Using the GPS on her slate that Eli showed her, she was able to make it down to the beach. A large facility rests along the shore, hanging over the water with thick, heavy-duty beams. The front of the building was ultramarine, and the sign on the building reads “Dive HQ.” Yvie glances at it once more before continuing toward the building. Before she enters, she spots a girl a few meters from the entrance, pacing back and forth. The girl walks over to the wall and leans her forehead against it. Letting out a sigh, she clasps her hands together while thinking. 

“This is my last chance.” She mutters. “I’m running out of loons…”

“Hey, are you okay? You look like a ghost.” Yvie says from a distance.

“Uh… More or less…” 

“It’s definitely looking like less…” Yvie thinks. “Are you also taking the diver exam?”

The girl turns around to face Yvie.

“I am… But I don’t have confidence that I’m going to pass. Maybe I should start looking at the next arriving boat…” 

Yvie walks over to her and extends a hand.

“I’m Yvie.” She introduces.

Grace takes her hand, and Yvie makes a surprised expression. Then, she gives Grace a warm smile.

“My name’s Grace.”

Grace Luna, a young woman of the age of twenty-three. She wore a pink sundress and had eyes that shone like the verdant seas of Aurum. Her hair was brown and neatly styled, with several bangs that hung just above her left eye. Her complexion was fair, and her skin was smooth. Furthermore, her lips were coated in a peach-colored, glistening lipstick.

“And Grace, you should just focus on giving the exam your all. You’ve trained a lot for this, right?” Yvie cheers. “Go out there, give ‘em hell!”

“I did… but how do you know that?” 

Before Yvie can respond, tears well up in Grace’s eyes. She quickly turns away and wipes them with her arm.

“S-sorry about that. It’s been a while since I’ve heard something like that. Thanks, Yvie. I’m gonna go all out, even if it kills me!”

Yvie throws both her hands up.

“You might wanna dial it back just a bit…” 

“I'm pleased to meet you, Yvie. We should get a move on. I’m sure everyone else is already there.” 

Yvie gives Grace a nod, and the two enter the building together. They are greeted by a pair of Dive Corp. receptionists. The uniform consisted of a small, bright blue half-jacket with short sleeves and yellow accents. Underneath the jacket, they both wore a one-piece gray sleeveless bodysuit. One receptionist’s bodysuit ended in a skirt, while the other’s ended in pants. Atop their heads were small blue stewardess hats with the same yellow accents as the jacket. Above the right breast of the jacket was the dive logo. Which consisted of a giant "D" with a crashing wave underneath it.

“Anyone undertaking the exam can head this way.” The sandy-haired receptionist states. 

Yvie looked around, noticing the divers waiting at the main desk and some relaxing at the terrace, near the cafe.

“Excuse me.” The receptionist says.

She grabbed Yvie’s attention, causing her to look at bright blue eyes.

“Exams are that way. You don’t want to be late, right?” She asks.

“Oh! Right, thanks!” Yvie says as she follows Grace.

The blue-eyed receptionist watches Yvie run off to the exam room.

“Soooo, Chiyo. What do ya’ think about some of the examinees?” A fellow receptionist asks.

“We might have some good rookies this year,” Chiyo says, playing with her sandy hair.

Meanwhile, Yvie and Grace follow the long corridor of gray walls that leads to a large classroom. Wooden desks filled most of the room as they began filtering in and taking seats. Yvie took a seat at the back of the class in the middle row. After everyone was seated, there was chatter among the participants for a brief time until the door opened once more. 

A woman came walking in with a dignified expression. Her hair was short, neatly styled and mint green.

She wore the standard Dive Corps receptionist uniform, but hers had two yellow stripes across the back that traveled across the sleeve of her jacket and onto the chest. She stood before the class, adjusting her round-rimmed glasses before clearing her throat.

“Hello and welcome to the 26th Diver Exam. My name is Palla Knightly. I will be your proctor for this part of the exam. For this portion, we will be testing your knowledge. Divers must know their tools, environment, and everything in between. All for the purpose of maintaining harmony in the ecosystem, as well as helping you survive. The first generation of divers was not as lucky as all of us are today to have the knowledge we do now. Therefore, I’ll have you put it to the test.” Palla explains.

She distributes papers to each row of examinees and sits back at the front of the class. They pass the papers down the row to each examinee until Yvie gets hers.

“You will be given 20 minutes for this exam, and anyone caught cheating will be forced to leave. Not that any of your tests are the same, though.” Palla mentioned, letting a small grin out as she finished speaking.

After writing her name, Yvie looked down at the several sheets of paper that were stapled together. The first question read:

“What is an artifact?”

She wrote her answer.

“Strange items that have various unique powers we can use to make life easier.” 

She read through the other questions, grinning her way through the test. Her pen wouldn’t stop moving as she continued to answer question after question. 

“I’m flying through this quiz! I didn’t even need to study! The sea teaches you just as much!” Yvie thought. “I’m sorry for lying, Mari! I’d always fall asleep before I could even study the books!”

When she got to the next page, her pen slowed. Yvie tapped the pencil against her arm while furrowing her brow. Beads of sweat were racing down her forehead. She looked over at others in the room and saw them working furiously; some were sitting there in a daze, while others looked frustrated. Yvie turned her attention back to her exam and took a deep breath.

“C’mon, Vie, you got this.” 

The next question read: “What are the different ranks of artifacts?”

“What were they again…? Curse class, scrap class, crystal class—was it diamond next? But aren’t diamonds… Crystals? Ugh. This is confusing. Screw it, I’ll just go with my gut. Scrap, Crystal, Diamond, Mythic, and… Deity Class.”

Onto the next question.

“How was the Dive Corporation founded? And what is the founder’s name?”

Yvie grimaces at the question, then taps the pencil against her head.

“Uh… It was founded by Frantissimo Ford, and… It was founded to brave the depths, learn more about the dangerous creatures that live there, and… to discover more artifacts for humanity?”

Next question.

“How are artifacts created? Where do they originate from?” 

She taps the end of her pencil against her chin. The utensil twirls between her fingers before she composes her next answer.

“No one knows how they’re created. They just appeared one day under the sea.”

The final question—What is the seastiary, and what class is it? How is it used?

“The seastiary is a deity-class artifact that holds information on the depths. As humanity discovers more about the depths, the more its pages fill, providing us with important information. Most of this info is shared globally, allowing anyone to view its contents to learn about the depths.” 

Yvie flips the final page of the exam over, realizing she finished the final question. She let out a deep breath. Wiping the sweat off her forehead.

“Not my best work… Maybe I can make up for it in the other sections…” 

Yvie sets her pencil down. She raises her head, peeking at the front of the class. Palla was quietly reading a book. 

Minutes pass by, and an alarm rings at the front of the class. Palla closes her book and places it on the table, adjusting it so that its corners align perfectly with the desk.

“Time’s up. Pencils down.” 

She taps the rim of her glasses, and the exam papers on each person’s desk glow pink before floating and then flying over to her in a neat stack.

“Just as they have their use in daily life, artifacts are invaluable to any diver. And could easily be the difference between living and dying.” She makes her way to the exit. “Let's get you all over to the second part of the exam, shall we?” 

Palla led the class to the following exam. A few moments of walking led everyone to the gym. Several other Pallas walked into the room, guiding even more people from other classrooms. Yvie did a double-take watching several of them walk into the room.

“Uh…?” 

“It’s another artifact.” Grace clarifies. “The clone ring.” 

“Sheesh, there’s an artifact for everything. Also, THIS many people were taking the exam?” 

“Yeah… No kidding. It’s actually quite intimidating.”

They walk over to the back of the group and stand among them. Afterward, they watched as Palla and her clones moved to the other side of the room. Palla handed the exams off to one of her aides while grumbling.

“Tch. That guy… Always wasting…”

Woosh.

“Wasting what?” A man says with a gruff voice.

He bursts into the room through the double doors beside her. A man dressed in his black wetsuit that had white and gray circuits going throughout it. His hair was short, and his face had stubble. His body displayed full confidence as he entered the room.