"Look at them." Someone hisses from the sidelines.
"Not one higher-class noble among them." Another snicker.
"All of the worthless mutts are left behind." Another interjects, nudging his friend's side.
Lux remains quiet. The sight of their chastising glares is like a glimpse from the past when he first entered the X organization, but instead of having Scarface by himself, he now had none.
"It's no surprise Lux is there." Dragan prances forward, stopping in front of him, a smug smirk playing on his face. "Mutts like you should've stayed in their crumbling estate next to their withering father."
It's not the first time Lux has received such hateful comments, but this time it gets under his skin.
He bends down to his ear. "Soon you'll get a chance to be with your mother." A magic circle continuously forms in Lux's palms at his side. "Your corpse will decay just like the rotting carcass of your mother."
Though it isn't his he's talking about, a flash of his mother's smiling gaze replays in his mind.
'Why is this affecting me as much as it is.'
Blue sparks at Lux's fingertips, and his hand rises in a swift and cool motion as the same pistol he crafted forms and aims at the center of Dragan's cranium. His eyes narrow, and the glimmering azure of his irises sparks to life.
"One more move." He whispers back as gasps fill the auditorium. "And I won't hesitate to kill you."
Dragan doesn't flinch; he puts one foot out and goes closer, resting his forehead on the tip of the gun, tauntingly.
"Mutts like you don't have the guts to kill anyone." He smiles. "If you do, I promise house Monsect, will make your life a living hell."
With a subtle curl of Lux's finger, the air around them thickens like a crushing tide, an unseen force slamming down on their shoulders, driving them both to their knees.
'What! The hell." He grunts, his hand stinging as he slams down to all fours.
"Conduct." The word cuts through the thickened silence, speaking in a voice both haunting and commanding. It echoes, rippling through the air like a shiver down the spine.
'It's from him. Fate.' He heaves, glancing up for a second to see Fate's magic circle above them.
"Enough." Ansil moves ahead with purpose, stopping beside Fate. "The unselected aren't worthless just yet." Her gaze sweeps over Lux and the remaining unselected students, cool and assessing.
"What? But you said!" Dragan's head shudders as he raises it against the pressure the magic circle created.
"I assure you, I'm not incompetent," Ansil interjects smoothly, meeting their gaze without flinching.
"S...sorry." He mutters as the magic circle shatters.
Panting, Lux pushes himself to his feet, only for Dragan to give him a dismissive shove before turning his back and rejoining his group.
'I hate kids.'
"Miss Ansil, what do you mean!" Voices exclaim, and the groups of first-year confused expressions all meet the board of professors on the stage.
.
.
Saeris, standing at the side, leans back on the wall; her predictions are right. "They may have skipped it last year, but it seems like they're starting it again." She hisses just thinking about it.
Her friend spots her in the corner, joining her side. "Seems like our guesses were right; they're opening the 'that' family again to the school."
Saeris's fist tightens and her teeth grind together. "Yeah, because last year there were no unexceptional students, unlike this year. And you can't call that a family. It's a death sentence." She remarks, eyes on all of the unselected students. "Look at them; they knew they would be begging for a chance to stay; that's why they opened it again."
"I almost forgot how cruel this school can be."
"It is." She agrees. "They're going to take the bait and go, hoping they can pass the trial and become what this school views as 'worthy.'"
"It's not hope they need. It's a skill." Her friend replies.
"Yeah." Her eyes land on Lux. "Skills some of them don't have."
.
.
"How! I need to join, or else...or else." A desperate girl.
She's not the only one begging; others have dropped to their knees, as if in reverence before gods. Yet Lux stands calm, unshaken, alongside a handful of others who wait in silence for the terms to be spoken.
"Simple," Ansil answers calmly.
'I've got a bad feeling this won't be anything simple,' Lux thinks, sensing the tension thicken.
"By clearing a dungeon." She finishes.
'What?'
Confusion ripples through the gathered students, but it's only the first- and second-years who falter, while the third-years remain still, their expressions unreadable, as if they've seen this all before.
'So this is what the system meant by 'It lies with you if you get in or don't.' that means I'll get in if I succeed in this dungeon clearing, or not if I don't.'
He sighs as the realization sinks in: this world is completely different from his own.
'Dungeons.'
He thinks again, trying to resurface any information given to him by Lux's memories by doing nothing.
'The only dungeon I remember is the advertisements of VRMMORPG games where you enter, fight through the levels, and come out with some type of reward, or in Dungeons & Dragons, where you and your party crawl through trap-laden corridors, face off against monsters, and argue over loot while the Dungeon Master tries not to smirk at your impending doom.'
His thoughts wander to the days of his childhood, sitting cross-legged on the floor, rolling dice with his mother as they played Dungeons & Dragons, back when the game was beginning to capture the world's imagination.
'Now instead of playing it, I'm in it.' He shakes his head. 'Adapting is one of my strongest suits, so that's what I have to do now if I want to make it into the school. Adapt to whatever they throw.'
"Does everyone agree on this challenge of proving your worthiness?" Ansil questions them.
'Who would say no? For most, this school is something they've always wanted. I know from viewing Lux's memories this is also what he wanted.'
He remembers all of the real Lux's wants and how they connect with his own life, and he promises, even though there's another way he can complete his missions without being in the school.
"I will make it into this academy. For the real Lux." He mumbles. 'I'll prove to everyone that you are enough and finish my reason for being here, so in the end we both can be at peace.'
"Yes!" They all shout, and the floor snaps open in a circle around the unselected, causing all of them to fall in.
"Good luck," Ansil says, meeting Lux's wide eyes.