by Justin Parks
Chapter 12
Test
After a few weeks of training with Sky, Jin decided to attend Ares’ class again. Today’s the day. Jin thought, filled with a new confidence. He walked in to see some familiar faces, including Saga. A few moments later, Ares came into the room. “All right, line up!” he said as the apprentices scrambled to get into line.
Ares began pacing in front of the class and sizing up the apprentices. “Hmm, any new apprentices today?” he asked, looking around, but stopped when he saw Jin. “Ahh . . . so you finally came back. Done licking your wounds?” Ares said with a snicker. He then turned and walked out into the center. “Well, you know the terms. So let’s see what you’ve learned,” he said waving Jin forward.
Jin walked to the center. He felt the ground under his feet and blocked out all the other people in the room, allowing him to gain total focus on the situation. Jin took a deep breath and got into his stance. Ares stood still awaiting Jin to make the first move.
Jin charged forward, just as he did before. Ares punched forward toward Jin’s stomach, as he did before. Jin had predicted this and dodged to the left. He felt the force of the blow graze his body as Ares’ arm moved past. Jin then pinched the arm under his left arm. Jin tried to keep him from retracting his fist to go for another attack.
In this position, Jin threw a right kick to Ares’ side, but to no avail. He was suddenly yanked to his left as Ares threw Jin off his arm. Jin landed on all fours, sliding along the ground. He gripped the dirt, allowing him to stop. At that moment, he got an idea. Jin grabbed a handful of dirt and focused his magick to his legs. He charged forward once again. When he was within range, he threw the dirt, blinding Ares. Ares instinctively struck the area Jin was moving in. Jin bent back, sliding on his knees dodging the attack. Once past Ares’ guard, he punched up, hitting him in the side.
Jin stood proud of his victory. Ares stood silent and began rubbing his eye. There was a moment of awkward silence before it was broken by Ares laughing. He turned to Jin. “You slippery little bastard, you threw sand in my eye. You compensated for your lack in power by fighting dirty. I like it. You can join the class,” Ares said with a wicked smile.
“All right, if there aren’t any other newbies, then let’s begin,” Ares continued. “Find a partner and line up on the side of the room. Fight drills. One person punches the other’s blocks till you get to the other side of the room and then switch, same for the kicks. Then throw combinations for the third,” he instructed.
The class finally came to a conclusion so Jin returned to his room. He walked over to his bed and plopped down because he was exhausted. Jin suddenly felt a strange tingle in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out his ID card. Jin studied it and saw that his “Rank” had turned blue. So I’m eligible for advancement? I wonder how it works. I guess I’ll go ask Khronus about it tomorrow, he thought to himself before drifting off to sleep.
The next day Jin went looking for Khronus. He heard from one of the other apprentices that he was teaching a class. Jin found the room he was in and waited outside till the class finished. Jin waited while the class emptied. Khronus came out last. He saw Jin standing on the wall waiting. “Can I help you with something Jin?” Khronus asked.
“Yes, actually I need to ask you something,” Jin explained as he reached in his pocket and pulled out his ID to show him. “I’m eligible for advancement. So where do I go for the test?”
“Wow, ready for advancement all ready,” Khronus said impressed. “Yes, when you are ready for advancement you go to see Thoth. He handles all the tests. He should be in his lab right now, so you can find him there. Actually, I’m heading that way so I can show you where it is,” he explained.
Khronus and Jin walked together for a while until they came to two large double doors with a sign reading “Lab” over them. “Here we are,” Khronus said.
“Thanks for showing me the way,” Jin said as he entered the room. It was a large laboratory filled with jars of samples, lots of equipment, and supplies. Jin didn’t see Thoth around. “Professor Thoth,” he said, calling for him.
“Yes, over here,” Thoth’s voice said. Jin followed it to find Thoth in a corner sitting down, staring at something with a stethoscope. Jin walked up to him. “How can I help you?” Thoth asked, still staring at his sample.
“I’m eligible for advancement. I was told to come see you,” Jin explained.
Thoth stopped looking and turned to Jin. He looked Jin up and down with a smile. “Really?” he said, excited. “This will be your first test correct?” Thoth asked.
Jin nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay, enter that room over there and we’ll begin the test,” Thoth said, pointing at a door that said “Test Area No. 1.” Jin walked over and entered. There was a staircase leading down to a small empty room. Jin made his way to the base of the stairs and looked up to see a viewing area behind glass above him. He saw Thoth walk up and speak into a microphone. “Okay, are you ready?” Thoth asked.
Jin looked up and gave him a thumb up. Thoth smiled and began pressing buttons on the control panel in front of him. The wall behind him began to move and close the room off. Jin looked around, confused. A small area of the wall in front of him began to rise to reveal a small, strange creature.
Jin stared trying to make it out. It was a small blue blob. “What the . . .?” Jin said to himself cocking his head in confusion. What is that? he wondered. At that moment, the blob jumped forward, zipping past Jin and cutting his arm. He looked down in shock. Then Jin felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as the creature bounced off the wall, hitting him. The force of the blow caused Jin to fall forward.
Jin jumped back up to his feet. He was annoyed that the blob got the drop on him. The blob had stopped and was just sitting on the ground in front of him. Jin stood ready, closely watching the creature. It lunged again. Jin jumped to the side and dodged it. It bounced of the wall back at him. He dodged again. They continued this back and forth until Jin got an idea. He waited for it to fly at him again. When it came near, Jin kicked it as hard as he could. The blob smacked against the wall and smashed apart.
Jin let out a sigh of relief. The creature’s remains began to glow. Jin jumped back, ready for another attack. The remains became small balls of light and flew toward him. They were absorbed by his core. The core glowed brightly for a moment and then went back to normal. Jin suddenly felt a rush of power. Wow, so that must have been a kami, he thought to himself.
The entrance to the room reappeared and he made his way up the steps and out to the lab. Jin heard the sound of clapping behind him. He turned to see Thoth. “Not bad; you did well for the first time fighting a kami anyway,” Thoth said.
“It’s weird; I feel funny,” Jin explained.
“You should. This is your first time absorbing magick from a kami, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Yes, it is,” Jin said as he reached down, touching his core over his cloths.
“When an ayos defeats a kami, they absorb its magick, and the ayos becomes stronger. That kami was a relatively weak one. We rank kami with the same rankings we use for apprentices. That was a one-star rank kami,” Thoth explained.
“So I passed?” Jin asked.
“Yes,” Thoth said with a laugh. “Pull out your ID.” Jin pulled out his ID and looked at it. His rank now had one white star beside it. “See now that you are a one-star apprentice, you can start going on missions,” Thoth explained.
“What kind of missions?” Jin asked.
“The missions are divided up by ranks, and they are mostly just hunting and destroying kami of that rank. Taking part in these assignments helps you gain magick and grow stronger. You also get cash rewards that you can use on later jobs,” Thoth explained.
“So how do I sign up for these assignments?” Jin asked.
“You can sign up down the hall. Go see one of the master scribes. He’ll tell you what you need to do,” Thoth explained.
Ji
n felt excited about the new adventures he was sure to experience. He thanked Thoth and made his way out of the lab.
ToC
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