Chapter 25 Examination Part 3

The thousands of applicants made their way to one of the entrances to the maze, but there were so many of them that they couldn't get through. They were all trying to get through the openings at the same time, the way people act trying to get into a store when there's a big sale being held. In that situation, and in this one, it was clear it was every man for himself. Everyone wanted to pass, and none wanted the others to pass. The situation became so heated that many applicants used their own rental swords against each other, cutting each other down with fury. And just as a heads up, this wasn't against any rules. A small civil war started breaking out before anyone could even enter the maze itself.

"The display that was caught by the cameras made Moon D crack up laughing," he said, laughing. He clicked the red button again; his voice was amplified throughout the gym. But he didn't tell them to stop. He didn't warn them that this was wrong and not becoming of an applicant. No, he was cheering the crowd on.

"Go, go, go, go, go!" he chanted. And his words only added more fuel to the fire. The applicants started fighting more furiously, and even though he tried, Jake couldn't manage to find the right moment to unsheathe his blade. He was being smushed by a mass of determined bodies, and he couldn't figure out what to do. But someone who could was the spikey haired kid with the blue eyes.

He successfully evaded many wild applicants trying to assault him. They would swing their swords at him wildly, and with a single hand holding his own, he would parry, block, or just simply dodge. The young man seemed to be having the time of his life. He was in his element.

As a large man lifted what seemed to be an axe over him, swinging it down with maximum speed, the spikey haired kid spun, dodging it. And while the man was hunched over, he jumped onto, than off of, his back, right over a bunch of people still keeping each other from getting into the maze. When he landed gracefully in front of them, he looked back, chuckled, then placed his rental sword on his back.

"See you slow pokes at the finish line," he snickered as he ran into the maze. The mass of people he landed in front stopped for a brief moment, then started back up again, more violently than before.

"Get back here, you son of a bitch!" many screamed.

"Well, look at that. It seems one of you dummies managed to actually get inside of the maze instead of just hanging outside of it," Moon D remarked, entertained by his audience. The fighting outside the maze continued, but many other applicants followed the spiky-haired kid's lead. People were climbing on top of each other, using others as mere footholds to enter the maze. The more and more people that managed to enter the maze, the thinner the mass of people holding each other back became. And in a blink of an eye, nearly everyone had entered. Well, all except for our hero, our main character, Jake.

He was laying on the ground, trampled by the stampede of people. He struggled to get to his feet; the thought of giving up ran through his mind. He didn't sign up for all of this shit. But he couldn't. Well, to be honest, he could throw in the towel, but that choice would only lead him to a dead-end road. So, Jake mustered all of his strength and ran headfirst into the maze, gripping his sword tightly in his hands.

As Jake entered the maze, all he could see around him were tall gray walls. In front of him, as he ran, he could see people stopping to fight, clashing blades with one another. But the boy had no time to spare. He ducked and weaved through all the applicants that were locked in combat. He continued running. Up ahead, he could see he could no longer go straight; his path was curving to his right. So, when he reached the corner, he turned right.

He could see others like him running forward, but unlike them, he wasn't so far ahead. So, this allowed him to see what they couldn't. Something caught his attention—something jumping down from the high walls. And when it landed, it crashed into the group below, falling hard to the ground as if it was a bomb. The force of its crash knocked many that were under it into the air.

Jake halted his movement as he got a good look at the thing in front of him. It was a machine. A robot. It was a giant robot that stood even taller than the giant man, Judas. It held a metal pipe in its hands, and without hesitation, it started to attack each applicant it came across. Many applicants froze out of fear, and that was their mistake, because the robot used its pipe to strike each of them.

There were a few that had some amount of bravery. For example, there was a woman who stood near the giant robot when it landed. She was shaken, rattled, but she immediately composed herself and readied for a fight. When the machine swung its pipe, she blocked its strike with her rental blade. The strength of the robot's swing knocked her up against one of the walls, but she still managed to block it.

Other applicants, seeing the robot was busy with her, ran past it, trying to escape while it was busy. But the giant machine registered what was happening and switched its attack from the woman to the ones trying to get past it. With blinding speed, it spun around, swinging the pipe, hitting nearly all of those that passed it. The machine's pipe cracked bones as it landed its attack on each target. Applicants went flying, but some did manage to escape, running far out of the robot's range.

It then turned around back to all the applicants who didn't dare to pass it. As it did, it caught the view of something coming near what would be its face—the view of a blade being swung. The machine didn't have time to fully register what was happening before it could decide on a countermove. The blade cut it, and pretty deeply, I might add. The blade cut a decently sized chunk out of the robot. The action made the robot fall backward, crashing to the ground, and it stayed there, not moving.

The blade that was swung and had injured the robot was the woman's—the woman that the robot was fighting before. She used the chance she was given to strike the mighty machine down. But what it seemed she was successful.

"Holy shit!" came from the applicants. "Wow, she did it! She beat it!"

They all started to rejoice, but the fear they felt would immediately wiggle its way back once they heard a sound coming from the robot. It at first sounded like a voice, but it wasn't the voice of a person; it was more like a robotic, automated voice.

"Analyzation complete. Now moving to level 2," after announcing this, the robot rose back to its feet. It located the woman who landed a successful strike on it, and just like before, it swung its pipe at her. This time, she was more calm and ready. She blocked the robot's strike even. better than the first time. But this time was different. The moment she blocked, she felt a sharp pain explode in her stomach and chest. The machine had learned from its mistakes. It had announced to everyone in attendance that it had learned and it was going to a new level.

The robot used its strike as a distraction to kick the woman square in the chest. The strength of its kick made her hit one of the walls, her body leaving a dent as she flew back and hit a solid surface. Sadly, it cracked the back of her skull. The woman who, just a few moments before, stood over the giant metal warrior so victoriously, now laid on the ground bleeding from the back of her head.

Once the robot analyzed that its former foe was now defeated, it turned its attention to the remaining applicants within its presence—one of those applicants being Jake.