Chapter 137: Echo Room Three

"Where will the test or exam be conducted?" Zishan asked, ignoring Ernest for now and focusing on what lay ahead of him.

The woman behind the counter gathered the papers she had taken out earlier. She checked several entries and used a dipped quill against one of the blank sections before answering. "It will be done in what we call an Echo Room."

Zishan’s attention went back to her. He wondered whether he’d be given like a Magic Cube or an orb and that would test his talents and all. However, he still did not know what this Echo Room would do. But of course, a guild that’s called Thousand Echoes would name its application examination rooms like that. It was like if the party’s theme was Retro, they’d stick to it.

’That’s commitment right there,’ he thought.

The employee continued working through the form while she explained that Echo Rooms were used by most Thousand Echoes branches that had the authority to register new members. Instead of measuring how much Mana an applicant could release or asking them to beat something until one side stopped moving, the Guild preferred to see how the person handled information.

Each Echo Room contained preserved recreations of incidents collected by the Guild over the years. Some came from expeditions, some from failed missions, abandoned sites, Folds, investigations, or cases that had already been resolved either a short or long time ago.

The applicant would be placed inside one of those recreations. He would then be given one task, that was, to examine what remained and explain what happened.

Zishan listened more carefully after hearing that. "So I’m sort of like investigating something?"

"In simple terms, yes." The woman turned one of the papers around and pointed at several sections near the bottom. "You will be given thirty minutes. You may inspect the environment and anything inside you can see inside. But again, remember that destroying evidence is prohibited. The Echo Room will not respond to your questions, and nobody outside the room will be allowed to help you once the examination begins."

Her pen moved toward four lines written beneath the instructions.

’So this is how the applicants are scored. I was just about to ask this.’

Observation and Reasoning were given the highest weight, thirty points each. Judgment and Integrity were worth twenty each, which brought the total to one hundred. Sixty points were enough to pass, although reaching sixty was not entirely a guarantee, because the examiners might have noticed something during the entire process that they’d deem your exam results as void.

She also explained that destroying evidence on purpose, ignoring the examination rules, or displaying judgment dangerous enough to put other people at risk could result in rejection regardless of the final score.

Zishan’s eyes stayed on the last category. "Integrity..."

The woman nodded. "You are not required to solve every Echo perfectly. Some do not contain enough information for that. We care about whether you understand what you know, what you don’t know, and what you are only assuming."

For some reason, Zishan liked that rule more than the others. He had met people in his first few weeks in Cyrune who could say complete nonsense with the confidence of someone delivering some kind of divine scripture.

"So I can get part of the answer wrong and still pass?" Zishan clarified. "As long as I get at least 60 points?"

"If your reasoning is sound and you are honest about the uncertain parts, yes. Also, remember that a lucky guess does not automatically make an applicant competent either," the lady said.

Zishan glanced toward Ernest.

The old man was watching him with the same shameless amusement from earlier, although at least the suspicious grin had disappeared.

’So this is what he was so confident about.’

Ernest had already watched Zishan fight more times than either of them probably wanted to count. If Thousand Echoes had asked him to destroy a training target, there would not have been much of a test to begin with.

The woman finished the final line on the registration form before stamping the Thousand Echoes crest near the bottom. "Your companions may observe from the viewing chamber. They will be unable to communicate with you during the examination."

Ollie, who had remained on Zishan’s shoulders through the entire explanation, leaned forward until part of his face appeared upside down in Zishan’s vision.

"I can watch Big Brother?"

"You can," the lady said, smiling while finding the boy cute.

Ollie looked pleased that Zishan immediately felt additional pressure for reasons completely unrelated to passing.

"Great," he muttered. "Now if I embarrass myself, there’s a witness small enough to remember it for the rest of his life."

Ollie laughed above him.

Ernest placed one hand on Zishan’s shoulder as they prepared to leave the counter. "Try not to embarrass yourself too much."

Zishan looked at him. "You’re the one who said I’ll pass whatever assessment they give me, old man. Enough with your bullshits."

"I said you’ll pass. I did not say you’re not going to embarrass yourself. If you can’t even pass this test, then you’re practically braindead."

The old man started walking before Zishan could answer.

Zishan stared at his back, feeling exasperated by the old man’s remark. Meanwhile, Elinox followed behind Ernest without saying another word.

An employee guided them through a passage behind the main counter. The deeper section of the building actually felt older than the entrance, with narrow windows placed high along the walls and doors marked by the same crest they had seen everywhere since arriving in this guild.

They stopped outside the third room.

The door looked ordinary to Zishan. It looked nothing exceptional. ’Just a normal door on a normal day, I guess.’

"This is Echo Room Three," the employee said.

When the door opened, the inside looked quite exquisite. The chamber itself was plain, but a large formation had been carved into the floor, beginning from a small circle at the center before expanding into overlapping rings that reached the walls. The design reminded him of ripples across a body of water, disturbed by a drop of some rock or object.

Zishan allowed Ollie to climb down, and the little boy moved beside Elinox while Ernest entered a smaller adjoining room with them. A darkened pane separated that viewing chamber from the examination area.

The woman from the counter remained near the entrance and gave Zishan the final instruction. "When you believe you understand the incident, state that you are ready to submit your conclusion. The Echo will continue until then or until your thirty minutes expire."

Zishan looked once toward the dark viewing pane. He couldn’t see anyone behind it. But he could sense that Ollie was probably pressing his face against the glass already.

He ignored that thought and just stepped onto the center of the formation. "Fine. Let’s see it."

Then, the door shut.