Liam stopped at the entrance to the dormitory area and immediately checked the time.
12:01
He took off again, rushing towards his dormitory building.
This... This feels like the final stage of the entrance exam! Liam thought as he reached his building. The race to the end!
****
Right after Stage Four, the candidates were led outside.
The light of the afternoon sun temporarily blinded them, but after they adjusted, they stared at the sight before them.
There were large buildings that looked abandoned, drones and robots everywhere, the occasional light coming from various buildings, and strange-looking constructs.
"Alright everyone," Mark stood before them. "Welcome to Stage Five, The Gauntlet. What you see before you is an elaborate course meant to simulate your responses in-field and during combat. You will earn marks by completing objectives assigned to you, defeating robots that represent monsters, retrieving flags, and solving the occasional puzzle. You will also score marks for crossing the finish line. You have five minutes to prepare, and that time begins now."
Liam stared as Mark began handing out wristbands to everyone.
Why is he outlining everything? I thought... our information would be restricted.
Liam thanked Mark as he was handed a wristband. When he put it on, a small screen appeared.
[This wristband will record your points and progress across the field. Your individual objective: Capture ten flags.]
...Did they tell us everything? Liam thought as he looked at the huge course before him. I think they actually did... this place would be pointless without instructions. What wasn't said outright, though, was that there is more than one way to score... I kinda feel like I got lucky with mine, and at the same time don't. Others will be going for flags too...
Liam sighed as he began stretching. There was no use trying to dissect this exam. He had received his orders. All that was left to do was to carry them out.
"Everyone, to the starting line," Mark barked. "We begin in ten seconds!"
Liam stood at the starting line, then dropped into a runner's crouch.
My physical abilities are sort of lacking... but if I play it right I should also be able to beat some robots.
"Three... two... one!"
The moment Mark finished counting, every candidate took off running. Many immediately branched out to complete their objectives, whilst others bulldozed ahead.
Liam took a left, and immediately came across a robot. It was large, and supported itself on one wheel. Its arms looked a little like cannons, and those very arms were pointed at Liam.
"Gah-!" Liam stifled his own yell before ducking out of the way of a large shot. He immediately rushed to the left and jumped through a window frame...
Then he froze as five robots identical to the first turned towards him.
And behind them was a hologram of a flag.
Liam had no time to think as all the robots pointed their arms at him. He took one second to realize the danger he was in and immediately jumped out of the way, falling.
Liam's hands hit the ground, and he pushed himself back to his feet before circling around the robot firing squad and rushing towards the flag.
This is my objective! Maybe capturing the flag will deactivate them!
Liam swung the hand with the wristband through the hologram, and it immediately disappeared.
What also disappeared was the hope the robots would deactivate.
Liam stifled another yell as he jumped out of the way of another shot and rolled, and luckily the roll carried him out of the way of another. He shot to his feet and looked around wildly, only to see that the robots were blocking all his exit points.
Do... I actually have to fight them?!
Liam rushed towards the one blocking the window he had entered through, and they all rose their cannons at the boy, who immediately rushed into the guard of the robot blocking his way.
And just like he had hoped, the others opened fire.
Liam rolled away from the robot just in time to avoid the hits, then rushed towards another with a hastily put together plan while the first robot fell.
Can I clog its joints with blood? Liam thought as he fell into a slide and rose his hands towards the robot's wheels. Then he flinched as he realized the mistake he'd made.
I don't have that much control! I just checkmated myself!
Liam tried to jump up, but the robot he had tried to attack pointed its arm at him and fired immediately. Reacting almost instantly, Liam managed to avoid most of the shot, but got his shoulder nearly dislocated instead. He stumbled back, then rushed out of the now open window to escape.
He noted the robot outside was on its back, most likely from that moment he had dodged that large barrage at the beginning.
So I definitely am not cut out for direct combat, Liam thought as he ran. But now, I have a rough idea of how this works. Robots might be concentrated around flags... which means I can use them to find the rough locations. I can figure out how to outmanoeuvre them when I get there.
Liam smiled painfully as his shoulder throbbed. Ah yeah, the shots might be rubber or something. Definitely enough to knock someone out... and they could still cause fatal injuries. I really need to be careful.
And so Liam began robot hunting, for reasons completely unrelated to actually fighting them.
Sometimes he would lure them away from the flag before circling back to claim it. One time, he had to solve a maze puzzle on a container before getting the flag.. Another time he had found robots completely ripped apart, no flag in sight.
Through it all his shoulder made sure to remind him that he was injured. When he tried climbing a fire escape to get to the roof of a building, his climbing speed was severely affected. When he did get onto the roof, he had managed to capture the flag, but the three robots guarding it immediately began firing on him, and he had jumped back onto the fire escape. Unfortunately, they gave chase, but Liam used the smaller area and his own ease of movement to send all of them flying to the ground.
In the end, he had solved six puzzles, defeated seven robots with friendly fire, defeated four on his own thanks to terrain advantage, and collected nine flags.
Liam had taken to running, because now the robots were actively chasing him.
All I did was collect flags! Liam cried inwardly as he slid across the road at a junction and took off running as several shots were fired at his previous position. I'M SORRY OKAY?! I'M JUST DOING WHAT I NEED TOOOO!
Liam noticed a lamp-post near an alleyway only a few meters away, then pushed on towards it. When he was close enough, he reached out, grabbed its shaft, and launched himself into the alley.
Then he had exactly four seconds to realize what was in front of him.
Three robots spread out, one near the alley entrance, another at the exit, one in between. Floating roughly eight feet above the ground was a flag, and on the narrow walls were slightly protruding bricks, window sills, and a few empty frames.
Liam's body realized what he had to do before his conscious thought could keep up. He hit the ground with one foot and immediately jumped onto the dome-shaped head of the robot in front of him. It opened fire, but Liam couldn't care less.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!
He flailed his arms for a moment, then, holding in his panic, kicked off a window sill to the other wall, kicked off the wall to launch himself at the flag and caught the flag with his wristband.
He fell into a somersault that carried him away from a shot from the central robot and landed on his feet. He went limp and rolled across the ground, then looked up to see the robot at the exit pointing its arms at him. The moment its shuddering arms betrayed the shot, Liam immediately dropped.
The two opened fire at each other, but managed to move out of the way of the friendly fire. However, Liam had already scrambled to his feet and took off. He passed by the robot guarding the exit, then booked it at the sight of a tall, physical flag with the school's colours on it fluttering in the wind.
Tears welled up in Liam's eyes as the sounds of metal scraping and motors whirring filled his ears.
I'M ALMOST THERE! STAMINA, DON'T FAIL ME NOW!
****
Liam reached the stairs to his dormitory building and immediately used the metal balustrades to climb up to his floor. He was quick yet careful, pulling himself up each balustrade with the occasional hop.
His reasoning was simple: conserving both time and energy by ignoring the stairs entirely was absolutely the right idea.
He threw himself over the balustrade on the fifth floor and leapt up the stairs to the door. He paused to steady his breath and calm his heart, then opened the door quickly yet steadily.
He stepped into the corridor calm enough to show ease, and briskly enough to show hurry.
Then he casually turned his head to look down the corridor, then gave a quiet sigh of relief.
Lisa was halfway to his dormitory, and she immediately turned around to look at who had walked out of the emergency exit.
"Liam-?"
"Oh Lisa!" Liam waved with a smile as he jogged lightly to her. "Did you just arrive?"
Lisa stepped to the side and nodded with an eyebrow raised. "Yeah, I did, but some rude idiot was on the elevator before me, so it went to the top floor first. Where'd you go?"
Thank you so much random guy! Liam scratched the back of his head. "Well, I got a little bored waiting, so I decided to jog to the Library and back."
Lisa immediately narrowed her eyes at him. "You jogged to the Library... and came back? You didn't go in?"
Oops.
Liam chuckled, "Come on, trust me. Didn't I say I'd be here by noon? I'm here at... three after twelve. Let's just go in."
Lisa kept her eyes narrowed at him until they reached his room and entered.
"Well, I'm off to shower. The console's in the storeroom, so you can set it up if you want."
Lisa nodded, "I'll wait for you."
Liam nodded with a chuckle, "Sure. I was always better at tech than you anyway."
"Should I just destroy your console?"
"NO. I'm sorry gotta shower bye!" Liam said before ducking into his room with a wave.
Lisa looked at his door with pursed lips.
"He's acting so weird today..." she sighed before heading to his storeroom.
I SURVIVED, Liam thought as he sank to the ground beside his bed.
"If I had been any later, she might've merced me with her shoe or something..." he sighed.
The only times Liam had only ever been unable to hold Lisa back were whenever he was late for appointment, or whenever he didn't keep a promise.
I remember when she whacked me over the head as kids after I promised I would play with her after school and ended up forgetting. It always felt like something was stopping me from actively stopping her... hm?
Liam blinked in surprise as a sudden thought hit him.
Could it have been... early manifestations of her Venma?
Liam sat in silence for a few seconds, then shrugged.
"Whatever. Doesn't matter either way since I avoided trouble in the present. Time to get that shower. This sweat is killing me..."