Jhun looked at his sister. “So, what do we do? Shall we check our bedrooms?” Ehrin nodded, looking at the few people that where occupying the hall of the residence: she couldn't tell who was a participant or just someone of the organizing committee. She would have loved to gather some more information about the Tournament, but there wasn't really a person that she could trust just by look. They walked towards the elevator, waiting for it after having pushed the button. “I wonder what kind of tests will we be facing tomorrow.” Jhun was apparently carefree, no strange ideas on his mind; Ehrin, from her part, was trying to hide the constant thought about the Aion: why did that news keep bothering her? It wasn't more than a simple idea, it was more like an urge that wanted to push her towards that prize, discarding her believes. But she didn't want to clinge in that. Luckily, the ring of the elevator arriving at their service shook her up from daydreaming. “625, that would be the sixth floor, wouldn't it?” Jhun pressed the corresponding button and the metal box started her slow rising.
The door opened and a long corridor unravelled in front of them. The walls were white as snow, with golden inlays and silver lamp between every door. On the floor, an everending crimson carpet was layed. They started walking, looking right to left to spot the number of their rooms. “620. 621. 622. 623. And here we are, 624 and 625. Right in front of each other.” They both took their key cards in the hand, approching it to the electronic reader and unlocking with a click the door. Before she could enter the place, Jhun spoke: “Ehi, Ehrin, listen. What do you think about what Beryu said?” Her heart started to beat faster, pounding against her chest wall like a drum. Why that sudden question? She tried to stay composed, the voice calm: “Why this question now?” Jhun turned towards her. “I don't know… it's a thought that's tormenting me from before. I was satisfied with our goal but now I feel like we should aim higher. But it's a strange idea, isn't it?” What to tell him now? Should she agree with him? What if Jhun would feel betrayed by that answer? She decided to remain vague, just as long as she didn't wrap her mind around. “I don't know, Jhun. Maybe it's just the heat of the moment. Don't torment your mind with something like that. We will know better tomorrow. As uncle always say…” “The night is full of advice.” Concluded her brother. “Thank you, Ehrin. Goodnight.” That said, he walked into his room, closing the door behind his back. Ehrin stood still. Was that night really be going to help her? What if the next morning it would be set on becoming a Deity? How could she even look Jhun in the eyes with that thought? Her mind became restless, dwelling on everything that happened that day and what the future reserved for them, and the longed sleep wasn’t really of any help.
The next morning, Ehrin woke up with her head pounding, a low-pitch sound reverberating in her ears while a louder and heavier noise began to arouse from a small distance. It took a few seconds to realize that that last knock was actually coming from the door of her room, probably Jhun telling her to wape up. She sit on the edge of the bed, her fingers pressing on the temples of the forehead in a vain attempt to attenuate the headache. Jhun seemed not to have the intention to stop till the door opened, so Ehrin gave up and walked towards the entrance, grabbing and rotating the doorknob to open the wooden surface. In front of her, both Jhun and Beryu were waiting, their faces well rested in comparison to Ehrin's. She sighed and tell them: “Wait me downstairs… I'll get changed.” And, without even a smile, she closed the door behind herself, walking into the bathroom for a shower.
That morning the hall was more crowded that the day before: a flood of people started to pour in the open space, generating a low buzzing from the mixed voices. Ehrin looked around, searching for her two companions. “Sister!” the voice of Khun captured her attention, turning her face towards the enteance. Jhun started to walk when he suddenly bumped into a small girl in a white dress, with long red hair, causing her to fall onto the ground. Ehrin reached his brother as he was trying to help the girl getting up, asking “Are you okay? I'm sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” She stood up slowly and cleaned her dress from the dust, looking then up towards Jhun first and Ehrin second. “I'm okay, don't worry, children of Farey.” Their eyes looked confused, as they didn't know what she was talking about. Before they could ask an explanation for the cryptic epitope, Beryu called for them and, when they looked back to where the girl was, she was gone. That was definetely strange. Who could that Feray be? None of them ever even heard that name. Beryu joined them, telling them that they were going to start the event. Having rapidily forgotten the girl and her words, blth of them prepared mentally for the task and, together with the guard, walked towards the door where everyone was gathered and crossed it into the open field just in front of the entrance of the Tree.
The people gather there must have been at least two hundred and the bruise form their voices was loud even though they were in an open garden. Small trees – at least, smaller than the Ascension one – surrounded them, closing the place from outside. At the exact opposite from where they entered, the base of the Tree stood solid, a small silver building, with a black screen, hiding the entrance to the climb.
Suddenly, a female voice aroused from nowhere, reaching their ears from every angle and direction. “Welcome, climb candidates. We're enthusiast for your presence here. My name, for those who haven't yet realized, is Callyope and with my sisters I'll be hosting this year tournament.” Callyope was the Deity of Arts and Theatre and she was said to be as beautiful as charming. In that instant, the door of the small building opened and revealed a long and thin woman, with long brown hair, bronze skin and a white tunic. The most iconic characteristic, though, was her eterochromic pupils, one emerald green, the other glacial blue. Callyope was just as beautiful as the descriptions said. “And now, let's begin with the preliminaries. Let me introduce you the judges of your first task: Dike and Osyr.” By Callyope's side, appeared two other figures: one was a young girl, the innocent face beautified by a simple and friendly smile; the other was a tall man, olive brown skin and grey eyes; his face was severe and preannounced the difficulty of the task. “The first part of the Tournament is called the ‘Exhibition'. Taking turns, each and every one of you will be judged by my fellow Holy Ones based on ability, strength, power, knowledge. Show us everything that made you one of the worthy. Based on the judgement, you will be given a score refleting those individual skills. After everyone had been judged, we will proceed with the next stage. Good luck everyone. Enter this door as soon as I call your name.”
A small silence followed the explanation, interrupted by the first name. “Korun.” The first people to be called was a young man, a short sword hanging on his left side. His posture was rigid and his hand reached for the hilt of his weapon, tightening his grip. He started to move at a slow pace, crossing the door that closed behind his back. Five minutes passed slowly in complete and creepy silence. Nobody dared to speak a word. Then, with a small beep, the door opened and the man called Korun walked outside while on the screen appeared the number ‘10’. Murmurs and whispers started to spread among the contestants that were trying to understand if that score was high or low. “It must be high, mustn’t it?” said Beryu, the voice cracking in the consciousness that, if 10 was the highest, then the first contestant was already too much strong. “That’s not necessarily true.” said Ehrin. “We know nothing about the way Dike and Osyr judge us, nor the range of values they use. We can assume that, maybe, they’re using a 10 out of 10 scale, but we won’t know for sure until everyone are scored.”
A parade of different people and scores started to appear, each of them included between 0 and 10. Then, a certain “Railey” was called and, at his exit, the number ‘17’ compared. “Then, it’s settled: 10 is not the maximum. Now I wonder what’s the highest score achievable, just to be aware of who we should avoid and who we can take on.” concluded Ehrin. The next name was that of Beryu, who scored a good ‘26’ and, right after that, with the guard’s surprised face, the name ‘Sari’ was called and the girl who tried to rob Jhun scored ‘32’. “She’s that strong?”. From then on, a mix of different number started to appear one after the other, with tha range of values increasing at every turn. When the name ‘Jhun’ was called, the highest number was ‘43’. Before the brother could enter, Ehrin grabbed his hand, whispering him: “Be cautious, we don’t know if showing our true powers is a beneficial move.” Her brother walked the door and, five minutes later, the number ‘76’ showed up on the black screen. Ehrin sighed, knowing that her brother probably didn’t hold back despite her warning.
Just right after him, her name was called. She moved through the crowd, breathing in the air as she crossed the door. In front of her, behind a long desk, stood the two Deities. They glanced at her and Dike said: “She seems an interesting one too, isn’t she Osyr?” “Yes, but will she be stronger than the previous one?” After the little chat, the male Holy One pierced through Ehrin with his eyes. “Young girl, we’re gonna ask you to show us everything you got, being a power, an ability or just your strength. You can do whatever you want. Based on what we’re going to see, you’ll receive a score that will be used on the next stage of the preliminaries.” Ehrin looked towards the two Deities and, with a sudden reverence in her voice, she spoke: ”May I ask you something before the test?” None of them seemed surprised but on Osyr’s faced passed, just for an instant, a furious glance. “Yes, you may.” Answered Dike with a small smile. “How are we going to use these points?” The goddess let a small laugh slip. “This we cannot tell or we’re going to give you a hint for the next phase.” “Then, what is the next phase?” “We cannot tell. Know this though: you’re going to be able to use your abilities in the most real environment.” She smiled and, now, her smile was creepier, like she couldn’t wait for the next stage. “And you won’t be alone, you’re going to choose a companion.” “DIKE!” The voice of Osyr thundered in the room, loud and defeaning. “You shouldn’t have told that. Now she has a hint.” The smile on her face grew: “And now you just ammitted that the information was real. Nice work, Osyr!” She seemed as pleased as Osyr was astonished and embarassed. With a small cough, the god returned to the severe self: “Now, child, show us what you got. Do you need one or more mannequin for that?” Ehrin decided to accept the offer and in an instant in front of her appeared a tridimensional target, so similar to a realistic person in every aspect: from its skin to its hair, it was like having a living and breathing being in front of her, except for its face, totally and unnaturally emotion-less.
She took some steps back and put around 5 meters between her and her ‘enemy’. She took a big breath-in, closing her eyes and reaching out towards her abilities. From what she understood, the next phase would have put to use their points but she couldn’t tell if having a lot of points or, on the contrary, few of them would be the best. However, given the fact that they would be matched in pair and that they could choose who their companion would be, she knew what to do: her two-men team already had an high score player. She raised her arms and a loud bang erupted in the room.
When she walked out of the room, she turned towards the big black screen and she smiled: the number ‘43’ had appeared. Jhun joined her and looked confused: “You hold back? Why?” She seemed unpatient: “Because you didn’t, you stupid brother!” And, by saying that, she started to tease her brother pinching both his ears: “You never listen to what I say to you and I have to fix your mess everytime. Now, at least, we probably won’t have problems in the next phase.”
Meanwhile, inside the room, both of them were smiling. “Is it me, or that girl just held back on purpose?” Dike smiled: “You’re probably right. Maybe we told her too much.” “We?! You started it, you small insolent.” “Yeah, and you finished it, so the blame is on you too.” And she laughed. “Anyway, that girl and the boy before her: they are the best candidates for that, aren’t they?” The face of Osyr turned serious: “Yes, they will make two perfect vessels. Hopefully, they will win the preliminaries and start to climb the Tree. I’ll notify Eitri right away.” Half an hour later, all the participants had been scored; Dike and Osyr walked out of the room and announced: “Now, we will pass to next phase.” Osyr raised his hands and shouted: “Welcome… to the Race!”
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