New Format

... The chief examiner led the conversation away from the usage of the AI and towards the exams instead.

They were having a full blown discussion on how the examination should take place, how they are looking towards coming up with a question so difficult it will trump the rest of the years etc. 

There were still worries about building an AI but more importantly they were mainly concerned about how to make sure their exam was the best and toughest. Call it a professional habit or call it sadism, they just wanted to make an exam so hard that the students faces contort in agony. This discussion continued late into the night as everyone began to leave the arena and back to their hostel. 

Z and Odrunn followed Soli, Arlene and Ashli as they headed back to the Aquos estate. 

"You! How could you make it harder for the rest of us! You're so cruel!"

Arlene shouted at Z while pouting. 

"You passed didn't you?" 

Z replied with a matter of factly tone. 

"Barely! Just barely! You made me miss the chance to excel, the soldiers were so advanced and so on their guard that I can hardly kill enough soldiers."

Arlene continued pouting, Ashli held onto her arm playfully as she smiled gently. 

"It was kind of tough, but in general the whole trial was tough, I didn't expect them to come up with an AI that advanced."

"Yeah! The technology was nothing we've seen before. I think it's entirely new."

Odrunn replied while checking his commswatch. 

"Coming from Odrunn, I think it really has to be new, he's a nerd when it comes to tech and Artefacts and he's barely wrong when it comes to things like this."

Soli smiled as she looked at Z 

"I don't think it's out in the market yet, nor has it been announced to any news outlets. This AI goes beyond just being an AI it ties in deep learning as well, it will pick up new skills and learn new abilities as it goes along which makes it really dangerous. If they don't format the information, it will grow to a point where no one can defeat it, not unless everyone comes up with a brand new strategy that it hasn't seen before."

"Is it really that scary though?" 

Arlene asked with her cheeks puffed up. 

"I mean, it's just an AI why don't they just pull the plug if something goes wrong? Remove the spirit stone or something."

"Well theoretically it is possible, but if it gains sentience it will definitely have a backup power source or link itself up from other sources. It's really scary."

Odrunn replied. 

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure they understand what they are doing and they are all in safe hands, I'm hungry! Shall we go back for some food?"

Soli laughed as they walked into the Aquos compound. 

Z was still deep in thought with regards to the whole issue, he had a bad feeling and had completely agreed with what Odrunn had said, it was not a good thing. But he had shrugged off the bad feelings after hearing what Soli had mentioned. 

The next few days were pretty uneventful, as they started training on their own, the only time they stopped was either for eating or for rest, but as the training got more intense they just subsisted on nutrition bars. 

Odrunn through repetitive training with Z had built up basics that were very stable, his fighting style, techniques were all intermixed perfectly. Before, he lacked in experience, but with Z throwing in all different types of attacks, weird movements and surprises, Odrunn slowly picked up the pace as he learned to adapt to match up to Z. 

Z, on the other hand, had trained his body up as much as physically possible, almost reaching the saturation point for his strength output with Odrunn's manifest. 

They were prepared, for what the exams would throw at them, even Soli had not been skiving off during training, imparting what she had learned the past couple of months to Ashli and Arlene, letting them improve themselves before the exams. 

The few days had passed and they were once again back at the arena grounds, the spectator stands were filled to the brim with all those who wanted to support the friends and those who had washed out during the trials who wanted to console themselves but seeing how hard the exam was and how they wouldn't have passed anyway. 

The chief examiner, who was behind the screen most of the time previously, finally took a step forward to address the students and the crowd themselves. 

After a quick announcement asking everyone to gather, he grabbed onto the S.A.D and started to speak into the mic. 

"Hello everyone, I am the chief examiner of the exam committee and I would first and foremost like to congratulate you for being here. You've all done well during the trials and I'm sure you have worked hard to do better during the exams. 

For the exams, this time around, it will have a special flow behind it and it is a different way of running it. 

We are pioneering a new exam format and we hope to move into the future with all of you!"

The audience clapped their hands as they cheered, they were excited to see where this was headed to and couldn't hold their excitement. 

The examinees on stage started trembling, it was like studying for a math test and when arriving, they let you know that they have changed the entire format of the test. It wasn't so much about the change, but the uncertainty that comes with it.

As much as they had prepared before it felt like it would all drift to naught once this all began. Saner heads would argue that they shouldn't worry until the exact format of the exams had been announced, but everyone panics, everyone worries. 

Through the confusion, the chief examiner grabbed onto the mic again as he spoke…