The Survival Exam Ends

Earlier that day, after Fang Han had fought Lucsius, he made his way toward the base. Along the way, he stopped whenever he found a dead participant to pray for them.

By the time he arrived at the base, the sun had started to set. When he approached the gate, a soldier spoke over the intercom and told him that he had to leave the area or fail. However, Fang Han was not dissuaded and approached anyway.

"Amitabha, I am here to make a report of an intruder from another race in the exam!" Fang Han said as he approached the gate.

"What do you mean an intruder?" A soldier exited the tower and looked over the wall at Fang Han.

"Amitabha, a being of another race, has somehow snuck into the exam and is going around killing participants. By now, he has killed at least 50 participants and met an early death at his hands. Stretching from here towards the giant forest in the east." Fang Han pointed in the direction he had come from.

"Are you sure he is from another race?" The soldier asked as he doubted a being of another race could make it past all of their scanners.

"Amitabha, I am sure this boy's strength is beyond the limit of humans in our universe. He also had snake-like eyes. I fought with this boy and barely fought him off as a person nearing the limit of human strength."

"Alright, stay here. I will inform General Garrick." The soldier said as he returned to the tower and called General Garrick. After this, he was informed to let Fang Han in and escort him to General Garrick's office.

Soon the gate wired to life, and the mechanical locks and gears turned, clicking, and air rushed out as the gate opened with a mechanical Wirr. Standing on the other side was Lieutenant Dan.

"Follow me, Fang Han, and we will look at the footage from your holowatch. We installed recording software on all participant's holowatches the day you arrived on Planet Tyber. This way, we can deal with such situations." Lieutenant Dan led Fang Han to an office that looked like a shipping container with windows and a door.

Upon entering, General Garrick turned around in his chair to face Fang Han as he turned the cigar in his mouth and let out a stream of smoke. He puffed it and placed it in an ashtray, and his face took a serious expression.

"I hope you are not lying, Fang Han, although I doubt you would lie with strength like yours. I still have to ask. This is a grave matter." General Garrick leaned forward in his chair with his hands clasped together as he waited for a response.

"Amitabha, I do not lie, General Garrick. I only speak the truth. This boy is strong and inhuman. I had a brief exchange with him. If I had not trained in Ki sensing, I would have died. At the end of the fight, he had a moment where he could have taken my life." Fang Han recalled the battle.

"Had he not let out such thick bloodlust as he went for the killing blow, I might not be here. Thanks to his mistake, I was able to injure him." Fang Han described the entire battle from his perspective.

Afterward, General Garrick and Lieutenant Dan pulled up Fang Han's holowatch footage. After watching, they had grim expressions. "Dan, if you fought this boy, what are your chances of winning?" General Garrick asked as he watched the footage again.

"My chances are not great, sir, his strength is above mine, and his speed is too fast. I would have a difficult time landing a hit and dodging his attacks. I would say around a twenty percent chance to beat him in battle. Although he is stronger and faster, his battle experience is weak, and he has poor control of his emotions." Lieutenants Dan thought for a moment. "If I were to play my cards right and lead him to attack where I want or make him lose his temper, I could beat him.

General Garrick nodded, "I agree, it would be a difficult battle." General Garrick looked at Fang Han and was impressed he got out unscathed. "He must be from that faction," he thought to himself.

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention Fang Han. You don't have to worry about the Survival exam. Consider yourself passed. We will send a team to capture or kill this intruder under my lead. I ask that you assist us. With us three, we should be able to contain him for the soldier to capture him." General Garrick sat up and began to make some calls.

"For now, you can relax here. I will have someone bring you some food and something to drink. Relax and rest. In a while, we will head out with an interception team." General Garrick then proceeded to make arrangements.

Given the unknown elements, General Garrick brought out the best gear he could for capture/kill/defend missions. As the moon began to rise, the interception team was ready to head out, and they took off in hovercrafts toward the giant forest.

From above, one could see the deadly beauty of Planet Tyber. It was full of life, danger, and mystery. A truly marvelous sight, like a pretty rose that had hidden thorns. It was fine to appreciate its beauty but do not underestimate its danger.

As they arrived above the Giant Forest, a soldier spotted a red barrier in a clearing outside the forest. "Sir, a barrier of some sort has appeared near the forest. We believe this may be our target should we move to intercept." A soldier said as he saluted General Garrick.

As General Garrick looked out of the window towards the barrier, his eyes widened in surprise. Whatever this barrier was, it was not from any technology he or the Star Empire was aware of. "Move all units to land and intercept at that location." General Garrick then began to crack his old bones and prepare for battle.

As they landed, the interception team surrounded the barrier. They soon spotted Kayla and Ripley, who explained what they knew quickly to General Garrick.

"Sir, you must save Aston. He is in there with that monster. He sacrificed himself and pushed us out of the barrier to save us." Ripley begged. He was truly taken aback when Aston saved him alongside Kayla, despite how rude and demeaning he had been towards Aston. Aston risked his life to save him. He felt terrible and hoped for Aston to survive so he could repay him. His life had been saved twice this exam. He doesn't have a chance to thank Frank and Jack. So he made up his mind to make amends with Aston.

"Please, help him, Sir." Kayla had tears in her eyes as she looked toward General Garrick. "Don't worry; we are here to stop the intruder. He has killed enough. Aston is a good kid. I will do my best to save him. You should thank Fang Han here. He is the one who came to inform us of the intruder. He fought and injured him. Afterward, he came to get us." General Garrick pointed to Fang Han, who had just gotten off the hovercraft.

"Thank you, Fang Han," Kayla walked over and did a slight bow of thanks.

"Amitabha, Kayla, anytime, I will never stand down to evil," Fang Han said as he looked towards the barrier.

"Sir, according to Kayla and Ripley's explanation, this barrier was formed from a stone with runes on it and not a device. This is likely powered by an unknown power to the Empire." Lieutenant Dan said as he walked over and pushed his glasses up.

"Very well, have the soldiers begin taking down that barrier. Have them fire in intervals so we don't accidentally kill Aston." General Garrick said as Lieutenant Dan ordered the soldiers to begin firing.

Not long after, under the full moon's light, one could see flashes of light and explosions light up the sky. Participants nearby to hear it wondered what was happening and approached the battle.

Soon the barrier broke, and everyone saw the terrifying-looking Lucsius and the Aston. However, before they could begin to rush in. Aston yelled for them to run. Then they saw Lucsius begin to glow brightly as he laughed like a madman. "Soon, my master will descend upon this universe and destroy everything. However, you won't be here to see that." Lucsius laughed, and soon he disappeared in a bright light.

General Garrick was quick to act. He yelled for Lieutenant Dan to grab Aston and run and told the soldiers to release the defense barriers. The soldiers pulled out orbs and threw them toward Lucsius. Then they began to run away. Lieutenant Dan flashed near Aston and grabbed him before sprinting with all his might.

The full moon had risen to the middle of the sky. If one were to look at this place from space. One would see a bright flash of light before darkness returned to the forests.

Fang Han had Grabbed Ripley, and General Garrick picked up Kayla and ran. The soldiers took off after throwing the shield orbs, leaving the equipment and weapons behind. However, not everyone escaped the blast. Many soldiers were caught up in the explosion and vaporized in a wave of white flame. Lieutenant Dan ran, and when he knew he couldn't get any farther, dove behind a large rock and shielded Aston. The wave of white flames rushed over the stone. It melted slowly from the top and eventually reached Lieutenant Dan, and he was severely burned. His back was exposed down to the bone in some spots. However, he gritted his teeth and continued to shield Aston.

Fang Han had run toward the forest, intending to use trees as cover. However, when he saw the fast-approaching wave of flames, he knew he wouldn't make it deep enough into the forest. Luckily Ripley pointed out the pond they had fallen in earlier, and both plunged into it. The water soon boiled, and Fang Han and Ripley received severe burns all over their bodies.

A few participants who had been close enough to hear the battle and came to look soon found themselves screaming and running for their lives. Those not lucky enough to escape had their screams silenced.

General Garrick was not as fast as Lieutenant Dan. Luckily he had been farther away from the explosion and was able to dive into a cave in the ground a distance away before the flames reached them. The flames rushed over the entrance, and soon the cave reached scorching temperatures, and they received burns on their exposed skin.

After the explosion ended and the flames died down, General Garrick walked out to find the destruction left behind by the explosion. The forest was leveled and on fire for at least a mile in each direction. Almost all the soldiers had died in the blast. They just were not fast enough to get away. If it were not for the shields they deployed, which held back the explosion for a moment, they would have all died.

General Garrick gathered the injured and those who survived before sending a message to all the participants who were still alive. The survival exam was over, and they needed to return to base immediately. With their hovercrafts destroyed, General Garrick had to order another team to come and rescue the injured and survivors.

As General Garrick walked around to see who survived, he soon found Lieutenant Dan, who was still shielding Aston. However, he had long stopped breathing. The flames had melted his back down to his lungs. On his face was a look of determination.

Below him was the barely breathing Aston, whose skin was now tinged green. But he had received no burns thanks to Lieutenant Dan.

General Garrick clenched his fist and slammed it into a nearby tree, shaking the tree violently. Today he had lost too many soldiers. Lieutenants Dan had been with him for years and was like a grandson. As the sun rose in the morning, General Garrick looked at the arriving hovercrafts solemnly and sighed.