The Culling Protocol

Introduction

I blink before a warm calming feeling begins pooling into my body. I feel it, a sort of tingling spread from the center of my chest throughout my body. It fills my limbs, reaching to my extremities before I feel it start to go up to my head. As the strange feeling began to fill my head something amazing happened. My vision became incredibly sharp, letting me see way further into the distance than I felt I could even a second before. My hearing likewise increased and I could now hear a faint breeze that before was unnoticeable. I grin suddenly delighted by the amazing feeling. I move to get up and feel that my body feels lighter and faster as well. Unsure of what was going on I stood up and looked at myself, there was no noticeable difference but the feeling from within me was spectacular. I happily start bouncing from foot to foot feeling amazing. As time went on the feeling got more defined and it made me feel even more powerful. In a power-induced haze, I start laughing to myself, then I take off. I feel like I'm flying as I tear across the field at great speeds, the feeling being nothing I've ever experienced before. However, then the feeling started to overwhelm me slightly, the fullness of the power seemed to begin pushing at me. I stop looking down somewhat concerned, then I remember what the text box had said. It was going to keep filling me with mana until I couldn't hold anymore. But wait does that mean that it's going to keep pumping more in until I'm close to popping? A cold sweat spreads through my body as the feeling that once was so amazing became steadily more uncomfortable. It eventually got to a point where I doubled over, feeling like an overstuffed water balloon. My vision goes hazy and I tumble back down to the ground. I scream out the feeling becoming unbearable for a time until the world begins to steadily go dark. Then just as my vision was about to cut out completely, the feeling stopped and my vision steadily came back. I groan the earlier feeling of amazing new power now coursing through my body at a bearable amount. Carefully I stand back up readying myself for any more uncomfortable assaults. However, none ever came, instead, another chime rings out and a new text box appears. [Congratulations participant No. 330,459. Mana capacity test completed. Calculated maximum mana amount: 20,000. Initial ranking based off mana capacity: 120]

I stare dumbfounded for a moment before my brain suddenly kicks back in. That's right, whatever this weird thing is, it's testing us. So based off my mana capacity, I'm number 120 on the leaderboard right now. I'm assuming that has to mean my mana capacity is good, right? Based off what it said earlier, the higher I am on the leaderboard the more power I will get at the end of this 'initiation'. If more power means that I will be able to feel as good as I did earlier, then I want to try and get as high as I can. I don't know what is happening or what it means for the world, but what I do know is that if other people are getting powers like this I need to have enough of my own to survive. Clutching my hands into a fist I look at the text box with newfound determination. [Test 2:Mana compatibility starting now]

Suddenly a cube, about as big as a Rubik's Cube, appears on the floor in front of me. Leaning down, I pick it up and look at it. It's a simple nondescript black cube with no engravings or markings of any type noticeable. Knowing this was a test of mana control I close my eyes and try to focus on the well of new power I can feel coursing through my body. As I focus on it the patterns become more irregular, curious I try focusing on a particular point of my body and notice that the majority of the mana within me rushes to that one spot. Understanding that much I focus on the hand that holds the cube. As soon as the mana within my body reaches my hand I hear a faint hum emanating from the cube, opening my eyes I notice a slight glow. Looking closer I notice that markings are steadily appearing throughout the cube, with a closer inspection I see that the lines on the cube form a sort of maze on its surface. I turn the cube in my hand looking around at the maze to see if I can find the end point, or even the starting point. Eventually I see a spot that was darker than the rest, changing the angle I was holding the cube. I notice it's a sort of hole burrowing into the surface of the cube. Not noticing much else about the hole I continue turning the cube, until suddenly I find a pinprick of dark blue light in between two lines of white on the cube. Unsure of if that was the starting point or not I decided to try and see what happens when I direct the mana in the cube. Using the connection between the cube and my hand I focus on the string of my mana that seems to go up into the cube. Moving it slightly I notice the blue light grow in the direction I push it. Grinning to myself I look at the cube and begin meticulously solving the maze, trying my best to not hit any deadends and solve it as fast as possible. After about 10 minutes I finally got close to my goal. Seeing a straight shot from my mana line to the hole in the cube I push the mana in that direction as fast as I can. The line of mana enters the hole and I pump my empty fist into the air celebrating my victory. However, nothing happens. The cube remains as it was with the line going through the maze on the outside, there was no notification saying that I had completed the puzzle. I looked down at the cube utterly confused before a thought struck me. I focus on the feeling of the mana and curse loudly. Based off what happens as I try to push the mana around I notice that there is more maze within the insides of the cube. The goal was never that hole, it was nothing more than a means to get inside the cube. Assuming that I needed to get to the center of the cube I began pushing the mana around. However, now that I can't see the lines of the maze I keep constantly running into deadends and after over 10 more minutes I make very little progress. Rage boils up within me as I feel my amazing 120th place on the leaderboard slipping away from me. Why the hell would they make a maze like this? How is anyone supposed to get to the center of the cube without being able to see what's going on inside, it's simply impossible? However, it was in my furious ranting that a thought struck me. What if I push more mana into the stream? I can push all the mana I can into the cube directing it to flow like water, allowing it to be pushed into every path available inside the cube. Surely if I have enough mana to do it eventually all the paths will be filled up leading me directly to the center of the cube. I grin like a madman as I think myself a genius. Then I focus on the connection to the cube. I use every ounce of willpower I can muster to push more and more mana into the cube. I feel the mana expand outward filling every pathway within the cube. Grinning stupidly I laugh to myself as I feel the mana get close and close to the center of the cube. Eventually, the mana has nowhere else to go and it hits its target, a loud click can be heard from the cube. Looking down I see the sides of the cube fall and the cube explodes outwards in a rain of confetti. [Congratulations, puzzle cube solved in: 30 minutes and 48 seconds. Renewed ranking on the leaderboard. Participant No. 330,459 rank number: 36]