14 The Decision 2 (1/2)
Kai nodded his head and was about to reply when someone else started talking. Kai looked at the girl who was talking. She had blonde hair and hazel brown eyes. She spoke in a very elegant way. Looking closer, he saw that everything about her exuded countenance and grace, 'Clearly from a prominent family.'
”I will answer this question for you. ” The group parted from her too so the two could see each other, ”Strength is important, you are right. But it's also very Keshos of you to say that it is the most important. For a Beginner and an Amateur, the only way we can use our powers is with a kickstarter. What happens if you are fighting a Zolma and your kickstarter plus weapons breaks? Or maybe you lose them during a fight and the only way to get them back is by beating the Zolma in front of you. How do you fight? But if you are kickstart compatible you can use each other. This is an extreme example, I know but I'd feel safer in battle knowing I have a failsafe.”
”This is one reason but the most important one I'd say is having the ability to amplify your lightning by two. When two people are kickstart compatible, one person is naturally negative and the other is naturally positive. When the negative and positive charge meet they neutralize each other and combine into one creating a stronger neutral charge. That charge can then be used individually or together. In order to do this takes a lot of practice. It takes constant experimentation with charges of different positivity and negativity to create a neutral charge. The charge needs to be neutral because it is the easiest to manipulate for the both of them. Although they can use positive and negative charges they are inherently better at controlling their natural charge. So if the combined charge is even slightly negative or positive one of the two won't be able to control it and the move will fail.”
”Despite the difficulty of the move having that option is a huge plus. Haven't you seen the surpa.s.ser compet.i.tions? Everyone in the top 20 is kickstart compatible. For as you rank up you can control more of your elemental power and then that same power is being doubled. It's too good to give up! We are aiming to be King and Queen. The path is not easy as there can only be one King and one Queen. The future King and Queen might not even come from this building or even this country. Knowing the difficulty of the task at hand why would you not want the best partner? It's not being selfish it's being reasonable. So yes being kickstart compatible is definitely necessary.”
Kai was stunned but he didn't show it. Instead, he smiled at the blonde girl as if she had said what he would have said. Kai could answer the question, he knew the two reasons why being kickstart compatible is important but not in such detail. It was a great lesson for him too. But in the end, her explanation left him with more questions than answers, 'If everyone can manipulate negative and positive charges why are repulsion and attraction arts rare? Seems to me that all you need to do is put negative with negative and boom you get repulsion. But clearly, that is not all there is to it. I really need to go see a surpa.s.ser library. The online articles don't explain in depth enough.'
After hearing the news the girl was satisfied with the answer so everyone returned to a square formation. Once they did Kai cleared his throat, ”Okay so now that everyone is on board with the compatibility test please form a single line. Then one by one you come to the front and hold my hand. If we are compatible then go to the table and draw a tick next to the box you drew to sign in. Once you did all that find a place to wait for further instructions. Please don't huddle near high traffic areas. So stay away from the entrance. Thank you.”
All the girls formed a single line. It looked like a 'U' then one by one the girls nervously walked forward. They hated how this part was out of their control and ultimately came down to luck. Strength had no bearing so it didn't matter if you graduated first in your cla.s.s… Each girl would stand in front of Kai. Then he would extend his hand as if they were going to shake hands. Once their hands were together they would both try and use their powers. If they could use their powers they were kickstart compatible and that means they pa.s.sed. If not they failed…
One by one, girls stayed and left. The girls that stayed were beaming. While the ones that left felt thwarted and bitter . There were far more people that failed than pa.s.sed. Because of that, the thought of cheating flowed in the minds of some. However, in the end, no one did as they were all serious about becoming Queen. After everything was settled of the 642 only 193 were left.
After test 1 was done, Kai told them to wait outside. Then the girls that were outside waiting came inside the building. He explained to them what they should do so they signed themselves in. Then he told them that there was a compatibility test. Once that was done of the 623 girls only 181 remained. Then the girls outside came inside making a total of 374 out of 1265 that pa.s.sed test 1.
The girls then stood in a square formation and Kai came to the front with Emily Frey, ”Since everyone here is kickstart compatible with me let's begin stage 2. Just like stage one, your combat prowess isn't being tested however, it can determine a pa.s.s or fail. After the admin go through the list of names to see who is still here; you will be matched with someone and you two will spar. We will read your name and the person you are sparring with. Once your name is read enter one of the 8 rings or the one that is empty. What we are testing is your fighting style. Your fighting style does not need to be the same as mine. It doesn't even need to be similar; however, it must be compatible. We can't be stepping on each other's toes the whole time. My tutor, Emily Frey will be in charge of this test…” He said and pointed to Emily, ”She is a Razak Rank 4 Lightning-Water 2nd Generation Surpa.s.ser. She knows my fighting style well and will be watching you fight. If she thinks you are compatible she will call your ring and number.
”Each ring is marked with a number from 1-8. If you are fighting in ring 1 but you start on the left, you are ring 1, 1 if you are on the right you are ring 1, 2. The same with any ring, so ring 4 will have a ring 4, 1 and a ring 4, 2. If she shouts your ring and number stop the fight and let the next two spar. If you don't hear your ring and number then kindly find your way to the exit. Since we are testing compatibility two people can fail at the same time. In a case like that, she will just say, 'ring 5' if there is no number attached both of you were seen as incompatible.”
”Two people can pa.s.s too, in that case, she will say, 'Ring 3, 1 and Ring 3, 2'. Another thing to remember, beating your opponent doesn't mean you will pa.s.s. However, losing miserably is an immediate fail. And don't worry about her not being able to see you fight. She will be using lightning hyperdrive so she will be able to view all 8 fights at the same time. Since our level of fighting is far below hers… Once you pa.s.s this round remember to tick in the next empty box. If you have any questions please fire away. ”
But n.o.body had any questions, ”Alright then let's get the show on the road.”
Once the list was set up 16 names were called out and they went to spar. Since Emily Frey is at Razak level she can generate lightning by herself without the use of a kickstarter. So with electricity flowing through her she watched the girls spar with hawk-like eyes. She was merciless in the way she judged. If she thought you were even slightly incompatible she would send you home. Time after time, Emily Frey would call out, ”Ring 4… Ring 1… Ring 7…” Once she did two people would be seen making their way to the exit. There was only one time where two individuals of the same ring pa.s.sed. The rest of the people pa.s.sed in singles.
After everyone had sparred with someone, Emily Frey returned to Kai's side. Kai was now standing and looking at the girls who were left. Of the 374 only 147 were left. Kai quizzically looked at Emily Frey, 'Maybe she was too brutal in the way she a.s.sessed,' However, she just looked at him innocently as if she did nothing wrong. Kai sighed, 'I guess she knows best though.' Then he looked at the girls in front of him, ”This is the last part. Now we will finally be testing strength.” He said while looking at the brunette and the blonde from before, ”But instead of facing each other you will be facing me. Each of you will get a chance to spar with me. Then I will decide if you pa.s.s or not. If you pa.s.s then we will continue tomorrow again. Tomorrow a winner might be crowned. Remember to tick the box if you pa.s.sed.”
Once they understood, Kai walked into a ring while stretching his arms. Then he looked at the girls around him, ”Who wants to go first?” So a girl walked into the ring while the rest formed a line so that once she was done the next was already decided. Kai had been vigorously training with his tutor for almost a month so he could now use 2200 of his PI. He only had 200 PI left until he could fight at full power. He still had ways to go in terms of how much elemental power he could muster but he wasn't afraid of effort...
One after one, Kai fought them and won. However, he is not G.o.d and did rest in between. His break time took an acc.u.mulative amount of one hour. Because of that, this part took four hours.
Once he had fought every one of the 147, 50 remained. By now it was already 6 pm so he said goodbye to the girls and told them to be here at 10 am tomorrow morning. Then he thanked Carmen and Co for helping him today. He also promised to stick them all for a burger and fries for their help. Once almost everyone was gone he wanted to go home too. He had an exhausting day. Although it wasn't as strenuous as his training with Emily Frey; it took its toll in areas that weren't as trained. Telling people they aren't good enough isn't easy…
Kai picked up all the litter that was lying around in the spar court. Then he put all the items that people forgot in his bag. He would bring them tomorrow and return them to their rightful owner. Then he took all the papers off the walls as well as the ones on the table. He crumbled the ones that were on the wall and put the ones that were on the table in his bag. He left the tables as is; the personnel would take that away.
Kai looked at the spar court and saw everything was clean. Now he could finally go home. It was 6:30 and it was just him and Emily Frey in the spar court. Since Emily Frey originally came from Keshos, she didn't have a car, neither did she want to rent one. She took a taxi to get here in the morning and once they were done training, Kai would take her home. Kai put his black school bag on his back and looked at Emily Frey, ”I'm ready, let's go.”
She lifted one eyebrow, ”Where do you think you are going? You didn't train yesterday and now you want to skip today too. No ways. Training starts now.”
Kai almost collapsed when he heard her. He was mentally fatigued and she still wanted him to train. Kai had tried to argue even though he feared the spoon. But she didn't care, ”You are mentally fatigued not physically. So you are still capable of training.”
In the end, he gave up and complied. There was no winning this argument. So he asked, ”What do you want me to do?”
She smirked devilishly, ”I want you to spar with me.”
Kai closed his eyes and put his right hand on his forehead. This was literally the one thing he did not want to hear. Kai hated getting hit by the spoon but sparing with Emily Frey was the same as getting multiple beating by a spoon. Emily Frey would always coat her hand with lightning and then whack him around. It was hurtful in more than one way. She liked to call this 'pride training'. Kai had pride and that was a good thing. It's because of his pride that he was able to keep training despite not seeing results. It was because of his pride that he is able to train his body until he can't walk. It's because of pride that he has so much resolve. However, too much of anything is bad, even a good thing. So she did this to show him how small he actually is. She praised him when he did well but also showed him that there is so much more.
Kai knew this but he still hated 'pride training'. She liked to say it was for him but he knew she loved whacking him. It was especially fun for her when Kai thought he had a chance then she would pull some never seen before move and catch him off guard. This was also one of the reasons Kai could bear the humiliation. Because she exposed him to different things. Things that if performed by someone of his level he would now be able to see coming.