8 ch 8. Third Entry Test (Translated)

Ari spent the next three days with Alma and Leon, exploring the city of Mountframe to discover hidden gems. They were fortunate to stumble upon an old, abandoned building. Curious, Ari, Alma, and Leon ventured into the ruins and uncovered its history as the former headquarters of the Knights' Order. Despite the dilapidation, they could still grasp the grandeur of the old Knights' Order headquarters. The remaining carvings and designs exuded a charm not found in active buildings.

*****

Three days after the second entrance exam, the cadets gathered again in the hall to listen to the announcement and proceed to the third entrance exam. Just like before, the cadets sat in neat rows facing the stage where the instructors were already seated and standing neatly in their respective places.

Sir Edmund took his place at the podium once more, facing the new cadets with a proud expression on his face.

"Good morning, cadets.

In a moment, we will call each of you randomly, one by one. You will enter the room behind the stage to hear the results of your second exam.

The third exam will be assessed after the results of your second exam are announced."

Sir Edmund then stepped back from the podium and entered the room behind the stage with the other instructors. One of the instructors separated from the group and stood at the podium after placing an unfamiliar object on the podium table.

The object was square-shaped with a black surface facing the instructor. The other cadets thought the unique object was a blackboard for writing, but Ari could sense a memory from the figure in his dream indicating that the unique object held by the instructor was a Smart Tablet.

Ari couldn't imagine that such a unique object, which arguably shouldn't exist in the world, would suddenly appear before him as if it were just an everyday item.

Unfortunately, Ari could only stay silent and composed as the instructor began calling out the names of five cadets randomly, without any particular order seemingly to prevent the cadets from mentally preparing themselves.

Ari watched as the first five cadets walked into the room behind the stage, and then there was silence. There was no sound or indication of any activity happening inside.

After waiting for some time, the instructor called out five more names. The five cadets who rose up again walked towards the room, their faces filled with questions. The same questions that Ari and the other cadets had. Where did the first five cadets go earlier?

The same pattern continued. In the first two groups, the cadets felt very confused and some seemed to start hesitating. Afraid of something that might never happen.

Then the third and fourth groups entered, giving the cadets more time to think and guess. By the time the fifth group was called in, almost all the cadets concluded the same thing.

The cadets who were called were definitely asked to exit through another door.

Ari and Alma also came to the same conclusion. They couldn't ask Leon because he had already been called. Shortly after, Alma was called to enter along with four other cadets.

"See you later, Ari!

Let's share stories about our exam later. Hehe."

Alma left with the other four cadets, leaving Ari and some other cadets still waiting for their names to be called. Ari started feeling restless, his sitting position became uneasy, and Ari began changing his sitting position frequently without a clear reason.

Ari couldn't contain his own thoughts as the shadows of possible mishaps started to appear in his mind. Did Ari fail the second test? Was his decision to write outside the class a mistake? Should he have not looked at the book and just written based on what he knew?

Amidst his cluttered thoughts and his body feeling uncomfortable due to worry, Ari was unaware that his name had been called.

"Cadet Ari! Cadet Ari, please come forward!

Don't waste any more time!"

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'll come right away."

With a hint of panic, Ari half ran to the stage to join four other cadets who were staring at Ari with disapproving looks. Ari could only silently apologize while nodding his head, regretting his mistake, and promising to pay more attention in the future.

Ari and the other four cadets then walked into the room behind the stage, which somehow looked very dark. The five of them entered the dark room, confused and slightly afraid, when suddenly the door closed behind them.

Bam!

Jumping slightly in surprise, Ari and the other four cadets looked back to see that the room had become completely dark. There was not a single source of light in this room that could provide any clue or reference as to what was happening here.

"Why do you want to become a knight?"

A voice coming from nowhere suddenly reached Ari. Ari tried to locate the source of the voice when a moving picture appeared in front of him.

The picture showed both of his parents, lying weak and sick. Sweat was dripping from their pores even though the day felt very cold. This image portrayed the last moments of Ari's parents before the illness took their lives.

"Why do you want to become a knight?"

Another image appeared before Ari, showing his younger brother fighting with someone from a neighboring village not far from their own. At that time, tensions arose between the two villages, and the young men from both sides were often seen fighting in the open area, trying to eliminate each other.

His brother was not very fortunate at that moment. While he was dueling with his opponent using a wooden stick, someone sneaked up from behind and hit his unprotected head with a stick. His brother immediately fell powerless, and his opponent seized the opportunity to take his life.

"Why do you want to become a knight?"

Another image appeared before Ari, showing himself at night after the death of both his parents, and when he buried his younger sibling. Ari gazed at himself, with an expressionless face and a cold, vengeful stare.

Ari himself had forgotten about this, how much he hated the world and intended to seek revenge on those who killed his sibling. Then, the image in front of Ari changed, revealing a vivid depiction of four heroes truly struggling against a knight clad in black armor.

The knight attacked mercilessly, swinging his sword and striking his shield relentlessly. Dark magic enveloped his armor and weapons, while other spells rained down on the heroes who fought with all their might in various ways.

"Why do you want to become a knight?"

"I want to become a knight so that I can avenge everything!"

*****

Ari opened his eyes and realized that he was currently sitting alone on a regular iron chair, with his hands, legs, and neck tied to the chair and unable to move at all.

Looking around, Ari realized that he was in an empty room, with gray walls made of tightly cemented stone left unpainted. Across from Ari, there was a long table made of thick, expensive wood, intricately carved with various unique and interesting animal shapes.

The table was a dark brown color, giving off a luxurious and elegant impression. Combined with various small objects adorning the table, it made the table look even more expensive.

On the side of the table, there was a chair with the same carved pattern and color, indicating that the table and chair were a matching set.

Ari's eyes continued to search, observe, and monitor anything around him, trying to find a way out of his current condition and take advantage of it to escape. Unfortunately, Ari did not find any opening; there was only him and a luxurious table in the room.

"So... Settling the score? What exactly is that?" 

A man's voice was heard from behind Ari. Ari tried to look back to see who had just spoken. Unfortunately, Ari's head couldn't turn any further.

"You can just answer directly, Ari. No need to bother turning to look at me."

Ari still showed no sign of wanting to answer, busy trying to free himself and see who was speaking.

"Alright, alright. I can't see you keep rebelling like this.

I will reveal myself to you, after that, we must talk. Agreed?"

The figure speaking then began to walk. His steps sounded very light as if his feet were touching the ground with a half-floating sensation. The footsteps moved very slowly for Ari. Each step the person took sounded as if moving extremely slowly, one-second feeling like slowing down a hundred to a thousand times.

Not long after, the figure speaking finally stood in front of Ari, causing Ari to scream in terror.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

"What? Why?

Just because I am black, have no face and hands, and my feet reversed front to back, does that mean you are free to scream in fear like that, right?

Are you perhaps being racist?"

What the figure said was an exaggeration. When He said he didn't have a face, what he actually meant was his face was so destroyed that it was unrecognizable. Pieces of flesh and fresh blood were still dripping from his face that could no longer be identified.

His body is black not because of his skin color, but because it was burned. Some parts of his body still show scars from sharp objects that damaged his body before being burned. His hands, which he claimed to not have, seem more appropriately described as forcibly removed. pulled away roughly and left a terrible wound that was painful to see.

Meanwhile, his legs also appear to have been forcibly twisted in the opposite direction, making him a figure that vividly depicts the body of a victim of wartime violence or inhumane punishment.

"Are you mute? Why haven't you been answering all this time? Or could it be that you are deaf?

Heeeeey!!!! I'm talking to youuuu!"

Ari could only close his eyes in horror as the figure brought its shattered face close to Ari's, trying to communicate with the terrified Ari. After a few moments of hearing calls from the figure, Ari tried to control himself as best as he could and began to respond.

"W.. Wh.. What do y.. you w.. want...?"

"THERE YOU GO!!! FINALLY YOU SPEAK, ARI!!

I knew from the beginning that you are not deaf and mute, just unwilling to talk. Am I right?"

Ha ha ha ha ha"

"St... Stay... Stay away... "

"Oh no, my friend!

I'm here to ask you questions, and you must answer them all. If not, you won't leave this place. "

"A.. Alright.. I.. I will an.. Answer. "

"Alright, let's go back to the first question.

Seeking revenge, what exactly do you want to avenge? "