Around the same time as Nero and his team were entering the cathedral, dozens of trucks were being boarded by numerous teams of Neophytes. The relatively empty city was about to become crowded.
But while there were countless Neophytes getting ready to enter the city, the number of Initiates or Arcanists entering was very few. Besides manning the few key points of the city, it was bare of any soldiers.
This was something Nero had noticed as well, though he didn't voice his concern. While he absorbed as much information as he could about Lumina, his focus remained on his mission.
The cathedral had at least two basement levels, and potentially more. The first basement layer had been cleared of all obstacles despite the presence of fog, but the lower levels remained largely unexplored.
Officially, the reason that they had been informed that the lower levels remained unexplored was because the army didn't have enough Neophytes to completely explore all the basements in the ruins yet. That is why, prior to the war, KMA was going to hold their admission field tests here. They would get the best Neophytes in the country to explore for them.
But with the onset of war, the need for an extra step was removed. The army could directly draft all the Neophytes and have them continue the exploration.
On paper this seemed like a valid excuse. In reality, Nero concluded that either the 2nd basement level was too dangerous to explore in small numbers, or those that had been sent were already dead, which is why exploration stopped.
"I'll be waiting outside for you," their escort said once they reached the place. "If you do not return within 24 hours, or send back some news, I will have to return to the tower to report you as possibly missing. An exploratory team will come to look for you inside. Of course, if other teams share the same mission as you and one of them exits I can try to get feedback from them.
This is just a precautionary measure."
"Why can't you come inside?" Harold asked, speaking for the first time. It seemed like the initial nervousness and intimidation he had felt about being deployed had worn off.
"There are strict orders to stick to the parameters of your designated job. There is a very tight information lockdown in effect. By going inside, I might be exposed to information I'm not supposed to have. In the best case scenario my mission will change and I'll be assigned to this building, but in the worst case scenario I might end up being sent to a cursed zone."
"Isn't that a little extreme?" Harold ashed aghast.
"It's to keep all information secure and out of the hands of our enemies. This is a good lesson for you as well. Stick to your mission, and don't wander around where you're not supposed to."
"Let's go," Nero said, taking the lead to enter the cathedral. He did not want to waste time chatting outside, as he still had to pass the competency test inside the cathedral before he could even gain access to the levels.
Fortunately, upon entering, they discovered that the cathedral wasn't empty. There were three soldiers sitting at a table, huddled over some documents. The door to the cathedral opened soundlessly, as if the hinges had been just recently oiled, though Nero could see no hinges, but their footsteps at least alerted the three soldiers of their arrival.
They looked up, confusion painting their expressions, as if they were so deeply engrossed in reading that they forgot the world even existed. Nero, too, was confused, as the three in front of him were clearly teenagers. Were they the Neophytes who had cleared the first floor?
"Hello, I'm Nero leading Azure-1. Will you be the ones assisting me with the competency test?"
The three kids staring at him took a few moments to register what was happening.
"Is it already deployment day?" one of the kids asked, rubbing his eyes, as if the bright light entering from the open door was hurting him.
"Thank goodness, I thought we'd be stuck here forever," said another kid.
Nero could not help but notice that their uniforms looked extremely worn out, not to mention that none of them even bothered carrying around their weapons.
"How long have you guys been here?" he asked, sensing something amiss.
"At least six months, trying to decipher ancient Eldrim texts when-"
"Shut it!" The third teenager, a girl with bright green hair, screamed and clamped the others mouth close with her hands. Then she breathed a sigh of relief, and looked towards Nero and the rest.
"What we're doing here is confidential. But yes, we can help you go through the competency assessment. Are you here to clear the lower levels of curses?"
Nero immediately felt the binding from the oath of secrecy slightly appear, letting him know what he could and could not disclose. He found it odd that the others in front of him didn't have similar bindings warning them. Maybe no one got around to it.
"I cannot disclose the details of our mission, but I can tell you that we will probably end up clearing any curse that obstructs us. Maybe once we're done, other teams will come through who will properly clear out the basements."
"Oh well, in that case, try not to damage the surroundings down there if you end up fighting something. Everything is extremely valuable, and it would be a shame if it became worthless because of some minor damage."
"I can keep your request in mind, but I will not hold myself and my team back in the face of any threats. My teammates are more valuable to me."
The green haired girl looked like she wanted to argue about the value of things, but held herself back.
"Follow me. My name is Aloe, by the way. This is Patrick and this is Harold."
"Oh, no way, my name is also Harold!" Harold exclaimed with too much excitement.
"Oh, cool. I'm Harold Bauer, what about you?" the pale looking teenager said.
"Adler. What school did you go to? How cool would it be if we had been together."
"I went to a school called Fitz Field Elementary, back in Dailin…"
Nero tuned out Harold and Harold, and followed Aloe deeper into the cathedral. Harold had an enthusiastic personality, that much was true, but if he was a dumb guy he would have never ended up with someone like Wendy. By pulling the other Harold aside from the protective Aloe, and talking about seemingly random things, he was gathering information.
That was fine, because according to the information Nero had, as long as just one of them passed the competency test, the rest of them would be able to accompany him down.
"Can you give me any information about the kinds of curses you faced on level 1? Or any of the obstacles in the basement level 2?" Nero asked Aloe.
"Probably nothing you don't already know. Besides, I've never been to the lower levels. I'm a researcher, not really a combatant," Aloe explained. "The only piece of good news I can tell you is that the Eldrim restrictions apply to the curses as much as they apply to you.
The bad news is that the curses that survived those restrictions fit in perfectly within the Eldrim rules, which means they're going to be strange and unpredictable. From what I understand, of the group that cleared the first floor, three members suddenly fell ill weeks after clearing the floor.
As far as anyone can tell, they were suffering from the repercussions of some late acting curse that couldn't be purified or even detected."
"Any fatalities?" he asked.
"None that I know of. Here, enter this room," Aloe said, bringing him to a small, empty room that looked like a broom closet. "I'll start the test a few seconds after closing the door. You just need to follow the instructions and do your best. If you manage to meet the requirements, you'll pass the test. You don't need to worry about being harmed in the test, as it's perfectly safe."
"Alright, you may begin," Nero said, nodding to her.
The cathedral was just as well decorated and vibrant as the rest of the city. Even for someone as observant as Nero, it would take a while to notice all the countless small details that filled each corner of it. But, in essence, it was a very grand building, filled with a sense of solemnity.
He still couldn't imagine why it would be considered a cathedral, but he didn't have time to dwell on such thoughts.
The test began, and Nero suddenly found himself standing in a glade. His body tensed surrounded by so much grass, but nothing untoward happened. He moved his spear into the ground, and was able to cut into the dirt. The feedback he got also felt real.
Was he in some kind of projection, or had he suddenly been teleported somewhere? He couldn't tell.