"Ohoho.." a soft chuckle came from the red goblin. It smiled as it looked at the five. The smile on his face seemed to get bigger as his eyes landed on Jacob. "Interesting.." it muttered under it's breath.
The five, including Clay was clearly taken aback by the goblins ability to speak. It was weird seeing it in a suit for sure, but talking was in a whole other realm of weird.
The goblin slowly walked towards the group with his hands behind his back. The goblin stopped before them and knelt on one knee, and with a stern tone it said--
"I greet the otherworlders.."
The goblin then stood back up as he scanned the group for a second time. This time his eyes met Clay who was still hiding in the back, his eyes looked like he was ready to pounce on the goblin anytime now.
Then out of nowhere the goblin, grabbed a little clipboard from thin air. An audible gasp could be heard from the group, who had just witnessed the magical occurrence first hand. The goblin then looked at the clipboard as if something was bothering him.
The group who were all too engrossed in the magical clipboard didn't notice, but Clay was sure he heard it. Right when the goblin was looking at the clipboard, it uttered out one word under it's breath--
"Extra.."
Clay grumbled to himself. He didn't know what it meant, but judging from the goblin's expression, it wasn't any good. The goblin then made the clipboard vanish again, which resulted in another audible gasp, this time a little louder.
"I'm sorry for the late introduction. I am Mono, you're guide for today." The goblin said as it took a bow. Clay who was still hiding felt a little at ease knowing the goblin wasn't ill-mannered, though that was a weird expectation to begin with.
Mono continued on his explanation. According to the little fellow, they were currently inside a subspace made by a fellow otherworlder, and that it was made to see the potential in newcomers.
The four seemed to be taking in everything really well, even the teenage girl was nodding her head, Clay on the other hand...
'A what? Otherworlder? Subspace?' he had no idea what the words that was coming out of Mono's mouth meant. Now he really felt left out. 'I should've listened..' he thought to himself as he remembered Lumen--
"I hope you are already well acquainted with your systems, as the test will be starting now. Mono said as he floated up into the air. "Oh.. I forgot to tell you, but your lives will not be at risk in this particular test. It is only to measure your individual potential." He added before magically disappearing into thin air.
Following the disappearance of Mono, old medieval weapons suddenly appeared from where he stood. Swords, spears, shields and other weapons laid on the ground, as if waiting for one of us to pick it up.
The scary bald guy went in first, picking up a massive circular shield. Jacob followed suit as he picked up a short sword about half his size. The gym girl picked up a dagger and another short sword, the teenager who was still visibly shaken by the whole debacle, ultimately picked up a small shield.
As for Clay, he stood at the very back of the group, in front of him were lines of rocks, his pockets and hands were full of tiny pebbles. He didn't want to fight anything, but he figured that helping wouldn't be too bad, especially since he wanted to befriend his group.
Connections. It's number three in Clay's, 'Fourteen Important Things in Life', especially since he's in a new world, with particularly new people, he needed proper connections if he wanted to survive--
"Don't worry about the back!" Clay exclaimed raising a thick tree branch that he picked up earlier. He wasn't too keen on the idea of slashing open monsters, especially since he knows it would be hard, which meant he had to resort to the next best thing. 'I'll bash their heads open..' he thought to himself as he raised his guard up.
Suddenly out of the brush came three goblins. They looked like Mono but with green skin, like the type you'd see in video games and such. Though they weren't as dappered out as Mono, flailing around their wooden clubs while in nothing but a loincloth wrapped around their waist.
The bald man wasted no time, rushing in towards the goblins, bashing them with his shield. Jacob immediately followed suit with a straight stab to one of them, piercing it's neck. Clay watched as green blood spurted out of the poor thing's neck.
Surprisingly, he didn't feel anything. It was gross for sure, but it wasn't like he was about to throw up. He just watched as the two massacred the other goblins in cold blood.