Jinka began to unroll the bandages before tearing it off like toilet paper. He then indicated Raikou to pull his arm up, which he did. "I learned that trick from a mage. She was a friend of a friend and taught me my top 3 most favourite spells. Because of that she's now my friend" Jinka said, smiling. Jinka wrapped the bandage around Raikou's arm.
"Well all done, I hope that helped the kid". Raikou smiled. "Thanks Sir" he said, touching his injury a bit too much. Jinka then gave Raikou a concerned face but not about his touching. "Do you always burn yourself like this, by the way? Or were you carried away from the fact you wanted to beat me with your flames".
Raikou put his finger on his chin. "Hmmm. I guess I was carried away a little bit. But to be most I figured using my usual flames wouldn't beat you and guess I was too right. Too bad my full power flames were also too weak to".
Raikou and the merchant (Jinka) laughed together until they saw Kai walk up.
So back to our point. Our tip". Jinka stepped back. "Qell now that I think about it this tip can be used for both of you. So both of you watch and study this spell". A sudden burst of mana exploded from Jinka's body. The mana was a grayish looking colour as it flowed around him. Raikou gasped in awe at this move.
"Anyways," Jinka said. "This spell is called reinforcement mana stage 2. Reinforcement mana stage one is practically you just using your mana around your body. Which you two can already do" Jinka said, smiling as he placed a thumbs up at the two. "I want you to learn this reinforcement mana stage 2 spell. And for you to both take this scroll with you".
Jinka vanished at blinding speeds before reappearing with a scroll in his hand. It was stripped in a gray ribbon. "Well who's gonna take the scroll. And remember both of you should use this scr-"
Raikou and Kai instantly rushed in to take the scroll from Jinka. Their shoulders collided as they both got their hands on the scroll. Raikou grinder his teeth at Kai. Kai was still calm..
"Get off that paper Kai" Raikou said, trying to pull the scroll away. Jinka laughed at what he was seeing, pulling the scroll away from both of them as he chuckled. He then pointed the scroll at Raikou.
"Since I like you more than your brother kid I'll hand the scroll to you". Jinka then looked at Kai with a cheeky smirk. "You can accept that right Kai?". Kai simply looked at Raikou before shrugging. "Sure. Give the scroll to him. After all I did shush you by putting my finger on your mouth" Kai said.
Jinka smiled as he threw to scroll to Raikou. Raikou caught it with two hands before saying "thank you. Sir Jinka". Jinka nodded before walking away to his cart. "Well cya two on your journey. And maybe to always practice controlling your mana. And also. Never forget your physical abilities. Because if your physical body can't withstand your own mana then it will definitely tap out" Jinka said.
Kai rolled his eyes at the new information. "We already know that," he said, giving Jinka one last stare before walking off. Raikou waved his hand as his final goodbye for Jinka. "Goodbye Sir" Raikou running off to Kai. Jinka laughed as he waved back. He then sat down on a chair near his cart. "Nice kids. Well maybe Kai I guess".
Raikou caught up to Kai. "Yo why are you walking off on your own when I haven't the map" Raikou said. Kai glanced at Raikou before putting his hand in his pocket. "You sure about that" Kai said as he pulled out a crumbled piece of paper. Raikou's eyes widened as he checked his own pockets. Nothing was there except a half eaten biscuit.
"But. How did you take the map though?
And why did you take it" Raikou asked. Kai put the map in his pocket. "I took it when you weren't looking obviously. And I'm not gonna let someone like you hold the map to our exam".
Raikou raised an eyebrow. "Someone? Someone like me" he said. Kai stopped walking as he turned towards Raikou. Raikou stopped walking too. "What I mean is that you forget quite a bit of short term things," Kai said as he continued to walk. "I mean tell me Raikou do you remember Jinka's first tip he gave to you?"
Raikou looked at the bright sky as he thought heavily, trying to remember what Jinka's tip was. "Hmmm. It was that reinforcement spell right" Raikou said to Kai. Kai continued walking to the direction of the exams before looking back at Raikou. "No. You're wrong". Raikou shrugged as he bent his knees, lunging into the direction of Kai with a burst of mana. He caught up to him.
"Soooo. What was the tip then" Raikou said as he walked together beside his brother. "The tip was about how you should burn yourself less when using your fire magic" Kai said, pulling out the map. Raikou gasped in frustration. "Well course I'll forget that useless ti-"
"Shutup and look at the map" Kai said assertively, showing the opened map in his hand as he let Raikou look at it. Raikou leaned further as he tried to study the map, his eyes wandering all around the place. "Oh so we're going to these gates" Raikou asked, pointing at a metal gate which said "the adventurer exams".
Kai nodded. "Yes we are and we should hurry up because remember how he sa- I mean how our father said that the entrance exam has most likely already started? If I had to guess we're already quite late". Raikou smirked. "Ye but it's ok cuz also remember how dad said the entrance exam lasts for a week" Raikou said. Kai continued walking forward before entering a forest of trees. Raikou followed.
"I guess you got a fair point there" Kai said, walking to the side to avoid a nearby bush. Raikou did the same.
In a few minutes, Raikou and Kai had finally reached the gates. These gates were connected to nothing, just mere gates in the middle of nowhere. It was out of place, like a bug in a video game. Raikou noticed there were two guards standing in front of them. The guards were holding onto spears and were fully armored up to. They had helmets which covered their faces. Raikou glanced at Kai.
"You sure this is the exam entrance. Just gates and two armoured up guards in the middle of nowhere?" Raikou said. Kai nodded.
"In the map that Jinka gave us, the gates were in the middle of nowhere. So I bet that this is truly our destination". Before Kai could meet the guards, two figures walked right past Raikou and Kai. One was a boy with brown hair and brown eyes. Whilst the other was a figure who had a mask on and a robe on, which covered his hair and forehead.
Kai looked at Raikou before pointing at the two, new figures. "And that's how you know this is our location cuz other people are also signing for the exam" Kai said. Raikou and Kai then watched as the two figures met up with the two guards.
One guard stepped in forward at the two figures. "Why does this one have a mask and a robe covering his face?" the guard said. The brown haired man was about to speak before the guard quickly shut him down. "I'm speaking to your friend. Not you" the guard said, turning his head at the masked man.
The guards also had helmets covering their faces.
"So tell me then why are you covering your face" the guard, his tone becoming more aggressive as he got impatient. The masked figure chuckled before adjusting his mask. He stared at the guard with his gray eyes. "I got a nasty scar. It's kinda bad I don't want people to see it you know".
The guard didn't take this, as he pulled up his spear before slamming it to the ground, trying to look intimidating. "We've been told to not let things like that slide this year. So please sir or mam could you kindly remove your mask".
The mask figure didn't move an inch to try to remove his mask. Instead he stared at the man's eyes. "First of all I'm a male" the masked man said putting his left hand to his pocket. "And second of all don't sign up to be a guard if your weak. And I can sense your power with my EYES".
The masked man pulled out a knife, grabbing the guard's helmet as he swinged it in the air. The revealed guard was a man, quickly gasping as he swung his spear.
The masked man however slashed the guard's eye and face before slamming the pocket knife into his victim's forehead. The other guard quickly tried to attack but was quickly hit with a punch to his face by the brown haired man. The guard dropped to the ground from impact. The brown haired man glanced at his companion with a nod. "I'll kill him" he said pulling out his hand as a mana made hammer formed inside his grasp.
Raikou watched in awe as his eyes widened. "No way we gotta help him," Raikou said, trying to rush into the two figures until Kai quickly grabbed him by his shirt. "Don't go Raikou. That brown haired guy's mana is way too strong for us. I can sense it". Raikou gasped as he looked back at the direction of the two men. Fortunately for Kai and Raikou they have left the scene. But they have also left a pile of guts and blood on the floor.
Raikou squinted his eyes at the gruesome scene whilst Kai just watched it. Kai's eyes stayed motionless as usual, it was as if he was used to these gruesome aftermaths. Kai glanced at Raikou as he stood. "Well let's go. At least got a decent idea of some of our competition". Kai walked towards the gate. Raikou waited for a few moments before following Kai with a gulp. Raikou stood beside his brother.
"You know. I'm kinda scared now" Raikou said, looking at the headless body of the guard. "Rest in peace" Raikou thought as he bowed in respect. Kai turned to Raikou with a more serious demeanour as he said, "just be alert for anything".
Raikou nodded before stepping into the gates. For once it was Kai who was following. As Raikou and Kai walked through the gates, they immediately entered a white building. This building was incredibly vast as it was filled with people. Kai looked up and saw five rows of people standing on five different mezzanines.
These five rows of people were higher up the building. Kai also noticed how there was a flying letter on each of the mezzanines. They went up in (E, D, C, B, A and S). Kai narrowed his eyes. "They could be the rankings we'll be in after this entrance exam".
Meanwhile, Raikou was looking start forward at the line of people. The boy however instantly noticed that in this line of people were the two killers who killed the two guards. Raikou eyes widened before narrowing them. He boldly tapped the masked man. The masked man instantly turned to Raikou, his creepy gray eyes were the only thing not covered by his mask. Raikou's eyes stayed sharp.
He grinded his teeth.
"You know. You know just kill someone like that all cuz they asked you a ques-
"Your a witness? So for your sake you better not snitch about that murder" the mask man said, cutting off Raikou as he leaned his head forward into him. Raikou stepped back but was instantly caught as the masked man gripped his neck. "Cuz trust me if you try to tell anyone about that I'll kill yo-".
Raikou gasped. As Kai punched the masked man directly into his skull. The masked man stumbled back, almost landing into another participant. Kai stepped beside Raikou as he glared at the masked man.
The masked man looked straight back at Kai, his eyes were raging. "Listen," Kai said to the man. "If you don't hurt my brother then I won't have to hurt you. But if you try to fight him again then I'll have to jump into the fight too. Simple as that really" Kai said, looking further into the line as it decreased.
The masked man's gray eyes widened in rage but the brown haired man quickly told him to move forward into the line which he did. Kai looked forward at the line, watching as one person entered a magic made circle. The person waited for something. He was waiting for his test as an adventurer.
Raikou held his throat before looking at Kai with a smile. "Thanks for backing me there you know" Raikou said, giving Kai a fist bump. Kai didn't leave Raikou hanging as he fist bumped him back. Meanwhile the masked man's eyes were still bulging from rage because of the way Kai punched him. The brown haired man noticed.
"Hey Takada why don't you calm down ok, it's almost our turn for the test". Takada grunted as he glared at him viciously. "How about you shut the hell up," Takada said, walking closer to the circle as it was their turn. The brown haired man watched as Takada instantly went into the circle.
Everyone on all rows of the buildings watched Takada.