Oliver turned his head and found the same woman who had questioned him in the training center before. Just as he was about to say something, one of the men in black suits spoke first,
"Lady Amano, do you know this man?"
"No, not really. You could just say we might have met once before. Although, I do want to know what's going on."
"Very well." The other man responded and quickly continued, "This man was involved in a fissure near Taki's dojo. It was also reported by him."
The woman they called Lady Amano simply stood there for a couple of seconds, seemingly in deep thought when she suddenly said,
"Alright, I'll handle the necessary procedures. I had wanted to ask him a few questions anyway."
The two men quickly nodded and left Oliver with her. As they left, Oliver didn't know why but he felt like an abandoned pup. As the woman stared at his helpless expression, she suddenly smiled and asked,
"So? Want to answer me now?"
"Oliver." He muttered under his breath. Although she heard him, she still felt like it was lacking.
"Sorry, I couldn't seem to hear you?"
"We both know that's a lie."
"Maybe, maybe not. Who could truly know, Mr. Unknown guy."
"Oliver, my name is Oliver. Happy now?"
"No last name?"
"No."
"Alright, let's get going."
"Wait!"
"Hmm?"
"You still haven't told me your name."
"Oh yeah, I'm Rika Amano. Now, we really do need to go."
Oliver nodded and this time didn't protest. Quickly they made their way towards a small platform and boarded a bullet train. As Oliver was slightly confused as there were no tracks underneath, they were shown to a private room. Suddenly, the train took off, flying through the air and toward a towering spire in the middle of the city.
Noticing his curiosity, Rika teased, "What? Never been on a flying train?"
"N-no, of course I haven't!" Oliver responded, quickly taking his eyes away from the window and the faraway ground. Seeing this, Rika didn't waste the opportunity presented to her,
"Scared of heights, pfft! That's unusual. So, we might as well go over the fissure during our ride."
Oliver wanted to fight back, but he quickly lost the motivation after seeing the playful look in her eyes. Quickly, he recounted his experience in the fissure and afterward, he was met with a laugh from Rika.
"Haha! You're scared of heights, yet you were playing in the treetops!? What kind of idiot are you?" As Rika took a good look at his blank face, she giggled again and continued, "What? You didn't even notice you were high up?"
Oliver simply looked away and ignored her. He knew at the moment saying anything would simply make it worse, so he chose the best option he had: ignoring the situation. During the moments of ignoring Rika, Oliver found himself looking out the window at the colorful city. The city was brightly lit and vibrant with life, although he was slightly concerned with the blue sky above the city. He looked over at Rika, who noticed his curiosity and followed his eyes. She giggled and settled his curiosity,
"The artificial sky is made with magic and reflective tiles. It's quite complex even for me. Here, it seems we have arrived." Rika spoke as the train suddenly came to a complete stop. Slowly, Oliver was led into the large spire that towered over everything else. Rika led him to the front desk and quickly told the receptionist,
"Here, I would like to get him tested."
"Very well, Lady Amano, if you would."
"Mhm," Rika nodded and grabbed the piece of paper handed to her. The test needed a few papers to be filled out and needed a guarantee from someone already registered. Luckily for Oliver, Rika had great influence in the community.
As Rika filled out the papers, Oliver was led to an empty gray room. He waited and a voice sounded from inside the room,
"Alright, Oliver correct?"
"Mhm."
"Let's start with something basic, an obstacle course."
Suddenly, the room around Oliver started to slowly morph and change into an endless grassy field. In the field, multiple holes, towers, and walls sprung up in front of him.
"This course should give us a basic idea about your current physical level. The reason we need to do this is due to the dimensional energy that has leaked into your body, therefore strengthening it. Now, if you would."
Oliver nodded and stared at the area in front of him. The area had a single thin line of wood that was above a hole. The wood curved and even simply stopped at times, giving it the challenge of free movement and balancing the body. Oliver suddenly smiled and thrust himself forward onto the wooden line.
Thud!
Oliver quickly moved on the wood with skillful and swift movements that were perfectly balanced. At the areas of twisting and turning, Oliver simply jumped across the turn, not even bothering with it. All in all, it was a breeze for Oliver as he skillfully maneuvered through the thin line that resembled a tightrope over certain death. After Oliver finished this easy section, he found the next one. It was similar to the other one, however, this one had multiple traps and moving obstacles hindering his path.
He noticed arrows, a swinging wrecking ball, and even pistons that would periodically push. He stared at the pistons for a few minutes, calculating the activation time, suddenly he muttered something and took off.
Oliver kept his head down as he moved on the small line of wood. He watched as one of the wrecking balls was coming towards him when his entire body suddenly stopped, letting the ball pass him by narrowly. He kept moving when three arrows suddenly shot out, one toward him and one for each escape path. Yet, Oliver simply smiled and waited for the arrows to drive into him. He waited as the sound of the air being torn apart entered his ears and his body moved.
The examiner watched as the two arrows passed his body and one arrow made contact. With wide eyes, he quickly covered his mouth, simply too stunned to speak.
VIII