The night before the exams...
"Lure it in! We can't lose such monster of unranked rarity," clad in black uniform and a dark green cape, a figure with a crying mask is standing over the branch of a sturdy oaken tree. The acronym A.S.S. (Aetherland Secret Service) is written over patch on his left arm. He's yelling orders to his teammates. "Just right over there, now comes the acting!"
A flaming tiger pounces over another mask figure wearing the same apparel. The figure was expertly performing an act of vulnerability. Just as the tiger was about to reach the mask figure, several ropes come flying in—entangling the tigers limbs momentarily keeping it mid-air. The tigers roars as its flaming skin grew brighter and hotter slowly burning its constraints. Just as it was about to break free, four more mask figures rushed on all four sides assembling a makeshift cage below it. The constraints were released allowing the tiger to fall in the cage effectively locking it in place.
It roared and thrashed all while its flames kept burning bright. But to no avail. the cage remained intact with no dents and unaffected by the heat.
"Finally, after several days of planning and hunting, this infamous predator is no longer a threat," the masked leader breathes a sigh of relief. "The adventurer exam will be able to proceed without a hitch."
"Should we really turn it over to the king?" one of the masked figure inquired.
"Of course. Why is that even a question?" the masked leader ask.
One by one the other masked figures came into view. As the members unsheathed their daggers, a deathly glint was reflected from the moonlight as the silent evening breeze begun to play the sound of betrayal.
"I guess we'll have to report a casualty, pin the blame on the tiger, and pretend that it escaped once more," the instigator pulls off a mask revealing a mischievous grin as the figures closed in to deliver the kill.
She maintained eye contact as the light of life slowly left the leaders' eyes. "Such a shame, my acting was great earlier and you didn't even praise me."
She basked in the moonlight, slowly undresses her disguise and dons a frilly black dress. Her pointy tail, short jet-black hair and her pale skin has a dangerous allure to it. Her eyes gleamed with temptatious risk. She started a ballet routine, her maniacal laughter burlesque her own vanity.
For the entire spectacle, not one masked figure dared to move. As soon as she finishes her performance, she picks up her transceiver and gives a call.
From the other end, a dark voice answered, "What is your judgment? Can it be tamed?"
The tiger, seemingly understanding the situation has acted calmly. However, the lady instigator gives a sly grin and says "No."
"Then by all means end it," the dark voice replied with a hint of anger in its tone. The transceiver turns off.
The tiger sensing danger begun to roar but is cut off by a graceful roundhouse kick that sliced through the air with the precision of a sharpened blade. The tiger remained still for a brief second— "VULNUS" almost immediately after the lady uttered the word, the tiger and the cage diagonally split clean.
As the lady went over to examine the aftermath, she was surprised to only find the broken cage but no sign of the tiger. "I've clearly seen it get split in half. Fascinating!" she muses. "And now, onward to phase 2!." She leaps into the air, her figure dashed across the trees—dispelling her charm as she made her exit.
The members of A.S.S. came back to their senses, confused and panicking over the corpse of their leader and the sight of an empty broken cage.
––––––––––––––––––––––––
Meanwhile, in one of Golden Vale's luxurious taverns, Ethan tossed and turned over the mattress, his breath panting, his heartbeat palpitating, sweat trickling down his face. He was witness to all the events that unfolded over the flaming tiger that night, like he was sharing the same senses with it. The despair of getting caught, the glimmer of hope it had, and how that light has been snuffed out by the sadistic lady. He woke up the next morning, the vivid dream of the tigers' demise etched deeply in his mind.
No use analyzing it now. There's an obstacle I need to overcome.
He summons his pen while he started to get ready for the day. Activating Lexcalibre's [ Pen Pal ] ability, he talks to Ashley:
"Maybe we should take the test another time," he says.
"What's gotten into you? Another dream?", Ashley inquired already having a hint of the answer.
"Yes. It was... Tragic.."
"It does not do to dwell in dreams and forget to live," Ashley gently quotes Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series.
"J.K. Rowling... I know that. But this one isn't about the past. Anyway, we can talk more about it after the exam," Ethan replied deactivating [ Pen Pal ] as he begun to take a shower...
Ethan and Ashley arrived at the venue. The room was clinically clean and well ventillated. The large windows paint a picturesque view of the cityscape. Ethan and Ashley went to seat on the chairs they were assigned to. The gal was sent to the armchair near the window while Ethan sat anxiously over the armchair in front of the examiners' desk, while the rest of the examinees went to their assigned seats.
He wasn't the type of student who sits in front. He comforts himself unsuccessfully, Relax, Ethan, this is another first nothing could go wrong.
Ethan realizes how wrong he was as the examiner walked in the room. She wore a sharp outfit, a well tailored form fitting charcoal grey blazer with subtle silvery lines, underneath, a deep red fitted top with an emerald necklace; with a high-waist pencil cut skirt, her long pale legs aligns exceptionally well with her pointed heels. Ethan realizes that he had been staring a few seconds too long at those voluptuous legs so he diverted his gaze towards her her loose voluminous hair framing her elegant face effortlessly. Her familiar yet alluring eyes staring back at him. Where have I seen those eyes?
"Are you done undressing me with your eyes, adventurer?" the examiner snaps her finger and several arcane eyes simultaneously came out of thin air, one eye assigned to each examinee. "For the duration of this exam, I'll be the one looking at you. Any form of cheating will NOT be tolerated."
She gives off a dangerous smile as she continued, "You'd best behave, you can only take the silver ranking exam once, otherwise you'd be stucked as the bronze vermin you're destined to be," she smirks giving another meaningful look at Ethan then continues, "You'll find the test papers under your chair, each one divided from set A-Z. No two paper are written alike. Any form of erasure or alteration will be considered incorrect, and yes, that includes the essay too. You may now begin."
The written exam went by without a hitch, except for the occasional yelling and insulting of the examiner over the adventurers who tried to cheat. Their testpapers torn shreds as two minotaur guards escort them out of the examination area.
Ethan and Ashley answered the questions with relative ease, Ashley was the one who submitted first while the rest followed short after. Ethan took his time answering the last part– an essay test type requiring an adventurer to give the synopsis of a literature they've read before.
Treating it like the culmination of all events that transpired today, he chose to write about The Lady or The Tiger. A short story written by Frank R. Stockton. When Ethan writes, the whole world fades from his senses... left all alone, all of his senses are poured to what he is writing. The moment he snaps back to reality is the moment he finishes his work.
As he puts in the period, he was startled and gasps at the sight of the examiner sitting right across his armchair. "Why–" Ethan was cut off by the lady's finger pressed over his lip. He noticed that the sun has begun to set and he is the only adventurer left taking the written exam. The examiner smiles as her previously concealed pointy tail now dangerously caressing Ethan's cheeks.
"The lady or the tiger, fascinating. You're living on the edge boy, its as if you're begging to found," the lady smirks as she continues, "Nice to finally meet you, Ethan. I am known by many names, but you can call me Miss Trust."
"You... You murdered my tiger!"
"I can't help it. It went docile out of nowhere!" Miss Trust stands up and walks over the window, her voluptuous body compleated the cityscape frame. Ethan wanted to lunged forward and attack, but an invisible force is keeping him in place.
"This chapter is also going to end with a cliffhanger, Ethan. You can't make a decision now, not while you are at the height of your anger. Which will it be I wonder, the lady? or the tiger? I'll wait for your answer," Miss Trust left the room leaving him with a conundrum to solve.