Trigleph, the city of technologies and the residence of the headquarters of the Spirius Corp. The metropolis in Elympios was the most admired destination for scientists and candidates for Spirius agents. You, a brave adventuress, traveled to Trigleph too after you decided to apply for the Spirius Corp.
And finally it happened! The entrance exam was today! But unfortunately, you had a little problem. You got lost and wandered through the streets full way past the opaque city. Since you came from Rieze Maxia, specifically Nia Khera, the citizens were not very helpful and for most of the time ignored you.
"It seems that the hatred between our continents is getting worse." You sighed and shook your head uncomprehendingly. Slowly, you were getting frustrated because you were going to miss your exam if you didn't find the building soon.
After another hour of searching, you saw a young man who seemed quite nice. Maybe he'd show you the way. He had short brown hair and was wearing a white doctor's coat. For a moment, it was as if you knew this young man from somewhere, but you shook off the thought and touched his shoulder lightly to get his attention.
"Excuse me…" you began. The brown haired man turned around with a perplexed look before he smiled slightly "Can I help you, young lady?" the orange eyed youngster asked and looked you over. You sighed with relief. Finally someone who was friendly. "You can mister. I'm a bit lost and am looking for the main building of the Spirius Corp. I am late for my entrance exam." You explained and folded your hands in a pleading gesture.
The young man blinked before he cocked his head. "Um…" he muttered. You looked up disappointedly. "Oh…you sound like you would also not know where it is..." you sighed and wanted to go away. "No, wait. Uhm look over there..." the young man spoke gently and pointed to the right on a driveway and a huge building.
You looked at the building and read the huge letters that were hard to miss. "Spirius Corporation..." You muttered embarrassed and scratched the back of your head. "I cannot tell that in there, otherwise they sort me out right away. Haha." You laughed and bowed gratefully. "Still, thank you and I apologize for wasting your time. Have a nice day!" You smiled and ran to the building full of energy.
The brown haired man blinked a few times and looked after you. "A strange woman. She seemed to be in a complete tizzy and scattered. But she was friendly." He muttered and put his hand under his chin. "Jude? Are you coming?" a little girl called after him. Jude turned around and smiled before he scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry Elle. I had something to do."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The main building of the Spirius Corp. was even greater than it gave the appearance of exterior from the inside. Many people were going around and looked pretty hectic. At the reception, you told your matter of concern.
"Oh, a new candidate? That's right, I can see it here in the schedule. But you are three hours early Miss. The examination is scheduled for 05:30 pm.", the reception lady explained. You sighed and scratched the back of your head. "I hurried here the whole day and then I wrote down the wrong time? What a day…" you said as the lady at the front desk smiled. "You are welcome to look around a bit in Trigleph. And when you're done, please take a seat in the waiting area. Your examiner will come to you when the time for the exam arrived." She said.
"Thank you." You bowed again and then took a seat in the waiting area. Looking around was a bad idea for you, you could get lost again. In addition you had hardly slept because you had been so excited for today and now felt a little tired and exhausted. 'Not a bad idea to sleep a bit and regain strength before the test starts. After all, the exam includes a fight against monsters.' you thought and made yourself comfortable on the padded seat. You closed your eyes and within minutes you were asleep.
-.-. -.-.-.-
"What? Where am I?" You asked, as you looked around in this unknown environment. Everything was dark and bare. A cold wind was blowing and felt as if it would be able to freeze you to death. "Hello?! Is anyone here?" You called out and looked around. Shadow like dark mist seeped through the floor and clouded your vision. Maybe it was your imagination, but it was as if two blood-red eyes watched you from the fog. "You're not ready yet." a female voice muttered. She sounded cold.
The voice was so scary that you winced in shock. But somehow this voice sounded familiar to you, although you weren't able to say why. "Who's there? What do you want from me?"
Silence.
The fog was getting thicker and colder as it wrapped around your shivering form. "Do not worry, my dear servant. The time will come, but first you have to discover your true potential. The key is Celsius. Search for her. Then you will understand." the cold voice breathed into your ear before everything went black and a swirl of dark matter threatened to devour your body.
"NO! HELP!"
-.-. End-.-.-.-
"Miss [L/n] ..?"
"AHH! HELP!" Your eyes shot open and sweat beaded on your forehead. A brown-haired woman pushed up her reading glasses and cleared her throat. "Fortunately, just a dream…Uh I'm sorry, I had a lot of stress lately." You apologized and got up. The examiner sighed and shook her head. "Personal interests have no place here. You should remember that, if you really want to make a career here." You nodded. "Yes."
"So then. My name is Lina Chevalier. And I'll be your examiner. But before your particulars, please. Full name, age, location." Lina said, with a slightly cold voice and pulled out her notes. You nodded. "[Y/n] [L/n], I'm [Y/a] years old and lived many years in Nia Khera."
Lina raised an eyebrow questioningly. "That name is very atypical. Especially for Nia Khera." She said then. "I know. I wasn't born there. However, I do not know where I was born. My parents never told me. That's why I do not know where the origin of our name is." You explained. "I see." Lina nodded in understanding. "And why do you pursue a career with us?" She asked. "Because it has always been my dream to improve the life of this world. As an agent of Spirius I can accomplish many of my dreams. I can help people, cope with dangers and see the world out there. There are so many places I still want to travel to and explore and as an agent I have the perfect opportunity to do so. I also want to support the company to achieve its goals." You said.
Lina fell silent. She was not allowed to build emotional attachment to candidates, she knew that. "Alright. Then let's go to the training grounds. I hope you are prepared for the fight." The brown haired woman said then. "But of course." You grinned and pulled out your faithful weapons Tessen, steel-fans. Silently Lina walked along with you and some other employees of the Spirius to the basement. There was an underground cave with monsters. The candidates should kill a certain number of monsters in a certain amount of time and find the way through the cave.
"Okay, your task: Fight your way within 10 minutes through this cave. Eliminate any monster that you encounter and find the employee who is deep inside the cave. It is very dark and soundproof in the cave, so you can only rely on your senses. Time's running…NOW! "
You nodded and ran straight off, as Lina gave the signal for the exam. As fast as you could, you sprinted through the dark corridors of the cave and when you saw the first monster, a large lizard, you jumped into the air and used your Basic Arte. "Dancing Swallow!" You shouted, letting your tessen rotate until the lizard succumbed to its injuries due to the many sharp edges. "Too easy." You smiled triumphantly and ran further into the darkness.
Now, two opponents stood in your way. A large bird, that looked like a chicken, and a lizard on 2 legs, which had a spear as a weapon. "Growing difficulties, eh? No Problem! Wind-Arte: Cyclone Shredder." Green energy pervaded your weapons and a cyclone of biting winds enveloped both monsters. The circle grew smaller and the monsters were dismembered. "She's not bad, but also she seems a little too sure of herself." Lina, who was able to follow the events through surveillance cameras, spoke. "Youthful recklessness. The young people of today overestimate their happy times. The younger brother of Julius is the proof." Said another employee. "Heh."
The 10 minutes tended to an end and your enemy's were getting stronger. Yet somehow you managed to get into the part, in which the employee was already waiting. However, she was surrounded by black bat monsters. "Wait, I'll help you!" You called after her and fought the bats. But somehow this fight was different. Dark energy absorbed your Artes and you suddenly felt unwell. You felt like in your dream...
A shadow rose from the ground. Was that real or was this your imagination? The woman was gone and the cave went darker that you couldn't see anything except the shining eyes of the bats. "What the…" You muttered and stood there shocked when the shadow flew towards you. It felt dangerous. "Fear the darkness and it will be your end." the shadow whispered and with a loud cry from you the illusion disappeared and the bats lay dead to your feet. Beside you stood Lina, with an outstretched lightning sword.
"What was that ? Do you want to die that bad, girl? You stood there motionless, and then you cried in agony." Lina growled as you looked around. The woman you wanted to rescue was still sitting on the floor and the cave looked normal. "Gradually, even I'm afraid what my mind tries to do to me…" You mumbled and Lina sighed deeply. "You failed. If that happens during a mission, this is not just your death, but puts our company in trouble when a completion of the mission is compromised. I'm sorry, but someone like you is no useful for us."
Sad, due to the failed test, you left the building. "What a day…" You murmured disappointed and looked back to the building. The next moment a fat, white cat jumped into your back and a little girl bumped into you afterwards. "Ouch…What's fucking wrong with this day?" You grumbled and then looked at the little girl. She had long light-brownish hair and wore a beret. "I'm sorry, Rollo has not got anything to eat yet." The girl apologized and got up before she ran away with the cat. You stood up and looked at her. "What was that?" You asked before you saw something in the hand of the girl that belonged to you…
"THAT BRAT STOLE MY MONEY?!"
To be continued...
