VҜβØ¥ ŇØV€ŁŞ

In the test hall of the twelfth deck, Burton was inside a fifty-meter radius grassy ground, standing tall with a graceful build, staring fixedly at the white cat, lingering in the other half with his deep-set blue eyes that seemed like two garden-fresh berries, endeavoring to make the cat sink into the depths of the spring that were his eyes. Be that as it may, the cat did find itself looking twice at Burton, but it cut the eye contact whenever it felt even remotely uncomfortable, and thus resisted his pull. Dozens of fellows watched from outside the circle of grass, some of whom were chattering whether Burton would win or not. The size of the hall itself was six hundred meters long and almost as wide. Compared to the test hall of the eleventh deck, this one was many times smaller and seemed a lot less lively as well, despite the two sets of paintings that graced the walls of this hall: cats doing their cat-things, and humans trying to interact with cats in various ways.

  On the twelfth deck, at a small, open-fronted bread booth near one of the entrances of the test hall. A man in torn clothes could be seen singing aloud while playing guitar with ease as he sauntered in the street. “When Bruiser is out Bees no longer scout Dogs no longer shout Men no longer spout And run without a doubt Back to their little hideout For they fear his claws throughout To all the new folks finding the right route This is a story worth knowing about So be on the lookout Or a catastrophe will come about.” “I was expecting to get my hands on the mysterious doughnuts, and not only do you not sell them...” Lirzod, who sat at the sole table, complained to the booth owner, tapping his finger repeatedly on the food item on his plate, “but also this bread you’ve given us is cold.”

Subtle sparks of fire screeched out of Aziz’s fist, “You brought this upon yourself.” With a swift bend of the knee, he sprang forth, his twisting arm firing at Lirzod’s face from behind like a fiery wolf pouncing on its prey. With Sariyu standing by his side, holding a hand, Lirzod’s body instinctively moved, and his forearm met the hot punch head-on. Blazing steam burst out of Aziz’s fist during the impact and facilely ignited its way through the still-wet sleeve and scalded Lirzod’s skin, pressuring his torso to bend astern. “Nggh!” a flush of adrenaline tingled through his body, and his foot rose in response, crunched into Aziz’s chin before a mid-air backspin assured his safe landing.

Hands placed on hips, one of the contestants approached the referee. “How can three people win at the same time? You may be the referee, but you can’t do this.” “Huh?” the referee coldly blurted out. “The three of them stepped foot in the winning area in a span of half a second, so they all passed.” “What? Still, how come the three of them passed?” he resumed arguing with the referee, forming a hard jawline. “It makes no sense. With that rule, wouldn't everyone step out at the same time and win this test? No one has to fight in that case, right?”