It’s the exam day today. Many talented young individuals are gathered here in front of the headquarter for the examination. A blonde hair girl floats up above the crowd to make an announcement. 

“Good morning soul users! My name is Lily and I am your exam administrator for your first exam today. We only have 50 vacancies available so the 500 of you will need to compete against each other in order to enter our Defense Academy of Veleria. The first test is very simple. Around us, you will see multiple stone pillars. If you touch the pillar and it lights up, you pass. If it does not, then you fail. Remember that you only have one chance. Good Luck” Lily descended down into the crowd

Everyone stood still. Of course, the test won’t be as simple as that. Suddenly, a guy heads towards the pillar. His red, spiky hair and a tall, firm body makes him very noticeable. Following him were 2 people wearing a black cape.

“Any soul users should have noticed this. The exam administrator already made a move when we were listening to her speech. I saw that she broke some stone shards and spread it around this area” The red hair guy along with his followers tap the pillars with stone shard in their hands. The pillars light up and they got teleported away

A commotion broke out as soon as they disappear. People start fighting for the shards and try to run to the pillar. Lights start flashing as people manage to make it to the pillars.

“Ike and Sam, we should go” I whispered

I know that my friends aren’t dumb enough to believe in those tricks. I detected Lily’s enormous soul power since the moment that she suddenly appeared in the crowd before the exam briefing. I kept an eye on her and did not see any abnormal movements at all. We touched the stone pillar and got teleported to a new area.

After 10 minutes of waiting, Lily reappeared.

“Well done the 200 of you! All of you should have known by now that the red hair guy is one of our instructor. The stone shards did not matter and were used to waste your time. If you didn’t know this, then you must have been super strong. Our first test was the test of intelligence, braverly and strength. I am sure that all of you at least has one of these or a good friend “Lily laughed

“I didn’t know what you were gonna do but I trusted you” Ike smiled

“Ray, you saved us!” Sam cheered

I think I should take back my word... I silently thought in my head

“Now onto the second exam, save yourself!” Lily shouted

The floor disappeared and turned into a clear blue sky. Everyone was covered in a web-like sticky substance. If we fall to the ground at this speed, we will suffer a very heavy blow if not dead. We have around 1 minutes and 30 seconds to escape

“The web is absorbing my soul power!” shouted Sam

“We need to use physical force” Ike remained calm

 I directed my soul force to both sides of my arms to try and break free. However, the web is too strong.

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1 minutes remaining

“Dammit! The web is too strong” I exclaimed

“Sam and Ike lend me your soul force” I yelled

“We’ll leave it to you Ray” Sam replied

 40 seconds remaining

Sam and Ike released their soul force through the web to the atmosphere while I quickly absorb it into my body. I also need to withstand damages from their forces but this is nothing compared to my training. I tried directing all of the force into my arms. Now I can feel the pain starting to leak from my arms. My arms really felt like exploding.

20 seconds remaining

I push my arms apart with all my might.

15 seconds

“Boom!” The web broke apart along with my bones

13 seconds

“Bones Recovery Activate!”

10

My soul force is depleted. I cannot move!

9

8

“Soul Sword Activate!” I gathered my last breath

7

The sword appeared floating in front of me and I grabbed it using my mouth

6

 I gathered my last soul power to perform a sword boost

 5

 I am heading straight to Sam and Ike

 4

 I pass them. Did I miss? My eyes are closing...

3

2

1

0

Thud!

“You gave me a heart attack” Sam shouted

“I nearly couldn’t catch you in time Ray!” Ike exhaled

I opened my eyes and we are now in a Soul Room where soul force and power replenish.

“Congrats for making it to the final round! The web was made so that it can never be broken by a single’s person soul force. You need to know which fight you will win and which fight you will need help from teammates. Learn to put trust in your friends. No matter how strong you are, you will not survive in this world alone.” Lily explained

“Now onto the final round, you all would probably have guessed. It will be a coin toss battle! ” said Lily

“What!?” Everyone got confused

“Coin toss should be a test of luck. And who says that you can’t use a little bit of help?” I smiled

“Since we have a hundred right now, this will be perfect!” Lily gave an evil smile

Rounds after rounds, people started to understand the game. This is a battle of Soul Power and Force!  A black hair, tall and skinny guy went on the stage against a guy twice his size.

“This fight is too obvious!” a shout from the crowd

“Hey black hair, you should just give up” another girl shouted

“I choose head” the skinny guy chose confidently

“Either way, you will lose” The large guy grinned

As soon as the coin is flip, the skinny guy walks away. Everyone was left puzzled. The large guy concentrates his soul power and force to flip the coin to the tail side. The coin landed on a head...

“Luckyyyy” smiled the skinny guy

Not many people noticed it. That guy’s soul power is beyond ordinary. Where is he from? I got curious.

“Hey, wait!” I tried to approach him

“Who are you?” I asked

“It’s none of your business” he replied

This guy really knows how to make people hate him. I thought in my head. Now it’s my turn to toss the coin. None of my business huh?! I try to calm down as I absorb soul force from the room into my body. Everyone is giving me a weird stare.

“I will choose tail” I said

“I give up..” my opponent replied

“Eh?” I’m confused

“Stop draining my soul force!” he shouted

Now that I think about it. I feel like I have a surging force inside me. I released all of force that I absorbed back out. Gushes of wind emit out from my body leaving the audience in awe. I quickly exit the stage. What have I done? I thought to myself. I didn’t even realised that I’m capable of doing such a thing!

“Was that Soul Drain!?” Lily became excited

“Seems like we have a couple of first seat candidates this year” The red spiky haired guy mentioned

Ike and Sam also won their games. Only 50 participants are left at the headquater.

“From today, you guys are a student of our academy. Classes will start next Monday. For those that wants to live at the campus, you can claim your room keys this time tomorrow.” Lily explained

The examination ended in a way that we hoped for. We decided to go out for a BBQ dinner together to celebrate. On our way there, something strange happened.

“We are being followed..” I whispered

“5 guys, I remember some of their faces. They took part in the exam but didn’t make it in” Sam replied

“Capture them!” one of the guy shouted