Babyface finished introducing the first phase of the tournament, the Display of Intelligence, and the graduates were dismissed to the undercroft of the Colosseum.
The first phase was the least interesting for the spectators, but many enjoyed guessing as they followed along on their own.
Guilds would compile a list of hundreds of questions and answers for information and knowledge they want their players to know.
CyberNexus would then compile the questions and create a questionnaire for Babyface to ask the participants.
Each school would pit the graduates with the same rank against one another and compete head-to-head in a public forum where they were required to ring in before submitting the answer.
Shin and the rest of the graduates walked through the winding tunnels underneath the stadium as they approached the hypogeum, a waiting area for the participants.
As he walked through the tunnels, a secret door opened and was ignored by the players, but Shin was able to slip inside unnoticed, closing the door behind him.
"Greetings, Omega." The elderly man said, bowing before he reached his hand out, and Shin shook it, "I'm Cyprus."
"Good to meet you." The young man nodded, looking around the small room with a table in the center and a bag sitting on it.
"Command expresses their genuine disappointment in being unable to provide additional assistance, but due to your own choices, this was the best they could offer."
Shin shrugged and patted Cyprus on the shoulder as he passed him, opening the bag and looking through its contents, "It's no issue. These will be very useful. Is there an update?"
"Yes." Cyprus nodded, hobbling over to the bag and reaching into it, pushing the three skillbooks to the side and pulling out a small folder, handing it to the young man.
"Our intelligence shows us that Midnight Sonata is the target." The elderly man explained as Shin flipped through the folder.
"They used to be one of the top guilds, didn't they?" Shin asked, and the old man nodded.
"Yes. They peaked at number two."
"That's right! I remember watching them battle against Godslayers when I was younger!" Shin said, smiling fondly at the memory, but it quickly faded as he realized the implications of the accusation; asking coldly, "Who is the suspect?"
"We don't know…" Cyprus sighed, shaking his head as he stared down at the ground.
"Who do we have on the inside? Why aren't they doing their job?!" The young man asked, a hint of anger in his voice as he slammed his palms against the table.
"No one…" The old man sighed, shaking his head again, "You're going in blind and will be our man on the inside."
"You've gotta be kidding me…" Shin sighed, hanging his head in defeat as he stared down at the young man who was the talent scout for Midnight Sonata.
After a moment, the young man grabbed the skillbooks from the bag, added them to his inventory, and approached the door to exit when the old man stopped him.
"Omega, wait!" Cyprus yelled, holding his hand out as Shin turned around, staring at him blankly, "Listen, kid… This is an investigation, not a war. Do not engage!"
"I know." He answered, turning and placing his hand on the wall, opening the door, holding the invisible frame, and turning his head, "You need to contact command… We have a mole."
Shin slipped out of the secret room as Cyprus called after him, but his words were ignored. He entered the waiting room for the contestants and found a quiet corner to meditate silently.
Lucy approached him, and before she could speak, he shook his head, telling her no as he continued to meditate with his eyes closed.
Before she could protest, an announcement rang out, summoning her and the graduates matching her rank from the other schools.
"We will speak before the final round when fewer eyes are on us." Shin said before she walked away, exiting the waiting room.
He remained motionless, ignoring everyone who stepped to him, sitting motionless as he channeled his energy.
It soon became a game amongst the players as each one would approach and tell him jokes in order to elicit a response, but none worked.
Sienna came over and sat down next to him as she returned from her turn at the quiz, trying to speak with him, but he did not respond until the bell rang and summoned him.
"Congratulations." Shin said as he stood, joining the graduates at the door and being led toward the arena.
He released his Heavenly Battle Meditation, his aura washing over the graduates beside him as they exited out from the tunnels onto the dirt ground of the stadium.
He grinned inwardly as he glanced at the myriad of Fighters in his group and knew it was an easy win for him.
One of the unspoken rules was the ability to debilitate your opponents in order to disrupt their capabilities.
Typically, this gave Mages and Support classes an advantage. Shin filled a similar role with his meditation, which could reduce the attributes of those around him.
He couldn't make them forget the information they knew, but he could reduce their reaction speed while increasing his own, allowing him to chime in first, giving him a solid advantage.
The dozen headmasters stood in the center of the arena as the graduates appeared and stood beside theirs.
"Aaaarrrreeeee yyyyyooooouuuuu rrrreeeaaadddyyyy????" Babyface roared, rolling onto his back as he floated on the cloud and kicked his feet wildly in the air.
The crowd burst into a deafening roar as each headmaster handed their former student a small capsule.
Shin took it from Director Kim and pressed the lid; it burst into a tiny cloud of smoke and quickly vanished, leaving a slim signaling device in its place.
"Make me proud, my boy." Kim whispered, leaning over toward Shin, who nodded once, his gaze locked on Babyface and his over-the-top antics as he discussed the rules.