A small group of people walked out the door. Four dressed in black suits, like Galen and the boy-in-black; three women, one man.
Behind them were four children: three boys and one girl. Each of them had their own distinct features that signified their foreign roots; tightly coiled hair, monolid eyes, copper brown skin, and the final girl wore a black mask that completely covered her face.
"I see that everyone else is already here," one of the women wearing black announced. She was old, older than Galen even. Grey luscious hair draped down her black suit. As she walked forward, they slithered and twisted like living snakes.
Her eyes landed on the girl with fur clothes, she gave a nod of acknowledgement before moving to Feo.
Her eyes squinted, looking at him, then back at the boy-in-black. "Is this a—"
"If he is a clone. Then the Messiah will not let him through the exam gates," the boy-in-black spat. It was Feo's first time seeing him genuinely annoyed.
The woman shrugged in understanding, before gesturing for all the children to group up.
"It is a shame we won't be able to talk a little more before we must do what must be done," she began, regarding each of the children with a motherly expression. "An even bigger shame that we are not allowed to introduce ourselves, or speak too much about what our purpose is," she continued.
The bronze-skinned boy raised his hand beside Feo.
"I apologize, Arya, the time for questions has come to an end," the elderly woman replied with a saddened expression. "Now is the time to listen."
The boy nodded his head in an odd sort of way, side to side, instead of up and down. But Feo could still discern that it was a positive response.
"I'm sure each of your sponsors has explained what will be expected of you in one way or another," the elderly woman proceeded. "But I will explain the purpose of this exam and how you will pass."
Feo looked around the room. All the other children were nodding in understanding. It seemed that he was the only one who hadn't been told about the exam.
"The Messiah System requires a central figure, one who will spread the word and bring about the new age... the age of hope," she said.
'So more talk of this new god?' Feo thought to himself.
"Billions were considered, Millions were studying, thousands were nearly chosen, but only the five of you in this room were offered this chance," she said. "Each one of you holds a characteristic that the system has deemed favourable to become a vessel."
"However, only one of you can inherit the burden of change."
Everyone nodded once again, everyone except Feo.
He was beginning to worry. He had heard stories about the cults from the First War. From before magic was centralized, when humans worshipped pagan gods, and the world was a chaotic hell of survival of the fittest.
If any of that was true, then he had no doubt that this group of people definitely fell into the category of cult. However, it wasn't the fact that they were trying to create a new god that worried him. It was the danger that the powers they'd grant him might be temporary. That he might lose everything if whatever they were planning to do failed.
"All of you are familiar with the sanctum. This space will always be accessible to you from within the exam." The elderly woman paused, raising a single finger. "Granted that you are not injured or in immediate or foreseeable danger."
"This is not a place of rest, but a holy ground upon which you are bestowed power," she continued.
"The exam, however, is something that none of us, not even the elders, have seen before." As she said this, she stared up at the Messiah Statue overhead. "It is said to be the realm where the first Messiah was born, but no one is sure."
"What we are sure of is that it is a dangerous place. Death within that realm means complete death."
Feo's brows furrowed at that. 'What does she main complete death?' He raised his hand, but the elderly woman ignored him.
"You will be given quests within that realm. Your quests shall grant you gold or access to higher-level quests," she continued. "The first of you to complete the main questline shall be crowned Messiah," she added, clasping her hands. "The rest of you, sadly, will be lost to that realm. A death more noble than the rest of us could ever dream of."
Feo nodded in sudden understanding.
'So that's the catch? Death? That's it? That's all a good life might cost me?'
"That is all. No amount of explanation can beat practical experience. So let us begin," she announced. With that, each of the adults dressed in black joined their candidate and led them off towards different parts of the sanctum.
Feo spotted some of the candidates exchanging words. They interacted like old friends, however, Feo could tell that something was off. Their eyes... they had the same faraway gleam that he often saw in the mirror. The look of someone who had everything stolen from them.
One candidate, however, did not talk to the others. It was the foreign girl he had seen first.
Right as she was about to leave, she turned to him, her blue eyes piercing his.
In a thick accent, she said; "Heed my words, boy. Your final breath belongs to me— first daughter of Nikolia."
And with that, she left.
Feo stared, confused by her words.
"I know, right?" the boy-in-black said, staring at her as she left beside Galen. "She definitely likes you... us"
Feo scoffed at that. "Where are they going?"
"You'll see." The boy walked off towards a hallway on the right, gesturing for Feo to follow.
*
They had been walking for nearly half an hour at this point. It seemed that these hallways stretched on infinitely. Feo surmised it was probably some sort of spatial magic illusion... not that spatial magic existed, though.
What really intrigued him was the fact that they would come across a tombstone every few steps. That meant that he'd passed over 1000 runes by now; he already knew he'd regret not stopping to read and study each and every one of them's effects.
"Ahh, there it is," the boy-in-black said, his eyes focused on a tombstone right ahead. Unlike the others, this one seemed to shimmer even brighter. Feo couldn't explain it, but it looked familiar... like a memory he never had.
They stopped by it, and the boy-in-black gestured for Feo to touch it.
"Wait, is this going to start the exam?" Feo asked.
The boy-in-black nodded.
"Bullshit. You haven't even explained anything to me."
The boy shrugged. "I asked what you would do to live the life you were always meant to," he replied. "And you said you'd do anything."
The boy placed a hand on Feo's shoulder. "We've already passed the exam an infinite number of times. Explanations have only ever served to confuse us," he continued.
"Now, touch the tombstone."
Feo hesitated before reaching out towards it.
"And remember, Feo. Nothing is worth more than winning. Nothing."
With that, the boy shoved Feo, and he made contact with the tombstone.
━━━━⊱༒︎ 『Rune of Divine Blessing』 ༒︎⊰━━━━
Effect: manifests the Messiah candidate's unique blessing.
Flaw: All unique blessings are double-edged swords.
Gold Cost: —
━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━
Feo's world went black. And it felt as if he had been thrown into a void that knew not of gravity.
He remained here for an unknown amount of time, until finally... light.
"Wake up, boy," a gruff voice shouted.
Feo's eyes slowly blinked open. An old man dressed dressed in strange clothing stood above him.
"You're going to miss your train to the academy."