>>6306211
Nine out of ten! Yes! You knew you could do it! But what was the question you’d gotten wrong? Examining your test closely, you see a red “X” crossing out question number 3. That was that ridiculous question about the two mothers arguing over the parental rights of a child. You’d answered that you’d banish both women, claiming the baby for yourself, but evidently, the correct answer had been to award custody to the mother that happened to be a mage. What a preposterous notion! You knew this country placed emphasis on those with the ability to use magic, but that they were able to just freely claim children seemed absurd, even for them.
Butch is the final competitor to receive his exam. Rather than checking his score, he instead folds the paper into some sort of crude bird shape, and throws it across the classroom. The paper bird flies rather impressively, straight into Thomas’ head, causing the man to nearly jump out of his desk in shock. Stelios looks on disapprovingly, before heading towards the front of the classroom and beginning to scrawl something on the black chalkboard. You quickly conclude that he was announcing everyone’s test scores.
>10: Gyles, Leonora, Elric, Arios
>9: Tristain, Crowley, Adalbert, Hansel, Rainer, Norbert, Timmy
>8: Uriyan, Thomas, Homer, Simon, Isaac, Lucien, Rudolf, Bernhard
>7: Adam, Nathaniel, Herman, Carl
>6: Oleg, Trent
>5: Conrad
>4: Shea
>2: Saoirse
>0: Butch
“These are your current scores.” Stelios says, tossing the chalk over his shoulder. “You can consider these your ‘starting points’ for the next stage.”
“Starting points?” Leonora asks, raising a hand as though she were an actual student.
“That’s right.” Stelios replies. “Your next goal is to ascend the Tower of Illusions. All 40 of its floors. And those of you who actually bothered to learn something about our country will be enjoying a nice headstart. Along with some other ‘fringe’ benefits. Take a good look at this chalkboard. You’ll get an idea of who will be starting on the same floor as you. I’m SURE you’ll work together with your peers here to make it to the top.”
The Yasha snickers. After the disaster of the first stage, there was slim chance of that happening. What you were looking at were the rivals you’d likely come into conflict with on your floor. Most of the heavy hitters of this competition seemed to either get a perfect score or a completely shitty one. You, meanwhile, were near the top, sharing the same score as a bunch of nobodies you’d never heard of. Not a bad place to be. You recognized none of the names that scored a 9. The only one you’d have to look out for was Crowley. He was one of the three Dagdans that had avoided the massacre in the first stage, carving out their own path to the finish line. You had no doubt he would be a dangerous fighter to come up against.
4chan Search
2 results for "b9b24f01f1e902b008a3c31702d1a5c6"
>>6290607
>“If you want to hate me and fight me, then do it for what I've done and not what my father did when I wasn't even born yet.” You had nothing to do with the events that evidently traumatized Arios so much. The Knight of Seiros simply wanted to use you to satisfy the decades long grudge that he held. The entire thing was preposterous to you. If Arios would just be honest about his intentions, he might save himself the great deal of agitation he felt every time he saw you.
“This conversation is over.” Arios cuts you off. Evidently he was not interested in discussing the matter any further with you.“I’ll take what you said about Elric into consideration, but that’s it. Now, if you’re done pestering me, be off. The second stage will soon commence, and I will not allow you to distract me. The Archbishop is counting on me to claim the throne. Not you or any of the other assorted villains that have assembled here.”
You think to antagonize him further, but find that he was right about one thing. The door to the Tower of Illusions has opened, and another Yasha has stepped outside to greet the assembled competitors. His long flowing white hair reminds you of Alvin’s. The spectacles that he wears are strange, and unlike anything you’d seen. The lenses were colored black, perfectly obscuring his eyes. He stands next to Reza, places his hands on his hips, and begins examining the assembled throng of warriors.
“You guys were very cool.” He says after some time, raising his thumb in approval. “Seriously, impressive stuff.” He walks up to Gyles and gives him a pat on the shoulder. “That tornado thing you did? That was wicked. Never seen anything like it, man.”
The sage peers down at him silently, not saying a word. The Yasha then moves over to Butch. He holds his hands out, mimicking a gesture of surrender.
“And you! You’re one scary guy. The way you broke that man’s back over your knee! That was insane! It’s clear to see you’re no stranger to violence.”
“I’ve had plenty of practice.” Butch nods.
“Leonora Gloucester!” The white-haired Yasha points towards her. “Those ballista never stood a chance. You’re as dangerous as you are beautiful. A true lethal combo!”
“Uhh…thanks.” The woman says, unsure as to where this was going.
Finally, the Yasha steps up to you. He gives you a pat on the shoulder.
“You were good out there too, big guy! Can’t believe you actually took out ol’ Psycho Sid. I was part of the team that imprisoned him. We lost seven good men to that guy. Punched a hole clean through every one of them! Won’t miss him, that’s for sure.”
“Stelios.” Reza says, clearing his throat uncomfortable. “Please get on with it. We don’t have all day.”
“Sorry.” Stelios says. “I’m just excited to finally get to meet these guys in person. The monitoring magic really doesn’t do them justice. They’re much cooler up close!”
>“If you want to hate me and fight me, then do it for what I've done and not what my father did when I wasn't even born yet.” You had nothing to do with the events that evidently traumatized Arios so much. The Knight of Seiros simply wanted to use you to satisfy the decades long grudge that he held. The entire thing was preposterous to you. If Arios would just be honest about his intentions, he might save himself the great deal of agitation he felt every time he saw you.
“This conversation is over.” Arios cuts you off. Evidently he was not interested in discussing the matter any further with you.“I’ll take what you said about Elric into consideration, but that’s it. Now, if you’re done pestering me, be off. The second stage will soon commence, and I will not allow you to distract me. The Archbishop is counting on me to claim the throne. Not you or any of the other assorted villains that have assembled here.”
You think to antagonize him further, but find that he was right about one thing. The door to the Tower of Illusions has opened, and another Yasha has stepped outside to greet the assembled competitors. His long flowing white hair reminds you of Alvin’s. The spectacles that he wears are strange, and unlike anything you’d seen. The lenses were colored black, perfectly obscuring his eyes. He stands next to Reza, places his hands on his hips, and begins examining the assembled throng of warriors.
“You guys were very cool.” He says after some time, raising his thumb in approval. “Seriously, impressive stuff.” He walks up to Gyles and gives him a pat on the shoulder. “That tornado thing you did? That was wicked. Never seen anything like it, man.”
The sage peers down at him silently, not saying a word. The Yasha then moves over to Butch. He holds his hands out, mimicking a gesture of surrender.
“And you! You’re one scary guy. The way you broke that man’s back over your knee! That was insane! It’s clear to see you’re no stranger to violence.”
“I’ve had plenty of practice.” Butch nods.
“Leonora Gloucester!” The white-haired Yasha points towards her. “Those ballista never stood a chance. You’re as dangerous as you are beautiful. A true lethal combo!”
“Uhh…thanks.” The woman says, unsure as to where this was going.
Finally, the Yasha steps up to you. He gives you a pat on the shoulder.
“You were good out there too, big guy! Can’t believe you actually took out ol’ Psycho Sid. I was part of the team that imprisoned him. We lost seven good men to that guy. Punched a hole clean through every one of them! Won’t miss him, that’s for sure.”
“Stelios.” Reza says, clearing his throat uncomfortable. “Please get on with it. We don’t have all day.”
“Sorry.” Stelios says. “I’m just excited to finally get to meet these guys in person. The monitoring magic really doesn’t do them justice. They’re much cooler up close!”