The Pre-Adventures Exam

The sky was of a vibrant blue, as the bright light of dawn illuminated its surroundings. On the spacious sea of clouds that spanned across the endless horizon, a large and unique looking magic ship soared across its skies. It flew at a constant speed, ensuring a degree of comfort to the passengers traveling with its service.

Inside of the central cabin, on top of a wide platform, stood a few individuals. A slouchy looking man with messy hair and a scar on the side of his face looked around the room at the faces of the panicked individuals; he sneered while speaking to the small crowd.

"Why are you kids panicking? Tsk-tsk! There are only two elementary stages to this examination, you know," The slouchy looking man said with a playful tone of voice.

As they heard this, the people gathered in the room looked at the slouchy man carefully not to miss a single word, within the audience was a green-haired youth and two red-haired individuals.

Not paying attention to any of the crowd's expressions, the man lifted one finger upwards and spoke, "The first exam will be that of your force energy, this is where we will test your type of force and measure to see if you have met the basic requirements for the Adventure Exam."

"Hmm, testing our types of force energy? While I am not certain if it can directly assess the type of force energy I am wielding, it's best to press it down for a bit," Rajen said to himself as he slowly started to suppress his force energy.

The slouchy looking man then raised another finger as the corner of his lips rose, turning into a crafty smile. He glanced at the crowd and spoke once again, "Secondly, it will be a test of your survival capabilities, but for now, let's not go into the details."

As they heard this, the crowd couldn't help but grow angry as a man walked out and complained. "Hey, aren't you being a bit too vague? Please speak some more on what is expected for the second exam!"

"Right! We have a right to know what we will be getting ourselves into!" Another brave individual yelled as he now stood side to side with the other speaker.

As the men in uniform saw this scene a look of pity soon shone at the depths of their eyes as they looked at the two speakers, they glanced at the slouchy looking man whose eyebrows jumped upon hearing the two speakers.

"Eh? Are you questioning the way I do things?" The slouchy man who looked upon the two individuals with a deep gaze asked.

The two feeling his gaze were slightly nervous, but they swallowed their spits and spoke up once more, "Yes! We believe---" Before the guy could finish his carefully articulated speech, there was a sudden change.

Bang! Swoosh! As if the world turned around, the view of the speaker began to change as he felt himself soaring through the air, disappearing into a sea of clouds. A burning sensation came across his face but the fear regarding his current circumstances had eclipsed the pain from the blow.

The crowd looked at the scene in shock, as the slouchy looking man stood at his position as he seemed as if he didn't move, with only his right hand lifted into the air. The slouchy man seeing their silence spoke once more.

"Is there anyone else who has a problem with my management?" He asked in a calm tone of voice.

"No, sir!" The group of individuals answered as they responded in unison, no different from well-trained soldiers.

"This man is such a bastard; why did he have to do that?" Reya said with a look of displeasure on her pretty face.

"'One has to kill the chicken to startle the monkey,' this ancient saying has been passed around from early times. According to our situation, this was the most efficient means to achieve equilibrium amongst the group of aspiring adventures gathered here," Rajen said as he excluded an ancient air of wisdom.

"Hahaha! Are you an old man? Where did you hear this saying from?" Reya questioned with interest in her eyes; Gust also focused his attention as he did not expect Rajen's sudden analogy.

"This, I heard it from my master, as he is a man that likes to tell tales," Rajen said with a smile on his face as he thought back to his earlier years, listing to Master Yoshi blabber on endlessly.

As she saw his expression Reya smiled as she spoke, "You really seem to like your master, is he related to you?"

Gust hearing her sudden words frowned as he didn't expect his sister to become so nosy, as he was about to admonish her, Rajen responded. "Indeed, I do like my master, and while he is not my family. I value him more than any..."

"Ah..." As they heard this, both Gust and Reya exclaimed softly. Reya's impression of Rajen increased as her clear eyes shone while observing his face.

Clap! Clap! Suddenly, two loud claps quickly awaken them from their own world as the slouchy man spoke once more, "Now then, let us begin the first exam, bring the Force Energy Reader to the central platform!"

"Right away, sir," The two individuals in uniforms said as they quickly went to the side of the room and brought over a strange-looking device, placing it at the center of the platform.

It was 2 meters tall and 1 meter wide, with a head size glowing orb placed at its center. Looking carefully, one would notice that a few shining crystals were embedded into socketed compartments that surrounded the orb. There were even runic lines that trailed from these sockets towards the central orb and core of the entire construct.

"This looks interesting," Rajen said in curiosity as he had never seen such a strange construct before in his entire life. A few other individuals who were gathered also had similar exclamations as only a few remained silent as they observed the exclaimers with scorn.

Reya and Gust were also silent, but they looked at the device indifferently.

"Hmph! These backwater bumpkins," A familiar-looking nobleman who had a sizeable pointy hat said, he was dressed in well-decorated garments, as a spiky-haired pale skin youth stood by his side in silence.

"Good! Step forwards and place your hand unto the Force Reading Orb. Once you have done so, you must gather the power of your force energy to your palm and wait for the orb to react," The slouchy looking man said to the group of individuals.

Not wasting any time, a 21-year-old man quickly walked out, placing his hand on the orb as he gathered his force energy, after a few moments there was a change. A bright light shone from the orb, and the runes lit up, quickly the light receded as a gray ball of light shone at the center, above this ball of gray energy was the letter - F+.

"21 years of age, common type force energy, strength level F+ Class. Unqualified! Next!" One of the uniformed men said in an indifferent tone.

The man walked away from the testing orb with a sad expression on his face as he moved to the corner of the cabin, quickly another individual went forward, only this was a stunning looking young female dressed in blue robes. She reached her hand out and grasped the orb slowly gathering her energies to her palm.

Soon, another bright light shone once more from the orb, only this light was more abundant compared to the first and was of the color blue. Quickly, the light receded as a glowing blue ice cube floated at the center of the orb with the letter E+ by its side.

"Very good! Only 18 years of age, ice type force energy, strength level E+ Class. Qualified! Next!" The uniformed man said with a slightly stunned expression before continuing.

"Oh..." Rajen murmured as he observed the woman for a bit before looking at the others who took there turns.

After a while, it was time for Reya to go forwards, quickly she made her way to the orb and placed her hand on its surface.

Following a bright light that shone beyond all previous testers, was a ball of flame that was red, the letter positioned at its side was E++.

"Astounding! Only 17 years of age, uncommon fire type force energy, strength level E++ Class. Qualified! Next!" The uniformed man excitedly said with a stunned expression, he calmed himself down and notified the rest to continue. But as he tested Gust, he jumped in surprise once more.

"What? 19 years of age, uncommon wind type force energy, strength level D+ Class. Qualified!" The uniformed man muttered as he started to wipe the sweat from his forehead, he looked at Gust for a bit before continuing.

After a few more individuals, only two were left, Rajen as well as the spiky-haired pale youth. Not wasting time, Rajen walked forwards and placed his hand onto the orb as he thought to himself, 'Since it doesn't seem to be able to tell all types of force energies, I should be safe if I just channel a fraction of it here.'

While he thought, he continued to gather a few of his energies, as he started to remember an old memory.

*****

At the peak of a mountain, the silhouettes of a young child and an old man were noticed. The child was currently doing push-ups with beads of sweat trickling down his skin, falling onto the rocky floor. A massive boulder was placed on his back as the old man sat on top.

While seated in lotus posture, the old man spoke as his spit soared to the heavens, "A good master… trains to the limit not only the disciple's physique but his mind. Rajen, your kind doesn't cultivate with the powers of the world, and in truth, you don't even need to train, as you will naturally grow to your peak. For you, the most important thing is to learn control, only by continuous conditioning of the body and the spirit can you easily adapt to the rapid changes in your body,"

As the old man said this, he saw that the younger Rajen was still exercising with sweat continuing to pour down his skin. The old man then shouted, causing his voice to echo like thunder, "Rajen!"

Frightened, the younger Rajen's hand fell in between two rocks as a large bruise formed. However, he didn't dare to stop his push-ups, promptly replying as he clenched his teeth to resist the pain, "Yes, Master Yoshi!"

"Good! A quick response, unlike yesterday's, I will permit you to remove 1 million cycles from today's remainder of your limit push-ups. Now then, tell me, what is force energy?" Master Yoshi asked as he slapped the boulder with his cane.

"Re-Replying to the master, force energy is said to be a type of power found deep within one's very core, a power that varies according to one's characteristics; each is fundamentally different. They are most commonly recognized as Mage Force used by the magicians, Sword Force used by sword geniuses, Element Force used by individuals with special gifts to particular elements, and finally, Qi Force used by martial practitioners who travel the martial way," Rajen replied with a comprehensive knowledge set.

"Very Good! Now again, what other types of forces are there?" Master Yoshi asked once more.

"Replying to the master, there are also different and unique forces that are tied to special individuals because of rare bloodlines, or traits. These are the Tiger Force used by the Supreme Tiger Clan, the Mysterious Fire Force used by the Vermilion Race, and even the Dark Mana Force used by the Dark Elves. The Strength Force is used by the Colossal Giants, while many other forces with strange properties exist," Rajen replied once again as he struggled with his push-ups.

As he heard this, a sharp look came into Master Yoshi's eyes as he spoke once more in a serious tone, "Good! And what is our Golden Rule?"

"Never reveal my force to anyone; I can show it to limits of scale, but I should never use the power that comes from using my 'Force Prestige,' at least not until I have achieved the power required to protect myself. If it has truly been exposed, then I must kill everyone who witnesses," Rajen replied as a ruthless murderous intent came from his large innocent eyes.

Master Yoshi, hearing this smiled as he spoke once more, "Why is that?"

As Rajen heard this, he spoke once more, "Because my force... is Dragon Force," As the words continued here, the flashback came to an end.

*****

A bright green light shone within the cabin as it illuminated all in sight, shortly after it receded revealing a fuzzy green shade as if the device couldn't manage to form the image correctly, it faded, showing only the letter D+.

As he saw the details, Rajen smiled as he thought, 'So it's as I presumed,'

Instantly there was silence as everyone looked at the figure of the green-haired youth in surprise, Reya and Gust looked at Rajen with their mouths open wide. The uniformed man looked at the information as he struggled to speak properly.

"Oh my goodness! This... 17 years of age, unknown force energy, strength level D+ Class. Qual... Qualified!" As his words finish, it left ripples within the hearts of many as the ship continued to soar through the distant sky.