BOOK 1 - Destiny (Shonen Anime Style)

Chapter 8: Burning Spirit

It was almost time. There were exactly 31 applicants for guardian trainees, and Ravi was one of them. They all listened carefully as Derek, the one in charge of the practical exam, explained what was it going to be about.

Leah said he had 3 more years of experience, so he was probably 18 or 19 years old. He had short blond hair and green small eyes which together formed a very mean, serious and kind of ferocious face. He was also taller than all the applicants and had a very muscular body. Just for the exam, he was also wearing the same tight training shirt with short sleeves, training boots and black training pants, that all the applicants were wearing.

"OK LISTEN UP!" he yelled in a threatening voice. "I'm only gonna explain the rules of this exam once! So, you better pay attention!"

Everyone listened closely. The exam was almost always different, so there was no way to predict what was it going to be about.

At that moment, Derek took out some pieces of armor and put them in the lower part of both of his arms. "This is what it's going to be about!" he said with a malicious smile. "You'll be standing in front of me in teams of 2, and you are gonna fight ME"

After saying this, everyone around, including the spectators, were surprised and began murmuring.

"He has to be joking" one person said.

"There's no way they can beat Derek in a battle. Not even been 2 against 1" said another.

"Well, seems like we won't have any new recruits this month" another one added.

Then, Derek continued explaining. "You don't need to worry. Not even I am as bad as to expect you to beat me, but these arm protectors are another story" he said while showing his arms. "All you have to do is crack them. If you manage to break or even cause the slightest fissure on any of these, then you pass. I have many more, so you don't need to worry if one team breaks them too early, because I'll have another pair waiting"

Those arm protectors, besides just looking cool, seemed hard and very heavy.

Meanwhile... Leah, who was listening to everything with a worried expression, began thinking about the actual point of Derek's rules. 'This is totally different than my exam, but it also sounds a lot simpler. Where is the difficulty? Could it be that... Derek is not going to hold back at all?' She began worrying even more. After all, even if they were 2 against 1, the applicants had no chance of winning against that bully.

"Ok! Now I want you all to go to one side of the arena! I'll be calling 2 of you randomly!" Just as Derek said this, another person entered the field.

"I hope you weren't thinking of beginning without me, Derek!" the mysterious woman claimed in an imposing voice, only to reveal it was a middle-aged and dark-skinned bald woman with a very long violet-purplish coat of modern design and some accessories all around.

"Of course not, Ikora" Derek replied with a mischievous grin.

The mysterious person's name was Ikora. She was one of the 3 main Vanguard commanders. Another one of those was Cayde, who Ravi met previously.

"You may already know me" the bald woman told the applicants. "I'm Ikora Rey. And I'm also gonna be forming part of this exam"

"Excuse me Ikora, but you'll only be in charge of the safety" Derek replied, defiantly.

"And that's enough for me. I know you, Derek. You are a very powerful guardian, but unfortunately, you are too cruel and like fighting a lot"