The door creaked open, and I was immediately met by eyes all on me. It was a range of people. Commoners, nobles, people from Sumeria, Huāgōng, and Krystallos as well, though my glances at them were so fleeting I didn't remember their faces. They all remained silent as I stepped inside, Isabella at my heels. The silence hung over us like a heavy blanket, until it was finally removed due to a voice.

  “You’re an interesting one.”

  A shiver passed down my spine, as though death had gone knocking on each vertebrae like a morbid xylophone. Though the words were spoken in a friendly tone, the weight it carried was far greater than the others.

  My eyes darted around, attempting to find its source, eventually latching onto a boy who looked to be my age, sitting at the end of the room on a chair, hands in his lap and two sheathed machetes propped up against the wall by his side.

  My eyes caught his hazel orbs glimmering in the dim light, flecks of grey scattered around his pupil. Drawing himself up to his full height, he made his way over from the chair, stopping right before me, before his face pulled into a grin.

  “I think we’ll get along.”

  His skin was a shade of almond brown, black dreadlocks styled in a half-ponytail running all the way down to his waist. Very slightly taller than I, he stood at around 5'5. Isabella let out a hiss, bristling at his presence, but I didn’t respond, simply looking him up and down, any response hidden behind the mask anyway.

  ‘You sense anything from him?’

  ‘No. But he’s definitely strong. Around your level, maybe.’

  ‘I’ll remember that, just in case we have to fight.’

  “That seems to be everyone.”

  A voice sounded inside of my head, forcefully pushing Isabella’s aside as I looked for where it could have come from, but everyone looked just as confused as I.

  “Testing, testing. Can you all hear me?”

  A few nodded here and there.

  “Okay, then. You might be wondering who I am. I’m the head examiner for the Adventurer’s Guild, currently using sound magic to speak to you all nonverbally.”

  Ah, that made more sense to me now.

  “You all will soon be teleported to an unknown location in pairs. Some pairs will have a flag. In order to pass the first round, you must get that flag to the location of the second test before the time runs out. And before you ask what the pairs who don’t have a flag do… Well, it’s every pair for themself. Just steal it from someone else, I guess!”

  A laugh followed, the cruelty of the test quickly becoming apparent. Those that didn’t have flags would target those that did, entering us into some sort of diabolical capture-the-flag battle royale. And I had no choice but to play by the rules.

  Nausea set into my mind as my body was thrown around, and before I knew it, I was no longer in the building. Eyes peeling back, I took in my surroundings. Trees, and I could feel grass beneath me, the smell of the forest all around. We had been teleported. A sense of dread quickly set in as I searched around by my side. Isabella!

  Sighing quietly with relief as my hand caught the familiar feeling of her fur, I sat up. In my belt was a small, red flag.

  Wait…. weren’t we supposed to be transported in pairs?

  Turning to my right, my eyes landed on… the boy from before. What a coincidence. I was starting to think someone had planned all this…

  He was up and about before me, surveying the area before returning to my side.

  “There’s no one around. At least, from what I can te–”

  His voice was cut off by a flash of light, and then the opening of a screen similar to the ones used to portray the king’s visage to the people at the Succession Ritual Tournament. Before us stood an overhead map of the forest, along with our current location and the area we were to head towards being marked out on it.

  The screen promptly disappeared, and the boy turned towards me. Extending a hand for me to shake, he spoke.

  “I’m Aaliyah, a divergent ice elemental Evoker. And you are, my mysterious masked friend?”

  The way he spoke reminded me of Arwan, my thoughts drifting back to the memories I had of him. My… best friend. And I had pushed him away– for what? But I couldn’t think about that now.

  “...Sorry, I drifted off for a moment. You can call me Anonymous.”

  “Anonymous, huh? That’s an interesting one. I’m guessing you’ve got a reason to hide your identity, so I won’t ask anything more. Is that your bond there?”

  He pointed to Isabella.

  “Yeah, she’s mine.”

  He nodded, and with that, we began our trek to the centre.

  —

  Aaliyah was a talkative yet mysterious person. Despite the fact he spent most of the walk talking to me, with me responding minimally, I couldn’t figure anything out about him bar what he had told me. Isabella remained surprisingly silent, presumably spending the time detecting anything nearby. Though Aaliyah had told me his affinity, I had no indication of how strong he really was other than Isabella's rough guess.

  ‘Be on your guard. I can sense people approaching.’

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  Her warning came a little too late as I heard the thwip of an arrow moving through the air, moving my head slightly to the side to avoid it as it firmly lodged itself into a nearby tree. Glancing over to Aaliyah, it appeared he had already sensed them.

  The two figures dropped from a tree nearby, vines wrapping around Aaliyah's legs. Nature magic? Getting a good look at them, I took note of their appearances. Black hair, green eyes, female. Carrying a staff– most likely the one that cast the spell, so a nature-affinity Evoker. Black hair, blue eyes, male, carrying an axe. Affinity unknown.

  As I was about to charge into the battle, I was stopped by Aaliyah’s outstretched hand. The vines at his feet had crystallised, being covered over by a thick yet elegant layer of ice. As he moved, it crumbled, slowly approaching our opponents.

  Well, I wasn't going to complain about the chance to see his abilities in further detail.

  As he walked, the ground beneath his feet became coated in a thin layer of frost, as though it was accommodating his existence. The air grew suddenly chilled, my body resorting to feeble shivers in order to regulate its temperature. But not him. He walked with confidence, towards our enemies who remained rooted in place due to fear.

  Stopping right before them, he stared downwards, as though he were gazing upon an ant from a god’s perspective, the pressure he exerted on his surroundings akin to one as well. He didn’t need to say anything, eyes portraying enough meaning for me, and them, to understand.

  He was giving them one chance. Only one.

  Or else here they would remain frozen, for all of eternity.

  After turning back to face me, he merely continued walking, and I took that as my cue, catching up.

  I, too, had been frozen in place. He hadn’t even needed to say a word, with the pressure his existence caused enough to cause someone to lose their will to fight. I had been powerless before him– so much for Isabella saying we were the same level. Had we been on opposing sides… I wasn’t so sure I’d have been able to win, now.

  Isabella trailed behind, not saying a word, though I could tell her thoughts were the same as mine.

  If he dared to turn on us, it would take everything we had in order to win. And that was a thought that left me unsettled, especially considering my past experiences with allies. I still thought of Jasper every now and then, and the impact he’d had on my life. I despised him with every fibre of my being, and I knew I always would, but I couldn’t deny his actions had forced me to change for the better.

  Perhaps now, I’d be able to forge proper relationships with those around me and gain worthy allies– starting with him. Aaliyah would be invaluable in future, especially with the strength he had displayed, and I wasn’t going to pass up on that. Quickening my walk to keep pace with him, I looked over. He had resumed his cheery demeanour quite quickly, it seemed; he was nothing like the person I’d seen mere moments prior.

  “So, uh, where are you from?” I asked tentatively. Hopefully, I’d be able to get more information about him than I had in the past hour.

  “If I had to guess, Sumeria. I’m not really sure, to be honest– I was found as a baby on the side of the street by Gramps.”

  “Gramps?”

  “The man who took care of me. I just call him Gramps since I don’t know his actual name.”

  “... What do you think the second part of the exam is going to be?”

  “I don’t know. If I had to guess, probably a strength test from the instructors of some sort.”

  My eyes glossed over for a moment. A strength test, I could do well on– but my main concern was how much I'd have to hold back. I couldn't merely show off my skills, not at this stage– if I was going to wear the mask and try and protect my family from the New World Order, I had to truly adopt the identity I was going for, and that meant leaving Atlas behind with his mother, father, and siblings.

  I could not be a penta-elemental sage, here– that was who Atlas was. Anonymous was something else. But that only begged the question: what element was I going to use?

  I was the strongest with fire, so it seemed like the most obvious choice. After all– I couldn't put myself in danger by treating this journey like a mere training exercise. There would be times when I would battle beasts to the death, and for that, I need to be at my strongest.

  It was obvious to me which one I had to pick– with it only becoming clearer as we grew closer to the appointed location. The forest opened up into a clearing containing a stadium, with the entrance manned with guards who let us in upon seeing the flag. Entering first with Isabella at my heels and Aaliyah following suit, I reached the end of the long tunnel, and was met with the harsh glare of the unfiltered sun beating down on me unrelentingly.

  The smell of sweat filled the air, the clash of blades as steel met steel like music to my ears.

  ‘It seems like the test has already begun for those who reached the location earlier than we did.’ Isabella commented as I took a seat in the stands, leaping up into my lap and staring keenly out at the combatants as Aaliyah took a seat beside me.

  It was a pink-haired girl with a large battleaxe against an instructor– a red-headed woman holding a black metal staff with a blue orb attached to its end. Presumably an evoker, I thought.

  The pink-haired raised the battleaxe, before slamming it into the floor of the stadium. The earth rattled, and a large gash ripped through the stadium floor. So, she was an earth elementalist. Immediately afterwards, the instructor conjured a barrier, wind swirling around her– similar to a tornado, but in the shape of a dome.

  It was something I hadn't seen before, but could understand the workings of. The wind was moving at such high speeds that unless the girl managed to produce an attack that moved faster, her attempts would simply bounce off the dome's exterior. Using such barriers was a common tactic amongst evokers, since most of them lacked close-combat skills.

  The girl, growing more impatient as none of her attacks were getting through, charged in brazenly. It was easy to see how it would end, even before she had attacked. The battleaxe, swung down with great force, was blown back by the barrier as she was sent stumbling backwards, tripping over her own feet, the weight of her own weapon used against her.

  Like the autumn breeze, the instructor moved freely, appearing directly behind the girl, the orb of the staff swung directly into her back. A deafening crack echoed, akin to the snapping of celery in two. Wincing a little, I looked at Aaliyah– but his gaze was firm and unshakeable, unbothered by what had just happened.

  The girl lay on the floor for a moment, before rolling onto her back, pushing herself to her feet unsteadily, wobbling a little. Clearing her throat, the instructor spoke.

  “You're far too hot-headed, but you have good potential. D-Tier.”

  Elysian Beasts were ranked in Tiers, ranging from 7 to 1, with 1 being the strongest. Adventurer's were also ranked in Tiers, ranked in order of strength by letter: E, D, C, B, A, AA, S.

  Tier 7 monsters were the same strength as D-Tier adventurers.

  S-Tier Adventurers were the strongest of the strong– something that I aspired for one day. But it appeared we weren't done yet. The instructor opened up a long scroll, containing the names of the people that had passed the first test.

  “Aaliyah? Is Aaliyah here?”

  Looking towards my companion once more, I watched as he rose from his seat.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Ah, good. You have been awarded B-Tier.”

  There were some hushed, incredulous murmurs, especially since he had bypassed the second test without even needing to fight the examiner. Had he fought already? My thoughts raced at a mile a minute, wondering how he was so strong that he could be awarded the rank of B without being tested, but I was suddenly dragged out of my little world as my name was called.

  “Is Anonymous here?”

  Standing up, I raised a hand.

  “That's me.”

  “Good, it's your turn. Make your way down to the bottom, and the second test will begin.”