Chapter 41: First Test

Eren continued his practice on the Primal Strike. The Venerable Ursine King’s true meaning eluded him still. Though, rote training had allowed him to progress his mastery little by little. He just needed more time.

But on the third day, Kaiser’s biting cold voice echoed through the speakers, directing the examinees to gather at the gymnasium at once.

Eren stepped foot back into the gymnasium, his face ready and rejuvenated. Though, there was always a sense of wariness in his eyes. A sense of suspicion. He could never let his guard down.

Meanwhile, everyone around him seemed to have enjoyed their time in practice. The three days they spent in the gymnasium, punching concrete walls, did well for their confidence in the upcoming test.

Relationships and bonds also grew stronger. New connections, new friends, new acquaintances. Eren could see it by the lack of awkward spaces between their chosen seats in the bleachers.

Eren remained at the back. Alone.

"Hey!"

He turned to a girl in front of him, just a few seats to the left. She brushed her violet hair back to her ear as she looked at him askance.

He recognized her as the one who ’accidentally’ tripped towards him the day before.

A bevy of her friends flanked her from her sides. Notably, the woman who helped her up when she tripped was one of those companions and was seated right next to her.

In complete contrast to him, it seemed she took full advantage of her time to socialize with others. She was amongst one of the few loners during the first day of the License Exam. Yet now, she was at the center of a friend group.

It wasn’t surprising. Women with attractive features would gather followers in any crowd.

"I haven’t seen you in the gymnasium at all. I’m Celeste, by the way."

"I was practicing in my room," he replied to her. "Eren."

She flashed him a disarming smile. "Oh, if you had joined us, we could have helped you, Eren."

He mirrored her smile. "Next time, perhaps."

Celeste didn’t press any further and turned her head forwards and continued to speak with her friends. They all waited with bated breaths as Kaiser cleared his throat.

The cloudy-eyed man stood at the center of the gymnasium, hands crossed against his chest.

"Today, we test your mettle. Today, we see if you have really mastered your foundations."

The rest of the examinees replied with jovial responses. They were ready, they said. They couldn’t wait to show off their Martial Manuals, their Primal Strikes, and their Ascension Arts.

Eren was less so.

He was suspicious of something. Something amiss here. Something that Kaiser wasn’t telling everybody.

First of all, the gymnasium floor was featureless. Devoid of any concrete blocks they were to ’test their mettle’ on. That was bizarre in and of itself.

He looked up, seeing the empty skeleton of the arena’s ceiling. No concrete blocks there, only metal trusses and frames holding up the gymnasium’s curved roof. Even the metal claws were completely gone.

Perhaps, ’gone’ wasn’t the right word. Displaced would be better.

Now, those robotic, gear-driven, three-pronged claws were positioned at the very ends of the bleachers, their bases clamped onto the walls with rivets.

They were folded up and stacked together horizontally, like a decommissioned basketball goal. But Eren felt as if they weren’t decommissioned at all.

And perhaps the most suspicious of all was their proctor himself. Kaiser stood on the gymnasium floor, no emotions on his face.

But Eren saw his micro-reactions. His subtle glances to the metal claws. His hidden left hand grasping something in his pocket. And of course, his subtle worry about the examinees in front of him.

He’s trapping us here, Eren realized.

Being trapped in a confined space for a thousand years, a man learns to sense whenever someone was about to close the doors and lock the keys behind him.

"Like I said, the objective of this first test is to see if you have mastered the Foundational Moveset. The Primal Strike," Kaiser announced.

The other examinees nodded, pumping their fists in excitement and anticipation. Gone were the worries and anxieties they had at the start of the exam.

"But as I’ve warned you at the start of this exam, there are times when you cannot do the things you have practiced all of your life.

And so, we have created that exact situation. We are going to simulate the dangers and the uncertainty that one might face once you become Awakeners."

A subtle click echoed from Kaiser’s pockets and the metal claws on the side of the bleachers whirred into action. They unfolded with quick efficiency, clamping onto the very edge of the bleachers and creating a slight tremor through the seats.

Everyone felt the tug as the claws from either side of the bleacher section were suddenly being pulled apart, creating a perfect bisection at the middle.

"What the fuck?!"

"Woah!"

"What’s happening?!"

The bleachers separated, creating a clicking, guttural roar that echoed through the gymnasium. It only further deepened the trepidation in the room as they realized what was below them.

A dark chasm. An abyss so deep that even the natural beam of light shining from the open panel windows couldn’t penetrate through its blackness.

Those seated at the very edges of where the bleachers separated couldn’t help but look down in fear at the chasm.

Silence permeated as examinees realized that this test was far more than what they bargained for.

And before they could even complain to Kaiser, the metallic claws jolted upwards, tilting the two halves of the bleachers down into the chasm below.

They were being dropped into the darkness!

"AHHH!"

Panic spread amongst the examinees like a virulent disease. They hung onto any kind of ledge they could, until their legs were hanging down, with the darkness seemingly about to swallow them whole.

"KYAAAA!"

"I don’t want to fall!"

"Help me up!"

Kaiser’s cloudy eye evaluated the examinees, watching them struggle to keep their calm. Except one. His eyebrow raised as he saw Eren’s expression remain unchanged throughout the whole ordeal.