I am now with Charl, and we are going to the test that will determine which faction he belongs to. Unfortunately, I will not participate. What is this body, how does it have all the courage while it has no power? Will my punishment be to face this question that destroys me? Andria… Andria! Oh yes, Lady Marian. Why are you absent-minded? Are you sad that you will not participate? I know you have your reasons to try to participate, but without power, you cannot stay alive.
You are right, Lady Marian. But I will try to awaken my power until I become a hero.
Yes, and to become a hero you must be patient. Do not worry, Andria. When I become a hero, I will be the one to fight for all of you.
Charl: Then I wish you good luck.
Do not worry, I will definitely become a hero.
At the testing hall, a soldier was talking with one of the officials about guarding the place during the test.
"Sir, everything is prepared as you ordered."
"Good, now go to your position and whatever happens, do not leave it. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir. But may I ask, why all this security especially since the heroes will be with us?"
"Listen, soldier, if you intend to stay here talking then do not blame me for what I will do."
"Sorry sir, I will go at once."
"Do not be angry at the soldier like that, he is ignorant of what is happening."
"Sir Armas, I apologize for my anger, but what happened yesterday cannot be explained."
"You are right, that wave that was released was tremendous in every sense of the word, and what is more strange is that only a few people felt that energy, which means the one who released it has complete control. But for such a distance… And the strangest thing, we found Duke Oger dead without anything on his body, and it turned out he died because of it. For the aura to remain that strong, whoever released it—perhaps his power surpasses everyone on earth. That is what frightens me, sir. Even though I am a general and train heroes, I feel terror from that energy."
"It is no shame for a human to fear, but to run—that is the sorrow for both living and dead. Do you understand, General Burdon?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then the test will begin. Forgive me, I have grown old. Truly to hear a general this afraid… and I agree with him. What does fate hide for us?"
"This is the Hall of Challenges, how big it is!"
"Yes. Now Charl, Andria, and I will go to the stands to cheer you on. Good luck."
"Do not worry about me, I am going."
Everyone gathered until the competition began. The audience noticed seven doors in the place. Suddenly the entire place began to shake, and footsteps were heard—the heroes were entering from those doors. The closer they came, the stronger the wind blew and the earth trembled, like two giant magnets drawing near then repelling. When they finally reached each other, a force burst so strong it pierced the sky, and the whole city—land, sea, sky, towns—shook as if a child was shaking a toy violently. Then the energy stopped and the place calmed, but not the sounds of cheering.
"Oh, they are amazing! Look, it's Achilles, commander of the Red Lions, very strong. And also with him Mark, Lord of Wind, and leader of the Freedom Eagles, known as the strongest wind user. And there is Tatsuka the Dark, how strange, the commander of the Black Crows. And also Kaori, commander of the Poison Plant squad. And this is Shinji, commander of the Blue Whale squad. And Ryoma, commander of the Immortal Flame squad. But where is the Lord of Ice? Why did he not come? Could it be that their strongest is not interested again this year? Ah, my bad luck, I wanted to meet him."
The general took the microphone.
"Welcome, heroes, to this opportunity to honor your ancestors who defended these lands for centuries with their bodies, their spirits, and their blood. With their spirits that are with us now guiding us, with their bodies that were full of wounds but ignored them and continued forward, and with their blood that flows with honor, patience, courage, refusal to surrender, and love for one another. It flows in us as well. That is why every hero who comes here is something undeniable. If one can join, he fights until his last breath, and if no team chooses him, he tries and tries until he succeeds. This is the essence built within all of us. Am I wrong? No! Then let the test begin. The first is this: we placed this coin at least four kilometers away from here. You must use your abilities and move it until you bring it here. Do you understand?"
"That test is hard."
"No, I see it as easy."
"Andria, listen to me. This test depends on two things: first, the amount of energy you have; second, you must use your mind before your power to bring it here. Look, that young man is trying to pull the coin but with no success because his energy is weak. This is the essence of the test. Look at Charl, he is focused. Will he succeed? Come on, move it, you must concentrate."
"Yes, this test…"
"We have our first winner: Oliver. The second: Anders. The third: Oliver. Come on, Charl, you can do it. Another winner, and another, and another. Come on, do not forget your promise to Andria!"
"Time is up!"
"Wait! I caught it!"
"And another winner before time. Well done, Charl!"
"Now the second test will be to defeat this dummy, but be careful, it is dangerous. Now the third is a battle between all the winners. This looks good for Charl."
"Yes, he loves fighting."
The people began attacking each other and the fighting sped up until someone named Lux took the victory. Everyone stood saluting him. Then the leaders began choosing.
The commanders chose students. Charl joined the Red Lions.
While everyone was rejoicing, deep in the forest a man went to a cave and entered the castle of the Lord of Death.
"So you decided to finally come, Maurice."
"Of course, how could I not obey my lord?"
"Good, because he is waiting for you inside. Come. May I ask, since when has the master awakened, or anything about him?"
No answer.
"Very well."
"My lord, Maurice has arrived."
"Maurice."
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
"So, you are Maurice?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Maurice, why did you disobey and leave through the gate?"
"My lord, that is not important. One of the spirits told me you found an interesting child. So tell me, what did you find?"
"My lord, I went to kill someone, a client had ordered me, and I killed him."
The Lord of Death only looked at him. Without a word, Maurice suddenly found himself bound by chains, thrown into a pit full of the dead.
"Listen, before you enter here you must know with whom you are speaking. I am the Lord of Death. For everything there is an account with me. If you lie, your fate is death."
"No, my lord, no! I will tell you! There was a boy, one of my beasts attacked him, but suddenly that boy released a tremendous power of darkness. That is what caught my interest. I wanted to investigate. I know nothing else, believe me!"
Suddenly the ground above the castle began to shake, and when the Lord of Death felt that energy, he smiled and said:
"I feel it. The gates of hell tremble above us. Such a mighty power… Do not hurry our meeting, demon, for I too am waiting."