Four people paced through a long glass walled corridor.
Leading the small cliche were a pink-haired woman—Livia, and an emerald-haired man—Walter, who both walked side-to-side in complete and utter silence.
Trailing behind these two were Rue and Minho.
Both competitors were at last near one another's presence, if you excluded the initial meeting from several hours prior.
One strived to steal the honorary title of an heir from the other, and Rue, who was forcibly obligated to participate in this event because of his master.
Casting a sideways glance towards his supposed competition, Rue noticed the man's stern expression, sword-like eyebrows, defined chin, chiseled features, and unwavering gemstone like crimson eyes.
The fellow was exceedingly handsome.
In essence, Minho was a textbook portrayal of a shonen protagonist.
He had the looks.
The talent.
The status.
Assumingly, he had above-exceptional skill.
All he had left on the checklist was to court a few young maidens, and he would have it all.
'Dude, is having crimson eyes in the Reigner family a given or something? I mean EVERY single person I've met excluding Liana has had crimson eyes?' Rue noted.
Noticing his opposition's lingering gaze, Minho mentally sneered.
"What do you want?" He asked in calm doctrine.
Hearing the man finally speak, Rue, taking it as the man's initiation for conversation to drown out the uncomfortable silence, spoke as to not be rude.
"I was just curious." Rue calmly replied.
"Curious?" Minho repeated, confused.
"Yep, curious." Rue affirmed.
Minho sneered in disdain.
"Then be more discrete about it," he coldly muttered.
The tension-filled silence of earlier returned.
'Sorry young master.' Rue mocked internally.
"We're almost there," Walter voiced, cutting the two participants before any further transgression.
Swoosh~
A set of solid metal doors parted, allowing them entrance.
Stepping inside, the group of four was immediately washed over with a pastel pink, fluorescent light from one of the many overhead lamps.
"Follow me," Livia chimed, gesturing towards the group with a wave before hopping onto a large floating platform.
Following Livia's lead, the group sauntered onto the floating platform.
Confirming that everyone was on the platform, Livia raised one of her hands towards the sky and snapped her fingers.
tutututututu!
Sensing the audible command from Livia, the platform sparked to life, beginning to float upwards towards a higher level of the gathering hall's complex.
Passing through several tens of floors, each with their own unique knack and even catching a cat maid themed café, the platform soon found itself at a stop.
'Did I see what I see what I think I saw…' Rue questioned, before quickly dismissing the thought.
Hovering in the air briefly, the floating platform moved forward, flushing itself against the floor of the level.
Livia stepped off the platform.
"The first Trial will take place here," she announced calmly.
Glancing across the level, Rue noticed several dozen cylindrical-shaped pods scattered across the floor space.
Each of these pods were open-hatched revealing their hollow insides.
The council head stepped forward before the small group.
"Is each participant aware of how this trial will specifically work or would either of you require some general explanation?" he questioned.
Both Rue and Minho simultaneously shook their heads.
With a nod Walter clasped his hands together, "Then shall—."
Livia sharply cut him off.
"Let me explain something first." she voiced loudly.
"Both participants can find any one pod, it doesn't matter which—they're all the same," she explained.
"Lastly, you don't need to administer the keys or anything into a specific part of the machine, it's unnecessary. You simply have to enter the pod. By the time you do, the internal function will have already processed its code."
"Any questions?"
Allowing several seconds to pass for them to digest the information, she continued.
"None? Then let's begin."
~~~
~~~
~~~
Standing before one of the pods, Rue, recalling Livia's announcement, simply entered the pod, waiting for further instruction.
Pop~
The pod sealed shut, trapping Rue inside.
Pssssst!
Immediately after the pod closed, fog-like substance began to expel from the small gaskets built into its ceiling.
After several seconds, Rue began to feel a dull pulling sensation flood his senses.
He was none the wiser to this odd connection.
However, he didn't resist this feeling but tugged the feeling, pulling it closer—strongly arming the abstract connection.
His eyes fluttered closed like he was sleeping, and his body stood there unmoving like a statue.
The gaskets eventually subsided, stopping the release of the neuro-stimulant.
And silence returned inside of the pod.
~~~
~~~
~~~
The brilliantly bright multi-hued lights of the spectrum flooded his perception, drowning out the sensory overload currently overwhelming him.
[Loading…]
[...Loading]
After an unknown amount of time, the lights vanished.
[Ding!]
[Complete: Now rendering map!]
The view of the spectrum was replaced with the newly rendered scene of a four-way intersection in between four corner buildings.
It was a common location within a city.
However… The city's appearance was unlike the brutalist architecture commonly seen.
Skyscrapers no longer met the sky but bowed to the rough asphalt below.
The streets, which were once even, now littered with deep craters and rubble.
The roads were blocked and clustered with piles of cars, some black from past fires, and others simply crashed into others.
The air held a certain indescribable feeling of gloom as the wind carried the dusty entrails of the fallen buildings.
Rue had officially entered the first trial.