Sacred Arts

44. Fitness Test

With ninety participants left, they all waited patiently for the last few minutes of their ten-hour break to end. "All right everyone," the ref exclaimed. "You may all stand and prepare for the fitness test," he continued. All the remaining warriors had risen to their feet and waited for further instructions. "This next test will test your strength," the ref announced. "You will all be punching three boulders," the ref said. "To pass this test you only need to break the second one," he continued.

"This test doesn't sound too bad at all," someone in the crowd said. "There must be something odd about these boulders," Amon thought to himself. "There's no way that basic boulders would test our strength," Amon continued deep in thought. "There are nine test sites, so you all can line up and wait your turn," the ref said. Everyone began to get in a line and wait their turn to take the fitness test. One after another, each participant went to go test their power against the first boulder. The majority of the participants managed to destroy the first boulder, and, of course, there were a few who couldn't even break the first one.

It was Amon's turn to step forward and test himself. "The boulder looks pretty ordinary, so it wouldn't be a surprise if someone broke this one," he said, wanting to conceal his true strength. Amon pulled back his fist and thrust it at the boulder. The moment his fist collided with the boulder, the boulder burst into thousands of smaller rocks. Amon passed his first of three boulders and walked to the back of the line to prepare for the second. Another hour had passed and everyone had taken a chance at the first boulder. Only five people couldn't break the first boulder, which leaves eighty-five participants left.

Everyone remained in their line, ready to take on the second boulder. This boulder was much bigger than the last. The first boulder was about the size of three adult males and this second boulder is about the size of three adult elephants. "This second boulder has an aura," Amon thought to himself as he glanced at the boulder curiously. Everyone began the second boulder test. Time had passed and no one had managed to break the boulder yet. More than twenty participants made an attempt, but none managed to succeed. "I didn't think this boulder would pose this much of a challenge to everyone," someone said in the crowd.

"At this rate I doubt there will be many that pass it," another spectator commented. Finally, it was Nico Wilson's turn. He gracefully stepped forward and glanced at the boulder with confidence in his eyes. Nico punched it and, for the first time, cracks began to form, and the boulder crumbled into hundreds of pieces. "That only took a fourth of my strength," Nico thought as he turned and walked to the back of the line that had now become much smaller than before. Daisy Williams and Mark Anderson had very similar results when they stepped forward and hit the boulder.

Amon also had a very similar result when he punched the boulder. "This one wasn't bad at all," he thought to himself. "That aura it has must be meant to show us some sort of resistance to the aura we use to crush it," Amon speculated. An hour had passed and everyone had made an attempt at the second boulder. Thirty-five people had not passed the second boulder test, which means only fifty participants remained. "Technically speaking, the test is over, but if anyone wishes to test themselves against the third boulder, you may step up," the ref announced.

Five huge boulders that made all the previous boulders look like mere pebbles sat in the testing area. "Now I must also warn you all, these final boulders are vastly different to the others," the ref said. "If you aren't strong enough, the boulders will inflict harm back onto you," the ref continued. "One might say these may even have a will of their own," he said before sitting down. The final fifty participants began to talk with each other, wondering if it was worth the trouble or not.

The king rose to his feet. "I also want to add, if there's anyone that can break it, it may also help kick-start your way into my ranks," the king said with a smile, hoping to motivate any hidden talents to try their luck. "Well, this makes things more interesting, no matter what I must crush this boulder," Amon said determinedly. New lines were formed so that ten people stood in each, making a total of five lines for the five boulders.

Everyone felt the aura the five boulders were emitting. The people in the crowd even began to get strange feelings the longer they looked at the boulders. "These boulders are definitely dangerous," Amon thought to himself. The first person walked up to the boulder and let out his aura. "This will be a breeze," the young warrior said as he prepared to strike the boulder. The young warrior punched the boulder and to his amazement his fist couldn't even touch the boulder. It was as if something were in the middle of his fist and the boulder separating the two.

"What is this?" the warrior said softly with a confused look on his face. A split second after the punch, the young warrior's arm began to make cracking and popping sounds. All of a sudden, the young warrior cried out in pain as a loud snapping noise was heard coming from his arm. "How did this happen?" The young boy yelled out in terror as his arm was completely destroyed. The young warrior dropped to his knees in pain. The next four warriors in the other lines experienced the same thing the other young warrior did.

Seeing five people, one after the other, become disabled made many participants lose their confidence. Many participants began to walk off the stage. After everyone was done leaving the stage, there were only four participants left standing in front of four of the five boulders. One boulder had no one in front of it. The four participants still standing, facing towards the boulders were Nico Wilson, Daisy Williams, Mark Anderson, and Amon.