After walking for a while, Calvin finally arrived at the main hall. There were a lot of people, he recognized a couple of familiar faces. The crowd was so huge that there was no way possible to search for Ilyes. He decided to stand where he was. He took his time to observe the room he was in it, there were two wide stairs on the sides, they go up and merge to a semi floor, and a big door in the middle.
Suddenly, the door opened up. The director and William emerged from it, they stood above the crowd, their aura made the noise fade. All eyes on them, the director began his ceremony.
"Welcome young fighters! I'm the director of this establishment, Crowley Spitzer! And this is my associate, William Charlton! He is in charge of explaining to you the procedures you are going to undergo." He presented loudly, his voice could be heard by all, without echo or discord, it was very clear.
"Thank you, Director Spitzer. I'll begin by explaining, so accord me your attention, please!" He recommended.
"First of all, congratulations on passing the first trial. It wasn't very easy, but you managed to arrive at the target in time. Now, you will all receive a special pill, by consuming it, your meridians will be unlocked and you can cultivate Chi. You will be assigned to groups, each group will have a teacher supervising it. After that, you'll have one month to train and develop your chi. A second trial will unfold, various schools will come and choose some of you to become their disciples based on your performance." He explained.
Some of the few people began to spread their thoughts across the crow.
"Chi? Isn't it from that legend of martial artists?"
"Are we going to be inhumanly strong?"
"I can't believe this, it's too unrealistic!"
"YOU CAN'T BELIEVE THIS?" The director said with an engraving sound.
A yellow aura emerged from him, causing an earthquake. Everything went right and left, Calvin couldn't stand still, he could barely do it, he lifted his head up to see the situation around, the others were in the same position. But he noticed few people who were unaffected.
"(Argh, this unbearable, I feel like my head is going to explode. ARGH, Wait. The two german guys are here too, they seem alright. Oh, Chin-Hae too is unaffected, to be expected. ARGH, there are some people who are still alright. Wait, is that Ilyes?)" He thought.
Then the aura dissipated, everyone was silent and exhausted. Frightened by the director's power.
"What are you afraid of? This is reality! Thought that it was a fantasy? This is the underworld! THE GHOST WORLD! Welcome to the world where only the strong survives! EAT OR BE EATEN!" Crowley declared.
And he turned back and went through the big door.
"Remember the compass we gave to you? After passing this huge door, you will find yourself in a big room with 22 doors leading to different rooms. The number displayed in your compass is the room, and the group, you are assigned to. Proceed to your groups, please." He suggested.
William at his turn went through the big door, soon after, everyone took their compass, and so did Calvin. It was written No. 13. The participants began moving toward the big door, Calvin went with the flow and entered. He began searching for door No. 13. Once found it, he went there. There were chairs, but nobody was there. He sat in one of them and waited patiently. A few seconds after, people began to enter as well. And one of them was William.
"Hi, Mr. Bradford. We meet again. I'm your teacher now." He talked with a straight voice.
"Wait, really? That's good." Calvin relived.
"Don't say that, Mr. Bradford. Group 13 is the most powerful one out of the rest, you will be observed by many." He recommended.
"I think they put me in the wrong group." Calvin articulated.
"No, they didn't. The director Crowley personally ordered the staff to put you here." He explained.
Calvin was a bit survived, at that time, Ilyes entered. He looked happily at Calvin and approached them.
"Wassup Calvin, Hi Mr. Will." He greeted them.
After, the two german guys entered too. And a few powerful persons like Chin-Hae. The class was full.
"Now that everyone is here, sit down and let's begin our lesson," William ordered.
He went to the main table, there was a box there. He opened it, it was filled with small brown pills. William began to distribute them one by one on all of them, there were approximately 30 people present. After finishing, he put down the box and went to the middle.
"When I'll give you the signal, you will gobble it. You will receive some pain afterward, but it's not unbearable. Ok?" He explained.
Everyone nodded with their head, Calvin thought that it's going to be an important experience that will change his life.
"Ok, now!" William denounced.
They all put the pill in their mouth and gobbled it, including Calvin. He shut his eyes tightly to bear the upcoming pain, he waited, he waited nervously, but then, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing, he felt nothing, nada, zero. He opened his eyes, everyone was going through pain, sweats on their faces, he looked at Ilyes, he was too in pain.
"Hurry up, Mr. Bradford!" William said.
"But I already ate it!" Calvin replied.
"Yeah, you... Wait, What!" William exclaimed.
He went rushing out of the door, leaving them just alone. At that moment, everyone opened their eyes. And auras begin mixing around, they become a lot stronger. Ilyes looked particularly happy, he was observing his hands. Suddenly, William came back, and he wasn't alone, an old man was with him.
"Hello, Mr. Bradford. I'm the doctor that healed you, give me your hand please." He demanded.
Calvin nodded with his head and gave him his hand, the doctor held his hand from above for a few seconds, he then sighed and let his hand go.
"Mr. Bradford, you have a rare constitution that prevents you from forming Chi." He explained.
"So, what does that means?" Calvin asked nervously.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Bradford. This is the end for you as a martial artist." He responded in a sad voice.