Will of the Infinite

Chapter 18 - The Third Stage

Tanji wakes up in the healing room again. He hears a muffled statement from a doctor. “Heartbeat i-… 3BPM.. He’ll die!” He is injected with two needles then someone else pulls up his body.

The doctor says “Can he hear us? Hey can you hear me?” He uses all the power he has and nods slowly. He smiles and says “Good. He’s somewhat conscious.” Another doctor says “Strain on internal organs. Muscle tear in pectoralis major and bicep. Healing is beginning as of now.” A third doctor, at the back of the room, is managing the substances. He says “Elixir, medicine and herbs have all gone into the blood-works. He should be fine.”

Tanji spits blood but then puts qi into his system. The doctor raises a brow and says “His healing just fastened by 60%. What just happened? Dr. Cove.” He says “No influence from me. Marke?” Dr. Marke, the bald doctor to the left of Tanji, says “Nope, nothing here. Wait, look at this aura.” He sees a weird translucent aura coat Tanji’s body. This is his qi. His wounds heal quickly and after about 5 minutes, he is back in tip-top shape. He gets out of the bed and rips the two needles from his muscly chest. One doctor says “What are you? We have on file that you’re a human.” He smirks and walks towards the door. He looks down then back up to the doctor to reply. “I’m many things. Many, many things.” He walks out of the door and shuts it. He is also just left with no clothes on his upper body.

He is given a long sleeve black shirt by a teacher and shakes his hair out. He looks in the mirror and sees his new hair. He thinks “I think I should keep it like this.” His hair is now shaggy and thick.

For his last match, he is against a muscly hellhound. He has a bigger build than him and has some monstrous hidden power. Felix Jezruk. He is a 6’1 hellhound of the prestigious Jezruk family. He says “You’re dead, Tanji.” Tanji thinks to himself in confusion. “Don’t these supernaturals have anything else to say?” The match starts and Tanji uses his qi to start off. He uses Qi Rush and zooms towards Felix. He leaps up last second to optimise power and goes in for a kick. Felix ducks under his wild kick then his right hand engulfs in a cloak of blazing fire. He pushes out his palm and an almost bomb of sun yellow fire is released. He flies away and a huge chunk in his shirt is ripped right out. He stands to one foot and assesses the situation. Blood runs down his shirt and he spits blood out onto the edge of the ring.

“That fire!! Ghoul fire stands no match against that!” He rushes back at Felix and uses the Power Fist. He merely puts up his forearm and tanks the punch head-on. Even the teacher looks at this feat in shock. He grabs Tanji’s black shirt and slams him into the ring. The ring cracks and breaks under the force and Tanji spits blood. Felix pulls back his hand and his tough palm glows orange. Fire then engulfs the front of his hand and he says “Inferno Slam!” That arm’s muscle enlarges then he slams his hand into his body. A potent wave of fire is released right across the arena. Small fire explosions go off everywhere around the arena and Tanji is constantly getting hit by some. Once the fire dies down, he has passed out and has received major injuries. Felix stands back up and walks off of the ring, knowing he’s already won.

Tanji is healed as of normal and the matches come to a halt after several hours. Tearle reveals himself once again. He says “Now, I want to thank everyone for coming and reaching this stage of the exam. It is no easy task. But only 18 make it through then 9 more get cut off in the next stage. Now I will read out the names of the top performances in order. I will also read out the amount of matches they won. Coming in at first place, is Sebastian Bancroft with 5/5 matches won. 2nd Place goes to Felix Jezruk with 5/5 matches won.” Tanji holds his palms together in hope that his name is said.

“16th place goes to Baldur Krog with 3/5 matches won. 17th place goes to Tanji Bjornulfsson with 3/5 matches won.” Tanji is ecstatic. He actually made it to the final exam. He cherishes this moment and thanks the lords above. Especially the one that gave him his power.

Some people say weird things about him.

“How did he pass? Cheater.”

“Is he a werewolf now?”

He doesn’t listen to them and just powers through to the next stage.

He receives the rewards for passing the second stage and also his 2 Fresh New Arts.

Qi Art: Qi Cloaked Palm [The palm is enveloped within a cloak of condensed qi for 25 seconds. Arm Power, Speed and Durability +40%. Power and Speed stat +8.]

Lycan Art: Quadruped Sprint [User runs on all fours and gains masses of speed for 10 seconds. Speed stat +11, Leg strength +30%]

He is flabbergasted at his new arts and is confident he can pass now.

The time comes for all 18 contestants to meet up with each other. Tearle stands in a forest area with two massive rocks beside him. They stand at like 30 feet higher than ground level. He says “Welcome to the Final Stage of the Exam! Here we’ll have 6 teams of 3. Look at that board beside that rock to discover what team you’ve been placed in. Now, this will be capture the flag. One flag starts there. The other starts there. Your task is to get your flag over to the other flag area and stop the other flag from reaching your flag area. It’s a simple task but its harder than it looks. Especially with opponents just as strong as you. Now let’s get this started.”

Tanji sees he’s up first and says “Alright! Let’s win this thing!”