The field was set.
Ahead of the candidates stretched a vast, unnatural field divided into three zones of obstacles.
The first zone was a bird's flight resistance zone. Debris from buildings and terrains with a jumble of boulders and broken woods. Some rotated slowly, others raced through the sky with speed, all combined to hinder swift flights.
Beyond the floating debris lay a massive pool of molten lava, its surface bubbling violently and radiating intense heat. Thick pillars of blackened rock jutted out from the lava. One wrong move meant instant failure— or more like, instant death.
Past the lava zone stood a dense forest, its trees grown wildly out of control. Branches messily stretched and intertwined overhead, forming a spider web. Movement within was clearly restricted—forcing anyone who enter to rely on agility, precision, or raw power to push through.
And each zone had three yellow, glowing hoops— big enough for an adult to go through— hanging in the midst of the obstacles, arranged side by side.
Maxwell pushed a button and a rectangular platform with several metallic, sleek boards with narrow shapes.
Each board was just big enough for a person to stand on and it's surface was etched with faint, glowing lines.
Each board also had unique colors and designs on them, making them stand out.
"Some of you might already know what these are." Maxwell announced.
"But for those of you who don't, they are called flow boards."
"And just so you know, they don't respond to command. They don't respond to will." He said as he smirked.
"The only thing they respond to is how well you control your energy flow."
Maxwell jumped from his board, landed on the platform in the midst of the other boards.
He straightened up as his smirk widened into a grin. He started pouring out some sort of bluish black energy and immediately, the glowing lines on the boards around him started pulsing as if reacting to his presence.
The candidates gasped, watching in awe as Maxwell picked stood, eyes glowing, aura seeping into the candidates.
"The rest is for you to figure out." Immediately, the glowing line on his board dimmed and his board fell— possibly running out of energy.
He caught it with one hand, poured a little energy into it and dropped it. Instead of falling to the ground, the board hovered just two inches above the ground.
He hopped on it and floated into the sky.
"You know what to do. Don't make me tell you."
All the candidates walked over to the platform and picked a board each, before walking back to their previous spot.
Some candidates were clearly excited as they chattered among themselves. Others like Desmond, not so much. He wore the same expression from earlier.
"Now..." Maxwell called out, gesturing toward the field ahead.
"Your objective is simple. Reach the finish line. The fastest time gets the highest rank."
At the far end of the three fields, a huge yellow, glowing hoop hovered above the ground.
"And at the very section of each courses, there are three rings arranged side by side."
He raised a finger.
"Each candidate is required to go through at least one."
He paused, following up with a smirk.
"You may go back for another one. No one will stop you—"
His eyes glowed a bluish black color.
"—but know this. Time lost is rank lost."
The candidates paid close attention. Etching Maxwell's words into their minds as if their lives depended on it.
"Now. You're racing in eights. Just like with the first test, you'll all be called according to your number."
The first eight candidates stepped out without being told this time.
Maxwell couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped his lips.
"I'm impressed. Looks like you didn't have to be told this time."
Maxwell said, lifting a hand.
"On your marks..."
All eight candidates infused their boards with pure energy and dropped them. The boards lowered until they were floating just slightly above the ground.
"Get set..."
They then jumped on their boards, readying themselves.
"Go."
Maxwell ended bringing down his hand and right at that moment, all eight candidates blasted away into the sky.
The eight candidates surfed through the sky with almost no problem— giving off swish sounds.
Royal took the lead, surfing through the sky with smooth movements as they approached the first obstacle— the chaos in the sky.
Royal exhaled, entering the field. Rexford followed closely behind him as they maneuvered their way through the disorder. Royal didn't seem to have good maneuvering skills but his perfect energy flow control gave him an upper hand.
Rexford didn't seem to have much problem with the movements but couldn't quite catch up with Royal.
The third guy, following closely behind Rexford had much better maneuvering skills and seemed to be closing in on Rexford and Royal.
Royal went through the middle hoop followed by Rexford who took the left hoop. The third person took the right hoop.
In a flash, they were out of the first obstacle. The other five candidates seemed to be keeping up as well. Royal sped up, putting in some distance from the others. Rexford did the same, moving slightly further away from the third person as they approached the second obstacle— the lava zone.
Royal entered followed up by the others at high speeds and quick swishes.
As they surfed, they could feel the heat seeping into their skins— especially Royal who entered first. His breathing quickened and he was sweating in loads.
They had to hold off against the heat while dodging the pillars. One wrong move meant instant death.
But the candidates wore determined expressions as they steered through the field.
Out of nowhere, fireballs started shooting out of the pool, adding to the difficulty.
"Damnit!" Royal cursed under his breath dodging a fireball.
Rexford clicked his tongue, stopping midair as a fireball blasted up in front of him.
The last five candidates had problems moving through the obstacle, occasionally almost bumping into pillars or getting incinerated by the flaming balls.
The third guy, though seemed to be taking it way too easy navigating through the field. He seemed to have talent for flow boards.
Royal went through the right hoop. Rexford and the third guy went through the middle hoop.
Royal grinned with a "finally" as he was about to exit the obstacle but then, a fireball shot up and was right beneath him. There was no way he could avoid getting hit by it.
The candidates following behind watched in horror as the ball closed in beneath him.
It was the same with all the other candidates watching on a huge holographic screen in the sky.
But Royal, who's live was on the line didn't look the least worried. He wore a nonchalant expression.
Maxwell smirked, sensing something exciting about to take place.
Royal exhaled, going down and clutching the board with his left hand. His right arm glowed for a short time before dimming to reveal a bronze arm guard, followed by a katana in his right hand.
He pointed the katana downwards as some sort of cold aura enveloped his right arm and the sword.
"Freezing Point: Everest's Fresh Breath!" Immediately he said that, white gas blew downward, turning the fireball into an ball on a pillar of ice, grounded into a small portion of frozen lava.
"Nailed it." Maxwell's smirk widened.
Everyone's jaws dropped, repeating the whole scene in their heads.
Royal exited the second obstacle, grinning from ear to ear.
Rexford was beaming with excitement as he exited the field as well.
The third guy smirked, licking his lips.
"Respect!" He mumbled as his eyes glowed purple.
By the time the remaining five exited the field, Royal, Rexford and the third guy, had neared the final obstacle.
The third guy watched on as Royal and Rexford added more distance away from him.
He inhaled deeply.
"Time to unleash it!" He whispered as he smiled softly, his eyes glowing purple again.
His right arm glowed a faint purple color for a short time, before dimming to reveal a bronze arm guard.
"Let's spice things up!" Immediately he said that, some sort of purple, mini jet formed, attached beneath the board.
Fire blew violently from its butt and his speed skyrocketed. He passed Rexford and Royal within a short period, dashing into the final field — the forest.
Royal and Rexford entered shortly after.
The guy was moving through the dense forest with swift movements like it was child's play. What made it mind-blowing was the speed at which he moved through the field— twisting and turning with crazy skills.
Maxwell held an excited grin as the candidates— including Desmond watched in amazement.
He was even giving Royal and Rexford a huge gap. At one point, he jumped from his board over a branch, landed on another branch, jumped and swung on another before landing on his board again.
One would have thought he calculated everything ahead. But no. This was pure talent.
His eyes gleamed as he spotted the three hoops.
He increased his speed, passing through the right hoop but didn't end there.
He negotiated a quick curve, grabbing a branch for support and turned, speeding through the left hoop.
Royal had closed in a little and was heading right in his direction.
He gave a bright smile, waving at Royal and lowered down, going right beneath Royal.
He made an upward turn, holding a branch for support as he turned upside down, dashing over Royal from behind and through the middle hoop before turning downside up again.
He exited the third and final field followed up by Royal and Rexford.
"Hah!" Royal chuckled. "Just how interesting can today get?!"
He increased his speed yet again, going through the large hoop which signified the finish line.
The mini jet beneath his board disappeared along with his arm guard as he looked up at the sky with a victorious smile.
"This win was mine to begin with." He murmured.
[Lawrence Armer]
[Age:14]
[Ability: Jet]
[Finishing time: 00:02:34]
Royal sped through the large hoop followed by Rexford shortly after.
[Royal Koree]
[Finishing time: 00:03:01]
[Rexford Miah]
[Finishing time: 00:03:05]
The rest of the groups came by eight by eight just like in the first test.
Emmanuel didn't have much problem in the first and second zones but the same couldn't be said about the third zone.
He managed to avoid crashing into pillars and getting his board destroyed by fireballs. He had good resistance to heat due to his flame ability and constant exposure to heat during his training.
In the third zone though, he had to slow down a little to gain better control. And even with that, he bumped his head into two or three branches.
Zapping out of the forest, he went through the hoop.
Emmanuel Apiel
[Finishing time: 00:04:02]
Augustus used his wind as booster to increase his speed, finishing first in his race.
Augustus Kumah
[Finishing time: 00:02:53]
Desmond on the other hand, had trouble going through each fields.
He bumped into several rocks in the first field, narrowly managed to avoid erupting fireballs and crashing bumping into a few pillars in the second field.
The third field was worse—
He was head bumping into branches every few seconds.
He finished sixth place in his race.
Desmond Addel
[Finishing time: 00:05:38]