Chapter 7- Dragon Hunt Begins – Round 1

While Cj slept soundly on the couch Miya met up with the rest of the Golden Circle. They were all gathered in a private room. Only members of the Golden Circle were permitted to enter. Some members were smoking, others were playing games and the rest simply chatted. Out of the twenty-nine people inside the room, one man caught Miya's attention. He was an old man in his sixties with a long beard that went down to his chest. "Father!" Miya shouted in her mind. She expected to see him but not this soon. Miya walked up to her father King Almon and greeted "Good evening father, how long has it been?"

"Around four months give or take"

"I can't believe you are actually participating or have you hired someone to do that for you?" asked the king. King Almon wasn't facing his daughter. He was reading a book with no intention of looking Miya in the eyes. Miya answered her father by saying "I found someone to partake for me. What about you father?"

"Girl can't you see how old I am. Obviously, I have someone taking part for me. We promised on sharing the healing potion once he wins" said King Almon. He ended the conversation there and closed his eyes. He took no time falling asleep with the book covering his face. Miya wished her father looked her in the eye at least once while she was talking. It made her head want to explode when her father treats her like this. "Old fart! Your days are numbered" said Miya angrily. Miya asked everyone in the private room if they will be attempting the Dragon Hunt on their own. As expected all of them either hired or forced someone who wields a gift to take part for them. After spending an hour inside the private room Miya thought it would be better to check on Cj. Being around someone her age group is what was best. When Miya went to check on him she was shocked to see a bald-headed man sitting next to Cj while sleeping. The man was drawing clouds on Cj's face with permanent markers.

The man wore a yellow headband and looked like the shortest person in the room. She stopped the man from drawing on Cj's face any more than he already did. She thought of waking him up. "He has a big day tomorrow. I'll keep an eye on him from now on" sighed Miya. She looked around and counted how many people there were. "One person is still missing," said Miya. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. The moment Miya wondered about the last person to arrive a teenage boy with green hair, blue eyes, and a mole on his right cheek walked inside the room covered in sweat.

"Water!" he cried out. There was a jar of orange juice on the table that the boy happened to lock eyes on. He lifted the jar then drank every last drop of what was left in there. He gulped down the orange at a dangerous pace it made Miya worried a bit. "Not like it's going anywhere," Miya thought. After drinking the entire jar she raised both his hands high up in the air.

"HELLO FELLOW PARTICIPANTS, I'M FEI FONG!"

"I HEAR THAT YOU ALL HAVE GIFTS. GOOD, VERY GOOD. LET'S GET ALONG" said the boy. He caught everyone's attention. Most of the participants glared at Fei. None of them thought to introduce themselves. "In just a couple of hours, everyone in this room will be enemies. They have no interest in learning each other's names" thought Miya. One of the Golden Circle Ronald guided everyone to their separate rooms. There were many facilities underground besides bedrooms. There were factories and basements as well. No one would ever know that a cave could lead to all of this. The day ended with everyone going to sleep without any trouble.

The next day around 8 am a loud alarm woke everyone up at once except Cj. He was already awake since six in the morning organizing his medicines and wiping his face. Everyone in the Golden Circle was already above ground on the surface. They waited outside the cave for their partners to arrive. When they arrived King Almon stepped forward and pressed a button on the remote he had on his hand. A hologram suddenly appeared from the remote. The hologram was green-haired man with a mole on his right cheek. He was Harriot Fong, the man who couldn't make it to the island. "My name is Harriot Fong, the CEO of Cruez's Path. I have the liberty of explaining the rules to everyone who is participating in Dragon Hunt the 13th"

"This is the thirteenth time this event has been held to claim this valuable liquid that can heal anything. We try for many years to reproduce that same liquid but fail every time. The only way to attain the potion is by this Dragon and naturally, everyone wants to take it home. Hahahaha too bad it's only one cup full" grinned Harriot. No one laughed along with him. Harriot cleared his throat then got down to business "I'm explaining the rules because I was the victor of the last Dragon Hunt. The first rule is No outside Help! The second rule is not to search for the Dragon on this island. Only the finalists have the right to see him and the last rule is If Somebody surrenders but you still killed that person then you're disqualified. Disobeying any of these rules will result in being permanently banned from future Dragon Hunts. That's how severe it is" explained Harriot.

Cj had no issues with the rules. He thought they were very easy to follow. "Straight forward, those rules might as well not exist. I wasn't planning on doing either of those three things" thought Cj. Harriot went on to say "There are three rounds. There will be an elimination round if the third round doesn't decide a winner. The first round is simple. First I want you to split into two groups quickly"

The thirty participants were split into two groups of fifteen. CJ was with the fifteen on the left. Harriot nodded impressed. He didn't expect them to group up so quickly. King Almon and another Golden Circle member Gordon stood in front of each other. King Almon taking the left while Gordon took the right. They each had a box in their hand filled with paper. Harriot's hologram continued talking. "Everyone take one piece of paper please"

Cj was the first to walk up to King Almon. He slowly put his hand inside the box. He could hear his heart beating at an alarming rate. "Is my heart next to my ears!? The hell's so loud for" Cj complained to himself. He took up a piece of paper. "The Tree with different color leaves" Cj read softly. He looked at the paper confused and so did the others when they picked their piece of paper. When everyone had their paper Harriot sighed. "The first round is broken into two parts. The first part is to find your assigned location with the help of the clue you have been given. Whatever is on the paper you collected is a clue to where you must be by sunset tomorrow. The two groups of fifteen got the exact same papers so you know what that means. You're not the only one who's going to be at your location. Someone on the right got the same assigned location as someone on the left" said Harriot.

"The second part is most definitely defeating the enemy that was also supposed to go at your location. Only one person will be accepted from all fifteen locations given out. Keep in mind that both parts are hard. It's troubling enough searching on an island you've never been before. You also have to fight once you get there. There's a chance when you arrive at your correct destination you won't be greeted by anyone. The first to find their location will have an overwhelming advantage" said Harriot. Cj glanced at everyone's expression curious to see if anyone's thinking that this round is a hassle. Harriot told everyone good luck before leaving. Food and water were distributed to the participants before they start their search. Once everyone has finished the Golden Circle scattered everyone in the forest making some distance between them then counting down. Without warning, hundreds of drones started flying outside the cave with cameras attached to them. They surrounded the whole island so that the Golden Circle could observe from a distance.

"3"

"2"

"1"

Go! The drones shouted.

Cj took a deep breath and remembered why he's here. "I'm the only one who can have that special potion. Everyone else can eat dirt" Cj said as he started running. "A Tree with different color leaves" Cj read out loud.