

A A

Norex: Summit of power
Copyright © A A, 2018

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Contents

Prolouge | 1

---|---

Guy named Xeron | 3

My justice started 9 years ago | 11

Mike,Reus and Imperial College of Saints | 22

Norex: The Black God | 33

Xeron vs Esla: I know your secret | 41

A harmless stalker | 52

Invitation and party | 59

You lose and I win | 71

Class leader? I want to become | 78

The riddles | 89

Today is the day | 101

It's a gamble | 108

Trust and Win | 115

My mom | 123

So this is the power of zi! | 130

Esla sama | 136

Class 1-B | 148

The simplest trick for using zi | 155

Fishing and special abilities | 165

Time-clock method and zi types | 174

Reus Halvor: Perfect Annihilation | 182

1

Prolouge

The story starts in the year 1100 B.C. The mythical world,full of fantasy things like dragons, adventurers and superpowers. In this world, the essence of every living thing is a supernatural power called zi. Zi being the core of life, is also the building block of society. It's true that not all people of society can use this supernatural power "zi" but it's not like it's rare to watch it being used. The adventurers, famous martial artists, Imperial Army soldiers and many professors of prestigious colleges are not only familiar with zi but are also zi users.

Zi,as the superpower name indicates is used mainly to maintain peace. In the past, the sole purpose of zi learning was to use it in war;to capture enemy's areas and to kill your opponents but that war-time passed and peace took the earth under its wings. Conflicts were still present but it wasn't like your army needed to be ready every time for countering a sneak attack. Among all the kingdoms,there was a kingdom named Hassion Kingdom.

Hassion Kingdom was famous for its military power but was

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

one of the peace spreading kingdoms. The condition of people here was satisfactory. There weren't many beggars. Everyone earned a good amount but one fault was still present in this kingdom as it was present in every other kingdom. And it was; Might is right. The law was same for everyone but the judges,lawyers and jail superintendents were biased. Helping criminals flee and putting the fault on the poor was a common thing, if ever happened.

Thousands of years ago, the ultimate evil known as Norex once ruled the entire world. It was him and him alone that ruled the entire world. No other king or queen has been able to accomplish that feat. The dark era was called Dark Age. Time flew by and ended his reign but not the evil. Then the need was felt to establish a proper security system that will protect the citizens as well as the royalty. The system comprised of Imperial Army soldiers and the institutions for training students and making them a better human. The institutions were called "Colleges".

The capital of Hassion Kingdom is "Imperial City" and in the Imperial City lives a young boy. He is different from boys and girls of his age. And why is he different from them,let's find out?

2

2

Guy named Xeron

The darkness of the night was at its end. The long-awaited brightness was starting from the East. Faint rays of the emerging Sun were not only lighting the earth but were also reviving the life on it. The sun was purging the darkness and a new life was being given to all creatures for one more day. Despite all the other living things having woken up from their slumber, a young boy nearly 15 years old was still enjoying his sleep under the shade of a large tree of the forest.

The reason he was sleeping in the forest was still unknown. The rays soon fell on his eyes and began disturbing his sound sleep. He opened his eyes slowly, stood up and yawned. He was wearing clothes that were the same as that of a countryman. They were neither torn nor old but were just simple.

He took the bag lying beside him and put it on his back.

"Guess, I should get going. They will be here soon"

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

He started walking towards the North end of the forest; the end that lay near a village; far from the city. The village was same as the forest, glowing with the beauty of nature...full of greenery and for its few people. There were few children playing around, their mothers talking to each other and some low quality shops.

"Ouch," a painful voice attracted his attention. He followed the voice and found an old lady to be the source of that painful voice. He leapt towards the old lady who was sitting on the ground in pain. Her back was hurting due to the luggage she was carrying on her back.

"Are you hurt, grandma?"

"No, it's nothing young one"She tried to hide her misery from him.

"Don't lie. I heard it clearly. You were screaming in pain"

"It's nothing to get so serious about. It happens often in old age"

"Let me help you. I will carry your luggage to wherever you are going"

"There is no need to do this. I can carry it"The old lady replied with a smile on her face.

"Don't worry. My parents taught me to help others when in need. So where do we go?"

He had already put the luggage on his back, not waiting for a reply from her.

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GUY NAMED XERON

"Guess it's my defeat. That river... " She pointed with her index finger towards the river flowing not too distant from them," I have to go to the next village so I will take the horse-driven carriage from there"

"Let's get going then"

They reached the river bank in no time. A carriage was passing by which was stopped by the boy. He put the luggage in the carriage.

"Thank you very much. Here.. Take this amulet as a gift. It will save you from evil eyes"

She handed him over the amulet that she just took out of her pocket.

"Thank you very much. I will cherish it"

The carriage was soon nowhere to be seen. The boy turned his head sideways and behind to make sure that no one was near. He opened the amulet by enchanting a spell. A piece of paper with some words written on it was found in it.

The words were,

"Congrats on your previous mission. It was a 24-hour requiring mission but you

accomplished it in just 6 hours. It was nothing surprising from you. As you have still some time left so I have another mission for you. There is a town named Regal on the southeast of this village. There is going to be a drug dealers' meeting today. We don't know where they are going to hold the meeting

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

and we don't even have the time to find it out. The only lead we have is about a shopkeeper in the town that sells drugs secretly. Have your way with him and stop this drug-dealing meeting. Failure is not an option. If you fail, there will be thousands of young ones who will fall prey to the drug addiction for their entire lives. The meeting will be held at 7:00 pm. That's all we got. Next is up to you. This paper and the amulet will burn on their own as soon as you put it back into the amulet. Good luck"

He put the paper into the amulet, closed it and threw it away.

The amulet soon turned into nothing, burnt by the flames.

"Town Regal! Here I come"

With a smile on his face and seriousness in his eyes, he moves towards his destination, Regal Town.

In the sky, the birds flew and on the land, a boy walked. His name was Xeron.

* * *

The afternoon in the Regal Town was much cooler as compared to other towns as it was on the shore of the Great Ocean. The town was a huge place for the drug dealers to do their business and not to get caught.

On the right side of the Main Street in the middle of the town was located the shop that he was tasked to investigate and get

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GUY NAMED XERON

any information about the place where it was going to happen.

It was a normal medical store with an old man as its owner and the only worker of the shop. No one could suspect an old man to be involved in drugs so it was easy for him to keep his business running in the town.

"Welcome to our medical store, young man. How can I help you?"The old man politely asked him with a smile on his face.

"Good afternoon!" Xeron replied.

"Same to you. So what brings you here today? Is it chest pain, headache or constipation? Whatever it is, my shop has every kind of medicine...from herbs to the tablets....from injections to syrups... So what do you want?"

"Nothing... I just came to say my hello. The truth is...........Night

is in need of light"

As soon as Xeron uttered those words, old man's expression changed. His smile turned into a hideous one.

The street was empty but old man checked to make sure.

"This way" the old man pointed to a corner of the shop. Both walked towards that corner. The old man uttered a magic spell which was more like a code to open some kind of lock. As soon as he stopped saying, the wall beside the corner opened up and a door was now present.

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

The old man opened the door and both of them entered in it. As soon as they closed the door from the inside, the wall came back and door disappeared from the outside view.

Xeron hadn't thought of him to be storing this much drug supply. The room to which the secret door led was a huge room; larger than the shop itself. No one would believe how such a large room existed in such a small shop but it was all present in front of Xeron. There was no denying it that he wasn't any low drug dealer. The quantity of the drugs was the proof.

"Surprised to see this much? Well everyone is...at their first time. So which kind of drug your boss wants. I have all types of them so feel free to say"

"Then I will be taking all of them"

"All of them? This is no time to be joking, you know! I have other things to do,so hurry up"

"Don't worry. You won't have to do anything after I finish my questions. That's a promise"

The expression on xeron's face turned into a serious one as if he was about to kill him right on the spot.

"I, on behalf of Imperial Army, am confiscating all these drugs. If you want to live then answer my questions"

The old man's body drained in sweat.

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GUY NAMED XERON

"Don't try anything funny. Other Imperial soldiers have already arrived. Even if you manage to somehow escape from here, there is no way you will escape from them. So cooperate with me and don't throw away your life. Live in jail for your sins or die here... Choice is always yours"

The drug dealing business that he was involved in for all these years was at its end. He had no choice left other than to cooperate.

"Before all this, please promise me one thing. You won't tell my family about me being a drug dealer. They don't anything about it. I was doing it all for them. I needed money for their education, their clothes, the house. I don't want them to be called a drug dealer's children so please take pity on me and don't tell them anything. I beg you"

The old man's eyes broke into tears. It was not a deceptive trick but a real affection and love from a father towards his children.

"Okay. It wasn't my intention from the start either. But lie to me and I will change that intention. Enough talk already. Let's get to the main point"

"Where is the meeting going to be held today?"

"How do you....?"

"I asked a question. Where is it?"

The old man lifted his head up and replied,

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

"The Noside Hotel. It will start at 7:00 pm. It will be for a half an hour and then all of the dealers will quickly leave the place. But it won't be easy to capture them. The security would be very tight. But that's not all you have to worry about. The main problem is the Teleportation device.

If they sense any danger then they will use it and will transport them out of there. So even if you manage to break their defense with your force, it will be too late the moment you reach them.

"That's quite a problem. But I will think of something. Don't worry about it?"

"I have some time left before the attack so I will just go and do some shopping....And sorry I lied about you being surrounded

by other soldiers. I am the only one on this mission.......Sorry

again"

Old man's eyes widened hearing this.

  * Just who is he? He...at such an age...And on top of all this, he is going to attack all of them singly and has no sign of worry at all. Doesn't he value his life?)

That's what the old man thought because he didn't know who Xeron was and what he was capable of.

10

3

My justice started 9 years ago

Right at 6:58 pm, a car stopped in front of Noside Hotel. Two men stepped out of the car. One was holding a briefcase and other was holding a black umbrella. Both were dressed in dark clothes with hats of the same colour giving them the appearance of some kind of butlers.

The guards at the main gate of the Noside hotel checked their whole body with the metal detector. Upon receiving the green signal, both went towards the elevator. Some men were already waiting for them at the elevator. They shook hands with them and the four of them entered the elevator together.

"Had you any problem reaching here, sir?"One of the guards asked the man,one with the umbrella in his hand.

"Not at all. Those soldiers were so easy to deceive. By the way, is your boss here?"

"Yes, sir. Boss is waiting for you. As told, the meeting will start

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

exactly at 7:00"

"Good"

The elevator stopped at the third floor. The meeting was held in Room no#140 on the third floor. Three rooms other than room#140 were registered under the name of the same person. The room#140 was protected by an invisible magic barrier. Even if someone manages to find their meeting point and even reached that room then he will have to break the barrier. But in that time, they will escape using the Teleportation device. It was a foolproof plan and it should have been as it was a very big deal between two infamous drug dealers.

One of the guards, that was accompanying them, knocked at the door.

"It's us"

"Code please!" a voice came from inside the room.

"The sun falling from the sky"

With this, the door opened as the magic barrier was removed from inside the room.

There were 12 bodyguards in the room forming a circle around the boss who was sitting on a sofa. All guards were armed with guns and a Teleportation device was fitted in the ceiling of the room so as to flee immediately if any emergency happens. The device was inactive at that moment because it starts the Teleportation as soon as it is activated so should only be

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MY JUSTICE STARTED 9 YEARS AGO

activated when you are ready to flee.

The two men sat on the second sofa, the one in front of the boss.

"How was your journey?"The boss wearing a black jacket over his white shirt and white pants asked them.

"Quite easy! As we don't have time so let's get to the busi-ness"Umbrella man replied in a serious tone.

"Have you brought the money?"

"Yes"The man carrying the briefcase gave it to one of the guards.

"It's 20 million dollars. I hope your drugs will be of better quality as usual"

"Don't worry about it. Our drugs are quite notorious for their addiction. We will not disappoint you" boss bragged.

"Is it enough now? I did what you told me so please let me go" The umbrella man started begging to the briefcase man who

should have been his subordinate.

"What are you saying?" Boss was puzzled as were the guards.

"Yes, you have. There is no need to continue the act anymore"

The umbrella man put his hand on his face and enchanted a spell

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

<Fake face: begone>

As soon as he finished reciting the spell, his face identity changed.

Behind the face of the subordinate of the umbrella man was a young boy(Xeron).

"Who are you? And what is this?"Boss yelled at them both.

"I am here for a little talk,Mr.boss. Please cooperate with me"

"Fiiirrreee!"

Guards began firing bullets at him. Not even one bullet missed its target. All of them pierced his clothing and made him fall on the floor.

"Who was he? And what was he doing with you?" Boss asked the umbrella man.

"He met me on my way here and killed my subordinate. He forced me to get him inside this room. If I had made a move to tell you then he would have killed me"

"Anyway... He is dead now. Let's get back to....."

"Dead... Who is dead here? I haven't killed anyone yet. Then how can anyone die?"

The murderous aura reached to every person in that room as he stood up in a horrific style.

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MY JUSTICE STARTED 9 YEARS AGO

"Itttt caaannn't be! You should be dead. The bullets.... How is

it?"

Boss wasn't the only one who was getting chills all over his body. All of them were shivering in fear upon watching that impossible feat done by him.

"So... Shall we start the real businesses meeting?"

"Forgive me... I will do as you say so please......."Seeing the boss

apologizing, all of them kneeled; begging for their lives to be spared.

"You are embarrassing me" he chuckled while scratching his head," There is no need for you people to kneel. There is something that I want to ask you so if you cooperate then you can get off easily. That's all"

"We will tell you anything so please spare our lives"the boss replied.

"Okay then! Tell me all about it. We are all free tonight,aren't we?"

After a few minutes of investigation

"Well, that's all we know"

"Don't worry. It's more than enough"

"Your pro..mise!"

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

"I haven't forgotten about it guys. You will be free to go but first I have to make a call so wait just a little longer"

Xeron took out the phone from his pocket,walked away from them and dialled a number.

"Hello..hello... I have done my work here. I can come back, can't I?"

"Yes, you can" the call receiver answered.

"What happened to the drug dealers?" call receiver asked.

"It's not a good news. I got the info from them but in the end, all of them committed suicide so we cannot put them in jail. Is there a problem?"

"No, there is not. Do as you please"

With this, the conversation ended. Xeron turned back and faced all of the bad guys that were clinging to each other as they were afraid whether he will keep his promise or not.

"Caaannn we go now?"

"Why are you all sweating this much. You are free as I promised" his face was shining with smile.

"Thank you"

"Go... You are free... Enjoy yourself to the fullest... For your new lives.... I give you permission.....Go to hell!"

Within an instant, no one noticed him moving from his place

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MY JUSTICE STARTED 9 YEARS AGO

and cutting their throat with a knife. It was done in a second.

The moment they realized the cut, it was too late.

"Buuuttt yooouuu saaaiiiddd!"

"There is no place for you in this world"

His tone suddenly changed into a serious one as he saw their corpses lying on the floor in front of him.

* * *

"I am back. Is anyone home?"Xeron opened the door with a key,entered his home and questioned to no one particular while taking off his shoes.

"Welcome home,nii chan*!"A familiar voice; voice of his little brother responded to his question.

[*Nii chan—Used for brother in japanese]

His little brother,Zess was nearly 13 years old. He was wearing a sky blue T-shirt and short pants.

"Hello,zess" his face was flooded with happiness and smile;com-pletely contradicting with his murderous nature back during his mission.

"Nii chan is back...nii chan is back.....Hurray!"The little one

was jumping with excitement and joy.

"Didn't you go to your school today?"

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

"It's Sunday,nii chan. School is closed today. Is this a good enough excuse?" he made the face like children make when they are angry.

"Sorry. I totally forgot what day is it"

"You should take some rest. You must be tired from your trip"

"By the way, where are mom and dad?"Xeron asked.

"You know them,nii chan.... Mom has gone to meet some people

that shifted to our neighbourhood yesterday. And dad has gone to the forest with his friends for camping"

"I am then going to my room to take some rest. When mom returns, tell me" Xeron turned back and walked up on the stairs leading towards his room.

Their house was two story building,with Xeron's and Zess's separate rooms on the 1st floor while the two living rooms and a kitchen on the ground floor.

Upon reaching his room,he lay on his bed.

***[Words in brackets are what he is thinking]***

(It was an easy mission.... This time too. I cannot be satisfied

with these easy missions anymore. I have to talk to him to send me to the missions where I can eliminate a large number of criminals)

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MY JUSTICE STARTED 9 YEARS AGO

(9 years... It has been 9 years since that incident. Time sure passes quickly. The day 9 years ago... The day it all started.................. The day I chose this path)

***[Bold words below are his thoughts of that incident]***

It was the first time I ever stepped outside the house. That day, mom took my hand and I accompanied her. We went to the buy some ingredients for dinner. Dad was out of city that day so mom had to go buy them. Everything was normal. We bought the ingredients needed and were heading back. We were in a hurry that day so we took another route; the shorter one with a bank on its way.

We were still at a distance from the bank when we heard the noise of firing coming from inside the bank. Without wasting anymore time,my mom took me by her hands and we hid in a nearby narrow alley. The moment we went into the alley, the door of the bank opened and a group of five people armed with guns and with their faces hidden by the masks, walked out of the bank. The people who were walking by stopped where they were. They couldn't move even if they wanted to;because of the fear of death that they saw in front of them.

The robbers could have easily got away but they didn't choose the easy way. They killed all the innocent people just for fun of it. They had already killed half of the bank staff so as to make the other half cooperate. They were not confident of their strength that they killed so many people but of their relationships to the higher-ups and of

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

the fragility of the law. They knew that law made in the name of justice for the poor against the rich was only a fake. It was and will always be for the sake of the rich so that they could cover their wrongdoings.

The soldiers came half an hour after the incident was over, handed over the dead to their families. Media kept showing the news and their faces for two days. Higher-ups also guaranteed that those criminals would be caught and would be killed in the capital centre. All of them talked but no one did anything. Neither the criminals were found nor killed. Time passed, people started living their lives again as they were living before that and every-one forgot about those innocent people that were killed that day.

Some of them would have been on their way home from their work, some would have been going to meet their relatives. They could have been anyone... Someone's par-ent, sibling or someone's believed one. But no one cared about them. They were forgotten like they were never in this world. Those criminals were the same criminals who were caught in a bank robbery 3 years before that incident. They were caught and locked away but one day, a huge fire engulfed the whole jail and those criminals were pronounced dead in that fire. But it was all fake. It was done so as to release them from there.

That day... It all started.... The day I decided to take the

path of the right... The path of justice.... But not the

official one.... What if I became a government officer

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MY JUSTICE STARTED 9 YEARS AGO

and caught the criminals and put them behind the bars... The answer is simple... They will live in that jail for 8-10 years and then they would be set free. They will be free to harm the innocent people again. They will kill a bunch of people again and if ever caught, they will again wait for a few years to keep doing what they were doing before.

So I choose this unique path. The path where I won't be bound to just capture them... I will kill any evil I catch so that they will no longer be any threat to the people. The people will be able to live a more peaceful like when the evil will be suppressed. I don't want people's attention or their appreciation. I do this for peace of my mind. As long are evil is outside, there should be someone who will judge them. If the law won't then I will. Evil for evil and good for good. I am Xeron.

21

4

Mike,Reus and Imperial College of Saints

"I am back" xeron's thoughts were interrupted by his mom's voice. Xeron stood up from his bed and ran to greet her.

"Mom,how are you?"he took her into his arms.

"Xeron! When did you return?"

"Just a few minutes ago,mom"

"Why didn't you tell me that you were coming back today? At least you should have called me when you reached your friend's home".

"Sorry, mom. There was some sort of signal problem so I could not contact you. Sorry"Xeron apologized.

"Do you know how much worried I was! You young boys of today, I don't understand you people"

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MIKE,REUS AND IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SAINTS

"Mom, he has returned safely so let's just end it here" zess tried to calm her down.

"What can I do against both of you. But I am happy to see you safe"

"Zess told me that you had gone to meet a newly shifted neighbour. Who are they?"

"They... They transferred to Imperial City today. They are from Alzarec city. Their daughter wanted to study at the "Imperial College of Saints" so they transferred with her.

Zess:"Yeah, I totally forgot. Mike was here a while ago. He was asking about you. He wanted to talk about something".

"I am then going to meet him" Xeron rushed towards the main-door and was out in an instant.

Mike is Xeron's childhood friend. Since Xeron was 6 years old, they have been like best friends. Studied in the same school, lived in the same neighbourhood, they are like brothers. Their friendship also tied their families.

("At this time of day, he will be sitting in the city park waiting for the sunset. The only person I have ever acknowledged as my friend; not due to his abilities or anything but due to his comedian nature") Xeron was running at his full speed towards the city park.("He nevers falls no matter what kind of problem he has to face. I might have turned into a serious evil slayer but due to him, I have managed to maintain my funny side. Evil for

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

evil and good for good; that's what I am").

It was evening time. Children with their families were enjoying their free time. A boy of same age as his; wearing a T-shirt with a scythe pic on it was watching the sky.

"Here you are...... Mike!"

"Xeron?" Mike turned and embraced Xeron.

"When did you come back from your friend's home?"Mike asked.

"Nearly 10 minutes ago. I was told that you came to talk about something. What was that you wanted to talk about?"

"I wanted to talk about the college".

"College?" Xeron made a surprised face.

"Don't tell me that you forgot about it? Our school days are gone. Now we have to get enrolled in a college to continue our studies........ Do you understand now?" The last words were loud so as to enter his ever forgetting mind.

"Sorry! I totally forgot about it.........So which college are we

going to enrol in?

"That's what I wanted to discuss with you. Personally, I recommend "Imperial College of Saints". They enrol only those students with good marks in their previous exams and there

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MIKE,REUS AND IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SAINTS

is no fee problem so it should be easy for us to get admission. What do you say?

"It's fine as long as we are going to the same college"Xeron was fine just with Mike being there for him. He never cared about the popularity of the schools; he just went where Mike went.

"So,it's decided then. I will fill admission forms for both of us. Today is Tuesday. College starts next Monday, so be ready"

"Fine by me"

"So how was your trip? Enjoyed it?"

"Yeah. Very much"

"So are you free today? Mike asked.

"Yes, but why?

Mike: You forgot again. Today is the final of Intra-city football tournament. I have got 2 tickets. Wanna tag with me"

"Sounds interesting. Let's go"

Having received Xeron's agreement Xeron and Mike head to the football stadium.

* * *

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

During the second half of the game, someone pats Xeron's shoulder.

Xeron finds a familiar face behind him. It was none other than the Imperial Army Branch 9 head officer, Reus Halvor, the one Xeron was working for. He was disguised as an old man but Xeron saw through his disguise.

"What is your opinion, young ones? I mean who will be the winner today?" Reus asked in an old man's voice.

"I think my team; the one with the black shirts will win" Mike replied while eating popcorn.

" The one who performs better will win of course " Xeron replied normally.

Reus:"I see"

"Which team do you think will win?" Mike asked the old man(reus).

"I think the weaker one will lose"

"It's the same as Xeron said" Mike replied.

"No, it's not"Reus said,"If you are strong then no matter whom you are fighting against, victory will be yours but if you are weak then you will lose regardless of an enemy being strong or weak"

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MIKE,REUS AND IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SAINTS

"I do not understand you but all I understand is that my team will win for sure" Reus's words went over Mike's head.

"It's nice to be young, isn't it?" Reus said.

"Yeah, that's right"Mike kept on eating the popcorn.

Reus extended his right hand towards Xeron,put a piece of paper in his pocket and whispered in his ear," You have become quite interesting, Xeron. We'll meet again soon".

Xeron turned his head quickly but found no one behind him. In an instant,reus was out of the stadium walking slowly with a smile on his face,"Xeron:The evil slayer! He has got a good name.....Indeed"

* * *

Monday morning

As usual, Xeron woke up early, went on a walk, completed 100-morning pushups, ate his breakfast and left for college at 7:30. As preplanned he was to meet Mike at his home and then to go to college together.

Xeron reached his home at 7:32, entered his home, greeted his parents and was told that Mike is late as always.

"Just how many times have I told him not to play games late at night but he never listens to me. He is still changing his clothes............I am thankful to you for taking care of him. You are the only one whom I can entrust my son to. Please keep

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

being his friend" Mike's mom bowed her head.

"Do not do this. You are making me feel ashamed"Right words for the right time." You have always thought of me and loved me as your son and I have always respected you. I will not leave his side no matter what"

His words somewhat made her feel relieved.

"I am here. Sorry for late coming" Mike makes his entry in a cheerful mood.

"Hopeless as ever. We are already late. Come quickly"

Mike said goodbye to his mom and walked with Xeron towards college at a fast pace.

They reached college within 10 minutes at 7:50.

"Where is our classroom? Do you know,mike?"

Mike nodded indicating that he knew where to go.

"I memorized all the college places the last time I came to fill the admission forms. Do not worry. You are in good hands. Just follow me"

Mike guided him and they reached their classroom. Many new faces that they never had seen before were going to be in their class for the next 2 years.

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MIKE,REUS AND IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SAINTS

Xeron: There are so many new faces!

Mike: All of our previous classmates got admission in different colleges so it would be a start over. I hope to enjoy my time here.

Xeron: Yeah. I hope it would be fun.

"Hello. Hello. Your class will start at sharp 8:00 a.m. Please take any seat you want to. Your teacher will be here soon" a loud voice coming from the speakers fitted in one of the classroom's wall informed them.

Hearing this, all students took seat of their choice. Mike took the seat, the one behind Xeron's.

Mike: I wonder who our teacher will be? You know that the teachers here are qualified ones. As one would expect of "College of Saints".

Xeron: I hope he/she will not be an old one, like our previous teacher.

"I hope too" Mike chuckled in response.

Towards the college gate

A man in his twenties carrying a bag in his hand was running towards the main gate as fast as he could.

"I am late. I am late" he stopped at the main gate to catch his

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

breath.

"Class will start soon. I need to hurry" he looked at his watch and again started running towards the classroom. He should be running as it was his first day with his new first-year class and he didn't want to give them a bad impression. He hurried towards the classroom as fast as he could.

The door of Class 1-A suddenly opened and a man flooded with sweat and taking rapid breaths entered.

"Who is he?

" He is sweating from head to toe" "Is he our teacher?"

"Cannot be"

"But he is carrying a bag" all those voices started echoing in

the room.

The man took his time to recover from running, sat on the chair, puts his bag on the table in front of his chair and started by greeting them.

"Hello, students. I will be your room teacher from now on. My name is William. You can call me William sensei".

( "sensei"means " teacher")

"On the behalf of our whole college, I welcome all of you to Imperial College of Saints. As you all know our college is well known for producing many famous personalities in the country....."He took a deep breath and said, Let's just skip formalities and start the class".

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MIKE,REUS AND IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SAINTS

William: First of all tell me. What do you know about "zi"? Will anyone answer my question?

Among all students, a blonde female student of roughly 15 years stood up.

"Sensei, Zi is the essence of all living beings. We all are born with zi. Zi becomes strong and massive the more we train. Some of us train themselves to take their zi to higher levels while others prefer living normal lives. That's all I know"

"Very well. You know quite well about it. What is your name, young girl?"

"My name is Esla"

"Thanks, Esla. Now you can sit down............... As you all

heard right now, zi can be trained and for that training,there are colleges.....After graduating, you can become whatever you

want to. You can be an adventurer, an imperial officer, a famous martial artist, a member of "The Association" or you can open your own college supported by the government. You will be paid well and will have a high reputation....So what I mean to

say is that you can fulfill the dream for which you have worked so hard uptil now. So any questions? Anyone?"

"........."No one said anything.

William: Okay then I would like to check your current zi. It is the zi store of your body and isn't in activated form. It is for academic records so make a line.

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

Students arranged themselves in a line while William took a white ball out of his pocket, with a lot of ancient language words written on it and asked students to come to him one by one.

* * *

32

5

Norex: The Black God

First of all, a boy wearing glasses approached William. William asked him to put his hand on the white ball and concentrate as hard as he could to muster up his zi and channel it through the white ball. The glow of the ball would determine his current zi level.

The white ball glowed faintly even at his maximum concentra-tion.

"Nice try. It's only your first day. It is a long race so don't let it dishearten you.

(As expected of someone without any previous experience in zi. A normal living creature I would say.) Next.....

Next was Esla. Esla made her way to William sensei and put her hand on the white ball while having a smile on her face showing her confidence in her skills and her hard work uptil now.

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" You seem confident.................. Confidence is good but don't let it spoil you. Try to concentrate. Concentrate...And it will...."

William was interrupted and what caused the interruption was the intense glow that filled the whole room. All of then got stunned;even William hadn't expected her to be that good.

Although her zi was dormant but the intense glow proved that she hadn't lived a normal happy life uptil then.

"White ball is glowing brightly"

" Esla made the white ball glow this much" "She is so good at this"

"I am jealous. I want to do like that too"

"I don't know if I will be able to do it" all those voices in the

praise of esla made her happy.

"(Even for a starter, she has the incredible amount of inactive zi. So this year has got some promising students. It will be interesting if any other student performs the same feat too)" That's what William thought.

William: Bravo. Well done esla. You did a good job. Can you tell everyone here that how you did it? I know everyone wants to know too.

"I just concentrated. That's all there is to" esla bragged thinking of that no one would be able to do that much and that she had a good impression on sensei on the very first day.

Esla went back to her seat. After her 9 to 10 students came,

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NOREX: THE BLACK GOD

tried and tested their zi. But none of them made it glow to the esla's level.

Esla: (I don't expect anyone to be at my level. Well not that I want them to be)

"So, the next student is.....Xeron".

Xeron, with his hands in his pockets, approached the white ball and put his hand on the white ball.

" Concentrate and you will....."

William had to stop once again. He couldn't complete his sentence due to...

"Wow. Another time."

"Same glow. What a feat?"

"I didn't think anyone else will be able to."

Everyone especially esla was taken aback on seeing the same intense glow again.

"Way to go Xeron" Mike shouted.

"Incredible...So did you just focus too? William asked out of curiosity.

Xeron: Yep.

(He did it on the same level as I did. I thought it would be boring

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but this class seems not to be free of my rivals. Xeron! But it's okay" Esla thought,"If there would not be any challenges on this path then how will I grow stronger. If that's all he has got then it won't be a problem but I shouldn't underestimate him either. The first rule of battle: Never underestimate your opponent)"

" Next"

"Now it's my turn. I have to do well too. Here I come" Mike was trying to encourage himself with those words.

He took his time to concentrate but no good. A faint glow was seen.

"Very good Mike" William tried to cheer him up but it wasn't needed because he didn't take it to his heart.

Mike returned to his seat and all other students also got their zi checked but all of them got only faint glow.

"Just one student left. Please come and get your zi checked"William said.

A boy wearing black shirt with a skeleton head pic and tight jeans made his way to William.

"What's your name?"

"Rei...Rei Halmes" he replied in a dead tone as if he didn't want to come to college. He wasn't excited or enthusiastic even a bit.

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NOREX: THE BLACK GOD

William: So Rei it's your turn. The focus is the key to glow so try to ......

Same interruption. It was now third time so that William was not surprised at all.

The intense glow but something was off. It was steadily increasing in intensity and then it exploded. No one got hurt but everyone was taken aback.

"My bad.... I tried to hold but.... Sorry"Having no other words

to say,he turned and went back to his seat; leaving whole class including William stunned.

William: (He is the real deal and I thought Esla and Xeron were somewhat special but on seeing him they don't seem close to him).

Esla and Xeron diverted their attention to the boy sitting on the very back seat; watching the sky outside the window, beside his seat.

"The one named Rei"

* * *

"Now all of you, go back to your seats"

Esla sat on her seat. Her seat was adjacent to xeron's seat; on the right side of him while Mike sitting behind Xeron and Rei sitting at the very back.

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

The door opened and a servant holding books in his hands entered the classroom.

"These will be your books from now on so take good care of them"

Servant distributed the books among the students and left the room.

William: "As you can all see knowledge is an essential part of a skilled warrior so sorry to disappoint you but besides learning practically, you all will be studying these books for a whole year. So try your best to understand them and............... Good luck to all of you.

Let's take the roll call. You all are assigned roll numbers on the basis of the timing of your administration forms"

"Roll no. 1 is Dale

Roll no. 2 is Kaller

Roll no. 3 is Falis

Roll no. 4 is Excer

Roll no. 5 is Esla

Roll no. 6 is Lee

Roll no. 7 is Kelin

Roll no. 8 is Klaus

Roll no. 9 is Vestin

Roll no. 10 is Xen

Roll no. 11 is Mavis

Roll no. 12 is Ash

Roll no. 13 is Wally

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NOREX: THE BLACK GOD

Roll no. 14 is Kora

Roll no. 15 is Xeron

Roll no. 16 is Mike

and now the last but not the least. Roll no. 17 is Rei"

After finishing the roll no. issuing thing William asked the students to open their history book Chapter 1. He asked esla to start reading.

Esla

"Long ago; the time when there wasn't any concept of kingdoms. Whole humanity being very few in number lived together in a single place called Callon. They were kind-hearted and caring people. Life was easy and everything was as perfect as it could be imagined. But as they say, nothing lasts forever. Same thing happened to the peace. One day, a dark force rose. Where did it come from was not known but one thing was sure that it wasn't good. He began his rampage. Without feeling any pity, without difference between old and young, men or women, he started bloodshed of anyone who went against him. He began at that time what we all know as the "Dark Age".

But as every night has a fall so did happen that time. To free the people out of their misery, to put an end to the evil rampage and to give people a hope; some people with the enormous amount of power joined the battle against that evil known as Norex.

Norex, also known as the Black God was standing at the summit of power. It wasn't easy for even those mighty warriors to win against him let alone kill him. Having no choice left they were forced to seal him. How did they seal him, where is that

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seal, no one knows about it. The black era ended. Peace was restored. Life went back to its usual routine but one thing was still worrisome. Norex wasn't dead. It is said that Norex is still alive inside that seal and will wake up the day the seal gets broken. If that happens then that day will be the last day of humanity".

With that esla stopped reading as she was interrupted by William sensei. William asked Mike to continue reading, from where esla left.

Mike

"This planet in which we live is filled with some mysteries that no human should ever know about. After sealing Norex, warriors took their leave. People started their normal lives again and as generations passed, people started to forget about that incident and began talking about it as if it was a fairy tale but believe me, it would have been better if it was all a fairy tale.

As time passed the people started living apart and thus the kingdoms came into existence and so did the wars that have happened so far. To fulfil the greed of money, empire and desire humans fell to such depths that they could be called "Norex".

40

6

Xeron vs Esla: I know your secret

"That's it for today. I don't want to burden you people............

Thanks, esla. Thanks, Mike".

"Sensei, is this all about Norex true?" Xeron stood up and asked William.

" Who knows?''William didn't answer the question properly.

" Now all of you, leave your bags here and come with me to the training ground. Just knowledge won't keep you alive in real battles".

"It's finally training time. I am so excited about it. I will not lose to you this time,Xeron"It was like Mike was challenging Xeron.

"Do your best,Mike" Xeron was always there to cheer him up whenever he needed it.

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All the students reached the training ground. Training ground was a simple ground but with tyres hanging down from trees' branches by ropes.

Each student was given 5 red balls which they were to throw and make them pass through the large gap in the tyres. All of them did it easily. Tyres were taken off and circular wooden pieces with their centre coloured red were fixed on the trees' stems.

Each student was given 5 knives and they were asked to hit the wooden boards as close as the centre as they could. Many of them could not even land their knives anywhere on the boards while few knives touched the board and very few made it close to the centre.

A huge applause for esla captured everyone's attention. 5 out of 5 knives hit the centre.

" That was easy" esla bragged.

"Wow..look over there. Xeron has also done it. 5 out of 5 at the centre" a boy's voice diverted their attention towards Xeron.

Esla grinned her teeth.

" I don't see rei here. Do you know where he is?" William questioned all of them.

"Sensei. I asked him to come to practice but he refused" Mike replied.

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XERON VS ESLA: I KNOW YOUR SECRET

William in a surprise asked,"What?"

"I will go take him. You guys continue your practice"

After leaving the students on their own, William went to talk to Rei.

Finding him on the same level as her even at aiming, esla walked towards xeron.

"Wanna compete. To see who is better at aiming?" esla challenged him.

Xeron and Mike were standing close to each other.

"Who? Me?" Mike in a surprise asked esla.

"Not you. I am asking you, Xeron. You and me. To see who is better?"

"No thanks. I have no interest in fighting you" Xeron completely refused her request.

"If you don't want to then accept in front of a whole class that I am far better than you"

"What do you want to prove? That you are better than us all?" Xeron gave a serious look.

"No. That I am better than you. Now make your decision quickly" Esla answered.

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

"(What should I do? I don't think that she will let me go easily. And I don't want to say it in front of the class that I accept my defeat. Should I accept her challenge? There should not be any problem..... Because you have made one fatal mistake.

You shouldn't have chosen aiming. As an undercover imperial soldier, aiming is the first thing that I mastered. Get ready, esla or whatever you are........for tasting defeat.)" Evil thoughts were rampaging his mind.

"OK. I will compete but on one condition. If you lose then you will say that I am better than you in front of whole class loud and clear"

"OK. Then the same condition goes for you too. You should prepare the words that you will be saying soon,xeron" Xeron's condition was accepted without any hesitation.

"Don't worry. I have already prepared words for both of you" Mike interrupted their talk.

"No one asked you" both replied at the same time.

"I, your commentator, Mike am glad to announce the match between Xeron and Esla" Mike continued his commentary," As you can see we have hung the wooden board with rope and will make them oscillate like a pendulum. What you have to do is to hit it as close as the centre while it is moving. Each one of you has been given 5 knives. The more knives close to the centre, the more the chance of winning. Okay then. Let's start the Imperial College of Saints' first year's first day's first intraclass competition"

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XERON VS ESLA: I KNOW YOUR SECRET

The bell rang and the wooden circular board started its oscil-lating motion.

Esla and Xeron both took their time to predict its speed. Again 5 out of 5 for both of them; all at the centre.

Mike: "It's a tie. Let's proceed to the next level. Both competitors have to close their eyes and then hit the target. Starrrtt"

Same results again. 5 out of 5.

  * This xeron guy, not only had he zi on my level but also has an incredible aiming ability. Just where did he learn that?)

  * I didn't expect her to last that far. She surely has potential. If my pride wasn't on the stake, I wouldn't have minded losing but all I can say right now is that I have to win)

"Another tie. What one would expect of two of the top three students on our first day. But we have to end it anyway. There is only one thing left to do. Now turn your backs toward the target and hit it with your eyes closed while the target will keep oscillating but we will stop it from time to time so that none of you can keep up with its periodicity.

" So let's see. Will you be able to do this? Let the..."

Esla: Wait. I cannot do it. It's impossible. How can I hit something that I cannot even perceive? If you don't stop it from time to time then I can estimate its location based on its

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

speed but in this condition. How will I?

"Have you the same thoughts too, competitor Xeron"Mike asked him.

The answer should have been It's impossible to do it but his answer was,

"No, I will do it. Just watch and learn, miss stubborn"

* * *

All the students were shocked at Xeron's announcement.

("It's impossible. How will he do it? Even I cannot").

" So get ready.. And start..."

Time passed as xeron kept on concentrating;with his eyes closed and his back towards the oscillating board. The entire class 1-A was gathered behind Xeron so as to see it happen with their own eyes.

Mike: "10 seconds have passed and as promised, its periodicity has been changed. Will he still be able to do it? Will xeron's knife hit the wooden board? To know all the latest news please subscribe to our channel''

"(It's not like it is impossible to do such a feat. Imperial soldiers can do this with the help of their zi but my zi is not in active state so it is impossible for me.....But......There are other ways

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XERON VS ESLA: I KNOW YOUR SECRET

to do it,like........)" Xeron had covered his eyes with the cloth

himself so he bound the cloth loosely so as to see whenever he wanted to. The wall towards which Xeron was facing,was of glass and gave entire information about what was happening behind it.

It wasn't a fair play but there was no rule that you can't check in the glass.

" It cannot be...It can't be. How can it... How can he" esla was left in a shock as all of them watched the knife hit the centre of the board.

He tricked them all and won the challenge.

"What a marvellous feat done by him"

"I knew from the start that he will win"

"That esla. I don't like her. She is so self-centered" all those voices only made her angrier.

"Now as decided, you will accept your defeat, miss stubborn"

Esla clenched her teeth. She didn't want to but had got no other choice. She took a deep breath,"Everyone. I have something to say to you"

She was putting her all for uttering the words that she thought Xeron would say.

"Stop it." Suddenly she got stopped by Xeron," You don't have to do this for real. I just wanted to show you that there is

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

always someone better than you. I am not merciless" the words xeron spoke ended the challenge and penalty,all of it. Everyone returned to their training leaving esla drowned in her thoughts.

Training continued for 2 hours and after that everyone returned to the classroom.

While in the classroom

William was about to start the lesson when someone knocked at the door and came in.

"You have been called by the principal, William sensei" a servant informed him.

"What's the matter all of sudden?"

"I don't know, sir. I was told to inform you"

"OK............. I will be back soon so behave yourself until then"

saying that, William left the classroom.

On reaching the office, he knocked at the door and on getting permission, entered it.

"You called me sir?"

Principal of the college was an aged person with a long white beard and was wearing a hat. He was sitting on a chair waiting for him.

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XERON VS ESLA: I KNOW YOUR SECRET

"William. As you know, today is the meeting day of all the principals of well-known colleges at the Western City. A senior teacher must accompany the principal but as the previous first year is preparing for its exams so all senior teachers have gone home so if you don't mind, will you accompany me today? We will be back in an hour"

William nodded in agreement. A teleportation device was fitted in the Principal's room as directed by the government. Principal asked him to hold his hand while he enchanted a spell to activate the device that teleported them to the Western city,where meeting was held.

On students' side

"Did you know Xeron that we first-year students are the only ones that are present today as other classes are busy in preparation of their exams ( Mike) so their teachers are also at leave, meaning that there are only a few staff members in the college".

" Where do you even get this kind of information,Mike? Xeron was surprised by his knowledge.

"Well, it is a secret"

"Whatever"

Both friends were busy in talking when revengeful esla butted in.

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

"Xeron. I have something to ask you. Will you give me some of your time?"

It was so much difficult for her to ask him but she gathered every bit of courage that she could summon as she wanted to know the answer.

"What is it? Ask me here whatever you want to"

"I cannot. I cannot do it in front of all of them or it will be a huge problem for you. So accompany me for a moment only. I am waiting for you in the training ground. Don't make me wait because I know your secret" Saying that she walked out of the room.

"( Just what does she want to ask me about? How can she know my secret? I remember never letting myself get exposed then how can she? Calm down...calm down.... I guess I should hear her out)"

"Are you going Xeron?"Mike asked.

"Mm.Hmm. I will hear her out. Don't know what she was talking about but... Wait here. I will be back"

Training ground

"So what is my little secret that you wanted to talk about?"

Esla looked carefully in all directions to ensure that only two of them were there.

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XERON VS ESLA: I KNOW YOUR SECRET

"Your little secret..............................................................................

perial Soldier".

51

7

A harmless stalker

Xeron's eyes widened upon hearing those words. "How can she know?''. He calmed himself and replied in a normal tone like he didn't know what did she point about.

" Imperial soldier? What do you mean?"

"The technique you used earlier to beat me down; I mean "zi detection". Where did you learn that?"

"(So she knew about it. But how? Don't tell me that she is somehow related to Imperial soldiers and they even told her about it. I cannot admit that I cheated so I have convince her by some other way)"

He was as calm as a person who didn't know anything would have been. It was all result of his training that he had gone through.

"Zi detection? What's that? I just wanted to act cool in front of

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A HARMLESS STALKER

all of them so I threw my knife expecting that it might hit the target. That's all there is to. I am sure that you mistook me"

Lying was the best choice. Because if he had admitted it that he knew some kind of technique that enabled him to win the challenge then she would have asked about that technique. Xeron didn't want to take any risk so he lied.

"So you don't know anything?'' Esla gave him a serious look.

"No,I don't" Xeron replied calmly.

"Ok then. Sorry for wasting your time" Esla turned back and started walking away from him,leaving him there alone.

"That was close. It's good that she believed me. Now I have to keep my distance from her" Xeron scratched his head while mumbling to himself,"She can be a hell of a burden. I have attracted the worst girl ever................ If I knew this would happen, I would have just lost"

He was true that he had attracted a huge trouble.

Xeron started walking slowly towards the classroom with his usual style;with his hands in his pockets. Both remained unaware of the third person till the very end. It was none other than Rei. Rei was watching them from the start;sitting on a nearby tree branch; hiding himself in its leaves. He was acting like a ninja but he wasn't one.

"I will find out your little secret soon,Xeron. Just wait and watch"The evil smile could be seen easily on her face.

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

In the classroom

"So what happened,Xeron? Did you clear her misunderstand-ing?"

Xeron sat on his chair before saying anything in reply to Mike's question.

" Yes, I guess so. I hope she leaves me alone now"

Xeron out of curiosity turned back to see Rei but didn't not find him on his chair.

"Looking for rei?" Mike asked.

''Mm-Hmm"

"He went out of the window a few minutes ago"

Mike's answer was quite surprising but Xeron didn't react even a bit.

"He really is an odd guy. Will you believe me if I said that he jumped out of the window?"Mike's face was as surprised as it was when it all happened.

" All the students thought that he fell from the window but I know what truly happened. I was watching him from the start. He deliberately jumped out of it. We leapt towards the window as soon as we could but he was nowhere to be found. I hope he is fine"

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A HARMLESS STALKER

"You are very kind,don't you think so?"

Xeron complimented him but he didn't say anything.

* * *

The college ended at 2:00 pm. Xeron was walking home with Mike,same as the past.

"Today was quite fun. Don't you agree?"

"Well you can say that"

"Well, you know that I was sure about your victory against esla. I knew that you won't lose. Thinking of which that esla is still following us. Does she think that we haven't noticed her yet?"

They turned their heads to look behind and esla hid behind a wall so as not to let them know that she was following them. But actually they knew from the start that she was behind them.

"With this kind of hiding, even a blind will notice her easily. Should we tell her?"

"Nah......I don't think it's a good idea to disturb her when she is

giving her best to follow us. I think we should keep up the act.

Dunno why she is after us?"Mike replied to Xeron's suggestion.

"She isn't after us but only me. Not accepting her defeat, I think.................. Well, it's not like that she will try to enter

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

our house............ It will be over once we reach home"

Within 5 minutes,both reached their homes and thus got rid of Esla.

"I am back"Xeron closed the front door of the house and began taking out his shoes.

"Welcome home" his mom was already in the nearby room waiting for his return.

"Since when have you been standing here waiting, mom?"

"Forget about that. Tell me how was your first day?" Her smile was a precious one especially to Xeron.

"It was good, mom" he also replied with a smiling face.

"Lunch is ready. Tonight we are celebrating on your first day of college. There will be your favourite dishes"

That announcement was enough for making him forget about the stubborn esla.

Xeron walked up the stairs and put his bag on the floor of his room. His room was simply decorated. A studying chair with a table attached, a table lamp, a bed and shelf filled with detective stories and mangas.

He hurried as he started having hunger pangs. Xeron was always like this; a meal lover. He would eat any kind of food leaving vegetables alone. They were like enemy troops for him.

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A HARMLESS STALKER

Xeron's mom was talking to someone on the phone while Xeron enjoyed his lunch. It was "Mechado" today; one of his favourite dishes.

"Mom sure loves me the most. It's so tasty. I can even tolerate that esla for the "Mechado*".

[* Mechado is a beef dish originating from Spain. It is often served in the Philippines, a former colonial realm of Spain. Soy sauce and calamansi juice are often added to the marinating liquid]

"What are you saying? Why would we mind.On the contrary,we would be happy"Xeron's mom said to someone on phone,"Yes, 8:00 pm would be fine. Yeah, take her with you too. We were having my son's first day at college celebration party but as they say "The more the merrier.Yeah........ I will send you the address.

Okay then, we will be looking forward to your arrival"With that she put down the phone.

"Is someone coming, mom?"

"Yes. The new neighbours that I had gone greeting when you came back are coming to our house for tonight's dinner. They want to strengthen the bonds as neighbours so they asked about it. Sorry, Xeron....................... We were to have

your celebration party tonight but I couldn't just refuse their suggestion"

"Are you angry,Xeron?"She made a crying face and would have cried if he hadn't calmed her down.

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"There is no way I will ever get angry at you,mom. As you said earlier, "The more the merrier". And I also wanted to meet them. It's good to have good relations with your neighbours. Am I right?"

His mom leapt forward and took him by her arms.

"Xeron?? You really are a good boy. I really am proud of you. You really have gotten your mother's good traits"

Her grip was so tight that he started to choke,

"Mom, I cannot breathe"

"Sorry, Xeron"

58

8

Invitation and party

Cheersome mike opened the door of his house quietly, closed it and took out his shoes without making any noise. The reason he was doing all that was his mom.

"Slowly... Slowly..."Those words he kept on reminding himself.

He was taking short steps putting his feet slowly on the wooden floor so that no one would notice his footsteps.

"Stop there,young boy. You are arrested for sneaking into my house"

A familiar voice blew away his hard work.

"Guess I lose his time too, house queen"

This was a funny way to address his mother who was holding a paper in one hand and wallet in the other.

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NOREX: SUMMIT OF POWER

"Did you really think that I didn't inspect about your college timing? Did you think that you can fool me when you lied about your college ending time? You are thousand years behind to achieve such a feat,young one"

"But mom, you know that I don't want to do this. I lied because I knew that you will ask me to do this the moment I return home"

"So you are saying that I should go and do this instead" she clenched her right hand and punched it into the palm of the left hand while having a devil like smile on her face,"You have got quite a nerve to say something like this"

"Hum..Umph..."Mike mustered up his courage because he needed every ounce of it to say what he was going to,"I am a college student now. I don't fear you. If you want me to do this job then make me"

Mike had just said something that he shouldn't have. He put his every bit of courage into saying that, thinking that this would save him from doing that job and would put a pressure on her mom but he made one fatal mistake.

And that was His choice of enemy. He would have won if it was anyone other than his mom.

"Why do I have to do this every day? I finally said that and now this happened to me. Is there no law in this country that can save me from this misery?"

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Mike whose whole face was swollen due to the punch he took from his mom, was carrying a white coloured bag containing a paper full of ingredients to be bought and some money in his pocket that she got from his mom;to buy those ingredients.

It was a daily task for him, to buy ingredients for the dinner and he would try to escape from this inescapable prison every day, never learning his lesson.

"One day, I will become a graduate from the Imperial College and then we will live a leisure life; one free of this ingredient buying life. We will have so many servants that.............."

He clenched his fist with brightness in his eyes, indicating his faith in his dream.

He went to the meat shop first.

"Welcome, dear customer" the owner of the small meat shop greeted him while bowing his head a little.

To Mike's surprise, one of his classmates was already there buying some ingredients. Mike reached him.

"O' hello,dale!"

Dale was roll no.1 of Class 1-A.

Dale turned his face towards him, watched him closely and then again began to check the ingredients.

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"(He didn't even say anything. How rude can someone be? I have to do something. Yes, I have to.)"Mike didn't let his rudeness affect him.

Despite dale showing complete disinterest in him,Mike contin-ued,

"So you are buying the ingredients too! It is a big burden, don't you think?"

Mike kept smiling hoping that he would respond to his ques-tion.

"I am sorry but do I know you?"

The question destroyed his hopes completely.

"I am in the same class as you. How can you not recognize me?" Mike yelled. He was crying from the inside.

"Sorry! But in such a large class I cannot remember all the people"

"We are only 17 people in the class; 16 people other than yourself. Is 16 that large for you?"

"So this excuse isn't enough!" Dale murmured to himself.

"Sorry for not remembering you, mister...? Mister swollen face!"

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"Who are you calling mister swollen face? My name is Mike. Don't call me by that name again! Everyone in the class knows about you. The one who was the shyest person today. The one who got too nervous while talking to someone"

"I di-iii-d my best to talk but my tongue doesn't obey me when I am in a crowd"Dale was looking in other direction,trying to escape the eye contact with mike.

Mike let out a loud laughter.

"It's nothing. It's just that... It... I... That... Me....."Dale's words

were meaningless but they gave mike hint about the situation in which he was trapped.

"So you have social interaction problem? Nothing to worry about!"Mike stated dale's problem in front of him.

"How did you know? Do you have any psychic powers that let you know what others are thinking?" Dale brought his face so close to Mike's that it could creep anyone. Mike stepped back a little.

"You can say that. I, the grandson of the 10th generation of the descendants of the great mighty Oracle, mike hereby am right in front of you. You should be thankful that I took time out of my busy schedule to come here. I already knew that you will be here so I came up to solve your social communicating problems"

"Really?"Dale asked with his eyes glittering with hope.

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"Really, really"Mike said in a proud way.

"You are lying about Oracle stuff"Dale's expression suddenly changed into a serious one as he said those words.

"Anyway.I, Mike will help you with your social problems. Just leave them to me and don't worry about anything"

"Guess I don't have any other choice.Thank you very much,mike. I am looking forward to your teachings"

"Hmmphh! Sorry to interrupt you but do you have anything to buy? If not then go outside to discuss your matters"

The emotional scene was broken into pieces by the cold compliment of the shop owner.

* * *

"I am back, mom" The words that conveyed his tiredness were the first ones to be spoken by him as he opened the door of the living room where his mom was sitting on the sofa; watching a drama on T.v.

"Thank you, Mike. You brought all of the ingredients I told you about?"

"Yeah.. All of them are in this" he pointed his left index finger towards the plastic bag he was carrying in his right hand.

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He put the bag on the carpeted floor and sat on the sofa beside her. He was tired from all the work and wanted to get some peaceful rest time. There couldn't be any worse time than this; the telephone bell rang as soon he closed his eyes. His mom jumped in that instant to reach the the corner of the room that was farthest from the telephone.

"Go get the phone,mike. You know the rules: The one closest to the phone picks it up"

A cruel and lazy mother used his son to do the work as usual.

"Mom!I am tired"

"But rules are rules. Now go pick it before the call ends"

Mike stood with an angry expression on his face. He wanted to destroy the phone but it could be some important call so he took a deep sigh to calm down his anger and picked it up.

"Hello... This is Mike speaking. If this is an important call then start talking otherwise, I am putting the phone"

"Don't put the phone, idiot. It's me"

"Xeron.... Sorry... I was really tired and you know....."

"First of all listen to me" Xeron interrupted him,"Tonight we are celebrating my first day of college at my home. You and your whole family are invited and you have to come,no matter what. If aunt has any problem then she can talk to Mom.In short,you

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have to make sure that all of you come tonight"

"Only our families or is someone else coming too?"Mike asked.

"How did you guess?"

"There is much room left for you to grow,Xeron. You are thousand years behind me. So who is it?"

"Someone newly transferred to our neighbourhood. Mom invited their family to tonight's dinner. If I remember correctly then mom said something about their daughter studying in the our college"

"Newly admitted or a senior?"Mike inquired.

"Newly admitted. Let's see who she is?"

"Okay then. I will meet you at your home"

"Tonight. Sharp 8:30 pm. Be right on time. Okay?"

"Yes, your highness.We will be there"

Xeron chuckled and ended the call with a goodbye.

(Wait a minute. If we are going to xeron's home for din-ner......then..... what will become of the food I spent my energy on? It will be wasted. That means my effort was for nothing)

The depressing reality kicked in his mind. He was furious at

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his fate but was helpless against his mom, and of course his fate.

So he decided to give up.

"Mom... Xeron's family is throwing a dinner party at their home"

"Any reason?"

"Yeah... To celebrate their son's first day of college. They have invited us too. And they said that we cannot say no"

"Who is saying no anyway? I am more than ready. Should we go now?"

"It is at 8:30. We have much time left. You know what,mom?"

Mike addressed her with a sobbing face.

"Mom... What will become of the food I bought? I spent my entire energy on it"

"The food! Don't worry about it. I will make sure that street dogs eat it all"

"It is no use talking to you though" Mike murmured.

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing important. You take your time to watch your drama. I am going to my room for some rest. When the time comes, wake me up"

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"Ok. Have a good sleep"

Xeron's home

"I told him, mom. They are coming"

"I should start making dinner then. I cannot mess tonight's dinner"

"By the way,mom... Are you sure their daughter also goes to our college?"

"Yeah... Her mother told me that she was going to start her first year today"

"But why are you asking? Did you meet her?"

"No, I didn't. But I want to know if she is our neighbour. That's all there is to"

"I have to hurry... I have to hurry" she ran towards the kitchen.

Few minutes before 8:30 p.m

The main door of xeron's house knocked. Xeron leapt towards the door. On opening the door, he found Mike and his mom standing in front of him.

"Welcome, aunt... You too, mike. Please come inside"

"Who have we here? Welcome home, Mike's mom" Xeron's

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mother hurried up from the kitchen and hugged her.

They were both close. They beside being neighbours were good friends too. They came to know each other 9 years ago; when they shifted here and mike befriended Xeron.

"Mike nii!"

"Zess!"

Zess and Mike hugged in joy.

Xeron's mom: "Come. Let's sit in the living room until they come"

Mike's mom: "By they, you mean the new neighbours?"

"Yeah. I invited them too. I thought it will be best to know each other well"

"You are right about that" she looked at the clock hanging on the wall of the living room and said," So when are they gonna come? It's 8:29 already"

"Don't worry. They will be in their way"

The main door knocked to catch their attention,

"I will go" Xeron stood up from his place.

"No, we should all go to greet them. It will be better" Mike's

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mom's idea was acted upon after being approved by xeron's mom.

All of them stood right in front of the door(From the inside) while Xeron opened it.

A woman, alone, was standing there.

"Come on, my little angel. Don't be shy. Say hello to them" the lady was talking to someone hidden behind her.

The hidden person moved from behind to the side of her mom.

Her head was bent downward, facing the ground.

On seeing her face, both Mike and xeron's eyes opened wide in surprise.

"It's nice to meet you" she lifted her head slowly," My name is.................................................... Esla"

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"It's nice to meet you" she lifted her head slowly," My name is.................................................... Esla"

"Yo...u..... You. What are you doing here?" Esla was as surprised

to see Xeron and mike there as were they to see her.

"That's the question we should be asking you. What are you doing here?" Mike asked her.

Except those three, all other didn't know what was going on.

Mike's mom butted in.

"You know her, Mike?"

"Know her! Anyway.... Why is she here, mom" Xeron turned

his face towards his mom, who was still confused.

"Oh... She.... She is the girl I told you about. She is the daughter

of Mrs.Tervier. Now, will you stop it, Xeron?"

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"But mom....This girl!"

"Who are you calling, this girl? I told you. My name is esla. I find it to be your home..... What was your name again? Xallon? Gallon may be..."

"You want to fight again, miss loser. This time I will not forgive you like the last time"

"Who are you calling...."

"Stop it, esla"

"Stop it, Xeron"

Their moms yelled at the same time.

Both stopped arguing and all of them went inside the house.

In the living room were present three sofas. Xeron, mike and esla were made to sit on the same sofa while their moms were on the other. Zess was the sole owner of the third sofa.

"If I knew that it was your house we were going to, I wouldn't have made the mistake to come here"

"You took the words out of my mouth. Don't worry. You can go after you have eaten the dinner. I don't want to make my mom angry"

Both were showing fake smiles and were mumbling to each other so that their moms couldn't hear their conversation;all

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for not to get yelled again.

"You have got a nice house. It's well decorated and well taken care of" Esla's mom praised.

"It's nothing. Your house was also very beautiful, Esla's mom"

"It's because esla helps me a lot. We have maids at our house but I don't like to be totally dependent on them, so I have taught esla all kinds of chores. She is the best daughter anyone could have"

"Esla!" Mike's mom addressed her.

"Yes...." she replied in a gentle and polite manner.

"How was your first day of college?"

She remembered all the things that happened today.... The

zi measuring white ball, her defeat from Xeron and other things.....

"It was good. I totally enjoyed it" she was trying her hard to keep her fake smile.

"I asked Mike the same question and do you know what he replied?"

"What????"Esla asked.

"Mom..... Please!" Mike interrupted.

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"He said, It's confidential, mom. I can't tell you about it all but all I can say is that it was funny to 50 degrees"

"Mooommmm! Why are doing this?"Mike was embarrassed in front of all of them except for Xeron who knew how much funny he was.

"Funny to 50 degrees.... Huhhhh" The one thing they didn't

expect and it was happening in front of their eyes.... Esla was

also smiling at Mike's joke.

"Your son is quite jolly, isn't he?" Esla's mom talked to Mike's mother.

"Yeah, he is. But your daughter's smile is more beautiful than his jokes. She is such a little angel.... Cutie cutieeee..."

"We should start dinner, shouldn't we?" Zess finally talked, reminding them about their real purpose of coming there.

They moved to the room next to the living room. Chairs were arranged around a wooden table. They sat at the chairs and Xeron helped his mom to place the plates full of biryani. Their moms were sitting on chairs on one side of the table while their children on the other side.

As esla took a bite of the dinner, the food made her face lit,"It's delicious, aunt.... It's a masterpiece, no doubt about it"

"Yeah, it has been cooked very well" Esla's mom complimented.

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Mike's mom: "As always, xeron's mom"

"It's good, mom," both brothers said at the same time.

"I feel like I am in heaven. Thank you, aunt" Mike's compliment made everyone smile, including esla.

"(Mike is a nice guy; always smiling. But Xeron is his exact opposite; always serious. I don't get how they became friends)" esla thought.

"By the way esla, how much do you know about cooking? And which is your favourite food?" xeron's mom questioned.

"Not bragging but I can cook most of the dishes. It's all thanks to mom and our maids. They took so much trouble teaching me all the stuff but never backed down. For the second question, if it is something mom made for me, I eat it. But if you are asking for my choice then I like "Fish" and "Roasted chicken".

"(What a nice girl!)" both Xeron's and Mike's mom thought to themselves.

"Are mike and you in the same class,esla?" Mike's mom interrogated her.

"(I have been waiting for this question. Thanks, aunt. I will cherish this chance you gave me) . Yes, we are in the same class, aunt" she said in a soft tone,"I am new to the city and don't know much people. It would be good if I find someone to help me adjust here. I hope I find someone soon"

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Xeron's mom: "What are saying,esla? You are like our own daughter. If you have any problem, you can come here anytime. We will......"

Mike's mom didn't wait for her to complete her sentence and said,

"We are here for you. Mike knows the town very well. You can ask him anything. Mike....."

"Yes mom"

"How cold-hearted can you be? Your neighbour is facing a problem and you are not helping her... Pathetic you are!"

"Xeron! You should help her too...."Xeron's mom said the same

thing.

"But mom...."Xeron tried to resist but......

"No, but what! You are to help her... Do you understand?" her voice was hostile; like she was a completely different person. Xeron had no choice against her.

"Yes, mom" he looked towards esla, who was smiling at them," I will make sure that she gets used to the college" showing a fake smile, he uttered the words he didn't want to.

"(It's a pity for both of you but in the end, you lose and I win)"

Now she had made them her enemies. But she was neither

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tense nor frightened. With a firm resolve, she started the battle.

77

10

Class leader? I want to become

Time= 7:58 a.m

Location: Classroom 1-A

"What does she think she is? She talked so politely to our moms that they took the bait. Just why.... Just why we have to take

care of her?" Xeron yelled. His voice was loud enough to divert attention of other students towards them.

"Sorry everyone. Please continue whatever you were do-ing"Mike acted and calmed the situation,"I am also angry like you are. No, I am angrier than you. First of all, I have to go and buy the ingredients for dinner everyday. Was that torture not enough? I don't mind showing someone college or helping them, but esla...." he sighed and then continued,"She is a bit different from other girls. I don't know what she is upto"

"Speak of devil and here she comes" Xeron spoke while his eyes were looking towards classroom door.

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Mike also diverted his eyes to that direction and found esla there. She was sweating very much and was taking shallow but rapid breaths. She had come there running, that's why she was in that condition or that's what they thought.

She put her bag at her desk and walked towards the duo. They were both ready for what was coming.

"Good morning,guys. How have you been since last night? I know that it would have been hard on you but that's what happens when you mock me".

Xeron chuckled at her statement," Mock you. Don't say such words. You are a hundred years far from reaching my level. And by the way, whose idea was it? Oh... It was you, miss loser"

"What did you say?" esla clenched her teeth like she was ready to bite him.

"I am sorry to interrupt you two but the class has started. Would you mind going back to your seats?" a familiar voice suddenly came out of nowhere. William sensei was standing behind esla. Against him,they had no choice but to obey.

William sensei sat at his chair, took a paper with something written on it out,of his bag. He hadn't read it so he did so and said,"I will take roll call later...... First things first..... Today we are going to choose your class leader"

Students began chatting among themselves upon hearing the announcement.

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"Class leader!!!!

Why don't you try?

No, I can't... You should go for it... I hope we get a good leader..."

"I can't,mike. It's not my style... I don't like fame, you know that" Xeron rejected Mike's proposal of him becoming the leader.

"(Leader???)" esla was in a deep thought. She stood at her seat...

"Sensei.... What authorities do the class leader has" she sat after

asking her question.

"Nice question. I was coming to that part............... The

class leader......The one who will represent this class..... In

every festival, co-curricular activities..... The one who will be

responsible for the whole class behaviour"

"(I shouldn't have asked..... I don't want to be responsible for

everyone's mistakes. Guess I won't be running the election)"that thought crossed esla's mind.

"Hard, isn't it? But that's the hard side of this position..... The

good side is......."

Everyone stopped their own conversations and looked towards him to hear what he was going to say next.

"The good side is............ The special treatment that is bestowed

upon him/her. Our college isn't like any other college. It is one of the best colleges in the kingdom. Thus the rules here

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are different from other colleges. The class leader will get special treatment from the higher-ups on various occasions. For example, in the college tournaments, in annual exams and other decisive battles..... The one who will be a class leader and

will have a good impression on the higher-ups for maintaining discipline in class and working for the betterment of class will be given this treatment. I can't disclose the information about the special treatment but I can say this for sure that you all will need it in the near future. So, is nobody up for the leader's position???"

The sound of students standing from their chairs made William sensei smile a bit.

"Oh!!!!! It seems that some of you have taken my words seriously. Are you ready for it as there is a different way of choosing the class leader in this college. Without knowing what lies ahead, do you still want to continue?"

"Yes, we do"

In front of William, six candidates were standing. They all were hoping to achieve a common thing..... The position of class leader.

Those six were:

"Xeron

Esla

Mike

Rei

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Dale

Mavis

Only one out of you six will be victorious... But I want you to remember this......... This competition will be over after

few days but your image in your friends' minds should not be tainted. Play fair and square. May the best of you win.

William handed over the paper to them, that he took out of his bag earlier and asked them to write their names, their father's name and their roll no. on it.

"Today is Tuesday. It will start on Friday.... You will be told the

rules and the trials on that day... So come prepared"

"Yes,sir" With the firm resolve in their eyes, the six were ready to give their all; for their own goals.

* * *

After College ended

"Okay then, mike" Xeron waved his hand and turned his back towards Mike. They both started walking in the opposite directions. Their houses were at a little distance from each other.

A few minutes later

"I am back, mom" Xeron put his bag on the chair in the living room where his mother was watching a T.v serial.

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"Welcome home, Xeron....... How was your day?"

"Fine....I am so hungry,mom............Give me something to eat

or I will starve to death" Xeron held his belly with his hands and started acting like a starved person.

"Ok...ok.... Don't act like that..Go to the kitchen..... I have

already made something for you"

"You are the best mom, mom" Xeron went racing towards the kitchen with a brilliant smile.

He wasn't hungry. It was his style to make his mother smile. He was just showing his love for his mom, in his own ways.

At the same time, he heard a knock at the door. He left the kitchen and opened the door. To his surprise was standing a per-son that he didn't expect to be there.......................................Reus

Halvor...... The one he was working under; as a secret agent.

His eyes widened in astonishment while Reus with a normal expression on his face greeted him.

Reus Halvor was 23 years old; 8 years older than Xeron but his physique and beauty made him look like a 16-17 year young boy.

"Yo....."

Xeron woke up from his surprise and,"Reus!!!! What are you doing here?" Xeron moved a bit forward towards Reus and closed the front door from outside.

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"What do you mean,xeron. I just came to meet you,that's all" Reus made an innocent looking face and continued,"Look how rough you are to your senior!"

"I told you not to come near my house, didn't I? And yet you came..."

"Relax....relax.... You are always taking everything too far... It's

a bad habit, you know..."

"Reus........"Xeron's face was red with anger.

"Why are you standing outside, Nii-chan"

Xeron removed his attention from Reus and saw zess;who was then standing behind both of them. Zess was coming back from his school. He was carrying his bag and was waiting for Xeron to answer his question.

"Nothing... It's nothing.... We were just talking, that's why"Xe-

ron started panicking.

"Zess! You must be Xeron's little brother...." Reus approached

zess and held his both hands with his hands,"Name is Reus... Nice to meet ya" his smiling face greeted Zess.

"Me too" zess replied with a smile.

"Aren't you in a hurry,reus" Xeron's eyes gave a hostile look. He didn't want reus to meet his family because he knew how he was; that's why he wanted to avoid him meeting his family.

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"Actually I am not. Even if I were, can't I spare some time to be with my friend. Am I wrong,zess?"

"Friend?? But Xeron-nii never told about you..." Zess ques-tioned innocently.

"Yes, he didn't. Actually,my little brother and Xeron were friends in middle school. My brother introduced Xeron to me and since then we have known each each other. But We had to migrate to a nearby city due to some circumstances thus we got separated. I was passing by here so I thought I would meet Xeron"

"So that's what happened"

"Zess!"

"Yes,nii san"

"You would be tired. Go take some rest"

"Ok then, reus nii.."

"I hope we meet again," reus said evilly.

"I hope too"Zess went inside the home.

Xeron made sure that zess had closed the front door and they were finally alone so to continue their chat.

" What do you think you did just now?" xeron's face was red;

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like it was going to burst.

"I just met your brother. Is greeting someone a bad thing?"

"I don't know what you are thinking right now in your mind but remember this,reus... Come near my family more than this and I will cut my ties with you" his serious face and rash words made reus drop his smile that he was showing up til then.

"Okay, Xeron.................. By the way, I was here to talk

something serious with you" Reus's tone suddenly changed into a serious one.

"What is it now?"

"The drug dealing case that you took care of............................It

seems that they were nothing but small sand grains. Their information wasn't that big too. We only managed to catch some small fries. The real boss is still roaming freely"

" So do you have any lead on them? Who is our next target? " Xeron inquired.

"Nothing right now, but my spies are on it. We will find something very soon. I need you to be ready for it"

"To exterminate evil, I am always ready" his eyes showed firm resolve. His words conveyed how serious he was about it.

"Okay then, I will be going now. A head officer's job is never-ending. See ya" Reus waved his hand while turning his back

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towards him and walked away from his him.

Xeron turned back and went into his home.

"Is your friend already gone, Xeron?" Xeron's mom asked him while washing the plates in the kitchen.

"Yes, mom. He suddenly remembered something and had to go, otherwise, there is no way that I wouldn't have invited him inside"

"If he was in a hurry then it cannot be helped"

Xeron went up the stairs towards his room. He closed the door from inside the room and when he was sure that no one was in the room, he took the clock fitted on the wall. He took a screwdriver and opened all its screws. He opened the clock into two parts. Inside the clock was hidden a small transmitter.

He put the transmitter in his right ear and pressed the small button in the centre of the transmitter.

Somewhere else

A boy,of the same age as of Xeron was sitting on a chair and in front of him were placed 5 computers side by side. His ears were covered with headphone.

"Incoming call from Devil"

Those words suddenly appeared on the middle computer's

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screen. He pressed a key and said,

"Who is it?"

"It's me.... The devil...."

"How are you? It has been a long time, isn't it?"The boy replied.

"Sorry for disturbing you again but I have an urgent piece of work for you"

"Oh!" He smiled and said,"What is it?"

"Xeron's tone turned into a serious one and he said,"I need you to hack Imperial Army database"

"Sounds interesting" his evil smile conveyed his approval.

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11

The riddles

Esla and mike were the first ones to find out the answer and thus they hurried towards their goal. While the other two teams were still pondering over the cards they have.

"Answer is in the cards themselves! In the cards?" No answer was coming to his mind then he suddenly remembered some-thing."How can I forget? This may be the answer"

"Did you find the answer,xeron?" Xeron came back from his thought because of dale's question.

"I have a plan. This might work"

"Sensei, can I get a lighter?"

"Lighter? What is he gonna do with it?" everyone was waiting for what he had planned.

"William took a lighter out of his side pocket and handed it over

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to xeron" William wasn't a smoker so it was odd for him to carry a lighter in his pocket."Xeron turned it on and held the card's backside above the flame. The heat of the flame started to reveal the words one by one that were hidden in the card. Within half a minute, the whole backside was filled with words that couldn't be seen before. The words said,

"You have done well. Your next riddle is in the Chemistry lab 3"

"Let's go, Dale. We are already late"

"Mm-Hmm"

The second team also departed from the starting point. Only one team was left. They could have just followed Xeron's team but rei didn't approve it. Even if they had then they would have been stopped by Laren sensei because the rule was to figure out your own answer.

"Shall we go too?" Rei asked his teammate.

"Do you know the answer?" She asked confusedly.

"From the start.....................................I knew the answer

from the start"His voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone.

"Whhaatt!!" Rei's answer surprised not only her but everyone else too.

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THE RIDDLES

"I just wanted to see whether other teams will be able to figure it out or not; that's why I kept quiet all this time, just to see their potential......Let's go then" Rei began to run in the direction;away from them all.

"Wait for me, rei" Having no choice and not understanding anything, she also began to run behind him.

"So he knew???" Laren smiled faintly,"It will be a worth watching match"

"Turn on the big screen" As soon as William uttered those words, the ground split into two and a large T.v came out emerging from under the ground and started showing about the three teams.

"Our cameras are already set on each team. You can watch them solving their tasks from here" William briefed the students about the situation.

Mike and Esla

2-3 Classroom

They started checking the 4th row and in the middle desk found a note. The note said,

Next location is in the riddle which is:

Which Wiseman wasn't so wise.

"Wiseman not so wise?? I really don't get any of these riddles.

What about you, Mike" frustrated esla asked her partner.

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"Wiseman not so wise!! Wiseman but not a wiseman? Who could that be?" Mike pondered.

Xeron and Dale

Chem lab 3

They began searching chemistry lab and found a note present in a beaker. The note said,

Glad that you cleared the stage Who is the true king of cage?

"King of cage?? Lion?" Xeron said in a questioning way.

"No....I don't think so"Dale disagreed with Xeron's answer.

"What's the reason?"

"Reason is that the riddle said True king of the cage. Lion trapped in a cage has lost his freedom and is now under the humans....Under the mercy of the keeper of the cage......."

"Keeper of the cage? But there is no zoo or park in college. Does it indicate the gatekeeper of the college?" Xeron asked dale who seemed to be thinking something.

Rei and Mavis

Locker room

"Rei! I am talking to you. Cannot you tell me why we are here?" Mavis was super pissed with his behaviour.

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THE RIDDLES

"This should be the answer"Rei suddenly stopped near the locker room.

"Locker room? How is it?" Mavis asked while still catching her breath from all the running that she had done.

"The pairs were the key:

1&4

2&6

3&5

Numerically, the order is 1,2 and then 3. So if we take their partner's number in the same order and then write the pair of 1&4,2&6 and then 3&5 in a line then we get,

142635

Here 1=Floor no.

4=No. of locker

2635= Password of the lock

Do you get it now?"

Mavis's mouth was wide open upon hearing his answer;same as what happened with esla.

"Did you really think that much?"Mavis's compliment was more like a question.

"What are you saying? It was quite easy? I made a mistake for keeping my hopes high about the class leader test" he had the same serious look on his face. His seriousness somehow made him look cool. Was it for fashion or some other thing;it was not known.

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"Cool.... I thought you were a creepy guy but you actually are

so cool. If I were alone then there is no way that I could solve it. Good for me that you became my partner"She said it without giving it a thought first.

"We should hurry. Other teams are already ahead of us" Rei walked a bit towards the locker no.4 and entered the password. The locker opened as hoped and found an audio device in the locker. Voice came out of that device which told them about their next task,

Answer me this riddle:

What can run but never walks

Has a mouth but never talks

Has a head but never weeps

Has a bed but never sleeps

What is it?

"Another crazy question! I am doomed" Mavis began panicking. She thought it to be the end for her but she suddenly remem-bered Rei,

" What's the answer, rei? You know the answer? I know that you know... Tell me what is it.... Tell me" she began disturbing him.

"Calm down, will ya? Let me think"The challenge had just begun for all of them.

* * *

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THE RIDDLES

All the three teams had engaged in battle with the second riddle. In meantime,students sitting in the training ground started to bet on their favourite team. The only things they bet were either small amount of money which they could have easily restored or a bet where winner would eat his favourite dishes in a restaurant with the bill paid by the losers. Anyway it wasn't something that teachers needed to stop so they let them do it.

Mike's team was having highest supporters due to their first start, Rei's team was on second number with respect to sup-porters due to his deep thinking of the last riddle and Xeron's team was the last. Now coming back to the teams.

Mike and Esla

"We should understand the meaning hidden in this phrase,"The wise man who wasn't so wise" mike said while scratching his head.

"The wise....... And not wise....... Doesn't it mean that to be

and not to be at the same time....... Meaning that something is

and not at the same time" esla replied.

"Is and not? Lie!!!! Answer is lie....(Mike)A lie is thought to be

true by the person who is told while it is not thought to be true by the person who is telling a lie"

"It might be the answer but what relates to the word lie"esla inquired.

" Lie??? Lie??????" Mike's eyes suddenly widened as though he

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remembered something,"The tale of quack;who pretended to be a doctor but was not. Quack relates to medicine and medicine relates to the Infirmary of the college"

"This should be the answer,mike. We should hurry to Infirmary"

"Mm-Hmm. Let's go" Having figured out the riddle, Esla's team took one more step towards finishing line. While on the other side,

Xeron and Dale

"What does the keeper of the cage indicate to?" Xeron ques-tioned.

"The cage keeper? I have heard it somewhere before or to be more precise, I have seen it but where? Where did I see it??????????Cage keeper???????"Dale wasn't remembering where he had seen it.

"(First of all,We were the second team to depart and on the top of that,mike is in the first team and we are stuck in this riddle. Just why didn't the authorities make it a fighting match or something else; it would have been easier than solving these riddles"Xeron started complaining in his mind,"But nothing can be done now. We have to figure out the answer quickly and beat the other teams)"

"That's it"

"What is it,Dale? Did you remember anything?" Xeron wanted to hear some good news from him.

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THE RIDDLES

"Yeah,I remember...... It indicates to name of a book whose title

was,

The cage keeper and the other stories" by Andre Dubus

III

"What you want to say is that our next clue will be in the library, in this book?"

"Yeah I think so"

"Let's go then"

The second team upon finding the answer of their riddle heads towards the library. Only third team is left now.

Meanwhile Mavis and Rei

"It can run but never walks

Has a mouth but never talks

Has a head but never weeps

Has a bed but never sleeps

"Just what does it mean? Do you have any idea,rei?"Mavis didn't even try to disturb her mind. The 3rd team was relying completely on Rei alone. Mavis couldn't even think of anything close enough to the answer and rei knew about it. He knew that it was up to him to figure out that answer as well.

Rei had no time to waste answering her ridiculous and time con-suming questions so he kept on ignoring her,"Head....Mouth...Runs...We What could it be?"

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"This test is really tiring. I used my brain and stamina too much. I am really tired right now. I need water....Why isn't here any water source" Mavis kept on complaining.

"Will you please stop it? I am trying to......." Suddenly a thought

went through his mind, "Water...... Water in the river.... That's

it"

He turned his face towards the audio device and said, " Answer is River"

"Correct...... Congratulations on clearing the second stage.

Now is the last riddle. Solve it and go to that place"

While at the same time, team 1 reached the infirmary and found a note. The 2nd team reached library and found a similar note in that book. The last riddle was same for all 3 teams. The riddle said,

What's always the last thing to mend

The middle of middle and end of the end

The answer leads to a place. Go there.

The last riddle....... The last step to their goal. There was no

time to waste so everyone started thinking as soon as the riddle ended.

In the training ground

"You chose the last riddle to be this simple while all other riddles were difficult ones. Why,sensei?" William asked Laren while

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THE RIDDLES

still keeping his face towards the large T.v and a gentle smile on his face.

Laren only smiled as his answer.

While the teams

Esla and Mike

"It's so easy,mike. The alphabet D is in the middle of middle,in end of the end and is also the last alphabet of the mend...... D means D building. We should hurry before others reach there"

"This should be the answer. Let's go,esla"Without thinking deeply,1st team was on its way to their goal.

Xeron and Dale

"Answer is alphabet D,dale!!! Let's go" Xeron was happy that they got the answer so quickly. He was sure that there was still some chance due to this easy riddle that they could win.

"Mm-Hmm1Let's go," Dale replied.

Mavis and Rei

"D building,rei. Even I can solve this"Mavis said proudly as if she was solving the riddles uptil then. "What are you thinking? We are already behind them so let's hurry or we will lose"

"Nothing... Let's go"Upon having received Rei's approval,team

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3 also embarked on their journey towards D-building.

Training ground

"Well, before answering your question about why I made the last riddle so simple, you have to answer my question first,will ya"Laren sensei said to William.

"Sure,sensei"

"Then tell me, William.... What do you think is the best time to

hunt an animal?"

A brief pause and then William answered,

"When it has its guard down"

"Correct answer. The same is happening to these candidates. That let their guard down"

William had doubted him from the very start that he would do something odd but the three teams were unaware of the trap that was laid for them.

"Your riddles are as hard as they were before,sensei. I hope they figure it out"

Three teams without realizing the mistake they did were approaching the D building.

100

12

Today is the day

Friday 8:30 a.m

Training ground

"So, are you all ready?" a loud voice of an unfamiliar person made everyone alert. Before the six candidates were standing two men: William sensei and another person. The remaining class was sitting on the benches; waiting for the same thing as were the candidates.

"My name is Laren Kollive" the man standing beside William introduced himself. He had short white beard which indicated his old age and with a serious expression on his face he said,"I will be the judge of your competition today. Put one thing in your minds clearly....."

His voice was frightening already but he took it to a different level and continued saying,"I will examine you all strictly to see that whether you are capable of leading the whole class or you are just playing around" His voice was scary enough to send

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the chills down the spines of the candidates; except for the Rei who was still standing with an emotionless face.

William and Laren moved slightly to the sides so as to reveal what was hidden behind them. The revealed item was a square wooden box with a hole on its top. The hole was wide enough for the hand of a man to pass through.

"What is this? What is the first match going to be?" Those were the thoughts that everyone was having at that time.

"It's like a lottery.......... There are cards in the box, from no.1 to

no.6. Each of you will come, take out one card and will return to his/her place. You cannot show the number of the card until all of you have a card in your hands. When the last card will be taken out then you all will show your card no. to all of us. Each card has another no. written on its upper right corner....

It will be your partner's card no. For example, if you took out card no.2 with 5 written on its upper right corner then the one who ho has card no.5 will be your partner for this test. If card no.2 has 5 on its upper corner then card 5 will definitely have 2 on its upper right corner..........

Is this clear to all of you?" Again a loud voice emitted by him.

"Yes, sir" candidates, standing still, answered.

"OK then, start from right to left in the order that you are standing, come and take out your card"

On the rightmost was standing Rei thus he approached first,

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took out a card without hesitating or thinking anything and went back. Next were Mavis, Mike, Esla, Xeron and Dale in the same order. When all of them had a card in their hands, they were asked to show their card number. They held the cards with their number side towards the audience and the judge.

"So then, the pairs have been decided......

Card 1&4: Xeron and Dale

Card 2&6: Mike and Esla

Card 3&5: Rei and Mavis

" W-what?" Esla's voice was easy to hear......

Mike looked towards her and said,"I know that I won't be of any help to someone like you but I would give it my all for our team... So, let's work together" Mike's words calmed her a bit and she thought,"Well it's better than any other candidate here. He may come handy"

"OK..... It's nice to be your teammate" esla smiled having no

other choice.

"Xeee..rrr...ooon" It was none other than dale.

"Let's work together for the betterment of this team" xeron said in a normal way;neither smiling nor a serious expression but a simple one.

"Ookkk..." Dale answered in his usual way.

"Hi, Rei.... My name is Mavis... Let's give this match our all"

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Rei didn't speak a word as if he didn't want to talk to her. He continued his usual stiff and serious expression.

"So without wasting any more time, let's start the test......."

The six were ready to hear what they have to do.

"What are you still doing here,brats? The test has started.....

Move... Move..."

Everyone was puzzled by his words. The test had started but since when? Someone needed to ask him so it was done and it was mike who broke the silence,

"Sir.............. Sorry to say this but we don't understand what

we have to do" he asked in a humble voice.

"I know you don't know.......... You have to figure out yourself

what your task is"

His words weren't making any sense. " The only thing I can help you with is..... by giving you a hint" he stopped for a moment

and then,"And the hint is in the cards themselves. The rest is up to you to figure it out. That's all"

"Hint in the cards" that's what all the candidates thought. They checked both sides of their cards carefully but couldn't find a single clue.

"Isn't it too difficult for these children, Laren sensei?" the young teacher William asked the 50 years old Laren; while

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still maintaining his smiling expression.

"Do you think so,William? You seemed to be lenient with your previous class so I was asked to conduct this test instead of you. But to think that they can't even figure this simple riddle. The children of today sure have slacked off. They need a proper beating otherwise they won't learn anything.....It's for their

own good"Laren face was serious all the time as he didn't know of any other expressions.

"(Some people never change)" William's smile increased a little bit,"(But even if he is thinking about them, it's difficult for these young ones........ I hope they don't lose their hope)"

Silence had taken over the whole audience. They were anxious to see who will be first to find out the answer.

"I think I know the answer,esla"So mike was the first one to figure it out.

"Really,Mike" esla grabbed his hands in excitement,"Then what is it? Tell me....."

"Okay...okay... Well I put the pieces together and found the answer"

"(Tch.....Bad luck. If Mike was in my team then our victory

would have been certain but that isn't happening now. Mike is a nice guy and doesn't seem to be somewhat special but when it comes to these things, he becomes special.........It cannot be helped now. I have to find the answer too") Xeron turned his

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attention away from mike and esla and began discussing with dale about what to do.

" The answer is in the pattern......"Mike whispered to her so as no one else could hear their conversation.

"In the pattern, you say........." Esla was shocked. She hadn't

even thought about it so she had to ask him. Thus without any further delay, she asked him to explain it to her.

"Well the pattern of the pairs is:

1&4

2&6

3&5

If we take the difference of them each then we get the answer.

4-1=3

6-2=4

5-3=2

By arranging them in ascending order, we get 234. In my guess, 2 is a class year, 3 is that 2nd year's 3rd batch and 4 is its 4th row... Meaning that the next clue is in the 4th row of the room of 3rd batch of the 2nd year. The second year isn't coming to college due to their annual exams so it could be the answer as their room will be empty....... What do you think?"

Esla's jaw dropped upon hearing his explanation, ("Was he always that smart? I thought him to be a fool or something but he is super intelligent. Good thing that I ended up with him")

Esla was busy in her thoughts until mike ended them, "Esla....

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Esla.... Why are you spacing out? We need to hurry"

"Mm-Hmm! Let's go, partner" esla said with a smile. It wasn't a fake but a 100% genuine smile that mike deserved after solving that riddle.

"Mm-Hmm, let's go"

"Look there......Mike and Esla are the first to solve the rid-

dle......"

"Oh! So not all the students are a fool I guess" a devilish smile appeared on the face of the always serious Laren Kollive as he saw them running towards the main building.

107

13

It's a gamble

Three teams without realizing the mistake they had done were approaching the D building.

"(Something is wrong. The first two riddles were harder than this. Then how could the last one be that simple? Is it a trap? Maybe!)" That's what rei was thinking while still keeping his pace with Mavis who was running like a wild animal.

"We will win this match. We will" she was running at quite a good pace. No one could say she was the same girl who was exhausted a few minutes ago.

Rei suddenly stopped. Mavis noticed that and she stopped too and asked him the reason why he stopped.

"It's a trap"

"Trap? I think you are thinking too much now, rei. Victory is in front of us. We are very close to D- building"

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Xeron and dale

"What do you mean by trap, dale?" Dale stopped Xeron in the midway saying that he thinked of the answer as a trap.

"Think carefully, Xeron. The first and second riddles were so difficult but the last one; the one who would decide the winner of this match. Don't you think it's too simple to swallow"

Xeron pondered over it and agreed with his thought.

Mike and esla

"So what should we do now? If it isn't D-building then what is it, Mike?"

"It cannot be D-building but the riddle cannot be wrong. We are just not looking at it from the right perspective,esla"

The riddle said,

What's always the last thing to mend

The middle of middle and end of the end

"Just what are we missing?"

Training ground

"They all have stopped, sensei. Looks like they have seen through your plan. In my opinion, today's children are not that bad. They enjoy their teenage but there are precious gems

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present within them. It's our job as their teachers to refine them and make them a good civilized citizen" William smiled a bit more atop of his continuous smile,that was with him ever since the match started.

Laren didn't say anything in reply. His serious face as serious as usual.

"All students are betting on their favourite teams then I bet on Mike's team" William said.

"Gambling is prohibited. You must be joking, William" his death glance made William take his words back.

"Of course, I was joking. You take words too much serious, sensei"

William somehow managed to escape from the situation un-scathed.

Mike and esla

"The middle of middle........ The end of the end???????" Mike

and esla kept repeating the words but nothing was coming to their minds.

Dale and Xeron

"Middle and end are referring to some sequence, that's for sure but what sequence?" dale was also having trouble solving that riddle.

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IT'S A GAMBLE

Rei and Mavis

"Mend is giving the meaning of repairing here. To repair something.... But what?" Rei was occupied by his thoughts

while Mavis was sitting at the ground looking at rei hopelessly. She again went into her panicking state but rei had no time to waste on her.

"Laren sensei wants to say something to you candidates so listen carefully" a loud voice came from the speakers fixed on the walls. They stopped their thinking and were waiting for what Laren had to say to them.

"All of you are..........................................................." he

paused and then yelled," Stupid teenagers. If you can't solve it then shut up and give up already"

That moment sent the candidates as well as the whole audience into silence. William hadn't predicted such a thing.

"We are doomed.... Doomed! Cannot Laren sensei just help us

a bit? We are kids after all" Mavis started panicking again.

Rei, mike and dale were still thinking something while the other three had nothing in their minds. They were completely at their partner's mercy.

"You sure have gotten soft over all these years, Laren sensei. Why did you help them by giving them the clue?"

Laren didn't answer William's question as he didn't want to

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admit it.

"(Well, he has given them a big hint. It shouldn't be hard for them to figure it out. But I wonder who will be the winner?)" the thought crossed William's mind.

Dale and Xeron

Not all of them were stupid enough to let that chance go.

"Laren sensei has given us a hint, Xeron"

"Hint? What hint?"Xeron asked dale.

"Laren sensei said teenagers and teenage is a part of human's life sequence. That means we have to consider human age sequence for solving this riddle"

Mike and esla

"Childhood, adulthood and old age are three parts of a human's life. Riddle said about the middle of the middle. (Mike) The adulthood is the middle of life cycle and teenage is the centre of adulthood; meaning the middle of the middle"

Rei and Mavis

"But what about the word end of the end? (Mavis)Does it means the end of life? I mean to say that the end of the old age is death itself. If old age is right answer then teenage cannot be the answer. What do you think, rei?"

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IT'S A GAMBLE

"No, it isn't like that. The perspective here is different. (Rei) A human thinks that his life is at an end when he leaves the adult stage of life. But when his teenage ends and he becomes busy in his job and family issues; that makes him think that his teenage was the end of life for him. Meaning that end of teenage is the end of the end"

Mike and esla

"I think "The last thing to mend" is referring to character building.(Mike) So, if we join all these then it states,"For character building of the teenagers"

Dale and Xeron

"Character building means discipline. (Xeron) That's mean the answer is Disciplinary Committee Room"

"It might be the answer but....." Dale was not sure that whether

it was the right answer or not.

Rei and Mavis

"What do mean, rei? Explain properly!"Mavis wasn't under-standing Rei's difficult words.

"I am just saying that the answer may be the Disciplinary Committee Room or it may not be"

Rei's words were going over her head so Rei tried to make it clear for her.

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"The discipline doesn't only refer to the Disciplinary Commit-tee.......(Rei) It indirectly refers to the one who is building our characters right now"

Mike and esla

"Then you mean!" esla said with her eyes wide opened;showing her surprise.

"Mm-Hmm!(Mike) It could also mean Laren sensei himself. If that's true then the finishing line is where the starting line was"

Dale and Xeron

"We can choose only one.(Dale) Either to go to Disciplinary Committee Room or go back to the training ground" Dale lifted his eyes and said in a serious tone,"It's a gamble"

114

14

Trust and Win

All the teams have figured out the clue given by Laren sensei but there is a problem........ The clue is leading to two different

locations; of which the only one can be true. Which one will they choose: Disciplinary Committee Room or the training ground. The gamble has started.

Training ground

"Don't you want to say something, William?" Laren sensei asked him.

"You already know my question, sensei. (William) The clue isn't solving anything for them. It's making them think more and more. They have no other choice but to rely on their luck.........."

"Do you think so, William. I think you have misunderstood me. (Laren) The reason why I gave them the clue wasn't because I wanted to help them or anything. That clue was actually the

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last riddle. I would have eventually thrown that clue on them even if they had managed to reach their goal. You know why?" he looked at William and then answered himself,"Because it's necessary for them to learn this"

William thought carefully and figured out the hidden meaning behind his words,"Now I get it. And I thought you had gone soft over all these years but" William ended his sentence in the middle and then said,"Let's watch them do it"

Dale and Xeron

Dale and Xeron were still standing there. They hadn't decided on which place to go.

"We are a team, Xeron. So I would like to hear your opinion about it. Where should we go? To the Disciplinary Committee Room or to the training ground?"

Before Xeron could answer him another announcement was made. It was none other than Laren sensei who was teasing the students to his heart's content.

"Sorry for inconvenience again. I forgot to tell you two important thing and that is........................... Anyone who

speaks to his/her partner from now on until the end of match will be disqualified at that moment........................... The

other thing is............................Only one of you is to become

Class leader so the first to reach the destination will win. Their won't be any teams that will win. Only one person can be the winner. So don't waste your time with your partner and hurry

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up to your victory. And again.......... You can't speak to each

other. Goodbye"

Laren's conditions were enough to make everyone leave their partners behind and hurry up towards the finishing line........................And the response was as predicted.

Rei hurried towards Disciplinary Committee Room while leaving Mavis behind. Mavis didn't understand what was happening so he just panicked and then went in the direction where Rei had gone.

Dale and Xeron saw each other. No one had predicted such a condition. They didn't know what to do. Should they have left their partner and went for one of the two possible finishing lines and prayed for their victory or should they have done something else?

For a moment they were entangled in their thoughts and emotions but then the first move was made.

Xeron ran towards the training ground,hoping that it would be the right place. Dale was thrown into a minor shock due to his partner's betrayal. But as he and Xeron were not that close so it didn't affect him that long.

He controlled his nerves,thought carefully and went towards Disciplinary Committee Room.

Two teams got separated by Laren's conditions. Only one was left and it was not that they weren't affected by it. It was just

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that................

Mike and esla were at the same distance from both the destina-tions. It would have taken them less than 2 minutes to reach either place but it was up to them to find out the correct place.

Mike was standing still facing esla. Mike's back was towards the training ground's direction while Esla's back was towards Committee's Room's direction. No one was moving. It was like they were waiting for the other to make the first move. Both Mike and esla didn't want to leave their partner like that but in order to win,only one person was needed.

Thus esla made the first move and began running towards the training ground. When she was passing by mike,Mike suddenly stretched his arm;forming a barricade in front of her. It happened so fast that she applied brakes to her feet unconsciously.

Mike stretched his other arm too,making the pose of "I will not let you go".

Esla was surprised by his action but she couldn't say anything as it was the rule. She tried to go from the sides but he ran,came in front of her and made his barricade.

Esla tried 2-3 times to make it past him but all in vain. She was unable to pass his barricade. What was the reason behind him doing that was unknown to her.

She clenched her fist tightly as she could and threw a punch

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TRUST AND WIN

yo his face. A kick to side of his belly followed the punch. And then an uppercut. The combination made Mike fall backwards on the ground.

It was excellent chance for her to go and she did the same. But she suddenly stopped. She didn't stop because of her own will but was stopped by Mike who was holding her one leg with his both hands while lying on the ground beaten up.

Esla clenched her teeth in anger and tried to escape her grip with her hands but she failed against Mike's strength.

She began to walk in that state,slowly and slowly while dragging Mike with her. She wasn't heartless. She didn't want to kick him more thus she decided to move towards her destination even if means slowly. There was a high possibility that someone would have reached there in first place and thus would win the match but she had no other way left.

Mike wouldn't let go of her no matter what she did to him. Mike could have just run towards any of the two places but he chose a separate path;to stop esla from going.

Esla kept on watching him being dragged and then when she had walked only a few meters,she finally stopped.

She wasn't deceiving Mike into thinking that she had stopped.

She had actually given on her aim of becoming Class Leader.

What good would it be if I win like this? To abandon my comrade and to hurt him that much......I am such a failure

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as a human.

Those thoughts were the one who made her stop. Seeing her stop,Mike finally let her foot go and began screaming in pain.

If she had given up on going then she could have apologized but she couldn't find the courage to say those words after what she had done to him. What she could do at that time was to give him a hand and help him stand up.

she was looking in another direction when she gave her hand to Mike,because she was too embarrassed to make an eye contact with him.

"Ouch!"That word was evidence of the pain that he had to bear while he tried to stop her.

Esla and Mike waited for Laren's announcement, which was made after 2 minutes.

"All of the candidates are asked to gather in the gymnasium of the college. We will declare the winner there"

Following his orders, everyone gathered in the gymnasium. It was time to announce the class leader. Laren Kollive didn't waste any time and got the point.

"The winner of today's match and thus the class leader of Class 1-A is.................................Mike"

"..................."

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What??Why?? How is Mike the winner? Those were the thoughts of everyone. Laren had to suppress the uproar that had started after he made the announcement.

"Stop your chatters"He yelled at all of them.

Anyway the uproar was suppressed and then he continued,

"All the teams were doing well but the last riddle didn't demand to reach the destination first. There was no specific finishing line,even from the start.....Neither Disciplinary Committee

Room nor Training ground. It was all to see that what will you choose..... Your partner or your victory?

An essential characteristic of a class leader is to lead the entire class;not to leave some of them behind. All of you except Mike failed in that test. That's why he is the winner and you all lost......

Say sorry to partner that you left just for the victory and don't leave even a little amount of hatred in your hearts as you have to study for next 2 years in the same class................Got it"

There was no reason to oppose him and neither did the students do such a thing.

Thus the one who won the match in the end was................Mike,The

class leader of 1-A.

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15

My mom

It was hard for the candidates and some students in the audience seats to swallow it but they had no other choice but to yield. The applause for Mike started his life as a class leader.

In middle of the applause

"(Easy as always,it was!)" the thought started in Mike's head during the applause,"(Esla sure was easy to fool" an unexpected side of mike was revealing itself in his thoughts; without letting others hear it,"I knew that rei was arrogant and wouldn't cooperate with Mavis and Xeron wasn't good in solving riddles. Esla also was dumb enough to get fooled easily. I was only afraid of dale that he would understand the meaning of Laren sensei's words but Xeron played well and didn't give him a chance to think about it. It really hurt. Esla doesn't seem but her punch and kick dealt more damage than I thought. But the title of Class Leader was worth risking. I cannot believe everyone played in my hands so beautifully)" A faint evil smile displayed itself on the innocent boy's face.

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It was unexpected. For Mike to do such a thing. Was there any reason behind it or he was like that fro the very start?

"(I know that it was a risky shot but that was all I could do at that moment. Do you despise me for it? I didn't play dirty or anything. I just played smart. you cannot blame me if you weren't smart enough to figure it out. Don't you think so? You know why I did all this???? Because I needed the class leader's seat more than any of you)"

The twisted mind and innocent caring personality..... The two

opposing entities were residing in a single body.

Laren walked past Mike while whispering something in his ears. No one else heard what he said. Mike's eyes widened in surprise.

The match was over and Mike was the winner; the class leader.

"Well done, mike. Man, you really beat me this time" Xeron complimented him,"I am happy for you, mike. Congrats"

"Thank you, Xeron" Mike exchanged the smile with him and then talked in his usual carefree enjoyable style,"Well you did pretty good too. Want to be my disciple? I will reduce my fee for the sake of our friendship"

Dark aura that he was giving just a moment ago vanished in an instant and it was like he was a completely different person.

Dale and Xeron didn't take,what happened during the match,to

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their heart. They shook their hands. Xeron apologized for breaking the team but Dale was kind enough to forgive him right on the spot by saying that, "I might have done the same thing but I hadn't courage to do it"

"Congratulations, mike" Dale joined them. All of them remem-bered what William sensei had told them before the match started. They wanted to win for their own causes but they didn't build hatred or jealousy inside them just because they lost. They accepted their defeat and started talking like nothing had happened,

"You were amazing, mike. The first riddle that you solved was quite impressive.... Telling you the truth" Rubbing his hair with

his right hand and looking downwards he said,"I couldn't think of anything about it. If Xeron had not solved it with his trick then we wouldn't have made it up to the last riddle" he then lifted his head,"But I am happy. This match helped me a lot"

"Really!"Mike asked.

"While talking to Xeron, I thought that if I can talk with him then I can do it with others too. Thank you, mike. You were the one who had grabbed my hand and asked me to stand up for the leader's position. If you hadn't done that for me then I would have been the same as I was at that time. You are my saviour, mike"

Mike nodded his hands in disapproval,"You don't need to thank me. All I need is your friendship" his usual smile lit made him sparkle like an angel.

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"Mm-Hmm!" Dale replied.

Mike, after few minutes of laughing with them, went towards esla who had a faint smile on her lips while she was staring at the ground.

"Yo!" Mike with his both hands in his pockets,greeted his partner.

"Congrats! You really deserved it" she was trying to cheer up herself with those words but actually she was sad. She wanted to be the class leader for unknown reasons and mike could see that on her face so he said it clearly,

"I don't think that I have any right to say this but................................."

a slight gap and then,"Don't let your defeat take over you. Rise up and win. Show your defeat that who is the boss"

After saying those words, Mike turned back and started walking away from her. He understood that she needed sometime in private to let her feelings out. Unlike everyone else,esla took the defeat to her heart. It was somewhat Mike's fault but he had stopped thinking in that direction.

After 30 minutes, mike was walking at a normal pace towards his classroom which was supposed to be empty at that time because everyone had left for their homes. The door opened and he entered in it. In the classroom,he found a person sitting on William's chair waiting for him.

It was Laren sensei. He had asked Mike to come to meet him

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after he had finished everything.

Mike stood beside him with his eyes were looking downwards as a sign of embarassment while waiting for him to start talking.

"Congratulations on winning the match"

Mike didn't say anything in reply. He just lowered his eyes a bit more.

"No one managed to see what you did there, mike. It was quite impressive, I would say. If you had done that in front of me 10-15 years ago then even I couldn't have been able to see through your plan"

Mike kept his silence.

"You tricked us all. Using Esla as a pawn so as to win wasn't a bad idea. You know hy I didn't humiliate you in front of all students?''

Mike didn't have the answer to his question so he answered himself.

"Because your intention was not wrong and I felt it. That's why I want you to tell me why you did that?" Laren's serious voice and Mike's silence both were not good for Mike.

"My dad, sensei"

".....!"

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"My dad is no longer in this world,sensei He died 6 years ago. My mom is my only family. We are not poor but we are not that rich too. You can say we are between these two categories. My mom hasn't got any job so she sews clothes. We sell them at the cloth shops and that's how she earns living for us. The reason I enrolled in this college was because it was cost-free. I wanted to help my mom by doing part-time jobs but she didn't let me do it"

Laren was listening carefully to his explanation or should I say, feelings and emotions of a child who always kept them hidden behind his smile.

"She is very strict about this..... So the only way I can help her is

by the prize money or the scholarships. I heard it from someone that the class leader gets a special prize; whole year's monthly scholarship. That's why I applied for it and that's why I did all that.... I know that it was bad to use her for my own benefit but

I was helpless" his voice trembled and tears flowed down from his eyes. The pain he was holding to himself was revealing itself at that time. "I want to see my mom happy. I have watched her work till late at night...... I have watched her wear the same

old clothes both in summer and winter..... Whenever she visits

someone, she wears a finely prepared dress; the dress is used only for such occasions and not on daily basis. I want her to wear good clothes like everyone's moms do" he was weeping like a child, telling Laren about his helplessness.

"All I did was for her sake"

Tears that were showing a child's care for her mother reached

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Laren's heart. He knew that they weren't fake but were the true love of a child for his mother. Laren stood up from his chair, took Mike into his arms and said in a sympathizing tone,

"I cannot bring back your dad. But I can say this........We are

here for you. Make your parents proud of you"

Mike rubbed his eyes and nodded his head in yes.

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16

So this is the power of zi!

Classroom 1-A

"Stand up"

Good morning, sensei"

"Sit down"

The whole class acted in a synchrony under the class leader Mike as soon as William entered the classroom.

It had been three days since the test and there hadn't been any issues about his position. More than half of class was in his favour during the test, others accepted him as they didn't have any other choice while a few were resistant but not rebelling.So in the end, It was going well.

William put his bag on his table as usual and sat on the chair. He looked very young from his appearance and was actually

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the same in reality. He was only 23 years old and had started teaching in the "Imperial College of Saints" just a while ago.

"I have a good news for all of you"William's words succeeded in capturing the attention of all the students.

"The good news is that you won't have to memorize these heavy books from now on"

"Whhaaaa!"

The unexpected words from the mouth of a teacher. His words were like honey to a bear or meat for a starved lion. They were waiting for such a good news to hear but had lost all their hopes. But now they had heard it loud and clear. And from the mouth of none other than their homeroom teacher.

"Really! Will we not have to study those blood sucking and monster sized books that devoured our seniors?" All students were excited at that announcement.

"Yes, you won't have to......... Actually, this is a special treat for

only you people"

William's answer added to their joy.

"What is sensei even thinking about?''Esla said in a low voice that no one else other than herself could hear. She was like this since the start of their first-year class. She always ate her food alone; aside from the others who always ate in groups. Her blonde hair and blue eyes added to her beauty. She wasn't

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trying to be distant from other class members but she wasn't friendly either with anyone except for Mike; who often paid her visits during the break or any free time.

Rei was as always waiting for the sensei to complete his words. He was a young boy with black hair and greenish blue eyes. He always had a serious look on his face. What he was thinking in his mind or what he was feeling at a moment... Those questions were something that no one was able to answer. He was more distant than esla.

"Means that we can stop carrying out books with us from now on?"

An innocent question asked by an innocent looking girl, Mavis. Her hair was black and eyes were brown. She wasn't so smart so relied completely on Rei during the test. She easily panicked over small things but now she was filled with joy upon hearing the heavenly words.

"I think that sensei is about to explain about it?"

Mavis's question was answered by his neighbour seat-fellow, Dale. He was quite lean and wore glasses that indicated his intelligence. It was hard for him to socialize with people at first but during the test, his problem decreased a lot..... Now he was trying his best to become friend with all the classmates.

"The principal held a meeting of all the homeroom teachers yesterday and gave us the full authority about our style of teaching- - - - We are authorized to teach you as we please

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as long as you give us good results"

Mike, the class leader stood up from his seat and asked politely,

"What do you mean by this, sensei?"

"What I mean to say is that your exam papers will not be made from these books but from what I will teach you" he stopped for a moment and then,"Of course I will teach you all the things that you can learn from these books and other than these. The only difference will be that you will find it easy and enjoying rather than memorizing these heavy books. In short,we will focus on studying practically"

The response was as predicted. The idea was welcomed heartily. And why wouldn't I had been? It was the dream of every student to get that burden off his back.

"I want to make you learn things not memorize them for a while and then forget about them'' William could now see the enthusiasm in the eyes of students which he wanted to. They were not taking interest up till then so that new method was devised and it started to bear fruit,"So then let's start the class"

Training ground

"We will start with the basics. I will teach you about zi today, so you better listen quietly"

His tone was neither harsh nor very polite. It was suitable for a teacher. His tone didn't let the students do whatever they

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wanted to and it also didn't make them dislike him.

"As you all already know that zi is the essence of all things; whether living or non-living. Zi is present in you, you and you too" William pointed his index finger towards three different students to emphasize.

You students cannot manifest your zi in front of others as it is still in dormant state"

"Sensei! You checked our inactive zi on our first day. Does that and this relate to each other?"Mavis asked him politely.

"Yes,they both relate. For example, the Rei had maximum glow so his awakened zi will be greater than all of you in quantity but it doesn't mean that he will be stronger than you or will have it easy to master zi. He may have greater zi supply than you but it is useless until or unless it is mastered. He will face the same difficulty in controlling zi as you all will have.

After all, It's not a fictional novel; It's real life. Everyone will have the equal chance of becoming the best so don't let it disappoint you"

"Sensei! What will we have to do in order to awaken our zi?" Another question asked by her.

"I was coming to that part.... To awaken your zi, you will have

to send zi waves through your body. The waves will act as an alarm clock and your zi will wake up from its slumber- - - - - - -Come according to your roll no. to me and I will show you

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how to do it"

Students made a line and arranged themselves in roll no. order.

Everyone went through the same process: William focused his zi in his right hand, touched the student's hand and sent zi waves through his/her body. After going through the same process, none of them felt any change so one of them asked him.

"I don't feel any change, sensei"

"Are you sure about it?"

William after saying that, took a rock stone from the ground. Stone was already placed there for this process. He gave the stone to the student who had asked the question and asked him to focus his zi power in his hands while holding the stone. The result was as predicted.... The moment he collected his zi in

his hands and applied that force on the stone,stone shattered into pieces.

The reaction was same as the last year's. Students were surprised as well as excited at the same time.

"So this is the power of zi"Rei smiled evilly on beholding that massive power.

The training had just started.

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Esla sama

"What was that? You crushed the stone like it was nothing?" The uproar was a natural reaction to that manifestation as

they hadn't seen something like that before.

"What you saw right now is nothing more than a little presen-tation of the power we call zi————-The zi in your bodies is now active. You will have to learn step by step how to control and master it...... Zi is both useful and harmful so you are prohibited from using it outside the college"

"................."

His remarks were quite disappointing. They wanted to show their friends how great they were. They wanted to show their family their worth and many more reasons. All of them were annihilated from existence.

"But don't get disappointed too early. You all will have the

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chance of showing it during the exams and battle tournaments that will be held during these 2 years of your stay here"William tried to encourage them.

They took a breath of relief,"Thank God"

William continued,"I expect you all to bear this in mind:

If you used your zi outside the college then you will undergo punishment. The punishment will be decided by the Disci-plinary Committee. You may be expelled too.........I think

you understand the situation"Seriousness of those words were genuine.

All the students nodded their heads in yes.

"Zi is present even in the nonliving things like; water and stone etc. Humans are born with the zi channeling through their body. It is easy to awaken zi but hard to control it. For example, it's easy to break a glass but hard to join its broken pieces.

Controlling your zi is not an easy task. It varies with respect to the person. It may take days, weeks or even months to control it at will"

His remarks were like a discouraging spell to the most of the students,who were living an easy and relaxing life. But it was his job not to let that happen.

"Don't be disappointed, all of you. We have whole two years for all this. I know that it won't be a problem for you people"

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His words made their disappointment disappear. Then he continued his explanation,

"Today we will practice the manifestation of zi. So let's start then"

1 hour later

"Yeah, that's it. Yeah, keep it up" William was talking to one of his students,"You are doing great for the starter. Keep it up"

It was the four-eyed dale; whom William was complimenting. Everyone else was also busy practicing the manifestation of zi. As he said earlier, it was as easy as holding a piece of paper for few students while it was hard for others. But one thing was common and that was...........................................................

Everyone was giving it their all despite their natural talent differences. It was a worth-watching sight.

William wasn't just standing there. He was running from one student to another telling them their mistakes and compliment-ing them on their hard work; all for making them not to hate or get discouraged from the training. He was indeed a fine teacher; giving it his all for his students' sake.

"Sensei, I need your help"Mike shouted from a distance.

William went to him and asked him about his problem,

"What's the problem, Mike?"

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"I am trying to focus my zi in my hands but if I don't hold the stone in my hand and don't break it with that force then I cannot tell whether zi has been focused into my hands or not"

"You are trying to say that you cannot perceive your own zi. Is that so?"

"Yes, sensei... But you are able to notice it while even we can't... Is there any technique to perceive zi"

"Finally someone asked..... I was waiting for you people to ask

me this question...... Well the answer is yes, there is"

"What's the technique, sensei? If you don't mind can you tell me about it?"

"Well I will tell all of you now that you have raised the question"

William whistled to take the attention of all the students.

"For you to perceive/feel/see zi, you have to use a technique called Ik"

"Ik?"

"Yes............ Ik is actually a technique of using your own zi to

send zi waves through your target to perceive his/her zi. Once your zi waves pass through his/her body, you are able to notice the zi. But to perceive your own zi, you will have to direct your own zi waves towards your own body. Once it is done then you can visualize your zi... Try it, all of you"

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Ik was the next step for the students to learn. They, without wasting any time, started Ik practice.

1 hour later

"My hand is glowing, sensei... It's glowing... See everyone... See my glowing hand?"

The uproar was caused by none other than the innocent but stupid girl, Mavis.

"It's your zi, Mavis"William stopped her uproar.

"Oh! Zi!"she said with a surprising face.

"I think you all have experienced the same glow in your hands. It's the proof that you all have managed to perform Ik without any problem.... But the period for which your Ik lasts depends

on how much you train so be happy but not too confident on this achievement" No one had said anything but just to be sure he asked,"Is there anyone who hasn't seen the glow? Tell me if there is someone"

No one came forward. The entire class had visualized their own zi for the first time. But there was a problem with their Ik. Their Ik remained active for 5 seconds only. William told them that Ik will last longer as they will advance in their zi training. The training wasn't over. It wasn't because some students had trouble in manifesting the zi but it was to hone it.

"We will take 20 minutes break and after that, we will keep

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practising both zi and Ik for next hour"

William delivered the orders to the scouts standing disarranged in front of him.

The break time was necessary as they were tired of their practice. No matter how nice William was, his seriousness and loyalty to his job was in front of their eyes.

Break Time

"It's great, isn't it, Xeron?"

Xeron's childhood friend, Mike was sitting on the ground, next to Xeron.

"Mm-Hmm, it is. Did you manage to pull off both things?"Xeron asked.

Mike countered,

"Yeah, I did.What about you?"

Xeron's answer was yes.

In the middle of all the groups that were chattering, a blonde was drinking water from her bottle. She was alone as usual. She was watching in the direction in which Mike and Xeron were sitting and then she began looking at the ground. She smiled without any reason. It was like she was telling herself jokes and laughing at them all alone.

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She then started to look at the sky with hopeful eyes; the eyes that were filled with a dream kept to herself. It was something worth listening but there was no one to tell about it.

End of break

After break ended, they were given instructions by the William to use zi waves to perceive others' zi. Groups were formed and were instructed to use Ik on each other.

Everyone formed their groups with their friends. The two students remained in the end with no one to practice with. They were Esla and Rei.

* * *

Having formed the groups, everyone started their practice while leaving esla and rei alone, both having no one to practice with.

Esla looked around but found no one free to form a group with.

She decided to start practice on her own.

On the other side, rei began practicing Ik on the groups standing in front of him, without telling them anything.

William noticed Rei practicing all alone but didn't say anything to him as he knew how he was. He then started walking towards esla to help her but stopped in his way. There was someone who had noticed the same thing and had reached her before William could.

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It was Mike. Esla and Mike were partners during the leader choosing match and their team did well. Since then Mike talked to her quite a number of times;also as an apology to use her secretly. He hadn't told anyone about that........ Esla found

herself guilty of beating him up during the match so she also talked to him as an apology. In short, he was the only one who would come to help her at such times as she didn't talk to anyone else.

"Yo!" Mike greeted her with his usual style; putting his hands in his side pockets and showing a gentle smile.

"Hi! Aren't you practicing with your friend?"She replied with a fake smile.

She had decided not to let little failures or worries disturb her.

It was all thanks to Mike's advice that he gave her on that day.

"Xeron is practicing with Dale and Mavis... I thought I would check on others; whether they needed my help or not" He took his hands out of his pockets, "I am the class leader after all"

He looked around and then continued,

"So....... You are practicing on your own,I guess"

"It's better this way"She replied coldly.

Mike having noticed the situation clearly chose the words most suitable for that time.

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"I wanted to practice with you.... If you don't mind, that is"

The words were unrivaled. They were the best words he could think at that time. If he had offered his help, she would have thought that Mike took pity on her. So he didn't offer his help but requested her help instead. Thus he killed 2 birds with a stone.

Alternating training of zi and Ik continued for half an hour.

The results were normal.

After the training session ended, William told them that they were free to go home. The students after a rough day went happily back to their homes.

Everyone rested after reaching their home as they were tired of training;except for one person. He locked door of his room from inside and took out a small transmitter out of the wall clock.

He put it on his right ear and pressed the button on the transmitter.

Incoming call from Devil

"Have you finished the work that I gave you?" Xeron's serious question was answered with a laugh.

"Who do you think you are saying that? Of course, it's done. I am sending the details to you. That's the entire info about the drug dealers that I was able to hack"

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The hacker who was asked by Xeron to hack info from the Imperial Army database was a young boy; nearly 14-15 years old. He was spinning a ring around his index finger while attending the call. Nonetheless, he was a pro-hacker at such a young age.

"I will pay you a visit soon"Xeron ended the call after saying that.

He sat at the chair, started his laptop and checked the email. A coded message............After decrypting the message, it led to a website; where all the info was posted.

He copied all the info to his laptop and clicked on the self-destruction option available on that website. The info and the website both vanished from the internet in an instant.

He shut down his laptop, hid the transmitter again in the wall clock and lay down on the bed to take some rest.

While on the other side

The blonde was greeted by two guards at the main gate of a huge building.

"Welcome back,esla sama"

"Thank you"Smiling blonde replied to the greeting heartily.

She went inside. After that, she passed through the pavement. The pavement was surrounded by greenery. The different kinds

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of flowers, trees and herbs were increasing its beauty. The splashing water of the fountain was its center of attraction. The pavement ended at the front door of a castle-like building.

The castle was her own house.

As she entered, two maids leapt towards her as if they were waiting for her.

"Welcome back,esla sama"The two maids said unanimously.

"Thank you,miyori.......

Thank you too,rechel"

She forgot all the tiredness she had got from training,And why wouldn't she.... She was now among her best friends

Rechel and miyori were of the same age as her. They had been with esla ever since her childhood so they got very close to each other. Esla cherished them and so did they; not because she was their master but because she was their friend.

Black haired miyori and white-haired rechel were twins. Their parents also worked for esla's parents before the duo was even born and were among the trustworthy servants.

"Esla sama! I have made the chocolate cake that you requested this morning" the white-haired said.

Esla was a foodie when it came to cakes and white-haired rechel was always good at cooking. Miyori wasn't so good but helped

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her sister as much as she could.

It was all for their friend,esla.

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18

Class 1-B

Xeron and Mike were talking to each other while heading towards their destination, their college. It was about 7:55 a.m and the sun wasn't too hot that day............. Suddenly they heard something,

"Get out of the way...... Hurry up!"

Two young boys were coming in their direction like a bullet train. The road was a narrow one but not so narrow. They could have easily passed by the duo but due to some reason, they didn't. They were in a hurry and couldn't manage to get late.

Seeing that the incoming duo won't budge even the slightest, the already stopped duo split up sideways and made a way between both of them. The incoming boys came and went like a bolt of thunder; leaving xeron and mike behind.

"We are late, we are late"The blue haired boy looked at the black

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haired one while still maintaining his speed.

"I told you to calm down. We are very close to college,so stop panicking"

The black haired tried his best to calm the other down and his effort bore result. The blue haired boy managed to stop panicking due to the black haired boy, Hale.

Classroom 1-B

A handsome young looking man was holding a pen in his left hand and was taking roll call.

The duo reached the classroom door. The sign on the door said Classroom 1-B. Blue haired boy forcefully pulled the door open and said loudly,

"Present, sir!"

Everyone looked towards his direction. Hale was standing on the left side behind mael. He was still out of everyone's view with the wall separating him from the whole class and the teacher. Hale covered his face with his left hand in shame.... The laughter broke throughout the class.

The young looking teacher slammed palm of his right hand forcefully on the desk; in front of his chair.

The serious look in his eyes didn't even have to do anything as the whole class went into silence before he could activate his

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eyes.

"You are late............ Again!"

Teacher's name was Loris and the student he was talking to was the usual latecomer, Mael. Loris shook his head sideways in disappointment and took a sigh.

"Go take your seat"

"Thank you, sir"

"And try to wake up early................ Please"

Loris put his both hands together like he was begging mael for forgiveness. Mael was famous for his late coming in his class.

"Is your brother sick,mael? He hasn't come with you"

Loris sensei asked mael about his brother, hale"

"........."

Before mael could say anything, hale entered the classroom,bent his head and the upper half of his trunk forward and down-wards;and apologized,

"I am really sorry, Loris sensei"

"You too, hale! Have you got infected by his problem now?"

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Hale lifted his head up and said,

"No, it is not like that"

"He is late because he spent his time trying to wake me up"

His brother,Mael took his side when he was in need of it.

"OK, go sit down on your seat but don't repeat it" he stressed on the repeat word.

After taking the roll call, Loris sensei took a black marker out of his bag and wrote the following words on the whiteboard; fixed on the wall toward which students were facing.

Zi creatures and zi phenomenon

"Today we will study about this topic...... Listen carefully and

then take its notes. So,the zi creatures are unlike any other creatures. Normal creatures despite having zi flowing through their body cannot manifest it but zi creatures don't follow this rule.

Zi creatures are like normal creatures in shape but are stronger physically than their normal counterparts. Zi of normal creatures can be perceived even through a distance but zi creatures are capable of concealing their zi; making them unable to detect through zi sensing.

We don't know much about them.... How they came into exis-

tence? How they can manifest zi? It is speculated that normal

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ones changed into zi creatures due to the zi phenomenon thus retaining their original shape.

Zi phenomenon......... Unnatural and abnormal events that

happen out of nowhere. Their cause is not known. They cannot be predicted. The most common example is turning of a normal creature into a zi creature. Zi phenomenon can be in the form of black water erupting from earth or black lightning seen in the sky and many more"

Loris sensei ends his lesson and said,

"All of you will write a report on zi creatures and zi phenomenon that have been reported up til now. You have to write only names of them but you can detail them if you please"

"Not again.... Another report"A wave of disapproval spread

throughout the classroom.

Loris slammed his palm against the desk and controlled the class once again.

"Meet me in the gymnasium.......... In 5 minutes"

His serious attitude was to be afraid of. But it was necessary to maintain control over the class. Everyone was standing in gymnasium 1 minute earlier than the time limit.

"I have told you about zi and Ik. Ik lets you see the zi of your opponent but it is not impossible to hide your activated zi even if your opponent is using Ik........................And that way is

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through the use of meu.

".........."

Loris was very strict when it came to teaching and discipline. He wouldn't bear if someone interrupted him and students were all aware of that so they were waiting for him to complete his words.

"Meu lets you hide your zi and thus your opponent won't be able to perceive your zi. But meu isn't perfect and is a lot harder to master than Ik. In Ik, you send your zi waves to see other's zi but those zi waves are of little intensity but in meu, you focus your energy in sending waves of high intensity. Your high-intensity zi waves will cancel the opponent's little intensity zi waves and thus opponent will think that you are not using zi.

But it has its cons though...... A master level zi user will also

send high-intensity zi waves greater than your waves and thus they will not be cancelled"

"So today we will practice meu. Form groups on your own. One person will use Ik to perceive other's zi while the other one will try to conceal his zi"

The 1st year class had 3 subdivisions named as, 1-A

1-B

1-C

The number of students was the same in three classes and they

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were not separated on agility or marks basis. They were put in the respective subdivision randomly; thus these subdivisions didn't discriminate them. Everyone had an equal chance to get to the top. It all depended on how much effort they would put in.

The class 1-B had its prominent students on the very first day, who also managed to make the white zi estimating ball glow much greater than other students; same as that happened in class 1-A. One of them was a girl named Geela.

She wasn't an arrogant one or a serious one. She was a lively girl. Unlike esla, she was very popular in her class. Not because she was beautiful or hardworking, but because she was always there when any of her comrades needed her help. She was like the angel of class 1-B. And everybody admired her. If you are having a problem with understanding something or with zi training, she would help you even if she had to go against her schedule. Because her motto was,

You hone your character by helping others.

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19

The simplest trick for using zi

The class 1-B was practicing a new technique called meu in the college gymnasium. Their homeroom teacher, Loris sensei was there to keep watch over them. Meu lets one conceal his zi so as not to be detected even if Ik, a technique to perceive zi is used.

Everyone wanted to practice with geela. She was very helpful, kind and good at the zi techniques. She also did well at using Ik for the very first time. But Loris sensei(teacher) only allowed 2 students to practice with her.

A boy of nearly 16 years old walked towards Loris and asked him,

"Sensei! I am having difficulty in selecting the intensity of zi waves I release..... Please help me"

Loris thought for a second before answering him,

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"OK. Do as I say and I hope it will help you"

"Yes, sensei"

"First of all, close your eyes and try to focus as much as you can to feel your own zi..... If you cannot feel your own zi then you won't be able to go any further"

He did as sensei said and tried to focus on his inner energy. It felt like a green coloured mist was around him and nothing could be seen except that mist.

"What do you see?"

"A mist......... A green coloured one...... Can't see anything else"

Other students noticed that and stopped their training. They started to gather around him and in a few minutes, every last one of them was watching him closely while he was unaware of them; completely focused on his zi.

Loris waved his hand as a sign to use Ik on him. Geela was good at Ik so she did that. As expected, no sign of him using zi was found. Loris returned to him,

"The green mist is your zi..... Now breathe in the green mist

slowly. Try to take as much as you can in your lungs"

He took a deep breath but not too fast as Loris said.

"Now close your mouth and hold it as long as you can"

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He stopped breathing and shut his mouth tightly. The moment he shut his mouth, he waved again,asking geela to use Ik again on him. The result was astonishing. This time his zi was perceived by geela.

"How could this? His body is covered in zi, sensei! But he......"

Loris put his index finger on his lips; indicating to stop talking any further.

Loris signaled the students,who were standing in front of that boy,with his hands to stand behind that boy(the one who was focusing). They did as they were told.

"Now breathe out the mist slowly. Don't let it out in a single blow and tell me what you see"

After letting out the mist slowly one by one, he made a surprising face, with his eyes still closed.

"There is a red mist too..... It is separated from green one

though"

"Ok good. Keep watching the mist"

He signaled geela again with his right hand to use Ik again on him. She used Ik and his zi was perceived. Then he said,

"Now breathe in green mist again as you did earlier..... Nod

your head when you have done that"

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When that boy nodded his head, Loris said,

"Now let out the mist in a single blow as fast as you can"

At the same time,Loris signaled everyone to use Ik on the boy to witness what was about to happen. Everyone was perceiving his zi and were waiting for what was about to happen.

As soon as he blowed out the green mist, the eyes widened and faces let out a surprising expression because his zi was nowhere to be perceived. It vanished in an instant as if it wasn't present there.

Name of the boy who was focusing up til now was Lovin. His hair was orange coloured.

"Now open your eyes,Lovin," Loris said to him.

Lovin opened his eyes and felt like something was watching him. As he turned back, he found the whole class wet with surprised eyes.

Loris started explaining what had happened.

"Listen carefully"

His words brought the students back from their mind world to the gymnasium.

"The green mist he saw when he focused was actually his own zi.... When he breathed in his own zi, he actually used

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it/activated it in the real world; without even knowing about it.... When he breathed the mist slowly, he was actually letting

out his zi waves out of his body;meaning that he used Ik unconsciously. I signaled you all to stand behind lovin so that his waves won't reach you.

I stood in front of him and let him perceive my zi which appeared to him as red mist. And when he let the green mist(his own zi) out in a single blow, he let the zi waves of high intensity out. The high-intensity waves cancelled your Ik waves(that the students were using) and thus he went into the state of meu, that's why his zi vanished...... Do you get it now"

"Sensei!"

Geela lifted her hand to ask a question.

"Yes,geela"

"What was the purpose of it?"

The same question was in everyone's mind but geela was faster than all of them.

"Purpose was to simplify the complex training. To make it easier for you to use zi, Ik and meu. You can practice by using the same procedure as you saw right now.

In short, it's the simplest trick for using zi"

"Now go and continue your practice. The path to the summit

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is never an easy one. I hope you keep it in your mind"

Loris's speech helped and encouraged the students very much. He fulfilled his duty as a teacher. His style was different from William (teacher of 1-A) but both cared for their students and wanted to see them develop.

* * *

Classroom 1-B

Time 11:30a.m

"I want you all to choose a class leader"

He spoke those words as he closed the book he was holding open in his right hand for an hour. His words set a fire in the silent classroom.

"You should become the class leader" "No, I think you should"

"I am not ready for these kinds of responsibility" "I can't"

The whispering started between students. They didn't want to get responsible for the mistakes of others. Many of them were hesitant so some had to take the lead. One of the boys side stood up and took the attention of everyone with his words,

"I think geela should become the class leader. I mean she is liked by nearly everyone and I don't think that anyone would have

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any problem with her. What do you all say?"

He was still standing and the whole class lifted their hands up and said unanimously,

"Agreed"

"So the class leader of 1-B will be you,geela. I hope you take everyone with you"Loris said after hearing opinion of whole class.

"I'll do my best, sensei"

Geela's answer was succeeded by a unified clapping. Geela had won the seat without even a single resistance. A foolproof victory indeed.

After college

Time 2:05p.m

Geela was walking home alone when she saw mike saying goodbye to someone. It was Xeron. Xeron and mike took opposite directions towards their homes as usual. Geela hurried up to the mike.

"Mike! Mike!"She began shouting his name even from that distance.

Having heard someone saying his name, mike responded by turning his head. But as soon as he saw her he turned his head

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back and started walking normally pretending as if he hadn't seen her.

Having seen mike acting like that, she also increased her speed to catch up with him. When mike heard her footsteps drawing closer and closer then he had no other choice but to do it.

He started running as fast as he could.

"So you want to race, mike. I get it now..... You will get what

you want"

Geela also started her engine and ran at her full speed. Mike wasn't athletic like geela so it didn't take her too much time to catch up with him. Just before she was about to touch his back, mike suddenly took a sharp turn and started running towards the right side; where his house was.

Geela stopped herself but it took her a while due to her speed. Mike took advantage of that time and unlocked the front door of his house and closed the door from inside before she could enter.

"Whoosh! Finally got rid of her"Mike took a sigh of relief.

"Welcome home, mike"

The voice of the woman he cherished, his mom made his mood better.

[Mike and his mom argued and teased each other at times but

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it was their way of showing their love for each other]

"I am back, mom"

"How was your day?"

"It was good, mom.... You must be tired of so much work. Please

take some rest"

Mike showed his concern for her mom who was working day and night to make her child at ease as Mike's dad was no more. Mike's mom smiled in reply and said,

"I am fine..... I took nape just an hour ago so don't worry"

"If you say so,mom"

Hale and Mael

"Mom!Dad! Good afternoon"

It was the first thing that the duo did every day upon entering the house.

"You are back, Hale and mael"Their mother said.

"Oh! My sons are back. Come here"

Their father took them into his arms. Their father was a doting one. He loved them both equally. He was a retired government official. His cause of retirement was his knee joint

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pain; that made it difficult for him to travel daily for his job so he submitted retirement request and his medical reports.

Higher ups took the notice quickly and issued monthly pension for him during his retirement despite him not completing his job years. Now he had no other work than to give his time to his family.

Their mom was a housewife and loved her husband and her children. She and his husband wanted their sons to stand up on their own feet before they die.

It was a parents' dream and the duo was aware of it but one part was wrong in their eyes and that was......

They didn't want their parents to die. They wanted to share their happiness and their joy with them; for whole eternity..........................................if they could.

164

20

Fishing and special abilities

Mike's home

Mike made a call to Xeron's house. Xeron's little brother,zess picked up the call and handed it over to Xeron.

"Yo, Xeron. Are you free?"

"Despite reading some novels, I am"

"Ok then. Get ready. I am coming there"

"Ready for what?"

"For fishing of course. Ask zess if he wants to come with us too. I will be at your home in about 10 minutes so get everything we'll need"

"OK. I am waiting"

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Mike ended the call. He took his fishing rod and a box containing necessary materials; like sandwiches and other things.

"I am going out, mom. Do you need something?"

"No..... Take care, my son"

The sound of the front door opening and then closing was heard. On the other side, zess wanted to go with them so Xeron took two fishing rods, told his mom and went out when mike arrived.

The weather was nice. River to which they were headed was a huge one and its fish source was also abundant so it was easy to catch fish without much effort. Xeron and mike loved fishing and had been doing so as a part of refreshment for quite a years.

On Sundays, they would sit at the river bank, catch the fish, show it to one another and then release it. The fishing they did was only for joy; not to eat fish or anything else. They often competed on how many fish one could catch in an hour. Their score was equal; 67:67. Zess wasn't much interested in fishing but he enjoyed watching them together like that so he often accompanied them.

"Zess will be referee..........I'll settle the score once and for all"

Mike increased volume of his voice to emphasize the next thing he was about to say,"You will definitely lose today,xeron"

"Bring it on" Xeron smiled in response to his challenge.

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Both threw their rods into the water at the same time. Battle had started to see who would catch more fish.

After one and a half hour of fishing

"You both have strange lucks" Zess chuckled.

"It's not my fault if we caught equal fish"

"Don't make a depressing face, mike. We will settle it next time ..... Ok"

"Mm-Hmm!" Mike nodded his head in agreement,"And next time I will win for sure"

"We'll see that"

Both were excited for their future match as they started their return.

The friendly match ended in a draw. The three were now coming back to their homes after a period of joy.

* * *

College Time

At 8:30 a.m, both class 1-A and 1-B were present in the training ground. Both the teachers were nowhere to be seen. They could arrive at any moment so the students were arranged in lines and were keeping their voices low.

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"Did you see that girl? The one over there! She has been selected as the class leader of 1-B" Mavis whispered to dale; who was standing in the row, left to her.

"You mean geela"Dale answered while adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah...Yeah.... That's geela. I have heard that the whole class

voted for her"

Mavis's voice had a surprised tone in it.

"Unanimously!! Won without the slightest resistance!"Dale's eyes went into curious and somewhat serious mode as he began looking at her from a distance.

Geela who was talking to her fellows should have been unaware about it but she turned her eyes in the blink of an eye and looked towards dale,without mistaking the gaze upon her for anyone else.

Her rapid and accurate response made dale lost his balance and was about to fall back but controlled himself.

How did she? There are so many people here and she wasn't even looking at me. Then how did she know that I was the one looking at her?

"Dale! Dale! Daaalllee!"

Mavis's screamed to wake him up from his thoughts but not loud to catch everyone's attention; not to forget that it did attract few students who were standing near to them.

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"Here they are! Silence, everyone"Mike was ready to announce it whenever he saw the teachers so he did so without wasting any moment.

William and Loris took their positions in front of their classes.............Loris started,

"Sorry for being late. We were summoned by the principal"

"............"

Loris nodded his head as a signal for William to start talking,

"The principal has ordered us to make haste in your training due to some reasons"

"......."

Both classes were silent as they didn't want to get yelled by Loris sensei. Loris was well known for his strictness even in other classes.

William continued,

"We are asked to start your special abilities training first and then continuing the usual zi training"

His words were not making any sense. What was the reason that made principal do such a thing? Basic training was more important and special abilities training was held at the end of Midyear exam every year. But this year they were held before

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the midyear exam..... Just what was principal thinking?"

Mike raised his hand on the behalf of everyone else before geela could and said,

"Can we know what is the reason for this haste,sensei?"

"No, you cannot. It's principal's order and we all have to follow it no matter how awkward or harsh it seems"

Loris harsh answer and serious gaze were faster in responding to Mike's question than William's.

"Thanks,Loris sensei"Mike bent his head a little.

Geela stopped herself from asking anything further and no one else dared to ask any question.

"Class 1-A will now go to gymnasium while class 1-B will remain here with me," Loris said.

The class 1-A reached the gymnasium with William leaving Loris and his class.

"Finally got rid of Loris sensei! Class 1-B sure has got it tough... To have such a harsh teacher"

"I am glad that William sensei isn't like him" "Yeah, you are right"

Two girls' chat was stopped by the William as he began saying,

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"Special abilities! As the name indicates they are powers that normal people can only dream of. And you people will be able to wield such fantasy powers"

"As I have said it before ...... Doing something yourself is better

than listening about it so we'll just do that. I will need a volunteer for it so who would like to volunteer?"

Everyone looked at each other; not knowing anything about what was going to happen.

"I will do it, sensei" the blonde haired girl,esla made the first move.

"Thank you,esla. Thanks for volunteering otherwise, I would have picked someone randomly...So then let's start"

William put his right hand on esla's forehead and his left hand on the top of her head.

"This is the only way to do this. It's gonna hurt a bit. The pain felt is different for everyone but I will try my best to minimize the pain as much as I can.... But you can....."

"I am ready, sensei. Get this started. I won't move or cry even a bit"

Her words showed her resolve and mike was the only one who truly understood their meaning.

"Okay then..... Here I come"

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William tightly grasped her head with his left hand so as to stop her from moving if the pain was too much. There was no easy alternative than that method.

My body...... This is truly difficult... This pain..... But it is

nothing against that pain which I want to get rid of. For achieving my goal...........I wouldn't waver.... This is my resolve.

"It's over. You can now open your eyes,esla"

She opened her eyes and found the whole class in shock before her. Her whole face was drenched in sweat due to the intense pain she felt but she did not cry or move even a bit.

"Now your brain can take full control of your zi; which is essential for activating your special ability, to control its range, its intensity and to stop it consciously.

Now come to me according to your roll no. We will do the same to every student present here.

"No, I don't want to... Please save me... Pleeeaaassseee!"

Roll no.3, Falis kept on begging for help but no one came forward. He was helpless against William and had to endure the pain, but his pain was nowhere to be compared to Esla's pain.

After 15 minutes

Everyone had undergone the above procedure, the pain being

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different for each person.

After it ended, William started saying,

"As I said earlier, you all can now activate your special abilities;

but through training,that is...........................................................

I am going to explain about them so pay attention"

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21

Time-clock method and zi types

William began describing,

"The zi is divided into various categories. Everyone is born with a natural tendency to a specific zi category. The zi categories are 6; named as.....

Enforcer

Variant

Maker

Elemental

Naturer

Exceptional

In the past, there was no system of categorizing a person's zi nature and thus everyone learned on their own. But as the time flew, it became the need of time to categorize it so simple that everyone could use it to know their zi type anywhere and anytime.

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That gave birth to the simplest method; The time-clock method"

William turned back, walked to a desk(desk was already present there) covered with a white cloth, took the cloth off and revealed a clock and some papers hiding beneath the cloth. He handed over the papers;one to each student. The clock was simple in all aspects; having twelve digits from 1-12 and with two hands(hour-hand and minute hand).

How was a simple clock going to categorize the zi? The question was about to be answered.

"All of you, use Ik," William said as they needed to see some zi usage with the help of Ik.

All of them sent zi waves using Ik to see William's zi and noticed that his zi was focused on his right hand.

Their Ik deactivated on its own after approximately 5 seconds but they had seen what they needed to.

William brought his right hand covered in zi and put it on the centre of the clock; where both the clock hands were meeting and then pulled his hand out quickly.

Within 2-3 seconds, the result was in front of them. Both the clock hands began moving at an incredible speed; rotating around their central point. Within again 2-3 seconds, their speed started decreasing and before 10seconds could pass away, they stopped completely with both the hour and minute hands

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stopped at digit 4.

"See on the paper and tell me what is number 4?"

William instructed them and they followed it.

Their gaze went to the number 4 and found word Maker written in front of it.

"It's Maker, sensei" All of them replied at the same time.

The paper William had handed them over,contained 6 digits and zi categories written in front of those digits as follows:

1=Enforcer

2=Naturer

3=Variant

4=Maker

5=Elemental

6=Exceptional

"The digit at which the clock hands stop, give you your zi category. But there are some things that you need to be familiar with and what are those?"

"........" No one said anything as they didn't know anything about

it.

"1: The categories nearest to your natural category can only be used. For example;

For a person having zi category of digit 2, he/she can also

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use category 1 and 3 powers but he wouldn't be able to use category 1 and 3's powers that easily. It would be very difficult for him to use them while it would be much easier to use his natural category. Thus the majority of people hone their natural category only as it is less difficult and less time consuming than honing the nearest categories"

  2. We always use this method in the clockwise direction

  2. The +ve and -ve halves!"

"+ve and -ve halves?"

"Yes..... As the name indicates, the time-clock method has two

parts:

The +ve one is from 1-6 digits. It shows zi category to which you belong while -ve part(from 7-12) tells you the category which you cannot use. For example,

We always take digit 12 and 6 as references. So if digit 2 comes on the +ve side while digit 9 comes on -ve side then digit 2 is at two digit distance from 12 while 9 is at three digits distance from 6;moving clockwise. Then the 3rd digit from 12 on the +ve side will be the category which that person can't use at all. Thus -ve side digit eliminates its corresponding +ve side digit. Meaning that digit 3; which is at three digits distance from 12 will be useless for him. Thus he would be a Naturer due to digit 2 but wouldn't be able to use 3rd digit category i.e Variant. Do you get what I wanted to convey to you? If you have any queries then feel free to ask me"

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Questions were arising in everyone's minds so some of them asked those questions on behalf of everyone.

"Sensei! When you used the time-clock method then both the clock hands were in +ve half" Xeron asked William sensei, "It means that it is not compulsory for a person to lose a category usage if both hands can come in +ve half. My other question is: Is it possible that both the clock hands stopped in -ve half and if it is then what would happen? That's all!"

"I knew that you children would have this question in your minds and I appreciate it but there haven't been any cases reported yet about both hands stopping in -ve half so we don't know what would be the consequence....... And about the first

question that you asked..... Yes,it isn't compulsory for both

hands to fall in different halves. They can both fall into +ve half, as is the case with me"

"Sensei!"

"Yes, rei"Rei asked in his usual serious and expressionless face.

"What would happen if one person gets the -ve digit same as the +ve digit. What I mean to say is that if a person has digit 5 on +ve half and has 11 on -ve half. Both of them are at equal distance from 12 and 6 respectively if we take them in the clockwise direction..... What would happen to that person?"

"It's quite rare, that's what I would say. But if it ever happened then that person wouldn't be able to use even a little bit of zi.............Well it's only my opinion as I don't know really know

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about it"

Mike said,"I want you to explain all the six categories to us,sensei"

"Seems like you all are energetic.... Okay then, listen carefully.

Enforcer: As the name indicates, they are usually power types. They can strengthen anything; their own body, someone's body, substances and even the prison locks. Usage:Enforcers beside useful in combat are also essential for making stronger jails so as to keep the zi user prisoners in check.

Maker: They can make anything. They could use materials to change them into other materials or could make something out of nothing.

Usage: The building materials, artilleries and other equip-ments of Imperial Army. Makers have a large scope of using their power.

Naturer: These people can use nature properties, like; sound, trees and wild animal forms etc.

Usage: Usage varies from a large scale farming to combat.

Elemental: Elementals can use elements of nature. Elemen-tals mostly use fire, water, earth, air and light elements.

Usage: Fire fighters etc.

Variant: As the name implies, their zi varies. It does not mean that they can use all categories. It just means that variant category lets you choose your own category from the nearest categories. Meaning that variant is no.3 so you can decide

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whether you want Naturer(No 2) or Maker(No 4) as your natural category.

If you choose Naturer(No.2)then you would have a chance to use some of the enforcer powers(no.1) by training,as I told earlier. But only if your -ve half is not at no.1 corresponding no.11. If that happens then you will be able to use only Naturer category.

If someone has got Naturer category(no.2) or Maker category (no.4) then that person can use variant category to jump towards next category only if there is no -ve half corresponding to the variant category.. For example,

Naturer(No.2) can use variant category to learn Maker category (No.4) and vice versa;but only through vigorous training.

Usage: Same as Maker or Naturer usage.

Exceptional: No.6 category is called exceptional. Exceptional means that one's zi nature can't be defined by other 5 categories. Meaning that his power varies according to every person. Being an exceptional doesn't make you all mighty. It just means that your power doesn't fall into other 5 categories.

If a person has no.5 elemental category then he can use no.4(Maker) but not no.6(exceptional).

"You all are still missing one important question?" William looked at the students with his serious eyes....... Can you tell me what is it?''

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"Sensei!'' Dale said,"If a clock hand stops between two digits; let's suppose between 1 and 2 then which category will that person belong to?"

"Thank God, someone asked that question..... Answer is

simple..... 50-50..........He would have both categories as its

natural categories. He would be able to use both categories but the more closer the clock hand would be to a digit, the more easier would it be to use that category. For example,

If we suppose that there is a distance of 1 meter between digits 1 and 2 and clock hand stopped at a point which is only 0.25m from 1 while 0.75m from 2 then that person would be able to use both category but category 1 would be easier than category

  2. But if it at 0.5m distance from both 1 and 2 then he would have an equal chance to use both abilities. These 50% people are quite lucky ones as they can use two abilities with the same amount of work and time consumption"

181

22

Reus Halvor: Perfect Annihilation

Imperial City (The capital)

Reus Halvor; a 23 years old young man was sitting on a wooden chair with a hat flipped on his face. He was relaxing with his legs crossed and a smile on his face.

In that room, a girl wearing a unique military outfit came walking towards him. She was carrying a parcel in her right hand. Her black hair contrasted with the bright room,in which the sunlight was entering through the opened window.

She stopped near Reus and took the hat out of his face,

"Heichou*! You have a parcel"

[*Heichou is a Japanese word. It means "Captain"]

Reus opened his closed eyes while keeping his smile activated.

He uncrossed his legs and bent slightly forward.

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" Thank you, Sera"

He took the parcel out of her hand and looked towards her.

"Sorry"

After apologizing, she walked away, went out of the room and closed the door.

After the room was empty of any other person, he broke the seal and opened the parcel. In it was a piece of paper and it had Imperial Seal on it. It stated,

"Reus Halvor; Head officer of Imperial Army Branch 9 is ordered to report to His Highness in the royal palace immediately"

"Time for work,I guess" Reus stood up from the chair, put the hat on the same chair and went out of the room.

Royal Palace in Imperial City

Reus Halvor was walking at a normal pace with a royal guard walking in front of him. As they reached the King's room, the guard stopped there and reus went into the room. The room was worth to be a king's room,with all the stuff that it had.

Reus didn't care about any of the royalty being showed in that room and went straight towards the King; who was sitting on a well-decorated chair. He stopped a few meters from the King and offered him a salute that was very common in Imperial

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Army.

"Be the God's Blessings upon you, Your Majesty"Reus didn't bend his head while saying that.

King was a healthy looking middle aged person. He wasn't wearing the crown or any wealthy clothes as the title indi-cated.Despite all the wealth in that room, King was wearing decent traditional clothes and thus spoke,

"Reus!"

"Yes, Your Majesty"

"One of our guards has betrayed us. He is trying to sell our Palace's defense secrets to the enemies"

".........."

"We have dispatched our army men in his pursuit but he has taken refuge in the Reden City"

Reus's eyes narrowed upon hearing the name of Reden City.

"Sorry to interrupt you, Your Highness but did you say Reden City?"

"Yeah... The city infamous for being the home of mass murder-ers... In the past, we sent over 100 capable Imperial soldiers but they didn't even make it past the front gate... Their manpower, their firepower and the abilities of many zi users are very

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difficult to deal with.

" And that's why you called me? "

"Yes! Your team has got the elite soldiers needed for this deadly mission..... So I am ordering you to take your entire team and kill that person. Even if you have to slaughter the entire city"

"My entire team?"

"Yeah. It's my personal thought but you will need more than your entire team to deal with them. But everyone else is busy or out of capital right now so you will have to manage on your own,reus"

"I will then take my leave... Long live your highness"

Few minutes later

Reus was walking outside the palace and with a mocking smile he muttered,

"My entire team for such an easy mission! You gotta be joking,your highness"

Reden City

Reden city was half as large in size as the Imperial City. It was surrounded completely by a large wall. The artillery was ready to engage in battle 24/7. The mass murderers had decided to work together in order to survive.

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They spent their money on buying the latest weapons in order to use them against Imperial soldiers. No matter how strong soldiers were or how much they had honed their zi, they were still human. Their number and firepower were something to be afraid of.

The sky was clear when suddenly the men standing at the top of the wall noticed something...... Or should I say someone

flying in the sky... The number of flyers was one. Without any warning or anything, the men started shooting with rifles.

The bullets pierced the air and moved at an incredible speed towards their target. The target didn't waver.

"You were foolish enough to come here..... Now die"

One of the men shouted as they waited for him to drop dead.

"The bullets!!!! They didn't hit him?"

The men were surprised upon seeing that feat performed in front of them.

"It wasn't that the bullets didn't hit him. Actually, the bullets were stopped by an invisible barrier. Due to their high speed, we didn't notice it" Or that's what they assumed.

One of the men shouted,

"He might be using a zi to protect himself. Use the missiles"

"Yes, he is right... Aim the missiles"

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The missiles were already ready. They just needed to be fired and that was done by them. The missile blew upon as soon as they hit their target............. The hotness of the fire even

reached the ground. It was impossible for that person to survive the heat even if he was in the highly protected barrier.

By covering yourself in a thick layer of zi,one could easily take bullets head on but the missiles....No way. Only a high level

enforcer would have been able to counter that blast. But he was flying in the air...... Flying was possible only for elemental

air users(Category no.5) so he couldn't be able to use enforcer powers(Category no.1).

"I like the roasted people. I hope he tastes good" One of the mass murderers offered his thought.

The fire and the smoke suddenly vanished as if they weren't there a moment ago. The person was still standing there(in the air) without even a slight harm done to his body.

He descended from the sky slowly, stopping the bullets with his barrier as the men kept firing at him.

As they saw their attacks were nothing in front of him, the men standing at the top of the wall began descending through the elevators,that were already present there for such times.

The person landed at the wall and started looking downward towards the mass murderers that had gathered there upon hearing all the noise. The traitor was also standing among them. That soldier was a previous mass murderer. He had

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decided to be good but then due to different circumstances, he decided to betray his kingdom. He easily entered the Reden City as his previous fellow murderers were already present there to help him get in.

The soldier's eyes widened as he saw the person's face..... It was

none other than Reus Halvor.

"He is a head officer..... Reus Halvor"

Those words took everyone's attention.

"Reus Halvor!!!! Is he really that Reus Halvor?" An uproar started hearing his name.

That traitor said,

"His power is Fire....... He can control fire at will. I have seen

him used fire during a battle in the past. Even his invisible barrier should be of fire... Water power holders! You can beat him easily.... Reden City needs you... Come forward."

His words gave hope to them and brought forth 10 people with the water element power that was thought to defeat Reus Halvor easily.

"Attttaccckkkk!"

The water emerged from their hands like a jet and successfully hit their target. The steam rose from where the reus was standing. No matter how strong a fire user would be, water attack from 10 opponents at the same time would surely damage

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him a lot.

"Steam is the proof that he was using fire all that time" Traitor defended his point.

"You are right but how was he flying in the air? No fire can make you fly and no one else was there to help him..... Then how did he?"

A random person objected his point.

"I don't know how he did that but I remember seeing him use fire with my own eyes 2 years ago. I swear it on my life...............

He is an elemental type so he might have learnt to use air power a little bit. This may be the reason why he was able to fly"

"He is right....... A zi user can do this by harsh training. I as

being a zi user know about it"One of the water users said, "But don't worry.... It should deal him a lot of damage and then we

will................"

"What is it? Why did you stop saying?" Traitor said to that zi user who had stopped talking in the middle of his sentence.

"Hey,I am talking to you"

As soon as that traitor touched him,he fell on the ground dead.

"Dead!He is dead..... But how?"

Everyone diverted their attention towards the steam which was about to end. They could see clearly that a person was standing

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in the steam and that an evil smile was on his face.

Chills ran down the spines of mass murderers as they felt the death knocking at their doors.

"Just what is your ability,Reus Halvor? Are you mocking us? Just why won't you die.... Just why?"

Those tears that came out of traitor's eyes showed his fear towards Reus.

Reus didn't say anything in reply. He was just smiling. That was the time when he uttered the first words to those mass murderers.

"Pay my regards to Hell"

As soon as he finished saying those words, heads of all the mass murderers exploded and all of them dropped dead on the ground.

He began flying again,leaving the corpses behind.

The Reden city; that was being a problem for the kingdom was no more. The mission which required more than 100 men was done by a single man, Reus Halvor.

Just what was his power? No one knew the secret about that man who was still keeping his smile even after killing them mercilessly.

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Reden city's criminals had been completely annihilated by the man named.....................................Reus Halvor.

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