Still barely catching his breath, Nico took in a few more seconds just to regain his composure. [Flash Step] normally wouldn't take that much out of him, but since he was on his last stand stamina-wise, it was especially draining. He looked down to see the wound that Castiel the Sentinel, Rayana's summon, left him, but nothing was there. Still, the simulated pain remained, and he could feel the stinging in his ribs as he stood.

"You were great, Nico." Amelia commented, her voice sounding as collected as when she was barking out orders beforehand.

"More like I got carried by you," Nico chuckled softly, "Who are you, anyways? You're not an ordinary player, I know that." He didn't really know where he was going with the question, but he was curious about who this person was. He had heard rumors of strong players in the freshman class, so he had to guess that she was one of them, though he had never heard the name 'Amelia' going around the gossip circles.

"I guess we haven't been properly introduced. My name is Amelia D'Angelo, I'm from Pasadena, California, and I'm a Void Mage." She stated, a suave smile flashing on her face.

"Wait, you're from Pasadena? I'm fron San Francisco–wait, that's besides the point." Nico started, startled that he hadn't heard of her sooner, considering they were in the same state; and then, he remembered that he didn't interact with the player world before coming to New York at all. "I have a feeling you're going to be well-known by the end of these tryouts."

It was then that he realized she was untouched, not a single scuff mark or wound on her body for those entire five fights. After all of the adrenaline had died down, Nico finally took the time to properly examine Amelia–she was wearing a simple pair of black sweatpants and a teal-blue tank top that hidden under a half-zipped light-gray zip up hoodie. She had tan skin and an athletic physique, proof that she was a competent, long-time player who was probably proficient in dungeon-clearing as much as she was at player-versus-player combat.

Her rich-brown hair was tied into a plain ponytail, and many wouldn't have guessed that in the uncomplicated outfit resided a powerhouse of a mage.

He wondered even if he used everything in his arsenal, could he deal any significant damage to her, as it looked like she had more spells and more powerful versions of them tucked away in her repertoire somewhere. Nico was simply in awe that he was partnered up with someone of this caliber.

"You're not so bad yourself, newbie," Amelia retorted, "If you're serious about just awakening in June, that means you've become better than some of the players who have been doing this for much longer but in only three months."

"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment. But I don't know if I would've made it all five rounds if you weren't my teammate."

"I don't know how they matched us up, but look," The Void Mage signaled to the other duos who stood there, all seeming to have just finished up their matches or were still in the middle of them. "There's plenty of know names among this crowd, and you're one of them." Amelia stated, and Nico looke damong the duos who were present right now, guessing that the other players who hadn't made it to the final round had left the warehouse.

"Who's who?" Nico asked, wanting to know more about the peers he would have to compete with if he were going to try to make it into EPS. And it seemed like Amelia knew her stuff, as she was familiar with Rayana and Tyler in their last fight.

"Let's see..." Amelia muttered before answering, "Over there," She pointed at the duo furthest from them. "That's Blake Hayes, the one everyone's been talking about. They say that he's only displayed a singular spell, since he defeats all of his opponents with it in one shot."

The twosome she was talking about consisted of a girl who Nico did not recognize, as well as a boy he hadn't seen before, but he focused on the latter. Apparently, this was the most distinguishable individual in the entire cohort of first-year students. [Arcane Vision] granted Nico a perfect grasp of the person he glanced at.

He was tall, even taller than Nico's roommate, standing at around 6'2. The boy had an impressive stature, with a well-defined, muscular physique that displayed an obvious amount of training. His chiseled face matched well with his baby-blue eyes which were brimming with ferocity and depth; Nico imagined that if he were to be stared down, they would have made an imposing gaze.

Blake had sandy-blonde hair, and his air of presence gave off a dominating aura, almost like you couldn't help but notice his grandiose ambience. He could easily see why the handsome boy was the class's most-talked-about individual, especially if the rumors about his strength were true. The eye-catching mage-type stood there, waiting like the rest of them for further notice, his eyes scanning the room as well; his face was neither happy nor sad, just a plain, resting visage of disinterest.

"What was his class again, Electromancer?" The words escaped Nico's lips unknowingly, remembering what Ingrid had said before.

"That's right," Amelia said, before motioning to another person, "and that's someone else you should watch out for, too." This time, they landed on a different duo.

One of them, a girl with daring look on her face–her skin was the color of burnished copper, a darker shade. She had dark-brown eyes that were filled with fierceness and alertness, matching her sharp jawline. The girl gave off a more graceful yet intense aura, her hair a cascade of raven curls. She wasn't holding a weapon in her hand, but her toned frame made Nico assume she was a physical-type player, though he didn't know why.

On the other hand, the person standing next to her was a much taller boy, towering at the same height as Blake. With wheat-blonde hair, glassy pale skin, distinct olive-green eyes, his gaze was distant and reserved, containing an air of nonchalance. Even Nico had to admit that this individual was good-looking, with near-perfect wavy hair that flowed evenly at a medium length. He had symmetrical facial features, exuding an overall allure that gave off a charm that could only be described as hard to look away from.

"Who are they?" Nico managed to get out, his eyes still fixed with curiosity.

Amelia only let out a laugh before responding, "Everyone is like that the first time they see him. That's Kael Engelhardt–he's from Berlin, and he has the famous Guardian Angel class."

Nico's eyes widened at that last statement; even though he was new to the player world and basically a complete amateur, there were still tidbits of information he had heard, and this was related to one of them. First and foremost, there was an abundance of physical- and mage-type classes, whereas support-type players were rarer. Furthermore, it took a lot to be a competent support player, as they are usually crucial for a party composition, especially when taking on difficult dungeons.

And the one class that everyone talks about as the pinnacle of being a healer, someone focused on recovering the health and vitality of allies, is the Guardian Angel class, possessed by no more than less than a handful of people in the world. It could basically be considered a legendary-rank class if the player phenomenon was an actual video game.

Then, it made sense to Nico why Kael had radiated such a presence–it was only natural for someone with the Guardian Angel class to exude that alluring enthrallment. Still, the boy remained aloof-looking, evident that him and his partner had not become acquainted during their matches.

"I wonder what he's doing in America." Nico uttered under his lips, surprised for there to be so many international students that he had known of already, thinking of Ingrid in the back of his mind. "Anyways, who's his partner?"

"I don't know," Amelia replied, "but she looks strong, too. Kael looks pretty indifferent, but there's no judgement or ridicule in his eyes. That means she probably matched up to his standards, at least, which is hard to do for the type of person he is."

It was at that moment that Nico realized there were much more powerful members of Excelsior's freshman population than he thought. And Amelia belonged with them, too. Nico suddenly felt quite out of place, still dog-tired from the bouts that he had just experienced, while the ones still remaining looked like they were completely fine, much like his partner.

It seemed like Amelia picked up on his sudden change in attitude, as she said, "I know what you're thinking, because I used to be like that too."

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He perked up at that, curious, "What do you mean?"

"All I'm saying is don't sell yourself short, Nico. I can tell you're stronger than you think you are." She answered. Nico still attempted to deciphger what that meant–he knew his potential, he had seen it before virtually. Though, what was weighing him down was the journey it would take to get to that point; he was sure that it would involve a lot of dungeon-clearing, but he wasn't sure how he would have access to such spaces if he didn't have EPS membership.

"Thanks, Amelia, I mean it." He said earnestly, trying to shake off any negative thoughts. Right now, he could only mainly think of sleep, as his muscles now were dormant and unstimulated by any form of adrenaline or energy rush.

"Here, let me get your contact information," She said, pulling out her phone, "I'll give you some pointers if I have some free time. You made a good partner, today. It's not common for someone to catch onto my ideas so fast and hold their own in battle, especially not a new player."

Accepting the offer, Nico quickly typing his name and number into the contact app of her phone as well as his profile on social media. With that quick exchange over, the pair of them were interrupted by a loud announcement.

"With that," A booming voice rang throughout the echoing warehouse, "you all have finished the first event! For those who are still here and wish to continue, meet this same location in three days."

The announcement reverberated loudly, and it came from the voice of the leader of EPS once again, who stood on the same platform as earlier, "Everyone who made it to the fifth and final around are invited to return. Rest well and prepare for the next challenge." Arthur's voice rang out again.

\And then, the lights suddenly stopped focusing on him, and returned back to normal. The atmosphere changed, as people were given the confirmation that the first day's events were over–Nico didn't even know it, but it was an elimination trial, meaning that if you were to lose a single battle, you would be knocked out of the possible running for EPS membership. It was extremely costly to lose, and then it settled into Nico's mind how much he lucked out by having Amelia as his randomly picked teammate.

If it weren't for that, and he was matched up with someone at a lower skill level, he easily could have been knocked out. Collectively, the mass of students who remained numbered around or a little over twenty, and if what Nico was told, there would have to be further eliminations in order to forge out a dozen final candidates. Unluckily for the rest of the over one hundred participants of the first round, they didn't have a shot at being EPS members.

"Well, Nico, I'll see you around." Amelia's voice perked up as the remaining players began to disperse, some chatting amongst each others while others silently leaving. Nico made sure to scan the faces of those who were still here so that he would recognize them later, as they would inevitably see each other again in three days, which was the upcoming Thursday of that week.

Nico had three days to grow as much as he could, and while that wasn't a long time, he was still far from getting to even a baseline of where he could potentially be at this point in time. If he had been raiding dungeons or joining player groups and getting experience in the summer, he would have been able to have caught up much more by now.

"Sounds good; thanks for your help today." He said, watching her walk past him and towards the edge of the warehouse, where the doors were wide opened. The outside was still dark, and it was far away, but his [Arcane Vision] told him that there were still a large number of students outside.

This meant that while some of them probably went home, a lot most likely waited because they hadn't found one of their friends who hadn't been eliminated, or they simply wished to see who had made it all five rounds.

Nico began to walk out as well, his mind set on trying to find Kadin and the others; he assumed that they would still be there, at the very least socializing to the other failed candidates about the challenge. He wasn't sure if there would be any animosity between them, especially since Nico's team was the one to defeat Kadin's.

Before Nico's train of thought could take off anymore, his enhanced awareness alerted him that there was something that was about to make contact with him. In a fluid motion, he turned his head and saw that it was none other than Ingrid who had caught up to him. Nico's eyes widened, half with surprise and half with delight, as he realized that if she was in the warehouse, that meant she probably was among the ones who passed.

"Hey!" The boy exclaimed, not realizing that he was slightly grinning at her sight. "You made it."

"You did too, it seems." She responded with the same level of enthusiasm, which subconsciously made him happy.

"Tell me about your matches–who was your partner?" Nico questioned, curious to know the answers. After all, he had only experienced the event through his and partially Amelia's perspective; and while the latter was off somewhere to socialize, he didn't have anyone who made it all five rounds to ask about. That was until now, of course.

"His name's Samuel, he's a Steel Paladin–a tank class," She responded, "He was quite strong; combined with my supporting abilities, our matches weren't tough at all."

Nico nodded in acknowledgement, but the sentiment didn't reflect how his fights turned out. "That's good to hear, I'm glad you won your matches. On the other hand, I'm about to pass out from exhaustion." He said the last part with a light laugh, feeling the immense ache in his ankle and legs, like he had stood and walked around for hours on end.

"Who was your partner?" She asked in response. They were now near the door of the warehouse, only a few duos trailing behind them.

"Amelia D'Angelo," Nico answered.

"The Void Mage?" Ingrid answered, surprise apparent in her voice and on her face.

"You know her?" Came the question in response; he knew that she was for sure going to be a big name, but he didn't know she was already well-known. That, or Ingrid was just very familiar with the player scene, which he suspected was also a likely possibility.

"I've heard of her, she's one of the top players; from California, I think? There's a rumor she was scouted by a mega-guild, but I'm not sure."

Nico thought about the guild structure of the player world. Apparently, since players banded together in guilds, over the years, there have been accumulations of groups of players into truly massive corporations known as mega-guilds. These large-scale operations cover huge chunks of territory, and smaller guilds usually function within mega-guild territories; in short, they dominated the geographical player content in their given area.

Furthermore, mega-guilds are all at tension with one another for resource nodes, reoccurring dungeon rights, and the ability to clear newly spawned dungeons faster than their competitors to reap the rewards. Nico was somewhat aware that there were major organizations operating within the New York City area, with a mega-guild for each borough. If he wasn't wrong, there were two within the borough of Brooklyn, with one covering the bulk of the borough while the other controlled all of Manhattan and a small part of Brooklyn.

"How impressive is that?" He asked in response, genuinely not knowing. Though, he assumed that it must have been quite a splendid achievement for Ingrid to mention it.

"Very," The girl answered, "The best graduates get scouted to mega-guilds after they're out of university, so she must have had great connections and the skills to back it up."

Taking in just who his randomly selected partner really was, Nico was even more glad he wasn't facing off against her and that she was his ally instead. Then he thought about all the strong players that were on that level of power if not further, then it reminded him of the thought that had haunted his mind ever since he arrived in New York.

He had to get stronger–a lot stronger, in fact, if he wanted to keep up and actually live as a player. Being a player was hard enough as it is as a late bloomer, but Nico knew that he had unbridled potential just waiting to be brought out. His desire to bring out his latent capabilities only grew, and he felt a fire inside of him activate for the first time.

Nico didn't know if it was his player mindset driving him to get stronger, but he knew that he couldn't consider himself the same person before his awakening. He had to use the fact that people saw him as a regular swordsman instead of his true class as an advantage before it was widely revealed. Currently, no eyes were on him; instead, people looked towards the top of the class, so no attention would be paid to a weaker, late bloomer.

He would use this as a way to sneak by the competition unnoticed, Nico decided. The second round, which took place only in three days, would only encompass those who passed the previous battle royale, meaning he'd be up against those who were strong enough to make it through the challenge. Though, he didn't know if it was still going to be an elimination-style bracket once again, he couldn't take the risk of it not being such. Right then and there, he knew that he needed to improve on the one thing he was lacking the most, which was stamina.

"Damn, I need to get stronger." Nico muttered unknowingly, deep in thought at Ingrid's words. His endurance was the thing that was most lacking–everything else could be made up with further training, but the most important thing was being able to continue standing and fighting when the time came. Right now, after the usage of [Flash Step], his legs felt like jelly and even though his new player physiology was supposed to make him much more durable, his arms were still unused to wielding a blade, let alone swinging it like a weapon.

Additionally, he had only scratched the surface of the depths that [Eldritch Swordsmanship] had to offer as a combat style, meaning in all areas there were pathways to grow.

As the two of them continued walking, Nico's improved eyesight picked uip the lingering presence of the students outside the warehouse, and he wondered if Kadin and the others were still there. Even though the first event of recruitment was over, groups of students still gathered in small clusters, the dimly lit lot continuing to buzz with light conversation.

Scanning the crowd, he saw his roommate standing with the rest of their friends. Ingrid must have picked up on this, as she said, "Hey, before we part ways, do you want to meet up tomorrow after classes? To talk about the next event, and to maybe train some more?"

Taken aback by the sudden request, he couldn't help but wonder why she was asking him to practice with–surely there were other, much more capable players that would be willing to prepare with someone like Ingrid, the skilled individual that she was. Not wanting to leave her hanging for too long, he responded quickly.

"Definitely!" It came out, "I'd be grateful to."

She smiled at this answer, a look of determination crossing her features, "Great. I'll text you tomorrow."

And then, at the entrance of the warehouse, Ingrid walked to in a different direction, and Nico could see that she was headed toward a group of people who were all waving at her in anticipation; assuming that she was in good company with people who were her own friends, Nico pathed toward Kadin instead.