In the skies, above the darkness and overlooking the trials, the settlement guides were oddly quiet.
Tholyr didn’t bear the chaotic and playful personality he usually displayed. Instead, he was calm and stoic, looking down with a stern composure, arms crossed over his chest.
As the seconds passed, however, his eyes began to narrow, and the pressure around him steadily rose.
The other settlement guides, too, began to frown, their bodies wafting with restrained power.
Tholyr looked up and met the gaze of another guide.
The man looked similar to him, with the exception of his bald head and deep black eyes.
Reiner spoke. "Anomalies."
Tholyr nodded, then slowly repeated, "Anomalies."
Their gazes turned to Enoch. Then to a group of a dozen young men and women tearing through the trial with the same ease as the latter.
Then it shifted to a trio, two young women and a young man, tearing through the shadow creatures and... eating them.
And so much more.
All across the darkness, anomalies were sprouting.
Supposedly regular humans were displaying control over their abilities and a level of battle experience that simply shouldn’t have been possible.
In the sea of hundreds of millions of humans, most wouldn’t notice the pattern, but to them, that number might as well have been irrelevant.
It was as clear as day.
Tholyr focused on Uriel, and suddenly, a smile appeared on his face. It wasn’t the mad and malicious grin he usually wore, but something pure and warm.
Almost endearing, if not for his inhuman proportions.
"But he’s not."
The smile vanished just as quickly, and his gaze returned to Enoch, cold apathy lining the emerald depths of the latter’s pupils.
"So let’s make sure no surprises occur."
...
At the end of the darkness stood a gigantic wall of golden light. Beyond it, the expanse of clouds stretched onward before plunging into steep nothingness.
Facing the finish line, seated on wooden chairs, Reiner and Tholyr waited, sharing a cup of tea in quiet silence.
Tholyr dropped two cubes of sugar into his cup, stirring the warm drink before taking a sip. He grimaced.
"Bah!" He spat to the side. "I can’t believe they drink such things for the sake of it."
Reiner shot him a glance but didn’t speak, shaking his head as he savored his own tea.
Time passed quietly.
A soft breeze swept through the empty surroundings, and from time to time, echoes of passing birds reached their ears. The light of day remained constant.
PAH!
Suddenly, someone surged out of the wall, collapsing onto the solid clouds that served as the ground.
Uriel heaved and panted, coughing as blood and spit spilled from his mouth. His body was drenched in sweat, his skin marred by bruises and cuts.
His vision swam, nausea churning violently in his gut. The urge to vomit overwhelmed him, but he bit down on his tongue and forced himself to focus.
Shakily, blood soaking into his oversized grey shirt, he pushed himself to his feet. He stumbled, unsteady and disoriented, but he managed.
He looked around.
There was no one else.
"...."
Uriel’s shoulders sagged, and he closed his eyes.
’Next time.’
He drew in a deep breath, steadying his roaring heart and reclaiming his rhythm, then exhaled. He repeated it several times, until a faint hint of color returned to his face.
He spat a thick mix of blood, spit, and bile to the side, clearing his throat.
When he reopened his eyes, they landed on Tholyr, and on a strange man who looked strikingly similar to him.
Uriel waited a few moments, but they only watched him, quietly smiling. Confused, and assuming it was mockery, he walked toward them.
"Um, sorry to disturb you, but... what do I do now? Is there a punishment for being last?"
He stopped in front of them, close enough to speak, but far enough that he wasn’t looming over them like the general had earlier.
Tholyr shook his head. "Punishment? No. There isn’t."
"As I said, the last simply gets nothing. It’s a fate they’ll have to deal with, along with their incompetence in the coming days."
"Failing such a simple test is nothing but a reflection of their future. If you can’t even run, what will you do when faced with the horrors of the forest beyond?"
"It’ll be a wake-up call," he shrugged. "I hope so, at least."
Uriel’s fists clenched at the words, but he didn’t protest. He only sighed, disappointment weighing heavily on him.
Reiner, on the other hand, clicked his tongue inwardly and began massaging his forehead, choosing to ignore Tholyr’s theatrics.
’Idiot.’
"I’ll be sending you back to the settlement now."
Just as Tholyr raised his hands to clap, he paused, eyes narrowing as he studied the absent-minded Uriel.
"Boy."
Uriel startled, torn from his thoughts. A strange aura laced Tholyr’s voice, snapping his mind taut.
His gaze trembled faintly as it met Tholyr’s predatory stare, but he didn’t look away. He straightened his back, steadied his breathing, and refused to bend.
’I’ll at least keep this much dignity,’ he thought, ignoring the tremor in his legs.
Tholyr grinned.
"Keep trying. Again, and again."
He clapped his hands, and Uriel began to fade.
"And if you fall, simply stand again, and repeat."
Uriel’s body dissolved into wisps of darkness, an unfamiliar sensation overtaking him as his sense of self and position began to unravel.
"Yes?"
Tholyr’s sudden words hit him just before he vanished. Uriel felt both irritated and invigorated, but he smiled, nodding fiercely.
"Yeah!"
PAH!
Uriel disappeared.
Tholyr returned his attention to his cup of tea, ignoring Reiner’s glare.
For a brief moment, his thoughts drifted back to his interaction with Uriel, this one, and the earlier one, and he smiled again.
Reiner, meanwhile, focused on the participants still trapped in the darkness.
More specifically, he observed their reactions as they froze, staring at the notification that had appeared before them.
[1. Uriel Ymir Loom — 0:0:1:29]
One minute and nineteen seconds.