It’s the next day, and the trio seems to be outside the city where they originally were. They are now at a harbor country fair, wrapped in scarves that connect them to each other, and led by Belle.

  “This damn woman, reducing me to a dog on a leash. I swear I’ll get my vengeance vile witch.” Alexander thought, shamefully following.

  “Why is she bringing me to the Raider Exam? I already told her my weapon was destroyed, and she told me to make a new skill! Surely, she knows how hard that is.” Eonni thought, walking in the back.

  “Didn’t get to finish workout routine.” Bawl thinks to himself, upset that Belle pulled them out so early.

  As they continue to get closer to the boat, they are in the distance with a sign that reads Raiders Exam, A thought crosses Alexander’s mind. “By the way Bawl, I never got to ask yesterday. Why do you want to become a raider?”

  “Why?” Bawl thinks to himself for a while.

  “It sounds cool.”

  “-Seriously? That’s it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tch, here I thought we were soul pals.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Alexander, shush, not everyone has any big grand goals. I wasn't even trying to be a raider in the first place.” Eonni said.

  “Clearly. You can’t even fight anymore. I heard you can’t use your other skills anymore. You got any more?”

  “No, no I don’t. The saws were my only skill.”

  “Seriously. Everyone knows you should have at least 2 skills; you can’t rely on one machine to develop them.”

  “I know, I know.”

  “You’re definitely not surviving the exam.”

  “Please protect me!”

  “Hell NO!” Alexander says, pushing a finger onto her forehead and twisting it.

  “Okay,” Bawl says.

  “Huh? Why would you protect her?”

  “Why not?”

  As they continue to walk, an earthquake erupts and everything starts to shake.

  “THE HELL! AN EARTHQUAKE! I THOUGHT THEY WEREN’T COMMON HERE?”

  “Stay calm. I got you!” Belle pulls the three towards her and keeps them stable.

  Bawl remembers when he had experienced an earthquake when he was still in the forest.

  Bawl unscrews the bolt by 2%, “Rock,” He steps on the ground, and this causes the earthquake to stop.

  Nobody noticed Bawl doing this, nobody except Eonni. “Did he just! Surely not!”

  “Hm, that was fast. Well, no matter, get moving.” Belle continues to walk towards the ship with the others following behind.

  They reach the massive ship’s entrance and Alexander runs straight on board, “Hurry up, this boat leaves in 1 hour!”

  “Oh my gosh, I hate this.” Eonni walks onto the ship as well.

  “Are we going to see each other again?” Bawl asked Belle.

  “Obviously. You’re just going to the island specifically for the test. Once the test is concluded, you can go back on this same ship to come back here.”

  “Oh, okay. Bye, mama.” Bawl hugs Belle, still keeping his power in check.

  “Yeah, sure...sweetie.” She finally managed to muster up the courage to say something she would have rather avoided while hugging him back. “WHY DID I SAY THAT! I FEEL SO OLD RIGHT NOW!”

  Hm?” Bawl notices Grandma walking towards them in the distance. Belle also turns around to see Grandma, but she appears to have a cage with her covered by a white cloth.

  “Hi dear. Gonna leave so soon?”

  “Grandma, what that?”

  “Did you forget? I got you the pet you wanted.” She lifts up the cloth slightly to reveal it to be the Monarch of the Sea, the same that Bawl defeated.

  “Thank you, Grandma.”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  “No problem dear. Just keep the cage covered so no one panics, okay?” Bawl gives a thumbs up and walks onto the ship.

  Belle and Grandma watch him as he goes up and Belle starts crying a little, “Why the fuck am I crying?”

  “It’s only natural. Watching your babies go on a journey is very hard but you’re happy for them regardless.”

  “IT’S NOT LIKE HE’S GONE FOREVER! AND DON’T SAY IT LIKE THAT!” Grandma laughs, “Don’t worry dear, this happens for young people too, no reason to feel old.”

  “-I guess.” Belle looks towards the boat and feels proud of Bawl despite only being with him for such little time. “Please pass, Bawl.”

  In the distance, appear to be Nicolas and Roth who are also entering the ship.

  “You ready? Have your insulin pens?” Nicolas asks.

  “Sim,” Roth says, putting up a peace sign.

  “Alright.” Nicolas puts back in his earbuds and walks towards the ship with Roth.

  Bawl, Alexander, and Eonni are all exploring the ship in different places. Bawl finds a gym; Alexander finds a sword room and Eonni finds a skill classroom.

  “I can finish my routine.” Bawl thought, running into the gym.

  “Let’s see if I can find some worthy opponents.” Alexander though, taking out his Turbo sword and walking into the room.

  “Maye I can learn a new skill, that way, I won’t be a burden to my little brother.” Eonni though, looking at a locket that appears to have a picture of Bawl.

  1 hour passes, and the ship starts to sail. [THE WHALE IS LEAVING THE HARBOR, I REPEAT, THE WHALE IS LEAVING THE HARBOR!] Bawl goes outside to wave Belle and Grandma goodbye.

  “BYE MAMA!”

  “Bye!” Belle waves back, crying like a proud mother. Grandma also waved goodbye as well.

  “Grandma, stop cutting onions.”

  “Hm? I’m n-, oh.” Grandma laughs, seeing Belle crying.

  The ship has left the island, and the trio appears to be in the dining hall eating food.

  “This ship is so big, what are you guys doing?” Alexander asked, having plates of meat, mashed potatoes, dumplings, and chicken.

  “Well, there’s a skill class, I can learn a new skill, so I won't be a burden to Bawl,” Eonni said, eating a balanced plate of food.

  “Gym was cool.” Bawl is eating plates of different desserts such as black and white cake, black and white cookies, ice cream sandwiches, chocolate muffins, and pie.

  Bawl looks around to see a lot of different people, some are weird looking, and some appear average, but he notices someone that really stands out from everyone else.

  He has short black hair with white highlights, pale skin, a slim body, yellow and green eyes, and black nails. He wears a black suit having 3 white rectangles on the upper arm area, his undershirt being a formal white dress shirt, white dress shoes with black heel regions, and a black tie outlined in white that looks like an upside-down cross with a magenta and icosahedron-shaped ruby at the top, black stick earrings with skulls, and skull rings on his pinkie, middle, pointer and thumb fingers.

  “Wow, he looks so cool. Wanna talk to him.” Bawl continues eating his food.

  1 and a half hours pass, and Bawl is looking for the boy he saw. He looks around to see him skating somewhat, his shoes seem to be releasing air that allows him to skate on the ground. Bawl looks at his soul and it appears to be a skull that has black flame shooting from its back, with purple spiral eyes.

  Bawl walks up to him and the boy stops. “Hi, you’re so cool, can we be friends?”

  The boy stares at him for a couple of minutes before responding, “Ew.”

  “...”

  “Why should I be your friend?” The boy seems to be annoyed at something that isn’t Bawl.

  “Well, maybe-”

  “Okay STOP! Why is your hair so imbalanced!” The boy grabs Bawl’s hair strands and fixes them up, making them straight.

  “Walking around like an abomination.”

  “Sorry.”

  It switches to Eonni in class, watching as other people are creating their skills, while Eonni is still struggling to create a skill of her own.

  “You okay miss?” A woman says, behind Eonni.

  “Oh! Yeah, I’m just struggling a little. I’m not sure what kind of skill that would fit me.”

  “Well, what kind of person are you, is there someone you want to protect, or is there a goal you’re trying to achieve?”

  “A goal.” Eonni thinks to herself for a while before the bell rings.

  “Oh, it seems class is up, come back tomorrow and I’ll see if I can help you.”

  “Oh, right.”

  Alexander is sparring with another man in the ring, and defeats him easily, “You couldn’t touch this.”

  He walks out of the arena and drinks some water. He opens his eyes to see a woman at the corner of his eye.

  She has a curvy figure, dark purple hair with curls, and red eyes, wears a skin-tight dress with detached sleeves, thigh-high heeled boots as well as a witch hat. Before he could see more of her, she disappeared.

  “People are weird, dressing up as a witch, don’t they know witches are hunted.”

  It’s nighttime, Bawl, Alexander, and Eonni are on the third floor where the rooms are, but they are all in separate places on the floor.

  Bawl enters his bed and gets comfortable, sleeping curled up as if he’s a dog. Alexander is already fast asleep, and Eonni is still thinking about what the teacher told her.

  During nighttime, all the staff start putting on masks that hide their faces and put armbands on themselves. They have a number, from one to 500.

  The next day comes and all three of them wake up. Bawl wakes up like a dog, Eonni clearly isn’t a morning person, and Alexander seems to be wide awake and full of energy.

  Bawl leaves his room to see a lot of people in the hall going upstairs for breakfast. Bawl follows behind, he reunites with Alexander and Eonni and they all go upstairs. The line seems to have stopped, and the trio pushes past the people, confused by what’s happening. They reach the front to see a dead body.