"We're going to start off easy. We just want to see what your physical abilities are as they stand. It will help me to decide which souls to send you after."
"So, someone does dictate who gets what soul?" I raise my arms above my head, stretching them out as much as I can.
"It's the job of whoever is here." That made sense. I had been wondering if that rule was only in place so the place didn't get dusty or if there was a greater reason. I focus on the task at hand, sizing up the obstacle course in front of me.
I had woken up that morning after sleeping for thirteen hours apparently. I felt fine yesterday, but now I feel even better. I felt well rested and ready to go.
"Can I ask something before I start?" I roll my eyes at York's impatient groan.
"Of course." Aster says pointedly.
"What's with this obstacle course? And me needing a weapon? Is being a Reaper going to require fighting? Cause it's starting to seem that way."
We were in another one of the rooms down one of the three hallways, this one, was what looked like a giant training area.
Down the middle and running its entire length, was a stretch of climbing challenges, jumping and falling, pulling. It didn't seem too hard, but I wasn't ready to get comfortable just yet. There was a running track around the entire perimeter of the room, with hurdles placed every once a while. There were notches carved into the rock walls, and I realized they went all the way up to the ceiling, where there were handles carved all across its length. Jesus. I don't know if I have enough upper body strength to do the entire length of the ceiling, to be honest. It wasn't a part of the obstacle course, but I still felt challenged to do it at some point.
"Not necessarily, but there are certain jobs that are harder to complete than others, and I try to take each Reaper's personal abilities into account when assigning those tasks. And keep in mind, you can be seen by everyone except the soul you are reaping when you are on a job, so you may encounter someone who is ready to get physical over their loved one's soul at some point."
"I see." I turn back to the course. The first part was easy enough looking: a fifteen-foot-high wall with a single rope dangling over it. I was strong enough for that, at least.
"Alright. I'm ready."
Aster nods and York claps a little. "Proceed."
I take one last breath, and crouch down a little, before pushing off with my back food towards the wall.
Holy shit.
I'm amazed at how high I can jump. I definitely wasn't this light on my feet before.
My goal was to get off the ground and grab a hold of the rope, but when I push off the ground, I end up almost at the top of the wall. I don't stop to focus on what I just did, instead I grab the rope and swing myself over. My heart skips a little when I see how far down it is, but I position myself for landing anyways and brace myself.
I land with a thud on my side, but nothing hurts too horribly, and my breath remains in my lungs. I definitely didn't stick that landing.
I jump onto my feet, looking at my next obstacle.
There were metal poles sticking out of the rock ground, reaching up about ten feet, and with more going across towards the other side of a large hole I couldn't see inside quite yet.
I try not to think about it too much.
I approach the middle bar, and jump up, grabbing a hold with both hands. I scoot forward a little, then tighten my core and swing my legs up so I can more easily shimmy down the pole's length. I happen to catch a glimpse of what was in the ditch below me, and I wish I hadn't.
Long, sharpened spikes made from rock were staring straight back at me.
"Remember you cannot die." Aster calls from beside the course. Him and York are walking along the length with me as I make my way through.
"No, but I can feel a giant fucking rock stabbing me through the back." I grunt as I make my way down the pole. I could hear York cackling with laughter. Being immobilized with fear helped nothing; I had to keep moving forward.
I let out a sigh of relief when I made it to the other side. I let my legs drop, then jump onto solid ground.
Next.
Next were long metal tubes, two of them. I charge forward, falling to the ground in front of the left one and crawling into it.
"Fuck." I grunt when I sit up a little too high once I'm in the tube and I find out the side and top are lined with more spikes, these long, thin and made of the same metal the tube they were attached to were. I can feel a thin trickle of blood running down my neck. I press myself lower to the ground and use my legs and elbows to push me forward. I move surprisingly quick, even for being flat on the ground, and find myself thanking Aster for my new elbows. I guess they did end up coming in handy.
"Two more!" Aster yells when I finally exit the tube. I stand up quickly, wiping the blood off my neck and cleaning my hand off on my pants.
"Come on slowpoke." I shoot York a glare, which just makes him grin at me.
Up next is a thin rope over another ominous hole in the ground. I sigh a little in annoyance but advance towards it.
I peer over the edge into the hole and am overjoyed to see more spikes staring back at me.
The rope stretches probably… twelve feet. Too far to jump.
I take a second to kick my boots off and toss them to the side. They were just too clunky to try and balance on this rope.
I focus as hard as I can on staying balanced as I set one foot in front of the other on the beginning of the rope. I stick my arms out a little and take deep breaths as I slowly make my way across the spike riddled hole.
"Aster, give me something to throw at him." I hear York whisper.
"Fuck off." I growl, wavering a little on the rope.
"Stay focused." Aster warns.
It comes too late though, because I'm tilting off the rope already. Is there anything I can do to not get impaled right now?
Without second guessing myself, I push off the rope with the one foot still on it and manage to launch myself off. Except now, I'm flying through the air and about to land full body on the spikes. I hadn't had enough leverage to push myself the rest of the way across. What do I do now?
There might be enough room in between each spike to land, but only enough for one hand. Can I do it one handed?
Gotta try.
I extend my right arm and force my eyes to stay open, despite how badly I wanted to squeeze them shut.
"Very good." I hear Aster muttering in approval when I manage to land on one in hand in between the spikes.
"Show off." I hear York grumbling.
I linger for a good moment, teetering on my one hand a little, trying to get my balance. It felt like at any second I was going to tilt to one side and get skewered. My only option now was to push off the ground and try to make it the five feet to the other side.
"Okay." I grunt and lower myself as low as I can before pushing off. I feel myself grinning as I fly into the air easily. Was this my new hands coming into play?
I once again crashed onto the other side, quite ungracefully, but unharmed.
Last one.