Chapter 320: A Castle

"...I didn't understand anything."

Paige was now standing opposite Riley, with the yoga ball right between them at the very center of the stage.

"So… I just need to keep the ball on my side of the stage… but if it pops, we both fail?"

"Are the two of you ready?"

"W… wait!" Paige raised her hand as soon as the examiner approached, "The one that loses… will… will fail the test instantly?"

"...No, I already explained that earlier," the examiner could only let out a sigh as he approached the ball, "You're being evaluated based on your performance. The only guarantee of your failure is if the ball pops."

"Seems… simple enough," Paige took a small gulp, before finally staring at the opponent that was chosen for her. She didn't really know what to feel right now, as it was the black-haired white ninja who helped her proceed with the test in the first place… but now they had to fight.

Since winning or losing didn't matter, it shouldn't really be a problem… but seeing as how there were a few being tended to by the medics, some of the clashes became violent.

The only problem here was that her opponent knew what her power was, but she still had no idea what kind of super Riley was– the only thing he knows about him is his name, Adam and that he came here with his mother.

Why was she even thinking about that right now? Focus, Paige… Focus.

"Are the two of you ready?"

"Y… yes!" Paige nodded. And as she did so, Riley also nodded his head.

"Okay…

…you may begin!"

And as soon as the examiner waved his hand, Paige immediately leaped in the air; and on her back, two rockets instantly materialized out of nowhere. There was absolutely no sound at all; the blast from the rockets that would otherwise blow away all the dust or the examiner's hair didn't happen.

And without even a blink of an eye, Paige was already in front of the ball, hugging it as the rockets on her back turned into a pair of wings that suddenly bounced her back to her place. And once again, even though the span of the wings almost covered the entire width of the stage, not even a single gust of wind whispered in the air.

Even the examiner, who was too late to dodge the wings that suddenly emerged on the ring, was slightly surprised as the feathers just passed through him; not even blowing a single strand of his hair.

"I… I got it," Paige then turned her eyes towards Riley, only to see him not even moving from his spot. He wasn't really doing anything, but there were almost a million things that were circling in Paige's head as to what he could be doing.

But nonetheless, Paige slightly gritted her teeth as… a small castle blanketed her side of the ring; completely covering her from everyone's view; the only one that was able to see her was the examiner, who was inside the mini-castle with her.

The examiner, however, could not help but smile as he saw 12 other yoga balls that were completely identical to each other scattered in the castle.

The examiner then passed through the castle to see what Riley was doing, only to see him just standing there. He did say it didn't matter whether you win or not, but at this point, he wouldn't even be able to evaluate the black-haired white ninja since he hasn't even shown his power once.

He just stood there with his eyes closed, seemingly without a care in the world. Paige, who was looking through the window she made, could not help but furrow her eyebrows as she saw this.

"Are you… letting me win?" Paige whispered, "I… I don't need that, Adam. Please, you don't have to hold back just because–"

And before she could finish her words, Riley finally opened his eyes… which were now glowing in a white color. He then very slightly lifted both his arms to the side, and with the opening of his palms, came a flash.

A flash of light that caused almost everyone in the hall to close their eyes. But as soon as they were once again able to see, all of them found Riley suddenly holding swords in both of his hands– glowing the same way as his eyes.

"..." They then heard a sizzle whisper in the air, followed by a trail of smoke coming from the tip of Riley's swords as they touched the floor of the ring, completely shaving it off.

"Fuck… that's cool," Paige forced a chuckle as she removed all the windows in her castle. But as soon as she did so, however, the temperature behind her suddenly rose. She didn't even have to look back to know… that the white ninja was already behind her.

"Wh–"

"Push the ball to my side, or I am going to pop it, Ms. Pearson," Riley then whispered.

"W… what? Are you crazy!? Then both of us will fail!"

"I know, Ms. Pearson. But being a hero seems more important to you than me, I can always just stay locked up inside a room until my mother finishes whatever it is she is doing."

"...What? But–"

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Paige was about to say something, but before she could do so, the castle was suddenly drowned in white; several blades of light, floating in front of all the yoga balls and were only feet away from puncturing them.

Paige could only bite her lip as she thought of ways to get out of her predicament. But alas, as soon as the blades moved an inch, she canceled all of the other yoga balls and removed the castle; leaving only one ball sitting on the ring again.

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"Threats aren't a hero thing, you know," Paige then let out a sigh as she pushed the yoga ball towards Riley's side, "See? I told you my powers aren't anything special. Once anyone gets close to me that's it, I'm like woosh, dead. Well, I could probably escape by growing wings again, but you know what I mean? There's like this–"

"Ms. Pearson."

"Yes?"

"Push the ball to my side."

"...What do you mean? It's already on your si– What are you doing!?"

And before Paige could even finish her words, the light sword on Riley's hand floated in the air… and flew straight towards the yoga ball…

…completely melting and shaving off the ground; the yoga ball, however, was completely intact and didn't even move.

"...Fuck," Paige could only shake her head as the yoga ball slowly faded. And from behind her, another yoga ball appeared,

"Fuck!" Paige then kicked the yoga ball towards Riley's side of the ring; the frustration in her voice almost drowned the entire hall, "See!? Useless fucking power! How did you even know that I was hiding the original ball, like… are you also some kind of esper or something!?"

"No, I just heard it move," Riley said as he walked in front of Paige; looking at her straight in the eyes,

"Your powers are strong, Ms. Pearson. I would very much like to have it in the future."

"It would be stronger if I'm not the only one that could actually interact with it," Paige rolled her eyes as she sat on the floor and pouted, "It might as well just be illusions or something."

"Hm," Riley then turned towards the examiner, who quickly nodded as their eyes met. Even if the two continued to battle it out, the results were just going to be obvious. Paige could probably just fly in the air and carry the ball, but then again, the white ninja's powers were also long-ranged.

This match was over.

"Damn it!" Paige could only groan in frustration as she stepped out of the ring,

"I thought I was going to win for sure, ack!" She then started scratching her air; the words she uttered, now emerging from her mouth and scattering in the air. She didn't even notice the other registrants staring at her; some seemingly wanting to talk as they were awed by her performance.

But alas, she could not hear anything else but her thoughts. Well, all except for one voice, that is.

"Ms. Pearson, do you need to drink your medicine again?"

"...No."

The words floating around her instantly disappeared as she turned to look at Riley.

"Have you tried not drinking your medicine and letting your power run free, Ms. Pearson?"

"Pft," Paige almost burst out in laughter as she heard Riley's words, "The last time I tried that, I almost killed myself from all the suicidal thoughts popping out of my head, literally. Did you know, there was this one time that I summoned this huge boulder on top…"

And there she goes. Once again, Paige was stuck in her own world as she almost told her life story to Riley; not even bothering to watch the remaining registrants duke it out.

And finally, after everyone was done; they were asked to return to the lobby and wait for the results.

"...Good job, you two." And as soon as they were back, Aerith gave the two of them drinks. She didn't really want to eavesdrop… but she heard everything that happened during the test– after all, she wanted to make sure Riley wouldn't do anything… Riley.

She had no idea what sort of power Riley showed during the test, but seeing as no one was dead, then it should be fine.

"So, how is it?"

"The results will be announced in an hour, mother."

"W–" And before Aerith could say another word, her eyes widened as she immediately returned to her sofa and started hiding her face with her tablet. Paige wondered what was wrong with her, but before she could even ask– the lobby suddenly became noisier.

"Is… is it her!? Why is she here!?"

"Empress! Empress, we love you!"

And while everyone else was cheering, Aerith tried her best to stay incognito.

"What… is she even doing here?"

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