...Shin was easily selected. So were his friends. Chung, Shin's friend from China, and all the others from his group were selected too. Shin was happy to see his friends over there. Including them, there were now a total of 62 contestants left.
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.....After announcing the results, Ken said that the next round will take place after a week. This will be an obstacle course, I will test your physical abilities in this test, and some more of your abilities. But all the others details will be announced at the day of the second round.
By then, rest, practice and prepare for the test. I wish all of you the best of luck.
....The next day, Ken told Shin that he cannot live in the same house, as people might suspect Ken of leaking information about the test to Shin. So, Shin had to move to an inn till the exams were over. Shin was comfortable living alone. Now and then, Chung came up to Shin to play or train together. Chung was also a fit young boy, he had a great physique. Shin and Chung trained regularly, together. Shin was no less fit than Chung. Both of them trained in many skills. Ranging from running to jumping and fighting, rather sparring. They practiced every skill they could.
Ken was not looking forward to showing any partiality towards Shin. All the other candidates also started training for the exam. Some studied about the techniques, some tried to practically perfect them. All the while, there was one boy whose name was Jin. Jin was also one of the contestants. His mother had died a few years back.
His father was a simple man who always keeps trying his best to raise his child alone. The resemblance of Jin to his father was uncanny. Jin was 10 years old. He was obsessed with learning martial arts and now saw it as a way of making his father proud of him. With Ken beginning the tradition of authentic martial arts, Jin saw it as the perfect opportunity. He was selected for the second round of the entrance process and was really happy with himself. He trained day and night to be able to pass the test.
Finally the day of the test arrived. Everyone was there on time. Shin and Chung with all his friends and all the other contestants. Ken entered the briefing room, everyone was quiet. Ken respectfully summoned Rho sensei to the room.
Ryo announced 'Welcome, all the competitors, all of you are merely vessels, empty vessels, for us to fill with knowledge. And so I invite you all to the second round. For this round, contestants will turn into combatants. The contestants will be divided into pairs . The teams objective will be to complete the entire course within set time. The teams that succeed to do so, will be selected. Even if a single member of the team does not make it the whole team would be disqualified. I wish you all the best of luck.'
Shin and Chung were paired with each other. Both of them were quite happy with this decision. Jin was teamed up with kokuyo, a boy from the servant race but quite arrogant as he was really talented. Kokuyo constantly kept making fun of, or mocking the people who couldn't do things that he could. He didn't spare Jin either. He kept saying things like 'don't slow me down, you're new at this, so just follow my lead.' Although Jin didn't really pay any heed to him. Both of them somehow got ready to work together.
Finally the round begun. One by one the teams were sent into an obstacle course created solely by nature. The first obstacle was to climb a hill, and then cross a deep river without any means to go across. Then there were a lot of hurdles like climbing a tree, higher than the mangroves, running through a forest full of deadly animals, running diagonally on the walls with the help of a rope through a waterfall. And then finally, they were to reach at the end where one flag for each team was waiting. 31 flags in total. But the flag could only be taken by both the members of the team together. Hence, it would be obvious if one of the teammates did not make it.
The test sounds dangerous, but Ryo and Ken were hiding and keeping an eye over every individual contestant. So no one was in mortal danger. Eventually, there were some contestants who made it with there partners, some who made it alone but we're not able to get the flag, and some who couldn't make it to the top. But everyone in distress was rescued by either judge. Now it was Shin's chance with his partner Chung. Both of them were more than enough talented to be able to complete the challenge. It took them less than 20 min. to cross each obstacle with perfection. Ken said to himself 'That's my brother!!!!'. Ryo was surprised to see the skill of both the young boys.
Jin's turn was next. Jin and kokuyo were not as good in sync as Shin and Chung. They started of well but, all the way Kokuyo slowed Jin down, right when they on the waterfalls kokuyo's grip on the rope slipped and he fell. Instead of leaving him and finishing the course, Jin was almost at the end, yet, he kept hold of the rope, and almost halfway running diagonally on the mountain he stopped, turned back and ran towards Kokuyo, grabbed his hand, made him take the his own rope in his hands and ran with him to the top. He showed great ethical behavior by helping his comrade and clearing the round. Ryo and Ken were both truly impressed by his courage and his skill.
Jin was selected immediately and because of him so was Kokuyo. Kokuyo had a revelation, he was now aware of the talent of others, this incident brought him down to earth. There were now a grand total of 16 contestants. Ken said to the selected contestants, 'You have all done truly well. It's really surprising that such unbelievable talent has been going to waste for all these years. But now all of you have come to put your faith in me, and I have no intentions of letting you down. I wish you all the best of luck for the final round being held tomorrow.'
With this the second round was over, and now was the third and the final round.
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.I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter. I know I have been slacking off, writing new chapters, but I promise this won't happen again. And if you enjoy reading this story, please tell me your thoughts in your comments or your reviews...
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It's hard when you give me views but I have no idea if you liked my story or not.