Upon walking further, Ryo arrived in a cave clearing, with a hole on the cave roof, allowing a bright light to come through.
There, were the early completers. Agatha, Silas, Candi, and Reina.
All looked as if they didn't break a sweat.
They stood, dispersed all around, with their own distinct, ferocious aura.
Ryo noticed this, and decided to keep his distance away. He leaned back on the wall beside the entrance hole.
Seconds passed, the silence intensified. It was so loud, that even the sound of a small water droplet echoed loudly all throughout.
No one spoke, all remained unmoving like a statue.
That is until then, another person entered the clearing. It was Kyouko, her face covered in sweat, as if she had been running a marathon, panting as she slowly walked inside.
She noticed Ryo, and walked up to him, leaning on the wall beside Ryo.
"What was your exam like?" She said, in between her panting, as she wiped off her face.
"Chasing someone, how about you?" Ryo nonchalantly replied.
"Magic and Physical based. I had to take down an insect ten-fold bigger than my size. It wasn't even a crime-based exam."
"That's... Hardcore."
"I know."
Her exam wasn't ordinary. It's not just beating an insect 10x her size. She faced the insect she hates the most. Her most feared living creature on earth.
Centipede.
She fought her biggest fear.
That being said, she was extremely tired, both mentally and physically.
That is forever sealed in her memories.
This means that the exam difficulty depends on the extent of one's "weakness." The more prominent your weakness is, the harder your exam.
As for Kyouko's case, she's a victim of "bias."
Because of her standing as a council officer, the creator of her spatial dimension purposely made her exam much harshier and much harder.
As a council member, an officer made to maintain balance, one needs to constantly improve tremendously. Hence why the exam was harder; to test her growth.
"If that's the first exam, I fear that I'll fail the next one." Kyouko said,
Ryo thought for a moment. If the first exam is that hard, what more could be the second exam?
"Let's see." He responded,
Just then, several more footsteps sounded from the entrance, indicating that others had already finished their exam.
Coming out of the entrance pathway was Airi, Keina, Aikawa, Rin, Souta and Gushiken, looking all extremely tired.
Then, moments after they entered, Asahi-Sensei announced the completion of the first exam.
Seconds later, the rest of the student's who were still amidst the exam was teleported on the cave.
They were confused, while some were so extremely tired.
Arata looked like he is on the verge of death, catching his breath hard and his face ever-so reddish.
Meanwhile, everyone has disappointed plastered on their faces.
Ryo was surprised. He didn't expect that almost half the class would fail the first exam.
This is class A, and in class A, 9 people failed.
This piqued his curiosity, yet at the same time, made him somewhat curious about the next exam.
A voice then suddenly spoke, it was Asahi.
"Congrats, on the half of the class for passing. It was hard, wasn't it? Be prepared for the next exam. The door to the next one should be opened by one." As he announced those, the door leading to the second exam slowly opened.
The room behind was dark, pure dark. It's like the abyss, you can't see anything.
"Enter that door please."
With the tired condition that almost everyone is in, no one was in the mood to proceed to the next one.
Complaints and murmurs were echoing all throughout the chamber.
"No one's moving? Alright,"
Suddenly, a strong wave of water came from the opening above. The room started to quickly fill with water.
"This is disgusting." Ryo remarked in annoyance as he quickly rushed towards the door.
Eveyone panicked, and quickly went on to the next door.
Then, the same thing happened. As they passed through the pitch-dark, they were immediately teleported to another dimension.
But this time, they weren't solo.
The next exam was an exam for two.
And in this scenario, the person Ryo is with is,
"Fate must have brought us together." A female voice spoke behind Ryo, accompanied by slow, echoes of footsteps.
He looked behind her, and saw the familiar, unsettling figure of Reina, with her usual smile.
"Aoki..." Ryo murmured. He thought that this is a good timing. With the shrouding mystery around her "incident" with Airi, and Ryo's pending feeling of familiarity with her, this was the perfect time to know more about her.
"This isn't just a mere coincidence. This is meant to be." Reina added,
"I don't think so."
"So cold, aren't we? We're going to be a duo, don't be like that."
"We're not close."
"Is that so?" Reina giggled, before proceeding to walk right past Ryo, revealing the test venue.
It was an small, underground bedroom bunker.
"What the hell is suppose to be the test here, in this bedroom?" Ryo annoyingly remarked.
"I don't know, but I'm excited." Reina again, giggled.
Soon after, a voice spoke through the speakers.
"I'm assuming that all students now are in their bedroom bunker. There on the side table, you'll find some real life weapons, and some tools."
Ryo looked over to the table as Asahi was talking. There was a Gun and a wire cutter.
"Within the span of an hour, you'll be acting as an police officer, and the task is as such: 1. Stop the implanted bomb, and disarm it. 2. Save a hostage being held by multiple criminals. 3. The lesser the casualties, the more points."
"Hmmm, that's interesting." Reina remarked with a calm, yet excited smile.
"Goodluck. Timer starts now."
"It's just the beginning of the year, and yet, the exams are already at this level." Reina again remarked,
Then, a secret door at the end of the bedroom opened, revealing a grey, steel pathway up ahead.
"Kyosuke-kun, are you ready?"
"Let's go."
Both of them grabbed a gun and a wire cutter for each one of them, before going into the steel pathway.
The wind was cold, and the surroundings was silent. Only their footsteps sounded all around.
As they continued walking, the walls started to change over their pathways.
It began to turn white, resembling an underground, white facility tunnel, vibes eerie and the wind stagnant.
On the side of the pathway, there were doors and black tainted glasses on the side.
"Should we check the rooms first, or explore this pathway first?" Reina asked.
"Up to you."
"Then, the pathway it is."
They walked further deeply. However, the deeper that they go in, the creepier things get.
Soon, the muffled sound of crying would appear out of nowhere, and blood would soon appear behind the tainted glasses of the rooms further.
"This is similar to a haunted house, isn't it?" Reina remarks.
Ryo only remained in silence, as he carefully looked around.
As they continued to walk through the horrors, they arrived at the dead-end.
"Dead-end, so we'd have to explore the rooms to get deeper." Reina suggested.
"Yeah. How do you wanna do this?"
"How about splitting up? I'll take the doors to the right side, and the doors to the left side?"
"Okay."
"Then, take this."
Reina hands Ryo a walkie-talkie.
"Where'd you find this?" Ryo asked, surprised.
"At the beginning of the room. It was hidden, and taped just under the table where the gun was placed."
Ryo was amazed and surprised.
"So, let's go then?"
They both decided to first explore the first door from the dead-end point.
Simultaneously, they opened the door, and entered the room.
In front of Ryo was a dark, messy, office room, with papers scattered all around the place.
He searched the walls for a light switch, and turned the light on.
"Let's see here." He began to search through the drawers, looking for the bomb.
"A bomb... And a hostage situation... How can we find them without any clues?" He pondered to himself, as he closed the drawers empty-handed.
He decided to turn around, and leave the room.
And then, he proceeded to check the other adjacent rooms.
This continued on, with most of the room empty. But in one specific room, he discovered a red key, while Reina, discovered a yellow key.
20 minutes have passed, and yet, they're still halfway, and haven't discovered any signs of the bomb whatsoever.
Until, Reina went on to one of the rooms on her side.
It was the typical, office room, only with a black box in the middle.
She walked up to it. However, as she was about to open it, she felt a wave of hesitation rush over her.
Her calmness stayed, and her smile didn't disappear. She carefully looked around, looking for traps that could be activated.
Then, once she confirms that there's no traps, she looked at the black box once more.
"I guess I'll use it." She murmured. Then, she stared intently at the box. Her golden eyes soon began glowing, radiating immense magic power.
As seconds pass, she was able to "feel" what was inside the box. It has magic energy, and it felt very dangerous.
She also felt a spell that would trigger that energy once the box was opened.
In other words, this was the bomb.
"I wanna open this, though, I can't."
The bomb's nature is still unknown. It could be an instant-explosive bomb, and it could also be a timed bomb. Opening the box could pose a serious threat if opened carelessly.
"But, there must be some way to disarm it."
Reina opened her walkie-talkie, and spoke.
"Kyosuke-kun, find the hostage if you can. Don't worry about the bomb."
She confidently said, before turning it off.
"Now then, let's deal with this, shall we?"
With a smile of confidence, she took out her wire cutters.
Her eyes glew again, as she stared intently at the box.
Soon, as she continued her magic, her right eye then turned into a brialliant blue, with a white, star pattern, glowing just as bright.
Then, not long after, the contents of the box was being revealed to her, the mechanism, and the strings on how to disarm it properly.
After seeing the inside mechanism, she was able to decipher the way to disarm the bomb.
"Piece of cake," she murmured, as she retracted her magic, and her eyes returned to their natural state.
With the answer in head, she carefully held the box on both sides, as magic energy began gathering in her palms.
This step is the focal point of the disarming. With the structure in mind, she uses her magic to disarm the bomb without opening the box.
And with that preparation done, she carefully opened the box, and unsurprisingly, it didn't explode, nor did it start a timer.
The moment she opened it, it was already disabled.
"Oh, I didn't even have to use the wire cutters." She giggled in satisfaction.
Given her experiences, these are just walk in the park for her.
With one done, they're left with a single task. Rescue the hostage.
30 MINUTES LEFT,