A few days had passed since I last spoke with Alicia.
In the end, she told me that our reward would take some time to arrive, especially since Elliot still hadn’t decided what he would take.
So I had to wait a few more days before receiving my essence stones.
In any case, the short break was over, and we returned to our usual classes...
More or less.
Well, there was something new today.
All of us were standing in a room filled with strange devices, with a large screen mounted on the wall. In our hands were something resembling VR headsets, which had just been handed to us by the professor standing in front of us.
His face was frozen in a serious expression... honestly, this was the first time I’d seen him. He was probably teaching one of the classes I hadn’t attended.
It didn’t matter.
Today was a little special...
We were about to take a new test.
The Mental Endurance Test.
A few minutes ago, this grim-looking professor informed us that this test had recently been added to the first-year evaluation by the principal himself.
So we weren’t even supposed to take it until next year.
It seemed the principal liked us...
And I didn’t think that was a good thing.
The professor looked at us and spoke,"Now put on the headsets and get ready."
But no one moved, and silence filled the room until Talia raised her hand."Professor, I think you forgot to tell us what we’re supposed to do."
He stared at her for a few moments before letting out a loud sigh, rubbing his temple as he spoke in an irritated tone."There’s nothing special you need to know. This test is divided into seven stages, but as first-years, you’ll only go through five... and I don’t think anyone will reach that far anyway."
"Each stage lasts five minutes, and the difficulty increases every time. Try to endure for as long as possible, because your results will depend on that."
He removed his hand from his head and continued,"When you feel you can’t go on, just say: I give up, and you’ll be automatically removed."
He clapped his hands."Now get ready—"
But once again, no one moved.
The same blonde girl raised her hand again."Um... I think you forgot to tell us what kind of stages they are, Professor."
He looked at her with lifeless eyes."You’ll find out once you enter. Now put on your headsets."
This time, everyone complied.
So did I.
I placed the device over my head, my vision instantly swallowed by darkness, while I heard the professor’s voice."Looks like everyone’s ready... your consciousness will be immersed in 3... 2... 1."
What a rushed professor...
That was my last thought before I felt my consciousness being pulled somewhere else.
...
The first thing I felt was heat.
Intense, unbearable heat.
Then, slowly, light flooded my vision, and I found myself standing on what looked like endless desert sands.
Above me was a glowing yellow sky, while dry air struck my face.
Only a few seconds passed, yet I already felt overwhelming thirst.
I couldn’t feel any essence within my body, as if I had returned to being an ordinary human.
I turned my head and saw the others around me, all of them panting under the heat.
No one spoke or uttered a single word...
Their mouths were probably already too dry to form words.
"These will be the longest five minutes they’ve ever experienced."
...
Outside, the students’ bodies stood motionless in front of the professor, while he stared at the large screen displaying Caius and the others in that scorching desert.
This was only the first stage out of the five, each lasting five minutes.
But for those inside, every second could feel as long as a minute.
And this was only the beginning.
Surviving there would become several times harder with each stage.
In fact, the average time third-year students lasted was sixteen minutes—just at the beginning of the fourth stage.
Only a few could complete the fourth stage and enter the fifth, and even then, it was rare for anyone to finish the fifth.
Not to mention the sixth and seventh stages, which were created only as a ceiling for people to smash their heads against.
The professor calmly looked at the screen, then at the timer on the side.
[1:13]
...
On the scorching sands, fourteen people struggled to endure the unnatural heat of the desert.
Everyone felt as if they were inside a giant oven, slowly being cooked alive.
Among them was a blonde girl with clear blue eyes...
Talia.
A girl from a noble family. Since childhood, she had been praised by her family—her talent acknowledged, supported, and nurtured—before she was sent to the Axis.
They had placed great expectations on her, believing she would secure at least one of the top three positions...
But in the end, she barely managed to rank thirteenth and secure a place in the elite class.
That had been somewhat of a disappointment to her family.
So she tried to close the gap, to surpass her peers in both tests and missions...
But no matter how hard she tried, no matter how much she trained...
She couldn’t do it.
They were always one step ahead of her...
Especially those two.
Talia gasped for breath, drawing in the scorching air, and looked around at her classmates, all of them struggling to endure as well...
But not everyone.
There were those who seemed able to handle this with ease...
Especially one of them.
’Come on... come on... just end already,’ Talia urged inside her mind.
She wanted to curse out loud, but her mouth was far too dry to do so.
’Should I give up?’
The thought crossed her mind again and again.
The urge to surrender never left her, not for a single moment since she entered this place.
The professor said each stage lasted five minutes, but to her, it felt like hours had passed in this unbearable torment.
’Maybe I should give up,’ she thought as she closed her eyes.
But as if the world had answered her prayers...
The first five minutes finally ended.
The world flashed and changed in an instant.
The heat vanished completely, replaced by a cold sensation that washed over her body...
Cold—far too cold.
She opened her mouth...
And all that entered was water.
Abnormally cold water.
She finally opened her eyes to see where she was.
She was underwater—or more precisely, surrounded by tons of a liquid resembling water, with a temperature reaching twenty degrees below zero.
Water flooded into her mouth, filling her insides, as her body began to freeze from the cold.
She tried to swim to the surface, or anywhere at all, but her body wouldn’t move an inch.
Talia couldn’t gather any thoughts except one.
Her lips moved, forming a single word:
"I give up."
And just like that, Talia became the first to be eliminated from the test.
Only ten seconds after the second stage began.