CHAPTER 29: WELCOME TO ASKESIS ACADEMY

"...Ranked 1st, Wonsebolatán Ogun!" The announcement roused a lot of whispers as everyone strained their necks to get a glimpse at this year’s number one.

The Ogun family was just as popular as the Prasedymum and royal family, so it wasn’t a surprise that a child of theirs took the first place. While the Prasedymum family faded away with the increasing human – spirit interaction, the Oguns took their place as the worldwide family of warriors and they excelled at it partially due to their innate ability to manipulate metals.

The Oguns numbered 98% of people whose ability is related to metal manipulation, making this unique art local to them and even 2% that remained often come under the Oguns in order to improve their ability, thereby granting the Oguns almost complete control over all metal based ability user, boosting their battling force as a whole.

A tall, brown skinned boy, with very short, glistening black hair and pearly black eyes walked into the arena. He trotted forward gracefully, paying no attention to the mix of male and female teenagers ogling him.

Xenon recognised him immediately, he was the one who didn’t bother battling his opponent and just bound and whisked him off the stage. He had the shortest and effortless win record for today.

Wonsebolatán walked to the very front of the arena, standing ahead of the nine behind and him and gazing directly at the professor.

Professor Franz stepped back for Arkham to take his place and conclude the event.

"That concludes today’s entrance examination. We are grateful to have you all, and we hope those of you who haven’t been admitted and will still be within the age requirement of 14-16 years of age this time next year, will come back to try your luck. Those of you who have been called wait in the arena, the rest are free to go. Thank you." Professor Arkham concluded the event, sending over five thousand contestants home.

The amphitheatre emptied slowly, and if not for the night approaching most of the failed contestants would have tarried longer. Once the amphitheatre was emptied, Miss Felicity came down to the arena and led the new students out, going deeper into the forest, the sun was setting now.

They went deeper into the forest for a few minutes before coming to a large clearing. The 238 students stood in the clearing, and a few metres in front if them was a large black tear in space, about 9 feet long and 3 feet wide.

Standing around the tear were the professors and senior students. Everywhere darkened as the sun had gone to rest for the day.

"This is your way to the academy grounds..." Miss Felicity started while pointing at the tear. "You will each receive this..." She reached into a leather bag that was passed to her by one of the senior students and brought out what looked like a metal armband. "To mark you as a student and go through the tear one by one, in descending order of your ranks. Once at the other side, you’ll be guided and given new instructions, now, number one?"

Wonsebolatán moved to her, received the armband which glowed slightly orange and approached the tear. Once he got in front of the tear, he was sucked in violently by a strong gravitational force, his fate on the other side unknown.

"Hey, Xenon! Wait for me on the other side once you go through." Jeage said to his cousin as their turn drew near.

"Sure, as long as we don’t get sent to different places." Xenon replied.

"Now that you mention it, that might actually happen. What do you reckon we do in case that happens?" Jeage asked, but couldn’t get a reply as Xenon was called forward.

"How are you feeling?" Felicity asked as she placed the armband on left wrist.

"Great." Xenon replied.

She nodded and sent him away, not sparing him a glance as she called the next person. Xenon walked towards the tear and inspected his armband which was starting to glow.

Alas, it wasn’t the armband that glowed, but the miniature runes carved into it. The previous Xenon knew very little about runes so he didn’t even try to translate them. The glow of the runes receded and something else was starting to appear on the surface of the armband, but before he could see it clearly, he was sucked violently into the tear.

Xenon was startled as he was focusing on the armband and didn’t pay attention to his surroundings. He almost screamed when the gravitational pull of the tear sucked him in, he thought his body was going to be ripped apart by the force.

Inside the tear, the force became stronger, pressing on his mind and threatening to turn him inside out. He tried to catch a glimpse of the internals of the tear, but he only saw a formless void, void of light.

After less than five seconds of being surrounded in darkness, he was suddenly catapulted out. He saw the night sky briefly before gravity took action and brought him down immediately.

Xenon panicked as he started to fall.

"What type of lunatics launch their student in air!" He cursed the professors mentally before hitting the body of water below him.

He plunged into the water, sinking. Xenon’s panic increased, he didn’t learn how to swim on earth because the was no such luxury at that time and age as all the few bodies of water left in earth were strictly regulated and the dude who’s body he possessed was too busy not dying to think about swimming.

He held his breath and opened his eyes swiftly to find a means of escape. Fortunately, he hit the bottom shortly and propelled himself pushing off the sea bed. He reached the surface and breathed frantically as he tried to figure out where he was but saw nothing but an endless stretch of water.

He was about to curse the academy once more before he heard a scream behind him. He turned around frantically to see someone dropping from the sky, he breathed a sigh of relief when he noted it was Jeage.

"Jeage! Come help me over here, I can’t swim!" Xenon screamed as his cousin recovered from the unexpected collision with the ocean. Jeage swam over to help his cousin.

"Let’s go that way, the water gets shallower up ahead" Jeage pointed the way he came from and Xenon agreed. They continued swimming forward, occasional screams and splashes reassuring them that they were not separated from the rest of the group, soon enough their feet could secure a firm footing on the sea bed speeding up their advance.

Not so far in the distance, a dim orange light flickered on and increased in volume till I was as big as a truck’s wheel and shone as bright as a full moon.

Xenon, Jeage and the rest of the students scattered all around the ocean saw the bright orange light coming from the top of a very large and high tower in the distance. Everyone quickened their paces, but not because of the tower but because of the dry ground in the distance.

Apparently they were on the shores of an island at least two times bigger than Wartorn Island. To the right and left ends of the island were long mountain chains that stretched into the distance and far in the centre of the island was the tower that illuminated the whole island and its surrounding waters in a pale orange light.

At the shore were a group of people awaiting the students. The first student, arrived at the shore and the rest joined slowly. They were greeted by staffs who provided towels to the wet, grumpy teenagers and potions to recover their fatigue.

The towels surprisingly –or not surprisingly– sucked away every bit of water not only from their bodies but also their clothes, leaving the students as dry and lively as they had been before being violently lurched into the ocean by an uncaring tear in space.

Once every single one of the two hundred and thirty eight teenagers have been accounted for, the staff led them into the island through a ring of light forest that came after the sandy shore. They led them to a particular clearing northeast –towards the right side– of the island where a single, average looking tent stood.

The staff guiding the students motioned for them to enter and they obeyed. The students went in one after the other in no particular order. A network of runes around the hem of the tent shined a slight blue with every student that entered, each character changing slightly with every addition of students as if counting.

Eventually it was the turn of the pair of cousins, they entered and was greeted by a very spacious hall that not only provided a place to dine but also a number of arranged wooden bunks at the back. There were numerous floating lights above the large dining hall and a variety of dishes on five large tables that could seat about 70 people each.

Before the teenagers could satisfy their hunger which flared up from the presence of food an elderly man among the group of staffs addressed them.

"Every year since the founding of this academy new students arrive late as you did, hence the tent which will provide you food and a place to rest for the night. Early tomorrow morning, there will be a welcome ceremony where you will be sorted into houses and assigned dormitories, so enjoy your temporary stay here and don’t try to explore the grounds, its late. Welcome to Askesis academy, I am chief of staffs, Sunsel Eklips, enjoy your night." Sunsel left immediately after his words with the rest of the staff and left the children to their devices.

"Hold on Jeage." Xenon beckoned to his cousin as the race to get the best seats started and Xenon already had his sights on dishes that were extinct on earth.

’Super speed is not so bad.’ Xenon muttered as he weaved between the sluggish crowd of teenagers with his enhanced speed, his cousin in tow.