Loki’s Successor System

Chapter 181: The Tests [Part 1]

A corner of Jin's pink lips perked up. He was ready to fail the test and be considered one of those monsters everybody feared. He looked at his health and saw that it was plummeting slowly because of starvationit had been weeks and weeks since his last meal. But not many points were lost. He could still fight. He had planned to abuse his teleportation as a vantage point to win the battle against the possibly stronger Wizard. Standing on his feet, he began to grow pugnacious. He raised and dropped his head in a slow nodding motion. "Yeah, I'm ready ... ready to take the test."

Kai's golden eyesa brownish, yellowish, and marigold hue to themscrutinized Jin. After short contemplation, Jin's air was finally understandable, especially after looking into those green eyes of his. Frustrated, with hot air in his ears, Kai balled his fists. He didn't want Jin to prove positive in the test. He wanted to believe Jin wasn't one of those monsters. Was he truly one of those monsters? He clenched his teeth. There was only one way to find out.

The Wizard marched over to Jin and came to an abrupt halt. Peering down at Jin, a grin stretched across his face. This maniacal middle-aged man wished for the more barbaric turn of events. He wanted Jin to test positive in the test. His bloodlust and curiosity stemmed from the fact that he couldn't predict Jin's ability, made him crave a great battle. Perhaps he could even feign the test results should Jin prove negative of black magic. He drew a hand forth for mysterious Jin to grab. "Take my hand, I shall take you to the testing area."

Jin took the Wizard's extremely cold hands. The middle-aged man suddenly made a sudden, firm grip. And suddenly, there was warping, bending, and twisting thentheir surroundings changed. It was like they changed rooms without taking a single step. They were no longer in the room with Kai. They kept their poses, their hands entangled, but they were in a completely different location. 

They were in a completely white room, with nothing but white and mist. There were no walls here, and the nothingness spanned to unseeable lengths. It was extremely cold in this location, this misting space of nothingness. And juxtapositionedamidst this emptinessstood two figures, holding hands.

The Wizard released his grip, edging away from Jin, almost as if to retreat. "Welcome to my domain," he halted, "this is where the tests will be conducted. In this domain, my power will be enhanced, I will be able to predict your moves, and you will be limited to what you can doyou're bound to lose should we spar in here, and as can tell, there is nowhere to run. Any requests before we begin the tests?"

Jin smirked, jamming his hands in his pockets. "Can we not fight in here if I happen to fail the tests? he asked, looking around.

The Wizard tittered. "Disappointing. I boasted and everything about this place. But fine," he feigned a frown, "we'll fight in the village. But since you made that demand, I'm making one as well. I demand that you fight," he glared, "only those who are fighting you and not the innocent villagers. Is that clear, boy? Simple?"

Jin soaked it all in, contemplating the middle-aged man's words. He would not be allowed to go on a massacre, killing oblivious villagers for experience points as he had fantasized. He smirked. But who said he was going to keep his word, who said he couldn't break a promise? He nodded. "That's pretty simple."

The Wizard smiled softly. "Then," he began to hover, "the first test begins. The morality test," he suddenly vanished.

Jin looked around for the Wizard. He looked left. He looked right. Up and down. The Wizard was nowhere to be seen. Was he about to see to an ambush? He kept his guard up lest the latter suddenly transpired.

In this nothingness; there was almost no depth of feild. Jin could not find the Wizard. There was no end to this white void. 

When suddenly, a soundone gruff, reverberating voiceexploded in both Jin's ears. Jon jolted, squeezing a hand closed by full blown instinct. His green dagger manifested in this hand, and was whipped out. 

"False alarm," Jin muttered to himself, still looking around. 

"You did hear me," said the Wizard's voice, "I'm right here."

Jin retreated a bit, walking backward. The voice did not emanate, for there was no source. It came from everywhere. 

Jin smirked, remotely nervous. "You're not gonna attack me, are you? This is just the morality test, right?"

Why of course," the Wizard voice resounded, "I won't be attacking you ... yet. So you can relax a bit. You know what," he chuckled, "I'll ask you the first question now."

Jin raised a brow. "Well?" 

Suddenly, the white voided space was replaced with a different scenery. There were two train tracks, and Jin stood safely on bare ground where there were no tracks. In the middle of the two tracks, Jin furrowed his brows. One trail of tracks to his left and the other to his right. 

On these trackswith a strip of metal on either side, resting firmly atop the wood beneaththere were people. People tied to the tracks; ropes fastened around them.

There were twenty people lined up neatlyscreaming for their liveson the tracks to the left. And only three people on the right tracks, also screaming for their lives.

Jin snorted. He already knew where this was going from the time he looked at the situation at hand. "What's going on, Wizard?" He asked, pretentiously. 

"You know what's going on, boy," the Wizard's voice replied. "There are twenty people on the tracks to the right, all in danger. And merely three people to the left, all in the danger."

Jin furrowed his brows. "What's the catch?"

"Well," the Wizard's voice continued, "it's all simple. In life, certain choices are bound to be made. Such choices can become ... confusing. So, I'd like to ask you a question to see what choice you will make and most importantlywhy.

"In exactly one hundred and twenty seconds from now, two trainsone on the right and the other on the leftwill come zooming down the tracks, crushing the restrained people in their way. Now, you have that amount of time to decide who you're going to save. Let's pretend you can't save them both. Are you going to save the twenty strangers on the right ... or your three best friends on the left? Choose wisely, and don't take your time."

Jin scoffed. This was so easy. This was indeed a morality test, so Jin didn't pretend to be what he was not. And he was not an empath, not anymore. He folded his arms. "I know the answer already."

"What? Is that so?" The Wizard asked, disbelief in his voice. "Then cut your side free! You have less than ninety seconds at remains."

Did Jin go for the more obvious side? The twenty people in danger? Or did he choose his friends over them? Whatever his answer was, he was not moving at all, reluctant to cut a side free.

Jin felt rumbling in the earth, underfoot. And a familiar repetitive noise sounded. He turned around; only to see the trains coming from the tunnels in the distance. Then, he heard an extremely loud train whistle, like a deafening horn. 

Having seen the trains, Jin turned back around, arms still folded, smirking at the screaming people.

"What are you doing!" The Wizard's voice snapped. "Cut a side free! You're running out of time. They'll all be crushed at this rate."

Jin retained his smirk, hearing the trains from behind draw closer to the screaming people who were all tied to the tracks. 

"Cut your chosen side free," The Wizard snapped again, "or you fail the test!"

"What are you talking about?" Jin asked. "I've already cut my chosen side free."

The trains came zooming down the tracks. Jin watched as they zoomed past him on both his sides, and dashed toward the people on the tracks. The people on both sidesall twenty three of themwere all crushed, blood splattering all about. 

In the midsts of all this, Jin managed to maintain his smirk. Soon after, the scenery was gone, the white nothingness retaking its place. Jin was then standing in the void again, still smirking.

The Wizard manifested in front of him, a confused look on his face. What had he just witnessed? He shook his head. "What was that? Why didn't you save any of them? Did you fail the morality test on purpose?"

Jin scoffed. "Why didn't I save any of them? Simple. How was that action going to benefit me? If I tried to save them, I would have been putting my own life in dangermy life that's worth much more than them all to me. Who am I to play to with lives? And just how was doing so going to benefit me? Saving my friends might've benefited mebut not so much at all, considering I'd be risking my own life to save them. Maybe if you put a million dollars on the linemaybe I'll save them, since I'd be earning from it."

Jin hopped on his feet. "That was the morality test? After the real dark energy test, do we start fighting?"

The Wizard simply stood in shock. Perhaps this boy was truly a monster. In this case, a battle was bound to be unearthed!