TOWER OF GOD // 5undy au

lero ro's pretest // THREE

"No worries, it's a very simple pretest! Allow us to begin."

There was a dangerous glint of.. something in Lero Ro's eyes. Five steeled himself for whatever test would happen, tensing his shoulders and maintaining a straight-backed posture ( just as Hafu had taught him ), all while staring up at the Ranker. Fundy and Punz gave him questioning looks as they stood on either side of him.

Lero Ro was walking left and right, waving his hands at certain parts of the crowd. "Okay, this way and that way, here and there, and.. everywhere," 

' The hell is he doing? '

"And... boom!"

Suddenly, a large force pushed all of the Regulars back. Those standing nearest to the stage took the most of it, some falling onto their backs and not getting back up, others grimacing at the fact that they'd been hit. It was as if a bomb had been dropped in front of all of them, an invisible bomb that made..

' A barrier.. of shinsu?! '

Five's eyes widened.

' I thought that the Rankers weren't allowed to use shinsu on the Regulars, at least not so soon..! '

Lero Ro had a smirk on his face at the reactions of the other Regulars. 

"This is a barrier of shinsu. I compressed the shinsu, in order for it to push you all out. As you all should know rather well, shinsu is everywhere in the Tower, and it plays an important role in our everyday lives because it allows us to breathe and provides us water to drink. However, as some of you may know.. shinsu can be a powerful weapon, provided you use it right."

Oddly enough, the Ranker stared directly at Five when he said that. 

' ..He doesn't know. It's fine, he's just staring at you because you're in front of him. '

"Highly concentrated shinsu is so strong that it can break bones. This is why everybody uses shinsu to fight others in the Tower. However, there are some of you who show adverse reactions to shinsu. In other words," Lero Ro said, staring at the sea of Regulars in front of him.

"..Those who can't deal well with shinsu, are not appropriate candidates to be in the Tower. Those that can pass through the barrier, you don't have adverse reactions to the shinsu. Teams that can pass through this barrier pass, and others will fail. Alright, everyone understood?" The grin on Lero Ro's face was vicious, like a cat grinning at the mice it was about to snatch up and eat.

"Wait! Did you say team? What if one of your teammates can't pass through the barrier?!" "Well, isn't it obvious? Whichever team is unable to pass through.. fails," Lero Ro shrugged. "This is, after all, a test of luck. That's what's most important when climbing the Tower." 

"The luck of having a strong body, luck to escape from death, the luck to be smart or rich.. the only reason why any of you got this far, was because you were lucky. So hurry up and take the test."

Five sighed. "Well, the amount of shinsu in that barrier doesn't look that high.. So we should be able to get through fine, because Punz, you were hunting through the use of shinsu, yeah?" The blond turned to look at him. 

"Yeah, I was." 

"Well, in that case, I think the only one we need to worry about getting through is Fundy.. wait." The pinkette glanced around. "Fundy?"

Wait.

His teammate was..

"Uh, Mr. Ro? I don't.. know why, but I seem to have been pushed out by the barrier.. I.. I'll go back in and retake it if you could.. let me out?" Fundy fiddled nervously with his hands.