Year 526 A.B.
Examiner Vi ushers the examinees into a large hexagonal building, the room they enter is brightly lit with steel paneled walls and ceiling.
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“This is Exam Site 1, Room 1. There are 5 other rooms accessible through the doors on your left and right, but those will be for the next groups of examinees. I doubt we’ll be seeing them though considering how fast we should be done. Any questions?”
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An examinee raises her hand.
“What are we going to be doing? The room is empty,” She asks, making everyone else look around the room as well.
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Vi smiles.
“I’m glad you asked. This is by far my favorite part to explain since I have to talk so much.”
She pulls a remote from her pocket and presses a button; the room’s ceiling becomes a mass of moving parts.
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“This room is equipped with hundreds of ultra high-speed cameras, testing equipment, and lastly...” She points her thumb behind her, projecting a dense barrier in the form of safety glass.
“My own extra safety precautions.”
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Vi turns around to face the enclosed testing space she created.
“Damn it; I forgot to make a door,”
She thinks to herself.
She coughs violently to draw attention to herself and creates a door on the barrier while the others are distracted. Bly notices and nudges Rai to fill him in on the joke. Rai begins to chuckle to himself.
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“Sorry about that. Anyways each of you will get a chance to individually display your aptitude in the fundamentals by completing tests in the form of theoretical scenarios illustrated by the room’s equipment.” Vi glances at Rai with spite in her eyes. “The difficulty between tests will vary at random.”
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She flips through her clipboard.
“You will be tested in reverse alphabetical order meaning that the first up is examinee number 27. The rest of you may be seated for now.”
A boy emerges from the crowd, opens the projected door, and closes it behind him. It’s as if with every few steps he takes, his pace becomes disrupted, giving his stride the appearance of a flip-book missing frames.
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Bly and Rai take their seats next to each other along the room’s wall.
“Well, that didn’t look pleasant.”
Bly remarks somewhat jokingly.
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“Mmhm, I didn’t know a spine could bend that way.”
Rai says, still looking at the examinee on the other side of the barrier.
“No, no not for him. I was talking about you.”
Bly clarifies.
Rai shifts his attention from the short-lived examination of the boy limping back towards the barrier’s door to Bly.
“What do you mean?”
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“You didn’t see the way she glared at you? I think she noticed you laughing.”
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“Really? My eyes kind of close when I laugh. I don’t think it should be much of an issue.”
Rai says awkwardly.
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Bly agrees, and they continue watching the examinees before them take their exams.
After a series of promising performances, closely called successes, and what seem to be failures, Bly is called.
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“Examinee number 2!”
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Bly gets out of his chair and stretches his legs.
“I suppose that’s me. Wish me luck!”
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“Good luck, Bly! Uhm, sorry you won’t even need it.”
Rai nods his head, not realizing that he made that more complicated than it needed to be.
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Bly smiles and enters the testing room, taking his place right in its center.
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Examiner Vi speaks to him through the barrier, listing off the details of the scenario as the room satisfies them.
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“From a distance, you are being targeted by assailants using medium-range firearms.”
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Concrete slabs rise from the ground, and behind them, 2 pop-up test dummies fixed with handguns point in Bly’s direction.
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“Additionally, you are surrounded on all sides by attackers using melee weapons.”
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5 robotic mannequins wielding a variety of weapons drop from the ceiling shaking the surrounding floor. Bly does not flinch.
He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.
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“How do you respond?”
Examiner Vi concludes.
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One of the mannequins takes a step forward, but is decapitated in the blink of an eye by a flash of violet light coiling around its neck. It falls and in its wake, Bly reveals a projected whip in his hand.
“One.”
The rest of them follow suit, in an attempt to smother him in a group attack. The first to swing is one holding a sword; Bly wraps his whip around the weapon and flips over the mannequin, causing it to impale itself. He pulls the sword free and flings it at one of the guns with its sights trained on him.
“Two. Three.”
A large, almost triangular shadow looms over Bly’s head as the last of the close/quarters mannequins try to dive onto him with their weapons pointed downwards. His grip on his whip tightens and it becomes clad with blades. He spins and the mannequins become piles of shredded debris.
“Four. Five. Six.”
His back is turned and the sound of a gun’s hammer clicking followed by three relatively small pops prompt Bly to turn around and dodge. The first two rounds are narrowly evaded, grazing his neck and shoulder. He quickly stretches the whip taut between his hands, creating the image in his mind of it changing its malleability. The third round is perfectly ricocheted back towards its sender as if it struck an elastic surface.
“Seven.”
The whip disappears from his hand and he returns to the waiting space. A few of the examinees are clapping, including Rai.
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“That was amazing. I've never read about a whip being used like that!” Rai says with unexpected praise.
“Ah, that was nothing,” Bly bashfully proclaims as he sits next to Rai. “I’m just fortunate that that was practice ammunition.”
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Vi presses a button on her remote and all of the damaged equipment is flipped into the room's interior for repairs, returning the room to a fresh state.
“Examinee number 1.”
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Rai stands from his seat, making sure the band holding his hair together is fastened.
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“Be careful out there, Rai. I still have an odd feeling from earlier.”
Bly warns him.
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“I will. Thanks, Bly. I guess I am a bit nervous though.”
Rai makes his way to the testing room door, preparing to turn the knob. The thought of it being nice to have someone concerned about him crosses his mind before he’s pulled back into reality.
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“Good luck, Lilac.”
Examiner Vi mutters maliciously.
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Rai pauses, but nevertheless proceeds through the door.
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Large building-like structures rise from the ground when Rai centers himself in the room. Without warning a loud pop echoes through the air. A small panel-like barrier that he erects next to his head for protection disappears and a bullet casing is heard striking the ground.
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“I knew it.”
Bly marches over to Examiner Vi in outrage.
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“A hailstorm of bullets fire upon you from above.”
The testing room erupts into a warfare of muzzle flashes and pops. With a wave of his hand, Rai shields his entire front side with a semicircular barrier.
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“What is the meaning of this? Over simple laughter and a petty mistake? Those are live rounds!” Bly says just loud enough for Vi to hear him but not cause concern in the other examinees.
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“Low-caliber live rounds. I did say that difficulty would vary at random.” She shrugs her shoulders. “His father could swat those away in his sleep, and his mother could stand there all day without a care in the world.”
She looks at Bly out of the corner of her eye.
“If he can’t at least handle this, maybe he’s better off dead in the first place, am I right? Besides, why are you, of all people, worried about a Lilac?”
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He can feel his heart dropping into his stomach, but he tries to protest.
“I-“
“‘You’ what, sir? By your authority I guess I could stop this. I wonder what he would think though.
Bly is immediately pacified, losing some of the light in his eyes.
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“I thought so… the hailstorm intensifies from all directions,”
Vi continues, looking satisfied.
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Rai completes his barrier, encasing himself in a dome. It begins to crack and splinter from the constant abuse of the rounds peppering it.
Vi smiles and out of the sight of the examinees, presses a large red button on her remote.
A panel in the ceiling shifts to the side and a missile under it begins to prime.
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She puts on her act.
“Oh no! Everyone get down while I reinforce the barrier. There appears to have been a malfunction!”
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Bly who had been looking down in defeat raises his head to see the scene before him.
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“If things are going to change, I can’t keep letting this happen…”
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In a last ditch effort while the others are distracted with their heads lowered, he summons his whip and tries to steal the remote from Vi’s hand... But it’s too late.
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The missile flies towards Rai barrier, making a direct impact, creating a fiery smokescreen, and sending a shockwave throughout the building. The tremor throws Bly off-balance and he misses his mark.
Nothing can be heard on the other side except the sound of smoldering loose parts. Pieces of Rai’s shattered barrier flutter in the air like falling glass. But suddenly, they stop and fly at breakneck speeds in seemingly random directions as if they were propelled by an explosion.
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Examiner Vi, trying to hide her anger, presses the buttons on her remote until they almost become dented. Nothing happens. All of the weapons have been disabled, jammed or destroyed by the pieces of the barrier plugging their barrels.
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Rai emerges from the smoke cloud and the buildings where the weapons were positioned crumble behind him, the result of him severing the pillars used to support them.
Bly’s arms fall to his side at the sight of the scene before him. A new, cloud, conflicted expression covers his face.
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Rai dusts off his clothes. And enters the space with the other examinees.
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“Thank you, Examiner Vi.”
He says without looking at her and going back to his place next to Bly who had already made his way back to his seat.
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“That was intense.”
Rai says with a slight exhale.
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“Definitely. Good job.”
Bly replies with a chuckle.
Rai notices his shift in mood; it has only been a few hours since they met, but he had already gotten used to seeing the combination of his perpetual smile and almost unsettling friendliness.
“Is everything, alright?”
He finally musters up the courage to ask.
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“Yes. I’m just a little tired, that’s all.”
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Examiner Vi, still doing a bad job at hiding her frustration, pulls a new remote from her pocket.
“My apologies for the issue we just had, examinees. I will now perform a complete reset on the room’s equipment. The rest of your tests should not be affected.”
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She presses a series of buttons and a majority of the room on the other side of the barrier begins to whirl and shift back into place while repairing damaged parts.
A concerned Rai and silent Bly watch the rest of the tests unfold without uttering much more than distant small talk.
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Vi snaps and her barrier separating the two sections of the room fades away.
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“Alright, you all. That concludes the fundamentals portion of your exam. We will now be heading to the back to the orientation room to go over what comes next.”
Chattery mumbles roll through the crowd of examinees before one of them raises their hand.
Vi interjects.
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“At this point I think I know what you’re going to ask. ‘What about Capacity testing?’ Right?”
This catches Rai’s attention.
“For each of your tests, high-tier sensory exorcists were sizing up your Astral Signatures to measure just that. More on that soon. Let’s go.” Vi continues shortly.
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Back at the orientation room, the examinees take their seats and Vi returns to the podium.
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“Now, to elaborate on the question before: if you feel as though you did absolutely horrible on the fundamentals test, you still have a chance. In the past, Capacity was a driving factor in who we let in and who had a higher chance of being shunned. For better or for worse, new talent has forced the organization to undergo drastic changes. For one, capacity testing is much more discreet. And in terms of the final portions of your exams…”
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The wall behind her lights up with another graphic.
Its title reads: ACE: Approximations to Combat Effectiveness.
Below it, a bracket style large roster with all the numbers for the examinees are listed.
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“There is a certain amount of realism that comes with fighting a real battle against a living, ‘breathing’, thinking threat. And because of our recent talents, we now consider the possibility of there being certain things that make up an exorcist, and furthermore an Ahstralan, that can’t be quantifiably measured through tests like before.”
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All of this becomes an incoherent mumble in Bly’s ears. Through the reflection in his eyes like windows to his soul, what he’s looking at is clear. His and Rai’s names are connected on the roster.
Rai sees the expression on his face.
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“Bly-”
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Before he can say anything else, Bly quickly rises from his seat and leaves.
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“You are to duel the examinee whom you are joined to on the roster tomorrow afternoon. Get your rest and feel free to head over to the dining hall at any point until 9pm.”
Examiner Vi leaves before everyone else, muttering something under her breath.
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Rai goes to the dining hall, following his same path as yesterday. The servers and examinees look at him in the same displeasure as then but Rai doesn’t even notice. He looks over to the far corner of the room towards the grain and oat food group. Nothing.
He sits at the table he and Bly sat in.
5 minutes pass.
15 minutes pass.
30 minutes pass.
Rai vacates his empty table with his tray in hand and leaves the dining hall, deciding to retreat to his room.
Exiting the elevator, he makes his way through the twists and turns of the dorm style hallways until he reaches an intersection. Going straight would take him back to his room, but he notices something out of the corner of his eye to the left. Down the hallway, he sees Bly, yelling and aggressively gesturing with his arms as if he’s spilling his heart out. Rai gets ready to call out to him, taking another step forward and revealing even more of the scene. In front of Bly is a man with eyes even more green than his looking down on him in discontent.
Due to the distance between them and the pounding of his own heart, he can only hear bits of their conversation.
“...tired of you playing these games!”
“Where is the honor in-“
“What does it mean to be a noble-“
Seeing the man's discontent, adamant expression gives Rai a feeling so familiar that any feeling of being able to intervene begins to leave his body.
“I've been there, Bly… I’ve tried. He won’t listen to you. But you’re still fighting harder than I did, so what gives me the right to interfere? What could I even do?”
He feels a churning in his gut, a decision to be made. Nonetheless, his feet drag him away from the situation.
Back at his room, he plops down onto his bed with his mind in a thought-filled haze.
“What should I do, Kahnyne?”
The day of the duel arrives before he knows it, and with it, the only answer that the current Rai Lilac can reach.
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