The abnormally tall men—or rather, their new masters—stood rooted to the spot, unmoving for what felt like an eternity. The translucent window in the front flickered to life, revealing itself as a screen. Upon it glowed the letter "Z," embedded within the same emblem stitched onto their suits.
"Diamonds in the rough, we will now begin the Testing Procedure. You will be branded, given your titles, and your prowess measured. This will allow us to distinguish the strong from the weak, rare from the common, and dangerous from the innocuous."
The man in the middle, supposedly the one leading the talking matters, extended a hand to his right, palm open. His companion, flanking his right, produced something resembling a remote from his hands clasped behind his back and placed it onto the outstretched hand. It was a small black device, no longer than three inches. Adrian couldn't tell whether it was made of plastic or metal, with only three buttons on the surface.
The supposed leader in the centre pushed the big red button. A smooth sliding sound resounded, and the three men got aside, revealing a rectangular hole of considerable size in the ground. The floor there had parted, and only darkness entered Adrian's vision as he peered deep into the pit. With a metallic clink, the sliding sides came to a halt. It was a very slow process, Adrian contemplated; nonetheless, no less intriguing. Shiiinnk, followed by an ascending noise reminiscent of a crane hoisting loads. It was a grating sound. Then something black protruded, gleaming under the pale, sterile light. It arose gracefully and almost noiselessly compared to its previous cacophony.
A chair—no, a throne—rose from the darkness. It shimmered like polished obsidian. With seemingly hard upholstery—equally black, its armrests ended in dragon-shaped carvings. Adrian felt a mixture of awe and unease after seeing such a sight. He had never seen such a thing before, so he was a bit clueless as to what the creatures engraved in the stone were. It was not the throne's only awe-inspiring feature. Its backrest was carved with arrow-like patterns and embedded with jewels of different colours and shapes. Two enormous swords, each taller than Adrian himself, were etched into the back, spreading outward like the wings of an eagle he had once seen. He couldn't recall where that memory came from, but it felt familiar—like it belonged to him. The throne stood nearly ten feet tall. However, the masters still frowned upon the Throne like mountains looking down into valleys. Adrian knew that even the tallest of them would have their feet dangling 1 or 2 feet in the air if they sat upon it.
Everyone looked stunned by the sheer beauty, their mouths hanging open and eyes wide, Adrian observed, but the three men barely spared it a passing glance as if they had seen things far grander. Even with their masked faces, Adrian could discern it, feel it.
Another man spoke up this time, "The Throne of Reflection—it shows the deepest part of a person's soul—his desires, his soul's core, his strength and weakness. This Throne would show us the prowess of each of you."
At the declaration, everyone looked at each other in stunned silence and then back at their captors. Lee Hakyung, the boy with sharp features and amber eyes unlike anyone else in the room, raised his hand. "What would happen to us if we passed your tests?"
The master answered with a slight chuckle, which sounded more sinister than hearty, "Well, you would have all the riches and resources of Earth available at your feet. You would live a comfortable life, the one that you could only dream of before."
Another quivering voice rose; it was a mousy-haired boy this time. Adrian couldn't remember the boy's name.
"Then, what would happen to those who fail…" He trailed off at the end. This time, the masters didn't answer. They stood rooted to their ground, standing in front of the youths in silence. Adrian could feel their unnerving scrutinising eyes from miles away, but he didn't feel frightened of them, just a slight discomfort of getting examined like an object didn't sit well with him.
They made them wait, letting the weight of the question settle in. Nervousness spread like a contagious disease. They did say that those who failed to meet their expectations would be treated worse than slaughtered cattle; however, everyone wanted more explanation of what fate awaited the failures. Perhaps, they thought it wouldn't be so bad, which Adrian considered quite ludicrous. That one phrase was enough to clear all the doubts of Adrian and those smart enough to understand. Everyone held their breath waiting for the bomb to drop. Adrian could tell they didn't want the reply, but they were still eager. Adrian internally scoffed at their cowardly bravery, but he was no better. Sweat dampened his forehead and clung to his back like a suffocating sheet of heat. Then a mirthful voice resounded; it was unlike anything he had heard. His limbs froze, and fear gripped him like a noose. The hissing intonation reminiscent of a snake formed one final word.
"Death."
The word carried weight. It slithered through the room like a living thing, coiling around their throat. Adrian had expected something terrible. But hearing that single word—hearing the power behind it—made his blood run cold. For the first time, he truly believed they would die. Even Tyler's usual grin had vanished, and Eden looked unusually pale. He didn't describe in what manner the failures would die—be killed—but his timbre was enough to convey the real meaning behind the word. There was a sound of a broken sob, and then the whole room was filled with sounds of weeping. Some were silently sniffling, while others were full-blown crying. But some looked indignant, and those who wore an expressionless face, Adrian was among the latter. After hearing the absolute proclamation, all he felt was numbness. But then, an unbidden fury coiled deep in his stomach, spreading through his body like a wild inferno. He despised them for making him feel so helpless and small in front of their absolute authority. He wanted to curse, shout and fight them. But what could a small, powerless kid do before three ten-foot giants? Even with the combined power of all eighteen of them, they would stand no chance against them. This realisation struck him like a biting slap, dulling the raging blaze inside him to a mere spark. With no choice, no feasible way out, he felt suffocated—trapped. This foreign yet familiar feeling was unbearable, like drowning in a sea with no surface. This lack of freedom, a phenomenon which somehow seemed familiar, ignited deep feelings of loathing.
A voice jolted Adrian out of his train of thought. It was Eden's. He didn't know what he said, but it felt a lot like curse.
It seemed he had zoned out, and the men were in the middle of speaking.
"Sitting upon this throne will reveal the extent of a person's abilities and potential."
A robotic speech was droning on, and it continued as the owner of the voice pointed towards the Throne of Reflection, "You will each sit upon it in turn as a part of the testing procedure."
Adrian did not like it, anything about their situation. It rubbed him the wrong way to be treated like some disposable piece of scrutiny. However, he had no choice but to comply.
Eden glanced his way, and Adrian caught his gaze as if he felt Eden's stare before the former even turned his head, and nodded at him. Tyler, on the other side, was restlessly turning his body here and there, even though the specialised beds hindered his movements. He felt on the verge of bursting from anger with the way his face was red, contorted with barely contained fury, and jaw clenched. But surprisingly, the hot-tempered Tyler didn't speak.
Aside from all, the most interesting thing in this room was the green-haired girl. She was looking at the men with empty eyes, but every now and then her eyes would widen in recognition and then would flicker back to her empty stare. No one seemed to notice this thing, too preoccupied in their own thoughts, or maybe they did notice but didn't care.
A sudden tightening sensation spread through his body followed by a pulse of electric current. It only lasted for mere seconds, or so, and then the crushing heaviness vanished. It felt as if a huge burden had been relieved from Adrian's body. His muscles no longer cramped when he moved, and when he stretched his legs fully, there wasn't any force opposing it. But he still couldn't stand up, which exasperated him. The tube attached to his wrist fell out on its own accord as if it had a mind of its own. Everyone else was going through the same thing. Adrian's eyes flicked towards Enoch who touched his big chest as if to grab something, but his hands only caught onto the shirt. He frowned his brows and shook his head as if puzzled. Was it an involuntary action? It seemed his mind did it without him knowing. Adrian contemplated.
"Unpolished gems, you would be released from your restraint, beginning from the left. Approach the Throne. You know what your human philosophers say that merely killing a puny beast does not make one a hunter. Likewise, sitting upon this lowly throne would not make you kings—not even kings of beggars." The master on the left said, chuckling and others joined him, too. The middle one, pressed another button on the Throne, and a set of three black stairs extended from beneath the Throne.
"Having their brain intact is more convenient than handling mindless masses. Don't you think so? Now we won't have to pick up your filthy bodies and put it on there." The centre man proclaimed to the others, and added with bite, "Class A was able to produce the most powerful Aetherflux core, but would it be able to train them into warriors."
Righty remarked in agreement, "They have done something useful. These children seem to have brains, but it's good we won't have to drag them around any longer. It was a piece of work."
They conversed normally, but the topic was anything but. Adrian noticed they talked in tones that felt manufactured, as if their real voices were layered with a fake one.
A click resounded.
A guy on the far left end stood up abruptly.
"Oh, it's time." Lefty said with a hint of a smile. Adrian discerned that he could distinguish the eerily same voices of their masters. They all positioned themselves on either side of the Throne, while the middle one went straight to the black screen at the front. Adrian had the full view of the screen, so he could easily see whatever was going on there; however, some weren't lucky enough.
Arche was remarkably handsome, with chocolate-brown skin, wavy silver hair, and striking cobalt eyes. Wearing the same black shirt with the same eye within a pyramid symbol stitched on to it and long trousers, just like everyone else. Walking towards the Throne with measured steps, he didn't glance either left or right, his sole focus was on the Throne. He stood in front of the Throne and gazed at it for a few seconds and then stepped on to the stairs. His bare feet made no sound as he carried himself to the top. Then he froze at the top stair instead of sitting. Adrian couldn't see his expression with his back to him, but he noticed that Arche's fists were clenched.
"Get moving, boy." A cold voice echoed in the room, with no particular source in sight. It was the same one which chilled Adrian's core to the bone with fear, just like now. Arche's body visibly flinched. He turned around and perched on the Throne on shaky legs. Arche's determined face came into view as he faced them from the lofty Throne. Arche's body jerked violently just as he came in contact with the Throne. His eyes rolled back, only whites visible instead of the beautiful cobalt. There were audible gasps across the room. Some looked shocked while some were terrified at the scene unfolding before their eyes. Adrian also saw this sight with mild astonishment.
Eden called out his name, "Hey Adrian, look at this." Adrian pulled his eyes away from Arche and pinned them to where Eden was pointing at. The huge rectangular screen was lit up. On it was displayed Arche's picture and a bunch of information.
54Z
Name: Arche Blake
Subject No: #Z101
Age: 14 years
Core: Tempest
Affinity: Lightning
"We are off to a good start. Maybe this is our chance to beat those Class A assholes." The centre man said with anger in his voice.
A chuckle resounded throughout the room, sending chills down Adrian's spine, followed by Lefty's comment, "Maybe. You do know there's no room for maybes. And you said the same thing last time, but your Class's position came second from the bottom. No offense Kha'laar, but you are no competition to Class A. I doubt Class A even thinks about us, unlike you, who seems obsessed with them. You know you should—"
"Enough!!" A roar cut off Lefty, startling everyone, except the masters.
"I don't want to hear about it, Ja'saar." Kha'laar added further, the sheer pressure in his voice seemed to choke the room. Adrian felt his throat muscles tighten, cutting off the air. Others were equally affected, their hands clawing at their throats, gasping for breath.
"Stop it, Kha'laar. You are killing them." The Righty pointed out the obvious. Suddenly, the pressure dissipated. Adrian was surprised that something like that could be done with just the voice. The suffocation was so thick, Adrian thought he was really going to die.
"The next subject may come up." Ja'saar commanded in a domineering tone, so unlike the playful lilt just a second ago.
The information about Arche flickered off the screen as he wobbled down the Throne on unsteady feet. Adrian didn't understand what it was all about. Core, Tempest, Lightning, it all went over his head. Another child stepped, followed by others. Then the green-haired girl's turn came. And everything went wrong.