Chapter 35

"What?!" The player who won the third section of the tryouts yells, "You mean winning doesn't mean we've become Slayers?!"

—An outroar among the players present in the room continually grows in decibels until everyone is practically jumping out of their seats, whether in joy or frustration was left for the Guildmasters to determine.

Helmet opens up his game menu and fiddles around his pop-up display. Jay watches as the other Guildmasters did the exact same movement as Helmet.

"We have a chance then?" Blazes says with both hands gripping the sides of his head.

"Don't get your hopes up. I'm sure there's something we're missing..." Sandra says with her hand at her mouth.

It was apparent that Sandra was just as excited as Blaze, but she wanted to look calm. Jay looked around the room to see other faces among the crowd that were also piecing things together.

"Hey you, with the blue jacket," A player says in front of Jay, who was turned all the way around to face Jay, "Any idea what they mean?"

The player talking to Jay was wearing a denim jacket and some sort of punk get-up. He had a guitar laid in his lap. Jay recognizes him instantly.

"Hey, you're that 'Larx' guy, right?" Jay asks.

"Oh, so I'm as popular as I thought!" Larx says with a grin, "How'd you hear of me?"

"My friends beat you up in the second fight," Jay responds.

Larx's smile grows faint after Jay makes this remark.

'You're friends with *THEM*?!!' Larx thinks, losing all sense of control in his head.

"O-oh! You mean the ginger and the goth chick?" Larx asks Jay.

"Yeah, I guess you can categorize them like that..." Jay responds, "Oh, and to answer your question from before, no I have no idea what's happening."

Larx and Jay talk things over, mentioning their respective matches and playstyles as if they were friends. Blaze and Sandra sit by and spectate them go on and on about what chords Larx can play, as well as how Aspect feels to play in the first place.

"He really *is* just super friendly!" Blaze whispers to Sandra, "I thought he was pulling our leg before our match in that waiting room!"

"I don't know if what he said to that 'rockstar' was all that friendly," Sandra whispers back, making an air quote gesture with her hands, "But he does talk a lot."

Corvus again addresses the crowd after a couple more minutes, with players around the room being generally confused about what was going on.

"Everyone settle down. The Guildmasters will now present their findings for most of you," Corvus says.

Crash walks up to Corvus's side, followed by Rayna. Helmet was standing nearby after addressing everyone previously, and all three Guildmasters showed their respective game menus to the crowd of prospects.

"Not only were we watching you all for enjoyment, but we were also judging everyone." Helmet explains.

"We all have our favorites from all of you, and we've taken detailed notes over everyone!" Crash says, "We were tasked with ten players to watch over during these last three matches."

"Most of you guys were boring, though," Rayna says with a tired tone, turning to the winner of Jay's matchup, "Especially you, ya coward."

Jay looks at the game menus from each Guildamster, and his eyes widen. They were telling the truth, which he realizes while looking at the notes that each Guildmaster presents to the prospects. Attack patterning, strategy, damage output to input, and many other statistics were all closely watched over and written down.

Blaze and Sandra also look on in shock at the notes that were shown. Jay's friends were slightly scared of losing their positioning, but they knew they had fought for their win. Corvus motions his hand upwards, pulling up his own notes and showing them to everyone.

"I will now go over my notes with everyone," Corvus says, "As you've heard, these three Guildmasters were tasked with certain players to watch over. I had no sort of restriction, so I took notes on those who impressed me somehow."

Axel nervously clinks his gauntlets together in anticipation, with a grin spread across his face. Dillan crosses his arms as he awaits Corvus's next move. Kira and Ivy both turn to each other and nod their heads in unison. They were both scared.

Jay clenches both of his hands in stress while Blaze and Sandra do the same. They lost, but maybe there was a chance at redemption.

"As you can see, most of the players that have won their respective matches have made it as Slayers in my eyes. There are, however, some players I would like to congratulate on their performance.—" Corvus says.

"—first off, we have the player named Larx. Well done in your battle."

Larx jumps in his seat at the sound of his name being called. He turns to meet Corvus's face and stands up in respect.

"T-thank you," Larx says nervously.

"I see potential in you. Being a material Aspect user with ties to some sort of sound-based power is nice to see." Corvus says, looking at Crash, "But not all that uncommon. Taking on two different players at once is difficult, and you fought your hardest.—"

"I would like for you to sit with those who had won over you and invite you to become a Slayer," Corvus says.

Jay sees Larx's expression go from overbearing to over joyous at Corvus's invitation. He picked up his guitar—which he had laid on his seat when standing up—and saluted Corvus.

"T-thank you! I won't let you down!" Larx says, walking up to the front of the hall and next to Kira and Ivy.

'Not this piece of work...' Kira thinks.

"Next up, I would like to address a serious flaw in this tryout session. Some players thought that winning was the only way to become a Slayer and subsequently didn't desire a fight at all." Corvus says, "Some either hid in trees or simply waited until the winning players were extremely exhausted and unable to fight.—"

"These players will never be allowed to participate in Slayer tryouts ever again. I excuse you from the hall." Corvus says

"What?!" The player who had killed Jay, Sandra, and Blaze exclaims, "So I won, but I still lose?!"

"Yes." Helmet answers for Corvus, "Now leave."

"N-no way!" The player says, "You'll have to make me—"

Suddenly, the player stops talking and grips his throat as if he was choking. His body levitates slowly into the air as he continues to struggle out of whatever was causing him distress. Jay, along with the rest of the prospects, are stunned at what is happening. Helmet stays silent and turns to Corvus, who is staring the struggling player down.

"I don't appreciate your attitude that much," Corvus says, "I will now escort you out of the premises."

The winning player of the third match continues to grip at their throat, and in a flash, they're sent flying out of the hall everyone was gathered in. The doors promptly shut afterward. Corvus lets go of his intense gaze at the player and turns back to the prospects.

Jay realizes that Corvus had just used his Aspect in front of everyone. The gravity around the room feels heavier around the area, which must be his power.

"My apologies," Corvus says, chuckling a bit afterward, "That player wasn't a great match for my Guild!"

Everyone kind of awkwardly laughed at Corvus's statement, fearful at the head-Guildmaster's power. This wasn't just your typical run-of-the-mill Aspect. It was something fierce that no player had run into before. Corvus' stature also shifts to a light-hearted attitude, although he had just put all the prospects on high alert. Helmet moves his hands in his pockets as he addresses the crowd after Corvus's stunt.

"In my speech for the third section of the tryouts, which took place in the Decimation, I said that 'players who win in their divisions will move on to become Slyares' But I never said players who won we *guaranteed* to be Slayers. they could *become* slayers, but only if certain criteria were met." Helmet says, "I think that player, in particular, was the only one I think who didn't meet those criteria."

"In other words, everyone else who had won their matches did so fair and square in our eyes," Corvus adds to Helmet's comment, "And unless the other Guildmasters have something to say, I'm ok with concluding the judgment process," Corvus says.

Helmet stares at Jay from where the Guildmasters were, and Jay feels himself almost falling down and down in a spiral, with his chest sinking into his body. The guilt he felt for failing was still prevalent and more robust than before. Jay slowly lowers his head as Helmet looks away from him.

"I have something to add, actually," Rayna says.

Jay lifts his head back up and looks at the Guildmaster. Blaze and Sandra also do so.

"When you agree to your initiation, you don't get to choose where you go. We do. Don't be asking for a thing you can't control!" Rayna says.

"Right, of course," Corvus says, "The Guildmasters standing before you have not only agreed to aid in the judging process but get to select viable prospects to put under their wings and introduce you to their respective Guilds," Corvus says.

'So, they get to choose who they want on their team?' Jay thinks.

'C'mon, Crash!! Pick me!!' Axel thinks.

"Before the actual initiation, I will now let the Guildmasters select which players they want in their ranks. I wish everyone the best of luck." Corvus says.

Once again, silence fell upon the room. Everyone felt a pressurizing and timid rage flow through the prospect seating. It was everyone against everyone, with only those lucky enough to be selected by one of the Guildmasters.

"And by the way, only a handful of players will be chosen today." Helmet says.

Jay's hopes were up at their highest as he watched the Guildmasters pace around in their area to view the group of prospects before them. Jay's heart started beating out of his chest.

Crash looks around the room for a moment and then views the front of the seating. Axel looked at him with a nervous completion and an angry stance. He looked like he was going to burst with excitement and stress.

'*PICK ME*!!' Axel thinks, looking at Crash directly.

"Alright, I want that one." Crash says, pointing at Dillan.

Axel stops thinking for a moment as his brain processes what Crash even said.

'...huh?' Axel thinks.

"O-oh! T-thank you, Guildmaster!" Dillan says, standing up from his seating and brushing off some dust on his jacket, "I-I won't let this opportunity-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, just chill out, ok?" Crash says to Dillan, turning away from him to stare at Axel, "I also want him!"

Dillan stops thinking for a moment as his brain tries to process what Crash said to him.

"...huh?" Dillan mumbles.

"Right!! I'm gonna be able to challenge you to some king of the hill whenever I please!!" Axel says out loud, clanking his gauntlets together and jumping out of his chair, "And this time I'm gonna win!!"

Crash simply smiles at him and puts up a thumbs up. Axel and Dillan sit back down and watch as Crash does the same, turning back and letting Helmet step forward to face the crowd of players. Helmet stops his walk and looks around the room with his helmet turning to each side of his head to get a better view of the players in the room.

In his notes, Helmet had three particular players that he would want to add into his Guild and another he wished he could mentor, but they simply weren't suited for his training. He looks at Jay and sighs merely.

'You did well, today kid, but I need players who are consistent.' Helmet thinks.

"Ivy, Kira, and Larx. I want you three to join my Guild," Helmet says, outstretching an open palm in their direction, "It is up to you to accept."

Ivy and Kira both look at each other in utter disbelief. They both smile and turn back to Helmet with happy faces. Larx notices the two girls quietly celebrate and just nods his head in Helmet's direction silently. He grips the guitar in his lap by its fretboard vigorously.

'I'm joining The Slayer's Pack...' Larx thinks.

'We did it!' Ivy thinks.

"Finally, took long enough..." Kira sighs under her breath.

Helmet turns from the crowd of players and lets Corvus head back to face the prospects. Corvus looks behind himself to see Rayna sitting down quietly with both of her eyes closed.

'I thought I told her to actually pick players for her Guild...' Corvus thinks, 'What a high-maintenance individual...'

"Um, Rayna of the Pythons? Anyone you would like to accept into your ranks?" Corvus says.

Rayna doesn't budge or move at all. Corvus sighs under his breath. In the past couple of tryouts, the Clan has had, Rayna hasn't chosen a single player for her Guild, which was the smallest in the entire Slayer organization. If she continued to not care like this, Corvus would need to enforce new rules for Guildmasters who participate in these tryouts.

Seeing Rayna's lack of acknowledgment really set off some of the prospects in the room, and they started to bad-mouth her once again.

"Hey, does she have to pick? We don't have all day!"

"I don't wanna be with a Guildmaster who doesn't care about me!"

"The Pythons are a joke!"

Jay hears the players around him silently talk bad about Rayna, and he looks at her with a strange conviction in his eyes. She didn't seem to care about this whole thing.

After a couple more seconds, Corvus clears his throat and turns to the crowd.

"O-ok! With the Guildmasters having made their final decisions-" Corvus starts to say.

"Wait," Rayna speaks up.

Everyone in the room, including the other Guildmasters, turned to face Rayna as she started to speak finally. She slowly opens her eyes and points her finger into the crowd, at three players in particular.

"Gimme those three." Rayna says, still staring in the direction she was pointing in, "They seem interesting to me."

Rayna was pointing straight at Jay, Blaze, and Sandra.