Rebirth: The Shadow Of Greed

...Vero smiled as he pats Z on the back, he was happy that this guy finally had something good happen to him. 

A voice sounded over the speakers in the area, 

"Can all non-participants leave the trial area immediately, can all non-participants leave the trial area immediately, thank you!"

Z took the cue and wished them good luck before leaving the stadium leaving Odrunn there on his own. 

Odrunn's hands were trembling, not because of anything but because he was excited, he didn't know what the topic was this year, but he wanted to excel, not only for himself but for Z who was already half a master to him and for his dad whom he wanted to make proud. 

Vero gave Odrunn a slight pat on his shoulder before converging with the rest moving towards the centre of the large stadium 

At the stadium one of the professor and tester stood upon a rostrum holding on to an S.A.D, 

"Okay, everyone! We have already taken your attendance just now, so those of you who feel you're not ready can sound out now and just retake it next year when you know you won't wash out. 

Anyone? No one? Okay good. 

So let me explain about the mock trials now. 

The mock trials are not to be taken lightly! It is a measure of success to show how well you will do before you face the exams. The topic of the trials will be similar to the exam but won't be exactly the same. 

Here's how it works, each of you is given a number, you will have to form up at the back and when your number is called, please step forward, we will go for 20 students at a time, just populate your own individual lane. 

At that time, you will be given an egg, place the egg on the pedestal at the back to begin, I'll just inform those of you who haven't used it before, this training area has a simulation mode, it can generate tangible objects in this case, they will be your enemies, you can destroy them but they cannot hurt you. When they do land a hit, you will feel a bit of pain, but that is about it.

You will have a counter on your body. If the system determines you have taken too much damage, your test will end. If you cannot protect your egg, the test will end. If you get overrun by the enemies, the test will end. Does anyone have any questions?"

A brave young man in the middle row raised his hands. 

"Do we get points for killing the enemies?" 

"No, for goodness sake you're a vanguard, you get points for the amount of time you spend defending the egg. If you kill enemies, means lesser enemies will get to the egg which means more points. Next!"

"What do you mean by getting overrun?"

Another person raised his hand and questioned. 

"Being overrun means the enemies are so close to you and the egg that you don't even have any walking space and basically you have no choice but to just get hit. In that case, you can just stop wasting time and end the test. Stalling techniques will not work."

"Are we allowed to use Artefacts?"

Someone from the front row raised his hands and asked the question, a slight smile on his face forming thinking he asked a really smart question. 

"Are the unmanifested supposed to block their egg using their bodies then? What a stupid question. Listen, the mock trial and exams are to weed out the strong from the weak in terms of capabilities. It's not a test on who has a stronger manifest. You have to get that in your head."

The examiner shook his head, he was appalled by the question that the person had asked. The person in question could only look down on the ground embarrassed the smug look he got previously was completely gone. 

"Does anyone have any other questions? If not, let's get this show on the road! Please form up outside of the stadium centre."

The students promptly moved out of the stadium centre as huge changes started occurring, the loud sounds of the ground moving as well as the walls coming out of the ground was a sight to behold, they quickly formed a narrow pathway which looked like a long lane. The walls were sandy making it look like it's part of some Egyptian pyramid. 

The students watching got excited, they clenched their fist as they prepared for their number being called. 

"Will the first 20 students, please step up and go to the lanes allocated to you. Watch for the screen at the front and find your lanes."

The first 20 students excitedly stepped up onto the stage as they quickly found their positions in their individual lanes. 

The egg appeared in their hands as they got ready and placed the egg on the pedestal, a timer began counting down as the first wave of enemies appeared. 

10 Grotesque monsters ran out and charged out of the portal and ran towards the egg, their shrill voice was extremely lifelike scaring the first 20 students. 

There were a few unmanifested students mixed in with this bunch of students as they started to angulate their shields in a panic. The monsters dived straight in and slammed against their shields causing a loud clanging noise. 

They swung their shields up blocking the attack and trying their best at defending the monsters but unfortunately, that was the extent of their abilities as they watch both their HP and the HP of the egg drop to 0. The number of students left was reduced to half, with most of the unmanifested being eliminated. Lights began to shine as the students started to put in their full effort in repelling the enemies. Some increased in size, others making use of their branded artefacts, everyone's approach was different. 

In the middle of it all, one student caught Z's eyes he was unmanifested, standing alone in the face of the many monsters, his shield hung behind his back as he swayed his body avoiding the beasts and dealing the beasts heavy blows.