Chapter 14: Do we pass?

Katsuto and the gang walk through the passage to the next obstacle. "As much as I don't care who you guys are, I need to know your names if we're going to communicate," Uragiri states

"My name is Uragiri Mono from the most prestigious family of the water elementals" Uragiri brags

"Way to be extra huh" Katsuto states

"My name is Hiroto Boulders" Hiroto states his name

"You probably heard my name but it's Katsuto Sushi" Katsuto states his name

"Sushi?, I should have expected a surname like that from a ruffian" Uragiri insults Katsuto

"Are you sure that's your surname...Katsuto, Cause that's not what you told me last time" Taisuke says with a conniving smile on his face

"What do you mean last time? You guys met before" Hiroto curiously asks

"He does not know what he's talking about, he's head is probably spinning from getting knocked over by the explosions. Let's just keep going" Katsuto nervously says

Uragiri begins to suspect Katsuto. Meanwhile, back in the main room, Every teammate has completed their scavenger hunt exam, Some passed yet some failed. The announcer is waiting for Katsuto's team to complete theirs.

"Uggh this scavenger hunt should have had a time limit, I've been waiting forever," A random man says annoyed

"Yeah I don't get it, This exam was so easy anyways" a random girl replies in a sassy tone

Megumi and Mitsuki are together waiting for Katsuto and his teammates. "I wonder how Uragiri is doing?" Megumi curiously asks

"Wait are you talking about that guy with the purple suit who came with you" Mitsuki familiarized herself with Uragiri

"Yes him" Megumi states

"Why do you wonder how "Uragiri" is doing" Mitsuki curiously asks

"Well Uragiri is a proud and arrogant guy"

"No surprise there" Mitsuki interrupts her unwillingly

"Meaning he's not a team player and prefers to do things himself" Megumi explains

"I could kinda say the same for Katsuto, I wonder how he's handling it" Mitsuki wonders

Meanwhile, Katsuto and the gang have arrived at their next obstacle and they gaze upon the doll which Is tied to a thick chain hanging over a big lava pit.

"We're probably at our last exam", Hiroto says in a serious tone

"Yeah, we better take this one seriously", Katsuto says in a serious tone

Uragiri begins to notice a note on his right that says "Final obstacle, Good luck". Katsuto asks, "What does the note say?. Uragiri replies, "It says "Final obstacle, Good luck.

"Final obstacle, Good luck?" Hiroto says confused

"I know, An unbelievable clue if you ask me," Uragiri says frustrated

"But this looks easy, This big guy can create rocks to cover that lava pit and I will turn into my beast form to cut the rope, and then you guys can catch it," Taisuke explains

"And once again you want to rush into the situation without a concrete plan," Uragiri says frustrated

"Yeah besides, This is the last obstacle, I doubt it's that easy to complete," Hiroto says seriously

"If my plan is so bad then what do you guys suggest!" Taisuke says angrily as he crosses his arms

"Wait I have an idea but it's not guaranteed," Hiroto says with a serious tone

Hiroto gets down on his knees and closes his eyes. He taps deep into his thoughts and attempts to touch the ground.

"What are you doing Hiroto?" Katsuto curiously asks

"I'm sensing the ground for a lava beast that may or may not be lurking in that lava pit," Hiroto says seriously while his eyes are still closed and still touching the ground.

"A lava beast? Haha! Don't make me laugh, Lava beasts are incredibly dangerous for us noobies, And this is coming from me", Uragiri fails to take Hiroto seriously

"You can doubt but that beast is most likely here," Hiroto says seriously while his eyes are still closed and still touching the ground

"Sense all you want but I will continue to doubt" Uragiri still fails to take Hiroto seriously

Katsuto and Taisuke just glance at what Hiroto is doing. Hiroto continues to sense the ground and his eyes open while feeling overwhelmed. He stands up suddenly looking at the lava with undivided attention.

"What did you sense?" Katsuto curiously asks with seriousness

Hiroto takes a deep exhale before answering Katsuto. "There's something inside that lava pit, There can be no doubt," Hiroto says with seriousness

Silence fills the room, They gaze upon the lava pit with seriousness on their faces. Uragiri says, "If what you saying is true then how do we retrieve the doll without releasing whatever is in there".

"Lava beasts reveal themselves when something is near the lava so in conclusion there is no way we can retrieve it without it revealing itself" Hiroto explains

"Well if there's nothing we can do to retrieve the doll without the beast revealing itself, Then it's about to be a dance-off," Katsuto says as he walks into the room.

Hype music starts to play

As Katsuto walks into the room, a large red snake-dragon hybrid emerges from the lava pit and lets out a giant roar that leaves their hair blowing. "Of course, he'll walk in blindly," Uragiri says annoyed

They all showcase the fearlessness of the beast and gaze upon its might and terrifying presence. Taisuke volunteers, "I'll handle this beast while the rest of you try to get that doll out".

"Are you sure?" Hiroto asks

"No time for questions, I think he's got it," Uragiri says seriously as he runs towards the doll. The snake dragon beast shoots lava from its mouth but Uragiri counters by creating an ice wall to protect him while he runs to the doll.

Taisuke then transforms into his wolf beast form to provoke and distract the snake dragon beast. It also gives Hiroto and Katsuto a chance to get to the doll.

"Go now!" Taisuke commands Katsuto and Hiroto

Katsuto and Hiroto run to Uragiri to help him retrieve the doll and Taisuke remains to fight the snake-dragon beast. Taisuke shoots streams of fire from his mouth directly at the snake beast but it counters by reciprocating the streams of flames from its mouth directly at Taisuke's wolf beast self. Taisuke gets blasted to a wall behind him.

Katsuto, Uragiri, and Hiroto are struggling to break the chains. "EARTH SKILL: DESTRUCTIVE GAUNTLET" Hiroto summons rocks that form on his right hand so that he will be able to break the chain. Uragiri attempts to freeze the chain with his water element so that the chain will be brittle but it seems the chain is unable to freeze.

"Ughh My freezing isn't working on this chain," Uragiri says frustrated

"And it seems Taisuke can't hold on that long so we gotta be fast," Katsuto says seriously

Hiroto attempts to crush the chains with his destructive gauntlet but as he tries to crush it, his destructive gauntlet turns to rubbel cause of the durability of the chain. "Damn it!", Hiroto says frustrated.

Katsuto gets impatient. "I cannot afford to lose this exam", Katsuto says with determination in his thoughts. "Guys look over to Taisuke's side!" Katsuto distracts Hiroto and Uragiri. Uragiri and Hiroto look over to Taisuke's side and Katsuto uses the opportunity to heat the chains with his hands and they melt.

The Doll is about to fall into the lava but Katsuto jumps and catches the doll in mid-air and away from the lava pit. "What are we looking at Ruffian," Uragiri says with frustration. "Never mind it's fine, I have the doll," Katsuto says with an assured smile.

"Wait but how did you manage to do it," Hiroto asks curiously

"That's not important right now but we have to leave," Katsuto says in a rush

The snake beast charges an immense amount of lava energy in its mouth and is ready to blast Taisuke while he's on the ground. Katsuto, Hiroto, and Uragiri give Taisuke a hand sign indicating they're done retrieving the doll. Taisuke quickly reacts by getting up on his feet and escaping the room while in his wolf beast form.

Katsuto, Hiroto, and Uragiri attempt to escape but the snake beast's attention is now on them. They manage to separate themselves from the beast to distract it and exit the room. The snake beast still charges its lava energy and blasts it through the tunnel Katsuto, Hiroto, Uragiri, and Taisuke are running to.

The gang is now faced with escaping the lava from blasting them. "WATER SKILL: WALLS OF ATLANTIS" Uragiri releases a breath of frost and summons a thick ice wall to block the lava blast behind them as he runs.

"Nice one Uragiri" Katsuto shows his gratitude as he runs.

The ice wall that Uragiri created begins to melt at a fast pace. "Dammit!" Uragiri says frustrated. "We need to move fast before it fully melts!" Hiroto exclaims.

"Katsuto gets on my back," Hiroto says while he's ahead of Katsuto.

"Why I'm not your girlfriend," Katsuto says weirded out.

"Just do it" Hiroto commands

"Ugh fine," Katsuto says uneagerly

Katsuto increases his running speed and jumps on Hiroto's back like a piggyback. "Uragiri are you fine with running on your own, cause I can carry you too," Hiroto asks. "I'd rather die," Uragiri says uneager to do it.

"Alright suit yourself," Hiroto says as his right calf bulges then he increases his speed massively. The distance between him and Uragiri is now vast.

"My turn to show off," Uragiri says with arrogance.

"WATER SKILL: FROST STEP" Ice forms on Uragiri's feet down to the floor. He releases a breath of frost before finally ice skating toward Hiroto and Katsuto.

Uragiri's "Walls of Atlantis" fully melts and the lava blast continues to follow the gang. As they continue to escape the lava blast they encounter the chi bomb room and just continue to run through it. Explosions are created but they survive.

Meanwhile, back in the main room, Screams are heard by the announcer, and participants directly from Katsuto and the gang's tunnel.

"Mmh maybe this tunnel was a little too extreme for them," The announcer says to himself with a laid-back tone.

The Gang finally gets to the parkour-like platforms and maneuvers themselves through it due to their adrenaline pumping. Now the gang is faced with running through the end of the tunnel without getting hit by the lava. Most importantly protecting the doll from getting hit by the lava while in Katsuto's hands.

Back in the main room, Mitsuki and Megumi attempt to ask the announcer a question. "Announcer, why is their tunnel much more difficult?" Mitsuki curiously asks.

"Well if you must know there are four people in this tunnel so I gave them the most difficult tunnel to make it fair for the rest of you since you were a team of three" The announcer explains while his arms are crossed.

Unexpectedly, Taisuke in his wolf beast form escapes the tunnel, followed by Hiroto and Katsuto while on his back, the doll in his hands, and Uragiri with frost on his feet. Taisuke reverts to his human self and falls to the ground exhausted as well as the rest of the gang.

Hype music stops playing

The lava blast is then blasted to the opposite wall of the tunnels leaving a massive hole in the wall.

Every participant in the room is left in Awe of this outcome. Mitsuki rushes to assist Katsuto and Hiroto, While Megumi rushes to help Uragiri. The announcer approaches all of them.

"Well, congrats on completing the exam but from what I am seeing there are Black burn marks on the doll's face meaning you guys failed," The announcer says in a serious tone.

Uragiri while still on the ground says, "What do you mean we failed announcer, We retrieved the doll like you said." Uragiri says as his anger builds up

"Yeah announcer you said that if any of the doll's body parts are gone we fail and none of the doll's body parts are gone" Katsuto backs up Uragiri's statement

"Yes but if this doll were a human, You guys would have destroyed his or her face and that would tarnish the reputation of the heroes.

"Wow this whole hero thing is just a joke, why did I even consider participating," Uragiri says angrily as he walks away from the announcer.

Katsuto punches the ground in frustration. Hiroto and Taisuke express disappointment and anger on their faces.

"Well, better luck next time, you still have one more exam to complete for tomorrow, and I guarantee it's going to make this exam like it wasn't important" The announcer assures Katsuto, Hiroto, and Taisuke.

"Alright people that concludes the exam for today, I will announce the last and most important exam for tomorrow. Get some sleep." The announcer tells every participant in the room.

TO BE CONTINUED