Sly Foxes

= "Where are we?" =

Asked one of the few examinees. But despite their reaction, no one panicked and everyone stayed calm.

= 'These guys are pretty used to this kind of thing…it seems like their mindset is pretty mature.' =

I thought everyone would panic other than Van, Vir, and I. It was a shame though, if that had happened, we would have been able to destroy them all in one fell swoop ending this examination in a heartbeat.

Sadly, no such thing happened and I was left to contemplate what's the next best move I should do. One, two, three…fifty-seven examinees, now there are more people than I thought.

The dessert is harsh, the environment and the monster found in the dessert thrive in two things, hunting or finding an oasis.

Though the monsters in the oasis are still fierce, the monsters of the dessert are something that shreds those in the oasis.

Vrrrr! Vrrrr!

As I was deep in thought, the UIR began to vibrate and as everyone opened their respective UIR a voice echoed in our heads.

= "Welcome to the first examination, now…" =

This voice belonged to the old man, he sounds pretty annoyed, well, who can blame him? I'd be annoyed too if the arrogant brats were to scream at me…that would be annoying as hell.

= "…there are fifty-seven of you in this world known as the Dragon's Dreamscape…" =

Dreamscape? It seems like I know where this is going. Is this a screening to weed out the weakest to strongest?

= "…this is not your body but worry not for your abilities, level of practice, items you have with you, and everything else you have is with you in this dreamscape, um…you don't quite get it, do you? Sigh, young people these days.

"Do you guys know that thing called Virtual Illusory Reality or VIR? Where people play their games after creating an avatar to represent themselves in that world? This is basically that but instead of creating an avatar, yourselves are the avatar that is placed in this dream-like world." =

Many went 'Oh' as they realized what the old man was talking about, which was hilarious if one thinks about it. Though I have to say, I didn't know what VIR even is.

What is a game? Is that something that came out while I was in the cavern? I looked over at Vir and Van and they had a passive look on their faces, I really am the only one who doesn't know? Damn, I need to get on with the trend more.

The old man's voice then continued.

= "You are under a spell of a monster outside known as a Dream Spectre, it is under the control of our Monster Tamers, but if it is a consolation to you young'uns, the Tier-7 dark mage Halvesta is the one controlling the Dream Spectre so you are in good hands. But if you still don't like it, raise your hands and announce you want out and you will be kicked out of the examination…seems like we are at an understanding.

= "Okay, I will not bore you any longer, I will now tell you what you guys need to do in this dreamscape. To be clear, the number of people who will pass this exam will only number at fifteen, meaning, the other forty-two of you guys will be kicked out." =

This shocked many but this is a screening to weed people out, what did they expect?

= "You guys will stay here for ten days and eleven nights. There are thousands of monsters in that dessert, their level of strength ranges from a Bronze Core to a Diamond Core.

= "Each core has a responding score, Bronze is 50, Silver is 100, Gold is 150, Platinum is 300, and Diamond is 500. A hunted beast will automatically turn into points, and if you decide to form a team, you guys will be able to share it together with you. Points donation can happen if you guys are at most 100 meters apart. To keep track of who has the most points and your own points as well, here is a ranking panel." =

As the old man said those words, a blue panel that has no name appeared before everyone. The ranking panel has fifteen names in them, to keep track who will enter the next round and who won't.

= "That's it, now in these ten days we won't contact you but we will keep watch of your actions and deem who is worthy and capable of becoming a Seeker. Remember, the pain may be real, but even if you die you're only going to be sent back to here so don't worry about actually dying, that's all to this examination…oh, silly me, how can I forget, if a fight breaks out and accidentally kill their fellow examinee the points of that examinee would go to the killer and the top three examinees will be granted a reward, that is all." =

And with the disappearing words of the old man, the tenseness of the atmosphere grew instantly.

I have to say from what I observed of these guys, the Seeker Association are a bunch of foxes.

Before anyone could complain, the old man already described the situation and breezed through the issue of having a Spectre controlling this dreamscape.

Also, I can now confidently say that this kind of examination is new. Many are at a loss for word and the fact that they brought us here without warning means that they wanted to take us by surprise so we can't ask too many questions that will give rise to doubt.

They got us from the beginning. Those arrogant bastards might just be people of the association planted to make sure that someone will cause a ruckus and give them the excuse to bring us here without any warning in the guise of the examiner getting angered.

The Seekers Association is truly a good association, they work fast and create reasons to ensnare us without giving us time to raise questions. They even eliminated any rejection of this exam by presenting a choice of leaving in exchange for instant disqualification.

And by throwing us into a fierce environment where everyone can be your enemy, everyone would be too tense to doubt as they need to worry about how to pass the exams.

These guys are sly…very, very sly.

At that moment, Xir got a glimpse of what the Seeker Association's capabilities are.

And it made him feel truly invested in the current situation.

* 'So, how do we win this examination without suffering too much?' *