A new day was upon the first years of Hunter Academy and this morning, all students were supposed to meet in their classrooms and wait for their instructors to go over the events of the main competition.
Sometime later, Instructor Horvey entered the class, proceeded to the podium and then projected the large screen for the whole class.
"Good morning. I trust you are all doing well," he began with pleasantries and after getting positive feedback, he focused his gaze on Alex.
However, he noticed a small change that was Julia and how she clung to Alex even though there was enough space for her. Just like everyone, he immediately saw through what the change was but paid no mind.
Instead, he congratulated Alex on overcoming the sieving stage of the competition.
"Now then, on to the main reason we're all gathered here. Tomorrow marks the start of your main competition and I'll be going through the contents, stages and rules involved."
He made a gesture that brought up the overview of the competition for everyone's view. All students present prepped themselves to listen and not miss a single detail.
Instructor Horvey appreciated their seriousness and then turned to the screen. But, before he started, he seemed to have recalled something and quickly turned to the students again.
"Fair warning though, and while I say fair, it's nothing but. This competition, which would be more like a trial of sorts will begin with a systemic reconditioning of your being. You will still be yourselves, but…"
He dragged the last part to build suspense, and he achieved his goal. The students all had their expressions morphed into horror and fear.
Of course, they had heard of systemic reconditioning. But they never thought they would be placed in such a scenario for a school competition.
'This is nothing like we had imagined.' Alex thought with a gloomy expression as this just got a whole lot more serious. He even doubted if what he proposed to Abigail could work.
"… to you students, the virtual world would be your entire world and everything you will experience would be as real as reality itself."
What the instructor said was basically turning the VR world into the real world. That meant if someone died in there, it would be authentic to them. Whatever they experience will shape their being and push them to their limits.
What's more, the chances of their real personalities coming to light were high. Friendships were going to be tested and those trustworthy and those who weren't will be exposed.
Of course, a failsafe was built into that kind of simulation; if a student could not handle the experience, they were immediately ejected and the events of what took place were erased.
"This is of course the first time the academy is doing something like this and while dangerous, can be quickly remedied."
Even still, the students swallowed the lumps that formed in their throats due to their nerves getting the best of them.
Instructor Horvey turned back to the screen and projected the event's content.
"The competition will be in four stages, each stage different from the last. The competition is designed to test all your aspects of self; from the versatile use of your abilities, combat prowess, personality, intelligence to wits, and of course, a little bit of luck."
He gestured for the next page and continued,
"Stage One of the Trial is called The Convergence Maze. The Convergence Maze is a massive, ever-shifting labyrinth. Its structure is a blend of ancient architecture and advanced magical engineering, designed to confuse and disorient you.
"The maze has multiple layers; four in fact. Each layer is more complex and dangerous than the last, filled with void creatures and traps."
The more the students heard, the gloomier their expressions turned. To them, everything their instructor was saying was going to be very real.
Some had even begun getting cold feet, but they would be learning soon enough that if they wanted to remain in their class, they could only partake in it.
Despite the atmosphere turning eerily quiet, instructor Horvey continued with his description of the events.
"In this stage, there will be three trials you must overcome, and failure means elimination, and elimination means no points."
"Trial One; Find your way out of the maze with a constantly changing layout. This layout will occur at random intervals, some long, others short. You must move quickly to avoid being trapped."
"Trail Two; Avoid the void creatures drawn by the use of your magical energy. The void creatures will be attacking in groups and their strength increases with each layer."
He purposely left out the fact that only magical energy could deal a killing blow to the void creatures. This was where mana capacity came into play. But the more you use, the more void creatures are drawn to your position.
"Trial Three; Mana Drain…" When he mentioned this, his attention shifted to Alex and Alex instantly understood what that meant.
"… Certain sections of the maze actively drain mana from those who pass through."
Alex had a lot of mana stored in his manitoria and could be said to be more than anyone else's, but mana did not power his abilities. This was why his level remained low despite mana being infused heavily in his cells.
He did not know how to make use of that mana as it appeared to be dormant. His body did not also give any indication of how much mana was stored inside his body, this resulted in the phenomenon where the aura around him remained that of a low-level Class F awakened.
But… The system wasn't programmed to take that into account. Only their level and capacity it correlated too. This was a major challenge Alex had to face in order to make it through the first stage of the competition.
Alex noticed how a lot of gazes had settled on him. He did not mind though, as they were in the right. He was at a heavy disadvantage from the get-go.
He felt Julia's hand on his thigh showing her support, "I'm staying by your side, no matter what."
Alex nodded with a small smile.