Chapter 2: Entry Exams
The school was like a modern castle. Nestled in the canopy of tropical trees, on the horizon lay a series of buildings towering at least two-hundred meters tall and the width of the entire land mass. The path leading to the school was long, but looked like a peaceful walk. The air smelt clean. Goh closed his eyes. What a peaceful place. It's almost as though something is calling to me... 'EXCUSE ME!' the voice sounded annoyed. Goh jumped. 'Glad I got your attention.' The face smiled. She was an attractive girl who looked to be in her early twenties, she had long black hair. She wore a frilly black maid-costume and had a jet-pack on her back. There was a shotgun strapped to her chest. Goh stepped back, intimated. 'I don't bite.' she chuckled holding out her hand. 'I'm Kibura. 3rd year at BAMAL. Ranked 356th. You must be Goh.' Goh reluctantly shook hands with her.
'How do you know my name?' Goh asked. 'I'm here to guide you to the entry exams. We should probably hurry, everybody else is already there.' Goh's eyes darted from the school then back to Kibura. 'W-wait, entry exams? What do you mean? I-I haven't studied!' Kibura looked at Goh with a quizzical look. 'You don't need to study for a battle, silly. You get pitted against an instructer, who will determine your skill and your rank within the school system. Although you already know. C'mon, let's go now.' Kibura began walking towards the school and Goh followed. Goh didn't want to answer back at the risk of sounding stupid. A battle? This is so sudden! Goh thought. His hands were shaking, but not because he was scared. He was strangely excited.
The door to the practice arena was huge. Made out of some sort of ancient oak. It arched many meters over Goh's head. It creaked as Kibura pushed it open. There was the sound of clashing steel within the pit in the arena, though the room that Goh was standing in was not the arena. He was surrounded by all sorts of weapons. Practically every type of gun on the that could ever exist, hundreds of varieties of blades, knives, staves and countless other weapons. None of them looked like they were for show. 'Come on, pick your weapon.' Kibura insisted. 'You should be up next.'
Goh's jaw dropped. 'W-weapon!? I don't want to kill anyone!' Kibura smirked. 'You must be kidding right? You ain't gonna be killing anybody, I assure you. Oh yeah. One last thing. Chose carefully, the weapon you chose in this room right now is your default weapon for the next five years, here at BAMAL. Unless you've bought your own to this island or unless you break the one you chose, you won't be getting another. Whether you choose to modify the weapon or not is up to you.' Goh's eyes scanned over the weapons. There was too much to chose from. Goh's hand was shaking as he reached above a rack of weapons, but he felt confident in what his hands grabbed onto.
The sound of clashing metal continued as Goh entered the arena. Thirteen people sat in the stands observing the current exam. Probably the other chosen scholars. Goh thought. Kibura patted Goh on the back. 'Well, this is as far as I go. Good luck!' She smiled and left back the way they entered. Goh joined with some exhausted looking people equipped with all kinds of weapons, it was obvious that they'd already taken their exams. Goh stood next to a boy leaning against the railing. He had a sniper rifle rested against the railing beside him, and a large combat knife strapped to his hip along with a Desert Eagle. He wore padded thick combat armour and had medium length blonde hair, he was about Goh's age. 'This guy is unbelievable...' he whispered to himself. Goh looked into the arena. It was Red. He was dual-wielding both of his katana, and the instructor wielded a long sword and shield. The instructor was being pushed back on his heels. he timer showed thirty seconds left on the clock.
Red and the instructor took a moment to catch their breath. 'You cocky bastard...' The instructor growled at Red. Red cackled. 'What's wrong, sir instructor? Is that all you have to offer?' Red scoffed. 'Pathetic.' The instructor was enraged. He let out a scream and charged at Red. He pumped his kite-shaped shield at Red anticipating Red to strike first. Instead Red had danced to his left where the instructors right shoulder was exposed. The instructor had no time to react as Red sliced his sword horizontally into the instructor's shield-bearing wrist. The instructor howled in pain and released his grip on the shield. Blood began to pool on the ground and the instructor doubled over in pain. Red's eyes dilated like a wild beast at the smell of fresh blood. He brought his sword back to slice but the instructor had regained his bearings, and swivelled several steps back. Red had no intention of letting his prey escape. Launching a series of combinations using both of his swords against the retreating instructor, eventually led to him being backed against the wall of the pit. The instuctors limply held longsword was knocked out of his hand, and he fell down and braced. Red laughed like the maniac that he is. He brought his sword back to deliver the killing blow. The forghorn sounding the end of the battle sounded. The blade stopped just less than a centimeter away from the instructor's face. Piss dribbled down the instructor's leg and it pooled with the blood from his wounds. He was sobbing hysterically.
'Red...' Goh said to himself. The boy next to him looked over to him. 'Ah you must be the rumoured 15th scholar. I was wondering when you'd show up. You know him? He's scary.' Rumoured? Goh thought. 'Yeah, I took the ferry here with him.' The boy nodded his head. 'Nice. I'm Railey by the way. Professional Marksman. I got ranked 390th. I hope we can become friends.' Goh shook his hand. 'I'm Goh. I'm not really a professional anything, but I am a talented boxer.' Railey let out a hearty laugh. 'We know who you are, silly! At any rate, you should get ready. Your exam is starting.' Goh was the most confused he'd been from the start of this whole thing.
End of Chapter |