”Well, look what the trash collector dragged in. It's none other than the Moonlight Duo, tsk”
As we enter the room, every eye immediately turns towards us. As expected, April, Geo, Brian and Marcos are there. Unfortunately, it appears that Luna is still alive. She is also rearing to pick a fight apparently.
Naturally, we are wearing our signature capes that are gleaming with moonlight (thanks to the power of pure inae). This time though, I am wearing a very simple black Admiral’s uniform. With our insignia embedded on the back of course.
Ray is absolutely gorgeous in a platinum flight suit, made out of real platinum (though it's reinforced underneath with the typical exosuit). It perfectly highlights her entire figure, sure to draw all the attention.
“Oh wow, look, that dull gem is trying to talk to us. Whatever shall we do, Ko? Maybe we should grind it down and make it into a worthless necklace.”
“Come on. That'd be disrespectful to the metal of the necklace. It deserves something far better than that poor thing. Maybe we should just burn it for energy, it'll make great fuel for our new battleship.”
“Nice one, Ko. Can't believe such a dull gem would dare speak to us. Like, our light doesn't even bounce off her ‘cause of how dull she is.”
I notice April and her group are trying (and somewhat failing) to stifle some laughter. Luna looks absolutely furious at how easily we rebutted her insult. Not only that but we struck back with the force that only we can muster.
“Dull? I'm gleaming far more than you could ever tell. Perhaps you are blinded by your fake moonlight and cannot see value where it truly lies. Also, I'll have you know, this dress is made out of real gemstones imported from Earth.”
She gestures to her, admittedly, quite nice dress. It is made out of a thread composed of a rainbow of gems. It seems to shimmer between different colors depending upon how the light hits it. Though honestly, I prefer Ray’s flight suit, it's just way more striking (not to mention the person wearing it).
“Wowee, some fancy gemstones from Earth. You can't even go a bit farther, our capes are made out of the moon itself. This suit is truly platinum as well, the purest metal in the universe.” [Note: Platinum is not the purest metal in the universe, this is merely a bluff.]
“Truly, a masterpiece in wasting funds. Like, gemstones aren't even uncommon, and you bothered to get them from Earth of all places. Can’t believe your sponsors would select such a wasteful contestant, it doesn't bode well for your future prospects I say.”
“Wow, look who's speaking, the worthless son living off his father’s wealth. What a hypocrite to be speaking about wasting wealth, when your entire existence up to this point has been nothing but waste.”
Ouch, that one actually stung a little bit.
I quickly turn to Ray and grab her. She is trying to escape my grip, probably to cause a major intergalactic diplomatic incident to Luna’s face. Luckily it is at this moment that the saviour April comes over to have a chat. She is wearing a tightly fitted emerald dress. For some reason, most of the back just doesn't seem to exist. I'm not even going to try to say that I understand how fashion works, let alone the fashion behind dresses.
“Now now, ladies, and gentleman. Why don't we all tone it down a bit, we are all here to compete in a contest of merits. Not of insults. We are all fellow humans here! Let's rejoice in celebration of this major milestone in our journey towards perfection.”
At April’s words, Ray calms down a bit and goes back into full political mode. Luna merely tsks and walks away, satisfied with getting a rise outa Ray I’d bet.
“Why of course, this is a test of humanity after all. But can’t fault those that lack humanity entirely, too much. So lets just all ensure we enjoy this ceremony and that which follows afterwards.” She says this in her most politically neutral tone with a brilliant smile on her face. If she used that on me and told me to walk off a cliff, I would do it without hesitation.
Luna pretends to have not heard the bonus insult directed at her and merely remains silent by the door. Her impeccable mask has stayed flawless this entire time. I cannot imagine the horrors that she must've endured to produce such a strong facade.
Ray proceeds to have a nice little chat with April. Discussing some of the fun things that they have both been up to. I overhear a bit about April and her group heading to a luxury resort in the Shesah’s embassy and how wonderful it was.
I walk up to the group of guys and we just stand apart a bit. I give them a nod, and they nod in turn. I then walk away and go back to Ray. As always, I am a master at highly delicate and complicated political maneuvers.
Though Ray still has me beat by an exoplanet mile. Never quite understood how she can be so good at politics, when we both use similar techniques. But nonetheless, it's best to leave any super duper important matters to her. I can merely make sure she has the leverage required to properly negotiate.
It is now that the station’s AI finally announces what we have all been waiting for.
“Dear contestants, it is now time for the ceremony to begin. Please head through the doors with your groups.”
Luna, with her group of one, ends up heading through the door first. Then Ray and I follow her and April’s pack brings up the rear. We exit out into a grand stadium, there are stands on all sides, filled with tens of thousands of cheering people.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Ray automatically goes into super duper celebrity mode while I try my best not to trip. It seems the crowd only gets louder the more she works, she is truly stunning. It's no wonder we have jumped to such popularity. With her at the helm we could probably form a cult across the entire universe.
At the center of the stadium stands a hexagonal stage. On it are three podiums of various heights as well as one that is clearly for the gamekeeper themselves. I presume that the first place group stands at the top and the last at the bottom.
By the way, just a bit earlier, I learned that April’s group managed to come in first. Ray’s intelligence gathering skills by way of extremely giggly conversation strike once again.
We take up our spots on the bottom podium naturally. April’s group looks very proud to be standing at the top. Whereas Luna is just staring off at the crowd with her blank expression. The only one on her podium, which says a lot about her character.
After a few moments, the Gamekeeper rises out from the ground behind their podium. Guess it's time for another lengthy speech, I can't wait to see what will be revealed this time.
“Greetings, ladies, gentlemen, everything in between and without. I welcome you to the ending ceremony for the first trial in Humanity’s Trial of Ascension. I hear that the net has taken to referring to it as Humanity’s Game.
Now now, without further ado, let's get on with the main reason you all are watching. The point distributions!” The crowd erupts into cheers at this proclamation. Apparently everyone really is just here for the point distribution.
In front of us appears a holographic scoreboard with the names of our three groups. Ray and I, the Moonlight Duo. April, Geo, Brian and Marcos, the Casual Quartet (whatever that means). And Luna, the Lone Snowflake. I barely manage to stifle a laugh at Luna’s team name. Like, that's the name she got stuck with, she must be fuming about that. [By the way, the names are decided by general consensus of the universe-net]
The scores are as follows;
Casual Quartet: 5 Points | 1st place (4 points) + 3 bonus objectives (1 point)
Moonlight Duo: 4 Points | 3rd place (1 point) + 4 bonus objectives (3 points)
Lone Snowflake: 3 Points | 2nd Place (3 points) + 1 bonus objective (0 points)
Woah, we managed to come in second place overall! I guess managing to finish all four bonus objectives really helped us out. I wonder what the fourth altar’s bonus objective was. I can't really remember anything special standing out. Maybe it was recruiting Emil to our side? But that would make it so that only one group would be able to get all four objectives.
Anyways, the Gamekeeper demands order once again and the crowd that went completely ballistic at the scores calms down.
“Now, what a mighty surprise. Even coming in 3rd place, the Moonlight Duo managed to accomplish all four bonus objectives and placed second overall. They really went the extra mile, and it paid off.
With that, I would like to play this specially created highlight reel of our contestants’s best moments on each altar!"
A giant screen then appears and starts to play a highlight reel of our adventures.
It starts with the quartet. Apparently they had quite a fun time in the waters of Likaz. One of them nearly got eaten whole. Also they managed to kill the massive dragon that was in the way on Grasia. By combining their four rifles and suppressive fire they managed to wear the behemoth down and slay it. Though, it wasn't actually intended to be killed so they got nothing besides bragging rights and saved time. As for the other skill challenges, each member of the quarter worked great in one area. Marcos turned out to be a great cook, April was great at riding horses, Brian was great at doing the menial labor quickly and Geo made a brilliant perfume.
Strangely enough, it seems that their Castil altar was quite different from ours. It still had the bit with the skimboard and the menial tasks. But rather than the celebration, they had to solve a difficult riddle. Perhaps the nature of the altar had to change due to our late arrival? The temple wasn't specially designed for the altar, it just happened to be incorporated as one so it makes sense. Also, we were made to perform far more menial labor than the others, how unfair (though it was actually quite fun).
Luna did fairly well all around. But she wasn't particularly exemplary. In fact, the only reason she appears to have gotten the Valker bonus objective was due to sheer luck. She was such a bad cook that she made a very bland meal which just so happened to pass the bonus requirement.
Our highlight reel was by far the longest. It really focused on how much fun we had while doing it. We were just casually strolling through all the tasks and laughing merrily through them. In sharp contrast to the others who took it more seriously and worked super hard.
Honestly, even if we weren't disqualified from the race, I can't imagine us rushing it too much. We probably would have done things just the same. After all, it's not always about the destination. But the journey itself is a reward unto itself.
It was really fun rewatching the highlights of our journey. It was so much fun, which is shown very clearly in the highlights. I can't believe that the first trial turned out so nicely. I can only hope that the upcoming trials go similarly (though with us coming in first place of course).
“Now, with that wonderful display of our contestants, great skills are out of the way. Allow me to announce several important things.
Firstly, as the first trial is completed, several new functions have been unlocked within the contestants’s augmentation kits. These are cutting edge abilities that are barely out of prototyping. So be sure to use them well!
Secondly, the IEC has conducted an investigation into the interference that the Moonlight Duo experienced. It has been deduced that the act was perpetrated by an unaffiliated pirate enclave seeking to loot the valuable tech inside the contestants’ augmentation kit and exosuits. Which has since been extinguished using the full might of the IEC.
Thirdly, I proclaim that the second trial of Humanity’s Trial of Ascension, hereby referred to as Humanity’s Game, will begin on the first day of the fourth month, 3079 PV. Further details will be announced at the commencement of the trial.
And last, but certainly not least, I invite the contestants and their allies to a grand celebration. The Scavenger’s Race Gala. It shall take place at 12:00 IST tomorrow. You won't want to miss it, I'm sure you all will have much fun as our guests of honor!”
With that pronouncement the crowd erupts into cheers. Ray unexpectedly grabs my hand and raises it, clasped in hers, high above our heads. Egging the crowd on even further.
After a few minutes of crowdwork, we all depart the stage and head back to our respective ships. Many are likely eager to figure out all the new gadgets we have been given.
Whatever should come in the future. Be it the second trial, another pirate enclave or any other trial. With our combined allies and abilities, Ray and I shall endure it together. After all, luce lunae per aspera ad astra et ultra. So, bring it on.
End of Chapter 45
A/N: Greetings to wonderful and dear readers. Author here. Can you believe it, we have already made it to the end of the first trial. Only six more to go until someone gets declared administrator. There is still a bit more to volume one and many more crazy developments upcoming beyond this volume. So be sure to stay tuned, you truly won't want to miss what happens next!
As always, if you are enjoying this ever expanding webnovel, which you must be since you've made it to chapter 45! Be sure to follow/favourite/rate/leave a review, it is always appreciated! Until the next one, dear reader.
- Cathrix
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