High within the earth’s atmosphere were vast floating continents of ethereal splendour and magnificent grandeur. They were being kept levitating by a circular array of mystical cloud energy that wrapped around their base cluster of hard sediments. Beautiful vegetation was populated all around these floating continents. Their cities had gorgeous architecture built from a very rare type of wood element called Rekishda. Almost everything from the below mother earth was present on these floating structures; clear pure water streams; viridian jade pavements; a mixture of wooden-cloud bridges that connected the separated floating islands; numerous types of beasts; and to top off the beautiful ambience were various shimmering types of Cloud Butterflies flying around everywhere. Together, these majestic floating islands when viewed from outer space resembled a bird's anatomy, thus they were classified under the one appellation, Waivrumnagar.

This new era of crows was an empowering one. Soul evolution was taking place all across mother earth. The surviving humans have fallen to the very bottom of the food chain and frequency chart while the evolved crows reign supreme at the very top.

Within this special paradigm, the crows have become more humanoid. They have gained a pair of arms as well as a more defined physique that suited their specific gender. They still have each of their varying dark feathers which symbolizes their strength. As for their wings, they have become more flexible and adjustable; a uniqueness was about them in the form of two specific states; Flaccid state and Fully Ejected State. In their Flaccid State, the wings are clustered into one long loosely flowing feather that easily billowed in the wind; the majority of its humerus and bone structure was within the scapula tissue. The Fully Ejected State was the opposite of the Flaccid State; in this process the wings' rigid structure was fully formed with enough outspread feathers to capture the wind, thus equalling flight. An invigorating adventure awaits those who submerge their consciousness within this world.

Farthest east to the aerial borders of Waivrumnagar, a lone crow whose ejected wings were partly white was flying through the air lightning fast. He was carrying a suitable size suitcase. His countenance seemed as if he was in a hurry to be somewhere quick. Unlike most crows his age, his figure was rather thin. This enabled him to adroitly shift through the throng of aerial traffic without causing any disturbance.

“Excuse me, excuse me. I’m in a rush here. Make way, I have to get to that Crowtrain before it departs.”

The crow made haste until he arrived inside a huge enclosed transport terminal that catered to the Crowtrains upon arrival and departure. This area was heavily crowded with young individuals due to the auspicious time of the almanack when Soul Academies would be accepting new talented students.

“Excuse me. Coming through.” Unauthorized flying was strictly prohibited inside this transport terminal, thus the little lad had to reduce his wings to their Flaccid State and start walking among the crowd. He found it rather challenging to get to where he wanted to be fast.

A lot of shoving and pushing was taking place across the edifice until the young crows got to their desired departure terminal where the Crowtrains were waiting for them to board.

The Crowtrains were very large bird-like structures that were mostly comprised of intelligent metals which could contract and expand with much versatility. They shared a close semblance with a bullet train that had large feathery wings. These Crowtrains were mostly used to transport passengers to very faraway places a lot quicker and to provide a comfortable experience for passengers who didn’t wish to spread their wings or for those who didn’t have wings.

“Excuse me…” After some minutes of forcing his way through the crowd, the white-winged crow arrived at his particular Crowtrain with his luggage in hand. It was only accepting young examinees who had applied prior for entry to Crowjun Soul Academy.

As the eager young lad got closer to the Crowtrain’s entrance, he ran into a small group of bullies who tried to prevent him from passing. A particular strapping youngster whose muscles were twice the size of the thin lad stopped him from passing, by placing his big arms in his path.

“Hold it right there, string bean. This Crowtrain is heading to Crowjun Soul Academy. Only examinees are allowed to pass by here. Now get lost!” The big fellow shoved back the little lad.

“But I am an examinee!” Protested the little lad. To prove he was legit to the bullies, the amicable lad dipped into his white feathers and whipped out a piece of laminated square paper. “This is my application card. You see here where it says, Gnihzur Costar? That is me.”

“Let me see that?” After taking a quick gander at Gnihzur’s card, the muscular bully burst into laughter followed by his recalcitrant gang. “Cra-ha-ha-ha! A scrawny little shrimp such as you is an examinee like us? Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t sense even an ounce of Krowqui (Spiritual energy bestowed to all living creatures by All-Mother) coming from you. You must be one of them duds they call a loser. There is no way that you’re getting on this Crowtrain with me. Scram you little punk!” The bully pushed him backwards.

Gnihzur fell onto his backside after the big bully shoved him. “Hey, I’m telling the truth. I am an examinee! Just please let me pass.” He got up and went back to where the bullies were guarding the Crowtrain’s entrance.

“This little punk. Are you deaf or something? I said scram!” The big bully still refused to let Gnihzur on board the Crowtrain. While he was messing around, a broadcast was sounded inside the terminal:

“Crowtrain number A-625 will be departing for Crowjun Soul Academy in 10 minutes. Passengers please get on board and strap yourselves in.”

“Huh?” Gnihzur became alerted by the broadcast. “The Crowtrain is going to depart soon. Please step aside and let me through.” Gnihzur pleaded with the big bully but he still refused to let him pass.

“You want to get on this Crowtrain, shrimp? Then you have to go through me first! That is if you can. Cra-ha-ha-ha!” The bullies burst into laughter again.

Gnihzur became fed up with their bad behaviour. “Please, I don’t wish to fight you guys, so please let me pass.”

“I said to scram, punk!” The big bully couldn’t stand Gnihzur’s persistence any further, thus he tossed out a robust fist at his face.

Before Gnihzur could react, the bully’s fist was stopped by a petite lass who had a body type similar to Gnihzur’s but more curvy and seductive. Her sparkly feathery tresses were quite long and animated as they swayed back and forth in the wind gracefully

“Huh, where did you come from?” The bully was startled.

Flicking a small cluster of feathers from her face, the petite lass took a gander at Gnihzur then glared at the big bully whose fist she had stopped. “How troublesome you are. A bully on the first day of attendance? We haven’t even gotten to the academy as yet. So disgusting.”

“What did you call me, you skinny bitch? Watch how I shut that big mouth of yours.” The big bully tossed forwards another robust fist.

“Go get her, Crokan! Teach her some manners!” His degenerate friends encouraged him to prove his badness.

“No sweat. This dirty beak wench is dead meat!”

The petite lass skilfully caught Crokan’s huge fist during mid-execution. Next, she twisted his arms, flipped him onto the ground then stomped on his right ejected wing.

“Kyah! My wing!” The big bully hollered out in pain.

“Crokan!” Perceiving the major hurt that their leader was in, the remaining 2 bullies rushed to his aid. They didn’t bother troubling the petite crow; only helped their injured friend to his feet.

“Wow.” Gnihzur was amazed by how swiftly the petite lass took down the big bully. He followed her onto the Crowtrain then offered his gratitude. “Thanks for rescuing me back there.”

Sparing Gnihzur another glance of disdain, the petite lass said, “Tsk, I don’t need your gratitude. A useless crow that can’t defend himself against those brutes dares to enrol in a Soul Academy. So despicable.” She strutted onwards to find a suitable seat inside the Crowtrain.

“She’s so pretty.” Gnihzur admired her petite figure from behind for a while before he also start searching for a vacant seat to rest his bottom.

Walking down the long aisle of the Crowtrain, Gnihzur tried to gauge the strength of the present crows. “They are a lot of strong crows applying this year.” He walked by a noisy bunch who weren’t afraid to unleash their arrogant aspirations.

“I’m going to crush all of you weak turds in the preliminaries! Ha-ha-ha!” This utterance came from a hothead who had parts of his feathers dyed blazing red.

“Keep dreaming, hothead. I will be the one to crush this examination.” Retorted a suave fledgling who sat in his seat playing with a sweet-scented rose.

“Over my stinking farts, you won’t! I can blow your smelly ass to pieces whenever I damn well please!”

“Heh, we’ll see about that.”

“Want to start something right now, punk!?”

The hot-headed crow and the suave crow with the lovely rose seemed as if they were about to start fighting. However, they got interrupted by a mysterious person who sat directly behind them. He wore his dark plumes like a hoodie that cancelled parts of his face but enhanced the radiance of his pernicious blue eyes.

“Settle down, both of you. I’m starting to get annoyed by your voices.”

“Who the hell does this bastard think he’s talking to?” The hothead youngster was pissed.

“Obviously it’s not me, therefore it must be you since your voice is the loudest among the passengers on board this Crowtrain.” Retorted the suave fledgling.

“Can it freak before I shove that stinking rose down your damn throat!”

“This atmosphere is so tense.” Still searching for somewhere to sit down, Gnihzur reminisced about his past failure. “I hope I don’t fail this time around. I’ve been training really hard for this chance. I won’t mess it up like last time.”

“Passengers, the Crowtrain will be departing shortly.” It wasn’t until this broadcast echoed in Gnihzur’s ears that he jumped out of his sea of thoughts and looked harder for a place to sit down before departure. Glancing behind him briefly, he saw the bullies assisting their humiliated comrade to a seat.

Gnihzur went by a row of seats where a vacant spot was, however, the young lady that sat there had a rough demeanour about her. “Excuse me. Is this seat taken?”

“What did you say to me? Did you just call me ugly, huh shrimp?”

Gnihzur didn’t know exactly how to respond to the girl’s upset tone. “No, I ah… sorry!” He quickly moved away from there thinking about how he had offended her. He wasn’t looking ahead of him, hence he bumped into an intimidating youth who had a sturdy back.

“Watch where you are going, midget.” The bulky youth gave Gnihzur a strong glare.

“Sorry! Sorry.” Shortly after apologizing, Gnihzur heard a familiar voice coming from abreast him:

“A crow that can only whimper and say sorry… you disgust me.”

“Huh? Her again?” Gnihzur identified the originator of the voice to be the attractive petite lass who rescued him earlier. The seat beside her was also vacant, thus he asked, “Listen, do you mind if I sit there?”

“Fhm…” She responded with a low snort.

Gnihzur interpreted this as a ‘yes’ and then sat beside her. Getting comfy in the cushiony seat, he sparked up a conversation. “You can call me, Gnihzur. What’s your name?”

She answered boastfully, “A crow that has no Krowqui doesn’t deserve to know this precious maiden’s name.”

“Oh, I see.” Gnihzur didn’t let what she said bother him. He only directed his attention elsewhere until the Crowtrain was ready for take-off.

Another broadcast was sounded inside the Crowtrain. “Be seated passengers. The Crowtrain is now going to leave the terminal.”

“Finally!”

“It’s about damn time!”

The passengers were happy that the Crowtrain was finally preparing to take flight. Unlike manmade trains, this Crowtrain didn’t need any rails to move on. Instead, they flew on a designated air current which did much to add to its swift velocity.

“Wow, this Crowtrain is really fast!” Gnihzur’s excited countenance didn’t go unnoticed by the petite influence sitting abreast him.

“What’s with the stupid face? You’re acting as if you’ve never been on a Crowtrain before. Have you been living under a rock this entire time?”

“Of course not.” Answered Gnihzur. “I was busy training for my exams.”

“Training? Fu-hu-hu.” Finished laughing, she turned to Gnihzur and said, “You who possesses no Krowqui, what kind of training could you’ve possibly been undertaking, Newpalf?”

“How did you guess it? I was indeed brushing up on my Newpalf skillset.”

“For real? You were learning Newpalf?” The reason why she was so shocked to hear Gnihzur’s answer was because, among the variety of evolved birds, Newpalf was the most basic technique for all to learn. Basically, it means learning how to flap one’s wings.

“Don’t look so surprised. I was studying Newpalf along with my special variation. And I also studied…”

“Stop, stop.” She interrupted Gnihzur for she was tired of hearing how lame he was. “I don’t want to hear any more of your sad stories.”

“What, sad story? This isn’t a sad story that I’m telling you.” Gnihzur was about to elaborate some more on his specific type of Newpalf techniques that he came up with when suddenly, the Crowtrain vibrated roughly, moreover, came to a gradual halt. The passengers on board were all alerted.

“Why the hell has the Crowtrain stopped moving?”

“Is there a malfunction?”

“How could that possibly be? We’ve only just left the main terminal 7 minutes ago.”

“Then why the heck has it stopped?”

Someone directed the passengers’ attention towards the front of the Crowtrain outside. “Look there! Something is blocking our path.”

“Huh? Who are those birds?”

To answer the questions that the majority of the passengers were asking, another broadcast echoed all throughout the expansive Crowtrain. “Attention applicants. The first phase of your test has already begun. Survive the combined assault of the Rouge Doves. Those who wish to forfeit their enrolment at any time are free to leave the Crowtrain via the emergency portals.” That was it for the important broadcast which got everyone riled up.

The hothead youngster with the red patch of feathers shot out of his seat with the full intent of dominating his opponents. “The exam has already begun? Hell yeah! Bring it, you brown feather bastards! I’ll pulverize all of you!”

“Boom!” A loud explosion tore through the roof of the Crowtrain. One after the other, multiple hazel coloured humanoid Rouge Doves started pouring into the Crowtrain like raindrops. Their feathers had a more radiant flavour and were present with bright pinkish dots across their plump cheeks. As they entered the Crowtrain, they scattered to combat the hundreds of applicants on board.

“We’re being attacked by Rouge Doves! The announcer’s voice earlier wasn’t lying!”

Gnihzur was especially surprised to see a bunch of Rouge Doves dashing down the aisle attacking every crow in sight. “We’re being tested so soon? We haven’t even arrived at the academy as yet!”

The girl sitting beside him told him, “What did you expect, hugs and kisses? We’re enrolling in one of the most elite Soul Academy on the eastern wing of Waivrumnagar. You should always expect the unexpected during these exams.”

“Yea, your right. It’s just that I thought that the examiners would follow the same pattern as last time.”

“Too bad for you. Don’t expect me to protect you during this raid.”

“I wasn’t expecting that from you.” Gnihzur thought to himself, ‘To enter the academy I must pass all the tests. This time I won’t fail!’ Gnihzur began to rouse his battle spirit.

The loudmouth, hothead that was bragging arrogantly earlier, got blasted past Gnihzur by a powerful Rouge Dove. He quickly picked himself off the floor and shouted, “Is that all you got, dove bitch? This is nothing! I, Drazil Burns the strongest fledgling currently on this Crowtrain will now show you how to attack someone!”

5 flat circular red spheres began glowing at Drazil’s fingertips. This signified the emergence of his Krowqui; they were known as Krowqui Circles. He combined the mystical energy with some of his feathers to form a burning boomerang.

“Have a load of this baby! Krowqui, Exploding Plume!” The explosive boomerang detonated as soon as it impacted the Rouge Dove that Drazil was facing.

Drazil celebrated, “Ha-ha-ha! Serve you right, crap sucker!”

“Damn you!” The Rouge Dove collapsed backwards into the burning row of seats. However, it hadn’t been defeated entirely. It got back up and rushed towards Drazil while coating its hazel feathers in a resplendent golden aura.

“Back up for more? Come get some, you damn hairy cunt!”

Drazil intercepted the Rouge Dove midway during its thrust. Together, they unleashed a tumultuous wave of chaos that got drowned very quickly by the array of battles taking place across the huge Crowtrain. Hundreds of young crows were engaged in deadly combat. For those who couldn’t endure the heat of battle, they gave up by going through the emergency portals set up across the Crowtrain.

“Huh, why…?” To Gnihzur’s surprise, no one was coming after him as he stood his ground. It was almost as if he was an invisible entity on board the Crowtrain. “Why is everyone avoiding me? Am I not strong enough to pique their interest?”

As Gnihzur scanned his eyes around, he spotted 2 robustly built Rouge Doves surrounding the petite princess who rescued him from the bullies.

“Why don’t you play with us for a while, little missy?”

“We promise you it’s going to be lots of fun. Hu-ha-ha-ha!”

“I’m not sure. Can you boys truly make me have fun?”

“Most definitely, little lady. Ha-ha-ha!”

As the confident lass was about to respond to the 2 Rouge Doves, Gnihzur appeared by her side in an instant and said, “Two against one? Now that’s not a fair fight. Allow me to join you.”

“Huh? Where did this scrawny chicken come from? I’ve fought worms ten times the size of you, boy. Ha-ha-ha!” The Rouge Doves mocked Gnihzur's weak appearance.

“Did you hijack this Crowtrain to boast or to fight? Make your move?”

“This little…” What Gnihzur said pissed off the doves even more.

The petite lass gave Gnihzur a displeased gaze. “Hey, don’t butt in. I don’t need your help to take out these 2 trashes.”

“But they’re so big and thick.”

“Their humungous size can’t contend against my silky skills. Watch and learn.”

“These 2 keep talking about us as if we’re not here. Let’s teach them some manners!” The Rouge Doves became agitated by Gnihzur’s and the petite crow’s arrogant behaviour. Amid their seething rage, they released a combined assault against them.

In response to the Rouge Dove attack, the petite lass quickly unleashed control amounts of her Krowqui from her fingertips along with many of her feathers to form a connecting series of feathery chains. “Krowqui, Humming Feather Bind!”

Within an instant, the 2 Rouge Doves were bound by countless interlinks of singing feathers, moreover, their bones got broken.

Gnihzur was surprised by what he had just witnessed. “Wow, I guess you really didn’t need my help after all. You cleaned up those 2 very fast.”

“I told you so didn’t I?” She retorted boastfully as she stepped onto the defeated Rouge Doves’ body. “Now, who should I bind next…?”

“Kyah!” The screaming echoes of multiple Rouge Doves getting blasted away reverberated throughout the Crowtrain. The area they were just at was where the mysterious lad wearing the feathery hoodie was currently sitting with his eyes closed.

Another group of Rouge Doves approached his vicinity with amplified disgust. “Look at this crow, acting like some sort of big shot just sitting there unperturbed by our presence.”

“Let’s kick his bony ass!”

“Together now!” The small group of Rouge Doves rushed the lone crow who sat there unfazed by their presence.

“Tsk, what a nuisance.” Opening his sinister eyes, the hooded lad took only one glance at each Rouge Dove who attempted to gang upon him. Within an instant, they all burst asunder; leaving their entrails splattered all over the place.

“What the hell did he just do?” After witnessing how brutally the hooded lad had decimated their teammates, the surrounding Rouge Doves didn’t dare venture closer to where he was.

“That guy is bad news. I didn’t even see how he attacked earlier.”

“Me neither. We should avoid that one until the test is over.”

“I agree.”

Not only were the Rouge Doves afraid of approaching the hooded lad but also many other crows were scared shitless of going where he was. For the remainder of the Rouge Dove raid, no one bothered that hooded crow. He sat breezily throughout the first phase of the test.

The administrators who presided over the exam from their hidden location were amazed by the new group of applicants, especially the ones who exuded qualities of the famous crow clans. Among the applicants, Gnihzur was the only one who didn’t get a chance to show off what he was capable of due to him sticking close to the petite dame who shackled all her opponents.

The invigilators waited until more than half of the applicants were defeated or either given up before they set in motion the next testing phase. They deactivated all of the emergency portals without the passengers realizing it.

During the midst of battle, another broadcast reverberated throughout the entire Crowtrain. “Attention all passengers! Attention all passengers! The Crowtrain will self-destruct in 30 seconds.”

“Huh, what was that? Did I hear correctly?”

“The Crowtrain will self-destruct in 30 seconds?”

“Is this a joke?”

“The examiners wouldn’t lie to us.”

“All of you quiet! I want to hear what the message says.”

Every passenger on board the Crowtrain became apprehensive as they listened to the rest of the broadcast, including the Rouge Doves.

The message continued, “Here is your new objective. All applicants are tasked to get to the entrance of Crowjun Soul Academy within the next 30 minutes. Follow the rainbow wind path to not lose your way. How you get there is up to you, just make sure to arrive before the allotted time runs out. Those who are unable to make it in time will be automatically disqualified. And one more thing, the first top 10 crows to arrive will receive useful rewards according to their arrival position. Good luck.”

The passengers didn’t get enough time to play through their minds what was properly said. Moments after the broadcast ended, the self-destruct timer elapsed to zero. The Crowtrain began exploding all over.

“Oh shit! I wasn’t expecting the self-destruct to take effect as soon as the message ended.”

“Those damn examiners delayed our escape by keeping our focus on their message.”

“The explosions have already begun. We better get the heck out of here!”

“Where are the emergency portals???”

Crows and Rouge Doves alike began rushing towards the side exits of the Crowtrain that managed to open. Some even blasted their own exit through the roof.

“Explosive Plumes!” Drazil’s added explosions only served to increase the destruction of the Crowtrain.

22 seconds have passed since the self-destruct commenced, now, almost all of the Crowtrain had been blown to bits. It was taking a lot longer for its complete destruction due to its expansiveness. So far, many of the passengers have made a successful escape.

Gnihzur was among the first group to escape. He was very fast when it came to flapping his wings thanks to his intense Newpalf training. “Huh, where is she?” Spending a few seconds outside, observing as the Crowtrain became engulfed in smoke and fire; watching it falling out of the sky, Gnihzur noticed that he hadn’t seen the petite lass anywhere. He listened to the conversation around him to try and get a clue.

“Did everyone make it out safely?”

“I think that’s all of us.”

“Wait, that snobby chick with the dancing feathers might still be trapped inside. I think I saw her getting stuck somewhere while I was rushing towards the opening.” Gnihzur’s ear clung to what this person said.

Crokan on the other hand wasn’t so concerned about her wellbeing. “Who cares about that arrogant missy? She deserves to be blown to bits after what she did to my arm and my wing. I can’t even hover properly, goddammit!”

“Huh?” Gnihzur started to realize who the burly bully and the others were talking about. “They must be talking about her. Come to think of it, I don’t see her anywhere. That means she must still be inside. I have to go save her!”

Gnihzur flew off at burst speed towards the exploding Crowtrain. The others who saw him were shocked out of their minds.

“That white-winged crow, is he insane? That Crowtrain is completely engulfed in an infernal blaze plus it falling apart.”

“Why are you worried about him? He and the others who failed the test deserve to die pitifully. If he wants a quick burial that’s up to him. Now let’s get our wings in gear. We have a race to win, remember?”

“Yes! The race to Crowjun Soul Academy. We better get there fast before the others beat us to it.”

“Those crows have already gone ahead. We can’t fall too far behind, otherwise, we won’t come in the top 10 and we won’t receive any prizes.”

“Let’s fly! Follow the rainbow-coloured wind path. They’ll lead us to the academy.”

“Alright!”

All of the crows who escaped the infernal Crowtrain had shot off in a rush towards Crowjun Soul Academy, leaving the Rouge Doves behind. They had already fulfilled their purpose in the first testing phase of the exam. Some of them lingered around the burning Crowtrain, hoping to see if Gnihzur would make it back out unscathed.