Ravendell was working in his office, as usual. He was glued to his desk for weeks now.

"Rave—" a voice said.

Ravendell's eyes shifted to his left. Faye usually worked there on a separate desk beside him. She was sitting there, looking at him now. I guess she said something to me. "What is it?" He asked.

She looked a bit worried. "It's been bothering more and more as the days keep passing. Could you tell me why you have taken the risk of helping Ayuki that quickly?" She picked up one of the papers on her desk and held it up. "Look at this. It has taken you a long time to earn the Observer's respect. Surely, they have been burdening you more now than before?"

Ravendell looked Faye in the eyes. She was right about that part. The Observers have an important role in this city, always have been since the day they existed. They usually work harder and increase their reports when they don't like the certain decision I've made. It's an indirect way to punish me, but they do their work well nonetheless. The trust between us has weakened lately. I could have helped Ayuki later, but if I did that, things would have been different. "To simply put it, I want to gain Ayuki's trust quickly—show her that I'm serious about helping her. Now, how did she responded to that?"

"She's now participating in the General Admission."

Ravendell nodded. "Correct. We don't need more enemies; we need allies. Whatever her reasons may be, she is offering her support in return. Sometimes, you need to give trust first to get it back. You know what trust means to me, right?"

"Of course," Faye replied. "I can never forget. It's the foundation of every strong relationship."

"No matter how I look at it," Ravendell said. "The only conclusion that I can make is that she isn't normal. Either the normal rules of this world don't completely apply to her, or someone else helped her with the intrusion. I want to see what makes her different. To begin with, I wish to see what kind of results she'll bring forward. If luck is on our side, she might be the one we need."

"Will you be going to the third round assessment then?" Faye asked. "The second round has started already. Our invitation is still valid. You could test her out for yourself then, see what's she capable of."

...Really? Really...? "Faye...what day is it tomorrow?"

"Oh, right. How stupid of me. I should be the one reminding you..."

You got that right. "Some secretary you are, not even doing your job well," Ravendell said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

Faye glared at Ravendell now. "Hey, it just slipped out, okay. Besides, you know I'm not made for this kind of crap."

"Haha, I know, I know. You are however free to go. I'm sure it's been a while since you went all-out."

"It sure has been. Okay, I will go then." Faye looked serious now. "Be sure to take some breaks in between."

"Oh, I'll do more if I have to. Don't you worry about that." Ravendell laughed. "Be sure to tell me how it went. Also, don't go too hard on her."

A devilish smile appeared on her face. "I'm not sure if I can promise you that," she said while disappearing through a portal.

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Looking at the opened door, the group of participants started to split in two. When Ayuki came closer, she found out why. The third round didn't apply to everyone; people who wanted to join certain departments weren't obliged to participate in the third round and could instantly go to the fourth round—the final round. Those who want to join the Order Elites have to participate in the third round, so Ayuki followed the left side of the group and entered a long hallway.

The end of the hallway led everyone outside the building. The outside area was vast—it had the vibe of an enormous park with lots of forests visible in the distance. I didn't know this place existed within the city. It was well hidden behind the headquarters.

The coordinators there gave everyone the instruction to touch the information panel ahead for the full explanation. There was a pole standing close by with a TAG attached to it. When people touched it, a floating display popped-up in front of them. They could even touch the display to make it disappear.

When Ayuki touched the intriguing pole, the following display popped-up:

This is an obstacle course with no Fes limitations and consists of a couple of missions. The goal is to reach the final destination. It's not required to reach the finish line, but we do like to inform you that any participant can manage it. It might not be easy, but it all depends on how you execute it. You are however strictly forbidden to hurt another person intentionally. Anyone caught breaking this rule will be disqualified from the General Admission and will have to take another one for a valid working permit in the Varyion Order.

This round began to sound more dangerous and stricter, but on the contrary, it started rather simple. The first obstacle that presented itself was a balancing one. You had to cross a very thin beam. If you failed, you would land in the mud. The mud was probably there to distinguish those who successfully crossed it and those who didn't. Most participants succeeded with this, Ayuki luckily included.

The next hurdle was a surprising one. There were four significantly long rope bridges next to each other. Two coordinators were standing there, one standing on the front side, the other barely visible in the distance on the end side of the bridges. Looking at the forerunners, Ayuki could already tell what the mission was. You had to cross the bridge while upholding your Fes barrier. The coordinator gave each participant a Barrier TAG; the same one Ayuki used during her training days with Dedroy. All the people that started failed this one except for one person, hoody managed it on his first try. The rest that failed had to walk back and try again.

"How can that guy have such a high Fes output?" A tough looking man said. He had the badge number twenty-five and was one of the forerunners who just failed it. His legs were covered in mud.

"I know, it's insane," The longhaired woman said, wearing the number seventeen badge. She also just failed the mission.

Ayuki couldn't believe it either. "How the hell am I going to do this?" I can use the Barrier TAG for two full minutes now. Crossing that bridge will take me at least ten minutes. How should any normal person do this then?

"Hey, Ayuki. Wanna team up with us?" Ayuki looked behind her—it was Aisha who said it, Eran was standing next to her.

"Sure," Ayuki said. "But what should we do to cross the bridge? I definitely don't have enough Fes output to do it. Do you two have enough?"

"We can combine our Fes, no? I can probably hold it for five minutes, Eran too. If we add you, then that should be enough."

Ayuki looked confused. "Combine our Fes? What do you mean?"

"You know, like we always do during the Fortification," Eran said. "Just holding our hands together and let the—you have no idea what I'm talking about, are you?"

Ayuki shook her head. "Nope, sorry no clue. I have an idea what the Fortification is, but I've never participated in it nor witnessed it before."

"Are you kidding me? How's that possible? We're you living under a rock this whole time?"

Aisha elbowed Eran to his side. "Well, just look at those people. They're doing it now." She pointed at the rope bridge in the middle. A group of four people went together, walking very closely next to each other. The person in front was holding the Barrier TAG—the rest simply touched him. The barrier they created was larger than that of anyone else, even that of hoody wasn't as big in comparison. Halfway there, one person tripped over, weakened their barrier by his fall, and brought enough chaos to their formation for their barrier to falter. Everyone who saw the group that just failed started using the same formation now, acknowledging that it is still the best thing to do; Ayuki did too by joining in with Aisha and Eran.

Eran was holding the Barrier TAG. "Okay, so I'll hold this. You two can support me. Ayuki, you don't need to use another TAG when supporting someone."

Aisha put her left hand on Eran's shoulder. "You can support someone only when that person has activated his or her Fes. Holding hands is better for support, but for a stable formation, I think that holding on like this is better."

"Okay, got it. That's all?" Ayuki did the same as Aisha and placed her right on Eran's shoulder.

"Yes. Is everyone ready?" Eran asked.

"Yeah," Ayuki replied.

"Yup. Let's go!" Aisha said.

"Here we go." Eran activated the barrier, and it developed around them. Shortly after, it's radius increased, and Ayuki could feel the Fes draining from her body. The sensation was similar when she activated the TAG during training, only this time, the pressure was a lot weaker, or calmer to be more precise. The barrier looked quite big; had it been any bigger than they might not have been able to cross the bridge due to its limited width.

Eran stood in front, Aisha and Ayuki closely stayed behind him. They sauntered on the roped bridge, any wrong step and you'll suffer the consequences. 

"Be sure not to trip over like that other guy. I don't want—the walk of shame—back to the starting point," Eran said while he briefly gazed at Ayuki.

She glared at his back. Bastard. Don't go looking down on me. "You just make sure you don't run out of Fes."

"Me?" Eran said. "Run out of Fes? Not gonna happen. This will be a breeze at this pace."

He surely wasn't lying. They were already halfway, and nobody seemed to have any trouble keeping the barrier up. To think that it would be this easy when working together. It's probably the point of this round: cooperation. "Mind if I stick with you two?" Ayuki asked. "I don't think I can handle this round alone."

"Huh?" Aisha said. "We're the ones who asked you to work together. You don't need to ask us."

Eran looked back at Ayuki. "You heard her. Besides, I heard from Aisha that you also want to join the Order Elites. Aren't we all sort of comrades to begin with then?"

—Comrades. Hearing it from someone else felt pleasant, makes you feel special or at least appreciated. For many days Ayuki felt like she was more a nuisance to everybody, a burden, but not today. Today was different. They are truly nice people to have around. Let's hope I won't disappoint them. "Thanks," Ayuki said. "I look forward working with the both of you."

"May our future be bright!" Aisha cheered. On that bright note, they successfully reached the end of the bridge with ease.

"Phew, glad that's done, I need to rest for a bit," Eran started to sit down on the floor.

"Yeah, good job holding it up," Ayuki said. I guess supporting someone with Fes is a lot easier than casting it yourself with support. Aisha and I are still looking okay.

"Nice job, I'm proud of you." Aisha gave him a backslap.

"Thaaaanks..." Eran replied and did a thumbs up.

"Let's see, what will be our next mission?" Aisha stared in the distance. "Oh, I see someone standing over there. Eh? Isn't that—Faye Haywood?"

"What?!" Eran immediately reacted to that name. "What is she doing here?"

"Who is Faye Haywood?" Ayuki asked.

"Well," Aisha said. "She's mainly known to be Hyo Ravendell's assistant nowadays, but to us—she's like the most talented Fes user we've seen so far."

"Man, I hope she's here just for support." Eran was clearly concerned about it.

"Should I be worried?" Ayuki started to feel nervous too and gazed in the same direction where Aisha was looking. As far as she could see, it was a woman with long black hair standing there, maybe wearing glasses too. "She's...doing something with her arms."

"No need to describe further," Eran said. "It already sounds like trouble. We need more people in our team..."

Is it going to be that hard?