Chapter 11 - Review (1/2)
Forneus sat on his chair. One youngster after another appeared in the hall. Even though their speeds in clearing the test varied greatly, people who took multiple days longer actually appeared just minutes later than the faster ones. The reason for that was that the practical test was performed in a lower world. The lower the world, the easier it was for the laws of the world to operate.
When one day passes in the highest world, ten days pass in a high-rank world, 100 days pass in a medium-rank world, and 1000 days pass in a low-rank world. By that calculation, a week in a low-rank world would only equate to about 10 minutes in their world. For Forneus, not even 30 minutes had passed between the times of when the youngsters left and came back.
The youngsters all came back in different conditions. While some looked healthy, others were nearly dead. Forneus just had to activate the formation, and all the injured people returned to peak condition in no time.
”Oh, another one's coming,” Forneus commented casually as purple light flashed. The purple light revealed a youngster wholly drenched in blood. Forneus couldn't even see the color of the boy's outfit through all the blood. His left shoulder was broken, and a massive cut went through his abdomen. The youngster looked at Forneus and the others beside him. His fighting spirit was still shining through his eyes, but when he looked at the other youngsters, their own fighting spirit didn't lose to his.
That youngster was, of course, Gravis. He continued watching the others, but the atmosphere was broken by a loud slurp coming from Forneus smoothie. ”Man, you look like you had a ton of fun.” Forneus snapped his fingers, and the formation activated. All the blood on Gravis vanished, and his injuries healed nearly instantaneously.
Gravis took a deep breath and felt refreshed. It felt like taking a shower after a hard workout, just many times better. Forneus waved. ”Come over and stand with the others!”
Gravis released a long sigh to calm down. He had fought for his life for over two weeks, so it was hard readjusting to normal life. He walked over and stood beside the others, who watched him with interest. Gravis didn't speak and just waited. A couple more youngsters appeared and returned to their classmates.
”Alright, everyone's here.” Forneus stood up and stretched.
Gravis looked around and counted 25 people, including himself. Suddenly, he noticed something. ”Forneus, where is Ballor?” Gravis asked.
”Dead,” Forneus said while stretching to the side.
Gravis paled. ”What?” Dead? He died, just like that?
”Yeah, he hadn't thought of staying underwater in the water rapids stage and was completely powered out by the end of it. His next opponent was the Rampaging Rhino, which completely decimated his left arm. His next opponent, the Cunning Shadow, gave him the rest.” Forneus commented casually.
Gravis gulped and stayed silent. He went out with Ballor nearly every day for the last two months. They had grown pretty close, and Gravis considered him a true friend, but just like that, he died. Gravis couldn't even say goodbye. He also couldn't remember the last words he said to him.
Forneus clapped loudly in his hands. ”Alright, people die. It happens. Get over it.” Forneus looked at the others, while Gravis gritted his teeth. ”Okay, there are 25 remaining, and seven died. That's a death rate of a little over 20%. That's average. Although...” Forneus looked at Gravis. ”I'm surprised you survived.”
Gravis was confused. What did he mean? Forneus continued. ”Everyone goes through the same opponents but shuffled around. So, even though you all fought the same beasts and environmental challenges, the order differed.” Forneus pointed at Gravis. ”You, especially, had shitty luck with the order. Your first opponent was the newbie crusher.”
The others were not sure which opponent Forneus meant when he said ”newbie crusher”. They thought back to the beasts they fought but weren't sure. Gravis, on the other hand, thought of the tortoise. ”Do you mean the tortoise?”