NOVEL WEB Chapter 13: Results
The walk back to exam's main building showed me the destruction left behind by the various clashes in power but the most notable of was the damage that was left was from the my clash with Dani which seemed to have destroyed half of the fake city, "so um now that you aren't trying to beat me like a bass drum who are you really", Kairo turned to me keeping his hands in pockets smiling a bit, "i'm just someone your sensei sought out for a bit of help with your exam", I looked at him for a few seconds his smile reminded me of Micheal's with the same amount pride and smugness, "can I get a bit of a better answer", the laughter that left his mouth felt like a classic sitcom's dad, "Mmm I don't know… Should you?", the more Kairo talked the more he reminded me of Micheal and I was unsure how to feel, "I'm just kidding kid, lets just say i'm old and leave it at that", I felt the urge to ask another question but decided not to. I felt the shifting of Eden's body on my shoulder, "Ugh…I think imma hurl", I instantly took her off my shoulder placing her on feet first, "you're not throwing up on me", Eden's stood in front of me holding her head, "oh…your back to normal now", I nodded looking at her as she approached, "yeah sorry abou-", Eden's fist connected cleanly with my stomach I crumbled forward slightly not from pain but surprise, "That's payback", I could barely gasp as I put my hand up, "you know what…Fair enough", Eden patted my back before continuing forward following Kairo, "you're fine you've survived worse", I straightened myself holding my stomach, "are you not going to question where we're going", Eden's laughed a bit, "C'mon i'm smart enough to realize the situation", I felt a sense of embarrassment for forgetting her common sense, "yeah uh my bad", I caught up to Eden as we both kept behind Kairo by a few feet, "hey um what about the others?", I paused as I realized I'd forgotten the others, "don't worry they already got picked up", I wanted to think how he would have known but I realized the stupidity in the question. After another like ten minutes we arrived to the main building as Micheal, Tu'kia and a few Priest stood in front of the door to exit the exam area, Micheal's face was a mixture of pride and relief As Tu'kia's mirrored only the relief, "That was quite the show Kairo", Micheal's tone was amusement like he had expected something like this, {How's he calm about this the exam area is destroyed}, Kairo laughed a bit as he heard Micheal's statement, "you did ask me to test this years disciples and they were definitely the stars of the show, there were a lot of potential besides the group that your disciple was around",. Tu-kia sighed like she was exasperated as Micheal and Kairo talked without allowing her the air to speck, Tu'kia's swiped through the air quickly smacking Micheal across the head, "aren't you forgetting something", Micheal grabbed his head as it snapped towards Tu'kia with a flash of irritation, "ow don't just randomly hit people mom taught you better", Tu'kia didn't budge as she lifted her hand again preparing another slap, "do I have hit you again", Micheal rubbed his head grumbling underneath his breath before turning to me, Eden and Kairo, "as my rude sister mentioned I did kinda forget something", Micheal pulled out two ID cards. One was plastered with my face and name on it alongside my age and Ragnarok as my affiliated church, another card was next to it that mirrored the same information just for Eden instead, "these are temporary disciple licenses, they're used to participate in missions but since they're temporary so you can only participate in disciple level missions until you get a full one", I took the card in my hands, it's texture felt similar to metal but a bit lighter. Micheal continued talking, "another reason those cards are temporary is because the association doesn't feel the exam went how they expected with a surprising gap in power between examinees, on top of Kairo's appearance they came to two conclusions ",. Tu-kia spoke up, continuing from where Micheal left off, " the cards last for a year when the cards expire the association plans to hold another disciple exam without any form of interference", Micheal nodded, "the exam will be different from the current one due to not only new disciple who's gone through the selection but also you guys who would have experience in fighting and faith usage, they haven't fully decided on the idea but it'll be talked about throughout the year". the priest besides Micheal and Tu'kia each presented a briefcase, "and the final thing to talk about is the uniform", the Priests opened the cases, what was inside looked to be a black hooded cloak with gold accents that was folded half-way over a sleek tight white suit almost the ones given for the exams, "These are the Di-F suits they're meant to stop defend against against basic firearms and bladed weapons and if infused with faith it'll be able to withstand simple Artillery.". I mentally needed a second to process all the information that was just dumped on me, "uh got like three questions", Micheal nodded as he seemed to have expected questions, "go ahead Juno", I nodded before talking, "first off why are given temporary disciple licenses when we've already done the exam how it was meant to be done, second why would be evaluated once again after a year when we're probably stronger and more experienced then our current selves and finally what's the second the conclusion", Micheal seemed to think for a second before Tu'kia started, " that option would be to just have you all wait the full year in a sort of disciple limbo", I stood a bit surprised with slightly wide eyes, "they felt that while you did complete the exam the results weren't what they wanted", I spoke up, "uh so didn't they let Kairo into the exam, what kinda of results did they expect",. Tu'kia sighed a bit seemingly expecting the question, "truthfully the higher ups decided to let Kairo out and about as a last minute change, they originally wanted the exam to span a week and in three separate locations but with the last minute change they just figured either you all technically fail and wait till next year or give you all temporary licenses for the year and perform the exam again in a year", The silence held between the group of us stretched to an uncomfortable level, "Welp this is enough of the serious mumbo-jumbo", Micheal talked in a cheerful tone slinging his arm over my shoulder tugging me close, "You did me proud kid, you held your own against not only Kairo, but also a Prospect for the Eight guiding lights that's a pretty big deal ya know", I couldn't help the flush of embarrassment on my face from the praise. Kairo's voice came from the side as he's been just standing in silence observing the situation, "I'll admit it Micheal you've produced an impressive disciple, his battle instinct and adaptability is amazing I've seen few people who have instincts on the same level", Micheal's hand patted my back roughly as he laughed obnoxiously, "I knew he would be something special that's why I took him in" Kairo continued his statement through Micheal's obnoxious laughter, "and who's the mentor of this girl here", Kairo pointed a lazy finger towards Eden who's attention seemed entranced in the license, "That's Uriel's disciple took her in a few days after I got this one", Kairo raised an eyebrow, Uriel I remember hearing that name before just can't remember why, but then if you two are disciples of Apostle what about the uh little golden boy", Michael raised an eyebrow before realization crossed his face, "Oh you mean Jak, yeah he doesn't have a set mentor I just helped him by training him and Juno together before the exam", Kairo stoked his chin as if thinking. His gaze turned to Tu'kia, "and what are you I feel a powerful energy from you but you don't seem to be a disciple or anything in those rankings?", Tu'kia nodded like she took his acknowledgement of her power as a compliment, "I used to be a disciple before I recruited by the G.C.C.D.U to be an examiner and also a Vice leader under the head", Kairo nodded seemingly acknowledge the fact even if didn't fully understand it, "that's quite interesting for a woman so young", Tu'kia just nodded again. A searing pain came from out of nowhere tearing through my body like bullets, I couldn't say a word before my body was already against the ground seizing up, "Ah-ah", I barely let out a huff pain before Micheal came into view picking me up in his arms, "Hey, Hey kid what's going on What's happening", Michael's voice sounded uncharastically concerned and worried. Kairo looked at me before his gaze shifted to Eden, Her body had seized up like mine the veins running throughout her body were bulging and pulsating red, the whites of her eyes were bloodshot, "They're experiencing the backlash of power from mixing their faith fueled ability alongside the aspects I gave them", my mind was cloudy I could barely think or focus on anything other then the pain searing my body and the tension that formed in my muscles, the final thing I noticed before my vision went black was Micheal's face that seemed furrowed in a mix of guilt and pain. I opened my eyes to a bright light peering down at me from a white roof, a presence held my hand tightly almost like a vice grip around it,{What happened after I passed out, Who's holding my hand so tightly, my body still aches but it feels better now},the sound of snore followed bringing me back from my thoughts. I tilted my head down with a painful groan, {my neck is killing me, what does that hurt the more then the rest of my bod-}, I stopped thinking as I noticed Eden's curly honey brown rested over her face and my hand her face seemed peaceful like she was having a pleasant dream. I tried to shift my free hand but stopped as a shock of pain rippled from my hand through my arm, {Agh gods it feels like someone is shoving needles through my nerves}, my arm tensed up like a charle horse, Eden's rest hadn't been messed up from my tension. I stayed laid down and still letting Eden rest while I also let my mind rest and process everything from the exam, Eden woke up a few minutes into my mental recap her voice snapping me out of it, "Your awake!", the pressure from her hugging me set off every pain nerve I could process but I steeled myself not showing any pain, "Y-yeah I'm up", the feeling of relief after Eden let me go almost made me sigh out loud. Eden's face was one of relief and a slight smile was plastered on her face as the rooms light reflected of the peek of her braces, "you've been out the longest out of everyone from the group", I raised an eyebrow, {Group?, does she mean Jak and the others? How long have I been out for them to be considered our group}, Eden seemed to notice the thought process on my face, "Need an explanation?", I could barely shake my head without pain but I nodded yes anyways. Eden spoke up, "you're been out cold for a for 15 days, your heart stopped six times over the 15 days", the heartbeat in my chest suddenly felt foreign to myself, {I died six times}, the thought felt like a dream i didnt want to believe, "over the 15 days everyone else was also knocked out be we all awoke within 5 to 7 days, during that time we all started to grow closer forming a friendship while sitting around your bed", I sighed a bit being relieved they all at least thought of me while I was enjoyed, {They thought of me, They sat with me even while dealing with their own pains, I-I'm not used to this feeling}, Eden continued, "we all didn't want to leave you out of the growing friendship, Me and Jak talked about you a lot we thought of everything we learned about you over the little time we've had together so far", the more I heard the lighter my foreign feeling heart returned to feeling like normal, "and while we weren't here Micheal,Tu'kia and even Uriel were in and out of your room Micheal was here the most", I felt good hearing that as my body's pain seemed to lessen my bodies pain, "Wait what about Kairo?", Eden looked at me for with an unreadable expression for a second before chuckling slightly, "Kairo went back to the G.C.C.D.U with Tu'kia yesterday he didn't want to see you like this he said", I let the words sit there for a second, "Oh okay, how's everyone else now though", Eden gestured to herself, "as you can see I'm fine a few bruises or what not but the rest of it has healed, Jak's fine still up to his normal antics, Dani, Kaitlyn and Ronan are fine and have already been discharged", Eden looked to me for my reaction to news I couldn't help a smile hearing how my friends were okay, "That's good I'm glad everyone's okay", Eden went to speak. Eden's voice was cut off before she even started as the room's door opened, Jak stepped in his face still unlike normal as Dani,Ronan and Kaitlyn followed. All of them filed into the room before their eyes landed on my awaken form, Their reactions were all almost hilarious, {this would be a perfect picture to frame}, Jak moved before the others giving me a surprisingly soft hug, "Bro don't ever scare us that again man we were all seriously worried", the concern in his voice was genuine, "I'll try my best okay Bro?", I tried adding humor to the dull room. Dani's laugh cut the dullness, "You better keep that word Juno I can't have a rival that'll falter so easily", everyone let out a small laugh at her attuide, the room felt lighter now, "Why is that Dani do you enjoy beating me up that badly", I spoke in a joking manner as Dani waved her hand dismissively, "you're dragging it the fight wasn't that bad", I had to laugh at the almost teasing tone, "yeah sure it wasn't being knocked through buildings were real fun", Ronan laughed at that while beside Dani who lightly punched his shoulder, "Shut up man you're supposed to be on my side", Ronan laughter continued as he rubbed the spot, "c'mon Dani you know he got you there", Kaitlyn's soft giggle made Dani turn to her, "Oh c'mon not you too where's the loyalty with you two man", Kaitlyn patted Dani's back, "Dani you do tend to go overboard during you know that", Dani turned around grumbling underneath her breath, "Yeah I know doesn't mean you rat me out for it traitors", I laughed alongside Eden and Jak at the older trio's conversation, "hey this isn't funny I'm a completely normal person alright I just get intense with fights okay", Dani pointed towards us which made the situation funnier, "Yeah yeah I know first hand", I shot back with a tease, "Low blow man Low blow", Dani retracted her finger, "Don't stress it we like you for you okay Dani", Dani pouted for a second like a kid who's toy was taken away, "yeah yeah whatever meanies", her pout went away as a smile started to cross it, " since we wanna talk about each other now, Eden tell Juno how long you've been here", Eden's laughed stopped as she looked between me and Dani before turning to the others with a "Help me" look etched across her face, "no no no ain't no help", I watched the conversation in confusion. {How'd the conversation get here, what's even going on now}, Eden characteristically mumbled under her breath probably cursing Dani one way or another, "10 days, I-I've been here 10 days I haven't left except to eat or use the bathroom okay!", the raise in her voice caught me off guard before the words even processed in my mind, "Wait 10 days why have you been here for 10 days", Eden looked away grumbling a few words loud enough for me to only hear "I was worried about you", I tried to surpass the flush of embarrassment from spreading on my face, "O-oh uh", I couldn't speck without stammering over my words. Jak's voice rang out like a saviors grace, "alright alright let's lessen the romantic tension please it's suffocating", that single sentence lit the room back up removing the pressure I felt. The room felt peaceful as jokes filled it Dani talking about Jak's over the top character, Jak snapping back about her battle manic mind set, Ronan made up surprisingly funny stories even acted some of them out with the others. And during this I could only think of one thing, {I may be in pain but this, this right here makes it feels like nothing happened, I could look at each of their smiles and feel no pain this is friendship... and I finally feel seen by people who care for and I couldn't ask for anyone better}