A warm gust of wind flowed silently through the massive grassy courtyard, moving the numerous flowers along with it.
Surrounding this courtyard was a large U-shaped building that appeared to be either a dormitory or hotel of some kind.
Brance, Gabby, and Benny stood at the opening of this large U that led directly into the large land plot, which Brance estimated to be around 15 acres wide (60k meters squared). Unfortunately, only the massive building or grass and flowers could be viewed as far as his eye could see, leaving him unable to determine any kind of location. Even the sky above seemed to just be cloudless and blue, with the identical Suns he had grown accustomed to.
“OH, look at all the pretty flowers!” Gabby broke away from the group and skipped merrily towards an outcropping of purple and pink daffodils, causing Brance to smile lightly and Benny to facepalm and chase after his easily excitable little sister.
Shaking his head and releasing a slight chuckle, Brance followed the two siblings while observing his surroundings. A quick scan around the courtyard allowed him to pick up on several kids sitting around and enjoying the weather while chatting. He watched as bright lights would occasionally flash in seemingly random spots and deposit one or two new kids.
Upon reaching the Sanford siblings, Brance was instantly mauled by Gabby, who mercilessly adorned him with several different types of flowers from head to toe while giggling the whole time. But, knowing resistance was futile when it came to this little blue-eyed, brown-haired girl in pigtails, Brance just stood still and allowed her to do as she pleased.
That is until he heard a familiar snort and sadistic laugh in the mind link.
[HeheheHAHAHAHAH, WHAT THE FUCK MAN HAHA!] From over a hundred meters away, Cynrik had appeared and instantly locked in on his brother’s whereabouts only to find him sitting on the ground while an overly excited Gabby dancing around Brance like a pixie, planted flowers all over his head and upper body.
[Why was I even worried about you.]Brance’s calm expression turned sour the moment he heard Cynriks snide remarks.
[No idea, but guess what, yah boi got himself a new Legacy Skill. Remember when you nearly beat my ass in the hotel because I blanked out. wellllll turns out it wasn’t because of ADHD, but instead a Legacy skill that I unintentionally activated.] Walking over casually, Cynrik quickly filled Brance in on what had transpired in his absence, including what Mindscape did, leaving his flower-covered brother speechless.
[Woah, that makes our story way shittier than yours. We searched the room for a while before Gabby did the Gabby thing, where she tried forcing us to play with new kids and accidentally stepped on one of those tiles you were talking about.] Standing up and gripping Cynrik’s forearm as a sign of greeting, he filled his older brother in on their little adventure.
Brance’s sudden movements caused all the flowers resting on his body to fall to the ground, drawing an upset noise from Gabby. But when she saw Cynrik, she brightened back up, “Big Bro Cyn,” and jumped at him the same way she did Brance.
Unlike Brance, who would return her hug, Cynrik effortlessly sidestepped her and caught her by the scruff of her neck, like a tiny kitten. “Sup squirt, you know better than to throw yourself at me.” He stood there laughing internally as Gabby struggled to free herself from his grasp, but after several unsuccessful seconds, she went dead weight and gave him puppy eyes, pleading to be let go.
Benny and Brance stood by the side and just smiled at what was considered a regular interaction between Cynrik and Gabby. Even though it always ended the same way, Gabby had yet to give up and made it her mission long ago to defeat the evil oldest boy and make him give her “cuddles.”
If Cynrik knew what was going on in her head, he would have run for the hills. Everyone knew there was one thing Cynrik hated. And that was “Cuddles.”
“So what’s up with this place, big ass courtyard, with a giant dorm-looking building surrounding it, makes this place look like a university of some sort. Hm?” Cynrik’s left eyebrow rose up as he spotted three equidistant clocks around the U-shaped building. The more he looked at these clocks, the more suspicious he became. Unlike a standard clock face where the numbers went from 12 to 12, this clock went from 0 to 100 in increments of 10.
Seeing Cynrik’s expression, Benny and Brance followed his line of sight and picked up on the strange clocks as well. Even the defeated Gabby, hanging several inches above the ground, turned and looked at the boys’ actions.
Making a pouty face and wiggling her nose, Gabby stared at the closest clock for a second before looking back at Cynrik, who seemed to be concentrating. “Big Bro Cyn, what’s so strange about that timer? Why are you guys all staring at it?”
The moment the words left her mouth, all three boys froze and robotically turned to face the little girl. TIMER, why the hell had none of them, thought of that.
“Heh, indeed, it’s a timer.” Then, nodding matter of factly, Cynrik played it off as if he already knew it wasn’t a clock and placed Gabby down before patting her on the head, grabbing her little hand, and placing a sourball in her palm. “Good job Gabby, have a candy.”
Gabby’s face lit up, and she quickly tore off the wrapping of the sourball and tossed it into her mouth. Cynrik had been doing this since she was a toddler. When he realized how much of a handful the little princess was becoming around her fourth birthday, he started “Training” her. Every time she did something he deemed suitable, she would receive one piece of her favorite candy, which was the little jawbreaker-like sourball he handed her.
Cynrik’s actions caused Benny and Brance to shake their heads and mutter “shameless” under their breaths. The two of them knew what he was doing but had given up even trying to change it since Gabby seemed to love this little “game” she had going, where the prize was free candy.
In fact, although Brance viewed Gabby like a little sister, Cynrik saw her as more of a troublesome puppy that had to be kept in check; thus, the reward game began.
“Alright, seems we’ve got 40 minutes to kill before the timer ticks down; any guesses what happens when it hits zero?” Sitting down and crossing his legs, Cynrik propped his elbows on his knees before speaking.
The other three joined him, forming a small circle; as they discussed what the timer represented, it didn’t take long to decide that it probably stood for how much time remained in the last puzzle.
Time moved on slowly, as the group went from sitting in a circle to taking naps on their backs until eventually the clock hit zero and large chimes rang across the courtyard.
DINNGGG DIINNNGG DONNNG
The instant the chimes stopped, the three timers transformed into small machines resembling a movie projector and fired a soft blue lazer towards the courtyard’s center several dozen feet above the ground. This light converged into an orb that shifted several times before taking the appearance of a green-haired man. Cynrik was surprised to see this man because he recognized him instantly.
“Good afternoon, Examinees, Congratulations for successfully completing the previous challenges, as well as the Phase:1 Written Exam. My Name is Consul Saylin Garn, and I am the person responsible for this year’s Academy Exams.”
Cynrik scoffed at Saylin’s lame introduction but was quickly silenced by Brance, who backhanded him in the chest.
“As you were all told during the Written Exam, Phase:2 will not begin until 48 hours have transpired. The reason for this is simple. Those 48 hours are considered prep time for the challenges that Phase:2 will present. Therefore, we of the Exam board felt that this time was sufficient. So now without further ado, I shall reveal the contents of Phase:2.”
The hologram Saylin waved its arm slowly, and hundreds of small windows opened up in the sky, drawing several different reactions from the crowd of Examinees. Some started crying, some screamed in fear, while others were silent.
Cynrik and Brance smirked at what was shown on the screens while Gabby shivered slightly, and Benny frowned.
“Phase:2 will be broken down into two parts; the first is the Physical Exam, you will be tested, and if your stats are unable to meet the required standard, you will fail. The Second part of Phase:2 is the Practical exam; you will be allowed to form groups of no more than five people. Depending on the group’s Physical Exam results, your group will be assigned one of over 200 different Spatial Egresses, and you will have to successfully complete the quest given by your system upon entering the Egress.”
“During the allotted 48 hours of prep time, you will be allowed to choose one of the rooms surrounding the courtyard. After that, the timers will be reset, and the next time you hear the chimes, you must be in this location again to begin the next phase. This is all the information I have for you at this time.” When Saylin finished speaking, his hologram body looked around the courtyard, his gaze stopping on Cynrik and Brance, who seemed to be excited and ready to fight, which made him snort and cut off the hologram.