After all of the teams were formed, Mia escorted the examinees back outside as they waited for the blimp to arrive. Most of the teams stayed fairy quiet, only talking to their fellow teammates about what the next phase could be.

Blake, who with the rest of his team, slid up against the wall of the Blessed House and asked, “Yo, Tokar. Since you’re clearly the genius here, what do you think this next phase is gonna be?”

Tokar shrugged. “Don’t ask me, I’m no examiner.”

Blake gave him an annoyed look. “You don’t even have a guess.”

“Well, If I had to guess, we’d have to look at what we haven’t been tested for so far. For starters, we were tested in the first phase to see if we were capable of making it out of bad situations, and in the second phase, we were tested to see if we had what it takes to stand up against powerful attacks. There are still many situations, such as testing our strength and knowledge. I’m guessing that we’ll have to take a written exam.”

“Written exam?” asked Blake, nervously. “Man, that’s unfair! Intelligence is my worst trait!”

Keira rolled her eyes and said, “Everything’s your worst trait.”

Blake started to get heated up as he mumbled insults to himself. He held himself back, however, after looking towards Knox, who had an expression that told him that they needed to work together, regardless of their differences.

A few more minutes slowly passed by until a huge shadow hovered over the examinees. They all looked up, spotting a blimp that was steadily descending towards the pillar. The blimp was simple. The gondola of the huge airship was much bigger than average, and would easily hold the remaining teams. The balloon was colored white, with the letters MCG painted onto each side in golden text.

The contestants were eager to get onto the blimp, but they had to wait for several painful minutes before it landed. Once it was secured on the ground, Mia rudely barged through the examinees and waited until a platform was lowered. From there, she escorted the examinees on, one at a time, until all 84 contestants were on.

The interior of the blimp was much more impressive compared to the outside. The walls, that formed an oval shaped room, were made out of spotless, shiny wood, along with the abnormally clean, scarlet carpet. The walls were covered with several paintings of famous areas in Mercury City and past mayors. Lastly, there were several elegant pieces of furniture, with at least 20 couches that were spread far apart, giving the teams their own area to talk.

“Well, here we are,” said Mia. “Make yourselves at home, it’ll be at least 3 hours before we reach the area where the 3rd phase will take place. By the way, one little tip. I advise you take a good look around you and figure out who the threats are, because from here until the end of the exam, the most dangerous aspects are the psychics around you.”

As Mia left the room, the room became very tense, and eyes started to bounce. Most of the examinees, including Blake and Tokar, glanced towards Silver, Saga and Bain, who showed to be the biggest threats during the 2nd phase. Some people, including Bugie, looked at Knox’s team as well, but only for Knox, as he proved he was just as dangerous.

Rather than sitting down with Tokar and Keira, Knox and Blake went towards the window and watched as the blimp floated over Mercury City. “Wow, it’s so amazing from up here,” stated Knox.

“No doubt, man,” replied Blake. “Even the skyscrapers look like insects from up here. Come to think about it, this is the first time I’ve ever left the city.”

“Yeah, same here. I’ve always wanted to kind of adventure. Well, at least my dad told me all these stories about the amazing places this world has to offer. But before he left, he said that I have to become a ‘real psychic’ before I can adventure on my own. I never really understood what he meant, though.”

“Maybe your dad’s just a little bit concerned.”

“It’s possible, but he never seemed like the worried type. He’d normally let me and my sister do whatever we wanted to, just as long as we never left the city.”

“Damn, your dad seems pretty cool! I wish my dad was as awesome as yours.”

Knox looked at Blake, who, for the first time he recalled, looked a little down. “Why? Do you not like him?”

“Nah, I love my old man, but he’s part of the reason I want to get out of here. Both of my parents, believe it or not, own the Mercury City University.”

“Really? Isn’t that one of the best school’s in the country?”

“You bet. They’re both geniuses. Anyways, my dad also has psychic powers, and one day I asked him if he ever uses them, but he responded with ‘My psychic powers won’t make me any smarter’. It just kind of pissed me off because, well, he’s been given this gift, but he doesn’t even use it! Ever since, I’ve decided to stop focusing on taking over their school and start using my gift for something more productive.”

“Wow, that’s a good way to look at life. You know, come to think of it, you’ve never shown me your powers. I’m starting to think you aren’t a psychic at all.”

“Nah, man, I got them, I just don’t really want to show them now that Mia said that the other examinees might be a threat. I’ll show them during the 3rd phase.” Knox nodded, as they headed back towards the couch where Tokar and Keira was sitting. As they returned, Knox saw something in the corner of his eye. He looked, spotting Saga, who was staring directly at him. His sharp eyes made Knox freeze in his place, as he stared back, trying not to show any signs of being frightened. Saga snickered and turned away, allowing Knox to feel relief. He’s so dangerous, thought Knox. He’s definitely the biggest threat here.


“Saga.” Saga, who was dozing off, looked towards Silver.

“What?” he asked, impatiently.

“Are you frightened? Intimidated?” Saga widened his eyes. He hated when people thought he was scared. As far as he was concerned, nothing intimidated him whatsoever.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“It’s just that you were giving that boy, Knox, a strange look. Are you scared of him.”

Saga laughed to himself and closed his eyes. “Not at all. It’s just that everyone here is so weak, and he’s the only one that give a good impression.”

“Do I give a good impression?” asked Bain, jokingly.

“Sure, you give a good impression if someone wants to get molested.”

Silver sighed. “Such hostility. I understand you 2 aren’t exactly happy about being on a team, but look at it this way. All 3 of us are powerful, so it’s almost guaranteed that we will pass the exam.”

Saga rolled his eyes. “Whatever, but I won’t hesitate to cut you two in half if you get in my way.”



“Ma----n, those freaks are creepy as hell!” said Blake, as he pointed towards Silver’s team. “I can’t even imagine how screwed we are if they come after us later on.”

Tokar shook his head. “We can’t worry about it too much, Blake. Even if they attacked us head on, we still have the majority in numbers.”

“Maybe,” said Keira. “but considering that Blake is useless, we technically only have 3 capable psychics.”

Blake raised from his seat and yelled, “Honestly, I’m about to fu-”

Stopping Blake’s words, Knox said, “I’m almost 99% positive that Silver’s team won’t attack us like that. And even so, it wouldn’t be directly on.”

“Really? What do you mean.”

“Well, I can’t predict exactly what they’re gonna do, but I can tell you that Silver will use some type of strategy if he wants to come after us.”

“A-are you positive?”

“Like I said, 99% positive.”

Blake shrugged, unsure of Knox’s prediction, but he had no argument against it.


Back in the cave, Rain sat quietly among 2 of his comrades, Magi and Kaden. They remained out of sight ever since they assassinated Momo, and they planned to stay there for a while. Suddenly, Kaden got up and raised his right hand, which was outlined by a sparkling purple aura. After a minute of concentrating, he created a black rectangle that resembled a door that also had a purple outline.

A man walked slowly out of the door, which immediately disappeared afterwards. The man wore a pure white winter hat, along with a winter coat, snow pants and boots that were also white. Despite all the matching colors, he wore black gloves and had bright yellow eyes. “I’m back,” said the man.

Rain opened his eyes and sighed. “What took you so long, Snow? I thought I told you that it wasn’t safe to be out in the open.”

Snow giggled. “Oh, you know, just taking some walks.”

“Yeah, taking walks in the middle of summer with winter clothes. I don’t understand you one bit.”

Snow giggled once again. He took off his right glove, revealing his hand which was stained with blood. “Cold hearted people need warm clothing. Especially you, Rain. By the way, I couldn’t find him.”

“Are you serious?” asked Rain, who was clearly annoyed. “What an asshole, I bet he’s taking that putrid exam. I swear, if he tries to take out Vauhan, I’m gonna gauge his freaking eyes out!”

“Well, that’s what he’s probably doing, knowing him. He’s always getting into trouble, looking for a fight. I don’t even see why you recruited him, Rain.”

Rain smirked and shut his eyes. “Because, he’s dedicated and strong, and that’s what we need. Everyone else, they’re just worthless shits.”



Mia reentered the room and coughed loudly, getting everyone’s attention. “Well, everyone. The time has come. We’ll be reaching the testing zone soon, so right now I’ll be explaining the rules. This next test will be taking place in the Dakon Ga Forest. Of course, this isn’t just some average forest, so just look through the window and you’ll see what I mean.

The examinees all crowded around the few windows, and every last one of them were in shock. The trees stood so high that the blimp, which was 3000 feet in the air, was just barely above them. The width of them was just as impressive, as they were around 50 feet in length.

“Holy s***!” yelled out Blake. “Those are some big ass trees.”

“That’s right. Dakon Ga is known for its humongous wildlife, specifically the trees. Ironically, the mammals that live in the forest are the complete opposite, as they are much smaller than the average animal. Look here.” Mia held out her hand, which held a small, gray wolf that was no bigger than her ring finger.

“Amazing,” said Silver. “I’ve seen pictures of this place, but to see it in real life is astonishing.”

“Well, getting back into the important details. You’ve been put into teams of 3-4. During this phase, you have one simple goal. There is a lake in the middle of the forest, and your only objective is to reach that lake.” When hearing this, a majority of the examinees looked relieved, but also confused by such an easy task.

“Of course, we don’t plan on making this easy on you. The first twist is that only 42 of the 84 examinees are allowed to pass this phase. In the case that more than 42 make it to the lake, than feel free to attack any others until only 42 remain. This leads into the second twist, which is that all of you have permission to attack opposing teams during this round.”

The room started to look tense as people glanced around, hunting down their targets. “The last twist is this. You can still pass the round if your teammates are eliminated, just as long as you don’t eliminate someone in your own time. Trust me, we’ll know who is and who isn’t on your team.” A soldier walked over to Mia and handed her a box that was filled with metal bracelets that had a red light on them. “We’ll have soldiers watching every team from afar, so don’t think you’ll get away with it. These bracelets also have tracking systems in them, so don’t worry about getting lost. Of course, you only have 3 hours to reach the lake before you’re eliminated.”

An examinee raised his hand from the crowd and asked, “Hey, you keep saying something about eliminating people. How do you eliminate someone?”

Mia laughed. “That’s an easy question. There’s 2 ways to be eliminated, either you declare that you quit, or your heart stops beating.” The crowd of examinees remained quiet, and almost everyone felt ready to puke. Well, almost everyone, as Saga and Keira could care less about the elimination process. As a matter of fact, Saga was excited for this phase. It’s about time things get interesting. I was about to think that this exam was just a waste of my time.

The blimp started to slowly descend, and every second that passed was a stressful one. As soon as the blimp landed, everyone grabbed a watch and gathered towards the exit, huddling with their teams.

Mia moved away from the exit as it opened, saying, “Let the 3rd phase begin.”