Kouji had been waiting for this moment his entire life.
The Magic Awakening Exam only happens once every three years, and today was the day he finally had permission to leave the orphanage and chase his dream. Almost no one believed in him. It was hard to be a mage when you didn't have a single drop of Flow in your body, but Kouji was too determined to care about the odds.
He bolted upright in bed, his eyes snapping open.
"IT'S THE DAY!" Kouji screamed at the top of his lungs.
He scrambled out of the covers and began jumping up and down. His heels thudded against the wooden floorboards until the entire room shook. Groans of protest erupted from the surrounding beds.
"Keep it down, Kouji," a calm, flat voice said from the bed next to him. "It's only three in the morning. You're wasting calories."
Kouji grinned, his excitement bubbling over. He looked at his best friend, Yuki, who was sitting up with a perfectly blank and dull expression.
"You know what they say! The sooner the better, or was it the earlier the better? WHO CARES? IT'S THE DAY, YUKI!" Kouji shouted.
Yuki just blinked. His dark eyes showed no reflection of Kouji's high energy. He was the smartest person in the orphanage, a chill genius who never seemed to break a sweat. Even though he looked like he was barely awake, Yuki shared the same burning ambition to become the All-Star. He just didn't see the point in shouting about it.
"The exam doesn't start for another five hours," Yuki said in a voice that was steady and low. "If you burn out now, you'll fail the first trial before you even step inside. Sit down and breathe."
"I can't! I've been waiting twenty years for this!" Kouji replied.
Yuki let out a small sigh and reached for his boots. "You're only fifteen. Your math is as bad as your timing. Sit down."
Kouji didn't sit. He was already shadow-boxing the air, his eyes sparkling with a wild fire.
Yuki stood up slowly and held out a hand for a fist bump. "Don't fall behind, Kouji. I'm not planning on losing to anyone today. Not even you," Yuki said.
Kouji headed outside and spent the next few hours boxing trees, doing push ups, and running laps around the building. Meanwhile, Yuki went straight back to sleep.
Three hours later, the rest of the orphanage finally woke up. Kouji headed back inside, drenched in sweat but more energized than ever. While they were eating breakfast, a boy named Naki walked up to the table.
"Are you really entering the exams?" Naki asked.
Naki was also entering the Magic Awakening Exam. He didn't hate Kouji, but he mocked him on a daily basis and didn't believe for a second that someone without Flow could make it.
"OF COURSE I AM, NAKI!" Kouji replied.
"Whatever you say, Shrimp," Naki replied with a smirk.
"Yum, shrimp! That makes me hungry," Kouji replied, looking around for more food.
"DUMBASS, YOU'RE EATING RIGHT NOW!" Naki shouted.
Yuki walked over to the table and looked down at both of them with his usual dull expression.
"Hurry up. You two are such slow eaters," Yuki said.
Once they finished their breakfast, Kouji, Yuki, Naki, and a group of other kids from the orphanage prepared to head out. They dashed through the front gates, racing toward the ship that would take them to the Pearl Kingdom. That was the place where the exams were held. Behind them, the caretakers of the orphanage stood at the entrance, crying as they watched the children chase their dreams.
Once they boarded the ship to the Pearl Kingdom, the atmosphere changed instantly. The deck was crowded with hundreds of other candidates from across the land. Many of them looked much stronger than the kids from the orphanage.
"They are quite intimidating," a girl from the orphanage whispered. She stared at a boy nearby who was casually letting sparks of blue electricity crackle between his fingertips. The air around him hissed with the smell of ozone.
"Woah, it's so scary," Kouji muttered. He wasn't backing away, though. He looked at the sparks and the muscular warriors with wide, impressed eyes. "Their magic is so cool. Is everyone here this strong?"
"Pfft. Yeah, maybe by your standards," Yuki said. He leaned against the railing with his usual dull expression, though he was watching the crowd carefully.
Naki scoffed and crossed his arms. "Don't act so cool, Yuki. Look at those guys over there. Their Flow is on a different level. We'll be lucky to even make it past the registration desk."
"I don't care how cool they are! I'm still going to be the All-Star!" Kouji shouted.
Before Naki could reply, the entire ship lurched violently to the left. A massive, wet thud echoed through the hull, followed by the sound of wood splintering.
The ocean beside the ship began to boil and foam. Suddenly, several massive, slimy tentacles erupted from the water. They slammed onto the deck and gripped the ship with crushing force.
"SEA DEMON!" someone screamed.
Chaos broke out instantly. Candidates began firing off spells. Bolts of light and fire splashed against the monster's thick skin, but the tentacles only tightened their grip. The ship tilted sharply, sending crates and people sliding across the wood.
Kouji, Yuki, and Naki stood their ground as the shadow of a massive tentacle loomed over them, blocking out the sun.
"So this is the power of a demon," Kouji, Yuki, and Naki said all at once.
The chapter ends.