Chapter 8

Five days before the end of the Position Test, regulars were gathered in the auditorium. Nothing particularly interesting had happened in the intervening time, except that one of the Oodles had left the test area of his own volition, reducing the number of participants to eleven. Hardly anyone was seriously concerned about this event, but considering that the only alternative news was the presence of a cast on Hisu's right arm, the heated active discussion as to the reasons was not so surprising. It could also be that the ranker was late again, and there was nothing much to do in the classroom.

Rachel rubbed her eyes tiredly. The Chosen's current points table had been posted again yesterday, and it was expected that Anayuma and Samhotep next to her were closing in on Rachel's points, and would most likely even out over the remaining five days. Even though regulars no longer attached that much importance to the fact, subconsciously it might have been just the opposite. Either way, this morning the girl woke up feeling broken and tired.

"...four days left." Rachel decided to listen to the conversation between Androssi and Hisu after all. The princess had changed her usual orange dress for a black sundress, from beneath which she could see a white shirt with short sleeves. Since the last sparring, Androssie had never missed a moment to complain to all and sundry about the "vicious barbarian" aka Hizu, who had destroyed the dress.

"Right before the exam, lucky you." The princess seemed to be discussing the nature of his injury with his bodyguard; after all, the boy had only just come out of the hospital wing today. "You might not have made it to the final test, which is tragic, considering the circumstances of the injury."

"That would be bad." Hizu said. Rachel mentally agreed: she didn't want to lose such a bodyguard, much less be left alone. She doubted that Androssi would remain in the team if something like that happened.

There was the sound of a door opening, and the conversations in the auditorium ceased instantly. Contrary to expectations, it wasn't Lero Ro who entered the room, as many of the participants might have assumed, but the second floor director himself, Yu Han Sung, still dressed in his favorite blue and yellow kimono. After looking at the frozen regulars, the High Ranker smirked and continued on his way to the podium in absolute silence.

However, just as Yu Han Sung was only one step away from reaching the podium stand, he suddenly spoke.

"Oops, oops, I seem to have the wrong audience, ha ha." Laughing awkwardly and waving his arms, the High Ranker began to turn around. As soon as Yu Han Sung took a step, he stopped again. "However, since I'm here..."

Hiding his hands in the sleeves of his kimono, the Ranker turned to regulars.

"I guess all of you can count or at least listen to the others and know that the Position Test will end in five days, just as you know that the exam will be held on the last day," an empty screen behind Yu Han Sung lit up for the moment. "And information about it is initially announced the day before it starts at best. But given the specifics of the test, I generously decided to give you more time to prepare."

"Is the final exam really going to be that hard?" Androssi asked, catching the lingering pause.

"It depends on your abilities. Some people might find this test impossible, some might find it a great opportunity, and some might just use it for fun." Yu Han Sung grinned. An image of a square, evenly divided into sixteen parts, appeared on the screen. A small wall of text appeared next to the image." This is a map of the area in which your test will take place. As you can see in the image, it is divided into parts: these are rooms, inside which there may be a maze or an obstacle course, or nothing at all. For each room you visit, you will receive points based on your contribution.

No other rules apply to the test, and you have half an hour to complete everything.

In addition to you, there will be two Rankers in the area that, like you, will move from room to room. You can ignore them and focus on the test in the room, or you can attack and get extra points. Don't panic, Rankers will only defend themselves; moreover, they will be limited in shinsu to one baang.

But that's not all. Each room has an internal timer of ten minutes, we can call it a "Day," and that starts counting down from a random value in that limit. At the end of that time, the room will close for two minutes. It may well come out that you will find yourself locked in as soon as you enter.

During those two minutes, the light in the room will go out, it will be "Night" and you will most likely have to face the "predators". The predators, as you guess are the Rankers ... but who knows what might be lurking in the darkness?"

"What would happen if Ranker spent all his shinsu?" Androssi, asked with a slight half-smile.

"Well, if you somehow manage to make the Ranker use all baang, which to be honest, I doubt very much, then he'll leave the area and regulars who fought him will get extra points." From the sound of his voice, Yu Han Sung really didn't believe in such an outcome.

"Who will we have to face?" Yuga asked this time, a slight doom in his voice.

"If nothing changes, it will be Hax and Yu Bok-Dol." Han Sung could hear some grumbling from regulars as part of the specialization of the Fishermans and Spear Bearers. "Any other questions? No? In that case, I'll be going. All the information I've given you has already been sent to your watch."

The High Ranker headed for the exit, but before he could leave the classroom, the door opened and Lero Ro entered the room. From the look on the Lightbearer's face, he obviously wasn't expecting to see his boss here.

"Oh, Lero Ro. I've already explained everything to Regulars about the exam," Yu Han Sung said a little too loudly. "They must have been bored while they were waiting."

"..." Lero Ro said nothing, glancing incredulously at the High Ranker. After all, it was his request that had caused the Lightbearer to be late. "I have prepared the reports."

"Thank you, well, I'll be going now." As Yoo Han Sung left the room, Lero Ro let out a disgruntled sigh. There had been too many not-quite-normal events going on lately, and the Lightbearer was sure that his boss was somehow involved in all of this. Alas, Lero Ro couldn't say exactly how or where.

Walking to the counter, the Ranker glimpsed the still lit screen with information regarding the final test. More just to make sure of the information provided - Yu Han Sung would be willing to omit any details that might seem insignificant at first. Just because often the seemingly calm and judicious High Ranker could do something... truly childish or even foolish. What's more, Lero Ro still considered the new final tests for the two zones to be complete nonsense and idiocy, but he could not say it directly to his face. Boss are extremely fond of disrespect, as Lero Ro had already see this more than once by the example of others

"Since the information about the final test has already been brought to you, in that case I will inform you that starting tomorrow, meals in the canteen will be free. —The Ranker waited a moment until the approving murmur died down. "In addition, no points will be deducted for skipping class, but I recommend that you attend anyway. That's really all, and you can ask questions if you have any."

"On the map, one of the squares in the corner is shaded brown, what does that mean?" Someone from the regulars asked. The behavior of the High Ranker discouraged any questions, apart from a couple of exceptions.

"This is your starting area. It's also considered a safe zone, so besides regulars no one can't enter here."

"Could I ask you more about the tests inside of the rooms? Can they be more specialized for certain positions?" Yuga asked, while Lero Ro nodded in satisfaction at this question. This is type of information is exactly what an Lightbearer is supposed to find out.

"All of the trials are structured so that each position can contribute equally to the passage." This part is exactly what took most of the time in creating the zone. "However, you can pass the room alone, but working in a team will bring more points. More questions?"

Next came more specific questions such as is it possible to pass the same room twice in a different lineup and get extra points, or is it possible to know that the room is about to have a "night". In both cases, the answer was no. When the participants knew what they wanted and began to scatter, Androssi gestured for Rachel and Hizu to follow her.

***

They arrived at the now familiar training area. Pressing a few buttons on the panel, Androssi closed the door so that no unwanted regular would wander in. Not that that was really necessary: it had only happened once in the past few days, but it certainly didn't hurt to be overly cautious.

"I'll start with the most important," the Princess said, waiting for Rachel to pull back the shelf and sit down on it. "In this test, everything will be decided at the very beginning in the starting room. You might say the test ends there, too."

"Um, what do you mean, Androssi?" Rachel really didn't understand how it could end without even starting.

""No other rules apply to the test," the Princess quoted Yu Han Sung as saying. "Saying these words, the Ranker looked rather intently at our trio. More obvious hint could not be made."

"So the regulars are allowed to attack and kill each other during the test?" Rachel realized rather quickly.

"Yeah. I'll tell you more, it seems like that's all Mr. Yu Han Sung expects from us, well, that we get rid of all the other regulars." Androssi smiled broadly. "And I'm perfectly fine with that."

"The other regulars might figure it out, too," the blonde frowned. It's one thing for them to have the surprise factor, but if the other regulars also try to attack, then Rachel could very likely get hurt.

"Almost guaranteed one of them understand it, yes, so what? As if they could do anything about it," Androssi shrugged. Surely, with her abilities, how she could be afraid of anyone?

"I wish I had your confidence..." Rachel decided to not share her worries. "So all the other terms and conditions are nothing more than a front, then?"

"Well, I wouldn't say so," Princess disagreed. "All the points you earn can come in handy on the floors. After all, they're the Tower's main currency. After we've sorted out the change, we can get on with having a little more money."

"You just want to fight the Rankers," Rachel didn't buy that excuse. Well, really, Princess and concern for 'money' don't really go together.

"Well, thats too," Androssi said with a wave of her hands." Now that that's clear, who's going to be the fourth? Who you think is worth keeping?

"That's..." Rachel pondered. She didn't know any of the regulars on the floor, and Juga is certainly a pleasant man to talk to but... "No. No one."

"Well, I have one, actually. A little talent, "the Princess giggled at the joke she alone could understand. "Anayuma."

"Small, squirrel-like," Hizu clarified the regular's appearance a little. He had a pretty good memory for faces, even if he wasn't particularly eager to remember someone.

"She didn't even know how to form a Baang, but now she's doing it like she's been doing it all her life," added the Princess, while Rachel exhaled a little disappointed when she heard the following words: "Of course, without my generous help Anayuma would hardly have achieved this."

"Oh well... I guess a good Wave Controller will come in handy for our team," said blonde, without bringing up the fact that Anayuma was the Rachel's worries. "Can she be trusted?"

"She hang on my every word, ha ha," Androssi nodded. She hadn't mentioned the squirrel's generally closed nature which made it impossible for her to fit into any company on the floor, so the regular had to spend most of her time alone. "I should have called her here too, but okay, I guess it wouldn't kill me to explain everything a second time. In that case, our little meeting is over."

"Then..." Rachel started, but Hizu interrupted her:

"Training," hearing that Androssi chuckled, and wishing Rachel good luck, Princess hurried away, while Rachel had only to sigh and stand up from the shelf...