(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 75

"So, are you guys ready?" Sakura asked. She didn't wait for a response. "I don't know if you all are aware of this, but you can turn this into a career, if you desire. Think of it like sports on Amity. If you constantly practice, and catch the attention of promoters, you could join the Emblem of Valor League. It pays almost as much as working as an Elemancer, and that's saying a lot.

"Of course, the competition is extremely stiff. You could join a minor league or go semi-pro, but the pay isn't near the amount of the major league. There are thousands that are still trying to join, and only a handful can get promoted from the minor league to the major. That'll take some determination, but if you really want it, you can't let the statistics stop you."

"Well, we know of at least one person that's going to try to join," Kim snickered. Every eye turned towards Megumi, who looked cluelessly around the group.

"Well, of course I'm going to join. Both my parents and my brother are in it, so it's in my genes."

"Why am I not surprised?" Sakura said as she turned towards a doorway. Inside, a round table with dozens of knobs and buttons stood in the middle of metallic, inclined pods. The insides of the pods were padded with what looked like memory foam, along with a pillow under two small suction cups attached to wires.

Giving a star-struck gasp, Megumi squeaked, "Dude, this is so cool."

"And it'll get even cooler once we go in," they heard Katherine say. Too distracted by the stillness of the room, the group didn't noticed their opponents on the other side of the room. Their supervisor, the manic-eyed Hwan-Jin, stood at the circular table preparing for the group to enter. The five remaining members of his underlings stood by their pods, waiting for Dre's team to show up and for Hwan-Jin to give the okay.

At once, Megumi made a beeline to Katherine and wrapped her arms around her neck. Katherine placed her hands on Megumi's waist. "Hey babe," Megumi said before kissing her. "You ready to get beat?"

"Oh, so you're not going to sit this out, then huh. Are you sure that you stand a chance of beating me? I mean, I'm not going to hold back on you, so I won't judge you if you back down."

"Sounds to me like you want a sample of this fun-sized ass kicker." Standing on the tips of her toes, she kissed Katherine's forehead. "You'll need all the luck in the world to take me down."

Feeling awkward about looking at Megumi and Katherine's canoodling, Dre looked around the room. Aside from the large monitor showing No Signal, the room was pretty bare. That was until he looked beside the entrance. A fair-skinned man with blonde, shoulder-length hair was writing something down in a hand-sized notebook. There was a white headband covering his forehead, as well as a bandage under his right eye. His suit and tie made him look too professional to be an assistant of either Hwan-Jin or Sakura. Dre noticed a name badge attached to a lanyard that read, Forrest Nightblaze: Seven Man Army Weekly. "Scoping out some new stories, Nightblaze?" Sakura asked as she walked towards him.

"Huh? Oh, it's Sakura," he said in a thick Australian accent. "So, are these the children that you're looking over?"

"Children? You douche," Dre barely heard Ian say under his breath.

"Yep. You may want to be on the lookout for my team though. They got legendary blood coursing through them."

As if Sakura had called him, Kamatsu joyously called out, "Basura! Looks like your whipping's gonna come early."

Scowling, Dre turned towards Kamatsu leaning against his transfer pod, his arms crossed his chest. He was wearing his usual samurai clothing, except this time his right arm was armored by a golden gauntlet that reached from his fingers to his shoulder. "The only person who's going to catch a whipping is going to be you, you... jerk." Dre cursed his lack of quick witted remarks.