A monotone voice came from the back of a chair inside the auburn office.
"As you all know, the continental tournament is in 1 month. You all passed the minimum requirement but so have many others. You will all proceed specialized training to improve your abilities and bring this country to glory."
The 5 candidates nodded wildly.
"So next, let us talk about the training each of you will go throu-."
"Damn it." Deylor spoke as he looked around him anxiously.
He was currently in a swamp-forest and the night was black.
Beasts pounced from the surrounding bushes and floor.
Deylor hid behind a tree when he quickly ducked.
Swipe.
A bear-sized claw met where he last was.
Deylor quickly coated his fingers in red as he released a grand cross.
Deylor innately thought "I've been fighting for hours and i'm almost out. The end is near but so is mine. I'll just have to take care of this one as efficiently as possible..."
The bear dodged to the right as it charged towards Deylor madly.
Chrr.
The sound of blood gushing spread in the silent swamp as the grand cross rotated right boosted by itself.
The bear died silently unknowing of its several dismembered body parts.
Deylor wiped some dirt of his face as he shoved his long messy black hair out the way.
He saw a blinding light and jumped towards it.
Fwap.
A big fat hand slapped Deylor 10 feet away into a tree.
Deylor coughed blood as he muttered.
"Knew it wasn't going to be that easy..."
Deylor picked himself back up as his eyes examined his last competitor.
A huge black golem of swirling darkness with two shining white eyes.
The golem slowly raised its two palms.
Two balls of rotating black swiftly tore through the air as they made their way to Deylor.
Deylor was a blur before he found himself to the left of a nearby tree.
The two balls followed his trail.
Deylor concentrated his aura as a small whip formed.
The whip curled around a tree and using momentum sent Deylor towards the golem.
Bad move.
Deylor grimaced as he saw several black hands rise from the earth below him.
Deylor boosted himself using his aura until he met with the black golem.
The golem rose its left hand as it drove it down to squash the bug before it but alas, this bug was too swift.
Deylor boosted himself at an extreme speed as he pierced through the golems head.
But no feeling was felt.
Deylor looked at his sharp aura in confusion until he saw the golem refill the hole in its head.
"Gotta be a core then..."
Deylor looked around the golem for any signs but soon gave up after several dark balls and hands came after him.
Deylor fumbled around the swamp as he racked his brain for a solution.
Deylors instincts screamed before he saw a huge black hand flying towards him.
Deylor swiftly released another grand cross burdening his energy levels even more.
The two forces clashed before they simultaneously exploded.
Deylor dodged yet another flurry of dark balls before a large surface impacted his back.
A hand clenched as Deylor found himself stuck.
Deylor was slowly driven towards the golem as he helplessly watched his end.
The golem raised its hand once more this time its fist clenched.
Impacts sounded as the golem pounded Deylor or rather the red barrier in front of Deylor.
Deylor coughed blood with every attack but the golem was losing energy as its black outer layer slowly thinned unknown to the golem.
Deylor erupted with energy at the cost of his health before he coated his fingers.
Deylor released yet another grand cross however this ones size encompassed the golem.
A small clang was heard yet it reached Deylors ears like gold.
A small essense of white was visible.
Deylor swift blurred to the sound as his hand formed a spike.
Dark energy tore through Deylors body as he struck the white ball again and again until.
Crack.
The ball of pure white slowly cracked.
Until shards flew around Deylor.
"Good job."
A monotone voice broke the silence as a man with neat-black hair brushed to the side met Deylor.
His ironed suit contrasted with the swamp but Deylor was too tired as of now.
"Your arsenal has improved, your control has improved and even your power."
Deylor smiled weakly.
"Congrats on beating an evolving tier 4 with this, you should stand a chance in 1 week."
Deylor shut his eyes.
One more thing had improved.
His physical strength.
He hadn't been doing intense workouts.
Something inside him was strengthening his muscles making them stronger,tenser and better.
Deylor could not see it but he could loosely feel it.
And Deylor knew one thing for sure.
It was calling out to him.
Releasing ripple across his body. Across his soul.
And it didn't produce the most pleasant feel-
Deylor snored as he slept.
Stress had built over the last few weeks. Sleep was a commodity.
Deylor woke up in the middle of the night to see an eye surrounded by novas before him.
Deylor quickly formed a sharp-thin line of red before the eye disappeared as Deylor blinked.
A scorch lay on the wall.
Deylor sighed as he went back to sleep. The eye was haunting him and the reason was unknown.
But. it was going to be lonely since no-one else had finishing their training yet...
Clang.
Clang.
Sparks flew as clangs resounded.
Swords crossed paths as a storm of colliding swords could be seen.
Jack stood still, his face sweaty as his muscles gave up.
A man with long blonde hair and a light beard congratulated him. His handsome looks shone in the sunlight.
"You did well, your control and amount has risen along with the flexibility of your control."
Jack left in a cab as he sighed.
Why was he struggling so hard to improve?
Jack knew why though.
Awakening.
A process that certain abilities could go through under certain situations.
You wouldn't fight an unawakened ability user in the top 100.
The headmaster had long been crippled physically and his ability had gone down in terms of power and flexibility due to age and injuries yet his awakening had allowed him to go head-to-head with powerhouses.
Jack had been trying to awaken his ability but he had only minorly improved.
Jack clenched his fists.
Little did he know that he was already a powerhouse within his age group even within the group attending the continental tournament.
A mix of flashes and bangs spread as abilities waved across the sky.
A red haired girl was seen waving her hands constantly her rhythm untouched.
The field of grass behind her was scorched by abilities.
The sun shone bright.
As the last of the abilities dug into the dirt a feminine voice cut in.
"Good job, Adriana. Now that you have improved the quantity of your redirections you ought to improve the quantity of what you can redirect."
Andrew and the Earth-girl now known as Cylia walked in from behind.
Adriana had a flaw in her ability.
She did not gain complete control to redirect abilities. Most abilities were only controlled during their casting and release.
However some abilities that were grounded could be controlled and Adriana would be forced to have a battle of control for example tracking shards.
Adriana readied herself before an Earth shark surfed through the mud.
Adriana closed her eyes as she grasped it.
She tugged it left only for it to move left and forwards.
Adriana used all her will as she tugged it away and out of the ground.
Dirt sat on the ground.
Adriana jumped happily as she cheered for herself.
"I won!."
A hand placed on her shoulder.
Adriana froze.
The Cylia in the distance slowly deformed to mud.
"Nope, did you really think that was all?"
Cylia spoke in amusement as she saw the shock on Adrianas face.
Andriana smiled lightly.
"Did you?"
A long shard of Earth lay near Cylia in an instant.
The female teacher with long brown hair patted their backs.
"Good job Adriana, controlling a deforming ability was the best way to control it and you added the element of surprise! Now are you ready for round two?"
Adriana nodded as she saw a blonde-haired body in the distance. His eyes ready as his hand moved.
Ice shards dropped from the sky however they were embodied with will. Adriana gave up on completely controlling them as she shifted them to the left slightly.
This small time of concentration gave Andrew the time he needed to summon several more ice shards along with an ice wave.
Adriana made the previous ice shards protect her as she halted Andrews ice wave.
4 hammers surrounded Adriana in an instant but the former merely put her hand up as the hammers reversed.
Adriana then sent the hammers towards Andrew.
A stream of shards came from behind.
Adriana moved them left.
Andrew formed a small ice glacier.
Adriana found her feet stuck in an instant her hands still halfway to their designated positions.
"It's over." Andrew spoke satisfied.
"Is I-."
"Yes." Andrew cut in to Adriana as the shards that fell on top of him hit his hardened ice barrier shattered and Adriana was glaciated in his ice.
Adriana sighed from her loss as the 3 entered a limousine they made it back to their temporary establishment where they walked into Jack, Deylor and their supervisor with the monotone voice having a talk.
A monotone voice welcomed them after he allowed them a seat.
They sat down nervously.
Deylor spoke in annoyance.
"Someone took their time."
Deylors eyebrows twitched as he recounted the 3 days he had spent with the monotone supervisor whos only hobby was collecting doormats.
Jack almost chuckled as he recounted the events that Deylor had told him of between him and the supervisor.
The supervisor ignored Deylor as he spoke casually.
"Well the tournament is in two days so I can only wish you luck. I can also wish you some advice. When you get there, don't expect too much support. Our country has lost so many times that the amount of citizens from our country that attend the tournament rival the amount of elves that live in the north-pole."
"So don't get your expectations too high for cheers and banners."
The group grimaced as they looked at their supervisor.
The supervisor fixed his tie as he spoke again.
"And trust me, in all my 15 years and 5 continental tournament team supervising. You guys are the strongest."
The group of 5 smiled inwardly.
"But that isn't really a compliment since you're from the weakest country."
The group solemned.
"But. today you're here. And tomorrow, you'll be there."
The supervisor pointed at the tv.
"All set?"
"All set."
A man smiled.
His hands connected.
His laugh villainous.
His plans soon.