(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 57

The team, dressed in their battle attire, traveled to the entrance to the Edge Walker's forest, where members of the Amian Agency stood regally. That worried Loyalty more than being told to meet here. He remembered hearing Raheem tell him about Hell Month, where new members of the Amian Agency met with existing members for their variation of the Entrance Exams, supposedly a much more difficult version of the Entrance Exam from the academy. Once the team landed, the three Masters took their spots beside the AA members, with Hwan-Jin standing in front of them. A smile stretched across Ichi's face as the team took their spots beside Hwan-Jin.

"Welcome, Team Blade, to the most wonderful time being a member of the Amian Agency; Hell month. Or, should I say, Hell Week," he corrected himself with a chuckle. "Since we were living in times of peace, you were fortunate enough not to have to go through this magical time of your career. That good fortune ends today. Behind me-" he gestured to the dense forest behind him, "is, of course, the Edge Walker's forest. In order to test your abilities, you have to venture inside of this cursed forest to find one of these." Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out a spherical, metallic orb large enough to fit in the palm of his hand. "There are ten orbs in all. Find them and bring them to the three Agency members you see beside me in under five hours."

"Five hours? Really? Wow, this is almost going to be too easy," Chris had said with the rest of his team agreeing on either side of him.

Ichi held up a finger, silencing them. "I didn't tell you the stipulation. Considering how well-versed you are with your weapons, you will voyage through the forest with only your element to defend you." He grinned maliciously. "In other words, you must leave your weapons behind."

"What?!" Team Blade cried out in outrage.

"Also," McManus began, "since this would be too easy for you, your five hours has now been bumped down to three. Have fun." At once, Ichi chucked the orb deep within the forest with full force. "Discard your weapons by the Peacekeeper, and begin." Both Ichi and McManus ate a piece of honey drop, leaving the team alone with the existing Agency members.

"This is bullshit!" Chris yelled as he dropped his machete in front of one of the Agency members, who didn't even attempt to hide his smile.

"Yeah, thanks to you," Alisha said as she laid her spear and shield on the ground. "We probably would've had more time if you'd just kept your mouth shut."

Dropping his nunchaku on the ground, Joel chimed in with, "Probably would've had our weapons too. Nice going brainiac."

"Whosever fault it is isn't our concern now," Jeremy said. "Our biggest concern is to make it through this exercise. What we should do now is have our Nature elementals to try and sense the o-"

"I'm just going to stop you right now and let you know that that's going to work," one of the Agency members, a Nature elemental based on his tan jacket, said with a grin. "They have a special film over them that can't be traced. Trust me, I've tried."

"Of course. Because then it would be too easy," Loyalty sighed as he set both of his katanas on the ground. "He thought of everything, didn't he?"

"Well, he is my father after all," Sakura said as she placed her twin daggers in front of her. Beside her, Hwan-Jin silently laid his tomahawks on the ground.

"Just so you know," a different AA member said, with a smirk on her olive-colored face, "you can use these trackers to find them more efficiently. Each of us has one to give to one of you." She, along with the other two AA members, reached into the pack strapped across their chest and pulled out a long, black armband with a curved plastic screen. She tapped on the screen, making it flash for a split second before showing a green radar. A small red circle slowly blinked at the northernmost edge of the radar. "You may want to decide you gets it pretty quickly, though. Your time has already started." The group collectively gulped at the information. "You may want to start." She snickered as she pointed to the entrance of the forest.