Chapter 58: Shock

Laurence, Yun and Louisa all chose separate tests to show of their respective skills. Laurence, being physically the strongest, chose combat. Yun chose the dummy, as he was the most dexterous of the three, and Louisa chose the path because of her godly mobility and shapeshifting ability. They lined up respectively and waited for their turns in each field. Louisa had the longest wait, as including herself there were six people taking the same test. It was the most populated test by far. In Laurence’s queue there were two boys about the same age as Damien, he was the only one under the age of seventeen in the challenge. Most people had been intimidated away by Damien. Yun’s line was a bit longer than Laurence’s but not by much. With three other people in the queue, it seemed that only the supremely confident would attempt this final challenge.

The first one up to the podium was Yun. He walked over to the dummy and circled around it once before punching out with his right hand. Once he punched he walked off the stage, leaving the crowd with confused looks. Has he given up? Many members of the gang began muttering immediately. The muttering became a slight rumble as they were denied an answer, but even in spite of increasingly fierce protests he said nothing. He sat down, near where Orwell was and proceeded to begin watching the rest of the trials as they went on.

Orwell leant over, whispered something in Yun’s ear, and looked shocked when Yun responded. It was inaudible to the crowd and did not placate them in the slightest, but Yun’s next action did. He flicked something into the air and the crowd watched as a small golden coin arced towards Orwell’s hand. The coin landed in Orwell’s palm and he held his fist in the air.

“We have three first new member of our gang!” He shouted. The furious and conduits muttering quickly turned into a shocked roar of approval. “We welcome you, what is your name?”

“Yun.”

“A man of few words I see,” he said. “Well, let me be the first to congratulate you on your joining of Spring Street.”

“Thanks.” Yun replied, wolfish grin and all.

There were several other attempts before Louisa’s go came, but in her course there were several two or three minute successes, but they all came out covered in cuts and bruises. This path was quickly becoming the most feared choice by the testees, simply because no one knew what was inside. Several times through each attempt at the path there would be screams of shock or pain. Both the injuries and the screams of pain were becoming more frequent as the trial went on, but because of how dark it was, no one could tell how. There were many people who assumed it was simply becoming more difficult thanks to purple losing blood.

Eventually it came to be Louisa’s turn. She walked over to the pathway and entered, quickly turning out of sight to the rest of the people in the cavern. Normally within ten or twenty seconds there would be a yell or a scream, but instead there was nothing. The crowd began to quieten before descending into complete silence. Perhaps the little girl who had gone in was the first fatality. The sound of the pugilists was the only thing that echoed through the cavern, until finally another sound broke the silence. There was a ringing of the bells in the dummy. A minute ticked by and there were still no sounds, there weren't even the sounds of traps inside being set off. There were no let off springs or chains clashing out into life. There was only quiet.

Finally at a minute and thirty seconds Louisa walked out of the path, through the exit, and bowed to the crowd. She was completely unscathed, to the point where there was not even a speck of blood on her clothing. She was calmer, and more stoic than Yun, so simply walked over to her canine idol and say next to him once the event was over.

Rather than the shouts and applause that Yun got for being so proficient, the crowd simply let out a collective sigh of relief at the fact that a potential candidate did not die. Occasionally there would be deaths in either the combat ring or the path of darkness, but they were rare and always uncomfortable situations. The fact that Louisa survived lifted a weight from the collective minds and spirits of the gang.

The crowd picked up again as they watched the final six testees go through the motions of seeing whether they were worthy. In the twelve or so minutes that it took for Louisa to pass her test the two boys had fought Damien and both had passed. The first round they were evenly matched in skill but the boy going up to fight looked like he was half Damien’s weight.

The bell rang and the two fighters began their dance. Damien was a bull, he charged with all his strength and tried to simply crush the boy on stage with him. The boy, Mord, took this charge as a challenge, but rather than fight him head on he acted like a matador to Damien’s bull. Every time Damien charged, Mord turned him and diverted him away, which only served to tire Damien out and make him angrier. Eventually Mord slipped up, reacting slightly too slow. Perhaps it was out of exhaustion, or perhaps simple distraction, but either way there was a sickening crunch as Damien collided into Mord’s chest. The boy span and hit the floor hard. It was easy to tell that he was likely out for the count, but he had angered Damien.

Damien ran towards where the boy lay and pulled his leg back. He swung a kick that could have easily crushed the boy's skull when the bell rang. Visibly slowing, he still ended up kicking Mord in the jaw. There was another crunch and he grinned.

“That's what you get for making a fool out of me,” he said, spitting on the barely conscious boy before walking out of the ring to rest. The crowd went wild at the fight, even at Mord being damaged beyond what should have been allowed. To them it was simply his mistake for going up against Damien. He had passed, and was likely still alive, so the audience simply did not care.

After three minutes of rest the second fight began. This time Damien’s combatant was a boy heavier than him, but much slower. He also seemed to know Damien, so greeted the boy with a smile. Everyone could already tell that this fight would be a show rather than the actual fight they had just seen. The crowd had a much more mixed response to this than they had to the real fight, some cheers and some boos, though nothing consistent enough to call itself a general feeling to the crowd.

The two men met in the middle and posteured a little before beginning to swing their fists. You could tell they were actually hiring each other, but pulling their punches to the point where they may as well have been just tickling each other. The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed around the cavern as the crowd went silent. It was at this point that Louisa had been in the path of darkness for a full minute. People stopped paying attention to the fight in the middle and began staring at the path.

The bell rang and Damien and his friend got off the stage, they expected a few cheers and boos, like there had been at the beginning, but instead there was nothing. Not a sound. When the crowd finally began moving again, Damien could not help but stare angrily at the girl who had stolen his limelight. There was a palpable sense of aggression towards Louisa, which Yun felt immediately. He snarled angrily at the sensation and sent a message to Laurence. Brother, I am angered by this human’s intent towards mate. Harm him.

Laurence smiled to himself. Brother, it is done. He walked up to the stage and stood, waiting for Damien to finish his rest. Standing with a wide stance and his hands on his hips he looked like an arrogant child who simply did not know how deep the water he stood in was. “Take as much time as you need,” he said to Damien, “you're going to fail either way.”

Damien’s eyebrow twitched. A baby could see that this child was egging him on, but he had no idea why, nor where his confidence came from. After a minute to get his breath back and wipe off the sweat he was covered in he got on the stage. It was an odd sight, a boy less than a meter and a half tall facing off against a two meter tall giant. No one would describe it as fair, but Laurence’s unbridled confidence made the fight seem interesting at least.

The bell rang and Damien charged at Laurence, just like he had in the first round against Mord. This time, however, Laurence did not dodge to the side like a matador. Instead he ducked under and punched. Another splintering sound echoed through the cavern as Damien was sent flying by the boy's strike. There was a visible fist imprint that had warped his gut and pulverised one of his ribs, but the most shocking thing of all was that Laurence was just standing on the stage smiling to himself and humming.

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