School life (1) - The Test

"This is as far as I can take you, kid." The carriage driver said. "Huh?" Asune said, confused, "Why? We are so far from the school." He asks, "This is as far as they'll let me go." He said this as he pointed to the large tower near the school. "Why would they? Hm, somethings not right." He thought. "Okay, thank you; here's a tip." Asune said as he pulled a sack of coins from thin air. "How did you?" The driver said before opening the sack, "Oh~ You have a good day, boy." The driver said before turning around the carriage, "Oh, and quick warning." He began to say, "Bingo." Asune thought.

"They are testing you; the moment you descend the hill, many monsters will be trying to hunt you. But even if you can't defend yourself, you won't die; they have medics on standby." The driver whispered.

"Thanks." He said. The driver tips his hat with a smile and drives off. 

Far away in the tower, people are talking and watching as Asune walks down the hill into the forest with his hands in his pockets. "Sir, He's entering the forest." "Good, now that they are here, let's see how our newcomers do; sound it off." Suddenly, a loud [ping!] can be heard all throughout the forest. "Hm?" Asune notices the ping. "I guess it's started." He Thought. A few other children notice the ping.

A girl with purple hair, kept in a long ponytail, dressed in a plain white shirt, a black skirt, and black court shoes, walking on a dirt path named Rinfaina.

A short, chubby boy with white hair, bunny ears, and a pink nose, dressed in a shirt that doesn't quite fit, revealing his belly button, shorts, and casual white shoes, is also walking on a path named Fred.

A tall boy with long black hair covering his eyes, dressed in a tattered tan shirt, ripped shorts, and no shoes, crawling in a bush, peeking his head out, has no name.

A small girl with white hair, a white sun hat, and a white sun dress with white dress shoes walks on a dirt path, named Nina.

All of them hear the ping simultaneously and begin their walk to the school; meanwhile, Asune has already begun running. "I'm assuming that there is a reward for the first person to get there; it must be good; considering how big the school is, it's nothing for me to... get... there... quickly.." He thought he was running out of breath. "Got damn this child body.. Why am I so tired already? I've only been running for 5 minutes.. Whatever's fine, I'll just drink a recovery potion."

"Shop."

[Blip!] [Welcome to the sho-] Asune closes the window and thinks, "I wonder if I can disable that." [Would you like to disable introduction pop-ups?] "OH BOY, WOULD I?" He said he was jumping up and down, celebrating. Meanwhile, people behind him are whispering, "Remember, boys, he is a child; go easy on him; don't kill him; just ruff him up; scare him." The thief says The group of fake thieves shakes their heads. "Huh? Where did he go?"

"What are we talking about, guys?" Asune says, peaking his head in from the darkness.

The thieves faces turn pale, and they all jump out of the bush, screaming, "AAAAHH," "WHERE DID HE COME FROM?" and "MONSTER." All the thieves run away. Asune bursts out laughing, rolling on the floor with tears in his eyes. "BAHAHAHAHA, ah~ oh me1. The looks on their faces! Priceless! AHAHAHA.." A shadow of a snake-like beast looms over the laughing Asune. He stops laughing. "Eh?" He looks up and says, "What do you want?" He said. 

"I think that's our target; remember, boys, Be. Scary. Do not break character. and don't injure them too badly. Got it?", The fake thief said, "Yeah, boss," and the other thief replied. They begin walking out onto the dirt road. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here," he said, stepping in the middle of the dirt road in front of Rinfaina. "I'd advise you to not do what you're about to do." Rinfaina said in a stern voice, putting her hands behind her back.

"Or what?" He said mockingly. 

"You're going to hurt you." He is cut off as his head falls off his body, his body dropping to its knees before falling over. "No blood, huh?" Rinfaina said, looking back at the body, with a clear, glass-looking knife in her hand. "That means I can kill all of you." She says it sadistically.

"Why did I just get a shiver?" Asune said, now running again. "It doesn't matter; at this pace, I should be at the school in 30 minutes." Asune thought "Hm?" Asune notices something and stops running. "Why are there lines in the sky? It looks like... is this entire area in a spell?" "No wonder I didn't feel right fighting that snake; it felt like I was slower." He shrugs his shoulders and says, "Whatever." He says it nonchalantly as he starts running again. 

20 minutes go by, and Asune begins to get suspicious. "The snake and the bandits couldn't be the only traps; otherwise, it would be too easy; something's going on." 

Suddenly, an explosion goes off in the distance, a mushroom cloud can be seen going high into the air, and a scream can be heard. "I KNEW SOMETHING WAS UP." Asune immediately turns to the direction the explosion was in and begins running faster than before, saying, "I hope they're okay." He thought worried for whoever was caught in the giant explosion.

As he approaches the source of the explosion, he begins to question, "Was this part of the test as well?" He cancels the thought, "No! The explosion would be that big; this was caused by someone else."

He jumps out of the bushes and onto the dirt road, only to be met with three other people and one on the ground. "Who are all of you?" "I should be asking the same thing," Frank said. "Ah, you all must be here because of my explosion." Rinfaina said softly. "Sorry, this boy scared me." Asune looks on the ground to see a boy with long hair laying on the ground unresponsive.