The Unknown

Chapter 1: The Game

Hundreds of students stormed out of the classrooms, like a pack of wild beasts pushing and shoving each other, as the bell's ring reverberated against the fancy stone buildings. Outside, cold wind blew, making the students' hair swirl and flap against their faces; but no one seemed to care. Like every Thursday, they all had the same goal in mind. Except for few students, everyone wanted to be the first one to reach the puzzorb field.

"Kenzie! Wait!" screamed a girl with ebony eyes and jet black hair in a pixie cut.

"Hurry up Emily, we don't want anyone seeing us" Kenzie replied as she slowed down her pace to let Emily catch up.

"I'm coming! But where's Kaia?"

"I'm here" said a quiet voice belonging to a girl with dirty blond hair tied up in a ponytail and a piercing nordic glance.

"Great, let's go!" exclaimed Kenzie as she pushed back her curly hazelnut hair, revealing her forest colored eyes.

The three girls broke in a swift flash and disappeared into a small edifice under construction. They carefully walked along the half built walls, stepping over tools and stone bricks. Kenzie, who was leading the group through the obstacles, abruptly stopped when she heard a snort. The girls turned their heads simultaneously to the right and peaked into the unfinished room. A middle aged man was sleeping on a couch. His hands were interlocked behind his head and his legs were extended with his feet crossed.

"I think he's the builder" Kaia whispered.

"We have to keep going if we want to get there before everyone else" Emily urged.

The girls hurried through the building and sprinted to the middle of the field. By the time they arrived, they had lost their breaths and were panting heavily. The rest of the students were running around the construction, unaware of the unauthorized shortcut. When they finally arrived, the students formed a circle around the girls.

"Hey! How did you novices and apprentice get here so fast?" asked an older boy named Jude as he stepped forward.

"We're faster than you" Emily replied with a smile.

"Impossible, do you know who I am?"

"Nope, but I have a feeling you're going to tell us"

"Damn right I am! I'm the fastest specialist and I always win!" Jude declared with a proud smile.

A sudden ray of sun appeared from behind the clouds, revealing Jude's shiny chocolate eyes. A color that almost matched his dark brown hair.

"Let it go Jude!" a student complained.

"Yeah come on, just start the game!" said another.

"There's no way I'm playing against novices!" Jude protested.

"Why? Are you scared?" Kenzie asked.

"No I'm not!"

"Then pick your team and let's start playing!"

The game was simple but required a lot of concentration. Whoever arrived in the field first was allowed to make the puzzorb, a small silver glass sphere, appear. The same person would then thrust the sphere into the sky and once in the air the puzzorb will whirl. The spinning causes the colored circles on the platform to send the six players into the air. Once everyone is floating, the players would focus on splitting the puzzorb. To do that, all six players must connect their brain energy to the sphere's energy. Once the six energy links are formed, the sphere will divide into one hundred parts that will spread throughout the field. In the end, the team that collected the most pieces wins. Players would then put the puzzorb back together and keep it. Teams with the most puzzorbs received a prize at the end of the year.