The last thing she remembered doing was laying down on her bed after a warm bath. It had been a stressful day for her. The swordsman instructor had taught them the basics of sword fighting.
She felt at peace as she swung the blade. It was one of the only things that she had that could give her joy. Even though she had been forced at first, she ended up falling in love with the art.
Thus, she slept with a calm mind and a heart at ease. Sometime later and she felt discomfort. She tried to ignore it but ended up opening her eyes to find herself in an unfamiliar location.
It was strange. All around her, there were a total of twenty people asleep. Some were familiar, others were not.
Just as she was about to get her bearings, she heard a female voice behind her. "Ugh, where am I?" She turned over to find a dark-skinned girl with scarlet hair. She had to admit that the girl was pretty.
"Hi, I'm…" She was about to introduce herself when she saw the expression on the other girl darken at a fast pace. Before she had a chance to ask what was wrong… "Ah!!!.... Where am I?"
The girl screamed at the top of her lungs as she began to hyperventilate. She quickly moved to assist the lady.
Of course, her scream caused the others in the enclosed space to wake up one after the other. "Ugh, what the hell."
She was familiar with him, Jeremiah Walters. They had shared their childhood, at least, a part of it.
"Elena." He saw her. He had a surprised look as he quickly realized that something was not right. "I'm guessing everyone here slept on their beds only to wake up here." She merely needed confirmation.
Most nodded while others voiced their answers. All in all, it was positive. She sighed as she helped the lady in her embrace to calm down. "Hey, Nate. Nate, wake up."
She looked over to find a blonde-haired teen. He was the guy that helped out the low scorer from yesterday.
Her eyes moved and landed on the last person that was unconscious. He was the low scorer that caught her interest with his bold words. His nose looked red like he had suffered a blow to it. She wondered if it was because of bullying.
Then, the low scorer stirred. A few seconds later and he sat up. Jeremiah dropped a mean comment, typical of him. She sighed. "What is going on right now?"
***
"So, does anyone know how we ended up here?" There was no response. They all recalled sleeping in their respective rooms only to wake up in this strange room.
"It's a test." Then, there was an answer. They all turned to the source. It was Nathan that had spoken up. "A test?... What are you talking about?" Jeremiah asked.
"I overheard them talking about it. I couldn't sleep last night because I had… something on my mind. I heard them come in. Three of them. They were dressed in military attire and they conversed amongst themselves.
"They said something about a test and they have no choice but to do as instructed." Reyes stopped him at this point. "They managed to get our room combination?"
"Mn, they simply strolled in. Unfortunately, before I had a chance to learn more, they discovered my presence and knocked me out."
"So that's how you got a broken nose." Nathan frowned. "Wait what?...Ow." Reyes had poked his nose.
Those present in the room shared looks. "If it's as you said and it's a test, then we have to find a way to get out of here."
"Like an escape room?" Reyes chipped in to which Elena nodded. She then turned to Leah who was still a bit freaked out. "How are you feeling?"
Leah felt a bit embarrassed as she broke out of the embrace. "A bit better. Sorry for screaming so loudly. I get freaked out easily."
"Well, thanks to you, we are all awake. Good job." There was a tone of underlying sarcasm in Jeremiah's words. "Stop it. Let's figure out how to break out of here."
"Anyone have any ideas?" Nathan studied the basic structure of the room. It was in the shape of a cube. An enclosed space with all four corners sealed tight. At first glance, it looked like they were trapped here.
"But they wouldn't take a test that is unbeatable." Nathan felt excited that the test this time wasn't a show of strength or natural talent. It was a battle of wits and he relished it.
"Everyone, start looking for anything you think might be a clue on how to get out of here." The room had a standard design, with a few tables and chairs scattered about. There was a circular platform at the center and at each corner, there was a protrusion that stood out.
The room size seemed big enough to fit a hundred people thus it would take some time for their group of twenty-two to thoroughly search everywhere.
Leah looked under the bed. Tapping her watch, a little light came on to reveal a tiny string hidden at one part of the bed. "As you guys are searching, you should be wary of…"
***Kacha***
It sounded like something had cut. Leah opened her eyes in shock, she hadn't done anything yet. "What did you do?" She put her head up to find the source.
It was a pale-skinned guy with green locks of hair. He looked rather queer at first glance. "Don't worry, nothing happened." He said to his companion. A lady with brown hair and a voluminous posterior.
"Be careful," Elena repeated in a stern tone. Thankfully, no traps had been triggered… At least, that was what she tried to believe.
Just then, Nathan had a mechanical voice in his head. [Unshakeable will activated.]
He was confused. "Huh, why?... I thought it only comes on when I'm under pressure." He had made the deduction from what he had experienced during the exams.
"Or is there something…" He trailed off as his eyes caught sight of Leah hyperventilating. She looked stressed, as though she was under a lot of pressure. Nathan frowned as he moved to her side.
"Leah, is something wrong?" The others turned to look over. "I feel really tense right now. What if we can't get out of here?... What if we are stuck here?... Are we going to remain here?"
Nathan held her shoulder only to realize that she was trembling. "No need to think that far, Leah. We'll get out of this." She wasn't easily convinced. "What if we aren't able to?"
[Unshakeable will activated.] Nathan frowned as he heard the mechanical voice again. Just then, two others began to breathe heavily. They also looked tense.
"Something is wrong." Elena immediately made the deduction as she saw this. "I don't think so," Jeremiah said in a doubtful tone.
"No, she's right. Something is wrong. Everyone regulate your breathing as best you can." Nathan remarked as he pulled Leah from the bed. "It's poison gas. It's messing with our heads, inducing mental pressure where there is none."
"What in the world." A few smart ones quickly followed Nathan's instructions and regulated their breathing. There was no way they could filter it out thus they could only reduce the amount they absorbed into their body.
"How do you know this?... Also, where is the gas leaking from?" Elena asked as she walked up to him. "Uhh…" He had come to a conclusion based on two things.
The first was the fact that the moment he moved closer to Leah, The skill, Unshakeable will, had been activated one too many times.
He felt drained which was why he quickly pulled her away. The second thing was the fact that Leah was visibly shaken. He was aware that she was a bit shy, but not so shy that she would be completely out of it.
"You don't have to explain if you don't want to… If what you said is true, then that means we have limited time here before we are all driven to a state of hopelessness." The mere thought of that caused everyone to shudder.
Who was the instructor that decided to be so merciless as to set up such a test? It was just too much. Even without the help of the gas, most had become tense. "We should focus on getting out of here before it's too late."
Reyes spoke up, his usual lively expression was all but gone. He understood what was at stake and couldn't afford to joke about it. "Keep looking, guys. We'll surely find something."
Elena inadvertently took up the mantle of leadership with the others listening to her orders as they quickly began to search. Nathan turned his attention to Leah. "Can you move on your own?"
She fervently shook her head. At this moment, she looked so fragile. A little nudge and she would break. "Alright then. Stay with me." Nathan felt a bit drained as he heard the mechanical voiceover in his head at intervals.
He had already deduced that, without the system, he would most likely be in a similar condition to Leah. Their physiques were just too weak compared to the others.