The second the door dropped, the examinees pushed through at once and headed into a small opening before the forest. Knox, standing at the back of the group, held his arms out. “Let’s wait a second.”

“Why should we?” asked Blake. “We gotta get to the end before anyone can attack us.”

Knox didn’t move a muscle. “Just watch.”

In the small opening, half of the psychics rushed into the forest while the other half stayed in the opening to get the chance of eliminating as many as they can. They all fought with weapons and fists, and not one person used their abilities.”

“It’s a smart move,” said Tokar. “I guess everyone here has a good idea that revealing their abilities could hurt them later on.”

The fight continued on. Several psychic were either unconscious or dead, and the MCG soldiers had already been dragging their bodies off the field. In the middle, Saga, who’s teammates where already at the edge of the forest, slowly walked down the middle. He examined the fights going around him, but nothing seemed too impressive. What a shame, he thought. I was hoping that there would be at least a few strong examinees. It’d be a shame if that Knox guy was the only one worth my time.

Silver stood next to Bain as they both watched Saga slowly progress. “Come on, now,” said Silver, impatiently. “We have a lot to do in 3 hours, so get a move on!”

Saga shouted back, “Relax, I’m just observing. I’ll be there in a second.”

To the left of Saga, an examinee just finished off his opponent. He quickly turned around, spotting Saga. Hey, I know that kid. He’s the freaking maniac that screwed up that one guy’s leg. I bet he thinks that he’s all that, doesn’t he? I guess killing him now wouldn’t hurt.

The man wiped his butcher knife off with his shirt and aimed it at Saga’s head, preparing to throw it. Without hesitation, he chucked it at full strength at Saga, with perfect accuracy.

Saga glanced to his life, quickly catching the knife with his right hand.

“Ah, you little s***. You caught it!” Before the man continued, he saw something that turned his skin pale. Blood trickled down in several small streams from his hand, dropping drip by drip onto the grass. The pain was irrelevant to Saga, as he saw it as a simple scratch. “That freaking kid…just caught the knife by the sharp end!”

Saga carefully gripped the handle with his good hand and looked at his messed up one, which had a small, but deep cut on each finger. “Damn, this is annoying. I hope I can still grip my sword.” Saga looked up at the man, who was petrified. The man stood, completely frozen as he stared into Saga’s eyes. The sharp eyes that displayed only one message. Death.

Saga flung the knife back at the man, penetrating his forehead. The man fell onto the ground, and after a few seconds, he died. Many other examinees, including Knox, watched the scene, and they hated what they were seeing. Saga walked over to his teammates and said, “You saw what happened, Silver. I’m almost certain that no one can stop us.”

Silver sighed. “You sure are cocky. That guy didn’t even use his powers. For all we know he could’ve been stronger than you, even if the chances were slim. Besides, we still have to worry about the other boy. You know, the one around your age.”

Saga remained silent and started into the woods, with Bain and Silver behind them. No one said a word for a few minutes, until Bain asked, “Silver what was your trick?”

Silver shrugged. “Can you be more specific?”

“How did you get onto our team?”

“I was forced on. Weren’t you paying attention?”

Bain stopped walking and towered over him. “Saga and I, we’re not retarded. We may not be geniuses like you and that black man, but we’re certainly not retarded.”

Silver also stopped walking, forcing Saga to halt as well. “I’m surprised you caught on so quickly. I honestly thought it was perfected.” Saga took a deep breath and sat down. “This could took a while, so you may want to make yourself comfortable. Well, during the feast, I overheard two guards talking about the next phase. I couldn’t make out every word, but they mentioned teams. I hadn’t made any close connections with anyone, but I knew who was strong and would be the most helpful. I initially wanted Knox on my team, but it wasn’t as good because I was unaware of the strength of the other 2 he hangs out with.”

“Wonderful,” said Saga, interrupting him. “Now get on with it already.”

“Anyways, I saw you two for the best people to work with. Since it’s obvious that you both like working alone, I figured that you wouldn’t rush to join any teams, giving me the perfect opportunity to force my way onto a team. I snuck into the library and got a book, using it as a good excuse for being distracted. I was hoping for Keira to be included, but the blonde haired guy screwed that up.”

Bain asked, “So, why didn’t you think that the examiner wouldn’t eliminate you for not being on a team?”

Silver smiled. “You see, Bain, it’s more obvious then you think. I was 99% sure she wouldn’t do it because she couldn’t afford to lose us.”

“To lose us?”

“That’s right. During phase 2, when I told her that I was a member of the Rao family, she was clearly impressed. It was also obvious that she was impressed with you two, as well. She could’ve eliminated us, but remember, the whole purpose of this exam is to find the strongest psychic to help get rid of that psychic assassin. Why would she eliminate the 3 of the best psychics over something so petty?”

“Damn,” said Saga. “So that was your trick, Rao. It was pretty clever to say the least. Anyways, let’s get goi-”

“Stay still, Saga. We can’t rush getting to the lake.”

Saga, who was annoyed, asked, “Why? What’s the point in dealing with the rest of these wastes of skin? I might as well just eliminate myself now with the lack of skill.”

“That wouldn’t be wise, Saga. You think you’re the strongest one here, but you really aren’t. As a matter of fact, I’m positive that even I’m stronger than you.”

Saga quickly filled up with rage. He rapidly stood up and in less than a second, drew his sword and pointed it at Silver. “You should’ve told me earlier. Come on, get up and prepare yourself!”

“Saga, calm yourself. It’s obvious that you will accept any fight, but that’s where you could end up killing yourself. Think about it. Do you know any of my abilities?”

“No,” said Saga, firmly.

“How about my fighting style, or my way of thinking in battle? Wouldn’t you consider that a disadvantage?”

“Of course, but that’s a part of fighting a psychic. You have to draw that information out of them using experience.”

“Maybe so, Saga, but this isn’t the case. I guarantee you that if you go into battle with someone like Knox, you have no idea whether or not you’ll get out alive.”

Saga looked down at the ground and thought about it. Silver’s absolutely right. “So, what are we supposed to do about it?”

Silver stood up and swiped of the dirt on the back of his pants. “It’s a complex procedure, but what we need to do is draw out their information without entering battle with them.”

Bain, who was halfway asleep, opened my eye and smirked. This kid, he thought, relies on strategy. His brain may be more powerful than his abilities.

Silver continued. “You just have to look at what you have so far. In this case, we want to attack Knox’s team, considering that they’re probably our biggest threat. Looking back a phase 2, I was able to pick up that the black man can switch places with people in a certain range, and that Knox can use a body enhancer that increases his defense by 3 times.”

“There’s definitely more, though,” said Saga. “There’s no way that someone like Knox has such a simple ability. There has to be more to it.”

“You have a good point, so we’ll have to keep a close watch out for him. As for Keira and the big blonde haired kid, it’s still a mystery.”

“So, what’s our next move?” asked Bain.

“I’m almost positive that they’ll come to us. I have a plan for when the time comes, so no need to worry.”

Saga snickered and got up. “I have no reason to be worried. We’re playing with weaklings.” Silver felt goose bumps crawl up his arm from Saga’s terrifying tone.

“Waiting isn’t my thing,” said Bane. His expression slowly changed from normal to demented. “I want to kill someone…right now.” Silver took a couple steps back. I’m dealing with maniacs here…

“Well, if you two kiddies don’t mind, I’m going to take a walk in the meantime.”

“What do you mean going on a walk? We have to stay together until they come to us.”

“I’m sure you two can do it alone. I just want to, you know, spend my time wisely.” With no more words, Bain walked into the woods until the two could no longer see him.


After a few minutes, the open area was completely clear. Knox nodded, and started walking with his team into the woods.

“This place is freaking ridiculous,” said Blake as he stood next to one of the trees. “These things gotta be at least 20 feet wide. I don’t even want to get started on how tall these freaking things are!”

“Then don’t,” responded Keira. “We don’t need to hear anymore bullshit out of your retarded mouth.”

Clearly angry, Blake turned around and clenched his fist. “I’m seriously one inch away from beating the piss out of you!”

Knox got in-between them and stopped them from fighting. “Cut it out, you two! If you want to fight, save for after the phase!”

Blake sighed and quickly calmed down. “Whatever, but she’s gonna regret it after this phase is over.”

“By the way Blake, can you show me your power now?”

Blake nodded and sat onto the ground. “You guys are gonna love this, it’s literally the most amazing thing you’ll ever see.”

Blake rolled up his sleeves and held his hands out with his palms facing upwards. In less than a second, two ovals appeared, one in each hand. The one on the left was colored a milky left, while the one on the right was a pitch black. He placed his left hand on the ground, summoning a much larger white oval that looked like it was painted on the ground.

Knox and Tokar stared at the oval, confused. “I don’t get it,” said Knox.

“Yo, hold up, dude. Here’s where the magic happens.” He places his right hand next to the white oval, summoning a black oval of the same size. This time, however, the colored insides of the ovals disappeared, and the only thing that could be seen were the top of the trees.

Blake stuck his hand into the white oval, and to Knox’s surprise, his hand came out of the black oval. “That’s so cool,” said Knox, excitedly.

Tokar smiled. “So, your power pretty much works in a way that if you enter one portal, you come out the other one? I could’ve sworn that a gun came with that…”

“Yeah, man, it’s freaking delectable. I can also place it within a range of 100 meters. Well, at least last time I checked that was the range.”



The four of them walked a bit further until they decided to rest. “It shouldn’t be too much further from here,” said Tokar. “Only another 40 minute walk or so.” Knox and Blake continued to fool around with Blake’s power, ignoring him completely. “Would you two cut it out?”

Blake banished the ovals and the two sat down with Tokar and Keira. Blake started, asking, “So, captain Tokar, what’s our orders.”

“Like I said, we’re not too far away from the ending point, but we still have 2 ½ hours. We should use the next 2 or so hours to our advantage.”

“So what are you thinking?”

“I’m think that we have to get rid of Saga’s team this phase no matter what. We have no idea whether or not the phases ahead of us will have the same rule of being able to fight other psychics, but we can’t afford to find out. We have to do whatever we can to hinder his team. Even if we eliminate one of his team members, we’ll be making good pro-”

“This is retarded!” said Keira, interrupting him. “Who cares about that shitty midget samurai and his team of bitches. I have no interest in getting myself killed by trying to take on 3 of the strongest psychics in this exam. I refuse to follow your stupid plan!”

Knox butted in, saying, “Keira, please listen. I’ve been around Tokar long enough to know that he has an idea about what he’s doing. Please trust him, he won’t get us killed.”

“I don’t get a crap! I’m already pissed off that I’ve been teamed with you retards, so why should I have to follow these orders?”

“Because,” started Tokar, “we just need to. You may not like it, but we all have our own reasons for taking this exam, right? If we just get through this, we’ll have few worries for the rest of the exam.”

“Whatever, I don’t need to argue with you guys. I’m taking my own path from here.” Keira quickly got up and marched into the woods.

Knox also got up, saying, “Guys, aren’t we gonna go after her? She could get ambushed by another team!”

Blake stayed silent and looked towards the ground awkwardly. Tokar quickly stated, “I never said that this would be impossible without her. 3 people can do the job.”

Knox didn’t he respond. He looked back at her, and she was almost out of sight by that point. “I’m…the leader of this group, right?”

Blake and Tokar looked at each other in confusion. Blake responded, “Well, if you want to be, I guess you can.”

“Then, if I’m the leader, I have to carry out the responsibility of making sure my teammates are safe, right? If that’s the case, then I’m going after her. I’m not gonna let herself get killed.”

“What, you’re actually wasting time with that b****? She hasn’t done s*** for you, why do you care?”

“I already told you. I don’t necessarily like her, but as long as I’m the leader and she’s on my team, I’m not gonna risk her getting killed.” Knox smiled at the two, even though he was aware that they were unhappy. “I know you two will come up with a plan to finish off Saga and his team, so good luck. I’ll see you guys at the end, alright?” The two nodded simultaneously. They didn’t agree with Knox’s logic, but they had no intent to stop him. Knox quickly sprinted through the woods towards Keira’s direction.


Deep in the east side of the woods, Bugie collapsed to his knees, gasping for air. His two teammates, Lola, a thin and small girl who’s bright blonde hair was tied into a bun, and Mick, a middle aged man with a surprisingly full head of gray hair and a blue t-shirt that matched his pants, waited impatiently for him.

Lola sighed, saying, “This is like, the 4th time, Bugie. We can’t slow down. If we get to the end first, we’ll be sure to make it to phase 4.”

Bugie slowly nodded his chubby neck. “I just need some…help…” His partners pulled him up to his feet, and in no time, they were back to walking.

Mick looked up at the sun, which was partially towards the west. “We shouldn’t be too far, maybe 30 minutes. We also got about 2 hours to spare.”

“Awesome!” screamed out Lola. “We totally got this phase in the bag.”

A few moments of silent passed before Mick heard a crunch. To him, it sounded like someone stepping on leaves. He stopped walking and listened once again. The crunching sound got louder by the second. After a minute passed, he could hear the sound to his left. He quickly turned his head, and to his surprise, he stood only a matter of a few feet away from Keira. Keira stared back at Mick unemotionally.

“Heh,” said Mick. “Look like someone got unlucky, right guys?” Lola nodded as she walked towards Mick.

“How so?” asked Keira.

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re outnumbered 3 to 1, how do you expect to win? Besides, we can‘t afford to keep you in the exam, it may hurt us later! The more eliminated, the better.”

Keira smiled deviously and said, “I guess we’ll have to find out. I was hoping for at least one fight before the end of this phase.” She took off her first shirt, revealing a black t-shirt.

Bugie butted in as Mick and Lola started to slowly circle Keira from a distance. “Guys, maybe we should just go!”

Keira put her finger to her mouth. “Quiet, chubby. I don’t want you to ruin my fun. These guys will make great practice for when I have to fight my true enemy.”

“T-true enemy?” he asked, petrified.

“You heard me. TRUE enemy.”