"No! I’m doomed! Why does this always happen to me?!"

Exclaiming in this way, Perfect fell to the ground and put his hands over his head, as if denying everything that was going on.

He kept shaking it, too, as if he wanted that motion to change what he was seeing, but no matter how much he did so, and no matter how much he whined that he did not want to be here, nothing changed.

Daneel, Faxul and Elanev could only look between each other and then stare at this guy who looked so desperate for some reason, and they waited for him to get back to his senses so that he could explain just what was going on here.

It was clear that it was this information which had caused him to react like so, and they wanted to find out what he knew before discovering for themselves just what lay in this test.

They had already seen that they were in some sort of a house made out of primitive materials such as mud and straw, and they had been sleeping on hard hemp beds which had caused their backs to itch. Also... The disconcerting thing was that their powers had been taken away, and they were only normal humans now.

For all three of them, it was a very unique experience where they returned to feeling how it had been when they had started out on their Path to power. They had gotten so used to either having their Fighter or Mage strength that it felt so odd, but in some ways, it also felt liberating.

Marveling in this feeling, the three waited, and it was only two minutes later that Perfect finally stood up and started to pace around.

Unable to control himself anymore, Daneel made as if to go forward and catch the guy by his shoulder, but right as he was about to do so, Perfect slapped that hand aside and said, "This is all your fault! Ever since we entered, things haven’t been going according to how they should be, and I bet that it is all because of your attitude to defeat this thing! Okay, that doesn’t make sense, but I don’t know what else would explain it! What’s going on here does not corroborate with what all of the teams from before went through! This test is not supposed to come on this path! Who the hell is playing games with us?!"

This angry outburst surprised both Daneel and his sovereigns, and they wondered just how much this guy had been hiding. He had been letting out tidbits of information according to the situation, but they could never have imagined that he had such comprehensive info about the dungeon.

Well, it did make sense in some ways, as he must have researched it a lot by himself to see whether he could pass it. A 5-star mission and a place on the Board of Achievements could be very, very enticing, and it was clear that even this guy must have once had the goal of finishing it, but then abandoned it for some reason.

Daneel put on a stern expression and said, "Our powers might be blocked, but don’t think the three of us would hesitate to whoop your arse if you act like a spoiled princess anymore. Tell us what information you know about this test, and about the dungeon, too. It’s clear by now that you’ve done a lot of digging, and that you still decided that you would let it go. Why is that?"

The threat finally seemed to bring Perfect back to his senses, and the man sat down on a chair that was nearby and still lamented for a few more seconds.

They had all retained their features, so his were still those perfect ones which anyone would drool over.

historical

Seeing them in this panicked state, though, they weren’t as attractive at all, but still, his charm was apparent.

The only reason that Daneel was thinking of this... Was that he had seen three girls in the window near him, who were all staring at him and whispering while giggling between themselves.

Indeed, they were in some sort of a simulation, and it seemed that their companion was very famous.

Daneel moved to first close all the shutters and then check whether the door was locked, before focusing on Perfect again.

The man seemed to have regained a semblance of calmness, as he let out a deep, deep sigh and said, "The Test of Bonding. It doesn’t have a very high death toll, but the truth is... That everyone who went through it, changed. Well, the change happens in two ways- either the team that went in and undertook this test become lifelong enemies, or they become lifelong companions who share everything thereafter. If its the latter, there is nothing much to be feared, but I really don’t see myself becoming a true friend of you lot, as I really don’t have anything in common with you. All of you are crazy! Anyway, it is the former which worries me, because it inevitably ends in this team targeting each other. In 8 out of the 10 that I’ve talked to who did not come out as companions... Half of the team was wiped out. The most worrying thing is that whatever happens here builds such a long-lasting grudge that these teams fought and killed even when decades or centuries had passed since they had taken this test, and that truly terrifies me. I’m not even a match in power, so if you lot turn out to be my enemies, where the hell should I go? I don’t want this, I really, really don’t want this! Dammit, why didn’t I just listen to myself and stay back?!"

Towards the end, despair crept into the man’s tone and he rifled his hair wildly while berating himself repeatedly for putting himself in this situation.

Meanwhile, Daneel stared at him with an odd expression. A team could either become companions for life, or build a grudge that would result in them killing each other?

Well... that was interesting.

Turning to his subordinates, he said, "Let’s go check out where we are. We can come back here when he is calmer."

Hearing this, even Perfect who was on the chair nodded, as if he had understood that he needed some time to come to terms with where he was.

Seeing this and shaking his own head, Daneel lead the way outside, and the moment he opened the door, he was greeted by the sharp rays of the sun which was high in the sky.

As soon as his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw that they were actually... In a pleasant village.

It was unlike any village that Daneel had seen yet in his journey on Angaria, but it was clear that this was a small settlement of some age.

The reason he thought this was that the architecture of each and every house was different from what existed in the present day - all of these buildings were strangely either semicircular, or in some cases, cone-shaped with the end pointing to the sky.

Even the building they had just come out of was the latter, and it caused the place to have a very different atmosphere which made the three look around and stare continuously.

The people also had different styles of clothes - they wore mostly clothes which were in a single piece, and most of them were busily going about their tasks.

Thankfully, these tasks were the normal ones that anyone would expect to find in any village, and this brought a sense of normalcy which allowed the three to get past their shock and walk forward to find out what lay in store for them.

While they walked, they were greeted enthusiastically by almost everyone who was near them, but they didn’t respond, as they had spotted another oddity.

There seemed to be an opaque barrier all around them, which prevented anyone from looking outside.

Only the top side of this barrier was transparent, which allowed them to see the sky and the sun, but apart from that, they had no idea just what lay around them.

Interested, Daneel walked up to the very end. It wasn’t a very big settlement - there were barely a hundred people in it, so they could walk from one end to the other of the village in a few minutes.

At this part, on the barrier, there was a piece of parchment which was affixed that could be seen all over, which meant that anyone who arrived at the barrier would be able to read what was on it.

As Daneel and the other two did so, their eyebrows couldn’t help but raise as they found out more about this extremely weird situation that they had found themselves in.

"Village of Blight: Our bonding keeps the blight way. Remember, if any problem occurs, it will affect this barrier which was set up by the honorable mage Jarafus. Our bonds power it, and allow us to live on. Long live the resistance!"

...

Meanwhile, at a certain spot above the sky which was as far away as possible from the place where the bar that belonged to the Order existed, a clandestine meeting had just begun.

It was attended by eight individuals who were all masked, and even their figures were blurry, not allowing anyone to find out just who they were.

Yet, weirdly, it looked like they knew each other, because when they spoke, they used names that were clearly personal.

"He made sure to take away each and every mosquito so that we wouldn’t be able to dissect them for more information! I can only understand so much from looking, you know..."

A female voice said this, and a gruff male one gave a reply.

"Yes, the Overseer was pretty damn thorough in making sure that we would have no clues whatsoever to link whoever did this to their real identity. But... These are mosquitoes, and there should be only a few people who are even capable of handling them. The biggest problem here is that we can eliminate anyone from the Order and the Big Four- all of these individuals were called forth as soon as the situation came to light, and I can guarantee that they put forth their best. So... We can be sure that this person came from the outside, and that leaves-"

"You can’t possibly be serious, Lavar! Someone from the Central Continent? Oh, what a joke!"

With a humph, that voice replied, "Unlike you lot who only care about training, I keep an eye on the Central Continent, so I know that there was actually someone in recent times who has publicly created a new strain, or rather, even two new strains of mosquitoes which he used for different purposes. And the mosquitoes which I saw in that cavern the other day were glaringly similar to what he used.

"But... The problem here is that he is an eminent figure in the Central Continent, so that means that we cannot target him. There is a silver lining, though. He’s a young kid, so the chances that he was capable of creating them are very, very low. So... It is possible that the real culprit is supposed to be a reclusive exile from the Big Four, who is this kid’s master. He might have found some or the other inheritance which allowed him to enter the Order, and he must have struck a deal with the Overseer. We find him, we get the inheritance! Ladies and gentlemen, let the manhunt begin. We all know we want to outlast Angaria, and for that...we need bargaining chips. So...what better bargaining chip than the one who thwarted such an expensive plan of the Church’s? Let’s get going!"