Chapter 25

Weeks passed and it was the day of the DAF entrance exam. After Shadow completely recovered from his injuries, he trained with Silver and Emperion day after day. Now, Silver was guiding them up the mountain with three other demons he didn't know. Shadow was following right behind but the others lagged behind. Emperion didn't lag behind as much as the others did, but he was a bit farther down the mountain when Silver finally stopped ascending. The top was in sight but they weren't quite there yet.

"What's going on? Why are we stopping?" Shadow questioned.

"First of all, the four other examinees need to catch up to us. Second of all, we aren't actually taking the exam at the top of the mountain. It's just the entrance to the exam room is near the top of the mountain." Silver explained. Shadow sighed in disappointment and slumped over in the air.

"What are you sighing about up there? Not everyone has the energy to climb to the top of the mountain in their free time." Empeiron huffed, flying up with the rest of the examinees.

"Wait, he climbed up the mountain? He didn't fly up the mountain?" One of the unfamiliar people asked.

"I got into a fight and was seriously injured. Since I didn't want to sit around my house all day doing nothing but rest and recover, I almost climbed to the top of the mountain." Shadow explained.

"You sound crazy." another unfamiliar person exclaimed. Shadow just shrugged. After everyone caught their breaths, Silver led them around to the other side of the mountain towards an open hole in the side of the mountain. It made the mountain look like it was made of metal on the inside. The hole looked like the cave at the bottom of the mountain but much more technical. Small luminescent orange squares lined the walls of the hall and down the vertical shaft at the end. Silver landed inside with the rest of the group. He led them to the shaft and jumped down without warning. The three unfamiliar people rushed to the edge to stare down the shaft. Emperion stayed still but his face tightened. Shadow raised his arms over his head and locked his fingers to stretch them. He pulled them forward and stretched his wing out as well. Without hesitation, he leaped down after Silver, making the three standing by the edge gape in astonishment. The shaft seemed to go on for miles to the point where Shadow wondered if it stretched beneath the mountain as well. The orange lights began to dim and then disappear the further he fell. After a while, a square ring of white lights lined a pool of water. The pool didn't look like it was very deep so Shadow flattened his body in mid air and stretched out his wing as best as he could. He angled his wing to catch the air within it and slow his descent. Even so, he belly flopped into the water, stinging his stomach. He dragged himself out of the pool of water and shook himself before drying himself.

"You didn't have to belly flop." Silver stated. Shadow didn't respond and turned back to see Emperion fly down right behind him.

"Are you going to do something about those three stuck at the top? I doubt they're gonna jump without any orders." Emperion asked, pointing his thumb back at the shaft. 

"We'll wait a little bit and see if they come down on their own like you two did." Silver suggested.

"As always, you're too soft on your group. You gotta push them harder to make them strive to be better!" Scaldris walked over with her hands on her hips. "My group's already in the exam room! Your group should've been there ages ago!" she barked.

"Unlike you, I don't enjoy frying people if they don't meet my standards." Silver shrugged.

"I don't enjoy it either because it means there are people who don't meet my standards!"

"You make it sound like you do it without thinking first." Shadow mumbled to himself. He received no answer. They waited as Silver said to, but the rest of the examinees didn't show.

"Let's call them down here." Silver sighed. "We can't wait forever but I would've liked them to be a bit more carefree." Silver walked to the edge of the pool and took in a big breath.

"Hey! Get your butts down here! We don't have all day to wait for you!" Emperion called. His voice echoed up the shaft before coming back down. Silver held his breath for a moment before letting it out in disappointment.

"You know, I was just about to call to them." Silver whispered, turning his head towards Emperion.

"You should've acted quicker then." Emperion countered. Not much later, the people who had hesitated at the top of the hole came crashing down, splashing into the water one by one. They all looked nervous but their faces lit up when they saw the people waiting for them at the bottom.

"Jeez, what took you so long? I could've ran a few marathons by now and you would've still been standing like timid chickens up at the top of the hole." Emperion criticized.

"We didn't know there was water at the end so we thought you might've died." The first one explained.

"We're all demons here! Even if there wasn't water, we wouldn't have died." he scoffed.

"Ok, let's all take a breather and move onto the exam room." Silver suggested. Emperion huffed and moved on, letting the new people off easy. Shadow sighed and followed him as Silver led them down the hall. He stopped them in a big white tiled room. Five other people were already in the room. Each had a single pair of wings out. Scaldris walked up to a stage on the far side of the room and held up a microphone that came out of nowhere.

"All right, you dweebs! Let's see what you got in store for us!" she yelled into the mic. Everyone but Shadow covered their ears as the noise rang in their ears. "We have a few different tests you will take! First is a match against robots to test your ability to fight and communicate in a group! Next will be a rescue mission to test your scouting and rescuing abilities! And we'll finish with a one v' one battle!" she boomed, not noticing the sheer volume of her own voice. 

"Tone it down a notch, will you?" Silver demanded. Scaldris seemed confused.

"Anyways, as long as you can catch the eye of one of the personal trainers and pass two of the tests, you have a chance to join one of our squads." she continued. "We'll start off with a robot rush! Beat as many robots as you can within the time period of five minutes. As long as you are still standing after the time limit is up, you will pass! Remember, this isn't a contest between you guys so play nice." she explained in a loud voice. She put the mic on a stand in front of her before pulling a remote out of nowhere. Silver stepped up onto the stage as she pressed a button and the stage rose high above them. She pressed another button and the hole behind them closed as four new holes opened on the walls and giant white robots stepped out into the room. They had slumped posture but were covered head to toe in armored plates. Red lights that looked like eyes appeared near their heads and they rolled on triple wheeled legs. At the end of their arms were guns and swords. They towered above the examinees threateningly. Behind the first four peeked four more. Most of the people got into ready stances, some stood frozen in fear, Emperion tensed up but didn't move, while Shadow stared at them with a bored expression. He yawned and crossed his arms. When Emperion glanced over at him, he relaxed a little and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Shadow walked forward towards the robots and jumped at the closest one. He grabbed onto one of the armor plates and used his feet to help him pull the plate away from the robot. Wires among wires snapped and flew away from thin, bone-like metal rods. He threw the plate away and hung, one arm free, from the metal rod embedded within the robot's wires.

"These hunks of metal are easy to break apart." Shadow exclaimed to the rest of the group. He reached his free hand and clung to the metal rod, swinging himself up on top of the arm. He then jumped up at the robot's head and grabbed the plate just beneath its eye. He pried it away, revealing a bright red ball that took up the whole of the robot's head. He grabbed it and tore it away, crushing it and flinging it at the rest of the group. Everything else seemed to stop to watch him tear apart the robot.

"Find the core and these guys are mincemeat, or should I say scrap metal?" As Shadow joked around, the robot he was clinging to began to sway and fall down. A loud screech sounded as the ravaged metal scraped against the floor panels. Shadow raised an arm and let out a battle cry, the thrill of the fight written clear on his face. The rest of the examiness joined his cry, Emperion the loudest. Shadow turned to charge at the next robot, followed by the rest of the group. They tore apart robot after robot, one after one, plate after plate. Silver looked on with surprise while Scaldris smiled.

"Impressive! To think one person, one war cry, could inspire the rest to move, even if he acted like an animal." she whispered to Silver. He just nodded in agreement, astounded. Five minutes passed, and the few robots remaining shut down before the examiness could finish them off themselves. Each person was covered in grime, and a few had small cuts. Each were out of breath and a few fell back on the floor, breathing sighs of relief. The one least out of breath but most covered in dust was Shadow. He had this joyful smile on his face, but he took deep breaths and placed a hand on his chest to help calm himself. Emperion waddled over and raised a friendly hand.

"That was awesome! You looked like a total beast out there, ripping and tearing up those massive robots. It's like you just snapped. What was that back there?" he huffed, unable to contain his curiosity.

"I was over enthusiastic. I tend to get like that when I don't hold back my excitement. If I don't keep my emotions in control, I fight in a whole different style." Shadow confessed, putting a hand behind his head.

"So you mean all that sparring we did together didn't get you excited?" Emperion dropped his arms in disappointment, then raised them to his face in shock. "Does that mean you can fight like that whenever or that you get more wild the more pumped you are? That's a little shocking." His adrenaline not yet spent, he kept moving his arms around and changing his expressions. Shadow placed both hands on Emperion's shoulders.

"Emperion, calm yourself. The test is over, and I think we passed with flying colors. But it's too early to get this energetic. We still have two more tests to take. Save that enthusiasm for the next test." Shadow tried, but he couldn't swap his joyed smile for a serious expression. Emperion nodded vigorously, like a little kid. Shadow let out a sigh and then walked over to the rest of the group. He created a few towels and handed them out. They had only known each other for five minutes but they had already deemed Shadow someone to trust. Most of them, at least.