Layaera took a deep breath, she was still a bit sensitive about being seen as a monster rather than a human, but she had largely come to terms with it and her fire control was coming along nicely.
She gave her group a minute to prepare themselves then unleashed a tidal wave of flame, it may have felt ethereal to the touch but their defenses were feeling it and it snapped their endurance until one by one they passed out.
Layaera was merciless in her judgements and often dealt in absolutes, but I trusted them, she simply sighed as the last one fell to exhaustion, shaking her head as they hit their limits like a wall.
"I thought at least some of you would have known better than to try going along." She muttered as she remembered what I had told them when we first started planning.
"I don't care what they can do alone, I care what they can add to our team. We have enough power between the six of us, even the five of us if Cosmael is being reborn. I want people that trust us, that we can trust, who can offer a perspective we lack an opinion that makes us second guess ourselves."
'The only thing passing these fools would make them second guess is my judgement.' Layaera thought as the last one fell. 'They're so kind though, maybe I should give the last three standing a chance?'
That was when she felt a wave of bloodlust aimed at her. The very ones, she was about to pass no less.
"Oi! Mon-" He hit the ground before he finished, all three did. I stepped through the barrier, divinity pressing then into the sandy ground.
"Layaera, apologies for interrupting, Astrael was busy helping Kriel and my test is done. You should know the only judgement of yours I would ever second guess is the ones you make of yourself." I then turned and walked towards the group.
"You should be glad. I have a daughter and no wish to hold her with blood soaked hands. Unfortunately none of us examiners are human and we are all very protective of our family, so before you start calling one of us a monster, remember.... There are two gods, two deva, a divine beast and demon ready to show you the definition of the word."
I turned with my hands clasped behind my back, visibly and physically staying them from further action as I stepped back through the barrier.
'Thank you Astrael, but maybe you shouldn't have told him, he seems angry, very angry.'
'Nothing to do with it, something on Kriel's side, I've been told to tell everyone she'll tell if she wishes to. On that note, I will be leaving for a while tonight, can you watch Quatal, it feels weird asking since Cosmael will be there, but I kinda already see her as their "Little One" these days.'
'Hahaha. No worries, I owe Adam for stepping in anyway.'
'No you do not... Now get those bigots and fools out of the test... I may not have much mercy left in me today.'
Layaera wanted to ask how I was interrupting, but didn't want to risk agitating me, the truth was that I didn't know either and was actually a bit overwhelmed until I employed Parcella's advice and asked for five minutes without the anger.
"Unfortunately Adam has taken offence from those three and they were the only ones who even made it to the next round so unfortunately you failed." The announcement was concise and left no room for doubt, they were done and for those three, they knew it was their own fault.
Unlike the others though, she did go round and tell the other seven why they failed and gave them advice on how to better defend against fire with both projected and physical defences.
At the same time...
"Hello... I'm Cosmael, Adam's newest daughter..." She trailed off into an explanation of the game.
"I hope you don't mind sweetie, but can we ask why the game?"
"Oh yeah... Dad said that was fine... He said "The game is a good test, sometimes you go into places expecting a fight and let yourself get so tense you lock up when it actually happens. I imagine we will go to places like that often and not always stay together, we need to know they can react and get to safety. I won't be responsible for leading people to their deaths." he also said he didn't want me getting hurt which made me happy."
"So what happens when you shout dinner time?" A man asked at the other end of the line they'd formed.
"Well.... What happens when a monster catches you for dinner?..." Cosmael asked that because she really didn't know what happened when something they considered to be monsters caught them for dinner. It is important to remember that the only "monsters" she had encountered since coming to the mortal realm were her family and the phoenix that had possessed Layaera, she just thought they were creepy rather than dangerous.
What they didn't know, was that, so they all thought this test was life or death, which in my opinion was hilarious and made me laugh when she told me that later as she didn't understand their expressions of abject terror.
"Why don't we do a trial run first?... just to make sure we all know what we're doing." Cosmael was adorable as always, yes she forgot that surprise was the point of the game and Astrael was laughing so hard internally she nearly fell from the sky, but it was her test to administer.
"What's the time Mr.wolf?"
"Four O'clock"
"What's the time Mr.wolf?"
"Seven O'clock"
"What's the time Mr.wolf?"
"Two O'clock"
"What's the time Mr.wolf?"
"Dinner time!... Well are you all ready?" Everyone was chuckling, feeling better about the test, then divine pressure blasted through the area. "Don't worry! One of the other groups annoyed Dad. Astrael asked me to remind everyone not to be stupid enough to cause trouble for me, Quatal and Eve. You might die.... Ready to play?"
Entirely blind to the fact she had destroyed the relaxed and friendly atmosphere she had cultivated, the group took their positions and announced they were ready.
"What's the time Mr. Wolf?"
"One O'clock."
"What's the time Mr. Wolf?"
"twelve O'clock."
Everyone took the first step forward, then realised that brought the total to the same as it was when she had said dinner time in the trial, they had all finished pretty close to her and that made them wonder if she was trying to end it quickly or whether she was seeing if they would adapt and take smaller steps.
She was not... She may have been an omniscient deva, but she was also socially anxious and growing self-conscious as a result of not understanding why their expressions had changed multiple times unexpectedly.
'Did I say something offensive... Oh no, what if someone good leaves because I messed up and Dad doesn't get anyone?... They won't adopt me...'
'Sis, you need to focus... I think it's close to dinner time.' Astrael said as she realised her sister was lost in her own thoughts.
As she snapped back and extended her senses she realised one was sneaking away, back towards the start.
"What's the time Mr. Wolf?" The others asked before she could address it.
"Excuse me! You, the one sneaking off... Come sit in front of me." The man was sure he had failed and his head slumped as he made his way over, making the others chuckle and distract themselves. "Now where we, Oh! Dinner time!" She turned around and conjured a load of chilled slime, still thinking that making you fill gross and sending a chill up your spine was all a monster did.
The players started laughing, suddenly realising that her question earlier was the genuine naivety of something that could kill a monster with the effort it took them to change their child, unpleasant but not dangerous.
"I'm really sorry everyone... Can I ask though, why didn't you move as a group in formation? You should have been able to defend the initial wave before retreating, you were a group like you would be joining." She unwittingly twisted the knife, but to Cosmael's shock they just wanted to know if the other guy had passed.
"Yes... He knew what was coming and tried to leave before it was an issue. Dad likes people who know their limits and try to get a head start, he often gets hyper-focused and needs Mum, but then sometimes she isn't there. Did any of you notice him sneaking away?"
They all looked at each other nodding. "Yeah, we did."
"Why didn't you join him? Surely you all noticed I was luring you in too close, only predators that are sure do that and if they do it means they're confident."
"Damn, you're right. No hard feelings from us, well done mate, all the best."
"As for you, why didn't you tell them? If it was us, you would have been leaving our family to die."
"I know, I just thought they knew, it was obvious there was no more room to move without it ending badly. You're right though, I should have told them, but most monsters would hear speaking so I thought it best to stay quiet in case that was something else you were looking for."
"Oh no, I will warn you though that reason was good, but if you succeed today you should remember we are a family and family doesn't leave each other to deal with danger."