“Violence in communal areas will be subject to punishment. Destruction of property will result in immediate disqualification. Leaving one’s designated block will also result in immediate disqualification. Carrying items not from Black Box is immediate disqualification…jeez, why’re there so many of these shitty rules?” Zexus heard Lavenna sigh as she read through the Black Box ‘guide’ projected on her Holobracelet. “There’s like…fifty pages. My eyes are starting to hurt.”
“Your eyes began hurting before you even started.” The amber-eyed man replied, the faintest hints of a smile on his stern face.
“Yeah, well now they’re popping out of my skull. I guess the silver lining to all of this is that I at least found the list of Egos available for purchase.” Lavenna retorted, lowering her hand. The hologram disappeared on its own as she held a hand over the emblem on her leftside chest. “And also this! I can’t believe I got placed as 50,432nd. I’m literally last, aren’t I?”
Zexus almost chuckled at that, amused by his companion’s ranking. He doubted she was weaker than everyone who had passed, but such a ranking was no surprise when one considered it from the point of view of the Overseers, Watchers, and whoever else was in charge of evaluations. The Kitsune was considered a familiar, and had all but a free ride through the first examination. If anything, she was lucky that she did not have to retake the test on her own. He had a feeling that someone in their family was behind that.
“Just bear with it for two days.” The stoic man said
“I better get into the hundreds. I’m not some weakling.” The ashen-haired beauty pouted. “Where’s the cafeteria anyway? I’m angry and starving. Literally the worst combination.”
“We’re almost there.”
The two of them were currently walking through the corridors of Red Block, the grey walls thusly painted with lines of lines of red. At every crossroad, signs hung from the ceiling and walls, directing its new citizens. In places more often visited such as the stairways, maps were also offered. While that provided an overall layout, the two still wanted to get a better grasp of their new home, especially since they would be spending just over a year there, a number Zexus had calculated based on the notion that they would be competing against all of the other twenty five teams at least once.
Having made their way to the centre of the tenth and ‘top’ floor of Red Block, the two had identified the overall layout of their new home. While the middle floors were reserved for living spaces, the levels were designated for training and the top was for amenities such as baths. That said, the floor they were on was empty for the most part, filled in with steel walls as opposed to concrete. Zexus could not help but feel suspicious, but had set that aside for the meantime. No use in dwelling on something he had nothing on.
The cafeteria of the Block turned out to be a room bigger than even a King’s mess hall, stretching for hundreds of metres and constructed from a glossy white steel that gave a feeling of cleanliness. Occupying the illuminated space were many long rows of tables flanked by chairs. Lining the edges of walls were also booths, while the empty corners were filled with the odd potted plant to add some life. Given the area of the room, there were multiple service stations, all of them offering the same food.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Lavenna was incredulous, frowning as she saw the menu. Just as Vis had informed them, food was provided without charge. What the man left out however, was that the free food consisted of nothing more than bread, rice and water.
“What’s with this cheapskate bullshit?!” The Kitsune was fuming as she looked through the prices of the other foods. Dishes such as steak and fish cost ten points, and the most luxurious feasts reached up to almost five hundred points. Drinks were also expensive, with the alcohol being the most outrageous. “Is this stuff made of Egos or something?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Zexus said dryly with crossed arms as they stood by the counter. The female attendant waited patiently for them with a friendly smile, unfazed by Lavenna’s outburst. She must have already experienced quite a few tantrums, or was simply that well trained.
After a moment of watching Lavenna pout at the menu, Zexus moved to make their order. “We’ll take three free meals with bread and a panfried steak.”
“Three free meals with bread and a panfried steak.” The cashier repeated the order before motioning towards the display pad built into the counter. “Please place your Holobracelet over it.”
*Beep*
“Your food will be brought to you shortly. Please take a seat.”
Zexus nodded in thanks and walked to the nearest table. Sitting down with care, the chair would make a small creaking noise as it bore his weight. Fortunately, it went no further, and he was able to relax as Lavenna took a seat opposite him.
“You didn’t have to do that.” She said with a hint of guilt and appreciation. “I would’ve been fine.”
Zexus simply looked at her without a sound.
His Bonded sighed. “...Thanks. I’ll pay you back…probably.”
“I’m not keeping count.”
Lavenna rolled her eyes.
Sitting in silence, their food was soon brought to them by a well-dressed waiter. The bread and steak, as Zexus had expected, was one serving’s worth. Adequate would be an appropriate word to describe their taste. It certainly did not compare to what he was used to having, homecooked meals by his mother, but he was not picky over his food. It just had to fill his stomach and supply him with sufficient energy, if nothing else.
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They ate quickly, observing the other people that filtered into the hall as well as their various reactions to the system in place. In a strange way, Zexus could gauge the people’s ‘previous’ status from this. Those who grew up wealthy and had a good grasp of economics would have found the prices outrageous when compared to the balance on hand, while those of lower status responded calmly and some even with joy. There were many stories of how slumrats would live on a piece of bread for an entire week, and now they were freely given an entire loaf.
“One hundred points really isn’t much, huh?” Lavenna said through bites of her bread, covering her mouth as she spoke. “If a piece of meat this big costs ten points, then Egos must cost tens of thousands. This entire setup smells like one of the stupid owl’s schemes.”
Zexus nodded in agreement. “Everything does seem deliberate. The prices are probably to limit the already substantial amount of money invested into this program.”
He paused, a thoughtful look in his eyes. “From what Vis said about ‘Sponsors’, it sounds like those outside the program will eventually be able to support those within. Like Gods bestowing gifts upon their chosen avatars.”
“Well, if they’re going to go back on what they said before, then surely there are more ways to get points than what the red head told us.” The Kitsune noted, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “He said ‘consistent’, right? Then what about inconsistent? Maybe we could sell the zombie Ego.”
Zexus’ gaze shifted then, his mind working, spurred on by his partner’s words. What she said sounded plausible.
“Extortion of others also comes to mind.” He said off-handedly, glancing at the people eating around them and those still waiting in line. “In the rules, they didn’t ban theft, violence or any other crime against other participants.”
The ashen-haired beauty immediately caught on to his meaning. “As long as you don’t fuck with the officials, everything else is fair game. I guess that makes sense. You want to create the best? You gotta have all the variables. But there’s surely some regulation. Otherwise it’ll just be anarchy here.”
“We can assume that we won’t be punished or disqualified as long as we don’t get caught.” Zexus suggested, finishing his food and taking the tray over to the disposal station. Lavenna followed him, never more than a few steps behind as they left the cafeteria.
“Are we actually gonna become gangsters or something in here though? I mean, you look the type, but me…” The Kitsune pointed to herself, appalled. “I’m too pretty to go around roughing people up and stealing their money. Although…ten blocks, approximately five thousand people in each, that’s some good profit if you have the power and skill to pull it off.”
Zexus glanced at her, unable to resist the urge to shake his head and take a jab at the Spirit Beast. “You have the physical strength of a cricket and the scheming ability of a pebble, so I don’t think that’s possible. Besides that, there are also other problems.”
“Like what?” She scowled at him with narrowed eyes and her hands behind her back. He had little doubt she would strike him, but exactly when was up to chance.
Bracing himself as they kept on walking, headed to check out the training rooms like they had planned earlier, Zexus answered her question in a steady tone. “They didn’t even mention things like murder. It’s safe to assume they left out certain rules to bait criminals. Besides that, what if the next stage requires collaboration with your Block members? It’s better to off an untrustworthy ally, no matter how competent they are.”
Lavenna lowered her gaze, tilting her head to the side in thought. “Fine. I’ll play the goody-two-shoes.”
Descending the stairs and entering the second lowest floor of the Block, the layout of the building changed. In contrast to the wide corridors of the upper levels, their current floor had narrow hallways with doors situated every few metres. The ceiling was also slightly higher, and the lights brighter.
Exchanging looks, the two tried the first door on the left. The words ‘Training Hall 1’ were written on it.
As Zexus had expected, a spacious room awaited them on the other side. Modernised equipment the Isle of Skye had adopted from the Lost Empire filled the left side of the room, designed to work out specific parts of the body. On the opposing side were segregated rooms, made for people to train their Egos without endangering everyone else within the vicinity. Taking up much of the space in the centre was what appeared to be a lawn of faux grass, with sections designated for archery and sparring. Finally, rounding out the whole room on the other end were doors labelled as ‘showers’, sitting beside stations distributing water and towels.
“Wow, they really went all out.” Lavenna waltzed onto the grass and spun around in awe.
Zexus remained by the door, casting a sweeping gaze over the area. After a moment, he turned on his heel and left. “Let’s check out the other rooms.”
“Coming!”
Moving from room to room through the entire level, they discovered that there were only four training halls in total with many entrances and exits to each. That said, the four training halls all had the same layout. There was not the slightest difference between any of them, that was until they reached the last room.
Pushing the door open, Zexus felt himself raise a brow in surprise as he caught sight of a man. Situated amongst the training equipment, the golden-haired man two and a half metres tall with a body bursting with muscle appeared to be lifting a set of bulky weights.
“Isn’t that…?”
Zexus moved towards the man, purposefully making his footsteps louder to draw the figure’s attention. It worked.
“Hm?” The blonde man’s dark eyes shifted. At first, his chiseled face was twisted into a scowl, but it had quickly turned into a toothy grin when he saw the two’s approach.
“Well ain’t this lucky? Didn’t think I’d see you so soon, Z.” The muscleman said, pushing his weight back onto the rack. Sitting up, he wiped the sweat from his chin and nodded at the Kitsune. “Lavenna. Looking good as usual.”
“Thanks, Sura. Nice to be complimented once in a while.” The ashen-haired beauty smirked. “You trying to pick up girls now that Caitlyn’s not around?”
“Not a chance. We came in here together. I wouldn’t want to risk getting caught. Besides, cheating on the wife isn’t something an honourable man would do, is it?” The giant of a man chuckled, his eyes darting to the numbers on Zexus’ chest. “777, not bad Z. I thought you’d end up somewhere in the thousand. But what happened to you, fox?”
“I was counted as this guy’s familiar, so I technically didn’t get evaluated.” Lavenna replied, pointing an accusatory finger at her companion.
“You didn’t do too bad either.” Zexus replied, noting the ‘432’ on Sura’s outfit. The man was stronger than him, of that there was no doubt. “How's your team?”
“Team Y. Fifty seven people. Don’t know a single soul there though, don't really intend to get to know them.” Sura said. “I pretty much left as soon as Vis finished with his lecture, but I didn’t see anyone all too special in my ‘team’.”
“Guessing you just looked at their physiques and dipped huh? Still a total musclebrain. Are you ranked that high just from brute force?” Lavenna questioned, counting the weights. “How much is this? A thousand kilos?”
Sura nodded, and eyed the amber-eyed man before him. Rising up, the blonde warrior stood to his full height, eclipsing Zexus by more than a head. His biceps were twice, perhaps three times the size of the dark-haired man. With their disparity in build, it was like an adult looking down at an adolescent. “Say, Z. Care for a spar?”
Zexus looked up at his friend calmly. With not a change to his face, he replied. “I would like to, but that’s not my goal for today.”
The blonde warrior shot him a questioning look.
“Settling in takes priority.” The dark-haired man elaborated. “Only after securing my foundations does the fun come.”
For a moment, Sura was silent, staring at Zexus with a critical eye. Then, without warning, the man chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Fair enough! Always got your priorities straight, eh?”
“I’m just being cautious. I’d rather not stab myself in the back.” He replied, shaking his head. “In any case, it’s nice to see you. We’ll spar at a later time, or perhaps in the team battles.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
With their pieces said, both men turned around and walked their separate ways. While Sura returned to his bench, Zexus would stand by the door, waiting for Lavenna to finish running through the hall in search of whatever it was that caught her fancy.
When she was finally done, the two Bonded would continue going through the floors, identifying everything of significance before heading back to their living quarters. At that point, it was already late at night according to their Holobracelets. Even so, Zexus’ mind still ran ahead at full speed as he sifted through the wealth of information he had gathered.
“I could gather information about the other teams, but since there’s only one day until the match, I guess tomorrow will be better spent figuring out the team.”