BXBX NOVEL Chapter 31 Fighter's Physical
"Alright, welcome to the Fighter's Physical. You can call me Icarus. I'll be handling your exam for this duration." Icarus bellowed. "The Fighter's Physical focuses on core aspects you will need to use in the field. We are testing for your physical attributes. The Physical covers the following: strength, endurance, dexterity, intelligence. If you can do well in these four areas, you've done well."
Icarus tapped his watch and the gym behind him began to shift and reassemble itself. Large floating blocks hovered mid air. Platforms that ramped up and down, pieces of the gym floor itself disappeared. The gym had become a dangerous playground itself. Icarus turned to look at the reassembled gym and smiled.
"Here at Number Academy, we have special technology that can rearrange the room as we see fit. This will be your test for the physical. There are about thirty of you here, so we will go in groups of 10. You will start at the starting point. When the alarm goes off, you'll sprint down the path and round the corner towards the ramps and jump onto the raised platforms. From there it's the floating platforms. You will have to quickly jump between floating platform to floating platform and then make your way down the ramps and come back to the start.
"I should also tell you there are a few surprises in store for you. If you cannot deal with surprises, you aren't fit to be here. Holes and platforms falling may be in store for you today. There is a long list of what could happen, but even I don't know what will happen. With that out the way, I don't know if I need to say this, but you may use your powers freely here. If it can help you get through the course and to the finish line, use whatever resources you have available." Icarus cleared his throat and turned back to the face the examinees.
"You will be randomly pinged. Check to see what number you get." Devices started to ping all at once. Lee Seng pulled his phone out and checked.
Group 1
Lee Seng tucked his phone back in and looked back at Icarus who was waiting.
"Group 1, step forward." Lee Seng and four other examinees stood up. Lee Seng started down towards the starting line. Lee Seng funneled down towards the starting line and looked around. Lee Seng shook his head and lightly slapped his cheeks.
"Is everyone ready to start?" Icarus asked. Lee Seng got into running position and waited. Icarus raised his hand and an alarm started to go off. "3, 2, 1. BOOM." Everyone sprinted down the path. Lee Seng ran keeping up with the middle of the pack. As he rounded the corner, people began to climb up the ramps and started to jump onto the raised platforms. Lee Seng turned the corner and heard a loud crack. The ramps were starting to become jagged and uneven.
People began to lose balance and some fell behind. Lee Seng sighed, slowing down. He glanced around. The course was starting to shift in front of them. Lee Seng smiled and ran forwards past two people who were getting up. Somebody whizzed right past him and jumped onto the platform. Lee Seng quickly maneuvered through the cracking ramp. Lee Seng reached the top and was about to jump off when the ramp crumbled into small blocks below him.
'Crap, it's crumbling beneath me.' Lee Seng started to fall down and realized he was falling into darkness. He screamed as he tumbled down beneath the raised platforms and into a small tunnel. The small blocks bounced away and quickly disappeared. He stood on his feet and looked around. It was a somewhat narrow tunnel, but he pushed forward. He quickly followed the tunnel and realized it started to split. People behind him began to push past him and run different directions.
'Which way?' He glanced at the three different paths. One had gone left and the other had gone right. He shrugged and decided to choose the middle path. He started down the path when he heard screams. He stopped to look behind him when he heard a beeping noise. The walls around him burst outwards, towards him and he collided with rubble from all direction. The heavy weight of the rubble squashed him. He could hear footsteps coming closer to him.
"H-hey!" Lee Seng screamed. didn't know where exactly the person was, but they were close. The person ignored him and kept onwards. Lee Seng sighed. He was stuck and his body felt bruised and battered. He could feel his body's healing effects trying to take over but because of his positioning, he couldn't quite heal.
"Dammit, okay." He tried to calm himself. "I need to push the rocks away." Lee Seng steadied his breathing and listened for anyone coming his way. He began to move his hands together. In a split second, he felt the familiar energy vibrating from within him and he pushed outwards at once. The rubble shot out and pushed away from him, crashing into the walls around him. Lee Seng groaned and felt his body began to repair itself. The path began to shake unsteadily and Lee Seng rolled his eyes as he quickly climbed up onto his feet.
"Ah, dammit! I'm going to put myself in my own grave!" He ran forwards and ignored the pain in his thigh. The tunnel began to crumble around him and he screamed loudly as he sprinted.
'I need to go faster!' He thought. He didn't know if he could push himself with his gravity to make him go faster, but he knew he had at least nine charges on his legs. 'Light as a feather, light as a feather, light as a feather!' He screamed in his head. The area around him began to break unevenly and he screamed. His body lifted and became lighter. He felt himself running fast.
"FASTER!" He screamed. Everything around him started to blur and he quickly saw the path going upwards. He blurred past someone and shot out of the tunnel so fast, he floated up into the air. Everything pulled back and he felt himself slow. He could hear shouting and screaming behind him. He turned and noticed he had past half of the floating square platforms. The tunnels had seemingly brought him a little too close to the floating square platforms and he couldn't really see the tunnel, anymore.
He wanted to question the technology that hid it from him, but he had a big problem to deal with. He was falling and he was... Wait, he wasn't falling at all? He was drifting quickly towards a floating platform. He could see he wasn't going to reach it. He tried a swimming motion to push himself upwards towards the platform but didn't budge. His body started to feel heavier and he started to fall.
Lee Seng screamed as he tried to claw for something. He was plummeting towards his death and his brain was blanking. 'Up, up, up!' He thought. He threw his hands besides him and imagined his hands and arms propelling him upwards towards the floating platform. In a swift motion he began to feel gravity shove him straight upwards. He flew past the floating platforms and towards the ceiling. He screamed as he threw his hands up. The gravity push stopped and he began to fall again. His arms and legs felt a bit heavier, pulling him to the ground again.
"Dammit!" He shot his arm out and yanked his hand towards his chest and watched as the floating platform quickly moved towards him. He landed onto the moving platform and bounced hard towards the edge. He slid on his butt towards the edge and clawed at the moving platform. It groaned and moved quickly. He flew off the edge and started to plummet down towards the next platform.
The platform behind him continued towards the ceiling. Lee Seng shot closer towards the next platform. The platform grew larger and larger as the platform crashed into the ceiling. Lee Seng struggled to put his hands together, gritting his teeth as he pushed through the air.
'C'mon, light as a feather, light as a feather, light as a feather!' His hands shook. His mind was racing for questions but he continued. As he detached his hands, he kept them in the shape of claws and pulled outwards. His tail began to glow and a white bubble burst outwards. The bubble grew and attached itself to the platform below and behind him. Lee Seng's quick descent started to slow. Lee Seng winced. His chest grew heavier.
'I didn't even make it to ten, yet.' Lee Seng thought. He grasped his chest floated towards the platform. His feet landed on the platform and as he stepped out of the bubble, it popped. The white energy dissipated. Lee Seng let out heavy breaths and shook his head. 'I made it to the downward ramp. It doesn't look like anyone made it yet. I just need to make it to the finish line.' Lee Seng clutched his chest as he took his step.
"Ahhh!" Lee Seng groaned. He stumbled onto the ground. The loud ringing shook his ears. His vision began to blur.