Chapter: Zen Island?

Both Nelly and I made our way back to the hotel together, where we met other students from other groups that had passed. Nelly and I parted ways as she wanted to go take a bath, I looked around for Hanako but I couldn't find her, I guess she is still taking her test. As I wander around looking for other RisingSun members I see Leo and Drew who were coincidentally put in the same group as each other somehow.

"Yoh Leo, Drew wait up" I called out as I walked up to them

"Oh hey Ken good to see you passed" Drew said

"Hey Ken, we're going to have a little party later tonight at our doom with all the RisingSun members, you down?" Leo asked

"Good to see you two passed as well and sure that'll be great" I replied

"well we will be off, we're going to get everything set up and hoard as much food as possible" Drew said

"Alright see you two later" I replied

Drew and Leo walked to their room and I made my way to mine. I walked into my room and saw Eldrin eating on the sofa. I looked around for Tatsuo but couldn't find him.

"Oh hey Ken, you passed your test I see," Eldrin said

"Yeah it was actually pretty easy, how did you go with yours?" I asked

"It was boring" Eldrin replied

"I've been meaning to ask, Eldrin you're a High Elf but why is your hair black? I've read that, High Elves hair only comes in yellow, creamy white or gold, did you dye your hair?" I asked with curiosity

"Nope, this is my natural hair colour, the reason it's black is that i'm half-demon" Eldrin explained

"Half...D-Demon?" I asked with a surprised look

"What? Are you scared of me too? You can't stand being around a foul creature such as myself?" Eldrin asked as he stood up looking at me directly in the eye

A big grin appeared on my face "You're a freaking demon!? That's so cool!" I shouted, "I've always wanted to see a demon!"

Eldrin was a little stunned at my reaction, but after processing that I was afraid of who he was, he broke into laughter "You sure are a weird one"

"You're a Demon and a High Elf? That's the coolest thing I've ever heard" I said, still shocked and excited

"I was not expecting this reaction, normally folks are scared once they find out that I'm a demon, but you're excited?"

"Of course I am! You must be super powerful!"

"I sure am! So you better watch yourself cause I will crush you and everyone in this Academy!"

"Of course! I'll be looking forward to clashing with you!"

Just then Tatsuo, walked out of his room, holding a book in his hand and a grumpy look on his face

*Can't I read my book in peace!!" Tatsuo shouted, annoyed.

"Oh horn boy, you're here," Eldrin said with a sarcastic grin

"I've been here the whole time! Now keep it down" Tatsuo said in a grumpy tone

"Good to see you passed Tatsuo," I said with a smile "looks like we have a full house"

"I'd be damned if I failed here," Tatsuo said before walking back into his room

Eldrin laid down on the sofa and slowly dozed off. I went to take a shower before heading to the RisingSun party. All the students were done with their task now and by looking at the number of students quite a few were expelled, I just hope everyone from the RisingSun passed.

I arrive and I'm met by all the RisingSun members which was a relief, but among everyone, there was an unfamiliar face, I'm guessing he lives in this dorm with the male RisingSun members.

"Hey Ken you're finally here," Mira said excitedly

"The whole gang's here, sweet," I said with a smile

"Before we get this party started. Ken this is Rex our roommate and Rex that's Ken his also a member of the RisingSun" Drew introduced me and the unfamiliar student

"Ken," Rex said with a straight face

"Ummm...y-yeh...nice to..meet you Rex" I replied awkwardly. I don't know but I'm feeling weird energy from Rex

"Now that we're all familiar with each other let's get this party started!" Koko shouted

We spent hours and hours partying, everyone seemed to be having fun. Koko was drunk alongside Krow. Leo and Drew were having an eating contest, Mira was babysitting both Krow and Koko in case they were to vomit, Catherine was getting along with Rex, and I was talking to Hanako. More time passed with us playing board games and card games, everyone was enjoying the party.

"ATTENTION EVERYONE! THIS IS ACE SPEAKING, I'M HERE TO ANNOUNCE THAT EVERYONE MUST BE AWAKE BY ELEVEN O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, FOR THOSE THAT WAKE UP LATE WILL BE EXPELLED, I REPEAT EVERYONE MUST BE AWAKE BY ELEVEN. THANK YOU" Ace announced through the announcer.

"Uhhh...eleven? That's way too early" Cathrine whined

"Well it looks like this party is over, everyone make your way back to your rooms and make sure you all wake up at eleven cause if you don't...I will kill you!" Mira said in a cold tone that sent chills down everyone's spin

And with that everyone said their goodbyes before leaving to go back to their rooms. I arrived at my place only to find Eldrin cooking food and Tatsuo sharpening his sword, none of them seemed to be concerned about waking up on time tomorrow. I was going to ask them why they weren't going to bed but I figured it would somehow lead to an argument, and I was too tired for that so I decided to go straight to bed.

Several Hours Later

Sunlight shines on my eyes and I slowly start to open them. Before I could do anything else I remember I have to be awake at eleven and with this much sunlight surely it's past eleven. In a panic I jump out of bed and look at my clock, I'm quickly relieved as it's still nine meaning I woke up early.

"Hey Eldrin, Tatsuo wake up if you don't want...to..fail..." before I could finish what I was saying I realized that I'm no longer in the hotel, I don't know how it happened, but I'm in my old room back on Zen Island!?.

"Am I really back on Zen Island? If so, how is that possible?" I thought to myself as I walked out of my room confused and still a little sleepy

"Hey, grandpa, are you here?" I shouted walking downstairs "What the hell is happening! There is no way I failed" I said a little concerned

No one replied. Maybe grandpa has gone out into town or he has probably gone for a walk around the island. I walked out of the house but grandpa was no were to be found. I couldn't even sense his mana.

"That's strange I wonder what's going on, I should go check up on Volterra," I said to myself looking around

I make my way through the forest taking the shortest path to Volterra's cave. I called out for Volterra and within a few seconds he walked out of the cave, with his wings folded on his back and with him was Grandpa and Grandma. Grandma Edna was holding a big cake while grandpa was holding a sign that read 'welcome home'.

"Welcome back Ken! We are so proud of you for trying your best" Grandma said walking up to me with a smile

"Yeah, so don't feel bad grandson you tried your best," Grandpa said as he pats my head

"I'm confused..what are you guys talking about?" I asked confused

"Well Ken, you failed the survival exam, but don't be sad were here for you," Volterra said looking down at me

"I failed?...W-WAIT I FAILED!!" I shouted with alarming concern

"Ken please calm down, no need to feel down, I'm sure you tried your best," Grandpa said

"Yeah let's go home so you can eat some cake," Grandma said

I was completely stunned and confused by the fact that I've….failed? How is that even possible? I made my way back to the house with Grandpa and Grandma, they sat me down and placed the cake in front of me.

"It's alright darling, eat some cake I bought it from a very fancy shop so it should taste good," Grandma said with a gentle smile

"You..bought this?...hmm well thank you grandma" I replied a little confused as Grandma always cooks all her food

"Yes ask for anything you want, we are here for you," Grandpa said with a smile

"Wait a minute, why are you guys so calm about this...did you guys do something to the cake?" I was a little worried and confused. Weirdly, grandma isn't shouting at me or the fact that grandpa isn't putting me through intense training since I got expelled from the academy they paid so much for.

"Why wouldn't we be calm? Our sweet boy just got expelled from the academy and we know how much you wanted to go there" Grandma replied with a kind tone

"Yes so don't worry your grandparents are here for you" Grandpa added on

"umm..ahhh thank you? Well I'm not feeling hungry so I'm gonna go off to go see Volterra" I said with an uneasy smile. For some reason, I'm getting a strange feeling about all of this.

I make my way back to Volterra's cave and call out his name. Volterra walks out of his cave standing in front of me, then says "How may I help you, Ken?"

I knew there was something weird about all of this. Volterra keeps on calling me 'Ken' which is strange, cause ever since we made a pact he has always called me Master or Young Master as a sign of respect and loyalty.

"Oh man, I can't believe I didn't realize this earlier, this is all part of the test!" I chuckled

"What test?" Volterra asked

"I was so confused that I was blinded by something so simple. When I supposedly 'woke up' it was still 9, so there is no way I failed, this is all fake, some kind of illusion to keep me distracted until time runs out. Can't believe I almost fell for such a simple trick" I said speaking to myself

Volterra flapped his wings before taking off into the sky while generating mass amounts of lightning from his body. The cloud turned black, filled with electricity and swirled above me. I looked up at the clouds without flinching then looked at Volterra and smirked before raising my right hand towards the sky. The clouds struck me with a bolt of lightning that caused a big electrical explosion to crack the floor underneath me.

"Nice try! But this is nothing compared to the real Volterra's lightning," I said as I absorbed all the lightning into the palm of my right hand

I formed the lightning that was in my palm into a sword made purely out of lightning. "Let's see if your skin is as durable as the real Volterra!" I shouted

Volterra charged up another bolt of lightning but before he could strike me with it, I launched myself high into the sky and towards him using my Accelerator Boots to close the gap between us in a short amount of time. While in the air I absorbed the excess lighting that was in the clouds into my sword making it bigger. Once I reached Volterra I swung my lightning sword downwards cleaving Volterra in half before landing on the ground. I looked up at Volterra and his whole body faded away into smoke.

"Looks like he was just a really bad copy. Now time to take out the other fakes" I said as the lightning sword disappeared

Before I could make my way back to my house I'm confronted by both grandpa and grandma just standing there motionless.

"Okay it's time to take you fakes out now," I said looking at both of them

Grandpa clenched both his fists tightly, erupting them in flames before charging straight at me. Grandma cast a spell that bound my feet to the ground restricting my movement so I couldn't dodge Grandpa. This is all embarrassing if they think something this simple will work on me. I pointed two fingers directly at Grandpa who was near my range. "Chain Lightning" I mumbled to myself

A bolt of lightning shot from the tips of my fingers and electrocuting grandpa with high amounts of bolts. The lightning then lashed itself onto grandma electrocuting her as well. After the lighting stopped both grandma and grandpa faded away into smoke.

"Man I'm lucky those were poor fakes of Grandpa and Grandma or I'd have never beaten them. Now time to break out of this illusion" I said before taking a deep breather

Now normally an illusion will automatically lose its effect on its target once they realize they are under an illusion, but this illusion seems to be a little more advanced, it seems like I have to use my Mana to break the illusion. I started to release my Mana and the more I released my Mana the space around me started to crack like glass.

I released my Mana a little higher, enough to completely shatter the illusion like glass. I finally opened my eyes again and sat up as quickly as I could, looking around realizing I was back in my bedroom in the hotel. I looked around before looking at my clock on the wall, it was currently 9:20, looks like I made it.

Next Time: Special Guess