Ethan said, shaking as his hand covered his eyes while his other hand was gripping Rains tattered jacket.
"Don't worry. You can remove your hand now." Rain shook his head a little as he roamed his eyes at what seemed to be an interior of a house.
"Heh! Sissy!" Rever mocked Ethan.
"Alright. You, too, can stop covering your eyes and let go of my clothes. There's no beast." Rain mused as he shook his head.
CREAK!
The large double door opened, and another blazingly bright light penetrated.
All the students squinted their eyes, refusing to shut it even from all the glares.
Amidst the bright light came a silhouette of a girl about four feet eight inches tall.
"Everyone! Congratulations on completing the rite of passage!" said that oh-so-familiar loud, tingling voice.
As Rain's eyes adjusted to the brightness, he finally saw that person who was standing at the door. A cute girl with curly long brown hair loosely tied on her shoulder with a pair of playful emerald eyes.
Rain couldn't believe what he was seeing, not because the girl was cute but because the girl who passed as a child was actually a third-year and their senior!