SORTING GAM
DAY THREE CULLING TEST
TRAINING HALL

"Once the whistle is blown, you'll have only a few minutes to choose a weapon of your choice and get ready to fight, there are only simple rules in place for the fight," the main administrator's voice could be heard loud over the speaker, no one has ever seen the man before, but his voice has been the driver of their life, steering them in different directions over the course of her life, Sheil growl softly. Things are beginning to get heated for them, third day of the culling and Sheil can already tell it's the day some of them will die.

Sheil was standing still along with the ninety-nine other girls. With the blindfold in their hand, to cover their eyes once the test began, they all stood scattered all around the big hall, bigger than their normal class where they undergo training. Aside from the size of the hall, one side of it was filled with different weapons, ranging from knife to spear, to sword and machete, the window of the hall is high up that the Ray of sun barely flitters in. On one side of the wall she saw the red button for the alarm, Sheil wonders why they bother putting that there, they've never allowed them to touch anything in any of the halls.

Sheil looked at the weapon rack trying to get the exact place they placed the throwing knife, her specialty and favorite weapon. Even without turning around to look at the other girls, she can detect the overall feeling dominating the hall. Anticipation is the most dominant feeling, making some of the girls fidgety where they are standing. She can guess that some of them will fail even before the test begins with the way they constantly turn to look at others around them.

Most of them are watching for any weakness they can explore during the fight, while some are weighing which opponent to tackle first. Sheil noticed Yalowel is looking at the weapon rack just like her. One of the rules of the assassin's glinders is with the right weapon you can take down any opponent. Though it seems, the anxiousness and the anticipation of the fight had made most of the girls forget the rules.

"There are series of changes in this year's pairing and culling and this also affects how today's test will be run," the voice said. "Instead of the standard twenty girls elimination we do each year, we will be eliminating fourty from each glind this year. This is part of the precautions put in place to thin down the number of female that enters into the society," Sheil was shocked at this New development, just as the rest of the other glinders are shocked, though none of them dares to show it in their actions, but from the few faces sheil could see, she knows they were as shocked as she is.

This changes everything, it means, amongst the hundred of them standing in the hall, only sixty will remain by the end of the day. This is probably another one of the new patriarchal rules that is being enforced, just like several others that has been shoved down their throats for the last several years. Sheil nearly broke down and weep, why do any of them have to die. They've come all this way only to die during one of their tests. And they will give them no choice but to follow the rules. She wished she could do something at this moment to change the fate of the girls that will end up dead today, but there is nothing she can do except to continue until she is strong enough to fight for their freedom.

"Today's test is quite simple and easy enough. The fight will only lasted for forty-five minutes, by the end of this skill test, some of you standing here right now will be dead," the administrator chuckled darkly and then laughed loudly, Sheil shuddered at hearing her inner fear confirmed and the administrator even chuckled at his own joke. Joking about these innocent girls' death, they are making them kill each other, washing their hands clean of blood. By the end of the day, none of them will remain innocent anymore. This is the end of the beginning.

"Once you hear the whistle, go to the weapon rack, pick your weapon and start fighting, once you hear the second whistle it signifies the end of the fight and after the second whistle everyone is expected to drop the weapon they are holding, anyone caught with a weapon after the second whistle will be executed. Once your fight is over you are expected to move to the eating hall and rest for the remaining part of the day in preparation ahead for tomorrow's test," the administrator's voice drifted over to Sheil, even with all her thoughts jumbled and disorganized, with the way she is crying silently inside, she make sure her face remain stoic and her main focus is on the weapons rack, keeping her eyes on the knife, survival comes first.

"All glinders prepare, the whistle will be blown in five, four, three…." Sheil tuned out the administrator's voice and raised her blindfold to her eyes, she saw all the other girls follow the same pattern, muttering a quick silent prayer to the God's, if any exist.

The whistle blared.

Sheil lunged forward, quickly sprinting towards the weapon rack, she was pushed from her direction to another side by one of the other girls running in the same direction she was going. She reached the rack on record time, using her fingers to trace the rack, her hand touched what she was looking for, picking it up and she turned, narrowly escaping a blow directed towards her hand. 

Sheil entered the fight immediately with a girl kicking her legs from under her, she crawled away and managed to stand up, coming closer to the girl that kicked her, she jabbed her knife towards the girl's face in an attempt to stab her. The girl sensing her intent dodge the knife and aimed another blow towards Sheil's hand but reflex kicked in and she ducked forward, trying to stab her legs. 

The girl noticed this at the last second and only got away with a small, bleeding slice on her thigh. Sheil sprinted at the girl again, but this time she just threw her knife and the two blades embedded in the girl's head together, creating a rumbling echo through Sheil's mind as the girl fell down. The weight of what just happened nearly stopped her from continuing the fight but guilt can't be allowed to drag her down at this moment.

Sheil turned around and was slammed down with the weight of another person, she fell down with the wind knocked out of her but she soon recovered and pushed back hard. The girl on Sheil was very strong, Sheil pushed her with her knee raised and jumped back, dashing forward with her knife straight out in front of her. Sheil attempted to stab the girl's arm, but she tucked her shoulders and impaled Sheil's stomach. “shalark!” Sheil snarled under her breath, jumping back to recover.

Sheil bends over, panting, hearing the girl's footsteps coming towards her again, she dashed forward, grabbing her head and pushing it down. Sheil's knee slammed into her face and she thrusted one of her longer knives with just enough power to go through her chest and through her heart. Blood splattered everywhere and the knife went all the way through her stomach. The blood sprayed as Sheil pulled out the knife off the girl, limp and weak, she heard as the girl slumped down on the floor.

Sheil feels like retching right there on the spot, but the fight is far from over, even if she stopped others will come for her. Pushing herself to stand straight, a girl stumbled into her while another girl dragged her with her hair and Sheil screamed at the top of her voice. Instead of turning to look at who had pushed her, Sheil tried to save herself from the girl dragging her away with her hair. The edge of the hall's pavement shot out from under her. Someone pushed her again from another direction, she fell to the right, making the girl dragging her hair to drop her abruptly, Sheil fell down and hit her face on the floor. A foot came up from her left side and kicked her in the face.

Sheil screams again, she is certain this is the moment she will die, folding herself up into s ball to avoid more blows aimed towards her face. Suddenly the girl was dragged away from her, but she doesn't have the strength to stand up from her position, Sheil felt a hand pull her to her feet, almost tearing the collar of her shit, she heard the

slight rasp of material ripping, but that Is of little concerned to her at the moment. "Try not to get killed today, stay on your feet, shigo," Sheil was shocked to hear Yalowel's raspy voice near her ear and then she was gone as suddenly as she appeared.

The cut on her face was bleeding furiously, causing some blood to drip into her eyes inside the blindfold, she adjusted her knife and used the sleeves of her shirt to wipe the blood, staggering to stand up right, she narrowly dodge a sword as she jumped far away. The assailant darted after her, but her attacks were beginning to weaken, Sheil continued taking a step back each time the girl wielding the sword came near her. Sheil adjusted her grip on her knives, just to find herself clutching her neck. 

SheiI slammed her fist right into the girl's face, then used the palm of her hand in an uppercut under the girl's chin. Sheil grabbed her chin and forced her head back, intending to sweep her legs out from beneath her while forcing her head back. The girl's fist smashed against Sheil's shoulder with brute force, numbing her arm for a moment and giving the girl the chance to remove the hand from under her chin. Sheil quickly moved back to stop the girl from ducking to trip Sheil. 

Sheil jumped away, but to no avail, the girl clawed her hand grasped Sheil's ankle and she threw Sheil across the hall, Sheil landed on all fours and stood up quickly before another girl attacked her, she has loose all her knives in the fight with the girl. “Fhija! You really need to stay on your feet and stop getting beaten to a pulp, it's important to me that you survive this test,” Yalowel muttered beside her, handling a single knife to Sheil. "Merda," Sheil said feeling grateful for her help again, she panted loudly. “I guess I’ll have stay near to help you keep your head on your shoulder for the rest of the fight." Yalowel said and turn away from her.

Sheil gripped the new knife tightly, preparing to continue fighting. She can't predict how long they've been fighting and how many more minutes remaining before the whistle will be blown, but she intends to hold on for as long as she can, she intends to live to see the end of the day, so she can question Yalowel about her off behavior.

Sheil crept behind a girl standing near her, too fast for her to even see, Sheil stabbed her on her shoulder and moved back before the girl retaliated the attack. The girl staggered back, not knowing where Sheil had gone. She bumped Sheil suddenly and turned around, but Sheil pounded the top of her head with her fist and she fell to her knees, terrified. The girl turned around wildly and stood up, preparing herself, but she was too slow and Sheil stepped between her legs from behind her to trip her while shoving her directly to the ground. The girl fell harshly, crashing against the ground and cracking her face where she hit the floor. 

The crack on her face started bleeding while the girl try to stand up, but Sheil did not allow that to happen. She pulled the knife out her sleeves and began stabbing the flesh off of her face, then she roared in anguish. The girl flails her hand around punching Sheil hard in the jaw. She stumbled back, but immediately recoiled, delivering a hard kick aiming for the center of the girl's back. The leg collided, causing a strained groan. The blow propelled her and Sheil crashed into the hall's wall. Staggering, she stood up, but dropped back on the floor, blood flowing from the seams in her sleeves.

Another girl kicked her hard against the wall, She shakily dropped her swords, and fainted from exhaustion.

The fight was lost for her, the loud blaring of the whistle was the last sounds she heard before darkness overtook her. Sheil's last thought was, It's such a shame that she didn't live to fight the real fight.