She looked over to Grace, who was just as confused. 

Clap Clap!

Dodge clapped his hands, causing the sound to reverberate around the room.

“Alright, you’ve had enough of a break. We’re moving on to the first part of the physical exam.”  He paused, looking around the room. “As divers, there will be times when you’re faced with overwhelming odds. What’s important is to keep a level head, no matter what kind of monster’s in front of you.” 

Dodge reached into the pouch on his leg, pulling out an orb. Most could tell right away it was an artifact.

“Hehe… Stay strong.” Dodge states.

The orb was bathed in shimmering light, enveloping the vision of examinees. The brightness caused them to cover their eyes. 

Swoosh.

A gentle breeze caressed their ears as the area was engulfed in water. Many started drowning before they realized the water they were floating in didn’t require them to hold their breaths. Looking around at the environment, the examinees noticed one thing quite strange. The water itself was red as if awash with blood. Looking up revealed that they were far from the surface and instead were within a deep cavernous area. Surrounded by all sorts of foreign flora and fauna.

Vrrrr.

A low hum filled the area as they were now seemingly transported away from the gym. 

“Hey… What the hell is that?” an examinee stated.

His words turned everyone’s attention to the beast floating a few meters from them. It was large enough to occupy most of the space within the expansive cave. It's tentacles alone were about the size of six cars. Its body was massive, and dark blue. From its lower end, it had long tendrils that resembled rotting, twisted branches with sharpened spears at their ends. From end to end, its body was coated in dried blood stains. 

“This…” One of the examinees cowered at the sight of it.

Despite knowing nothing of it, Grace could feel that what floated before them was more than just the ordinary sea creature; she tried reaching for something near her, but when her hands didn’t find her source of solace, she recoiled.

Several examinees, growing bored from just floating around, swim over to it and interact with it. 

“It’s nothing to be scared of. It’s probably just an illusion or something.” 

He prodded it one more time, this time with a punch, and its eye shimmered as it gazed at all the examinees. The eye had a brief moment where it shifted through an array of colors before stopping at red. The low hum int he

Vrrrrr!

Following the loud noise, the pressure in the room amplified. Waves swept over their bodies like a wriggling mass of insects. Several vomited just from the disgusting feeling of pressure. Its gaze carried the weight of hundreds of rocks, making many fall to their knees. Grace included. The low hum emitted by the beast pierced their bodies like a knife, throwing their heartbeats out of rhythm and disrupting their equilibrium as some passed out entirely.

In the examining room next door, it was full of screens and devices with which they used to monitor the examinees. Several of their monitoring apparatuses were flashing red, particularly the vitals of several examinees, which were starting to bottom out.

“This is too much for them!” One shouts.

Another looks back from the monitors.

“We can’t continue like this! Quickly, get Palla right now!”

One of the aides dashed out of the room as fast as his legs would carry him. Back at the exam, several examinees managed to remain standing, Yvie included. Just at Yvie’s side was a woman, gritting her teeth; her body shook. 

Her eyelids barely hung open, and she struggled to remain standing as sweat raced down her face. Blood trickled from her nostrils as her eyes became bloodshot from continuing to stand against the pressure.

The woman beside her was Tia Almeida. Having a darker skin tone, she almost radiated a cold aura through her icy blue hair, eyelashes, and eyes. She had a large head of hair that poked out in multiple directions. Her pupils were slitted, cat-like in nature, a testament to the poor vision she had.

Slam!

Her body defied her, and she collapsed to all fours while breathing heavily. Yvie, on the other hand, was able to keep her breathing steady. She took long and deep breaths, which kept her in good shape, but her expression was dressed with an almost manic grin, and her eyes had pink irises compared to her usual yellow. She was bleeding from one nostril, yet her foot moved forward against the pressure. She raised a fist slowly as if she planned to strike the beast. 

“Yvie?” Grace calls out.

But her words don’t reach her. To Tia’s left, however, was another exam taker. He was the only other person in the room still standing, but it took everything he had. Like Yvie, he was also bleeding, with red eyes. His body convulsed as he fought the urge to drop to the ground.

Crash!

His knee dropped to the ground like a hammer, giving him the much-needed freedom from the excess pressure. Even while recovering, he continued to hold his glaring eyes on Yvie’s frame as she drew closer to the beast.

Luz Lavender, age twenty-six, had a toned body. Otherworldly silver eyes that could almost peer through souls and hair so red it looked as though it were awash with blood. He was almost as tall as a small tree, with arms just as thick too. He bashed his fist into the floor in jealousy of Yvie. 

While they continued to resist, Dodge was watching from behind the illusion. From his perspective, it was as though examinees were dropping like flies from nothing at all.

“Man… This artifact is taking out more people than I expected… Just what the heck is in this thing…?” 

He spotted swathes of people who had red singlets among the test-takers.

Boom!

The doors to the gym swung open as if a gale blasted them. Palla walked in, eyes locked on Dodge as he turned to face her. Palla’s face was almost red with anger; her jaw was tightly clenched as she glared at him. 

“TURN OFF THE ARTIFACT NOW!”