I've gained ten points?
What the heck does that even mean!?
I struggle for a moment to get up from the ground but once I do it's worth it because I put a face to the voice.
I scan my eyes through the congested room till they land on a woman that's tall, slender and wearing a black double breasted suit along with black pants. She has striking orange eyes and silver hair.
I know it's her because she has the guild's crest on her shirt; a blue fire.
It's not just her appearance that's peculiar, this whole place is strange too. The layout of the building is completely different from last time, not to mention the fact that it's way more spacious.
The first floor is sectioned off into a room with no doors. There are no exists to room except for the edges of the room which are a network of twisted convoluted stairs heading into all sorts of impossible directions.
This floor is basically just a huge center space surrounded by enumerous stairs.
There are closed doors on the ceiling and several inverted, open doors randomly pasted way high up on the walls of the building.
Just how is this possible? I can't help but wonder.
It's no wonder I fell when I came in, I must've come out from one of those doors.
From the convoluted mess of stairs leading to the higher floors, there are several guild staff looking down at us on the lower floor. They're all dressed in black.
Damn this is serious creep-
Before I can even finish my thought, several people come falling from the sky.
Plop fwoosh crash.
10 points 6 points 8 points...
The lady announces the scores of everyone who fell.
A few more come crashing to the ground.
On this floor there seems to be only one staff member. The rest of us are people who are clueless as to what's going on. At least that's what I can tell from this crowd's general vibe.
Even though the floor is huge, I'm getting a weird claustrophobic feeling, but why wouldn't I? It's very crowded in here.
"Can somebody explain what's going on"
Says a brudish looking man with a circular chest plate and sharp shoulder pads.
"What the hell is going on here!?" Says a woman in the crowd.
"This is messed up" Says a giant man with a large crossbow.
"I thought I registered to become an adventurer?" A random voice says.
Several other incomprehensible voices pop up simultaneously. It's obvious that everybody's nervous.
"We're all going to die" is uttered by several different people in the crowd.
I think I share that sentiment. I try to think back to the last time I came here, even though "here" is completely different.
Were there any clues that could explain what was going on? After racking my brain for what feels like an eternity I come to the simple and short conclusion of no.
There was nothing that could've prepared me for this. That strange shirtless man didn't tell me much of anything.
DAMNIT!
What kind of initiation is this anyways? What if the person can't stop their fall? What if they break their necks and die or something? Isn't this way too extreme.
Four more people come falling out of nowhere, two of them stop their descent with magic; one of them using a powerful wind spell which engulfs her whole body allowing her to lands elegantly. The other creates a wave of water from the tips of fingers the water haphazardly breaks his fall.
The third one to fall, re-orients their body straight up in order to fall upright, the guy lands flatly on his feet, practically taking no damage.
That's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. That third guy is totally badass!
The fourth person to fall can't do anything to save themseleves, but right before they can go splat, a purple pillow suddenly appears underneath them to cushion their fall.
Well that answers my question, a magic purple pillow will come out of nowhere in order to prevent people from getting hurt.
The silver haired woman opens her mouth to speak. The loud room gets silent as everyone keeps quiet so they can pay attention to what she says.
I'd be lying if I said I also wasn't nervous to hear what she was going to say. How could any explanation possibly explain this situation.
"For those of you that have questions... No that's not right, for those of you that doubt the guild's judgement. We'd never allow harm to befall all of you." She pauses
Oh that's a nice sentiment. Though It didn't really feel that way a few moments ago.
She continues by saying:
"All of you gathered here today are adventurer hopefuls, and as such young budding adventurers to be; we value you more than anything.
What you experienced now is the second of seven tests we administer here at pure flame guild."
A voice from the crowd interrupts saying "Why second, Isn't this the first test?"
The woman chuckles saying "You were given the first test the day you came to register, for some of you that may have been two days ago, for others it might have been one month ago.
That test was a test of character. Here at pure flame we take matters of character very seriously."
Another voice cuts her off saying "Yeah right, nothing happened that day and you're saying that was a test of character."
The room fills up with overwhelming tension after he says that. I can feel the gaze of the guild staff coming down at us with such high intensity.
Even though they're way up on higher floors, it gets so tense that I feel like I can barely breathe.
"I uh- didn't mean it... You know I was joking righ-" He tries to say but she cuts him off saying:
"it's cowardly to back down like that and to respond to your remark. For your information, from the moment you entered that interview room till the moment you left, your state of mind and intentions were thoroughly analyzed by our highly trained staff."
NO SHOT HORNED GUY WAS JUDGING MY CHARACTER.
He literally only said "ARE YOU WILLING TO DO THE WORK?" and "That's it" if I recall correctly. What kind of evaluation is that!?
She continues speaking, saying:
"We have no use for bad individuals, are guild needs members that will grow into excellent adventurers. Those with rotten nature's were weeded out in the first test; meaning, they were not handed cards"
The tension in the air finally fades, it seems the staff have calmed down. Not only that, it's also as if everyone worries were quelled by her speech somehow. It's either that or they're too nervous to complain.
"Then what was the second test about?" Asks a man in the crowd.
"It's a test to see how well you deal with unexpected situations after all, no profession is as bizarre and unpredictable as that of an adventurer.
Also let me reassure you that you were perfectly safe, when I said the guild takes your safety as a matter of utmost importance, I meant it.
From the moment we see you can't stop your fall, we toss an S-cushion; a special magic item that negates fall damage, underneath you."
The crowd gets loud again and overlapping murmurs begin to fill the room, it seems they all have a lot to process.
Wait did she say they tossed the pillows? It must've been so fast I didn't see it. I just thought they magically poofed there.
"On each test, the maximum score is ten and as I said earlier, there are a total of seven tests, with the last being a combat test and the ones in between are a suprise."
WOAH! I GOT A PERFECT SCORE!
The crowd gets pretty psyched up for the combat test whilst I on the other hand, am completely terrified about every other test we have to go through. If the second was that difficult there's no reason for the to be easy.
While I'm lost in thought, somebody takes the liberty of asking the question that's waying heavily on my mind.
"Why is the inside of the guild different now, is just so you can facilitate the tests?"
"What a clever one you are. But to answer your question, not necessarily.
Right now this building is in recruitment mode. Only those with the cards handed out by the guild, or staff of the guild can enter this building.
In the eventuality that someone that wasn't supposed to, did get inside, they'd be sent into a series of random rooms thus preventing them from being able to bring harm to anyone." She says.
Woah that's amazing- the guild's really prepared.
"Oh yeah one more thing, chop chop. It's time to get moving, you current objective is to get to the top floor as fast as you can."
The moment she says that, the large crowd hastily disassembles into smaller groups heading towards the several stair cases situated on this floor.
"Tch- those idiots" I say with contempt in my voice.
This place is somehow even larger than last time. Getting to the top floor is definitely going to be extremely difficult regardless of how strong you are or what kind of magic you use.
And that's not even mentioning how packed it's going to be, even if there are several different stairs, they all lead into one another at many different points. I haven't even mentioned the fact that guild staff are up there too, so it's definitely going to be very tight up there.
"Aren't you going to go up?" The silver haired lady asks with an expression half way between annoyed and perplexed.
I respond with "I'll do that later, after all I'm in no rush."
The lady smiles after I say that.
She seems to vanish from thing air and now I'm suddenly the only person on this floor.
I sit down with my eyes closed, legs crossed and mind at ease as I meditate.
Sigh.
It seems I've been getting myself into strange situations from the moment I decided to join this guild.
Well I guess it can't be helped, such is the life of an epic adventurer in the making.
I try to focus my on my magic, I know it's there somewhere, somewhere deep within me. After all it came out when I was falling. It also naturally came out when I fought the golem.
Last night I couldn't even recall the name of the spell. But now I feel as if I know it clearly. I heard my self saying Stella Cadens and I even saw the text get displayed in my head as I was saying it.
I'm certain of it now, that's what I said last time too, I just couldn't hear myself say it because my head was too messed up.
So to use that power all I have to say is "Stella Cadens"
I try my best to recall the strange symbols I saw peeling away from the pages of how to magic.
And after a while do remember but unfortunately it doesn't amount to much since I can't read what it says.
Well there's no point in worrying about that now, I'll figure out the rest later.
I'll figure out what Stella Cadens means and what language it's from.
I'll also learn which language the strange symbols come from.
I spend the next thirty minutes in nothing but absolutely silence, focusing only on taking deep breaths.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
CRASH
Several people come falling to ground all at once.
I open my eyes to check out the sorry sight that is unfolding in front of me.
Hmmm interesting.
There were no S-pillows to save them this time. Though they appear be all right except for a few scratches here and there. They quickly rush back up stairs.
Hmm looks like they're motivated.
"And just when things had finally gotten quiet." I can't help but say to myself in a disappointed tone.
I stand up, do a few stretches, then I practice my jumps, I keep jumping on till my leaps reach a satisfactory height.
Well let's hope my suspicions are correct.
I leap into the air as high as I can, with my fingers spread out and my palms facing downwards.
''STELLA CADENS!''
My body is launched with intense speed as I'm sent flying several stories high.
'That wasn't it huh?
Back at Bub's pawn shop, Stella Cadens was an intense short burst of energy, however it was different when I was falling here at the guild, it was a gradual, less extreme release of magic.
I was aiming for that second type so I could easily just spam it till I reached the highest floor. But I suppose nothing in life is ever that easy.
I manoeuvre myself mid air so as to fall on one of the staircases. Before I land on the concrete floor of the leading, I use Stella Cadens again in an effort to cushion my fall.
A sudden flash of bright white light appears before my eyes right before i'm tossed forward with violent force.
Luckily for me I crash staight into the back of a guy who wields wind magic knocking us both down. He uses his magic to cushion our fall.
"HEY WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING JERK!" he says before quickly scurrying off.
I definitely would have been toast without that guy. While my magic is a pretty quick way to move around, it's actually very difficult to land.
Well maybe I'd have been fine, after all that silver haired lady said the guild wouldn't let us get hurt.
It was a bit difficult to believe before, but right now I'm buying it, seeing several guild staff scattered across each floor has me convinced. There's way too many of them for something bad to happen us.
I'm not even allowed time to think before i'm almost stampeded to death. Somehow I manage to roll to the side just before I can get crushed to bits.
Sigh.
Amongst the crowd, I notice the giant man from before, one of the guys that spoke up to the silver haired lady. His large crossbow is nowhere to be seen.
He's way at the back of the crowd but before long he gets to the front.
WOAH- WHAT A GUY!
I think I'm having devious idea. I hop off the railing and shout "STELLA CADENS!"
Hopefully releasing it with just as much force is required to get me to the floor just above.
I don't know how to control magic or how magic works at all. But somehow it works, now I'm feeling quite lucky.
I wait eagerly for the crowd to show up on this floor, once they do, just as expected he's in front.
Right as he's about to whoosh past me I jump on his back grabbing onto him tightly.
He's running at incredible speeds whilst trying to shake me off. I think he's avoiding using his hands in an effort to maintain proper running form.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS" he shouts.
'it's a, you scratch my back I scratch yours situation.'
"I DON'T UNDERSTAND, WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY GAIN FROM YOU SLOWING ME DOWN!?" He says in an even angrier tone than before.
'I'll help you fend off those pesky little people that get in your way, while all you have to do is run, after all with your incredible size I should be like a light weight to you.'
There are a few nerve wracking moments of silence before he finally nods his head in agreement.
Has this guy really been running full throttle since the beginning? I can't help but wonder that as I look down at him in admiration.
It's amazing, he's completely lapped the people that were behind him, right now we're about twelve stories higher than we were when I climbed onto him.
We've occasionally passed a few people here and there but right now we just reached our first major group of people.
Just when I'm thinking our luck has ran out, the man leaps over all of them getting to the front in just a single leap.
Man this guy is incredible!
After ascending a few more floors, he finally reaches a crowd he can't just muscle his way through, outrun or just leap over.
Not only are they a fast bunch but they're also pretty dangerous. Several spells are going off left and right, it's amazing they can do all that while running with such intensity.
"WHAT DO WE DO NOW PUNY HUMAN?"
"Don't sweat it buddy, a hero is here to save the day!" I say while stretching my right arm out.
'STELLA CADENS!!' A powerful gust of flame comes rushing out and everyone ahead of us is forced to make way for it.
The giant is quick to exploit this. He bolts through the newly available space.
SWOOSH
Haha, just when I thought this guy couldn't get any faster, he does that.
It doesn't take long before we encounter a similar group of people engaged in a fierce battle mid race.
"UNLEASH THE DRAGON, PUNY HUMAN!"
Woah, that's an awesome way of describing that. Unfortunately I'm thinking of using a different approach.
'Hey big man, do you trust me?'
He's quick to say no.
'What if I suggested we do something crazy so that we could win, would you do it?'
"Yes"
'Ok good, let's jump off of the railing'
"WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY!?" He shouts.
'Trust me, I'll release the dragon so we can get even higher, even faster, your job to help us stick the landing.'
Landing is an issue, that's the reason I was restraining from using Stella Cadens to jumps to higher floors. But with this beast of a man, landing won't even be an issue.
Without hesitation he jumps off the railing preventing us from meeting the ground.
It seems the building got bigger again, I say that because, while falling I notice the doors I could see clearly on the ceiling before, now look like specks. Apparently we still have a long way to go.
Before we fall far, for what I think is the fifth time today, I shout out the words:
STELLA CADENS!
ZOOM
We cut through the surrounding air as we whoosh past several floors.
The moment we reach our maximum height, the giant grabs a hold of a section of railing successfully pulling us onto a higher floor.
He lands flawlessly.
About an hour passes by and by this point exhaustion starts to wear dow everybody.
People start collapsing Helter-skelter. Those behind us have stopped running altogether; now they're just walking slowly.
Mean while the people ahead of us are no longer having dangerous scuffles. It seems they're focusing all their energy on running.
I look above the railing to my right and see there are only four floors left!
It's so few floors that I can easily blast two of us to the top floor.
The giant suddenly collapses.
Gasp gasp gasp.
"Go on without me" he says between breaths.
I try to pull him up but it's no use, he's to heavy.
'Damnit I can't just leave you here! We have to see it to the finish line together remember!'
"We made no such arrangement, I only made it this far because of you. Don't worry about me I'll catch up somehow."
'No, don't say that big man! We can still-'
Before I finish my sentence he wraps his long arms around me and lunches me at the top floor.
"My name is Hank. Call me Hank."
As I hover above the wide space between the stairs opposite to where I and bob were before, I begrudgingly utter these words for the sixth time.
"Stella Cadens" I say with a sadness in my voice.
Nothing comes out.
Once again I feel my weight pulling me down with nothing to break my fall.
OH NO- I'M GOING TO DIE!