Chapter 18

—Thousands of players crowded Mainstreet to get a glimpse of the three Guildmasters standing before them, Helmet, Crash, and an unnamed female player. Jay and the rest of his party members were among the bustling scene, looking onwards at Helmet as he started to talk to the prospects present.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Helmet begins, "It means a lot to the Slayers to dedicate this much time for us."

Jay looks around at the players present since the crowds of normal players were behind barriers put in place so the tryouts wouldn't be interfered with. The number of players who were still in the tryouts, with their referrals, was somewhere in the thirty range. This meant they beat the unconventional race and passed the exam about game knowledge. Either that or there was some sort of scoring system they were at the top of.

Jay knew he didn't ace the test in the second section of the tryouts, so for him to pass to the final section of this recruitment system was bugging him.

"As you can tell, a certain someone hasn't shown up yet, so I'll do my best to take his place for the time being." Helmet mentions.

Jay knows who Helmet's talking about instantly. Stan sent everyone texts and even ranted to a group of players very recently. Where could he be?

"Of course he means Stan..." Axel whispers to Jay.

"You think he's mad? At Stan or the other organizers?" Jay asks.

"He's one to talk about schedules, so probably." Ivy jumps in.

'*Why does that flamboyant magician never take responsibility*?!?!' Helmet thinks aggressively.

This would mark the seventh time Helmet had to bail him out. After so many times getting Stan's back, you would expect a thank you. It turns out that usually isn't how it goes, with Helmet being called up again and again for another surprise Stan has for him.

'It's ok. I'll just run them through everything, then be on my way. I'm on schedule...' Helmet thinks.

Crash notices Helmet's fit almost immediately but stands his ground. Helmet would have to run the prospects through the new plan by himself.

"Today, as you must've heard, is the day where casuals turn into sweats. Where the mediocre turn into professionals, or simply get the opportunity to." Helmet says, "This is the start of the final tryout exam—"

"—For those not aware of what's happening, these players before me have gone through hell to get to where they are. They've not only had to receive a referral to star in our tryouts but had to survive several gauntlets to keep their place here."

'Well, when you put it like that, it sounds like we *actually* did something hard.' Kira thinks.

'A gauntlet? Jay and I just took a train during your race!' Dillan thinks to himself.

'He's trying his hardest to make this sound intimidating...No one will buy this...' Ivy thinks.

"Woah! That's impressive!"

"Tryouts? You're doing those now?"

"Isn't that the guy Helmet dropped in one shot?"

"Can I show you my potential?"

"These guys must be tough!"

The crowd of players not participating in the tryouts loomed over the prospects in sheer volume alone. Jay couldn't wrap his head around how many people were really here, which added to his already present stress. Dillan lowered his head at the comments from the crowd.

"Indeed," Crash says, "These players before you have what it takes to become Slayers!"

"Right. And that's not all the news we have for you all tonight." Helmet says.

Jay and his friends all get confused at that last thing Helmet said. What did he mean by that? There was still something that would be announced? Helmet looks down at Jay and his party.

"Not only will these individuals have their tryouts in the Decimation, but it will be open for anyone to view and watch. At a cost, of course."

"*WWHHAATT*?!" Every single prospect shouts.

'We're gonna be performing in front of a crowd like this?' Jay thinks, turning to the massive line of players shuffling over to the ticket booth.

Axel and Ivy both feel their hearts drop into their stomachs. This section of the tryouts was a bigger deal than they had previously thought it was. Dillan follows suit right after, but Kira continues to keep calm on the outside. She was secretly screaming inside, however.

'I can't believe this is happening! *Why*?!' Kira thinks.

"Tickets will cost around 1,000 «Gold Coins», so be first in line to grab yourself a pass for today's viewing," Helmet continues, "If you're not interested in seeing everything live, then tune in to our live stream for full coverage!"

"What is this, a promotion for their brand?" Dillan says.

"It's working if it is!!" Axel says, looking at the players behind them all.

Everyone seemed interested in this event, with those camping at the ticket booth purchasing passes for the day in bulk. Axel associates them with being resellers and looks away in disgust.

"And for those who are still confused on how this tryout session will work, let me explain..." Helmet starts to monologue,

"There will be three sets of ten, which will be picked in random from the group of prospects here. There are exactly thirty of you left, so this isn't that big of a deal. Next, after reporting to your sorted group of ten, You will all enter into the battlefield in the Decimation—"

"—As our prospects know, we had originally built an arena to suit this need, but we decided to rent out a spot inside of the Decimation to make things easier on ourselves. The Decimation can create environments as large and as complex as you want them to be, which is perfect for monitoring player's reactions to new situations—"

"Everyone participating in these tryouts will be escorted soon inside of the Decimation and will wait until their group is called up. From there, they will participate in an all-out deathmatch. Everyone will be against everyone, and the top two players in each division will move on to be welcomed into the Slayer's Pack."

"The challenge here is to survive from your peers around you and be among the last standing." Helmet finishes.

Jay catches a feeling he had never felt before as Helmet finishes his speech. It wasn't the feeling of shock as Helmet described the trail he would be participating in. It was something picking at him ever since he got here.

Why was Tide staring him down so menacingly?

It was almost like he didn't want Jay knowing he was doing it, but in the distance, Jay caught Tide looking in his direction as soon as he and his party showed up at the foot of the Decimation. The words Tide said to Jay the past couple of times they made contact sent chills down his spine and a wave of anger.

'You're at the top of my list...' Jay recalls, clenching his fists

"Are you good?" Axel asks Jay, noticing his anger.

"Yeah, I'm just fine," Jay replies sourly, "I'm just worried about fighting, I guess."

"Just because you don't have Aspect? You'll do great!" Ivy reassures, "You aren't just gonna give up. I know that! you're gonna put up a fight like you always do!"

"Yeah, like I *used* to..." Jay reiterates.

"I think you'll kick his ass!" Dillan says out of nowhere, grabbing Jay by the top of his head, "That Tide guy is bugging you, isn't he?"

"A little, but there's no way me and him will be in the same group, right?" Jay asks.

Although no one said it upright, everyone seemed to agree with Jay. There was a 1/3 possibility that he and Tide faced off. Whether they did or not, though, Jay was still anxious to fight.

"Just don't mess up, and you'll be good," Kira says, "You trained for this just like Axel and Ivy, right?"

"Uh, yeah, why?" Jay says, swallowing hard.

Kira shifts her hair to the opposite side of her face, just like she uses All-Knowing-Eye. The rest of the party watch as Kira emits a faint green aura around herself in a plot second.

"So, what did you train exactly?" Kira asks nonchalantly.

"Uh, weapon skill?" Jay says.

There was a pause as Kira studied Jay's body language further. Her eyes widen in surprise, and she flips her hair back to normal.

"Yep, he just did weapon training," Kira says to the rest of the group.

Jay looks at Kira in confusion. If she used that move of hers, then there was no way she didn't pick up on ~Jay's lie~. It was a half-truth, but that meant Kira was hiding Jay's training from the rest of the group on purpose. This made Jay comfortable and confused at the same time.

Brushing that conversation off quickly, Jay and the rest of the party switch their attention to Helmet and the other Guildmasters.

"Before we split them all into their groups of ten, is there anything else we should explain?" Helmet asks Crash.

"Nothing comes to mind," Crash responds, "Is there anything on your mind, Rayna?

The other Guildmaster—the girl with the baggy hoodie covering most of her face—turns to face Helmet and Crash. She keeps the same stare she had before and casually shuffles her hands.

"Nothing to add," Rayna whispers.

"Ok, on that note..." Helmet starts to say.

"Hold the show!" A voice in the distance calls out.

Jay turns around to see a giant playing card whiz by him overhead in a flash. The wind caused by its speed rippled through the party's hair and clothes. The figure on the playing card frantically made its way to where the Guildmasters were.

'I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!' Stan thinks to himself, rushing to Helmet's side.

Dropping from his flying platform, SSS shambles awkwardly to Helmet, and snatches the microphone from him.

"Hello, players! Sorry for the holdup! As you all know, I am...!" Stan says but stops as he sees the faces of all the players in front of him.

Everyone knew Stan already at this point, and the prospects seemed to be fed up with him and his games. Stan takes a deep breath, preparing for a riot or something similar. Today was not among his brightest.

'looks like they know everything already! Damn it!' Stan thinks, crying inside.

"Well, no need for introductions," Stan says, lowering the mic and turning to the Guildmasters, "What do they know?"

"Everything, except for who their judges are and which groups they'll be a part of." Crash responds.

"You owe me this time, right?" Helmet asks Stan.

"Oh! But of course! In due time I suppose..." SSS responds, shifting his top hat.

'That's a no in disguise...' Helmet thinks.

"So, can you wrap this up?" Rayna whispers to SSS.

"Yes, Rayna!" Stan responds, bowing his head.

"We will now section off the prospects into their respective groups!" Stan calls out.

Jay notices Axel's gauntlets start to spike in heat, and Ivy is also playing with her hair. His friends were just as nervous as he was, so there wasn't any point in overthinking things so much. He just had to get through whatever was set in front of him.

Dillan stares down Helmet in a fearful way, knowing the power that these Guildmasters have. Jay was also looking at the Guildmasters but at Rayna in particular. She didn't even introduce herself to them, which wasn't good practice. Ivy and Kira both were talking about Crash's teeth and how he goes about cleaning them.

Stan steps forward and takes his top hat off his head, shoving his right arm down it entirely. The crowd of players in front of him gasps and awe as he performs his sleight of hand in front of them. After a couple of seconds of reaching into it, Stan pulls out a bundle of cards tied together by a rubber band.

"These cards decide your fate! think of it as getting to know your future, but not a scam!" Stan explains, "There are ten cards with '#1' written on them, ten cards with '#2' written on them, and ten cards with '#3' written on them—"

"—whichever number you get is what group you'll be in!" Stan finishes.

"So this is his game of chance, huh?" Kira says to herself.

"What? Have you seen him do this before?" Ivy asks Kira.

"I guess you could say that..." Kira says ominously.

"Ok! Once you know what group you're in, head on over to its respective area listed inside of the Decimation, and from there, it'll be a matter of time until your big fight! Just make sure to state your full avatar names to the organizers as you walk in..." Stan explains.

"I'm pumped!! I wonder who'll be in my group!!" Axel shouts excitingly.

"Hopefully, away from me!" Dillan responds.

"Shut up, musclehead!! You'll be gone in the first minute!!" Axel bites back.

Jay continues looking at Stan and the Guildmasters, still feeling Tide's gaze hit him. Fear and joy filled his heart, knowing how far he's come to get to this moment. He just can't falter. He can't lose, for his mother's sake.

"Alright, Time to deal my hand!" Stan says, taking the rubber band off of the bundle and tossing the cards outwards simultaneously.

They seemed to fly to the players in a direct line once tossed, which meant everyone could stay still and a card would fall into their hands without a problem. Jay watched as the cards in the air zoomed around to find their targets, and after seeing their patterns, Jay spotted a card coming straight at him. He extends his hand and catches the piece of paper.

The rest of the party did the same, studying how the cards were flying in the air and catching a card coming straight for them or in their direction. After a minute, every prospect had a card of their own. Jay and the rest of the party read off their numbers.

"#1," Kira mumbles.

"#2," Axel says.

"#2?!" Dillan says in frustration.

"#1!" Ivy says in excitement.

"...#3," Jay says.

"So we *are* gonna fight each other!! Don't drop too soon!!" Axel teases Dillan.

"I can't believe we're together! What should the plan be?" Ivy asks Kira.

"I was thinking about—" Kira starts to explain to Ivy but stops and notices Jay's change in posture.

Jay was the only one in the party who wasn't with anyone else in a group, which meant he wouldn't have that safety blanket they all had. Jay wasn't scared because of this, but anxiety made its way present because of it. Jay kept his cool, but it was hard.

"Well, guess I'm the lone wolf! hehe..." Jay laughs.

"I guess..." Ivy says, "But I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Look at it this way..." Dillan starts to explain to Jay, "Only the top two players can be accepted, right? So we all have to try and fend off everyone else to get our teammate to the end. you can just worry about yourself!"

"Sure thing..." Jay says.

"Hey, I made no promises to help you out!! You're gonna get rocked!!" Axel says to Dillan.

"Will you drop it for just a second?!" Dillan bursts at Axel.

"With that, let the tryouts begin!" Stan says, "This has been your host..."

"*Stan*, *Stanley*, *Stanlington*!!!"

After Stan's announcement, the Guildmasters make their way into the Decimation. After a couple of moments, the rest of the prospects and Stan himself make their way inside in a large cluster. Jay still felt anxious, but his determination overpowered his stress.

'Remember, visualize and execute.' Jay thinks, clenching his fists.