The morning sun rises and Grim'Lok is already awake and in the training hall practicing his combos on a punching bag. He throws a light left jab as a starter, pausing for a moment before spinning around hitting the bag with an elbow from his left side then a jumping spinning kick with his right leg, kicking off the bag and landing a few feet away.
"You're as agile as ever today Grim'Lok." These words cause Grim'Lok to turn to the voice seeing Risaki Payne who has been watching him train.
"You must really want to pass that Exam." This causes Grim'Lok to grin. "Is it that obvious?" Grim'Lok, turning back to the punching bag throwing a multitude of different strikes.
"You told us only 30% of participants make it through the Exam each year right?" Grim'Lok questions while practicing his form. "Mhm-" As Risaki nods, Grim'Lok throws a punch so hard it leaves his fist imprinted in the bag. "Then expect me and Nay to be OMEN soon."
Risaki's eyes widened seeing his fist imprinted into the bag. "That's a reinforced chikara infused punching bag. These kids are crazy strong." His thoughts ring throughout his head before a light bulb brightens above his head. "Cmon now, I have to take you all to Archfield." He turns around heading for the gigantic door. "Nay, we're leaving!"
1 HOUR LATER…
Archfield is a very large city surrounded by a gigantic wood wall formed by the great Hakusari Clan. Grim'Lok, Nay and Risaki approach the large gates with 2 OMEN Sentinels standing outside the gate to guard it. Upon seeing Risaki they bow, "It's a pleasure Mr Payne. Are these the two you're admitting to the Exam?" Juzu asks, his face obscured by the hood strapped to his uniform.
Risaki nods before saying "Indeed Juzu, hello to you as well Mizaka." The two guards' eyes turn to Grim'Lok and Nay and the woman laughs immediately. "These are your two newest students? A giant and a mouse?" Mizaka, a tall, muscular woman with short cropped silver hair says while laughing. Grim'Lok immediately interjects, "Don't call her a mouse." This causes Miazka to take a step forward.
"Or what?" a grin forms on her face as she cracks her knuckles then neck.
Grim'Lok stares at her his fist clenching. "Or I'm gonna knock that smirk right off your face." He says through gritted teeth. Juzu steps in front of Mizaka, "Calm yourself Mizaka. You three are permitted entry, enjoy your time.." Juzu says as he pulls Mizaka off to the side to talk to her, 2 different sentinels immediately replace them at their post
The 3 of them walk past the gates revealing to Nay and Grim'Lok Archfield past the gates the first thing they notice is the stone pathways and wooden buildings. The second? hundreds of contestants scurrying around to gather supplies, doing errands, and munching on exotic foods.
Seeing all the different people eating Grim'Lok and Nay's stomachs growl audibly, "So hungry.." Nay mutters, Grim'Lok on the other hand stomach rumbles again. "We still have a little time. Why don't I treat you two to some lunch before the exam?" Risaki declares.
Upon hearing lunch Grim'Lok immediately starts walking through the streets. "Well don't keep us waiting then old man!" Grim'Lok says, causing Nay to laugh as she runs after him.
They are inside an OMEN Specialized restaurant sitting in a secluded booth. "OMEN consists of 3 districts separated by grand stairs. Each level gets progressively more elite, meaning if you pass the Exam you'll be spending a lot of time in this district." Grim'Lok stares at the menu not even paying attention to his word, Nay on the other hand is listening intently and taking notes.
"And where will we be taking the exam?" Nay's voice is ridden with curiosity.
Risaki starts stroking his beard as he remembers his first time taking the exam. "The Gardens of Teewhanchi of course."
Grim'Lok sets the menu down. "I heard that place is one of the most dangerous places in all of Eldoria. And we're expected to do what?" Hearing this Risaki laughs. "I can't spoil the fun Grim."
Just as he says this a woman walks to their booth.
"Welcome to Vertigo, where our cuisine is almost as good as our prices!" The woman speaks with a bright smile on her face.
Nay returns the smile while Grim'Lok is still buried in the menu.
The woman stands patiently, putting her hands in front of her. "What will you all be ordering?"
Risaki, who hasn't looked at the menu once since he sat down, says, "We'd like the Smoked Creamy Pork. Make the dish a medium sized one as these two will be taking the Exam in.." He looks at the clock on the wall and widens his eyes. "20 minutes."
In the outskirts of OMEN a boy with short blonde hair walks through the forest leading to the main gates. His eyes are cold and calculating and his footsteps are silent.
As he approaches the gates Juzu and Mizaka eyes lock onto him, taking in the long hair he has. "State your name and business nomad." Miazka's voice is calmer now, the result of a stern talking etched into her demeanor.
The boy takes a step forward and with his chin up says. "Ilija Castiel, and I am here to take the OMEN Exam."
They nod, stepping in opposite directions to allow him inside. "Alright then, you should just head to the Gardens of Teewhanchi, straight there." He points to a giant opening in the wood wall straight ahead with an extremely large crowd in front of it.
Grim'Lok stands in the middle of the crowd, Nay not too far beside him. Suddenly a bell sounds and the roar of a dragon is heard nearby.
An extremely tall man with a ponytail and a large beard towers over the rest of his fellow comrades. He takes a step forward and raises onto hand causing everyone's focus to draw to him. "It seems we still have respect, good."
He raises his other arm and every single member of OMEN Salutes, "Hello to all participants of the 50th ever OMEN Exam." He lowers his arm allowing everyone to ease themselves into this new environment momentarily.
"My name is Erik Stormbreaker, captain of the Eclipse Division. It seems this is our biggest exam as I see well over 200 of you." His eyes gaze over some of the contestants and he smirks.
"We will start with a preliminary exam because most of you look as weak as all hell. You have 24 hours to make it to the checkpoint." Suddenly a girl raises her hand.
"What do you mean checkpoint?" Her voice is calm but her demeanor screams fear.
"The checkpoint is a gate located deep inside the gardens of Teewhanchi, guarded by 2 very special sentinels." course. To get past it you need a Chikara token." He pulls a small glowing token out of his satchel, holding it up for everyone to see. "These are scattered throughout the forest which are also guarded by Sentinels but a few of you were given a token in secrecy."
He starts walking towards the crowd. "And If you reach the checkpoint with no token you fail. If you get your token stolen at the last second you fail. Lose to a sentinel? You fail. And if a contestant is KO'd or surrenders, they are marked as unqualified and removed from the exam."
Erik stops in front of them so he can get a closer look at the contestants. "Any questions before we begin?"
A tall boy with blue freeform dreadlocks. "Yeah, is killing allowed?"
Erik immediately identifies him, "Ah yes the Ice King's heir, Mercer. To answer your question," As he's taking the shadow of a dragon flying overhead covers everyone for a moment. "No, killing is strictly forbidden, but severe injury is not."
Upon hearing this Mercer's face lights up with a sinister smile. "That's good enough."
Erik holds his hand up to the sky summoning all his energy into his palm, a cracking electricity starts to overtake it. "Exam," A gigantic lightning bolt shoots from his hand into the sky "Begin!"
The contestants start running past Erik as he stands in the middle, parting the crows like a sea.
Grim'Lok and Nay walk towards the gardens "No need to rush, am I right?" Grim'Lok says with his hands in his pockets. Erik Stormbreaker analyzes them as they walk. "You two come here." He says become them over to him.
"What are your names?" Erik asks, his eyes watching them, analyzing them.
"My name is Nay, I am a student of the Dipea-Kicho Dojo." Nay says proudly, her chin held high and confidently. "My name is Grim'Lok Wolfshire, I am also a student of the Dipea-Kicho Dojo."
Upon hearing this Erik grins, "Students of Risaki Payne? I thought he ended the dojo after they tried to break the seal the first time." Erik thinks to himself before pulling out two tokens and giving it to them. "Try not to lose these." He gives them a slight bow before walking away allowing Grim'Lok and Nay to enter the Gardens of Teewhanchi.
Immediately they take in the gigantic trees that stretch on endlessly. "Good thing he taught us how to climb tree's right?" Nay says as she goes up to a tree touching it. "These trees emit a steady stream of chikara into the air." Her hands leave the tree, marking it before she turns to Grim'Lok seeing he's no longer standing next to her. "Huh?"
She turns around seeing Grim'Lok walking deeper into the forest. "Wait up!"
As they walk through the forest the repeating sounds of various different creatures, mixing with the constant sound of running water nearby create an ambience of wariness.
"It feels like we've been walking forever." Grim'Lok says as Nay stops staring at a marked tree, "That's because we are." Her words cause Grim'Lok to stop. "What?" Grim'Lok says as she points to a tree, the same tree she marked, "don't you remember passing this tree not too long ago?"
Grim'Lok's eyes narrow and the soft sound of rustling causes him to turn around.
"So you figured out the illusion." A boy with pale skin and point ears steps out of the bushes, his hands balled into fists. "I won't lose to measly nobodies like you."
"And who are you?" Grim'Lok's voice is commanding, Nay on the other hand is secretly charging up her energy behind Grim'Lok.
The boy smirks as he dashes towards Grim'Lok, the ground cracking as he launches himself off the ground. "My name is Ienoru, so do well to remember it because it's the last name you'll ever hear again!"
Grim'Lok channels the energy into his legs, as Ienoru cocks his arm back getting ready to punch him. Suddenly Grim'Lok vanishes, the air warping as Ienoru's hand barrels through his afterimage. Nay, who's been charging her energy into a Chikara ball, slams it into Ienoru's face sending him flying back into a tree. Grim'Lok appears next to Nay leaning his elbow on her shoulder.
"Show off much?" Grim'Lok says as he watches Ienoru stand up using the tree as support.
"You.." Ienoru cracks his neck before opening his mouth, "You won't get away with this! Poison Mist!" he screams out as green mist starts flowing from his mouth, quickly flooding the area in a 30 feet radius.
"Don't breathe it in Grim'Lok!" Nay screams out as Grim'Lok begins to slowly walk towards Ienoru as he continuously makes poisonous mist. "Nice technique, unfortunately the poison you're generating is bearable on my body!" Grim'Lok comes dashing in with a sickening body blow that causes Ienoru to grit his teeth, halting the mist.
Ienoru tries to jump backwards but as soon as his feet leave the ground Grim'Lok tackles him slamming him into the ground. He raises his fist up and throws it as hard as he can causing a small shockwave that hits Ienoru's face before Grim'Loks fist, stopping just before it does.
He gets up before signaling for Nay to come. "Let's go."
Nay quickly runs to Grim'Lok as they walk deeper into the forest.
Ienoru watches as they leave him, and he grits his teeth. "I'm gonna get you back."
In a different part of the forest Ilija dodges an incoming ice shard. "That was close." Ilija's thoughts flood his mind as he dodges another. "I gotta get close to see who's shooting this ice!" Ilija waits for another shard to come flying at him.
Upon seeing the next one he dashes towards the shard, allowing it to pierce him as he spots whos doing it.
Mercer stands with his hand pointed at Ilija, a visible ice cold around his hand. "Bullseye." He says with a sickening grin as Ilija comes crashing down with a punch that creates a crater in the ground.
Pulling his arm out he throws a left leg kick that Mercer checks.
Ilija quickly ducks Mercer's hook, coming up with an uppercut that connects soundly with his jaw but Mercer manages to stay grounded.
Ilija throws another punch that Mercer meets with his own causing the ground to crack underneath them. Quickly he drops and sweeps Ilija's legs from under him, he raises his leg and comes down with a hard axe kick that Mercer avoided with a back handspring.
Ilija looks at where Mercer's foot made impact, noticing the giant crater in the ground. "He's got me beat in just about everything." Ilija thinks to himself, his hand twitching as he anticipates Mercer's next move. "I'm wasting my time."
VANISH!!
Within the blink of an eye Mercer is gone only leaving an afterimage.
"I didn't know running was a part of the strategy!" Ilija yells as begins to push his chikara outward to sense for Mercer but all he does he picks up the energy signature of every single tree in the area. "What the hell?"
As he finishes talking Mercer reappears behind Ilija who turns around almost immediately but not fast enough to react to Mercer's punch that sends him flying into a tree.
Wasting no extra movements Mercer dashes towards Ilija while summoning his energy into his hand, an ice ball forming in his hand. A chilling freeze overtaking his entire left arm and a ice ball forming "Prepare to be eliminated!" He says as he draws closer.
Ilija holds his hand out, summoning all his energy into his palm. A crackling effect starts to generate at the tips of his fingers, first blue like lightning then darkening into something more sinister.
This causes Mercer to stop running and generating the Ice Ball and get on guard. "How fast did he generate that!?" Mercer thought to himself as Ilija screams out.
"BLACK BOLT!"
A gigantic bolt of black lightning shoots from Ilija's hand towards Mercer at incredible speeds. "That's fast, but not fast enough." Mercer summons a barrier made of ice that the bolt makes contact with. "You had me worried, I thought that attack would be stronger."
The black bolt dissipates and Mercer's barrier starts to melt. "Is that all you got?" He says as he walks towards Ilija.
Ilija grits his teeth as visions of defeat cross his mind, "I didn't think I would have to use this so early." Ilija sticks his tongue out revealing a symbol on his tongue that starts to glow. "I guess it's time to kick it into 5th gear."
Ilija's body starts glowing a mystical blue. "Mercer!" He screams out as he charges towards Mercer, suddenly a loud explosion is heard nearby followed by another. Each one getting louder and louder as the time goes on.
Ilija leaps into the air, his kick meeting Mercer's guard with a sickening thud, continuing his kicks on Mercer's guard that keeps him airborne before jumping off his guard onto a tree which he hands off of.
"You weren't this strong a few seconds ago. Tell me how you did it." Mercer's voice is full of animosity but there's an underlying confusion painfully obvious by his expression. Ilija smirks as he begins jumping from tree to tree to escape. "Oh no you don-" Before Mercer could finish his sentence a body goes flying towards him.
He dodges the body allowing it to hit a tree behind him. He wastes no time jumping up to a tree trying to stay hidden.
A blindfolded boy walks towards the one that hit the tree, his steps leaving no footprints in the ground. "If it weren't for the exam I wouldn't have held back." He kneels in front of him and he takes the glowing token out of his hands. "Pleasure doing business with you."