{Holy Orders of Prosperity} Chapter 2: Preparation
“Thanks for treating me this time, I promise I’ll pay you back somehow.” Oneil chews on the last of his meal, chicken fillet with rice doused with gravy, before throwing the paper box into the trash can.
“No problem yet again! Just make sure you don’t find yourself in a financial loop of debt when you can’t resist buying more food or borrowing more money than you can handle.” KD nudges Oneil’s shoulder with his elbow as he packs away his own lunch box in his bag.
Oneil scoffs then punches KD’s forearm. “I hate you.” KD replies only with a guffaw.
They walk along the corridors that attaches the Dreighart food court all the way to where the training grounds are. During their meal they discussed ways the test could go, and what strategies they could come up with.
“Do you really think we’re doing this alone?”
KD answers, “I have a feeling they would. I don’t know, would they make us all go together?”
Oneil cocks his head to the side where KD is walking. “What if they’re deciding something new? What if we have to battle altogether, like we have to hit some target and whoever scores the most wins?”
“That would be entertaining, but how would the instructors and proctors keep track? The marks left on the wall can be made from any weapon.”
Oneil sighs and bows his head. “You’re right, you’re absolutely right.”
KD looks at Oneil and places his hand around his arms. “Don’t worry Oneil. Maybe we both can be wrong?”
“I at least would want to be right with my ideas. If I want to rank above you, I have to defeat you even before we start.” Oneil chuckles, and KD follows suit.
The two boys head over to where the training grounds are, and only a couple of students and two proctors are present. Oneil’s face twists into that of confusion.
“Where are the rest of the people?”
KD scratching his head with his index finger. “Don’t know. Maybe we’re early.”
One of the proctors enter the room and after that a sleuth of teenagers come crashing in. They are indeed earlier than everyone else.
When Oneil sees the students flooding in, his stomach starts curling up. He feels a slight rise in his throat and his brows start to quiver.
“Euwaughhh!” He gagged. KD raises his brows.
“Are you okay? Are you sick? Do we need to get you to the clinic?”
Oneil waves his hand and tries to compose himself as the training grounds become louder with voices consolidating in one big chatter cloud.
“I’m just nervous, this always happens when I start to feel adrenaline.” He smiles at KD before wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
“Okay… just don’t vomit while you’re doing the test.”
“And always watch out for myself. God, you’re just like our mentor!”
“I didn’t get the mentor personality type for nothing during that test we found on the internet!”
Oneil rolls his eyes. “Whatever, we still have a lot more to discuss with that topic later.” He smiles internally, excited to ramble about his interests to his friend again.
The whole training ground was soon to be flooded with almost all the students of the military house. It was big enough to support at least one-half of a sports arena. The more people mean the more they would watch each student either pass or fail the test. Oneil gulps a nervous lump in his throat, this added another entire level of pressure he didn’t feel before in his practices.
“I think you’re right, KD, we can’t possibly have a test where we all fight the same target if the number of students here are… astronomical.”
“I told you.”
Oneil glares at his friend, who gives back a smirk. He turns his head back to the middle of the training grounds.
A young woman nearly in her early 20s climbs up the platform supported by a small slab of wood. Her raven-black hair is tied to a ponytail and her tanned skin contrasts the marble-white moon that rose up slowly across the sky. Her eyes slice across the stage, but her cheeks are tinted with friendliness and revere.
The audience begin to murmur to each other, lingering voices snaking across the crowd. The people are nervous, and Oneil is no exception.
He overhears the crowd speaking. “It’s the head of the house, Leiyan Dreighart!”
“Crap, is she going to be our examination proctor?” Says another.
“I’m gonna fail!”
“I can’t do this! I want to quit!”
Soon enough the whole room emanated nervous energy. Oneil clenches his teeth and looks at KD for some comfort. He did not seem nervous at all.
The head of the Dreighart Military House, Leiyan Dreighart, stands in front of a wooden podium and leans against the microphone. Her blazer sticks out of her shoulders like spikes.
“Good evening, everyone,” Her voice silks across the grounds. “Welcome to the examinations of Oloran, the eighth month of the Gaian Calendar, and the last month of the Moon Season; where the Moon Festival will be held.”
KD coughs a bit and receives a light punch in the shoulder from Oneil.
“Sorry!” He whispers. Oneil nods.
“Keep your voices down low.” Says a person next to them.
“As you know, with every Festival Month we decide to change the instructions of the examinations, deviating from the normal examinations where the proctors shall test your abilities in your respective training ground sections.”
Leiyan flips over a card of some sort, and the people lean in to hear her words carefully.
“For the 4018th Oloran Examinations, you shall battle our instructor’s fake avatars, which are powered by our own 2nd Level Elemental Warrior, and my co-house leader, Kyle Dreighart, or shall I say ‘The Disguiser’.”
The crowd’s murmurs transform into chattering as a young man, also nearly in his early 20s, stands on the same platform Leiyan is in. He has a grey vest on top of a white polo shirt, and his pants are as black as coal. He waves at the people with a cheeky smile on his face.
Leiyan continues her speech. “His element, Illusion, will allow his carbon copies of your instructors to match their mannerisms, combat styles, and physical capabilities without risking their lives from being hit with a variety of weapons. As you strike them down with a weapon, they shall disappear.”
The ground in front of the wooden slab glows, and illusions of each instructor of the house appears. Professor Shen’s illusion stands second-to-the-end at the left side of Oneil’s view.
“When you strike all your opponents down in less than ten minutes, you pass the examinations. If you don’t, you will fail, and this will impact your total scores.” Leiyan adds.
The people in the training arena gasp in shock.
“Ten minutes?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“You guys are weak, this is easy!”
“For you, look at how many illusions we have to defeat!”
Leiyan taps the microphone again. “If you shall get hit by one of the illusions’ weapons, or if you find yourself unable to continue, or if you fail to hit them all by ten minutes, you will not pass.”
Oneil’s eyes tremor in fear. This isn’t what he had in mind at all, how can he hit all ten illusions in ten minutes with a simple throw of a dagger?
KD wraps his arm around Oneil and grips him close to comfort him. At least he can count on KD to assure him that everything will be alright.
“We will now officially start the examinations. The students will be tested out one-by-one, in alphabetical order.”
Some of the students shuffle near the exit while others tremor at the front of the crowd. They must be the last and the first ones to be tested. Oneil looks at them and gives a sigh, he’d be one of the early testers along with KD.
The rest of the people lean on the walls of the grounds and watch Leiyan Dreighart and Kyle Dreighart, as they walk down the podium and onto two chairs at the north of the empty circle. The podium then disappears into static and transforms into a large oval that encompasses each audience at the end, shaping it like a donut.
KD taps on the barrier. It must be one of Kyle’s solid illusions to keep weapons from harming spectators. An opening by the south of the training ground maws wide. This is where students enter and exit the arena in which they fight the illusions.
The fist Oneil clenches signifies the skip of a heartbeat, the cold sweat glazed in the back of the head, the short interval of an exhale. His eyes dart across the arena and onto the first set of students crowding behind the open space.
It’s starting.
Leiyan Dreighart dips her head a little to look at the grass spawning over the training grounds. Then she raises it again to look at the first batch of students flocking near the entrance of the arena. The illusions of each professor stand at the sides perpendicular to the two co-heads.
“The examinations will start now. First up is Anthony Abrille.”
A taut boy with short brown hair slides his shoes into the arena. Being the first one to perform in a high-pressure examination can affect a person’s confidence a lot, and Anthony falls on the nervous side.
He stops at the middle of the arena and faces the illusions of each Professor getting to their battle stances. The illusions are not solid, unlike the barrier between the arena and the rest of the students spectating the examinations, so their weapons won’t harm Anthony and everyone else.
Kyle Dreighart flicks his finger in the air. “Make sure as soon as the test starts you will use the time you have to your advantage. Work smart, not hard.”
Oneil winces at the statement. All he had done in practice was working hard. Could he fail in the examinations after all the time he has spent working on his dagger throws?
No, he couldn’t fail now. Especially after learning about KD’s breakthrough.
He gulps another nervous lump down his throat. He will not be daunted.
“And so,” Leiyan adds. “The examinations for Anthony Abrille shall start now!”
A ring from a little bell sounds throughout the training grounds and Anthony brings out a spear. He extends the rod to make it longer before marching towards one of the professor’s illusions sporting spiky gloves in his hands.
“He must be from the Fighter division,” KD says. “Out of the six divisions we can have, he chooses to go for Professor Min, the boxer mentor, who is also a Fighter.”
Oneil’s eyes scan across the field and sees Anthony lash out his spear towards Professor Min’s illusion. The illusion dodges and strikes a jab towards Anthony’s left arm, but he slides just in time to strike his spearhead to Professor Min’s shoulder. His illusion disappears.
“The Fighters specialize in melee and close combat. He is smart for heading to a Professor in his field of knowledge.” KD adds.
“Is he smarter compared to the rest of the Fighters?” Oneil asks KD.
He shakes his head. “I don’t know, all I know is that he might have a disadvantage.”
Oneil’s eyes glaze at KD’s. “What is it?”
“You’ll see. Look.”
As soon as Anthony heads towards the second illusion, he feels something zoom behind him.
It was Professor Shen’s illusion.
Appearing between Anthony and the second illusion sporting a club and shield.
Anthony stops in his tracks and brings his spear in front of him, holding it so the spearhead points upright. However, Professor Shen raises his hands and twirls his index finger around.
Suddenly, the air turned violent.
Oneil watches Anthony’s hair whip past his face and his feet falls flat on the ground. His cries of surprise fill the air and gets lost in the whirlwind surrounding him.
“Anthony’s weapon allows him to be precise in his attacks, but when he has to deal with outer-range attacks and areas of effect, that’s where he falls short. Broad trajectories are the solution to nullify one’s precision.” KD murmurs under his breath.
Oneil raises his eyes and chokes up a bit of air. The examination might not be easy as he thought it would be.
Anthony picks himself up from the ground and charges at Professor Shen’s illusion when another illusion darts past Anthony. A sword circles at the level of Anthony’s waist and slides through his stomach.
Anthony gasps before the illusion of Professor Shen dissipates and the rest of the professors transport at their initial position before the examination of Anthony started.
The illusion of the assassin-type mentor, Professor Clintwood, smiles towards Anthony. He was the one who slipped the sword through him.
Anthony falls down to his knees and screams. Leiyan brings up a microphone powered by an amplifier next to her and speaks, “Anthony Abrille has failed his examination. He shall watch in the sidelines from now on.”
The room emanates murmuring, filling it up as if it’s water in a fish tank. Oneil stares at Anthony as he walks out of the arena defeated. He gags one more time.
“Oneil, are you even okay?” KD asks.
“I-I’m fine.” He replies, but he is not fine. His stomach churns a hurricane inside of him.
The spectators riot, but out of fear than anger. It does not help Oneil calm down. He holds his neck to leverage his throat to keep it from making another nervous reflex.
Leiyan stands up from her chair and the people fall silent as she brings the microphone in front of her.
“The Dreighart Military House, and other military houses, will not simply pass your weapon techniques as capable unless you learn to train not only your physical use of the weapon, but also the grit of your mind,” Her voice swims across the air. “If you think you can call yourself a worthy Gaian Soldier and not even consider adapting to your weaknesses, then you can kiss your dreams goodbye.”
Her eyes stab the joy out of every person who comes across her view. Some of the students lean on the wall and start crying.
Oneil’s exhales adds more pressure than before. His breathing becomes audible from three feet away.
KD stares down at Oneil in sympathy.
“How can I be the best if… if…” His voice trails weakly. “If I’m not capable of doing this… this thing.”
Oneil puts his hands over his head and his eyes strain towards the grass crumpled underneath his shoes. He doesn’t feel prepared at all.
He feels a hand on his shoulder. KD. He looks up to see KD smiling at him.
“You can do this, Oneil! Don’t be nervous now.”
Oneil’s eyes narrow. “I can’t! I can’t control this! I’m going to fail!”
“You won’t,” KD sighs. “You’re going to do well. You’re Oneil, the confident one.”
“I’m not confident! I’m arrogant! And I won’t be rewarded because of it! All my hard work going to waste, and it’s all because I’m so stupid!”
A few people around them backs away to avoid absorbing Oneil’s conflicted feelings.
“You’re not stupid. But you have to do this. You can make a show out of everything, and this… this is your perfect chance to shine.” KD assures.
Oneil catches his breath and looks up at KD. A second later he engulfs him into a hug, squeezing as hard as he can.
“You’re right. I can do this. If you can do it, I can do it too.”
KD gives him a light smile and a pat on the back.
“May the second student, Lauren Adelaide, come into the arena?” Kyle’s voice snakes into the ears of everyone in the training grounds.
As time passes by, students fail one-by-one with none of them succeeding so far in defeating all ten illusions within the time limit. This is bad, Oneil thought.
As a tall and muscular boy with a mohawk gets struck by an illusionary sword from the same illusion that struck Anthony, the low-brow chattering of the students gradually grows louder. Kyle and Leiyan shake their heads in disappointment as Leiyan brings the microphone to her face.
“Vernon Daifiki has failed his examination. He shall watch in the sidelines from now on.” Her voice screeches against the microphone, causing a stinging echo.
“Good luck Oneil!” KD moves away from Oneil and waves at him in amidst of the sullen audience. Oneil watches him walk to the end of the oval where the opening is present. On his back is his sniper that he practiced with a few hours before.
He realizes that the examinations are now at the “D” letter of the surname.
Leiyan’s straightened lips turn to a slight upward curl. She brings the microphone in front of her again.
“May the next student, Kyle Delacross, come into the arena?”