Chapter 5

With Shaheem

Shaheem lay against a tree with his hands behind his head. Around him on the ground were three teams, unconscious due to various means: the first team's skin was beet red, as if they had heat stroke; the second team struggled with labored breathing from oxygen deprivation; and the third team showed signs of both.

"It seems not everyone can handle superheated air. I should probably turn this off now before they die," Shaheem said, switching off his ability.

"Now it's time to sleep," he added, closing his eyes and settling into sleep.

**With Daniel**

Daniel lay on a tree branch, eyes closed, a flag across his chest. Below him, fifteen students attempted to reach him, but an unseen barrier protected him and the tree.

Opening an eye, he sighed. "You guys have been at this for the last thirty minutes. Why don't you just give up?"

"We won't miss out on the chance of a flag, and there's only one of you," one of them retorted.

"Should that be a red flag then?" Daniel quipped.

"Sigh, just so you know, the only reason I haven't attacked you guys yet is because I'm not actually interested in the game Grace proposed. But oh well." With a swift motion, Daniel flicked his hand, sending all fifteen students flying into the surrounding trees, knocking them out. He closed his eyes again and returned to sleep.

**With Kevaughn**

Kevaughn strolled through the forest with a smile, lost in thought. Suddenly, a wind attack knocked him into a tree. Smiling still, Kevaughn addressed the group of seven students before him.

"Listen, I'm in a very good mood right now, so listen up. I'm going to defeat all of you in three seconds," Kevaughn announced with a grin.

"Do you really think that you can—," a student started to retort but was cut short as he and his teammates fell unconscious to the ground.

"Hmm, well then, it seems that was four seconds. Oh well," Kevaughn chuckled before continuing on his way.

**With Horraine**

Horraine was seated on a branch not too far away from four teams circling a flag. He murmured to himself, "This should be interesting."

He then jumped off the branch silently, landing on the forest floor, standing a good thirty feet away from them in the darkness of the forest. His eyes gained a crimson glow as he started to walk towards them and made himself known.

"Why hello there. Wonderful day we are having, isn't it?" he said, walking towards them.

"Who's there?" they asked, looking in the direction of the voice, only to be greeted by a pair of glowing crimson eyes and the silhouette of a male approaching.

Horraine walked to the edge of the clearing where half of his body was visible and the other half was still in the shadows. Then something happened—the shadows gained eyes and teeth, the eyes curved and the teeth in a permanent grin. One of the eyes was on the half of Horraine's body that was in the shadows. Along with his glowing eyes, this gave him a terrifying visage that made the students step back in fear.

"Aww, don't run. I just got here," he said, an evil smile appearing on his face.

The students were about to flee, but when they looked around, they saw that the shadows were everywhere. They looked back at Horraine as he said, "Do you truly believe that I would let you escape so easily? Think again."

He vanished and reappeared in front of one of the students, delivering a right hook so hard it left an indent on the student's face and sent him crashing into the ground, causing a crater. Horraine then vanished again, reappearing in the middle of the group. He backhanded the closest student into a tree, knocking him out, then punched another with enough force to render her unconscious. He jumped on the hand of one who tried to attack him, then kicked him in the jaw, sending him flying into a tree head-first, knocking him out. 

Horraine flipped backward, landing an axe kick on another student, driving her face into the ground and knocking her out. He turned and delivered a powerful palm strike to the student on his left, sending him into a tree. 

Just then, he was hit by a ball of lava that should have melted him and the girl he was standing on, but the lava was blown back and dispelled. The girl who fired the attack was shocked that her attack was nullified so easily. She noticed Horraine glaring at her, and she passed out from sheer terror. 

Horraine looked back at the remaining students, who were backing away. With a simple glare, half of them passed out. He got up with a bored expression, letting his shadows deal with the rest. Ignoring their screams, he walked away, mumbling "boring" under his breath.

He walked into the shadows and disappeared to regroup with the others. Before vanishing, he muttered, "This is much too boring. Maybe next time with stronger people."

Meanwhile, Daniel, still lounging on the tree branch, spoke to no one in particular. "I still don't know how you keep getting through that, Horraine."

Opening his left eye, Daniel noticed the shadows on the branch moving strangely. Horraine emerged from the shadow, wearing a smile as he settled into a sitting position on the branch.

"Oh, you know me. I'm just that good," Horraine quipped.

"You know there's still thirty minutes left, right?" Daniel inquired.

"Yes, but I think it's time to regroup now," Horraine replied seriously.

"Okay," Daniel agreed, getting up.

Horraine leaped over to him, and together they disappeared into the shadows. They reappeared in a clearing and found Shaheem lying asleep on the ground, surrounded by unconscious students.

"Of course, he's asleep," Horraine sighed.

"You know he's not going to change, Horraine," Daniel remarked.

"I know," Horraine said, flicking Shaheem on the head to wake him up.

"Get up," Horraine ordered.

"Do I have to?" Shaheem groaned.

"Yes, unfortunately," Daniel confirmed.

"Fine," Shaheem grumbled as he got to his feet. "I was comfortable too," he complained.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go," Horraine said, and they all disappeared into the shadows once more.

They found Grace perched on a group of students, cleaning her nails with a bored expression. "You should have expected them to be this weak, you know," Horraine commented as they appeared before her.

"I know, but..." Grace began, pouting.

"Sigh, Shaheem, deal with your problem," Horraine instructed wearily.

"Okay, Grace, come here," Shaheem called out.

Grace didn't respond, instead leaping onto Shaheem. He caught her and gently set her down.

"All right, let's go," Shaheem urged.

Horraine nodded, and they vanished again.

They found Pinnock standing in place, staring into space with a smile on his face. Horraine called out to him, "Pinnock, Pinnock, Pinnock."

"Hmm? Yeah," Kevaughn replied, snapping back to reality.

"Are you good?" Horraine asked.

"Yeah, I'm good," Kevaughn confirmed.

"Good, because it's time to go."

"Okay," Kevaughn agreed.

He walked over to the group and stood next to Horraine.

"Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Daniel inquired.

"Back to where we were teleported in the first place," Horraine replied as they vanished into the shadows one more time.

When they arrived, they found the area untouched.

"Well, that's good," Horraine commented.

"Indeed," the rest agreed.

"Anyway, how much time is left?" Grace asked.

"Twenty minutes," Horraine answered.

"Okay, what are we doing then for the rest of the time?" Kevaughn wondered.

"Relax, of course," Shaheem suggested.

"Why? Don't we need—," Daniel began, but Grace interrupted by raising the flags she had.

"Oh, okay then," Kevaughn realized.

"Yeah, so we wait until the twenty minutes are up," Horraine said, sitting down cross-legged.

"Okay," everyone else echoed.

Shaheem reclined against a tree, drifting off to sleep. Grace followed suit, resting her head in his lap. Daniel climbed onto a tree branch and lay back. Meanwhile, Kevaughn sat cross-legged, meditating, and Horraine pulled out his phone, playing games. They remained in these positions for twenty minutes.

**Twenty Minutes Later**

A loud siren signaled the end of the exam, jolting the group awake. They groaned, blinking as they slowly rose to their feet, eyes scanning the surroundings. They made their way over to Horraine and Kevaughn, questioning, "What's going on?"

Horraine calmly explained, "The exam is finally over."

"What happens now?" Pinnock asked.

"We're all going to be teleported back to the arena," Horraine informed them.

"Okay," the group nodded.

"Yeah."

"How long is this supposed to take?" Shaheem inquired.

As he asked, a blue glow enveloped the group, teleporting them back to the arena. They looked around, noticing other students being teleported as well.

"Well then, it's time to go home now, right? The results will come out in a week?" Grace asked.

"To answer your question, yes, pretty much," Horraine confirmed.

The group nodded. They listened as the student council addressed them.

"Good afternoon, students. We hope you aren't too injured to make it home. Congratulations on your performances today. We hope you pass these exams and we'll see you this week. Goodbye and see you in a week," the council concluded, walking off the stage.

"Now the test is over," Horraine declared.

"Great, home time," Daniel cheered.

"Yes, time to get some sleep," Shaheem added.

"Time to go get some food!" Grace exclaimed.

"Pinnock, you're coming over, right?" Horraine asked Pinnock.

"Yeah, I am."

"Good."

They walked to the gate and headed home, dispersing in different directions. Horraine and Kevaughn walked together toward Horraine's residence. Horraine headed to the school parking lot, and they walked farther until Kevaughn noticed Horraine reaching into his pocket and pulling out a car key. It was for a Lamborghini, but Kevaughn couldn't identify the exact model. Horraine pressed a button on the key, causing a beep.

"Oi, Kevaughn, are you getting in or what? I'll leave you here, you know!" Horraine shouted.

"Oh, right," Kevaughn responded, still surprised.

He closed the door as Horraine did the same, starting the car and beginning the drive.

"This is going to be an hour and a half drive, so get comfortable ," Horraine informed him.

"Okay. Um, by the way, how much was this car?" Pinnock asked.

"Hm, I paid around a good 600,000 USD. Why?" Horraine replied casually.

"Oh, I see. Okay, then," Pinnock acknowledged.

The car ride was relatively calm, aside from Pinnock's sporadic questions that Horraine blatantly ignored. Eventually, Pinnock fell asleep during the journey.

**An Hour and a Half Later**

When they finally arrived at their destination, Horraine pulled into a large, white, modern mansion. Horraine woke Kevaughn by shaking him slightly and instructing him to wake up.

Blinking awake, Kevaughn saw Horraine maneuvering into a spacious garage. As the garage door opened, Kevaughn peered through the windscreen, noticing an array of neatly parked cars, ranging from a Nissan 370z to a Bugatti Chiron. Spotting an empty space, he presumed it was reserved for their current ride, and he was correct. Horraine parked in the spot, shut off the car, and exited. Kevaughn followed suit.

Horraine turned and headed towards a door on the side of the garage, gesturing for Kevaughn to follow. Opening the door, they stepped into a vast, green lawn, with pathways leading to various areas around the mansion. Walking along the path, they came across a sprawling forty-meter infinity-edge pool. Horraine continued walking, but Kevaughn found himself fixated on the pool, marveling at its grandeur.

Noticing Kevaughn's distraction, Horraine sighed and called out for him to hurry up. Snapping out of his reverie, Kevaughn hastened to catch up with Horraine. They walked for a while before turning left towards what seemed to be the main entrance of the mansion. Ascending the steps, they reached a door which Horraine effortlessly opened without a key.

Entering the mansion, they were greeted by a spacious, open area with two staircases leading upward. Horraine glanced around before turning to Kevaughn and instructing him to proceed straight ahead to the living room but to avoid touching anything until he returned.

"Where are you going?" Kevaughn inquired.

"To the kitchen. I'm going to whip up something," Horraine replied.

Pinnock nodded, and Horraine departed. Kevaughn made his way to the living room, where he encountered an unfamiliar face sitting on the couch, watching the large flat-screen TV. All he could discern was blue hair.

Not sure what to do, Kevaughn cautiously approached, but the person sensed him, swiftly dodged his attempted attack, and effortlessly flipped him over their shoulder. As he hit the ground with a thud, Kevaughn looked up to see a stunning woman, adorned with back-length blue hair, red eyes, and a supple form. She exuded an aura of displeasure as she demanded, "Who are you?"

"I should be asking you that," Kevaughn retorted.

Her eyes narrowed, and she grabbed him by the throat, hurling him out of the room with a kick, causing a loud bang. Groaning, Kevaughn struggled to his feet, realizing he might have attracted Horraine's attention. However, before he could react, the woman fired an ice spear at him.

Just then, they heard Horraine's voice. "Kevaughn left you alone for less than five minutes. What are you doing?"

Horraine appeared, holding a tray of food, and observed the situation with an amused expression.