I took stock of the new room.

This one is much smaller than the computer room, and is completely devoid of computers or toxxs. Six children sat in six chairs, leaving four empty. Six children... 7/264 I'm the seventh. From that, I can only assume that only ten of the top scoring children will be in this exam group.

But what about the six before me...?

"Hey, sit down," one of the children patted the vacant seat beside him. I recognized him as the pale skinned kid who'd been the first to be called. The first place, yet his features were so... unremarkable. As ordinary as any other schoolboy. I slid into the seat beside him. It would be useful to know more about these children.

Several seconds of uncomfortable silence passed.

"So what's your name?" The Boy finally asked.

"I'm Noah. You?"

"Anderssen."

"Okay, cool. So why are we here?" I decided to test his knowledge.

The boy looked at me askance.

"You mean you don't know?"

"So you're seventh." Another voice interrupted.

I turned around, finding myself faced with a giant of a child. He could have easily passed for a twelve year old, not six.

"Uhh.. yes. You are?"

"I'm Carl. I'm the Fifth. That guy's first. In case you still haven't figured it out, that's our rankings." The boy laughed at my denseness. "Ah... Rankings... Cool!" I exclaimed, putting on my enlightened face.

Anderssen, having been excluded from the conversation, decided to tinker with a pen from his pocket.

Carl grinned. "You're funny. Here, lemme introduce you to the rest." He excitedly pointed out the people in ascending order, concluding with "And you're the seventh." I nodded, memorizing the names and faces of the seven children.

At that moment, the door opened, and eighth entered. A thin, lanky body. Awkward body language. His most distinguishing feature is his eyes. They were an emerald green, with an almost reflective hue as he stared at each of us, then looked away. Alexander, if I remember correctly. Another weirdo. They kept coming, until all ten of us weirdos were gathered in the same room. Some of the children had exchanged pleasantries and small talk, and I kept my ears peeled for information. I'd decided it would be wise to clam up about my own ability, but some of the other children were more amenable to sharing theirs, in typical childlike fashion, whereby children would boast my dad is richer than your dad and the like. At some point, the big boy, Carl, had let slip his ability, polymorph --- an ability that lets him restructure his physical body, which was probably able to provide him with a boost in the Toxx exam.

I have to admit, Polymorph sounds useful --- it has very practical applications.

What better master of disguise than a shapeshifter? He could reveal his ability for the whole world to know, yet still not be in danger of ever being exposed. I resolved to befriend him, both for my potential future criminal enterprise and to avoid an unnecessary enemy.

Minimizing the number of enemies one makes saves one a lot of worries and headaches.

Apart from the Polymorph, several other children had unwisely revealed their abilities. Some were impressive, some were mediocre. But all had potential. That's the thing about magic --- it depends entirely on how you use it. Even an ordinary magical ability in a common branch can have very useful applications in certain scenarios. For example, my own esoteric ability lacks physical presence, but got me out of a tough spot by manipulating immaterial memories, if only through a stroke of luck.

Just from listening to the other children's abilities, a few applications come to mind. The ninth candidate, Spika, has super speed --- a very generic but useful physical buff that boosts reaction time and physical stats, explaining the high score in the computer game. It may be a common ability, but nothing is more versatile than raw physical stats. It's certainly easier to master and control than esoteric abilities like my own. I mean, architectural knowledge? Really?

The 2nd candidate, I think his name was Drudof, revealed that his ability had something to do with spells, but wouldn't elaborate further. That was frustrating. That nugget of information is like serving an appetizer without the main course. Spells is a very wide category. It would be difficult to categorize him without knowing more details.

Of course, most of the other candidates wisely refused to divulge their abilities. None would want to be at a disadvantage.

A shame.

I glanced at the top candidate, Anderrsen. He was still fiddling with the pen, muttering to himself. What could his ability be? Does it have something to do with the pen?

As I pondered on abilities and their potential, Mr Byte returned to the room.

"I see that all the candidates are in place. " He said, smiling. Nobody said anything. "Congratulations on qualifying for the elite phase of the exam. As the name says, it is a test designated only for the best and top performing candidates of each group. The ten of you will be the representatives of section Yellow. "