December 31st. Today is the 75th annual entrance exam for Arkphis Institute. The people of the capital city, Arkphis, were excited for the event.

***

In the center of the city was an extensive building. It was surrounded by water, connected via bridges in each cardinal direction to the rest of the city. This structure was the Arkphis Institute, which had been established over three hundred years ago and since then served as the main campus of what was currently known as the Bet Empire's military academy. Inside the building were teachers and students getting ready for this year's event.

A black cat was running through the halls. Running under students, jumping over teachers, and leaping across shelves filled with books; it seemed like there wasn't anything that could stop it from reaching its goal. Running after the cat was a middle-aged women who wore a white lab coat. She had long brown hair that was currently tied into a ponytail and big round glasses that seemed to never leave her face. She looked exhausted, but she still ran out ahead of the cat.

The woman was called Professor Mei. She was an expert on Sálarkista biology. She also happened to be the head researcher at the institute. And because her research could open up new possibilities for their war effort, Mei's work was always highly regarded within the academy.

"Professor Neverwinter! Please wait!" Mei called out.

The cat leaped onto a windowsill in the hallway and sat there. "Ms. Mei, How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Professor or better yet, just call me Lucius. Also, as much as I adore your company if you are going to slow me down then I must insist you stay behind." The cat spoke to Mei in a tone similar to a human.

Mei fell into thought for a moment. Her expression turned serious. "I would love nothing more than to stay behind to continue my research. But, rules are rules and the principal demanded all staff be present for this year's Entrance Exams."

Lucius sighed. "That much I get, darling, but is there a reason you must come to my section?"

"You fur is so soft and fluffy! I just wanted to pet you while we watched." She said with a smile.

"Well, I can't guarantee to grant your wish. Since this year is the 75th anniversary of our school, there will be many special guests attending today's test," Lucius explained.

"Special guests? Who?"

"Hmm...let us see..." Lucius started to think. "We have the Minister of War himself, of course. He is expected to arrive sometime during the first part of the day. After that, we'll get two representatives from the royal family. They should both be here around mid-morning." Lucius paused. "And lastly, we expect one person from the House of Reason to show up toward the end of the morning."

"The House of Reason? They affiliate with the Grand Church. Why would they want to visit us?"

"Well, I'm sure you've heard of him, Ms. Mei. His name is Count Hossin."

"Hossin...yes, I have heard the name. Though I still don't know why he'd be visiting us."

"He has a personal interest in Sálarkista biology. He actually requested to meet with you earlier this week."

"Why would he do that? I am not an especially famous researcher, nor am I important enough to warrant his attention."

"It appears that our dear Count has a fondness for you, Ms. Mei. As it turns out, he is actually quite a fan of your work. He even told me that you were the one who discovered the potential of Sálarkista technology."

"I...he...did he really say that to you?!" Mei asked with surprise.

"Yes, ma'am. He did."

"Oh...that is wonderful news!" Mei exclaimed in delight.

"Well, now that the pleasantries are done, can we please get moving? And do try to keep up this time."

"Of course, Professor, I'll do my best."

***

The courtyard of Arkphis Institute was vast. It was still almost filled to the brim with eager applicants. In the center of the courtyard was an enormous stage. A stage meant for the event. At the edge of the stage stood four pillars, each positioned to represent the cardinal directions of the compass. On top of each pillar was a statue of an eagle with its wings spread out.

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At the front of the stage was a man holding a megaphone. "Attention all applicants! Your attention, please!"

Everyone within earshot immediately quieted down and focused their attention on the man. "Good morning everyone, and welcome to the 75th annual entrance exams for the Arkphis Institute. My name is Professor Glasno, and I will serve as the event's master of ceremonies. To begin the exam, all of you will be formed into 4 different lines. "

Multiple teachers came out and directed each student into their designated spots in line. Each of the 4 lines pointed in front of 4 different teleportation Gates. Each Gate was located at each of the cardinal directions.

Glasno continued. "Good. Now that you are all in place, I will explain the rules of the exam. To begin, each of you will be given one of these." He held up a strange looking wooden object. The object was barely bigger than his hand and seemed to have carvings and paint all over it. "This is what we like to call an artifact. And before you ask, no, it is not worth anything. On the back of each artifact is carved a letter. This letter represents your which team you are on."

"Teams?" an applicant from the crowd asked.

"Yes, teams. Each team is assigned a letter of the alphabet. There are 4 team members on each team. However, you don't know who your team members are unless they show you their artifact."

There were murmurs in the crowd at this.

"The primary goal of the game is to protect your artifact and take other teams' artifacts. You gain points the more teams you catch and lose points when your team gets stolen from. There is a catch, however. Your team is assigned one specific team to steal from. If you fail to steal from this designated group, then you fail, no matter how many points you gain. Moreover, if any of your teammates gets their artifact stolen by the team that is designated to steal from you, then the entire team fails."

The murmurs arrived again, this time louder and with more concern.

"One last thing before we begin. All forms of fighting is allowed. However, killing another applicant will result in disqualification and proper punishment. I'm sure that's enough talking for now. Go out there and give it your all. Good luck!" Glasno said.

The Teleportation Gates glowed, signifying their activation. And one by one, the students scanned their IDs and teleported away.

There was a man standing next the Teleportation Gate on the east side of the courtyard. He was slim, tall and had a stubble.He had black hair that was slicked back and also wore a nice suit while sporting a pair of sunglasses. Hanging into his suit pocket was a pen.

"Next" he said.

The boy who was next in line was frantically searching his pockets. He reached into his right pant pocket and let out a sigh of relief while pulling out his ID card.

"ID!" the boy said.

The man looked at him with a sort of disgust. "Just scan and go already."

"Oh. Right. My bad."

The boy scanned his ID and the Teleportation Gate made a small beep and on the machine appeared the words 𝘈𝘫𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘶𝘰𝘤.....𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥.

Ajal's body began glowing and with the blink of an eye he was teleported.

There were gigantic trees surrounding Ajal and everywhere he looked, all he could see were more trees. He was alone for now but knew that wouldn't last long as he heard the distant sound of fighting.

"A forest, huh?" He said to himself. "A little boring, but should make this easy. OK! Let's get this started."

Ajal picked a random direction and began walking and started thinking to himself. "𝘖𝘬, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵. 𝘖𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? 𝘕ah, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴."

Ajal stopped for a second and took a breath. "Alright, that's good enough, I think. Time to start scouting the area."

Ajal jumped into the air, landing on one of the tree branches that was meters above him. He placed the side of his hand on his forehead and looked into the distance, hoping to find someone.

"Hmmm. What if I tried yell-"

Before Ajal could finish his sentence, someone jumped up at him with blinding speed and aimed a punch directly at him. Ajal narrowly avoided the punch, causing their fist to land into the tree. The punch caused a massive hole in the tree, causing it to split and the top half of the tree came falling down, landing with a thunderous boom. Ajal looked up to see the perpetrator, but upon looking, gained more questions than answers.

"Is that a maid!?"

The girl held a blank expression on her face and stared at Ajal. Suddenly, a voice came from the forest floor.

"You are wrong, my friend. That is my girlfriend!"

"That is Incorrect. Please then let him give you the wrong idea. I am Arc, Master Jean's Automaton." She paused. "Now that you know our names, it is only common courtesy to share yours."

"Ajal." He responded. "So, you seem pretty strong. But, I'm guessing your boyfriend is another case considering he's down there and you're up here.

Arc glared at him.

"Guess I was right." Ajal smirked.

Arc's voice got louder. "We will take your artifact now."

He began laughing. "By all means, feel free to try!"

Ajal grabbed onto his scarf and and aggressively pulled it off of him and as the scarf waved in the air, it transformed into a scythe.