Crossroads

Chapter 9

Chapter Nine (Shock)

The sound of a river running and winds chasing the orchards.

The scene returns to the board displaying the student who dropped the plates while heading to inform the students about the location of the gate, amidst the rush of the students to the gate and their pushing towards the abyss. After opening the gate, the student hid. A large number of students moved to the center, and the student emerged from his hiding place and jumped to the edge of the open gate above, grabbing the number and the sign, tearing them off and taking them with him directly as he searched for another gate. He had found it earlier, and when he found another gate, he covered its number and markings, which were circular and random, meaning without time, and the plates dropped randomly upon activating the circle. He covered it with the number 9:00 and the sign ^3.

He then rushed to the center and joined his group and took them to the gate where he changed its number and markings, and then they entered. The circle activated as they reached the middle, and then all the students who were with this student fell, as well as the students in the adjacent seats (on the right and left). The student ran quickly because time had passed 4 minutes. He crossed two mazes and reached the final gate but fell into the trap. He removed his last two shoes and began to run barefoot. He jumped over the students until he leaped to the end.

Immediately after the presentation ended, the principal spoke: Well, I know your questions.

First: Changing the markings of the gates is not prohibited, and there is no law in this competition or in any competitions in the past years that states tampering with numbers and markings is forbidden.

Second: Jumping over the faces of students or giving them choices is not against the rules. What is forbidden is causing them serious injuries and throwing them into the abyss.

Third: No one from the specialized committee raised any objections to this competition, considering it one of the best competitions held so far, and the participating students this year are more distinguished and have a high spirit of competition.

Students' voices: What? We are failing this year?

I can't believe I have to work with this brat Nari. I need funding from him; otherwise, I wouldn’t move according to the orders of a kid like Nari.

Bang is astonished by Nami Slawn's strong will and says joyfully: Come on, Nami, show me more of what you have; light up this night with brilliant colors.

But Nari interrupts them, saying: Nami, just give up, you trash.

Yet neither Bang nor Nami paid any attention to Nari's words. Nami rose immediately and said to himself: This art was taught to me by Master Nai. It has two stages; the first stage you endure blows that exceed your endurance, and the second stage, which the teacher warned me about, it makes you feel dizzy with a headache, and that’s how I feel now. But the teacher told me that I would be unable to stand in the second stage for more than five minutes.

The memory returns to Master Nai as he explains the secret art that relies on increasing the adrenaline levels. The teacher was inspired by Jentai Banz's technique because he saw him in a calm and meditative state before Jentai defeated all the students of his class in his first week.

Nami looks at Bang, blood trickling down from his forehead from Bang's earlier strike, and makes his second attack toward Bang, but Bang takes a stance just before Nami reaches him quickly, bracing his feet to the ground, and twists his body. He places his left hand over his right fist, and when Nami reaches him, he delivers a powerful strike. Everyone hears the sound of cracking ribs and Nami is thrown to the left, crashing into a large tree in the yard of the house, falling to the ground, breathing rapidly with blood pouring from him.

End of Chapter Nine.

How did the events in this chapter affect your opinion of Nami's character, and what do you hope she will do in the upcoming chapters?