Chapter 8: The Exam

After everyone finished collecting their storage jewellery. Sujin's finger glows blue, she swipes her finger to the side. Rays of a light-blue aura fly towards the candidates transforming into a jade slate with their names engraved on it. Tess looks at the jade in confusion, "what's this thing for?" Adrien is equally confused, why did Sujin give this to them? Leon silently looks at Sujin from a distance. "Keep in mind that you'll need to keep this jade slate safe. If it breaks you'll be disqualified from the exam, and the examiners will take you away from the trial." "Now, are there any more questions before we start?" No one answered, it was already clear that they were ready.

Everyone gathers near the area Sujin instructed them to, Sasha bids farewell to Leon, "good luck boss!" Leon smiles, "you bet." Leon turns to leave, Shin and the others walk towards the area as well, thug grits his teeth on the side. After everyone had gathered, Sujin Chants a spell, a magic circle appears from below where the candidates were standing. It glows brightly, startling everyone else, "W-what the hell is this!?" Another person shouts, "a teleportation spell?!"

'I see' Leon stares at the magic circle below her, her crimson eyes glowed a faint red aura. 'They planned this from the start.' The Candidates disappear in the light.

Somewhere on an Island, a huge magic circle appears in the sky, huge beams of light fall towards the island like a meteor. One by one, the candidates are teleported safely in the island. Many got confused as to why they were put in a jungle-like island.

"What is this place?"

"Why did the examiners send us to a place like this?!"

 While many were confused, Shin and Easen walked Side by side looking around, at another place Tess stood looking up at the sky, whispering to himself, "it seems we got separated." Leon walks along in a deserted area, looking up and around her, she hears a slight moan. She looks to where the noise came from, only to find Sasha unconsciously lying on the ground next to her. "Sasha?!" What was Sasha doing here?!! 

A holographic screen suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the sky, taking away Leon's attention, a man appeared on the screen. "Ahem, ahem. It seems that all you candidates have arrived safely on this Island." The candidates looked up, they were confused enough, they wanted this man who appeared out of nowhere to explain himself. 

"This is Harijuku Island, also known as the forest of death. I will also be the place where your 1st trial starts. Ah, right. I haven't introduced myself yet." The man has a somewhat apathetic expression while saying this: "I am the deputy director, Han Mujin. It's nice to see you all."

Han Mujin explains that This Island is inhabited with Beasts who have been corrupted by dark mana. They were now classified as demonic beasts. 

"Your task in this trial is to survive the demonic beasts on this island. The duration is" there was a brief pause in his words, "60 days." Dead silence travels across the island,breaking the silence, a boy yells, "W-what?! You want us to live on this hell-like island for 60 days?! Are you trying to get us all killed?!"

"He's mad! Is this how Helios does things?!"

"How can we survive out here for 2 months with demonic beasts roaming around the area?!"

"What about the food and necessities?! You should at least provide us with at least that much!!"

Han Mujin was not moved nor was he swayed by their complaints, he simply stated, "if there is any dissatisfaction, that's fine. You can just break the slate, go home and find another school." 

Everyone: "…." One of the candidates was about to refute Han Mujin's words but was cut off, "Now, I wish good luck." With that last sentence, the screen disappears, leaving them speechless.

"What the hell is wrong with Helios Academy?! What kind of school Organizes an exam that can potentially threaten our lives?!!"

Everyone was pissed at Han Mujin and the Academy, how could they make such a dangerous exam for them? With their fists up in the air, they all shout in unison,"The Academy definitely wants to get us all killed! If you didn't want us to enter the Academy, why didn't you just say so in the first place?!" 

In another place, Sasha finally wakes up, "Ah!"

Leon frowns, "why are you screaming? Is my face that scary?"

"Ah, no, no. Not scary at all!" Sasha quickly defends herself in fear that Leon would misunderstand. "Hmm, okay then" Leon crouches down to meet Sasha's level, she rests her head on her hand smiling, "Sasha, why did you lie that you didn't want to take part in the entrance exam? If you wanted to take the exam so badly, you could've just said so."

It took a long time for Sasha to process Leon's words,"wait, what? I'm in the trial right now?"

"Yep." Leon states with an expression saying that it's pretty obvious. 

"What?!" Sasha grabs onto Leon, "that can't be right! Boss! How do I get out of this now?!"

Leon realises something off, "wait", seriously staring at Sasha, Leon questions her, "you mean you came here by accident?" Sasha nods her head. Leon frowns, how did Sasha get here? From what she could remember, there was quite a distance from the magic circle where Sasha was standing…

Noticing Leon suspiciously staring at her, Sasha quickly explains, "right! Now that I think about it, I felt a strong force collide against my back at the time."

Sasha tries to recall what happened. When she was seeing Leon off, a strange force collided against her back, pushing her towards the teleportation spell. She managed to break her fall, preventing her from falling on the magic circle. However, another force much powerful from the previous one mercilessly attacked her, she could only defend herself against the attack, forgetting the teleportation spell behind her. The force was too powerful for her to defend against, Sasha fell into the magic circles, and like everyone else, she teleported to this strange island.

"After that, I lost consciousness, and woke to find you here." Leon is silent for a moment, this was indeed strange. Who would do such a thing to someone who isn't even a candidate?

"Do you remember the person who did this?" Sasha tries to think, "I-I'm not sure…" Leon patiently waits for Sasha to speak, "Oh! I remember that it was a guy with red hair… but I didn't get a good look at his face." 

'A guy with red hair…' Leon contemplates, it must've been someone who had a grudge on Sasha, but Sasha seldom offended anyone. It could only mean that it was someone Sasha had a connection to… 

'Wait. No way' 

The image of the thug that stole Shin's invitation came to mind. The culprit was the thug!

Wow, Leon couldn't believe it, that coward of a man actually had the guts to push Sasha into the teleportation spell? He sure had the ability, that's for sure. Leon glances at the clueless Sasha, it's probably best if she doesn't tell Sasha. If Sasha knew it was that wimp who pushed her, she would definitely go into a frenzy.

She clears up her throat, changing the subject, "well, you're here anyway. So there's nothing I can do."

Sasha: "?!" 

Sasha desperately grabs onto Leon's arm, "Come on Boss, you can just ask the examiners to send me out!" Leon shakes her head, "I can't do that."

"Why?!"

Why can't the boss do something as simple as that? She doesn't want to take the exam! Leon sighs at her subordinate's desperate expression. "Because the only way to get out of here is to break the slate."

"Then break it!" Leon immediately rejects Sasha, "if I did that, I'd be disqualified from the exam."

"…." 

'Seriously? You're a privileged Candidate, for god's sake!' 

"Boss, it won't matter even if you withdraw from the exam. It's not like it'll affect your acceptance in the–"

Sasha is cut off by Leon's bright smile, "hmm?"

Sasha: "…"

 Never mind, she won't risk annoying her boss lest she gets abandoned to fend for herself. Don't blame Sasha for thinking like this, Leon is the type of person who would leave a person dissatisfied with her to fend for themselves. 

"It seems we've been separated from Shin and Easen." After hearing what Leon said, Sasha looks at her surroundings, "you're right." She hesitates, "will they be alright?" Sasha was worried for those two. Leon reassures Sasha, "don't worry, those two are strong. They can manage just fine." Leon glances at Sasha on the right side, "you should worry about yourself instead."

 Confused by Leon's words, she asks, "what do you mean–"

Before Sasha could finish speaking, a loud Growling sound is heard from behind, alerting Leon. She turns around, with a surprised expression on her face.