Chapter 9: Chapter Nine: The Wise Choice.

| Phase two: You are trapped within this room. Find a way out of the space within two hours. There are many ways out of the room, but there is only one wise answer. |

Flynn read over one of his favorite prompts from his entire time within the trials. Well, at least the parts he could remember. This particular phase within the tutorial was one that The delinquent had actually passed with a decent score. In fact, he departed with flying colors in his first attempt.

He looked around at the various people rummaging within the large room and decided to deactivate his ability. He felt it was unnecessary since his emotions could only get him in so much trouble in a small non-combat room that he already knew the way out of. Besides, it felt somehow wrong to meet humanity again without emotions. He wasn't a psychopath. On second thought, now that he thought about it, On some level, that is what the ability did. Like most thoughts he didn't like, he decided to push that down into the category of his brain labeled: Things he would process later.

He immediately felt the suppressed emotions from the last few hours, and they hit him like a truck that was on fire... and probably spinning. Anger and frustration took the forefront, but a twinge of anxiety laced its edges. He imagined most of this came from his fight with the sandworm. It was a nasty monster, and he hated fighting enemies like it. Really anything that he lost visual contact with during combat was frustrating. And there was the obvious. The ever-growing anxiety and weight of his responsibility. One misstep, one mistake, and he'd die, dooming humanity to its fate.

It took more than a few moments of steady breathing to calm Flynn down, and his wired cluster of emotions dissipated as he tried to work through them. The entire experience made him reluctant to use the ability in the future. If only a few hours of emotions hit him this intensely, he couldn't imagine what a week's worth of emotions would feel like. He rolled his shoulders, letting his psyche loosen as he looked around the room, trying to get his mind off it.

The room was large enough to hold the two hundred people with ease. The room had old dusty bookshelves filled to the brim with trinkets and random assortments. On one shelf, he spotted a globe of a world so foreign it seemed impossible on another sat books that sparkled with the hum of magic. Almost every object was a possible way to escape the room. It reminded Flynn of escape rooms people did for fun back on earth, but instead of getting 'A try again next time.' speech after losing, you'd just die. That being said, you'd have to be an idiot to not find a way out.

Flynn yawned, his head resting against a Persian looking rug he had rolled up and used as a pillow. Of course, Flynn could quickly clear this room and even help the others, but he preferred the physical world over the unbodied state the trials would put him in while everyone else finished this phase. That and having an entire group pass a phase perfectly could and probably would change the outcome of his timeline, and knowing the future wasn't something he was willing to give up quite yet, if ever.

There was also the fact that no matter how much effort he put into the tutorial, there was only so much power he could gain. This was especially true in the first two assessments. It was better for him to relax, at least while he still could. After all, there was nothing in the room he could take. Everything would disappear once he came out on the other side. Besides, the lazy swordsman enjoyed the company of his fellow human.

"Are you not going to help? Everyone else is franticly hunting for a way out, and you haven't gotten up since you found that rug." An irritated voice broke through his peaceful rest, and he amended his previous statement.

"Well, at least some of them anyway." The delinquent mumbled the words as he looked at the impromptu leader. She had shown great potential so far, something Flynn hadn't had time to notice in his first life. After appearing in the room, she had settled the crowd and got them all working together for a single goal. It was a remarkable show of charisma and leadership, considering how everyone must be feeling right now.

Her piercing emerald eyes that spoke of darker days looked down at him with venom, and although she put on an aura of confidence, Flynn saw under the facade. Dark bags formed under her eyes from lack of sleep. The scowl she wore fooled most, but the delinquent only saw the stress and fear that laced its edges.

The girl was exhausted, and she had every right to be. She had been thrown into an unknown world, forced to fight, and tested on things she didn't understand. So, He wouldn't hold her anger against her. It also helped that he actually remembered her. He had cleared not only the second phase of this assessment with her but also the third. She had even gone as far as to save him from death in the final tutorial, so he'd bite his tongue and not mention how annoying her constant bickering had been. If there was one thing Flynn did, it was to repay debts tenfold.

"I don't have time for this." Her voice was cold as she turned and started to walk away. Flynn began to let her go but decided it would be better to have a working relationship with her, she wasn't exactly the leader of the final assessment, but she was one of the heavy hitters within his group.

"Why not take one of the already discovered exits?" He asked a question He already knew the answer to. She cocked a hip in response. "I mean, there are plenty of exits. That girl over there translated a book of magic and opened a portal out, and that over there." Flynn indicated a small vent. "I'm sure I saw a boy similar to your build squeeze through not five minutes ago." The girl didn't answer.

Flynn looked over at the timer, which only had ten minutes left. Most people in the room had found a way out, and those still around were finishing up. One brute of a man rammed through the wall headfirst, disappearing after leaving a human-sized hole in it. Another fell off a ladder straight into the open portal causing Flynn to chuckle and leaving him alone with the girl. It played out just like it did in his first life. Well, other than the pretty blonde glaring daggers at him, she had been much more agreeable the first time around. She finally broke the silence after a long while of dissatisfied staring.

"The quest says there is only one right answer." She spoke, her attention drifting to the portal across the room. "It's obvious that completing the assessments results in a stronger body and mind. Hell, anyone could feel the changes the stat points make." She said the words as she looked at her hand, gripping and releasing it, making Flynn wonder what round she had made it to in the combat assessment. The girl moved with otherworldly grace, but he knew it came from something other than the dexterity points she had. No, she was a genuine irregular; those who went into the tutorial no the trials already somewhat prepared for its horrors.

"The quest said there is only one wise answer." Flynn corrected. "The correct answer is to survive, even if you give up skill points; after all, what is power If you're dead." The test was really in two parts, the ability to leave and give up potentially making the wrong decision. Some stayed too long and disappeared forever, and the second part was to find the right way out.

"So your saying I should just give up?" She all but spat. "People like y-"

| Five minutes remaining. |

The girl paused, reading the same window that appeared in front of Flynn.

"You've wasted my time." Her voice was cold as she walked over to the portal. On the other hand, the delinquent walked in the opposite direction towards a small, unassuming door. "Where are you going?" She asked suspiciously, and as she turned, she seemed to notice the door for the first time. It wasn't a surprise; it was plain and inconspicuous compared to the wonders that filled the room. It was just a standard door you might see in any building. One Flynn even assumed probably had some sort of enchantment on it.

"The wise way." Flynn was smirking, "After all, when put in a room and told to exit, the wise thing to do is..." He paused for effect, reaching out and turning the nob. "To try the door." He turned his head to look back, a cocky grin stretching across his face as he once again disappeared into ethereal blue light, leaving a dumbfounded pair of green eyes staring at the place he once stood in disbelief.