Approximately two hours and thirty minutes earlier, location rendezvous point.
Zarir was in conversation with another Solaryn from his world who had also been teleported, when he sensed he was being watched.
He looked around, noticing Aura just as she glanced away and spoke to her teammates… I wonder why …he thought as he observed them walking away from the obelisk area together.
A voice calling his name brought his attention back to the conversation.
"Zarir, how did your team got so many points?" asked Kanak, a Solaryn leader of another team and Zarir's cousin.
"We ran into a void swarm," Zarir replied.
"And you survived," Kanak voiced, disbelief and shock evident in his voice.
"Not on our own; we had help," said Aurelia.
"Help? You mean from the team that arrived with you? That would explain their scores. What race?" Kanak asked curiously.
"They were Veralyn, and they fight well for a race from an unawakened world," Zarir stated, his voice conveying a mix of concern and interest.
"What? An unawakened helped you?… You're kidding, right?" Kanak exclaimed in disbelief, picking up on his friend's concern and the reason for it. "Were they even able to use the suit's skills properly? Maybe against a few void spawn… but a swarm, I find that hard to believe."
"It's true," confirmed Elidor. "And surprisingly, yes, they use their spells well. One, a female called Aura, had exceptional spell control."
"Interesting, what spells did she use?" inquired Kanak.
"She was using object weave, and I think Chrono shift," supplied Zahava.
Kanak looked stunned, not sure if he had heard Zahava right. "Object weave and Chrono shift… Are you sure? Both those spells are hard to use even for those that are awakened, even with the suit supporting, but as an unawakened, it borders on impossible."
Zarir nodded. "We know. When she first provided us with assistance, we thought she was from an awakened planet because she was using the spell like an Awakened, until our AI informed us of her race."
"Strange never heard of an unawakened using spells so easily…unless she has a really strong talent that's manifesting even before being unlocked" muttered Kanak…never mind I'll investigate later.
Kanak then looked at Zarir. "We should talk, alone," he said, his voice suddenly serious. Zarir nodded in understanding.
Zarir turned to his team members. "I need you to replenish our supplies and gather information on the missions. Wait at the missions obelisk; I'll meet you there," he told them.
Elidor, Zahava, and Aurelia nodded and left, walking towards the trials obelisks to carry out the task assigned to them.
They showed no surprise at Kanak's sudden request or Zarir's orders; after all, both were nobility, and their discussion might involved information they were not privy to.
Zarir and Kanak walked away from the crowds of participants and found a quiet area. Zarir waited patiently for Kanak to speak.
"You know what unawakened being allowed to participate in a trial might mean, right?" Kanak finally asked.
"Yes, I take it your father told you as well," Zarir confirmed. Before the trial, his father, a Major in the Galaxy Alliance, had informed him to take note of unawakened in the trial.
Explaining that there were only two reasons for the Alliance Academy to accept them into the trials.
The first was that their world was about to shift from dormant to early awakened; as for the second reason… I hope not… Zarir thought as a chill went through him… this trial might be more important than he realized… Did my father know… Is that why he told me? His thoughts were interrupted.
"I don't know if you noticed, but there are an awful lot of dormant worlds participating in this trial, a lot more than what my father said would be normal," Kanak stated.
Zarir looked at Kanak, then replied seriously, "I think we should start collecting points as much as possible. If what we think is happening turns out to be true, we are going to need them."
Kanak nodded. "Agreed," he said and they both started walking back towards the crowd of participants in the middle of the rendezvous point.
Zarir said goodbye to Kanak and made his way through the crowd towards his team members, who were standing by the missions obelisk.
Aurelia stepped forward and handed him a med kit and some rations.
"You will have to get the mana suit refill from the shop yourself, as it's applied instantaneously," she informed him.
Zarir nodded in thanks and walked over to the trial shop, tapped it, and chose the mana recovery from the list.
As soon as he had made his selection, he was enveloped in a golden shield.
As an awakened, he felt the mana density increase, and the suit's mana core on his chest started glowing.
[Mana suit's recovery at 48%… 62%… 89%… 100% suit's mana has been recovered.]
The shop's AI informed him. Zarir closed the screen and moved to join his team again.
"Have you looked at the mission options?" he asked them.
"Yes," replied Elidor, and he began explaining the missions. Zarir listened while calculating which mission was the best to take for him and his team.
Elidor finished his explanation, but Zarir remained quiet, still pondering… We need points… It's risky, but the settlement rescue mission is probably the best… We will get points from void spawn killed and for rescuing the natives.
"Alright, I've decided we will be doing the settlement rescue," he informed his team.
Concern flicked across Zahava. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"Yes, the situation seems to have changed. amassing points is our priority now," Zarir stated, his tone conveying an unspoken message.
A look of understanding flickered across Elidor, Aurelia, and Zahava as they immediately understood Zarir's unspoken message.
All four had been close friends for years, and Zarir had shared with them what his father had told him before the trial started.
Their facial expressions turned serious. It wasn't just a simple trial to enter the Alliance Academy anymore; now there was more at stake, and the Academy was going to be brutal.
"Ready?" Zarir asked.
All three nodded in affirmation, so Zarir touched the obelisk and selected "accept" on the settlement rescue mission.
Golden light immediately engulfed them as they were teleported to the mission's destination.