On his head is a red and black baseball cap with an image of an eagle

spreading its wings. Red plaid shirt, slacks, sturdy-looking leather boots.

A skinny guy with slanted eyes is trampling behind him, drowning in a

loose dark hoodie.

Derik. Man - level 14.

Everyone, listen to me! Sam continues in an authoritative tone. - Stop

squabbling. We are gathering in a column one by one. Come up to me one by

one and tell me who and what they are.

– Who are you anyway? - shouts a bald-headed peasant of a beastly

appearance, with two axes in his hands and a blond beard braided into a

pigtail. I'm not going to listen to anyone! Let my weapons bleed! A-agra-a-a-a!

He lifts his head to the sky and announces the area with his roar. He has a

strange nickname. I wonder what Odin means, that he is allegedly the first in

everything, or that he is tormented by loneliness?

And I don't listen to anyone! Everyone is listening to me. Otherwise, I will

devour the hearts of the recalcitrant! - gives out a dark-skinned thug of level

14 named Arapmoi.

– See! I told you they were going to kill themselves before the Trial! the

light elf speaks again.

- How dare you, woman, give your voice when men speak! - Arapmoi

answers with furious anger in his eyes. “I’ll take you first, and then I’ll eat your

snow-white meat!”

The elf is already suffocating from such a statement. Well, yes, the figures

of eared men are very feminine, and their hair is blond and long. So it is not

surprising that a dark-skinned person in the heat of a rage could confuse.

– Ah-ha-ha! And you, bright bastards, still tried to make fun of us, saying

that women cannot rule the race! And they themselves, it turns out, are

women in pants! How do you restore the population if you have no men at

all! scoffs a tall, curvaceous drow from our neighboring island. – How did you

say, a unique race?! Ahaha! Eggless pale elves!

The rest of the drow join the girl. Mostly women. But there are also a

dozen males who catch every gesture of women and try to please them.

“Ah, you dirty-skinned mistake of nature! You will pay for the insult! Your

ugly spider will not help you here! We will drown you in your own stinking

blood! the light-skinned elf explodes.

The space is drowning in screams and hubbub. Nearby people argue and

sort things out. Elves throw insults.

Other races just calmly look at what is happening, waiting for something.

Who is not here. There are representatives of the race that are a bit like

insects. There is a huge head, an oval body, and instead of limbs, tentacles

bending in all directions. There are even human ones. But they have long legs

disproportionate to the body, arms with two elbow bends, an absolutely bald

head, with weakly expressed facial features and three eyes.

I can't see them all. The center of space is illuminated by a bright

flash. After it remains a small luminous ball. It hangs in the void for a while,

and then a lifeless mechanical voice is heard from there:

- Attention! The test control circuit welcomes participants! You are in the

original peaceful zone. For the period of stay here, silence and order are

required. The source of the violations will be eliminated.

“Listen, Scorpio! - Addresses his leader Straw. His loud voice resounds

throughout space. - Come on, while this crap is broadcasting something, let's

soak the bastard together!

His finger is pointing at me.

Suddenly, a very thin light beam shoots out of the luminous ball.

Bzzz!

Straw instantly decays, gleaming with white sparks, and disappears. Not

even ashes remain.

Thor, who opens his mouth, does not utter a sound. Just like the rest of

the people.

“Minus one point to the human race for the violation. Minus five points to

the human race for the loss of a member, a mechanical voice announces. The

light elves smile wickedly. – The location for the Trial was created outside of

time, in a spatial pocket of the universe. Race-initiator Trials - people. The

bonus of the initiator race is the possibility of resurrection after passing the

first two maps, if the deceased has reasonable “attempts to rebirth”. The goal

of the Trial is to successfully complete all the maps, score the most racial

points, and survive. The reward is the relic "Font of Rebirth". The winner will be

able to take her to the mother planet of their race.

Mechanical speech is interrupted by a massive gasp of surprise. It seems

that this award is a surprise for all the races gathered here. I wonder what this

relic gives? What was I thinking?

The glowing ball hums tensely for a while. Not catching the source of the

silence, he starts broadcasting again:

– The force of gravity is averaged. Interlocation boxes for rest have been

created. The generation of location maps is coming to an end. Preparing the

first card. Location: “The Labyrinth is the ruins of the protective perimeter of

one of the Departed races. First level." Participants get ready!

Before the eyes light up large numbers leading the countdown.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5…

Alien races are selected at once and stand in some kind of rack. But most

people are at a loss, not knowing what to do. I tense my whole body, expecting

the worst. I find with the eyes of a Scorpio. He also looks at me, and is tense.

2, 1.

Flash!

Losing my sense of balance. Before the eyes of impenetrable

darkness. Bright white text pops up.

Map-location "Labyrinth - the ruins of the protective perimeter of one of

the races of the Departed" - the first level.

A task:

* Be the first to reach the center of the first level of the labyrinth.

* Facilitate as many representatives of your race as possible to reach the

center of the first level of the labyrinth.

* Survive.

The first person to reach the center of the first level labyrinth receives: 5

points.

Everyone who reaches (except the first one) receives: 3 points.

Death Penalty: -5 points.

Advice:

Have time to hide in the shelters of the labyrinth before the Beaters

reach you.

Beaters will be admitted to the labyrinth 20 minutes after the start.

For some time the text still hangs before my eyes. Then dissipates, like

darkness.

From the opened picture, the heart stops and the breath breaks.

- Ltd! Silent One exclaims nearby.

– Ah-ah! I'm falling! - someone screams, filled with wild fear and panic.

I hear a few other similar reactions. And there was something to scream

about.

We rise to great heights and fall. Surrounded by voluminous islands of

clouds. And far below the earth. It is a giant flat pancake. Beyond the

emptiness of space. For some reason, an image pops up in my head, how

such a piece of surface is supported from below by three elephants, then

three whales, then a turtle. And then all at once.

Along the edge of the surface disk, starting from the edge itself, a moving

dark strip is clearly visible. It resembles a pattern-gilding on a saucer. In the

center of the disk, occupying most of the location, there is a structure

resembling rings of high walls nestled one inside the other. Look, this is the

labyrinth. The haze enveloping the structure does not give a closer look at the

internal structure. From the dark stripe to the giant structure, there is a field of

light turquoise.

Immediately I try to create an air shield under me. Does not work. In

general, conjuring does not work. Scales of health, mana, stamina are

missing. Panic sets in. I turn my head to the side. Falling people in the majority

continue to yell something and wave their limbs. Who has stronger nerves and

more endurance, like me, silently look around.

Groups of representatives of other races fall at a decent distance from us

and from each other. You can see only a small part of all the participants. The

rest are too far away.

But it is enough for me to look at the neighbors to calm down. The dark

elves falling on our right side show no signs of panic. On the contrary, they are

smiling, talking, looking at the screaming people.

To the left, sentient visually resembling crabs are falling. It is impossible

to determine the emotions on their faces. I can’t even say with certainty where

they have these very faces. But, most importantly, they do not move and do

not jerk their limbs, like people who have fallen into a panic.

It turns out that other races calmly perceive what is happening. So, we

have nothing to be afraid of.

Again I turn my gaze to the "earthlings". Most of them have already coped

with their emotions, calmed down, and are falling in obvious tension. The

smaller one continues to hysteria.

I calm down quickly as I watch the surface rapidly approach. How the

labyrinth acquires simply colossal proportions. Strangely, there is no strong

air resistance when falling.

Flying past another cloud, either for even more complacency, or for

something else, it breaks me into a song:

- Clouds! White horses! Clouds-ah! What are you rushing without looking

back?

They start to throw puzzled and sidelong glances at me.

- Do not look, please, from above!

And then the Silent One's bass is unexpectedly added:

And roll us across the sky, clouds-ah!

Here I am already looking at him in surprise, like Scorpio. Thor makes the

hand-face gesture.

[ - Add musical accompaniment? ]

"Not worth it."

[ - And you know, I'm just in a great mood. And do you know why? ]

"I can assume you're planning on taking a bite out of someone."

[ - And you're right, young Padawan! There's so much variety here. There are

no such exclusive specimens on your planet. You, most importantly, gain

confidence in those "crabs". They need to be eaten anyway. Look at their

natural armor! Here we would like this. Imagine if we build up armor plates

instead of skin, sharp claws instead of arms. With fast regeneration and the

ability to kill with magic, you will become a real death machine! ]

" - Well, I do not! I do not intend to acquire armor plates. As well as having

claws instead of normal hands. It's some kind of kapets!

[- You do not understand anything in beauty, harmony and aesthetics. ]

At this moment, the image before my eyes is very blurred, and I instantly

find myself on the ground, firmly standing on my feet. As if he did not soar

under the clouds. Everyone around looks at each other in surprise.

We are standing on a soft carpet of light turquoise grass. On both sides,

translucent walls separating from other races. Another one in front. Large

numbers appear on it, counting the seconds.

10, 9, 8, 7…

Behind it, at a decent distance, there is a structure, as I understand it,

which is a labyrinth. Behind the same wall with a timer, only for twenty

minutes. Behind her, countless black creatures of a creepy look are staring at

us. Well, how many of them, since from a flight height do they look like a strip

framing the entire location?

Imagine a crocodile, only very furry, and standing on the paws of a

gorilla. The crest on its back turns into a forked long tail with claws at the

ends. The head is crowned with three small horns.

Gruzbarr - Level 20. (Role: Beater)

– Aah! - twitches, standing close to the partition that separates us from

the monsters, only the man turned around. The near gruzbarr at this moment

opens its huge toothy mouth wide, and tries to bite through the translucent

wall. - Bitch! Well, the scarecrow!

The beater snaps its mouth. Then it opens again, and from there shoots

out a long and thick tongue, studded with sharp hooks. But he powerlessly

slides off the barrier.

“Guys, we need to discuss the strategy,” Sam addresses everyone.

But most don't listen to him. And Arapmoi rushes to the wall separating us

from the beaters, and yells with saliva:

- I'm not afraid of you! I'll eat you myself! I am Arapmoi! I will tear you

apart with my hands!

Despite the statement, a weapon is clamped in his hands. In one hand is a

narrow hatchet, made of an incomprehensible material. And in the other - a

club, the top of which is a healthy skull.

“I wouldn’t want to get in their teeth,” says a man dressed in khaki clothes

and various overlays made of dark hard material. In his hands is a large

rectangular transparent shield and a spear.

I'm testing the ability to use magic. It was possible to create a small

stream of wind. Excellent! On the surface, magical abilities work.

The timer seconds are running out. The translucent barrier separating

from the labyrinth disappears.

Most people break into a run.

- Stop! Sam yells after them.

“Stay close to the toothy creatures yourself!” - comes in

response. "Distract while we hide!"