Positions

"Just for clarification, I would get the points as long as I talk to the needle right?" Winston asked Anaak, his tone softening at the end.

Anaak raised a brow.

"You need to tell her to listen to me. Then, I'll give you the points."

"How much points are we talking about exactly?"

"300." Winston's eyes held a hint of surprise upon hearing her.

He had originally wanted to swindle about 200 points out of her. However, it was beyond his common sense that Anaak would offer such a high price for it. One had to know, living in the test floor, there was an absolute deficiency of points for the regulars.

Each regulars was like a beggar or an entertainer on the street, wanting for the test administrators to throw scraps at them for tricks they performed during the tests.

And the starting points they had been given was a whole 700 points for each regular. As such, 300 points was not only a generous amount, it was also a very unfair one for Anaak herself.

Looking at the girl's emotionless expression, Winston felt a tad bit wrong in his heart. Two days had passed since the crown game and each meal, even the cheapest one cost around 40 points to order. Meaning, if Anaak had taken all her meals in the two days, and further taking into consideration that she had eaten only the cheapest meals, that would amount to a 240 points. Meaning, she currently had only 460 points, out of which 300 were being offered to him. That is of course in the case that she didn't have points prior to that to begin with; and for most regulars, they started off at the rock bottom except members of the ten great families.

However, none of the surprise Winston felt was being displayed on his face.

"300 huh. Isn't that a bit too low? It's one of the 13 month series after all, talking to it in the first place carries considerable danger. In fact, there should be a fee for even attempting such an act." He said calmly. His sense of wrongness? Sacrifices have to be made on the path to the Divine.

"How much do you want?"

"Well, I can't be too over the top since you might not have too many.

"How about 370? And 70 regardless for whether the communication succeeds." He said, a smile gracing his face.

"320 if it succeeds."

"360. With the same condition."

"330." Anaak declared, her voice gaining a slight edge.

"How about 340 but with 50 points as a down payment for the attempt?"

"Deal." Winston's smile widened just a tiny bit.

"Then let me try." Winston said.

"Wait." Suddenly, Winston said looking at Anaak.

"What?"

"What's the guarantee that you'll pay up?"

Anaak's expression turned a tiny bit uglier, but she seemed to erase that quite quickly.

Then, she summoned her pocket.

"I will pay in advance then."

Winston nodded with a pleased smile, seeing the 50 points arriving in his account. And with it, he felt his potion digestion feel somewhat softer. It had not yet digested in any major way. If anything, it had been turned less burdensome because of the deception caused just now.

If he wanted to put it into words, he would say about slightly more than 1% of the potion had been digested.

Amon still looked on in wonder, awed by Winston communication skills. In truth, his commune skills were not all that impressive. If anything, he would admit that he wasn't too gifted in finding the rights words for the situation and may say things that may be detrimental for the intended purpose sometimes.

However, the entire conversation had went fabulously in his favor, solely because of his deception skills from the Swindler potion. With the might of a sequence 8 potion, even mundane words without any sort of finesse or thought behind them would turn into weapons capable of deceiving any normal person. And that prowess would only increase as the Sequence increases.

Winston turned his attention to the Black March.

I've wanted to study this thing in some way since I saw it.. perhaps now I will finally get the chance through communication?

Winston concentrated his spirituality and calmed himself down. Unstable emotions were deemed unfit for any semblance of communication.

"Um. Hello? Black March?" He said.

There was an awkward silence in the balcony for a moment before Anaak spoke up.

"Well, at least it isn't shocking you." She said without interest.

"It shocks people?!" Winston exaggerated his facial expressions. Then, he smiled and shrugged. "Well, if I get shocked I get shocked."

Anaak and Amon passed him weird states, feeling a bit strange at witnessing his eerily changing emotions.

Winston ignored then and looked on the jet black needle.

"Hello? Black March?" He kept on smiling as he called it out.

He called it out a couple more times. And just as he was about to give up and utilize spirit vision to get a better look, he heard a feminine voice echo in his head.

"Aren't you the one that was rudely ogling me?" The voice said.

As the voice called out, the surroundings seemed to grow dimmer as the winds stopped blowing. The ambience turned eerily quiet, reminiscent of a quiet night.

Winston's face stayed the same, smiling properly. However, inwards, he was somewhat amazed.

So it noticed my spirit vision? Interesting...

"Are you the spirit that inhabits the Black March?" He asked. His eyes turned to look at Anaak and Amon, who looked on in surprise.

"Is it finally talking?" Amon asked.

"Tell it to listen to me." Anaam repeated

Winston nodded, deciding to ignore them further on.

"That's right, you rude boy. Although I suppose I can forgive that." A flash of light occurred in front of Winston as a beautiful woman descended from above. Or did she ascend from inside the Black March?

The woman wore deep purple robes and had bright blond hair, shining in the sun. Her eyes were a bewitching golden colour and her smile seemed seductive and alluring.

Winston continued to smile as she appeared. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed how Anaam and Amon looked somewhat dazed.

"I've wanted to talk since I saw you."

"Hoh? Already making your move?" The woman flew in closer, tracing her finger along his jaw. "I can't say I dislike that." She chuckled.

Winston chuckled along. "It's just pure interest. Thing of it as a scientist's curiosity." He shook his head.

"Is that so~ that's rather disappointing~" She donned. "Tell me, why were you calling me?" She asked.

"Would it be difficult for me to ask you to listen to her?" Winston pointed to Anaak.

"Her? Definitely not." The woman turned her head with a pout. "I won't lend my power to women." She declared, then, her eyes held a suggestive glint.

"Though I wouldn't mind lending some of it to you."

Winston chortled.

The woman flew in close and whispered in his ear." Why don't you steal me from her?" Her hot breath blew onto Winston's ears, however, it failed to elicit any special reaction from him.

"I'd like to avoid that. I don't want any trouble with your previous owner." Winston said tersly.

"Hoh? That annoying woman? She was too troublesome even for me..." A scowl appeared on her face.

"Anyway, why can't you lend your power to her?" He asked.

The woman floated over to her.

"I told you." She said poking her cheek with her finger. "I will only lend power to a good looking man. Besides, she has the Green April, she can't ignite us at the same time." Winston raised a brow at this information.

In his research, he had not come across any information that suggested two ignition weapons couldn't be ignited at the same time.

Is it a unique problem of the 13 month series?

"Why can't she ignite you two simultaneously?" He asked.

"That for her to find out." She laughed.

Winston looked at her for a moment.

"Is there anything I could do to make you lend her your power? Just once?" Winston requested.

The woman looked at his face for a moment.

"Dammit... he's good looking." She muttered under her breath.

"Fine!" She said. "I'll lend her my power just once. Tell her to use it wisely." Her eyes glowed for a moment. "Remember, this is only because you're a bit handsome."

With a phantom laugh that echoed in the surroundings, she disappeared into the Black March.

The colours of the surroundings seemed to get brighter as the sun regained it's luster. The breeze picked back up and the ambience seemed not so eerie anymore.

Winston nodded, completely satisfied.

Afterwards, Winston received the rest of the payment from Anaak. His swindler potion didn't budge, because it seemed that he had actually gone through with the deal instead of simply swindling her for money which was opposite to his original plan.

"Well, can't have everything I guess." He simply shrugged and smile, thinking over the clown potion maxims.

According to Anaak and Amon, he had simply stopped talking to them and began to look intently at the needle, which was unlike that he had witnessed.

Soon, the evening came and every passed regular was called to one of the halls of Evankhell's mothership.

~~~

They all sat in a rectangular formation along the edges of a hall. All the regulars, except for the ones that were injured were called here to attend.

The ranker, Lero ro and the test administrator stood at the front of the regulars with a smile.

"Long time no see, regulars! It wasn't very long, but I hope you spent it well. I can see that you all look very... spirited!" Lero ro said with a cheerful smile.

"Very well. I hope everyone will do well on the test that will be beginning from today." He said. And then, the three cubes that were behind him formed a triangular formation that formed a screen, out of which an image was displayed. It was written 'Positioning Test'.

"The test that you will be taking this time is... The positioning test!" He exclaimed.

"The positioning test?" Winston whispered to himself.

"Which means?" Shibisu said from the side.

"As some of you may have well noticed, fighting in the tower is usually done on a team. Your position displays the role that you play during these battles." He explained.

"There are a lot of positions in the tower. But the main ones are..." The screen behind him changed, showcasing a man seated atop a large stone pillar surrounded by enemies. Behind him, floated various armed inventories, armament holders that floated in the air like pockets and made of the same material, suspendium.

"First is 'The Fisherman', they disarm the enemy using the reel inventory. As such, they are always at the heart of battle. They can also carry out various other tasks."

The screen changed, now displaying the back of a wide man, holding a spear beside him.

"Next is the 'Spearbearer'. They use their spears to target the enemy from afar and finish off what they started."

The screen displayed a woman seated in a clustered box like container. Various screenshot flashed around her.

"'The Lightbearer'. They light up the dark tower and sends information and battle data to the Scout."

The image changed to depict a man walking across a dark cave, various floating orbs around him, lighting up the way.

"'The Scout' observs the enemy movement at the very forefront using the observer and helping the fisherman in combat."

Then, the image changed to form a woman with blue waves, light, fire, ice and all sorts of things floating around her.

"And lastly, the 'Wave Controller' controls shinsu to control the battlefield or overpower an opponent. They are known to dominate the battles that take place in the tower.

"There are more positions, like guides for example but they are out of the scope of this discussion. Now, you will be assigned a position and train to overtake your role for a month. Each class will provide a certain amount of points to the contestants. And only the regulars with the highest amount of points will be fit to take the next test."

Lero ro closed his eyes.

"For your reference, the position is assigned based on your performance in the tests so far and grading in every position is held differently, meaning that different amount of people will pass based on their positions."

So the position one is assigned is important. Just being paired up with someone overwhelmingly powerful can quickly turn into a disadvantage.

Furthermore, the points one has after a month will be crucial to take the further tests. It'll be wise to save up as much as possible. Winston mused with a small tug on his lips.

"What position do you think you'll get Mr. Winston?" Amon asked.

"I don't know. Can't say." Winston scratched his head.

"But Zarhan will surely get Spear bearer." Winston looked towards his teammate.

Zarhan turned to look at him.

"Shut up. I'll be a fisherman." He replied with a dead serious expression, his tone suggesting that he was not to be messed with on this subject.

"...uh huh" Winston replied tersly while Amon didn't say anything.

"Now." Lero ro said, drawing their attention to him.

"This table here shows the position that all of you have been assigned."

The screen changed, displaying various names.

Fisherman(4)- Anaak(Best Seed), Winston Heath(Best Seed), Endorsi, Cheowang Hon, Deod, Lero Locker....

Spearbearer(4)- Rak Wraithraiser, Ghost, Hyun Seong, Zarhan Zulasekail....

Light Bearer(2)- Khun Ageuro Agnis(Best Seed), Michelle Light(Best Seed), Leeron 3, ChungChung...

Scout(3)- Shibisu(Best Seed), Hatz, Neroe Sheonyo, Amon, Palgeon, Katan, Chichi...

Wave Contoller(2)- Phonsekal Laure(Best Seed), 25th Bam, Hwaryun, Hoh...

~~~

A/N: Throw some stonez.

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