With the heavy doors opening, I walked through quickly. The smell of blood tended to linger on the nose and I wanted no part of that.

The door was guarded by my examiner, a grizzly man who sat in a large wooden chair.

"Congratulations," he said with no real change in tone. "You've made it to level 2." He reached within a pouch by his side and pulled out a wooden block etched with a fine portrait of a dancing skull.

"Where do you want it?"

I pulled up my sleeve and pointed at my forearm.

He obliged.

Rather lightly compared to the stature of the man, he placed the wooden block softly against my skin, before pressing a small button on the side, that resounded with a small click. Instantly tiny blades came smashing down.

The left side of my face flinched in response.

He removed the box and looked over his work, then shook his head.

"Not deep enough."

Again the blades descended.

"Good enough."

Now there were two lines in my skin where there used to be one. A feeling rose in my chest seeing it, but I pushed it down; there would be none of that here.

I nodded in thanks.

"Spiiiiider." A singsong voice came rolling from down the way, where a cloaked figure sat getting a tattoo on her neck. Two bars just like me.

When the job was done, she skipped toward me and wrapped me in a hug.

Her hands shivered a little.

"C'mon Spider, let's go. This dreary place is no fun."

I returned the hug and nodded.

It really wasn't a fun place to be.

We walked down the hall, passing doors where victors emerged to fresh tattoos, and doors where no one emerged at all.

The catacomb's wide hallways let us have a wide berth from the other victors, but even still, I could see familiar outlines. Some of which I had hoped would have died.

My arm was pulled, and a whisper found its way into my ear. "Spider, that's the one."

She pointed at a tall boy who was devoid of any upper body clothes but had a face wrapped in a mask.

"That was the boy in my first exam. The one with the Magyk."

I looked closely. There hadn't been many Mages in the first level from what I heard, and the second wasn't sure to be much better.

He would probably be someone to watch out for.

I nodded at her, and we kept going forward.

Another whisper found its way into my ear. "You're not gonna recruit him, Spider," she said with a voice of disappointment.

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I shook my head.

She frowned, disappointed, and I could see it form through my mask.

"Are you sure, Spider? We're gonna need more than a few people later?"

I nodded.

"Alright," she said with a bit of exasperation.

I nodded again.

I was more interested in what came next than recruiting right now. Besides, I would need to see the Magyk to decide if I wanted it.

My attention turned back toward the lengthy catacomb, and I combed through my thoughts. I had kept track of how many people arrived in Level 1.

I had only seen 40 faces as we passed so far. I had counted five hallways when we entered.

That meant around 200 left if all the passages were like this.

I had never known a faction to use so many people, so odds were they were gonna slash our numbers again.

I looked towards my left at the bubbly girl.

"Be careful, Nella," I said simply.

I heard no response for a while, so I looked over.

Empty eyes were looking at me. "Don't get soft, Spider. The soft ones die."

I nodded.

We walked through the dimly lit catacombs for some time before finally reaching our destination. It was a large circle that had significantly more light than the rest of the catacombs we had seen so far.

It was slightly filled with people. Not enough to beat the number I predicted but close to it, and more were steadily flooding in.

Most of them had their level 1 partners by their side, as the lesson of backstabbing was taught early and well. But there were a few who didn't, and I wasn't sure what to think about that. So I did what I always do in such situations - found a place out of the way and sat. Nella followed suit, and plopped a seat next to me on the large cracked debris of rock. We said nothing , opting to lean against each other, and waited for whatever was next.

Minutes passed, that turned into tens, that turned into a half an hour , before the hall was filled.

When all were present my eyes were assaulted by a light from the ceiling.

A white blinding light, that caught me for a solid few seconds.

When it was gone , the scene had changed. Atop the dial lay a small circle that floated above the ground. It's rider a small thin man with messy hair.

I couldn't see his face through his messy hair but with the way he scanned the room I could see he could see ours.

"Oh...ohhoh..ahhhh....eeee.iiii....aaaa.. Ok my throat's warm, hello everybody," he said in a bright and happy voice with a rasp underneath. "Good job, you guys. You've all made it through the Deadly Dreams selection bracket, from a thousand level 0's to a group of blood-tested level 2's," he said, nodding sagely. "Good job, all of you. You can relax now; you've all passed."

I turned my head in disbelief.

He was passing 200 people?

"Except,"

Ahh there it was.

"Except you haven't. If it was up to me, I'd pass you hear. You've all shown sufficient savegery , ruthlessness, and wit to make it this far, I say it is truly a waste for you all not to make it."

He shook his head.

"Alas, their are far too many of you. "

No voices rose in response. We had learned from level 0 they killed quickly for offenses like that. These deadly dream examiners.

Instead we waited as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a rock.

"Instead, you lucky bunch will be sent to a selection ground to determine your worth. You all may know it. It is the city of Lethos."

Nervous word were spoken softly around the hall. Everyone knew Lethos.

"Your final mission is simple. "

"The first 40 people to make it to the city with blade in hand wins. " He looked to his wrist.

"You have 24 hours. "