24 Main city

Flying shuttles, high class citizens moving about the place and incredibly larger than life structures all around. Sounds of air crafts the size of motorcycles used mostly back before the war between the human race could be heard.

When looking up, it looked like some of the buildings had no end to it. The architectural design on its own was top notch. The one that mostly blew his mind was a structure that looked to be around four storeys hovering above the ground.

He thought it didn't make sense to begin with. Why would one need a flying house?. Then secondly, the thought of the amount of beast cores or whatever form of energy used that would be required to keep the mechanism that kept it suspended going only gave him aches. But when he got a closer look, it turned out it was all just a model of a house being advertised by a housing company. It still felt real to him and at one point he almost wanted to walk over and have a feel at it. But he changed his mind on the account that he didn't want to embarrass himself with whom he was with, and he didn't quite necessarily know the rules around the place just yet. But still with all that in place, he only thought of one word that could describe it, EXCESSIVE.

This was the main city of Blackwood described in one word . So much resources had been poured into this part to make it look as good as it was that it was beginning to feel rather extravagant to him. But this wasn't to say it was the best there was, of course numerous other cities had better structures and were technologically more advanced than Blackwood was.

The people here mainly did one thing and that was work. He could see some dressed nicely in suits and all sorts of official wear entering a large building as he waited his turn to board a teleportation joint. But just as he observed, the same people that went into the large building came out different and oddly enough, they all came out with either weapons or in groups and entered a hovering bike as he called it. They struck him as mostly faction members that worked for a huge cooperation. He looked at the very top of the building and could see a very large shield hologram projected outwards. He would have loved to find out just what was going on in there but there was another time for that. He had a much more bugging issue on his mind.

Still the rate of people that moved to and from never seized to surprise him. There was basically no time for fooling around as everyone was somewhat in a race against the other. Only the best could afford to live in this side of the city. But given that everyone here put out their best to afford the high cost of living and keep competition at bay, there wasn't really any time for other things.

What this did cause was that there was hardly any talk about crimes going on here. Most of the people here were arguably the best of the best in terms of fitting into one of the social triads. Not many here weren't already made in terms of the social standing.

The streets was filled with people whom by mere looking where already rich, comfortable and mostly fulfilled. But they all wanted more, so in the long run, nothing ever truly satiated their hunger for that extra Zitcoin.

The air here was just different from everywhere else. It wasn't just the tall fancy buildings or technology that pushed the two worlds he lived in apart.

No, the aura around here wreaked of powerful people. And this sort of made him excited. Indeed he felt he was in the right place.

He made his way through the large city to his destination using the teleportation station that were placed at certain parts of the city. Buses and regular cars by now were no longer common. Not only were they seen as outdated, but people saw them as causing harm to their wonderful planet, Earth. After the storm, drastic changes were made by humans to prevent all they perceived might have caused it in the first place. Now people lived being conscious of the harm that they caused to their environment. An almost perfect world. Yet it lacked in one aspect.

Because everyone was somewhat thrown in a race to succeed in this highly competitive global market, a lot of wrongs were excused. Only the strong survived, and the weak were left to themselves to survive. If one couldn't cope in the city, then they moved out to a settlement at the borders like where he came from. It was as simple as that.

The world still hadn't changed and just a day and some hours that he had spent in the main city, he didn't need anyone to tell him that.

--------------------------------------

He was currently being introduced to the kind of competition that he sensed from the very get go. Right now he was in an altercation with a teenager who was fairly larger than him. But he knew it could go two ways and already he was laying towards one option. He tightened his grip around the fist he had caught as he noticed the other kid was trying to pull out of it. And he was prepared to return the favour.

"Okay, good afternoon everybody!!!!!" A voice echoed out through the hall filled with teenagers around his age with some being older. He was currently in what could be described as the test center for blackwood academy. Already he had passed the mana test that had been done the previous day.

The mana test wasn't anything as tedious as he had imagined. It involved him placing his hands on a round ball shaped crystal, and when it lit up, it indicated he had broken his shell which meant he had mana following through him. The crystal itself detected mana in human bodies and hence was used to scrutinize the overbearing crowd of teenagers that came along with their parents that waited by.

But seeing that the crytal had lit up, it meant he was to continue on to phase two. He proceeded to have his lenses scanned and his information as well as a weird bracelet looking watch was given to him.

Now one of the other things relayed to him was that the main entrance test was to be held in a different location.

The mana testing center and where he was at now where two different places. It took two teleportation jumps to get here. It could have been made shorter by just making one jump but for certain health reasons, the general public was advised to cut down long distance teleportation. And to make sure this was followed through, they made stations in between themselves to reduce the distance travelled using the teleporters.

The mana test basically involved him showing he had broken his mana shell, and quite frankly, that part was a lot easier than he had expected. Now it was time for the main entrance test, something rumoured to smash hopes and dreams.

His intense altercation that started so fast had suddenly come to a halt. Now he and mostly everyone that were there turned around facing the direction the voice had come from. He placed back the hoodie on his head but still sensed that the huge kid was staring at him.

But the look this time was different, it was one of unbridled rage. The robust kid backed away from him pushing through the crowd with his eyes never leaving the hooded kid even for once.

"This isn't over!" The kid thought as he looked at the figure in the hoodie. But the figure in the hoodie barely paid mind to what had transpired as he had a goal and was focused intensely on it.

"You could have just looked him in the eyes you know, Kay?" a dark haired girl with black pupils standing behind him said while shaking her head.

"That's what I did, Ash" the one in the hoodie replied. She only shook her head the more knowing that would be his response.

"Hello, i am Mr hank, your supervisor for the test exercise. First I'd like to congratulate you all for passing the Mana test held yesterday. As you all know, this is a magic based academy. So it isn't so farfetched that we insist everyone at the least has Mana flowing through them"... The man who announced this stood on a board that hovered in the air above the ground. He wore a large black overcoat and had a pair of glasses on. On his head was a black hat that had a depression at the round top of it. He had no microphone or amplifying device in sight but his voice travelled through the horde of hundreds of aspiring students present. Everyone could hear him clear as day and it didn't look like he even put in much effort in making sure of that effect.

"Now, we all know our world has changed. But to you all that were born into it this way, it might not make a difference to you. The world isn't the same again. Out there, the competition and will to survive is like a storm never seen before. So our goal in Blackwood is to ensure we get our students prepared for the storm ahead. Which is why every test that would be carried out today could very well be a definitive start of your lives. Take it seriously. Your test begins now!!"

The man said and immediately the lights went off, and when it came back on, they realized the colour of the room had changed to red. Some kids became scared as they didn't really understand what was happening. Next, the floor shook beneath their feet and for certain, they watched as the marbles that lined the floor slowly flipped sides like a mechanized part. Soon the whole room seemed to be taking a new form.

Large walls began to rise from the ground but slowly. This gave time for people to move out of the way. Those that looked to their sides could see that the room had suddenly gotten bigger. If they weren't mistaken, it was now like the size of two stadiums combined. And when all the moving parts settled down, they now understood what was placed in front of them.

"A maze?" A student said observing the irregular patterns the large walls had. It was definitely a maze, but not just anyone. It stood very tall and would pose a problem to anyone who tried to climb it without the necessary tools. And apparently, this was the first test.

"At the end of the maze, a red flag stands. Your goal is to retrieve that flag. ANY MEANS NECESSARY" a voice echoed through the large open area.

Now hundreds of students looked at themselves as they wondered who would make the first move.

...

[Host's profile]

-Name: Klaus Dean Jackson.

-Level - 8

-[3500 Exp needed to level up]

•Exp status - [10%]

-Nether Gene - Shadow

-HP - 100

-Ep - 120

-Race: ??

-Class: ??

Stat attributes.

-Strength - 20

-Agility - 18

-Speed - 18

- Durability - 15

- Perception - 15

...

Klaus opened the system screen to look at his HP before going in. He had a diabolical smile etched on his face as he saw everyone dash for the one large entrance of the maze. He saw different abilities being activated from the get go already. Just a flag needed to be retrieved amongst hundreds or so volatile teenagers who had mostly spent their time dreaming of themselves in the academy. Not to talk of the ones who had been denied the previous year's admission . It was obvious they here were all aiming for one goal, but his was different. He had a different purpose that exceeded the mere childish fantasies that most of the kids around had. No, he once did think that way, but now that was all dead and buried.

"hmmp.." Was the only sound that left his mouth as he analyzed the crowd with a sinister smile on his face.

********######

Stares into reader's eyes....

Give me your golden tickets and powerstones....

Gift me!!!!

it's all i live forrrrr!!!