“What?” Allison demanded. “Why?”
Sighing, Ryuu looked away. “Look, I’ve been here for my whole life, and I’m still having trouble fitting in.” He turned back to them. “Do you really think that—beyond you guys—I’d find more acceptance among their ranks? Or the same derision?”
After a few beats of silence, Allison put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll miss you, bro,” she said. “No matter what you decide. We’ll always be there for each other.”
He smiled at them. “Well, you’ll know where to find me, hopefully. Let’s go!”
Once again, Ryuu took the lead, and they ran through the woods toward the Academy as fast as they could. He kept his hands back for balance as he leaned forward. They soon reached a narrow stone path, which had stone walls on either side that stood about ten feet high. They twisted and turned with the passage and leapt or flipped over obstacles as they darted along.
Eventually they approached a pit in the ground and leapt over it. One by one they grabbed a pole, which was embedded into the solid stone, and flipped over the pole a couple times before launching forward onto a platform set into a stone wall. Darting around the corner, they came to a wall and wall-jumped up to another platform. Then they darted forward again down the passage toward a series of ropes.
They each took out a four-pointed shuriken and hurled it to the side. The ropes started to shoot up, and they leapt up after them, hands outstretched. When they grabbed the ropes, they shot up like rockets through the stone tunnel.
At the top of the tunnel, where the pulley system ended, they released the ropes. One by one, they were launched into the air. Ryuu tucked his legs close as he shot into the sky over the same wide ravine where they had raced their sky riders earlier. The ravine separated the two woods on either side and the Academy. He pressed the buttons on his anti-gravbelt as he soared through the air. Then he flipped around as they started to come down in the courtyard of the school, and his descent slowed.
At the end of the flip, he grabbed the branch of a tree on the edge of the ravine, swung under it, and flipped off it. He landed on one knee in the middle of a stone path in front of the main wooden gates and remained in that position, scanning the area with his eyes. The courtyard was almost full.
His friends landed beside him.
“Looks like we’re almost the last ones here,” Allison muttered.
“Are you that surprised?” Erik asked her.
“No, not really.”
“We’re just too good,” Aiolos said. “Despite almost being sabotaged.”
“Aiolos, don’t get overconfident.”
“Oh, come on, Bryan, don’t kill the mood.”
“Aiolos, be serious.”
“Ryuu, even you have to admit we’re the best in the school.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean we should boast, especially since half the teachers here think I cheated my way to the top,” Ryuu said. Then the group fell silent.
For half an hour, they remained that way, down on one knee and hand, waiting for more teams that had passed to arrive. Eventually, fifteen more teams arrived just inside the time frame. Ryuu looked over at Dulglad’s group and noted with some satisfaction that his group looked beaten up. When all the teams were assembled, he heard the sound of grinding metal, and the giant wooden doors began to open.
Bit by bit the doors opened, and standing inside the doors was Ryuu’s father, the grandmaster. He was wearing the traditional red grandmaster kimono with the lotus symbol of the clan on both of his shoulders. When the doors were all the way open, he stepped forward and surveyed the students as he walked down the line, looking each team member in the face.
The last team he checked was Ryuu’s. He started with Aiolos and worked his way down until he finally reached Ryuu. Unable to resist, Ryuu glanced at his father, and the two looked each other in the eye for a split second before Ryuu dropped his gaze to the ground.
Jun smiled, walked back to the entrance, and looked at the students. He spread his arms wide and said, “I congratulate each and every one of you on a job well done on this part of the exams. Out of all the teams, only one failed to pass this part of your final examination. But for those who have passed, I would like to say that I’m proud of each and every one of you for your notable effort.
“Now it’s time for the second—and most important—part of your final examination. This will test all your personal knowledge as a ninja, and the passing of this test will bring an end to your training here. For some of you who have reached the age of eighteen, the completion of this test will mean not only the end of your lives here at the Academy, but also the end of your lives here on this planet as you journey forth into the unknown.”
Ryuu briefly looked at his friends. He would miss each one of them.
Then his father continued.
“I’ll call you forward one at a time, and you’ll proceed inside for the examination. Take this warning seriously. Be careful which path you choose. I wish you all luck, and let the second part of the examination begin!”
He stepped back into the shadows and vanished completely.
Chapter 6
The Final Exam
One by one, their names were called.
“Allison Cromnae.”
Allison stood in a flash. She glanced at her friends, darted into the Academy, and soon was out of sight. For a little more than an hour, they others remained where they were, waiting for her to pass or fail while the moon and stars slowly crept their way across the sky. Then . . .
“Erick Cromnae.”
Over the course of several hours, the students in the courtyard lessened one by one until only Ryuu remained. Then, at long last, . . .
“Alec-Ryuu Jun Yamamoto.”
Ryuu shot to his feet, stepped inside, and whipped around when he heard the gates start to close behind him. When they were completely closed, he was encased in darkness. After his eyes adjusted, he looked around through the gloom. Ahead of him were three tall, open doors.
He took a breath and quickly decided to try the middle door. As he approached the frame, a thick stone wall slammed down. He jumped back a little, surprised, then looked at the door to the left.
You’d think after almost thirteen years I’d be used to this, he thought. Dad said we were supposed to pick which way we wanted to go. He was about to enter through the doorway when he heard a loud crack above him.
He quickly turned back and leapt. Then he rolled back as another wall shot down and hit home where he’d been standing just a second ago. Breathing hard, he turned to look at the only unblocked passage.
Why this way? Probably the hardest of the three and the most dangerous. The teachers are probably trying to get me to quit or to prove that I cheated, he thought, and walked toward it.
He took a step over the threshold then jerked back, looking up, but nothing came down. He then took a deep breath and moved forward. When he was about twenty feet in, he stopped and looked back. The wall still hadn’t fallen. Then he looked forward toward the pitch-black hall.
“I’m not going to quit,” he muttered and started down it.
He walked down the hall in the darkness, his back to the wall with his hands hovering about an inch or two from it. Approaching the end, he peeked around the corner, eyes darting left and right, hearing and seeing nothing.
Something’s not right. This doesn’t feel like a test, he thought, but he had little choice other than to continue down the hall.
Through the darkness, he took a couple of steps forward. Suddenly, he leapt forward as, one right after other, sharp pointed rods shot out of the wall and into the opposite wall. He wall-jumped, flipped, rolled, and did everything in between to avoid being impaled by the poles.
He breathed hard, then ducked and rolled forward as a foot slammed into the wall where his head had just been. He whipped around as someone dressed like him stepped out of a concealed room and looked at him for a second, then crouched. Ryuu mimicked his movements i
n a flash.
Less than a second later, Ryuu threw a kick behind him, and it connected to another attacker, who was coming from the rear, followed by others. Ryuu then threw a front kick to the opponent in front of him, knocking the attacker back a couple steps. Next, he spun around, blocking a blow with his knee. He then jumped and then used his leg to nail the attacker with a kick to the head. As he spun to the ground, Ryuu grabbed the attacker around the neck with a one-arm chokehold. His opponent’s face turned down and he gave it a quick jerk.
Ryuu heard a snapping sound from the neck. He released him, and he fell to the floor, twitching. Ryuu then dropped down and swept the legs out from under the opponent beside him. Next, as that attacker was sitting up, Ryuu’s leg swung forward in a blur of motion, nailing him across the face and sending him face-first into the floor. Ryuu rolled over him, pulled his head back, and struck him hard in the base of the neck with a shuto.
Ryuu then rolled forward and turned to face the last attacker, who climbed to his feet and stared at him. The two crouched in fighting stances, and Ryuu’s attacker fired a hook kick to the head. Ryuu ducked under it, then blocked a roundhouse from the other leg, and his attacker took a step back after blocking a roundhouse from Ryuu.
For another long moment, they faced each other. Without warning, Ryuu’s attacker hopped forward and threw a roundhouse. Ryuu blocked it, and his attacker threw a turning sidekick, which Ryuu blocked before throwing his own. His attacker blocked that kick and then threw a roundhouse, followed by another hook kick, which Ryuu blocked. Then Ryuu leapt up, nailing his attacker with a crescent kick to the head.
His opponent was knocked to the ground, but he rolled back onto his feet, and they faced off again. Ryuu threw a roundhouse, which his attacker blocked. When his opponent brought his foot down, Ryuu threw a punch, which his attacker sidestepped, driving his elbow into Ryuu’s gut. To Ryuu’s dismay, his attacker got a few more punches in before he could back off.
His attacker came after him again, throwing punches that Ryuu blocked. Then Ryuu nailed his opponent with a palm strike to the face. After that move, he whipped around, nailing the attacker with a backhand and knocking him off his feet. Seconds later, his attacker rolled back onto his feet and threw a front kick, which Ryuu grabbed. He then lifted his opponent off his feet, slamming him back onto the ground.
The next time his attacker was back on his feet, they circled each other. This his opponent threw a punch at Ryuu’s head. Ryuu blocked it, took hold of it, spun around, and flipped his foe onto his back. In a flash, his assailant was back on his feet. He spun around and kicked Ryuu’s lower leg.
Ryuu gritted his teeth behind his mask as he struggled to stay standing, and his attacker threw a second kick. Ryuu blocked it, and as his enemy threw a third kick, he countered with a sidekick to his attacker’s other knee. His attacker went down hard but was back on his feet in a flash.
His opponent tried to nail Ryuu with a high sidekick to the head, but Ryuu dropped down and nailed a second sidekick to the same knee. His attacker went back down, and Ryuu was back on his feet as his enemy got back up again. They stared at each other for half a second. Then Ryuu’s attacker threw another punch.
Ryuu blocked it, then caught it, and nailed his attacker with a backhand across the face before driving his gut into his rising knee. Ryuu forced his face up and nailed it with a palm strike to the face, immediately followed by a second one, driving him back before jumping up and nailing a second jumping crescent kick. His attacker hurtled to the ground before slowly climbing to his feet.
This time his attacker threw another punch, which Ryuu spun around, driving his elbow into his attacker’s back. Ryuu nailed him with a second elbow to the gut before putting him in a one-arm chokehold. His attacker struggled a little, but Ryuu turned on the spot so they stood back to back Ryuu still held onto his attacker’s head on his shoulder with both hands.
Ryuu felt his foe’s feet dangle against his calves as he struggled to free himself from Ryuu’s grasp. Then Ryuu jerked his attacker’s head back, heard a snap, and let him go. He felt his attacker slide down his back onto the floor, where he didn’t move.
Ryuu turned and looked down at the three assailants at his feet. Then he bent down and removed the masks from the two who were not moving. Beneath each mask was a black piece of dark metal, and Ryuu recognized that this was where a holographic face would have been displayed before he had snapped each neck, cutting the power.
“Combat Bots,” Ryuu muttered, before he moved on to the one who was still twitching.
He pulled back the mask and was glad to see the holographic human face. Then he lifted its right arm up with no resistance. He pulled its sleeve back and opened one of its access command ports. As soon as it was all the way up, the screen lit up, and Ryuu frowned at the red words printed on it.
KILL ALEC-RYUU
He pressed a button. A data strip popped out near the programming port, and he slipped it into his gauntlet before darting down the hall. At the next corner, he flattened himself against the wall and waited. Suddenly he threw a ridge hand, nailing a Combat Bot in the throat.
Before the Combat Bot could get its bearings, Ryuu grabbed it around its head and flipped it onto its back. Before the Bot could make a counterattack, Ryuu, quick as a flash, dropped down and grabbed it by the head. He twisted it hard to the side. He heard it snap, and when it didn’t move after that, he continued.
He now knew that this was planned to be more than a final test of his skill. This was a hunt, and he was the prize buck of the herd.
Well this is one head that won’t be mounted over their fireplace, he thought. Then he continued to move silently.
After the third corner he passed without any incident, he started to get a little edgy, so he stopped and looked around. He drew one of his Kunai knives from his leg sheath, twirled it around his finger by the ring at the end, and slashed a big X on the wall. He then continued onward. Ten minutes later, he stopped again, looked around, and slammed his fist into the wall.
As he stared at the giant X, he realized that he was standing exactly where he’d been ten minutes ago. He looked around the bend, drew some of his Tonki metal balls from a pocket on his belt, and tossed them down the hallway. He watched the hallway for a few seconds, but nothing happened. Then he drew a couple more and tossed them behind him. Still nothing.
A second later, he heard a small sound no louder than a mouse scurrying across the floor. Without much surprise, he watched as the opposite corner at the end of the hall began to turn. A few seconds later, it had opened a hall that headed in a completely different direction.
Ryuu waited a moment. Then, confident, he stepped out into the middle of the hall but froze at the threshold. Why do I have the feeling everything is completely safe? he thought.
Unable to shake the feeling, he reached inside another belt pocket, pulled out a handful of powder, and held it close to his mouth. After taking a deep breath, he blew the power down the hall, and his eyes went wide with what he saw. From the ceiling to the floor—and every other angle in between—were lines of tightly grouped lasers.
There’s no pattern to them, and they’re too close together to slip by them, he thought. He was even more worried about what they might trigger.
Ryuu darted forward at full speed, and a second later, right behind him, lasers started firing from one wall to the other. He raced ahead of the laser fire as he rounded the corner. After running almost flat out for almost twenty minutes, dodging around corners and doing everything he could to keep ahead of the laser fire, he saw something that almost brought him to a stop.
Ahead, a section of the ceiling and floor was rising up and down, sealing him in. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, and when the two walls were about a foot apart, he dived forward, hands thrust out in front of him, and sailed between them, his feet barely clearing the gap just before they slammed close. He rolled on the ground, whipped around, and looked at the solid wall behind
him, breathing hard in relief.
“That, I doubt, is part of the testing,” he muttered. Then he stood straight and continued on his way at a brisk run.
At the next turn, he flattened himself against the wall and pulled out a star shuriken. Using one of the blades as a mirror, he checked the hall before dashing down it. After the next turn, he finally relaxed. There was a sliding Japanese door at the end of the hall. He slipped out a shuriken, hurled it halfway down the hallway, and watched as it planted itself into the stone floor.
A split second later, what looked like an axe swung out of the wall and planted itself in the opposite wall.
Ryuu shook his head. “This is getting kind of freaky,” he said aloud. Then he walked forward and picked up the shuriken.
He stepped around the axe, slid back the door, and stepped into an area that resembled an old-fashioned, Dojo-decked room. One of his teachers was sitting on his knees, a sheathed katana on the floor at his side, facing the opposite wall. Even from the back, he was recognizable.
As Ryuu slid the door closed behind him, the man shifted.
“I see you’ve made it this far. Impressive for a cheat,” he said.
The man stood up, picking up the katana, and turned to face Ryuu with his usual sneer. Ryuu said nothing but unslung his bow and slipped a couple of arrows from the quiver. Ahead, his teacher, in a ring of steel, drew his sword and dropped the sheath at his side.
“Tonight you’ll be exposed as the cheat that you are,” he said. The man got into a fighting stance and charged forward.
As Ryuu fired all the arrows, which were blocked by his teacher’s sword, his teacher closed the distance between them. Ryuu ducked when the man reached out with his sword to swipe Ryuu’s neck. As soon as the sword cleared, quicker than a flash, Ryuu hooked him around the neck with the string of the bow. His teacher turned to face him as his teacher’s momentum pulled the bowstring.
Ryuu looked him in the eye for half a second before letting the bow go, and it slammed into his teacher’s face, knocking him off his feet.
The Awakening Page 5