Fragments

Ch.2 - The First Hurdle

After receiving his ability, Min stepped aside and made way for the militaristic girl who stood behind him. The girl's round, stoic face gave Min a faint smile when he walked away from the fountain. She closed her eyes, knelt and drank from the fountain like all others. Except, Min looked back and saw something peculiar. Nobody else seemed to have noticed it, but the girl only put the red liquid up to her mouth, without actually drinking it. He was about to question why, but figured he shouldn't. After all, maybe the girl already drank from the fountain and he simply didn't notice?
Regardless of his confusion on the matter, the Ceremony had finished and its participants felt a mixture of emotions from the result of their "gift". Discontent, joy, nervousness, sadness, relief, all coursed through the hall's atmosphere. Min-jun and a few others immediately began planning how they'd approach their powers. None were given much time though, their instructor's voice echoed through the speakers once more. "I see everyone's done already, that was faster than expected. Guess y'all were pretty eager about getting your powers. Now! Onto the next stage."
Two doorways made of heavy, expensive wood opened on either side of the hall, accompanied by deep creaking and rumbling. "Those who wish to join Aegis– since I'm sure you guys exist– proceed through the door on your left. The rest can exit through the other door. Have a safe trip!"

"Safe trip?" Min asked himself while he glanced at the heavy door. "This wasn't listed anywhere. Are they testing us already? No, this is perfect… I'm already being presented with an opportunity."

While the participants reluctantly decided on which door they'd venture through, instructor Asuma sat back in a leather armchair. She was in a room above the ceremony hall, the microphone standing before her. With an opened and half-empty can of beer in hand, she took a short break. "Hopefully this batch will be good... We need something to turn this around. Don't ya think so too, Ari?" After drinking the rest of the can, she leaned her head back to look at the ceiling. From behind a table hidden in the room's corner, a white-haired, sharply dressed man wearing glasses spoke up, but his voice lacked focus on Asuma's question. There were files, papers and books laid out all around him, making the second instructor almost impossible to see.

"Yeah, I too would like to know the killer's identity… Oh– uh– I agree. Problems keep arising, we need more people. And stop calling me by that nickname."

"Unfocused as usual, eh?" Asuma poked at her colleague's lack of interest. He always surrounded himself with books and rarely paid attention to anything outside of work and reading.

"You're one to talk, drinking in the workplace isn't allowed, you know?"

"Yeeeeah, yeah, whatever…"

Compared to the ceremony's participants, those who continued through the door on the left were just a fraction. Some ran inside immediately, some stayed back and looked over their surroundings… To Min's surprise, the gangster from earlier made his way into this part of the complex building as well.
A large, grey, rectangular room without any windows welcomed the participants, their only sources of light being strips of neon lights on the ceiling. Several platforms were scattered about the floor, each several metres in length and width. "Apologies for this unwelcoming approach, but we need to have some way to test you guys' reactions under pressure. Quick decisions will determine whether or not you'll live another day. So! Those abilities you guys got? You can use 'em here in 1-on-1 fights against each other. My coworker and I will oversee the short matches and will rate you guys' performance. Don't kill each other! Your acceptance hinges on this."
Following the announcement that came through the speakers in the room's corners, Asuma's heels clicked against the floor of the grey room as she suddenly appeared behind the group of future Aegis employees. She clasped her hands together to gain attention and finished off her explanation. "Pick whichever opponent you find fitting and get to it! We got cameras here, so don't worry about us not seeing you."