27 Departure

[The Morning After]

Sora, Del and Rez had prepared their things and had been standing outside the gate, they had met up here long ago, halfway through the night. They weren't able to sleep. After talking to his parents Sora left his home. Selica and Rayn weren't really too restrictive on his decision - they didn't really mind, whilst their son was going off into a new world far away from them, where it would be much more dangerous, they knew that keeping him here after he already made the decision to go would have a more negative, long-term effect. He made made his mind and he was close to being an adult now in terms of age, they let him go. Del and Rez had also said their goodbyes, Del's parents supported her decision whilst Rez's didn't seem to mind, they just let him make his own decisions up until now anyway, this was no different.

Standing here for so long, they were waiting for Yuin to come to them to give her their answer, they wanted to depart right away after telling her that they wanted to go, they wanted to get it over with as fast as possible. Rin had been sitting on Sora's shoulder all this time, she was definitely coming with Sora, she wouldn't be held back either as she was basically Sora's pet, pet's were allowed.

Yuin jumped from atop the gate and landed behind them.

Y: "Hey guys. You made your deci-"

S: "We're all going"

D: "Yeah"

R: "We've been talking about it for a while"

Y: "Oh..."

Y: "Well, judging from the bags I'm guessing you wanna depart right away"

S: "Yeah"

Michael slowly walked through the gate, walking to Yuin's side.

M: "Staying here is pretty nice, you've got some nice hotels..."

Michael yawned then looked at the 3 in front of him.

M: "Well, let's go, I'll lead you there"

R: "Huh?"

S: "That fast?"

D: "Well, this is what we wanted right?"

S: "Well... sure... I guess..."

R: "I just thought there would be more than just saying yes..."

M: "Well, you're not wrong about that"

Sora and Rez were confused.

S: "Hm? What do you mean by that?"

M: "Well, I said that I would accept you guys into the school, I didn't say that the school would accept you"

...

R: "Huh?"

Michael looked at Yuin, and she gave him a nod.

M: "Seriously? They don't know?"

Y: "The details weren't really given to them... I just gave them the choice"

D: "Is this about the entrance test?"

S: "Huh?"

R: "Entrance test?"

M: "Oh good... at least one of you did your research..."

Michael sighed.

M: "Well you've all accepted, let's talk about it while we walk there. Sen"

From seemingly out of Michael's shadow, a red tiger jumped out, the tiger didn't show any hostility and immediately lay down, Michael climbed on it then signalled for Del, Rez and Sora to jump on aswell, after a moment of hesitation, Sora climbed on, followed by Rez, later followed by Del. Yuin was fine with just flying along side them. She would accompany them all the way there then come back to the village, from the speed Sen could travel, they would most likely get there in a day.

M: "I've set up the protective barrier"

D: "Barrier?"

M: "Yeah, we'll be travelling fast, don't want the wind hitting you at that speed, you might die"

R: "Huh? How fast will we be trave-"

Before Rez could finish, Sen burst into a dash, completely disappearing from the gate of the village, even with the protective barrier, Del and Rez couldn't help but feel the drawback from the initial burst, they regained their balance quickly but their vision of their surroundings had become extremely distorted, the speed that they were travelling was simply too fast. Del let out a little squeal at first whilst Rez just screamed without a care for his surroundings, after he realised he wasn't falling off he stopped.

R: "Jeez, you coulda warned us you know"

D: "Yeah!"

M: "Mm? Sorry, I'm used to this speed so I forget to tell people that it may be weird for their first times"

R: "Man how fast is this thing?"

M: "Well, in a couple of minutes, we should pass that forest that you guys fought that dark thing in"

R: "That fast?!"

D: "But it took us little below a day to get there"

M: "Yeah, Sen here is real fast"

Del and Rez had been holding on tight to Sen, but they were shocked when they looked at Sora, Sora was completely carefree, sitting cross-legged and playing with Rin.

D: "Sora?"

S: "Hm?"

R: "How're you not scared?"

S: "Scared? Of what?"

R: "Falling off?"

S: "We can't, this guy set up a barrier"

Michael was slightly surprised too.

M: "I did set one up, but Sen's fast, even under the effect of this barrier the logical thing for someone to do is to hold on tight"

This was right, even if all of the wind pressure had been negated and Sen kept his back as straight as possible at all times whilst travelling at the maximum speed, people would still hold on because of the thought of falling off. Michael was also extremely calm and wasn't like Del and Rez, but he didn't know about Sora, had he travelled this fast before?

S: "Well, I've ridden on Reiner for long distances before"

D: "He can go this fast?"

S: "No, not even close, but I've already gotten used to the fact that unless we're attacked, the chances of falling off are basically 0"

R: "Really?"

S: "Yeah, try it"

Del and Rez didn't let go.

S: "Well, you're loss. Um, what's this about an entrance test then?"

Y: "Oh yeah, that"

R: "Huh?"

Sora, Del and Rez looked to where the voice came from and saw Yuin, flying alongside them, unlike their surroundings, she was completely visible, she was travelling at the same speed as Sen.

D: "Master?!"

R: "How're you doing that?!"

Y: "Hm? Doing what?"

R: "That!! How are you keeping us with us?!"

Y: "Oh, well, I am pretty powerful you know"

D: "We didn't know you were this powerful though..."

Y: "Oof... that hurts..."

D: "I didn't mean it that way..."

Yuin laughed.

Y: "Nah I'm just kidding, anyway, about that entrance test. Well, to put it simply, you have to prove that you're powerful enough to join"

S: "Oh? That's it?"

Y: "Don't make the mistake of thinking it will be easy, you guys may be powerful but there are many just like you taking it. The way it works is the initial test then a fight to get into the top 100, those 100 will then be allowed into the school"

R: "What's the initial test?"

Y: "It's a giant field, where all the candidates are placed in. One of the managers of the test will then land in the middle and generate a field of wind, so high that everyone will be blown to the very edges of the spell. But, in the middle where the manager is, there will be no wind at all, the test is to push through the high winds to get there, anything is allowed. It's a test of how well one can use magic, aura and how much strength they have overall"

D: "A simple test but... it's probably way harder than you explain it to be"

M: "Definitely, the wind pressure you'll feel pushing you will likely be on par with the winds outside right now, if I were to disable the barrier, you'll feel a good taste of the test you'll be taking part in"

S: "Nah, I'll deal with it when I get to it, besides, barriers are set up to avoid discomfort during travel, not to purely save someone, the winds outside won't kill us, they'll just take us close, he said we 'might' die when we left, he never said we 'would' die"

R: "Um... Sora..."

S: "Yeah?"

D: "That's still bad..."

Sora thought about it for a while.

...

S: "Oh yeah... it is..."

D: "Will they go that far in the exam?"

Y: "Well, from what I've heard, the winds get stronger as you get closer to the middle, you should only feel the really strong wind when you get near the manager. It goes from a light breeze, to a strong wind, to a high level tornado"

R: "Well... that's terrifying, and then we have to fight to get into the top 100?"

M: "Yeah, from the results for most entrance tests, the average is about 1000 people who get through the initial test"

R: "1000?!"

S: "How many people go to this test?"

D: "The average amount of people to try out for the entrance test is about 20000 every time they run it"

Sora, Del and Rez had never been around that much people for something as simple as an entrance exam. So many people, and only 100 of them would get in...

Sora chuckled.

Y: "Hm? What's funny?"

S: "We'll get in"

Michael gave a sideways glance to Sora.

M: "How can you be so sure?"

S: "I ain't"

D: "Huuh?"

R: "What?"

Yuin chuckled.

Y: "That's the kind of answer I expect from you"

She kept laughing.

Michael smiled.

M: "Such confidence with nothing to back it. I really hope you get in"

S: "Hm? Why?"

M: "Well, that school is where the most powerful people go, some of the people are really arrogant, I'd be lying if I said there weren't alot of people like you there aswell but I just like when someone like you gets in over someone like them"

Y: "Ooooooooh, a serious message from you? That's rare"

M: "It's true"

D: "I do hope we get in though, it'll be awkward going back after saying our goodbyes..."

R: "Yeah, even worse if one of us gets in and the other's don't"

D: "Don't say that!"

Del hit Rez.

R: "Hey! I'm just sayin..."

Sora laughed at them.

S: "As we are now... we can't lose, and on the off chance we do, we'll all go back together"

Del and Rez looked at him.

D: "Even if we lose and you win?"

Sora smiled.

S: "Yep, I'll go back with you guys"

Sora had put alot of thought into it, Del and Rez were the closest thing he had to his own team, to his 'people', why make new ones when you already had two who you trusted? Plus, they were all the same, they most likely would go out adventuring and get stronger that way if they weren't accepted.

R: "Heh, that's why we're friends"

S: "You said it"

In truth, none of them wanted to split up from eachother, they had all known eachother through their time in the hunters guild, although they were friends before the fight, they became much closer after the fight in the forest, and even more so after the fight in the arena. By the time they all came to their answers, they were inseperable.

Y: "Well... I wish you kids luck, you'll only have yourselves and the friends you make while you're there. Please don't make any serious enemies either..."

S: "Why would I make enemies..."

Y: "You especially..."

S: "Huh?"

Yuin knew Sora's temperament, he would immediately stand by his friends and defend them from harms way, this could lead to him protecting someone against someone else with serious connections or power. Del knew this, but Rez was the same too, she tapped him.

D: "You should listen to that aswell..."

R: "Hm? What do you mean?"

Both Yuin and Del sighed.

M: "Well, now that you know the test, I should probably tell you. Everyone there will most likely be extremely competitive, like yourselves. Some may even play dirty to get what they want, don't be completely rude to people when they greet you, but look out for any ulterior motives"

D: "It's good advice, I guessed that there would be people like that there"

S+R: "We'll just beat them"

Del, Yuin and Michael sighed.

M: "Such a simple way of looking at the world, heh, it's not such a bad way to look at it though"

D: "I'm used to it..."

Yuin chuckled.

Y: "Have fun there, I just realised I can't take you all the way there, duty calls at the village"

Sora, Del and Rez looked at her.

S+D+R: "Thank you for everything!"

Yuin felt like she had seen this before... the day before... with 5 other people...

Y: "Haha... Well, till next time"

Yuin split from Sen very quickly and flew high into the air. She didn't want to prolong her goodbye with them, she felt it was a little selfish but she split from them early.

Y: "I wish you the best from here on out... you'll have great help"

Yuin smiled as she turned and flew back to the village.

Sen quickly disappeared into the horizon, and as the sun was coming up, the next chapter of Sora's journey begun.

[At The School]

D: "He's coming"

I: "Yeah, that familiar aura, it can't be anyone else..."

N: "Someone's excited"

I: "Well yeah! We're finally actually able to meet him for the first time!"

N: "Can't deny that"

S: "I still look like I'm in my teens, I should be able to fit in"

X: "What are the age ranges for students?"

D: "Well, most people here would range from 17-20, but I guess you guys look young enough, no one would take the fact that all of us are over 400 seriously anyway..."

X: "We're teachers though right? When do we get in?"

D: "We already are, the actual teaching season begins in about a month, all schools give their students a time off, sometimes for pretty long. Right now it should be summer, where new people are needed as others leave for the previous year. So after this test, we start in a month"

I: "I'm excited for the test!"

N: "Cause it's gonna be easy?"

I: "No! I get to meet new people!!!"

S: "Calm down Iona..."

Iona pouted.

S: "Well, it is true though, doesn't matter how powerful you are, you need friends"

D: "Guys, he's here, he's just arrived"

X: "I think we could all sense it Dez"

I: "We should go meet him!"

D: "Hey, according to plan, remember?"

N: "That whole thing about meeting him separately?"

D: "Yes, it makes us seem less suspicious"

X: "What about me?"

D: "Do you not remember?"

X: "No..."

D: "We're teachers, we just have to say that we are scouting students"

X: "Oh, yeah"

S: "Well? Let's go meet him then"

The five talked a little more before splitting up.

[]

S: "So... we get to meet the hero..."

[]

I: "I get to meet him again!"

[]

N: "Looking forward to it leader..."

[]

X: "Better keep your promise..."

[]

D: "I hope you're the same as I remember..."

Sora jumped off Sen.

S: "Well, time for a new adventure!"