He tried to avoid it, hoping his mom would be the one to do something about the constant knocking. After waiting for what felt like an eternity with no result in sight, he sluggishly got off his bed.
With an annoyed expression that was clear and unapologetic, he reluctantly made his way to the door. After a sharp exhale, he opened the door, feeling perturbed.
The door opened with a low creak before Max shut his eyes, blinking many times to adjust to the sunlight assaulting his vision. After well adjusting to the light rays of the sun, he got a clear view of the person knocking on his door.
It was an average-looking man wearing deep black sunglasses, a black suit and shoes, and multiple unidentifiable devices on his body. He smiled briskly at Max, greeting him in a dignified manner.
'' Hello Mr. Max, sorry for the sudden intrusion, I am here from the newly established governmental department of the blessed'' the man suddenly spoke in a serious tone. Max just stared him up and down noting his rather gentle way of moving.
'' A new facility has been built for the training and registration of the blessed. You are required by law to be at the facility every single day, and it's effective now,'' the man calmly told Max the news without stopping to take a breather.
The man in black reached into his pocket to remove a white envelope with an official government signature nicely signed on it, he handed it over to Max in a delicate way, making him suspect whether he worked for the government.
'' the envelope contains a key and instructions on how to use it to get to the facility...we live in a magical world now I hope you understand'' With a low nod the man was gone, leaving Max alone with his thoughts.
''whose skills made this a reality so quickly? How does such a skill function? A skill to erect a governmental build in a week how powerful is such a skill? what divinity has blessed such a person?'' These and many more were thoughts that kept Max frozen in place.
Max had read new information the night before. According to this information, the number of green-skinned creatures killed during the first trials determined each participant's level. Since Max, James, and Alice each killed one creature, their levels were all set to one.
Some members of the military are as high as level 20. He wondered if the person who created the facility was a military member, and if so, what level they would need to reach to achieve such an unimaginable feat.
After he had finished his thoughts, he took a closer look at the envelope in his hand before gently opening it. Inside were only two items: an ordinary key and a piece of paper with step-by-step instructions on using the key.
[Step 1: insert the key in any existing door you may find in your vicinity]
[Step 2: turn the key 3 times, not more or less. Warning; this step must be followed exactly as described or else the user might experience an unforeseen accident]
[Step 3: open the door and gently enter with your eyes closed. Warning; failure to follow this step will lead to the user experiencing an unforeseen accident]
After reading the instructions he felt a sense of animosity emitting from the key it was as if it was smiling at him, waiting for him to make a mistake.
After letting out a deep sigh, he went back to his room and carefully placed the key on his desk. After taking his bath and putting on a simple outfit, he then took his phone and waited in anticipation.
'' ring, ring''
James called as he expected, he was super excited, chatting on and on about the key and the new governmental facility. His excitement was almost intoxicating making Max almost jump up to match his energy.
James, in his fit of excitement, wanted to open the door at the same time as Max, so he gave him an exact time to follow. Max agreed to prevent his intoxicating excitement from affecting him more than it already had.
After informing his mom, who seemed too tired to understand what her son was saying, Max returned to his room preparing to use the magic key.
Max stood before his door with the key that gave him shivers in one hand, looking at the time James gave, he let out a sharp exhale before inserting the key into the keyhole in his door.
Max's room emitted a low crackling sound as he inserted the key. He felt an unusual heaviness in his body and quickly turned the key three times, feeling himself lighten with each turn.
His door opened on its own without letting out a sound, Max closed his eyes and, although curious didn't dare take a look. He gently entered feeling his body getting heavier again, before feeling the temperature fluctuate habitually from cold to hot sending his mind into a frenzy.
Before he could panic, his body became light and his surroundings became a constant warm temperature. His closed eyes received light rays from an unknown light source as though he was directly facing the sun.
Max wasn't in a rush to open his eyes, he had no idea whether he was still in the door or not making him more careful and not brazen.
'' triple Max''
Max's ears pricked up as he heard a familiar voice, he took in a deep breath before opening his eyes with caution.
As soon as his eyes were fully opened in was bombarded with intense light, but his eyes quickly adjusted. He tilted his head to the left and there was James in his excited glee. His golden-yellow eyes reflected his enthusiasm with a glimmer.
After noticing his sunshine and rainbow friend he swept his curious gaze across the vicinity he found himself in. From his left and right were other people standing in a daze slowly adapting to their surroundings.
Behind them was a wall that stretched to an unknown height and length, he found no trace of any door in the wall making him wonder how the key worked. The magic key was now a deep-red tattoo on the left palm of his arm making Max fearful of closing his palm.
His simple clothes had changed into a black long-sleeve shirt with red lines dancing across it, cargo pants, and black leather boots. The shirt was tucked in, making Max look like a junior cadet, unprepared to defend his country.
He didn't know when or how his clothes had changed, but they were super comfy and accentuated the figures of the wearers tossing his concern out the window.
The inside of the facility was as bright as the outside almost like a mini sun existed as the ceiling, making looking further above nearly impossible. Mere feet away from Max was a red staircase leading downward with a diamond handrail that glittered every second.
Max and James were about to head down when they were joined by Alice who had a giant smile on her face radiating her pleasant mood, after they all greeted each other, they moved down the stairs in anticipation.
The floor of the facility was a simple black that reflected none of the light from the ceiling, making walking on it feel like the night.
Some feet ahead were many long queues and ahead of the queue was a glass opaque desk directly connected to the black floor. Behind the desk were many women in white with a gentle smile plastered over their faces making them look extremely friendly.
They gave out pens and paper for the people to fill in their information before they gave a red band with black stars and numbers around it. Soon, it was Max's turn to fill in his information. Apart from the current level, which was mandatory, the others were ordinary things like his name and birthday.
He handed it over and received his red wristband with many black stars encircling it, it was smooth and futuristic but a bit larger for his wrist after placing it on he felt a tiny electric shock run through his body. Then the seemingly large wristband slowly shrunk in size to perfectly fit Max's wrist.
''there is no need to worry about that, the band is just registering its owner'' the lady in white dealing with Max said as if she was reading his mind making him feel a bit uneasy.
'' now you can head down the hallway'' the lady added with a brighter smile.
Max thanked her before leaving the queue and stood at the ends of the opaque glass desk waiting for James and Alice to be done while examining the black band.
Alice and James were done, joining Max with a wide grin, making him wonder whether they were kids on Christmas receiving a gift.
With the three now together they moved on to the next stage, entering the hallway that was wide enough for six buses to drive through side by side with excitement and anxiety.