Star

Tap...tap...tap. Ethan walked in front of a tall building extending high into the sky. He craned his neck as he looked at the its top, admiring its sheer size. Sure, he had seen these buildings from afar, but standing in front of it was a different story.

He took in a deep breath as he stared at the building. A wave of excitement surged through him. This was it! It was the final KGS test. If he passed this, he'd be accepted into one of the world's best gatekeeping schools. He smiled.

Ethan took his hands out of his pockets. A set of automatic doors slid open as he entered the building. He walked towards a desk and fished out his red card. "Ethan Miller." Ethan controlled his excitement. It wouldn't do him any good to lose himself in grand dreams of joining KGS and ending up failing the exam.

"Please enter the main hall on floor 2." The woman returned his card. Floor 2? Ethan was disappointed. He'd hoped to visit one of the higher floors. He climbed the stairs as he headed towards the hall.

Whoosh! Ethan was assaulted by a wave of cool air as soon as he entered the hall. He stopped walking. This hall was huge. It was humongous! It seems like all 2000 people were gathering in this place! He looked around. Noah and the five heirs would be here. Including that damned Stella heir.

Ethan clenched his teeth. He hoped he wouldn't meet any of the six elites. He didn't want to draw attention to himself here. The last thing he needed was the world's most powerful forces coming after his family.

Tap...tap...tap. Ethan blended into the crowd as he tried to find a seat. There were so many people here. Half of them wouldn't make it KGS. But he wouldn't be one of them. He'd get into KGS. He'd come too far too fail now.

Suddenly, Ethan bumped into somebody. "Hey, what do you think you're doing? Who're you..." The guy in front of him held a hand. "Easy, Agung. It's my fault for walking blindly." The brown haired heavy set boy retreated.

Ethan looked at the boy in front of him. He froze. What was this guy doing here? "Y...you're that green haired young master. What're you doing here?" This green haired guy hadn't been one of the guys who had passed. Ethan hadn't expected to find him here.

He smiled at Ethan. "Of course, I passed the tests and ended up here! I see that you've cleared the tests as well." Ethan looked at him strangely. Only nine people had passed the first test. Maybe this guy was the tenth?

He patted Ethan's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. There were some complications, but they let me through!" He smiled at him. "Well sure! Good for you, I guess." Ethan didn't think too hard about it. If he passed, good for him. He didn't need to get worked up over another person.

"So, do you know what's the third test gonna be about?" Ethan sat down on a seat right next to the green haired guy. "Nope! I'm as clueless as you!" He smiled. "I hope it isn't like last year's test though. That test was horrible."

"Oh yeah? What was it about? I don't have a bar for the difficulty of this time's test." The green haired guy was about to reply. "The fuck are you doing here?" A familiar voice pierced through the air. Ethan turned around.

He paled. Of all the people, he had to meet with this guy here! "Y....you! Douglas!" Ethan stuttered slightly. His fear of Douglas hadn't been erased completely. Douglas smirked at him arrogantly. "Get out this instant! I don't care if you've come to beg for forgiveness. It's too late now. Get out of here!"

Ethan frowned slightly. "What do you want, Douglas?" The trace of fear inside him vanished. This guy was his enemy. He kept sitting on his chair. "I said get out! You don't want to deal with the consequences of messing with a G-8 rank awakener."

Hmm. So he had advanced. Interesting. So had Ethan. He couldn't wait to inflict all kinds of pain on this vile creature. "Fuck off. How arrogant do you have to be to think I've come here to apologise to you?" He contained his rage. He couldn't attack him not. Not here. His revenge would come soon enough.

A crowd started to gather around them. Douglas smiled. "I see. I get it now. You've come here to try to curry favour with one of the rich kids here so you can get some influence." He leaned in front of Ethan's face. "Are you feeling bad because I burnt down your little shack? That I roughed up your father just because I wanted to? Well tough luck, weakling. I've told you before. You won't be able to do anything to me. So go back to the streets and pray I don't come visiting tonight."

Douglas' face was twisted into a sneer as he mocked Ethan. "Hey, green hair! Did you know? This guy's potential is F rank! He's trash! Much worse than anybody you've ever seen!" A loud asp echoed through the crowd. "What? F rank?" "What's a piece of trash like him doing here?" "Do they allow anybody to come in here?" "I thought this was supposed to be the KGS entrance test!"

"Hey! What's going on over here?" A woman appeared, attempting to defuse the situation. She immediately turned to Douglas. "What's going on over here?" "Miss, this bumpkin wandered in and isn't leaving. I've told him many times, but he isn't listening." He made a righteous face, as if he were upholding justice. Ethan snorted. A bumpkin? Wasn't Douglas from the same city as him?

The woman didn't even hesitate. "You! What're you doing here? Get out this instant!" She trusted Douglas' words immediately. "I've come to take the test today. This asshole didn't let me sit here in peace. He started bothering me for no reason." The woman frowned.

"Didn't I just tell you to leave? Why are you talking back? Do you want to be dragged out forcefully?" "Ahem!" The green haired boy cleared his throat loudly. "This boy has passed the second test. I can vouch for him."

The lady froze. She stared at the green haired boy's face, as if trying to confirm something. "I...I see. I'll leave now, sir." She walked away briskly, as i she was afraid of something. Douglas didn't take the hint. "Hey! here are you going? Aren't you goin to kick this boy out! Hey! Don't ignore me! I..."

"Shut your damn mouth!" The green haired boy glared at Douglas. "Who do you think you...." Slam! A blast of wind crashed against Douglas as he was blown away. Crash! He crashed into a pile of chairs. "Leave! I don't want to see your face again."

Taptaptaptap. Douglas turned around and ran. He didn't think that the green haired boy was somebody he could take on. The crowd was shrouded in silent. "Don't do that again." Ethan's eyes burned into the green haired boy. "What?" He looked at Ethan as if he couldn't believe what he just said.

"My problems are my own. I don't need anyone taking care of them." He stared at the green haired boy. There was no hint of malice in them. Only a strong sense of conviction. His eyes bored into the green haired boy, challenging him to retaliate.

The green haired boy broke into a smile. "I haven't told you my name, have I? I'm Star." He stared back into Ethan's eyes. "Good to meet you, Star. I'm Ethan. I hope we can get along well." He extended a hand towards him. Star gripped his hand. "Ethan. I'll remember it. Best of luck for this test. I hope you can make it." An inexplicable connection was forged between the two. For the first time, Star had recognised Ethan as an equal. "I hope you can too."

The moment had passed. The tension in the air dissipated, as if it had never existed. "Why don't you show me your knife? I'd like to take another look at it." "Sure. I wanted to see yours as well." The two descended into the same jolly mood as before. But his time, Star felt freer. He felt the genuinity of the entire situation. His smile grew wider.

"Hey Star! Thanks for what you did earlier." Ethan suddenly spoke. Star looked back at him. "Sure. It was my pleasure." He grinned. Ethan pulled out his dagger. "So as I was saying, my dagger technique is....."

Star ran a hand through his messy green hair, feeling every strand. He murmured softly. "I think I've found him, father."