Chapter 05

After the 30 minutes of banging....

"THE 2ND PHASE OF THE EXAM IS OVER!!!" - Midday

It was at this very instant that all the supervisors came out of their seats and interrupted the remaining fights. Several people were unconscious, others were full of bruises and some didn't even have any injuries on their bodies, but most were in a terrible state.

Even though no one had announced it, almost all of the candidates who passed this second stage were already decided in advance, as this is the stage where the strong are separated from the weak and there were quite a few individuals with strong skills.

"Take your plates in hand and hand them over to your respective supervisors!" - Midday

All the examinees at the same time took their 2 or more platelets and put them in the hands of the supervisors, and soon after that the amount of participants of the 3rd stage was counted. In all, about 413 remaining candidates were counted.

Then the remaining participants followed their supervisors to the location of the 3rd stage of the selection, in separate groups, where each group came from a different room. After about 8 minutes walking, the groups arrived at huge black doors spread out for each group to enter separately.

'How big is this school?! I think it must be number one in size in the whole kingdom. - Alex

And Alex almost got it right. Henry High might be ranked 3rd in best education, but in size it is one of the largest schools on the planet, capable of holding about 15,000 people at once.

And then each supervisor started talking about the 3rd test and its goal.

"In this 3rd stage there is no limit on the number of candidates allowed in passing, but the purpose of this assessment is only one, to enter this maze, acquire one of the torches that have been spread out and carry it intact to the exit on the other side. The group that achieves this feat will move on to the 4th and final stage' - Black-White to the pair that followed him.

'Huh, wouldn't that be random?'- Alex and Takeru.

"Black-White-san, shouldn't that phase be random too?" - Takeru.

"I don't know, they just warned me that this was the next test." - Black-White.

'For what reason did she decide to intervene in the exam?'- Black-White trying to understand the actions of a certain person.

'Strange...Well, there's nothing I can do anyway.' - Alex shrugged.

"Looks like we'll be working together this time, Takeru." - Alex

"Yes, Take good care of me!" - Takeru as he bowed slightly.

"Is that a custom of the Sunigame nation too?" - Alex

"Yes..." - Takeru with a slightly red face.

Black-White watched the scene with a thoughtful and nostalgic look, probably remembering some scene from his past.

As time passed, the door finally opened and revealed a pathway about eight feet wide and five feet high. The walls were completely white and made of a material unique to the Neox organization, the corridor was also lit by a few lamps glued to the ceiling along the way.

Both candidates 8600 and 8601 started walking down the path full of uncertainties. Both were apprehensive about what was to come and wanted to be as fast as possible, although for different reasons.

'How tense...I'm pretty sure that the other people in this maze will attack us as soon as we bump into each other. Walker-san also seems to have realized this and is trying to move faster...' - Takeru

'*sigh* I want to finish as fast as possible and get back to my life companion, her name is bed.' - Alex.

"Walker-san, can't you sink into the ground like last time? That way we would have an element of surprise in case someone comes to attack us." - Takeru.

'He called me by my last name? Possibly it's another one of his customs.' - Alex

"You can just call me Alex, and to your question the answer is a no. I won't go into detail, but you must meet certain conditions to use this technique." - Alex

'So it's probably as I had cogitated, he can only do it when there are shadows around...' - Takeru.

"I see...then Alex-san will carry the torch while I protect him!" - Takeru.

Since the black-haired boy didn't show much of his ability, the Asian teenager deduced for himself that this was his only power. Because of this he himself chose to stay on the front lines while protecting both of them.

"Are you sure? You will be the first to suffer should a surprise attack occur..." - Alex.

"No problem!" - Takeru.

"All right then..." - Alex.

The light green eyed boy didn't care to discuss a better strategy as it would be tiring and it's not a good choice to reveal your powers all the time. Both might be able to get by with group work, but no one knows what the last phase will be like so the more cards up your sleeve the better.

The two students continued walking in fairly quick steps through the corridor that slowly seemed darker. It was as if at any moment someone would emerge and attack.

The young men's footsteps continued to echo down the corridor, until suddenly the ground sank into the resting place of the fat young man's left foot. And in a matter of seconds several green-tipped arrows were shot in the direction of both of them.

Takuro thought rather quickly and quickly erected a wall of ice to protect him and Alex. Had his reaction time been shorter, they might have both been hit by the arrows.

"Hee...They didn't warn us about the deadly dangerous traps." - Alex.

"Yes, and on top of that the arrows are poisoned..." - Takeru.

"*sigh* that gets more and more exhausting as time goes on..." - Alex.

The two teenagers continued their search through the place full of uncertainty. As their senses guided them, several traps were triggered and each one more deadly than another. There were trap doors with iron stakes at their base, flame throwers that took over the entire corridor and there were even armors walking on their own, probably manipulated by telekinesis or AI programmed to attack.

They have not encountered any other candidates along their path and will probably take a while to find any. The participants in this phase may be strong, but they need to have versatility if they want to get through all these traps and still protect the torch.

Takeru's ice is well suited when put in this regard. Thanks to the great capacity of his skill, the boy can pass through these traps without suffering as much as others with less versatile powers.

The commute continued for about 30 minutes until they finally encountered a blue light at the corner of a corridor. The boys immediately ran thirstily to the podium to get the torch with an abnormal flame.

However, the boys were not the only ones present there. Another group of participants, with approximately 6 people, were also trying to obtain the main goal of this stage and did not seem at all inclined to argue

This was one of the only ones remaining and there is even a possibility that it could be the last one remaining, consequently no one could give this up or they would be decreeing their own defeat.

"Can't we solve this just by negotiating?" - Alex at the same time raised both hands and kept a sleepy expression on his face.

"You know very well that no one here can give that up!!!" - Participant X with an irritated tone.

"Okay, okay, but here's the thing, can't we decide this amicably? Like in a jokenpô, raffle, tic-tac-toe, or something like that??? That way no one here will *boce* have to fight a tiresome and unnecessary fight!" - Alex at the same instant on his face showed total calm and disinterest.

'Isn't this guy just a slacker?'- Some of the opposing participants.

'As expected from Alex-san, he understood our numerical disadvantage and is trying to solve it peacefully so that I don't suffer! I will definitely protect him now!' - Takeru further increasing his misunderstanding and with a determined expression on his face.

'I hope they'll accept it, that way I don't have to do anything tiresome...' - Alex.

"Are you underestimating us?!" - Y participant making his hands turn to metal and setting up a battle stance.

"You are making fun of our faces and on top of that you are talking about negotiation?! Do you have dementia?" - participant Z ready to set off in the direction of the duo.

"I ask you that?" - Alex took an object from inside his pocket.

'I've even learned the right way to deal with these kinds of people' - Alex.

From somewhere else in the maze.

"*Atchchiiiiim* I think someone is talking about me..." - Redheaded teenager.

"Let's get going, don't just wander around." - Teammate.

"I'm coming!!!" - Redhead.

Returning to the fight...

"YOOUU!!" - participant Z

In the next second, participant Z took off towards the black haired boy, who at the same time took a out coin of his pocket.

"Hey, look here" - Alex talking to contestant Z and throwing the coin up.

At that very moment Young Z looked up at the coin and took his gaze off the black-haired boy. Taking advantage of this gap Alex tapped Takeru on the shoulder and spoke low enough for only them to hear.

"Attack them now!" - Alex.

And he started running towards the candidate with his eyes glazed on the coin. When participant Z least expected it, a deadly elbow came from below, hit his jaw and in the same instant his consciousness faded.

Everyone, including Takeru, was shocked by what had happened. Not even three seconds had passed and one of his companions/adversaries was already on the ground, completely unconscious.

A faint smile formed on the face of the young man with black hair and piercing light green eyes.