In a dimly lit laboratory
Blood stains and surgical tools sat on top of a small table. Several large tubes dripped with moisture, making it impossible to see what was inside, but from a glance, anyone could tell that whatever was in the tubes was humanoid. At the end of the room sat an elevator that slowly opened up, revealing Grahm. He walked with a purpose toward a desk that sat a man with a bloody lab coat. "Dr. Yang Black has ordered a field test."
The man in the lab coat giggled. "So it's time for my children to be let free."
The man turns around to reveal his spiky black hair with white tips. His small glasses that sat neatly on his face, and the stitches that ran across his face. "So which one of my glorious children gets to go stretch their legs?"
Grahm tried to hide his disgust as he thought. 'This crazy bastard. He's added more to his collection.' Grahm coughs to regain his composure. "Lord Black wants to send experiment 2207."
Dr. Yang smiles as he gets up to skip across the lab to one of the large tubes. "Oh, Rachel, it's your turn first, my dear."
Grahm looks at the tube. "Rachel? Did you name it?"
Dr. Yang laughs. "Oh, heavens no. I can't name them. They already had a name. Rachel Long was their birth name. Poor thing had quite the promising future, this one."
Grahm looked toward Dr. Yang's desk where sat a scapple and blood. "If she had a promising future, there's no way she would volunteer for this."
Dr. Yang touched the tube as a tear ran down the right side of his cheek. "This one definitely was unlucky. 25-year-old medical school graduate, but the world is unforgiving. Because of a family situation, this one fell into college debt and could not find work. To save their family, they volunteered for the project."
Grahm scoffed. "Little did she know, huh?"
Dr. Yang turned to Grahm with a face of rage. "THEY NOT HER!!!"
Grahm looks at Dr. Yang, surprised. "What?"
Dr. Yang points toward the tube. "They identified as they! Don't disrespect my creation or I'll add you to my collection!"
Grahm's eyes glowed bright orange. "Dr. Yang, I'll ignore that comment since Lord Black still needs you. However, remember your place Dr."
Dr. Yang backs down before taking a deep breath. "No matter this one has been reborn and shall take their rightful place as an apex predator all thanks to the Genesis 6:4 Project!" Dr. Yang's joyously turned toward Grahm. "Wait, if this is a field test, does that mean that there'll be a recording?"
Grahm nods affirmatively. "Yes, I'll be sending Jack to record the fight."
Dr. Yang laughs. "Jack? You're sending the punk rock maniac? That girl can never follow orders. Why send her?" Dr. Yang's laugh slows as he contemplates the purpose. "Oh, I get it now. Jack is expendable, so if the test goes wrong, it won't hurt the Union if she dies."
Grahm turns around and walked toward the elevator. "Pawns will be used and sacrificed as needed. How long before the test arrives at the area of operation?"
Dr. Yang looks toward the large test tube and laughs uncontrollably. "TEN MINUTES TOPS!!!!"
At the Inquisitor Exam.
Ryan lets out a loud sigh. "Keep up losers!"
Don laughs toward Duke. "His fiery head matches his hair color, huh?"
Duke lets a small smile slip. "On that, we can agree."
Mai Chuckles softly. "This team seems like it'll be interesting."
Nina couldn't even hear the conversation. She was too amazed at how long the exit corridor was. The team reached the exit to only be met with a large path that was surrounded by a large forest of trees. In the middle of the path stood a dark-skinned man. He wore a skin-tight white shirt with the right sleeve missing. His belt had deviated to a holster for the white, sheathed Katana. He wore long dreadlocks that were neatly tied into a ponytail. The man kept his eyes closed as he walked toward the group. "Greetings, young applicants. I am Knight Kentas Silva."
Ryan assessed Silva, trying to figure out how strong he was, but the attempts yielded no results as he thought. 'I can't tell how strong he is. Maybe I should give him a little scare. I BET HE'D SHOW ME HOW STRONG HE WAS IF I DID THAT!!'
Before Ryans' eyes could even glow, a sound of a Katana unsheathing roared through the air, causing the leaves on the surrounding trees to scatter. Ryan slowly looked down to see Silva's sword at his throat. Silva chuckles. "Did that answer your question first place applicant, Ryan?"
Ryan smiled as sweat rolled down his forehead. "Yes, it did, old man."
Don is left speechless and stunned as he thought. 'I couldn't see him draw his sword. More importantly, why did he draw his sword? If I think about it, then the cause was probably Ryan. From what I've seen from his personality so far, he was probably planning to test the Knight, but how did he sense that?' A thought ran through Don's head repeatedly. 'If we had a battle of speed, who would win?'
Mai raised her hand as Silva sheathed his sword. "What is it, Miss Mai?"
Mai bows respectfully. "Silva senpai, please forgive me if this is a rude question. Are you blind senpai?"
Silva gently smiles at Mai. "Essentially, yes, my powers are visual. Any time I open my eyes, my Miracle activates. For the safety of those around me, I have learned to live blind." Silva then takes a step back. "If you would all follow me, I'll lead you to the next exam."
The group follows closely behind, all but Mai, who made her way next to Silva. "Silva senpai, where did you learn the way of the sword?"
Silva smiles at the distance, almost reminiscing. "I was born and spent my childhood in Labos, Africa. Then my mom married her second husband, and we moved to Osaka, Japan, where I inherited my Miracle. It was a tough time. I couldn't fight the urge to open my eyes and really hurt those around me. Then I met your father, Mai."
Mai's eyes widened. "I thought your sword was too similar to mine. So you knew my father?"
Silva chuckled. "Yes, he was a young adult who hadn't met your mother yet. He showed me control and discipline through the sword. When I heard I'd be the examiner for his daughter, I laughed at how funny fate was. I owe your father a debt I could never repay. However, don't expect me to be easy on you."
Mai smiled gently. "If you did, then my father would've been disappointed that you were his student. So you're not only my senpai as an Inquisitor, but also in the way of the sword."
Don smiled at Mai and Silva before Ryan's words reached him. "Hey, second place."
Don looked at Ryan, confused. "Ummm, are you talking to me?"
Ryan's face showed disdain. "Who the hell else am I talking to? Did any of these losers get second place?"
Nina laughed in the background. "Nope."
Don softly chuckled. "What is it, Ryan?"
Ryan looked at Don in deep thought. "Who do you think would win between the two of us?"
Don looked up at the sky in deep thought. 'Ryan's ability seems to be alteration. The spikes that turned into swords indicate that. So he's a mid-range fighter that has a large amount of a wide area of effect attacks, which makes fighting multiple enemies a piece of cake for him. He probably doesn't struggle too much in one-on-one fights either. However, just as Silva demonstrated, he struggles in close combat. I might not be as fast as Mr. Silva, but I think I'm pretty close.' Then, without warning, Don's thoughts slip past his lips. "If I rush you down, I'd probably win."
Don realizes what he said and quickly turns toward Ryan to apologize, only to see Ryan's eyes glowing bright red as he wore a haunting smile on his face. "You think so? Well, we'll just see about that Mr. second place!"
Don's heart skipped a beat as he thought. 'I might need to reassess. Ryan seems to already be planning how to destroy me.'
Duke steps between them to break the tension. "Hey now, you guys, we can talk about who's stronger once we pass the exam. For now, we are a team, so let's focus." Duke's words seem to calm down the two young men.
The path that the group was following had now opened up to show a small town. Silva stops walking and turns to the group. "We are here."
Duke speaks up. "And where is here?"
Silva turns toward the town. "This is one of many test and training sites that belong to the Inquisitors. This abandoned town will be the test site for Team 1." Silva touches his ear and speaks. "Alright, the applicants are in place. Begin."
Then suddenly the once-abandoned town comes to life with civilians walking around acting as if it was everyday life. Don exclaims to Silva. "Wait a minute. I thought you said this place was abandoned?"
Silva turns to Don. "It is abandoned."
Don's face showed visible annoyance. "Maybe it's cause you are blind, but this place is not abandoned, actually it's far from it."
Mai steps in. "I don't think those are people."
Don looks over at Mai. "I don't know if you're being rude or crazy, but those are clearly people."
Ryan, with a serious face, speaks up. "No, she's right. Those aren't people."
Don looks over at Ryan furiously. "NOW YOU TOO?"
Ryan's face goes from serious to mad. "MAYBE IF YOU SHUT UP AND LISTEN, THEN I COULD EXPLAIN YOU FILTHY SECOND-PLACE LOSER!!!!!!" Ryan calms down a bit. "Those things don't have an ounce of presence."
Don looks at Ryan, confused. "What do you mean "presence"."
Ryan sighs lightly. "Take a deep breath, loser. Feel the wind through the trees and stop thinking. Do you find anything odd?"
Don stops and looks around to see everyone looking at the town with serious faces, before taking a deep breath and following Ryan's advice. The wind passed through Don's hair, blowing it around, and suddenly he could feel it. Ryan looked at Don and thought. 'That damn loser learns fast.'
Don could suddenly feel the presence of his teammates and Silva. Don concentrates harder and his field of senses expanded to the small town. Don opens his eyes, surprised. "I can't feel anyone in that town."
Silva smiles. "Yes, you are all correct. The town is indeed not full of civilians. Instead, there is one Inquisitor in the town creating an illusion of it being full."
Mai speaks up. "For what purpose senpie?"
Silva pulls out something from his pocket. It was a small flash card. "This exam is a scavenger hunt."
Duke walks over to Silva and grabs the flash card from his hand. "This exam seems to be filled with lots of games."
Nina jumps in front of Duke, her enormous eyes sparkling with excitement as she looks at Silva. "What are we hunting?"
A sweat drop rolls down Duke's head. "Do you mean what are we hunting for?"
Nina looks blankly at Duke. "No, does that mean that we won't get to fight?"
Silva chuckles. "No, I'm afraid not this is a test of your investigation skills. We Inquisitor often investigate to find our prey. It's a skill almost if not just as important as your skill in combat."
Nina stares blankly at Silva. "Lame." leaves her mouth as she goes to look at the trees around the group.
Silva chuckles before looking at the remaining members of the group. "You have until midnight to use the clues around the town to find the inquisitor in the town."
Ryan laughs. "This is all too easy. Let's go you loser, it's party time!!!"