Chapter 6

After the first stage of the exam, Mr. Otto gathers up the remaining examinees and begins to explain the next task.

" Congratulations on passing the 1st stage! I hope you all are ready though, because the real challenges are up ahead! This second round will be putting the 50 people remaining in 10 groups of 5. There will be ONE quarter placed among the five of you. In order to pass, you MUST have this quarter. You can take it by any means necessary, besides murder of course. Now Mr. Spark will put you all into your groups."

All of the examinees are put into a long line, and eventually Adir and Alex are put into their groupings. Alex is put into group 8, and when Adir goes up to Mr. Spark, Spark gives him a grin and whispers in his ear,

" Good fight earlier, we'll be watching… and you'll be in group 9." Spark chuckles in his ear

Adir feels a shiver down his spine and walks over to his group. Out of the four, only one of them stuck out to him. It was a young man who looked around 3 years older than him, he had square glasses on his face, and blonde hair, but the thing that stuck out the most was his orange and black jumpsuit, which signaled Adir that he was a prisoner. The young man approaches Adir and greets him,

" Hello! My name is Harry, are you Adir?" He says

" Uhh yeah… I'm Adir… How did you know that?" Adir reluctantly asks

" Oh your name? I heard it from Mr. Spark earlier!" Harry responds

This guy has some really good hearing I guess… Adir thinks to himself

As the two are greeting, Alex sees only one person who stuck out in his group, a man who appeared to be in his 20's, he wore square glasses, and had a small switchblade on him. Alex just stands in his area and waits for the stage to begin. He waits a couple minutes and Otto begins to speak.

" Everyone! Pay attention! I already told you all the instructions for the second stage, so I hope you're all prepared. I'm going to press this button, and when I do, a 5 minute timer will start. At the same time, you can all go for the quarter that's in the middle of your arenas. But don't touch it till I press this button!" Otto informs the crowd

Otto waits a couple seconds, and out of nowhere, he slams the button

" BEGIN!"

We look around the building, with 10 square shaped rooms with all of the contestants in them, and everyone rushes to grab the quarters, The unknown man in Alex's group pulls out his blade and immediately grabs the quarter. Alex stands back and tries to make up an idea.

I should watch how this guy deals with the other people first… If I stand back and observe him, I might just be able to get an idea of his movements and think up a counter… Alex decides

The man makes quick work of the first two contestants, stabbing them with his switchblade, and when he gets to the last examinee, he seems to have a bit of trouble and his knife glows gray. Alex notices this, and realizes quickly that the man is unconsciously using magic.

What was that! Did he use magic just now..? Mr. Len DID say that some of the other contestants can use magic, so it's possible… I should definitely be careful with this guy, I'm still learning to use my magic myself.. Alex thinks to himself

The man keeps on fighting the 3rd contestant and Alex watches him intently, and before the unknown man knocks the other examinee, Alex counts his strikes and figures something out.

One… Two.. STOP! That's it! Every two swings he stops briefly… That must be how many strikes he can take before he has to stop… I can beat him! I know it!

The man knocks the last contestant, confronts Alex, and says

" This is too easy! You best entertain me kid… If you do, I won't make it as painful!" The man chuckles

" Geez… You adults must have some sorta superiority complex, I bet your plan is to pass this exam and just feed off the government for money, am I right? The reason why I will win this fight is because I have someone I need to protect!" Alex responds

Alex gets into a fighting position and his fists radiate yellow, and he and the unknown man charge at one another.

Meanwhile, Adir and Harry have already beaten the other examinees, with them facing off, about to fight.

" Heh, you seem like a good guy Adir, and I think we both know that we have magic, so before we fight, please activate your ability, I wanna fight you when we're both at full strength." Harry says to Adir,

" I guess there's no hiding it, only one of us will pass this after all, just don't get mad when I beat you ok?" Adir responds

Harry grins at Adir and nods his head, and the two of them reveal their magic, with Adir's hand giving off a black-laced red, and his staff comes out. Harry's hand glows an ocean-like blue and water covers his entire right arm, surprising Adir

Woah! He's an elemental! I haven't seen one of them yet.. I only heard about them from Len.. This is gonna be fun.. Adir thinks to himself

Lucifer hears his thought and cackles inside of Adir's mind,

" AHAHAHAHAHA! I knew you were the right choice, let that thirst for battle bring you to new heights Adir! You're just like me after all! We both had something taken away from us!! We can get revenge on those who did us wrong, now fight!" Lucifer says to Adir

Adir hears him and mutters under his breath,

" Maybe you're right, but you and I.. we are not the same!"

Harry charges at Adir and knocks him back, with Adir blocking with his staff.

Incredible! He's really fast… I'll have to take him seriously after all..

" Adir… tell me, what's your reason for fighting? I'll start off by saying mine, I fight for my freedom, If I can pass this exam, I can work off my sentence by doing government jobs, and get back to my family, now tell me, why are you fighting?" Harry asks, as the two continue to spar

" I guess you and I are similar in some aspects, but I don't fight for just my freedom, but I fight for my friends' freedom, and my sisters! I fight for those who can't, and for those who can! I will protect them all, no matter what the cost!"

We look back to see Butch, and he has a look on his face, but it's different than the one he had before, one of rage, with his blows twice more devastating than before, and in 4 minutes, he becomes the first one to clear the 2nd stage.

" Heh, that was too easy! Adir… you better make it! I won't take another beating like last time.. It'll be much, much different.."

Alex and the unknown man begin fighting and the man attacks Alex,

Wait for it… One…. Two… THERE! Alex plots

Alex reads the man's attack pattern and hits his hand, and punches him into the floor, knocking him out and taking the quarter. He leaves the fighting area and see's three other people there. The names of those three people are Butch, Lorenzo, and Amaya.

I hope Adir is alright… They must be pretty strong if they're able to hold him up for this long.. Alex thinks to himself

Harry and Adir are still fighting, and they both don't seem very tired, but the clock is ticking, with only 2 minutes remaining.

We don't have very long… I haven't infused magic into my staff yet.. If I can catch him off guard, I think I can knock him out with one blow.. Adir begins to plot

Harry rushes at Adir and goes on a frontal assault, forcing Adir to go on the defensive.

" Don't think I'll let you win that easily Adir!" Harry says

In the shadows, on the top of the building, Spark and Otto watch Adir and Harry's fight and converse

" Wow… I'm surprised- That Adir kid is holding his own- no, he's winning against someone who not only has much more combat experience than him, but has been using magic for at least 5 years! What a remarkable young man, I think we've found the one, the person who can end this 1000 year long war." Otto says

" I'm as shocked as you are, I don't even think he's at 15% of his full potential yet either, he's probably only at 5%... That kid'll be a real monster hehe.." Spark responds

Harry pulls out from his rush and Adir takes a step back too, confusing Harry.

Wait for it… Wait till the water on his hand starts to regenerate.. That's when he's at his weakest.. NOW! Adir plots

Adir jumps at Harry, and from below, he imbues his staff with magic and hits him, knocking him clean out, and finally takes the quarter. Adir leaves the combat area and the clock hits zero, but Adir only sees nine people outside of the arena. Mr. Otto appears and begins talking.

" AHEM, As you all can probably tell, only nine of you made it out, so we will let the last person to have been knocked out join the next stage! And that person is.. Harry Waser!"

Mr. Otto announces.

Harry comes out of the arena and is greeted by Adir.

" Heh..I had a feeling you'd make it too, good luck Harry." Adir says

And with that, the 2nd stage is over, with a total of 10 examinees remaining.