Der made it this far. He can pass this part. The void he was in was empty. He could summon nothing. The effort might be moot but there has to be a way.
His hair waved again, then stretched out like never before. His energy was even draining! His hair just went on and on. Okay I'm a weirdo.
_-_-_-_-__-__-__-_--_-_-_--__-_-------------------
I felt something. Hm? My eyes quivered. I tried to hold it but his energy is pushing through!
Walter saw Gurad struggling to hold the void together. Der found a way.
There were black pinpoints that were becoming more and more visible. They busted through. The void dissipated into a fine mist then disappeared completely.
Der was on his knees and hands breathing hard. His hair retracted and he slowly got up. He saw the judges and Walter walked up to him.
"You did great."
"Thanks." Said Der.
"You are now officially a trainer. You can help others to hone their skills and master them. We will be having group meetings that you must attend for all of the trainers. This is for to stay updated on Mystical news and other important items." Said Walter.
He gave Der a badge with his name and 'trainer' at the top for Park Terji.
Meer, one of the judges said "Sometimes we will take groups of mysticals out for fun! We like to go on trips to other towns and learn of other cultures! If you want to sign up to be a chaperone, that would be great!" She explained.
Der nodded.
"Let's go back." Said Walter.
They went back to the main area. It was filled with many Mysticals, for today was the day everyone tried out for the Mystical Trials Competition. Only 16 people were competing in a four round bracket elimination format.
There was magic everywhere. All of the mysticals were practicing so that they could pass the trials ahead of them.
Eagil came out of GP Headquarters. Stephanieyh walked out too. Meer and Walter walked up to them. Walter smiled.
"I suppose Der passed?" Asked Eugil.
"Yup."
"Great. Well let's get started with this contest shall we?" He looked at the three before him.
It was Eugil, Stephanieyh, Meer, and Walter on the panel to see the competition through, and judge the contestants.
Everyone nodded.
There was a big banner midair. It waved around the circle with the words 'Mystical Trials Pre-Qualifier'. Der got to do this as a side-task.
Everyone stopped as the banner flew around, then hung on the stage there. The judges were up there. Meer was at the podium. It was now quiet.
"Welcome everyone! I am glad you are all here! Today is the start of the Mystical Trials Competition! First you have to go through pre-qualifiers. Then, 16 of you will be tested in four rounds to make it to first, second, or third place. There will be prizes. Your names will go on a leaderboard."
Everyone cheered.
"Ahem. Please note there are rules you all must adhere to. Please follow them for the safety of yourself, and others."
She backed away. Stephanieyh came forward.
"These are the rules:
No cheating.
No external help from others.
You cannot bring anything with you.
No foul play.
Listen to the judges."
She nodded, looked around sternly at everyone, then stepped back.
Walter stepped forward.
"I would like to announce our new trainer, Der! He will be able to help you if you would like to hone your mystical abilities."
Der stood up from one of the seats on the stage then sat back down. Everyone cheered for him. He scratched his head.
The ground started shaking. Instead of it opening up, they were all transported to a whole nother world...
It was grassy with blue skies and clouds. The sun was shining. It was really bare here. It was just grass that went on and on...
"Whoa!" Said a competitor.
"Where are we?" Said another.
The judges were there with the podium.
Walter took the podium.
"We will see who will go on to the official competition here. Here," -he waved his arm out- "your goal is to dodge the attacks. The top 16 is going on. Good luck."
Everyone was on the lookout. There were about 100 Mysticals here, including Krea and Zi.
All of a sudden meteorites came crashing down. Three people got smashed, then disappeared.
Oh that looks like it hurts thought Zi. Oh crap.
Some people started flying, as they were better in the air than the ground. Some people attacked the rocks. More people got smushed. Krea was a new flier, but she was doing okay. Then she was falling under a rock. She was holding it with all her might and then SMASH.
WHA thought Zi big-eyed. She just saw her best friend get taken out. They were coming down fast. My agility allowed me to dodge them, but I didn't see one behind me. It curved and hit my back.
"OW." I was injured. Then I was smashed by another one.
I disappeared back into the main area at Park Terji, uninjured. Whew!
I found Kre then went over to her.
"At least we tried huh." I said. I had a sad smirk on my face. Oh I suck. I really thought I would be up there with the pros.
"Yeah." Said Kre. "I actually cannot believe that happened. It was so amazing though! To experience all of this!" She waved her arm around.
"We need to practice more." I said. "Then we won't get our tails whupped by rocks!"
"OMG yeah!" Agreed Krea.
There were others standing around in groups, talking about it too.
"Hmm.. want to mingle?" Asked Zi.
"Sure." Said Kre smiling and shrugging her shoulders.
We picked out a group near us with four people in it. We walked over to them. They turned their heads at us.
"Hey!" Waved ZI. Krea waved too.
One of them said "Wassup!" He had purple spikey hair.
Another one with red hair in a pixie cut said "Hi!"
"How's it going?" Asked Zi. She thought it was a good idea for them to make some friends here.
"Still can't believe what just happened!" Said the girl.
"Yeah!" Said everybody else. Krea and Zi nodded their heads in agreement and busted out laughing.