Zack walks beside me as we exit my building. The sky has just started to lighten, but stars can still be seen. "Are you really okay with babysitting me?"

He raises an eyebrow, "Strange way to put it." He shrugs, "I don't mind. If this can give you more experience against real Shells, you'll already be light years ahead of most secondaries. I'd prefer not to see you painting a tree or being torn to pieces. No one will come to save you when it matters most."

I look down at the ground. I suppose he's right. From what I've learned this past week scouring the web, secondaries rarely last long. Those that do seem to disappear. Actually, there was an alarming lack of diver information.

"You know, I was looking for information on divers in the online archives, but there was almost nothing there."

Zack starts spinning his spear with his hand as he talks, "Of course you won't. Most of the city couldn't care less. Not that they don't appreciate us; it's just we live in a different world from them. I'm sure you noticed a massive change in visuals when you first came here."

Now that he mentions it, I do find it strange that there aren't many holograms around. It's mostly just streets and buildings. There's none of the flashiness I saw when I first came here.

"You can think of End City as two different countries. Where we are is for divers. We have our own rules and government. We know things the citizens don't, and it's our job to protect them. We are the frontline. As for the civilian side, they provide us with entertainment and live their lives without the worry of constant shell attacks."

Zack rests his still-wrapped spear on his shoulder with a thunk, "The city was designed to have divers front and center to the forest while the civilians live behind us. However, they are by no means weak. The civilian side has had to deal with rampant Shells before. Everyone here is always ready for shit to hit the fan."

And I believe it. I saw it firsthand a few days ago. Two men got into a fight at a bar I was eating at, and all it took was one punch to send one of them through a concrete wall. And they weren't even divers. I glance at Zack, who has resumed spinning his spear. I wonder how strong he really is.

We arrive at the wall, and instead of taking a left towards the academy, we take a right, "So, what can you tell me about this exam?"

Zack hums thoughtfully, "Well, it's less of an exam and more of a combat trial. Usually, you have to take the five-year course at the academy in order to qualify for the exam, but there have been a few special exceptions."

He points his finger at me and then himself, "Me and you being two of them." Before I can ask what he means by that, he continues, "It's a no holds battle versus low-level Shells. Usually, if you sign up for the exam, you're required to kill a single Shell and bring back its core. If you can't, nine times out of ten, you die."

I stop, "Just like that?"

"Yup, once you sign that paper, your life is forfeit. If you can't kill a singular weak Shell by yourself, you might as well go ahead and die. There is nothing left for you. The command won't employ you in any way, and you just spent the last five years for nothing. As a diver, it's better to go out in a blaze of glory than to come crawling back like a coward."

Zack turns to me, his face more serious than I've ever seen. I swallow hard. "The world you're about to enter is brutal. Very few divers have a happy ending. The best thing you can wish for is a quick death or an impactful one." He resumes walking, and I follow. My hands shake slightly. I don't usually feel any pressure from Zack, but just now, it felt like a building fell on me.

He slows his pace till he's beside me and slaps me on the back, "OW!" I yell as a tingling sensation runs through my spine.

"You have nothing to worry about, though. You won't die here. I guarantee it. Just try your best and learn. Of course, I'll only step in if you're on death's door. Even if you lose a limb, as long as you can stand, I won't do anything." He laughs loudly as he says this, like there's an inside joke I'm supposed to know about.

"By the way, why'd you bring that?" Zack taps the hilt of the sword on my back. "It's not like you can draw it."

I shrug, "I thought it's better to have a second weapon just in case something happens to this." I motion to the sword on my left waist. "At the very least, it makes a good bludgeon."

"I see," he says with an exaggerated nod. I roll my eyes. For some reason being around Zack makes me wanna joke around and bullshit about. That's definitely not me. Not anymore.

We walk for another fifteen minutes before we come to a large two-story cement building. Several armed guards stand at the singular metal door as we enter. Inside there have to be around two hundred people dressed in battle gear. I follow Zack through the throng of people until we reach a small wooden table in front of two large metal doors that are at least two stories tall. A man dressed in a cheap-looking business suit looks at us from behind the table.

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"Name?"

Zack hands him a white envelope, "Silen Stone." I suddenly feel many eyes staring at me. The man reads the contents of the letter, and his eyes widen. He stands quickly, causing me to jump. I didn't know he could move that fast.

"Alright, everyone, it is time to begin the exam. If you would please head to the doors behind me. You have already received your instructions. If you do not return within six hours, these doors will close, and you will have to fend for yourself until the next exam."

The doors open, and people start moving past me. Several purposefully shove me aside as they walk by. I rub my shoulder, "What's their problem?"

Zack shrugs, "It's only natural some would hold a grudge against you. Everyone here has trained for half a decade for this chance, and many will not return. Yet here is some weak secondary who will be guaranteed to not only survive but pass the exam."

I guess when you put it like that, I do seem like an asshole. I start to move when someone grabs my shoulder and spins me around. It's the guy I fought in that restaurant.

He shoves a finger in my face, "I haven't forgotten what you did to me. After this is over, I'm going to kill you." He stomps outside.

"Friend of yours?" Zack asks. I scoff and head out the doors. In front of me, a large sloping field spans out. It's completely grassy, and in the distance, I can see large pine trees.

"So, what exactly do I need to do?"

He nods to the forest, "You need to kill a Shell and bring back its core before the six hours are up. However, they won't accept slime cores."

"Slime cores?"

Zack points to a gray blob not too far from us. It's shaped like a gray-colored drop of water. I can just make out a brightly colored core floating in the goo. He walks over to it as it starts to roll away.

"These little things are slimes. Their completely useless by themselves, But-" He reaches down and inserts his hand into the small creature, grabbing the core inside. With a pull, he rips the core out, and the ball of goo deflates, "When they group up, they're a real pain in the ass to deal with."

He holds his hand out and shows me the bright yellow orb. It almost seems to glow, "That's why these aren't accepted. It's so easy to get these that an actual company was made to hunt slimes and sell the cores as decorations and jewelry. Of course, that's only because these are basically just pretty rocks. The slimes are too weak to have a core with actual power."

He scratches his head, "Unless it's a divergent core. But the chances of that are near zero." He pockets the orb and points his spear at the forest, "Nope, today you'll be hunting Kobs. Nasty little assholes."

I remember reading about those. Small humanoid creatures about three feet tall. There wasn't a picture, so I don't actually know what it looks like. They live in packs, apparently, and are nomadic.

Zack starts heading for the forest, "Don't worry though, I've fought them before, so I'll let you know when we find one." We make our way through the grassy plain. Every now and then, a slime will roll by, minding its own business. Even though I can see the forest, it's far away—a good thirty-minute walk.

"So, Zack. Are there a lot of divers?"

He shrugs, "Not really. Maybe ten thousand or so. Compared to the several million that live in End City, divers are pretty scarce. Of course, it's not like people don't want to be divers. It's just that most are too weak or too stupid to make it."

Ten thousand? That's more than what I had thought. The amount of... stuff dedicated to just divers makes more sense now. "Why do people even want to be divers? Seems like a pretty bad job, considering certain death and all."

Zack grins, "There's loads of reason. Fame, wealth, sex, drugs. You name it, and divers can get it. It requires effort, of course, but a diver has zero restrictions and almost no need for accountability."

He signs and shakes his head, "But many don't make it. The academy accepts ten thousand a year, but by the end of year five, maybe two hundred remain. And less than half of that will survive the exam. Not that I feel bad for them. They chose to do this. If they die, oh well. Should have trained more."

I'm no stranger to low success rates. Several jobs I took as a merc would have killed those with less training. But only a hundred out of ten thousand? That's insane. Zack starts whistling a merry tune as we approach the forest.

I step into the forest, where the ground transitions from grass to pine needles. The trees are forty to fifty feet tall and several feet wide. Our boots thump quietly as we trek through the forest. I'm not sure what I expected when I entered. Maybe some unknown world filled with horrors or a dark, dreary place covered in fog. But it's surprisingly normal.

Sunlight streams through the branches, and birds and forest creatures scatter about. The forest is almost enchanting in its normality. That is until I hear a blood-curdling scream echo through the foliage.

"What was that?" I say, drawing the sword from my hip.

He waves me off, "Probably one of the testers being mutilated. Trust me. The screams are only beginning." I glance around, and suddenly, the forest seems much less inviting. The shadows seem to lengthen, and the wind brings the scent of blood with it. I take careful steps as I grip the hilt so hard my knuckles turn white.

My heart isn't beating hard yet. Mostly because Zack is walking so nonchalantly, like he doesn't have a care in the world, almost as if he's returned home. Even so, I can feel sweat building. I wasn't trained to fight monsters, and only now is it starting to set in that I might be in over my head. If these people, who are WAY stronger than me and have trained for five years just to fight these things, die so easily, where does that leave me?

We continue walking through the forest as screams of agony and pain echo every few minutes until Zack stops suddenly.

He taps the ground with his spear and nods, "I think this is a good spot."

"For what?"

He turns to me and smiles, "To disappear." I blink, and he's gone. I look around me frantically, but he's nowhere to be seen. Oh-ho-ho. I am so fucked.