"Sometimes the gentlest shield is stronger than the sharpest blade. In the midst of the storm, we find true strength not in the attack, but in the protection of those who mean the most to us." - Ryoko Miyamoto
Time passed. The two months of summer vacation flew by for Aki - far too quickly. Before he knew it, the first of September had arrived. The alarm clock rang, yanking the young man out of a deep sleep, causing him to fall out of bed. Tired and groggy, he mumbled, "What is it? I want to sleep, go back to my battle with the Grim Reaper... WAH!" Suddenly, the late sleeper's eyes snapped open. At that moment, it hit him that he couldn't afford to oversleep. Determined, he stood up, patted his cheeks twice, and began his morning routine with a motivated expression. Today, his life was about to change forever.
When Aki finished his morning tasks like showering and having breakfast, he was about to head out the door to wait for Yamato outside. But before that, he put on a jacket, as the weather report on the radio had forecasted rain for the day. However, just as he was about to leave, the doorbell rang. So, he opened the door. Standing before him was the mysterious samurai. "Good morning," Yamato greeted him with a smile. Aki responded with a simple "Hi" and returned the smile. Yamato then turned around and gestured, "Come with me," prompting Aki to follow him. Together, they walked out of the apartment building and into a small alleyway. "Good, no one can see us here," Yamato said with relief. Aki was shocked. "Uh-Um... W-What are you planning?!" The man smiled again. "You'll see for yourself soon." With that, he pulled out a strange device. It was a remote control with a single button.
"You know, the headquarters of Kenkai isn't in Kyoto, or even in Japan at all. It's actually located in another dimension, known only to Module Bearers, the inhabitants of that dimension, and the government. That's also where the entrance exam takes place," Yamato explained. He then pressed the button on the remote, causing a violet beam to shoot out from the device and hit the wall of the building in front of them. A large portal immediately opened before them. "Unfortunately, I won't be coming with you. The examiner is someone else. Are you ready, Aki?" The boy nodded and stepped into the portal. It felt as if he were walking through a completely ordinary door. There was no dramatic shift in scenery or tunnel into another dimension. Entering the Kenkai dimension felt as natural as walking into a house.
When Aki arrived in the other dimension, he was shocked. Shocked by how much this dimension resembled his own home. He found himself standing in the middle of a normal clearing in an ordinary forest. The boy, along with many other young people, stood before a massive wall with a large gate at its center. Shortly after Aki arrived in the other dimension, a voice announced, "Participant 63 has just arrived." There was no turning back now. Aki was officially a participant in the Sentinel entrance exam.
Moonfang Arc
Sentinel Entrance Exam
Kapitel 2 - The Exam Begins
Some time had passed since Aki's arrival in the other dimension. The boy hadn't fully grasped the reality of being in a completely different world, as everything felt so natural. The transition between dimensions had been brief and smooth. However, Aki had already created a sword from his very soul, so there wasn't much left that could surprise him. Since it might take a while for all the participants to arrive, Aki had made himself comfortable on the grassy field. He leaned against a tree, processing all the new information. By now, he had put on headphones, as the constant announcements of new participants entering the dimension had become irritating.
As the next participant arrived, the announcement echoed: "Participant 100 has just arrived." Aki stood up and stretched. The arrival of participants was happening fairly quickly. Number 100 spread his arms wide. He was a muscular young man with an impressive physique. His short black hair was styled upward, giving him the appearance of a brash thug. His skin was tanned from extensive outdoor training, and a scar from past battles marked his right cheek. Overall, he appeared intimidating and threatening. He began to speak: "You must be the other participants! I almost feel sorry for you, looking as weak as you do. Let me tell you all right now that you're going to lose big time because I, Tatsuo Goda, am the number one here!" With that, the braggart walked forward. However, he tripped over a root and fell straight into a mud pit. Many of the other participants giggled and laughed at Tatsuo as he embarrassingly got back on his feet. "Uh, hahaha… I... I'm just going to go wash up!" he stammered, full of shame, as he followed a sign with a restroom symbol on it. "What a clown," Aki thought to himself as he leaned back and relaxed again.
A short while later, Tatsuo returned. He noticed everyone staring at him, so he slowly moved to the side and leaned against a tree as well. Quietly, he muttered, "Great, my reputation is ruined now..." Soon after, another portal opened. Out stepped another young man, around twenty years old. He had shoulder-length green hair, tied back into a bun at the nape of his neck. Despite the bun, a few strands of hair hung forward, styled in a middle part. He wore a stylish leather jacket that matched well with his naturally green hair. A single sharp tooth protruded from his mouth, giving him a slightly mischievous look. The young man smiled and stepped into the center of the clearing. Suddenly, Tatsuo began sprinting toward the young man, shouting, "I'm already number one hundred. That means you're an intruder! A traitor trying to kill us!" Tatsuo's reasoning came from a horror movie he had recently watched, where something similar had happened.
Tatsuo swung his fist, ready to become a hero. But the green-haired man only smiled. He caught Tatsuo's punch with his open hand. Then, in a swift motion, he leaped behind the muscular thug and twisted his arm until Tatsuo whimpered in pain. Still smiling, the green-haired man calmly said, "I am your examiner." The shock on Tatsuo's face was unmistakable. "Uh, um… I'm sorry… I'M SORRYYYY!" he cried out, his voice full of panic and regret.
The examiner ignored Tatsuo and continued, "My name is Viktor Dimitrov, but you can just call me Vik. I'll be your examiner for the next five tests you'll face. First, let's talk about the exam itself: the Sentinel Entrance Exam is one of the toughest tests out there. Each year, only about five participants pass. This is because Sentinels go on to become fighters in the main unit. After a year in the Special Unit, other fighters must undergo a similarly difficult exam, but it's extremely challenging since the Special Units focus on specific areas. Sentinels, on the other hand, are trained as universal fighters, capable of handling any scenario. That's why the Sentinel exam is so difficult. "Those who perform well in the Sentinel exam, demonstrating high potential but not quite passing, may be invited to join a Special Unit. However, these fighters won't begin their training in the Special Unit until next year. All other Module Bearers who aren't recommended for the Sentinel exam will join military units. Remember, Kenkai isn't the only organization of our kind. So, if you fail this exam, you'll either be assigned to another Special Unit or to the nearest military base."
After a brief pause, Viktor continued. "Now, let's get to the exam itself. It consists of five individual tests. With each test, more participants will be eliminated. Those who remain at the end will be admitted to the Sentinels. The first test is a physical fitness test. Please follow me." With that, Viktor clapped his hands twice, and the large gate before them opened. Viktor walked through, and everyone else followed. As he stepped through the gate, Aki thought to himself, "Physical fitness... not exactly my strength." But there was no turning back now. All one hundred participants lined up at the starting line. Viktor finished his explanation: "You must now overcome all the obstacles as quickly as possible. At the end of the course, there's a gate. This gate will close once fifty participants have completed the course, so be quick. This test will challenge your endurance, physical strength, and intuition. So, good luck. The first exam begins with this signal!" With that, Viktor raised a special pistol into the air and fired a blank shot.
With the signal, the exam began. All the participants sprinted forward at their maximum speed. Aki found himself neither at the very front nor the very back, but somewhere in the middle of the pack. However, to pass this test, Aki knew he would have to move even faster. Soon, he reached the first obstacle—hurdles of varying heights. The first hurdle was relatively standard. Participants could either jump over it or slide under it. Aki chose to jump, which he did with ease. The next few hurdles also posed no problem for him. The real challenge came with hurdle number six—if it could even be called a hurdle. It was about three meters tall and solid, making it more of a wall than a hurdle. Aki, using all his agility, managed to grab the top of the massive obstacle, but he lacked the strength to pull himself up. He hung there, struggling, with no clear way to move forward.
Just as the Sentinel hopeful thought it was over, a voice called out from below. "Hey, you up there, need some help?" Aki turned to see a young man, about 1.70 meters tall, with medium-length black hair and red eyes that reminded him of a reptile. The young man wore a determined grin. Before Aki could respond, the boy grabbed his foot and pushed him upward, allowing Aki to clear the hurdle. Moments later, the strange helper leaped onto the hurdle in one swift motion, crouching briefly on top of it. "By the way, I'm Ryuu. If you need anything, you can always count on me!" he said. Before Aki could even thank him, Ryuu had already disappeared, racing ahead. But Aki didn't have much time to dwell on the encounter; he needed to keep moving. He sprinted toward the next obstacle, which wasn't far off. However, his stomach turned when he saw it. The second obstacle was a lower section separated by stairs from the hurdle area. The floor was made of mud, and about fifty centimeters above it, a large net was stretched, forcing participants to crawl through the mud. Many people stopped in their tracks, choosing to give up voluntarily rather than face the mud. Aki now stood before this second challenge.
The boy knew there had to be a way to get through without getting dirty. But what was it? He crouched down and inspected the mud. When he touched it with a finger, he realized the mud was still wet. That meant there had to be a watering system somewhere. His eyes fell on the sprinklers on each side of the room, including the one from the side he had just come from. Nearby, Aki noticed another participant staring thoughtfully at the sprinkler. It seemed they had the same idea. They nodded at each other and simultaneously kicked the sprinkler, causing it to burst open with a large gush of water. Aki quickly took off his jacket, and they both threw themselves onto it, using it as a makeshift raft. As they floated across the mud, both of them shouted in joy and excitement, thrilled that their plan had worked. Yamato and Viktor, who were watching from the sidelines, were both surprised and impressed by their clever solution. Once they had crossed the mud pit, the other boy stood up and stretched. "That... That was awesome!" he said, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "I'm Shiroi, nice to meet you!" They shook hands, and Aki introduced himself as well, "I'm Aki, good luck to you!" As Shiroi started to run off, he shouted back, "THANKS, YOU TOO!" And just like that, Shiroi disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.
Aki had navigated many more obstacles by this point. He had climbed a large net, balanced on a long beam, run through tires without tripping, traversed horizontally along a climbing wall, and swum across a wide water trench. Each obstacle drained a significant amount of his strength, and many required several attempts, but Aki ultimately overcame each one. Finally, he reached the last obstacle before the final stretch—a large tube tunnel. Crawling through the tunnel, Aki thought to himself, "Are they trying to weed out all the claustrophobic people or what? Maybe this is meant to simulate rescue situations in tight spaces..." When he finally emerged from the long tunnel, he found himself on the home stretch—a roughly hundred-meter sprint with the finish line in clear sight. Aki also noticed that the track became narrower as it approached the finish line. At the end, it was only as wide as the gate itself, which was about a meter across. Above the gate was a large, electric sign displaying the number "32." Ahead of Aki on the final stretch were about thirty people, which meant that at his current pace, he wouldn't make it.
Realizing the urgency, Aki dug deep, summoning the last reserves of his energy. He knew he had to push himself harder than ever before. His legs burned with fatigue, but he forced himself to increase his speed, determined not to let all his previous efforts go to waste. The narrow track meant there was little room for overtaking, but Aki used his agility to dodge between the participants ahead, trying to close the gap. The sign above the gate ticked down as more participants passed through, and Aki's heart pounded in his chest. With every ounce of strength he had left, he sprinted toward the finish line, knowing that this was his final chance. The number on the sign continued to decrease, but Aki was relentless, his eyes locked on the gate as he gave everything he had to cross it in time.
Aki took a moment to center himself, inhaling and exhaling slowly. After this brief moment of calm, he opened his eyes, fully prepared to give it everything he had for the final push. He dashed forward with renewed determination, running faster than ever before. As he sprinted, he managed to overtake a few people who had previously mocked him for his multiple attempts at the obstacles. Aki felt confident, knowing he could make it. The sign above the gate now read "39." Time was running out. Up ahead, Aki spotted a familiar figure—Tatsuo. Tatsuo was laughing and boasting that he would make it through, but his bravado was cut short as a blonde-haired boy with a broad smile overtook him, leaving Tatsuo silent. It wasn't surprising that the blond boy was outpacing everyone; he was by far the fastest among all the participants. A few minutes later, Aki reached the final stretch. The path was now only a meter wide, and the sign above the gate displayed "41."
Aki was sure nothing could stop him now—until he saw what happened next. Ahead of him was a girl, about his age, with shoulder-length black hair and glasses. She appeared introverted, more shy than outgoing. Just as Aki was about to reach the gate, he witnessed two young men run past him and cruelly shove the girl off the platform. Aki's heart raced as he processed what had just happened. The girl, who had been so close to finishing, was now on the ground, struggling to get back up. Aki had a choice to make: continue sprinting toward the gate and secure his place among the finishers or stop to help the girl who had been unfairly pushed aside. Without hesitating, Aki made his decision. He skidded to a stop and rushed to help the girl. He quickly extended a hand to her, helping her back onto the platform. The sign above the gate ticked down to "42." Aki knew he was cutting it dangerously close, but he couldn't leave someone behind like that. With a quick, reassuring nod, he encouraged the girl to keep going, and together they sprinted toward the gate, determined to cross the finish line before it was too late.
Aki couldn't stand by and watch. He acted swiftly, grabbing the girl by the arm just in time. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, and she nodded. Aki managed to pull her up, offering support in the final moments. But then, the girl suddenly pointed toward the gate in a panic and shouted, "Look!" The sign above the gate now displayed a large "50," and the gate was in the process of closing. For a moment, both Aki and the girl felt the sinking realization that they might not have made it. But then they noticed three other participants sprinting through the narrowing gap, causing the number to increase to "53." Determination flared within them, and they made one final dash for the gate. They leaped and, in the very last second, managed to squeeze through just before the gate shut completely.
After a few seconds of panting and catching their breath, they exchanged a victorious high five. "Well done, I'm Aki!" Aki said with a smile. The girl responded, "And I'm Ryoko." Before they could continue their introductions, they were interrupted by Viktor. "You all did well! I witnessed many creative solutions and exhausted possibilities during this test. You've all earned my respect for passing—well, almost!" Viktor's expression suddenly took on a more sinister tone as he continued, "After all, we're five participants too many." His gaze landed directly on Aki and Ryoko, making it clear that they were being singled out. Aki and Ryoko felt a chill as they realized Viktor's words were directed at them. The tension in the air was palpable as they braced themselves for what might come next.
Viktor continued, "But since I'm not that heartless, I won't make you five fail—after all, you did make it through the gate. Instead, I'll give you all one more tiny task that will decide which five of you don't make it." He clapped his hands again, and from the center of the room, a large punching bag, like the ones you see at carnivals and shopping centers, emerged from the floor. "We're going to determine the five weakest participants with a single punch on this bag, and the rest will move on to the next test. Please line up in order." The participants, including Aki and Ryoko, exchanged nervous glances as they began to form a line. The atmosphere was tense as they prepared for this unexpected twist. Aki could feel the weight of the situation, knowing that this single punch could determine his fate in the Sentinel exam.
One by one, the participants began to strike the punching bag. Each time someone hit it, their name and the score they achieved out of a possible one hundred appeared on the screen. After each person moved away, a display showed the current five weakest participants. Aki watched closely, noting the scores others were getting. Many participants scored in the seventies, while some hovered around the fifties. The average seemed to fall between sixty and seventy. Eventually, it was Aki's turn. He gathered all his strength and delivered a punch with everything he had. The screen flashed an unimpressive but passable score of sixty points. It was a relief, but he knew it was a close call. Right after Aki, it was Ryoko's turn. She struck the bag with surprising force, scoring an impressive 77 points. "Yes!" she exclaimed happily as she walked over to Aki, clearly pleased with her performance. A few more average participants followed, and then a young man with shoulder-length brown hair and rectangular glasses stepped up. He closed the book he had been reading and delivered his punch. However, his score came up as only 49 points, placing him currently among the five weakest participants. The tension in the room increased as the others realized that the competition was getting tougher, and every point counted.
To his dismay, Tatsuo was next in line. "Hahaha! What a loser, don't you think?" he sneered, aiming his comment at the previous participant. But just as he was about to take his shot, he stumbled and accidentally hit the punching bag with his head. The result: a humiliating 48 points, even worse than the score of the bespectacled participant before him. The calm young man with glasses remarked, "Seems like you're even worse than me, fifth-worst participant." Tatsuo wished the ground would swallow him whole as he sank further into embarrassment. Further back in the line, a loud laugh erupted. It was Ryuu, who motioned for the bespectacled boy to come over. When he did, Ryuu exclaimed, "You really showed him! You're cool, I like you! What's your name?" The intelligent-looking boy replied, "Seiji." Ryuu gave Seiji a handshake before stepping up to take his own turn. With a powerful punch that almost seemed to rip the punching bag apart, Ryuu scored a phenomenal 98 points, by far the highest score of the group.
The last participant scored only 46 points, making him the new fifth-worst participant. Tatsuo, feeling like he was in heaven, realized he had narrowly escaped elimination, while the last participant could hardly believe his own misfortune. Viktor clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention. "Congratulations to all of you who passed. As for the others: You performed well in the obstacle course. Feel free to try again next year!" Viktor announced, his voice both encouraging and final as the results of the test became official.
The newly fifth-worst participant, who had previously shoved Ryoko during the obstacle course, shouted in frustration, "Hey, this isn't fair!" Viktor responded calmly, "It is fair. Now, please exit through the door over here. I will soon lead you back to the other dimension." But the fifth-worst participant wasn't ready to accept his loss. He swung his fist, aiming to strike Viktor out of anger. Before he could land the blow, another participant, the second-worst scorer, intervened. "Hey, that won't solve anything," he said, trying to calm him down. When the fifth-worst turned his aggression toward the second-worst, the remaining three lowest scorers stepped in, pulling him away and acknowledging their defeat. Together, they escorted him out, realizing that fighting wouldn't change the outcome. Meanwhile, Viktor continued, "Well, that's settled. I'll now take you to the accommodation where you'll stay during the rest of the exam. It's of five-star hotel quality. Please follow me!" As they walked toward the accommodation, those who had passed the first test felt a mix of relief and pride. However, they all knew there were still four more challenges ahead. Though it would take time, it would soon become clear who among them would ultimately pass this extremely difficult exam. The road ahead was long, and the trials would only grow more intense, but for now, they could savor this small victory.
Hey! Thanks for reading the second chapter of Akuma!
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