“Are you alright?” Zexus asked as he made his way through a concrete corridor.
Lavenna, who had her fox head hanging out of his bag, exhaled glumly. The stink of the undead had sickened her to the point where even her fur had turned a sickly green hue. “I’m okay now…mostly. I think I might need a way to deal with my nose.”
“Another Ego perhaps?” Zexus halted before a door, his hand gripping the handle but not opening it just yet. He had no idea what awaited him on the other side, and he wanted Lavenna to at least recover to the point where she could defend herself.
“A smell-blocking Ego definitely exists. Not sure where I could find one though.” The Kitsune tilted her head, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. “Just go ahead. I’ll transform if I have to.”
Zexus nodded in acknowledgement, and pushed the door opened.
A spacious room was situated on the other side. At a glance, the space was thirty metres in length and five metres in height. The walls, like all the other areas he had passed through so far, were made entirely of hard concrete marked with the letter K every few metres. From above, lights shone down from the steelscape ceiling. A row of lockers lined the right side wall and what appeared to be a changeroom. A stand and podium also sat on the opposite end from the entrance.
In contrast to the previous rooms however, this one was filled with people, thirty eight of them to be precise. They were all dressed in the same uniform - a black skin-tight suit with red line patterns and boots to match. They also had silver bracelets on one of their arms.
“Other participants.” Zexus assumed as he walked over to the lockers.
Opening the one labelled with his name, he found two sets of clothes similar to his fellow participants and a pair of silver bracelets. There was also a written set of instructions in a folded slip of paper.
***
Change your clothes and deposit all your belongings. For the sake of fairness, that includes your mask and Egos obtained outside of the Black Box that is not your Core Ego. Lavenna can stay with you since the two of you are Bonded, but she cannot be counted as a familiar.
Please don’t let her run around naked. Not everyone has tolerance to her enchantments.
- Athena
***
Zexus read through the letter twice, double-checking its contents. Then, grabbing the provided attire in the locker, he did as he was told and headed into the changerooms.
“Is that for me?” Lavenna asked, popping out of his bag and noting the extra set of clothes he held.
“Yes.” Zexus replied, sliding the change room door shut. “It seems you were supposed to have gone through your own evaluation.”
“I mean…that would’ve been a total drag.” The snow-haired fox said, dropping to the ground and scratching the back of her ear with her foot. “I’m guessing they’re onto me now?”
“You can’t be counted as a familiar.” He set her uniform down in front of her.
“Ugh, fine.” Although unhappy, Lavenna understood his intentions and the implications of Athena’s letter. The only way she could stay in the program was as a participant. If she were a less intelligent animal, she could have gotten away with it. However, being the Spirit Beast that she was, she was simply too powerful to be counted as someone else’s support.
“That stupid owl is such a stickler for rules.”
Lines of misty energy wrapped around the Kitsune’s limbs like vines as a warm pinkish glow enveloped her body. Her shapeshift had begun, her fur turning to skin as her body grew in size and changed in shape. What was once four legs saw one pair become slender arms and the other long limbs that connected with curved hips and a slender waist. Her protruding canine face shifted inwards, morphing into a button nose and a sculpted human face, with the faintest hints of her whiskers marked by thin white lines across her cheeks. In contrast to these changes, her ears remained the same while her tails became larger but retained their overall shapes.
As the light died down, Lavenna stretched her arms, eliciting a provocative moan as she bent her back.
While all of this was going on, Zexus kept his back turned, knowing that he would fall for her charms if he saw her. The Kitsune were infamous for being able to enchant even the most willful men, and he was far from indomitable. Thus, he focused on changing, but hesitated when time came to remove his mask.
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He was so caught up in that moment, unable to even grasp the piece of silver that had seemingly become part of him, that he had not sensed his companion creeping up on him from behind until she was pushing against him.
“Want me to do it?” Lavenna whispered in his ear, her sweet scent invading his senses. Despite her light tone, her charm remained present. A curse of her kind that she could never fully suppress.
That said, her efforts did allow Zexus to remain calm in spite of her sudden appearance. He lowered his hand and nodded his head, accepting her help. Permission given, the beauty gripped the silver plate with the tips of her fingers. Then, with gentle care, she lifted it.
Zexus stared ahead, watching the mirror as his face was exposed. He felt as if he was losing a part of himself, his identity. On the other hand, there was also a sense of freedom, as if he had been living in the darkness all his life. Nonetheless, it felt strange, the cold air prickling his skin as his amber eyes burned within the darkened abyss that was his sclera.
“Thanks.” He said, his voice no longer hollow but ever stoic.
“No problem.” Lavenna returned his mask and backed away. Still naked, she began slipping on her uniform while he did the same. They did not speak nor look at one another.
A minute later, the two of them would step out. They deposited their clothes and bag in the same locker, but unknown to the others in the room, Lavenna kept the Ego they had obtained from the zombie. She had tucked it away in her Soul, a plane of existence beyond that of the physical world, although none too happily. As much as she loved to collect items of power, the zombie’s Ego, as she had discovered, had the singular ability of emitting a rotten stench.
“Worst. Fucking. Ego. Ever.” Lavenna all but seethed, a frown marring her face.
“At least you still have Spiritfire.”
“Yeah, and I’m gonna burn this place down if they don’t give my stuff back!”
As they joined the group, almost all of the eighteen participants shot them odd looks. It was no surprise, considering that Lavenna had seemingly appeared out of thin air. That, and her appearance, even while fully clothed, seemed to personify the word ‘beautiful’ to the point of bewitching.
Ignoring them, Lavenna kept close to Zexus as they sat against the wall close to the stand. They were secluded from the others, not that any of them were formed in any groups. Most likely either came alone or had been separated from familiar faces.
“Doesn’t seem like Ella’s here.” Lavenna said, brushing a strand of her ashen hair behind her human ear. How her humanoid transformation resulted in four ears while her fox form only had two, neither of them knew. That said, Beastkin also had four ears, so they had just accepted it as the natural state of things. “I guess they randomised everything. I wonder what they have in mind?”
Before Zexus had a chance to answer, the portion of the wall behind the podium would brighten, bringing to life the image of the same scarred man from before.
“Congratulations for making it through the evaluation stage, contestants. You are now all officially part of the Ascendant Program. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Vis, the Watcher of this Block.” The redhead greeted with a small incline of his head. “I can imagine that you all have many questions at this point. I will answer them after I explain your current situation as well as lay down some of the essential rules inside Black Box.”
As he spoke, numbers appeared in the top right corner of the display as well as the symbol of a stick figure. “Out of the eighty thousand people that entered, fifty three thousand and forty two passed the evaluation. Those of you who are now within the Black Box are hence divided into one hundred Blocks with twenty six teams each. The number of people in each team varies, as is dependent on the number of people that had just so happened to pass the evaluation.”
The image changed, showcasing how the building stretched deep underground and how its lower floors were divided into multi-coloured blocks.
“You lot are Red Block, Team K. From today onwards, this will be your living quarters and those around you, both your comrades and competitors. That said, you will have access to the entire Block. Facilities such as the cafeteria, training rooms, and library can be utilised at any time.” Vis explained as the three dimensional model zoomed in and highlighted the areas he had just spoken of. “Basic amenities will also be covered.”
“What exactly will we be doing here?” Someone suddenly interjected from the back of the room with a raised hand.
Zexus turned his head, catching sight of a young man with a head of messy dark hair like a nest of seaweed. Unlike others who sat with some measure of decorum, he was laid back and seemed bored.
If Vis took offense to the young man’s attitude or interruption, he did not show it. Instead, the Watcher simply answered the question. “The program will have you focus on training yourselves throughout your stay here, and at the end of every fortnight, you will compete against another team in this block. The competition will be ten on ten ‘capture the flag’, where the team that steals the most flags will win. There are a few more rules to it, but I’ll explain it when the time comes. All you need to know right now is that your team is scheduled for a match in two days’ time, and only the top sixteen teams and the top contributors of the losing teams will move on to the next stage.”
“Sweet.” The young man grinned, his eyes hidden by his hair. He seemed all too confident and happy while many others in the room became visibly tense.
“Those conditions are odd.” Zexus thought as he heard Vis’ explanation, but did not say anything. Now was the time to listen. Information was key, and the Watcher had just a bit more to divulge.
“Now, while basic amenities are freely provided, points are required for additional goods. Luxuries, furniture, mana crystals, Egos; anything and everything may be purchased with points.” The man said as a massive list of items appeared beside him. The lines of text flew by, giving those in the room only a glimpse of what was available. “One hundred points were awarded for your completion of the last stage. Besides that, there are three consistent ways to earn points. One, they can be obtained through competitions. Two, at the turn of every moon, a fixed amount will be awarded based on individual ranking. Three, ‘sponsors’ can gift them to you.”
Vis did not elaborate his last point, and moved on without giving anyone a chance to ask a question. “If you look down at your uniform, your current ranking is displayed. Your rankings are based on the stage you had just completed, and will be re-evaluated at the end of every week before the points are distributed.”
True to his word, when Zexus looked down at, the dark space on the left side of his chest now had the red number ‘777’ on top of the letter ‘K’ in white.
“Tapping your Holobracelets will also show your current individual rankings as well as your point balance. A guide for the program’s rules and a suggested basic training regime are also provided. An overview of your stats as well as advice for progression will also become available soon.”
With that said, the red-haired man inclined his head once more. The gesture of a respectful bid farewell from the Isle of Dawn. “Unfortunately, I am out of time for now so this’ll have to do. I will see you soon, K team.”
The wall returned to normal as the screen light abruptly dissipated, ended by Vis who likely had to go on to address the other twenty five teams. The forty people in the room seemed to have been left to their own devices with an abundance of opportunities and resources at their disposal.
The first thing many of them did, Zexus included, was to check their bracelets.
Doing as instructed and tapping the cold metal, a holographic screen was projected from the holes in the steel. Zexus could feel a trace of mana from them, and one look inside confirmed his suspicion that the device was operated by an Ego and powered by mana crystals. The ‘Hologram Ego’ was its name, but it was also paired with something else he could not identify. Something that connected threads of ethereal light from his bracelet to those worn by everyone else in the room.
“A shared database perhaps?” He pondered as he viewed his statistics.
***
Name: Zexus
Ranking: 777
Points: 100
Black Box Guide: [Open]
***