CHAPTER 7

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Raijin yelled, the kids scratching their eyes and yawning profusely-assembling upon the three teachers on the plain academy ground.

"Was this always here?" Kazuhiko thought, imagining that the academy was expansive every half-hour they were there. New rooms and grounds appeared out of thin air, the hallways stretched longer and the building wider. Was this another test? Or Was this the actual exam, to discover the mystery of the strange academy building.

"You might be asking why you're here so early." The kids moaned, too tired to frown and too tired to complain, called under the heat of the rising sun, eyes protesting the command to open and heads bobbing forwards and backwards.

"This will be your second exam." Isamu announced, expecting an audience, but only received few cheers from the likes of Hayagashi. Despite pestering Raijin for the night on end, the boy was both physically and mentally prepared and excited for the next exam. Kazuhiko loitered behind the rest of the children, whilst Ren was trying to contain Hayagashi's promptness. The teachers dispersed to reveal a short path behind her, with a finish sign at the end.

"The first 20 to reach the finish line pass the exam." Roshi explained, as the kids dropped their stances and readied for the race.

"We didn't say it was a race." Isamu interrupted. "You can jog, walk, if possible." She continued, as Roshi glared at her. She then brandished an expression of guilty innocence, knowing the kids would exhaust their energy from the beginning. Their batch that year wasn't the best, in terms of physical and mental hardiness from the candidates, which was evident from the 20 children out of the original 100 that dismissed themselves from the exam. Yet, Raijin didn't want to believe that they were unfortunate with their selection, he was content and even happy that he was given the privilege to train the next generation. And failure to do that, would send him into a deep depression too steep to pull out from. Isamu needed to act, not only for the kids' sakes, but for Raijin's as well.

Roshi then pulled Isamu away from the kids and gave a judgmental stare. "Why'd you give them another hint?" He pressed, what returned was silence.

"For all we know, if we keep spoon feeding them, they'll all be too stupid to train." Isamu retaliated against Roshi glare with her own.

"I don't remember us getting any training." She argued, and Roshi returned the silence. "You're now gonna say that we were talented."

"Yes. We were."

"Can't you believe it with these kids?"

Roshi sighed. "Maybe. The only one there that's talented is the Kazuhiko kid. Everyone else is as average as they come."

"They just need the right push." She nudged his shoulder. "Like we did."

"Fine." They returned to kids, watching Raijin prepare the kids for the exam with stretching exercises.

"Haven't seen him this excited in a while." Roshi smiled.

"We need to keep it that way." They approached Raijin, who was attempting to teach the kids how to do vertical pushups with a finger.

"We're ready?" He flipped back into a standing position. The two nodded.

"Are we ready kids?" Raijin yelled- the kids replied with unenthusiastic cheers.

"Not the best crowd, are we?" Raijin faked a smile.

"START!!" Isamu announced, dragging the two men by their collars and disappearing in a flash.

"So fast!" Ren exclaimed.

"Yeah." Hayagashi remembered Isamu's last display of speed.

"They went into the trees." The crowd of children turned to face Kazuhiko.

"You saw me." One of the twins asked.

"Frame by frame."

What followed were stares and murmurs, with the subject being whether to believe Kazuhiko's claims or not.

"Oi!" Hayagashi thrashed. "We gotta race to win!" He announced, as the murmurs subsided and the children began jogging to the finish line ahead of them.

"You could've just done it yourself." Ren frowned.

"It wouldn't feel like a victory." Hayagashi tucked his arms and jogged in place. "Besides, with my training, I'm tipped to ace this race." He went away.

"That kid's got problems." Ren followed.

The pace steady, stamina was preserved thanks to Isamu's hint, and they were closer to the finish line.

"This is-" Kazuhiko watched the rest of the children, jogging on the same row as him. "Too easy." He thought, as he glanced at the finish line. He was close, but so were the others, he had to pick up pace.

"I didn't want to do this." He stopped and knelt. "I've got get through this exam." He positioned himself for a dismount, before dashing through his competitors at superhuman speeds. All that could be seen was a gust of dust that covered the children, then the sound of crackling ground that later arrived after the wind had subsided.

Left dumbstruck, Ren and Hayagashi stared at one another, mouths and eyes jarred open.

"Did you see that?" Ren asked.

"No, I didn't."

"I told you, he's not human!" Ren shook Hayagashi's head. "That's why we can't trust him."

"He can be a really cool partner."

"I bet he feels the same way." Ren sarcastically replied.

Kazuhiko raced through thickets and bushes with his eyes and mind focused on the finish line. With every quick step, he watched the distance between his feet and the finish line decrease. Yet, something was wrong. With every step, he got closer to the finish line, but he was 'getting closer' to the finishing line for longer than he remembered.

"What the heck?" He thought, staring at the sign few kilometers away to note any changes. There was none, and he was still running to what felt like a dead-end.

"Something's wrong." He stopped, now walking with eyes locked on the sign. "What's going on?" He asked himself, as a minute of walking turned to 30, then an hour, till 3 hours had passed since his last sprint. He held his knees in defeat, panting and straining as he looked up at the finish line once more.

"I'm so close." He gritted his teeth. "But why am I getting further!" He yelled, grabbing his head in frustration whilst pulling on his hair. Visions of him failing the exam then flooded his mind, and the disappointed stare of his mother sent shiver into his back.

"NO!" He exclaimed. "I can't fail." He said, setting himself for a dismount before he heard growls resonating from the forest trees. He stopped to listen only to see rustling bushes moving to and from the trees and thickets. Then a final growl sounded the appearance of the wide-mouthed monster, who pounced out the bushes and faced Kazuhiko.

"Monster." Kazuhiko stepped back, his legs on the verge of a sprint, before he stomped the ground. The monster roared at the boy, attempting to intimidate him, to which Kazuhiko coldly stared at it, and prepared his stance.

"If you're the one doing all this." He pointed at the finish line. "Then I have to kill you." His pupils shrank, and his heartbeat limbered to slow, powerful beats. Face to face with the wide-mouthed monster.

"Come at me." He raised his hands and charged at the monster