Chapter 13: What was that all about.

Mateo gets summoned to the void by Erevos. Erevos tells him that the chief has summoned him to take Mateo’s abilities away. Erevos says Mateo will only keep the ability of immortality, but if someone kills him—or if he dies—his abilities will be given to a random person.

Mateo asks Erevos what he currently has access to. Erevos replies, “You will receive the mark of the void, and your Third Eye will be taken away. Give me your hand.” Mateo extends his hand, and Erevos places the void mark on it. “This will be your mark. It works the same way it did in the past. You can unlock the ability, and the best part is, you can use it as much as you want. You will not need the lives of other people to fuel it.”

Mateo asks, “That’s everything I need to know, right?”

Erevos hesitates. “Wait—I haven’t even told you the abilities yet. The first one is mind control, the second is illusion, the third is the Face Thief, and the fourth is Creations.”

“Creations? What does that mean? How does it work?” Mateo asks.

“Oh yes,” Erevos says. “With that, you can create food, water, and objects from nothing.”

“Can I make money or gold as well?”

“No. Not at all. Forget that,” he responds.

“Okay,” Mateo says. “Anything else I need to know?”

Erevos nods. “Yes, two things. First, you can come here whenever you want. Second, there is someone in your group who will target you.”

“What do you mean by ‘group’?” Mateo asks.

“The people you are with in the exam right now,” Erevos answers.

“So… tell me his name,” Mateo presses.

“No, no, no,” Erevos says nervously. “I can’t tell you his name. The chief only told me this much.”

Mateo nods. “Alright, I should head back.”

Mateo opens his eyes and sees Luar, Ofurd, and Kamil looking at him. He thinks to himself, Oh damn, I forgot to open the void properly.

Luar speaks first. “Hey, you’ve been standing here still for the past fifteen minutes… I didn’t know how long, but I thought you were dead or something. That’s why I called Kamil and Ofurd.”

Mateo thinks quickly. I need an excuse—fast.

He says, “Hey guys, I was just lost in thought about the exam. How is it going to work?”

Ofurd replies, “Hey Mateo, the exam is about to start. We’re supposed to go to this room—number 406.”

Mateo asks, “Where did you get this card?”

“Remember Gramwaer?” Ofurd says. “He came and gave us five cards. The names are written on each.”

Mateo thinks, But why five? There’s only one to unlock.

Ofurd points to one card with the number 406 on it. Mateo nods to himself, I should unlock this with this.

All four of them enter the room. The lights turn on, and a screen emerges from the wall, turning itself on. The examiner sits in a chair and says,

“I have been with you for the past sixty-two hours. I should tell you my name—my name is Jabons. You were told that each of you has to answer 250 questions. There will be over one thousand questions for each team of four, and there are eleven teams. One team only has two players. In total, you will answer 100,000 questions per group. You were given five cards. One card has already been used. The other four are blank. Here’s what you need to do: hold a card in one hand and move it fifty times with each hand. Then, double-tap the side of the card three times. A medal will appear inside.”

Mateo, Luar, Ofurd, and Kamil follow the instructions. They move the card fifty times with each hand, then tap it three times. A medal emerges from the card.

“Next,” the examiner says, “look inside the card as hard as you can. Keep looking until your eyes start to tire. Your tears will fall on the card, and it will display your name and your abilities. This will only show your ability names.”

Other players look confused, repeating the same process as instructed.

The examiner continues, “Now that your cards have your names, you can change your name if you want.”

Mateo takes the blue-looking keyboard and carefully types his name: Mateo. His card glows, confirming that it now belongs to him, displaying his abilities and identity clearly.