"Is that a godsdamn scythe!?" Jean cried out. "I didn't sign up for that, Arc! We're leaving!"

"Master Jean, I ask that you calm yourself. A scythe itself is nothing. But the wielder is a different story. I sense he's more dangerous that his demeanor suggests." Arc responded. She thought for a second and jumped down next to Jean. "I might have a solution, however."

Ajal squatted down, resting the scythe on his legs and putting his forearms on his knees. He was looking down at Jean and Arc. "So, are we gonna fight?"

Jean was about to speak, but Arc interrupted him. "First, what letter group are you in?"

Ajal jumped down from the branch to meet them. "Uh, I never checked. Actually, now that I think about it, they never handed me my artifact."

Jean and Arc looked at each other, confused, then back at Ajal.

"Are you serious?" Jean asked. He then snapped his fingers, and the artifact appeared in his hand. "You just request it using the Global Pocket."

"Oooh. The Global Pocket. Right, what is that again?"

Jean pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "So let me get this straight. You have no idea what a basic concept like Global Pocket is, but you intend to get into Arkphis?"

Ajal laughed. "That's not the worst of it. I didn't know what Teleportation Gates were until recently."

Arc sighed with exasperation, but kept the same blank expression. "Focus on what it is you want and then make a movement that is easy and quick, like snapping."

Ajal took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He then held out his left hand, ready to snap toward the sky. The clouds swirled. The wind picked up, and the temperature dropped as if winter had come early. Then a golden translucent dome rose from the ground and surrounded Ajal, then disappeared as quickly as it came. The clouds went back to normal and in Ajal's hand was the artifact.

"What the hell is going on here? How did you do that?" Jean asked.

Ajal turned his artifact around. "Oh, I'm on team Z."

"No! I'm not letting you ignore what just happened!"

"Oh, that? Yeah, I know, I'm pretty awesome, right?"

Arc looked at Ajal's artifact. "Master Jean, look, it would seem we are on the same team as him."

"Really? Wait, I'm not letting this slide! How did you make that happen!?" Jean yelled.

"My name is Ajal. Nice to meet you partners," Ajal said with a smile.

"Stop ignoring me!"

***

"Professor, did you see that!?"

"Yes, Mei, now calm yourself."

Mei kept staring at the sky in awe. "Sorry, Professor. I just...don't understand."

"Understand what exactly?"

"Why is he so strong!? He's just a kid!"

Lucius licked his paw. "I can't answer that myself, Mei. Any thoughts Minister?"

Sitting next to Mei and Lucius was a man of very large stature who took to standing, as he couldn't fit in any common chair. He easily stood above 9 feet in height. His skin was pale, almost white, save for the black hair covering his head. His facial features were quite wide, and his brows seemed to be furrowed in concentration. He wore an ornate robe, decorated with gold thread and jewel-encrusted designs. His name is Vandel, the Minister of War.

"It is nothing special. Just another worthless Inheritor."

All the spectators present in watching the Entrance Exam were located high above the forest, inside of a floating room. There were several rows of chairs, with a table covered in a large assortment of food, an assortment in the center, and a large window that looked out over the forest. Above the room was a glass dome, which served to protect the occupants from being affected by the elements.

The scene below them was one that bordered on chaos. The forest was filled with students, all dressed in their preferred armor or clothing. Some had started fighting already, while others were walking around aimlessly.

"Last year's inheritor is far from worthless, I'd say." Lucius yawned. "She actually has a lot of potential to actually make a difference in this damned world."

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

***

"Where are we going? We've been walking forever."

"Do you always complain this much, Jean?"

"Master Jean does, in fact, complain a lot. It's one of his many flaws."

"Don't agree with him!" Jean yelled.

Ajal began laughing at their antics. "You two are pretty funny. What were your names again?"

Jean groaned in annoyance. "This is the third time you are asking us. I'm Jean. J-E-A-N. Jean." He gestured over to Arc, who stood there holding the same blank expression. "And this beauty is Arc. A-R-C. Arc."

"Lawn and Bark. Got it."

"Got what!? You got nothing! I literally spelled it out for you!"

Ajal stopped moving.

"What is it now?" Jean asked.

Ajal hushed him and looked around for a few seconds. "Whoever is following us, you can come out now."

From their left, the sound of ruffling bushes broke the silence. Out stepped a girl. She had long, silver hair. She was dressed in rather fashionable clothing. A white shirt that cut off just before her stomach with pink sleeves going all the way down her arm. She had rings covering multiple of her fingers and also had long, white, baggy pants, of which the ends of were stuffed in a pair of black boots. But the most peculiar thing about her outfit was the cat collar that had a bell attached she wore around her neck.

"Wow, I'm pretty good at sneaking around, so it was impressive you caught me, Ajal."

Ajal jumped back in shock. "How do you know my name?"

"We met before. I was the one who showed you how to use a Teleportation Gate, remember?"

"Oh yeah! You're the one with the name that was easy to remember. What was it again?"

Jean stares at Ajal with an almost demonic expression if frustration. "It's not easy to remember if you can't actually remember it, idiot!"

"It's Yumiko." the girl answers. "I also overheard you guys say you are on Z team earlier. As it just so happens, I'm also on Z team."

Yumiko holds up her artifact, revealing the letter 'Z' carved into it.

Arc held out her hand in robotic fashion to Yumiko. "Welcome to the team. I'm Arc, Jean's automaton."

Yumiko smiled and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Arc." Yumiko released her hand and looked over at Jean. "And by a process of elimination, you must be Jean, right? Nice to meet you."

Jean grabbed Yumiko's hand with both of his. "That is correct. My name is Jean, but you may call me anytime." Jean gave her a wink.

"Lame nickname." Ajal interrupted.

"No, it's not a nickname-"

"Nice to meet you, Anytime." Yumiko teased.

"I hate all of you."

Without warning, an object came shooting by, leaving a trail of broken ground in its wake, crashing through multiple trees and only stopping once smashing into a giant boulder. The group followed the trail to the boulder to see a person lying there, leaning against the boulder that now had a giant crater marked in it. The person lying there was a boy with warm, golden brown skin color. He was wearing a red hoodie with a, blue ripped jeans, a necklace that was blocked by his hoodie and red and white sneakers. He had short, curly, dark brown hair and In each of his limp hands was a pistol.

The boy groaned in pain and stood up, grunting at every movement. He put his hand on the back of neck and started stretching.

"I'm gonna feel that one till next week. That bitch is gonna get payback tenfold for that." He noticed the 4 strangers looking at him and quickly drew his guns, aiming at Ajal and Jean.

Arc readied herself to protect Jean.

"Wait!" Jean yelled. "We don't want to fight you."

"Even if I was your target?" the boy responded.

"That would change things. Personally, I like our odds. 4 on 1 works well." Ajal answered. "Wait, which team is our target, anyway?"

"Team A, I think." Yumiko replied.

"How the hell do you know that?" Jean inquired.

"The Gate attendant told me. Did your guys' attendant not say anything?"

Everyone shook their head.

"Well, are you on Team A, gun man?" Ajal questioned.

"Why the hell should I answer you?! If anything, you guys should be telling me what team you all are."

Jean glared at him. "Like hell we wou-"

"Z." Ajal cut in, holding out his artifact with an enormous, toothy grin.

Jean rolled his eyes and leaned forward into his hand. " Honestly, I can't even find the energy to be angry anymore."

The boy lowered his weapons. "It seems we are on the same team, but if I recall correctly, there are only 4 to a team." He scanned over the entire group. "Which one of you is a fake?"

Arc raised her hand. "I suppose I technically am the fake, as I am not an actual applicant." She curtsied. "My name is Arc. I'm an automaton who serves under Master Anytime."

"Anytime? Strange name." he replied.

Ajal nodded his head. "That's what I said."

Jean sighed in defeat. "It's Jean, but just call me whatever, I guess."

"That's even weirder." Yumiko remarked. "I'm Yumiko."

"And you?" the boy asked, gesturing over at Ajal.

"Ajal. I'm the leader." He said, his hand outward forming a peace sign with his fingers.

"Who decided that!?" Jean yelled.

The boy casually threw his guns up into the air. They watched as the guns glowed a bright blue light and transformed into a pair of glasses and landing back into the outstretched hands of their owner.

"My name's Ezekial, close friends call me Zeke." he put his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. "Unfortunately, I lost my artifact."

"What!?" Jean yelled. "I swear if we already get eliminated-"

"Relax, spiky hair. From what I can gather, we are only eliminated if the team who targets us still has it at the end of the Exam." Ezekial started pacing back and forth, waving one of his fingers around, his other hand still in his pocket. "So, I've run into a couple of other teams and it seems whoever our target is also happens to be the one targeting us."

Yumiko tilted her head. "I'm not sure I get it."

"Well, your answer earlier to who our target is confirmed my theory. We are team Z going after team A. The people I ran into earlier are Team B going after team Y."

Arc perked her head up."So your theory is that the people on the exact opposite sides of the alphabet are targeting one another?"

"Exactly."

Ajal jumped in. "What about team M, then? Wouldn't they not have a team to go after?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out." Ezekial said, biting the nail on his thumb. "Either they are a free pass or a team we should avoid is my guess."

"Or they don't exist." Jean proposed. "This test is known for its tricks. Hell, we don't even know how many points we need to pass. They keep in vague on purpose, I think."

Yumiko raised her hand. "This is all well and good, but we should probably worry about getting Zeke's artifact back."

"Oi, who said you could call me Zeke?"

"Let's go, gang!" Ajal started running, following the broken ground that was left by Ezekial's arrival. "We're off to avenge Zeke's pride!"

Everyone else started running after Ajal.

"My pride is not ruined! And stop calling me Zeke!"