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"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward"

- Martin Luther King - 

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There was no time for Shu to process everything. Ethan walked to the center of the room, silencing every candidate inside, Everyone turned to face him as the raven haired male spoke. "Let me start with this, what you all have come to is not mere child play. Here it's hell. You'll have to go through many trials and the weak would be eliminated. If you think you have the strength to go on, stay. If not" He stopped and pointed at the door. "Get the hell out of here and don't ever come back"

No one dared to move from their places. Ethan stayed quiet for several minutes to let the truth seep into their bones. The only sound was the heavy breathing of the fellow bladers until Ethan talked again. "Follow me" he said, leading them out of the room. Each and everyone of them wordlessly followed the dark haired male out of the room. Shu looked around him, each and everyone was wearing the same outfit, with different colours for which Shu guessed according to their eye colour. They stepped into a large indoor stadium with a long track field. Shu's breath caught in his throat as he realized the massive structure was built underground. Whoever the person owning this facility should be a billionaire. Ethan looked at them with a dead looking eye. His right eye still covered with the long bangs of his raven hair. "Take off your masks, now"

There was a speckle of murmur among the bladers. Almost all of them hesitated to reveal their identity. Even Shu heard the rules, removing the masks is forbidden. "The rules don't matter. It's from the outside sources you should hide your identity from, not inside comrades. Now"

One by one the bladers removed their masks. Almost all of them glancing around to sneak looks on the others. Shu pushed his mask away from his face and welcomed the clean air and the better sight. He heard startled gasp from all around. Right, he thought, Most of them should know him as Shu Kurenai, a member of the legendary team Raging Bulls. Ethan gave him a sinister grin and walked right to him. He bent slightly to see Shu in the eye. "A familiar face I see" He said, reaching to grab his chin. He tipped Shu's head back forcefully. "This place is not for you. You're too petty for that"

Shu took a step back, slapping his hands away, not breaking eye contact. He heard others watching the pair with curious eyes. Shu dismissed all the attention and focused on Ethan, looming over him like a monster. Ethan stood up straight in front of him and flicked his forehead. Shu closed one of his eyes and took a step back. "You think you experienced hell back at Raging Bulls? Getting bullied by Dylan and all?"

So, he knew it, Shu thought, giving him his same monotonous look. Ethan leaned against his ear, "I'll show you real hell" He said, his breath tickling his ear. He watched as Ethan pulled away and walked to the middle of the track field. "25 laps" He announced. The gang broke into another trail of muttering. "The ones who fail" Ethan said, glaring. "Pack their bags and leave"

Shu looked around the track field. One track around should at least be half a kilometers. They would be running roughly 13 kilometers at this point Shu thought, inhaling a breath. He wondered whether he could make it, his heart instantly screamed at him no. But his mind knew that he needed to survive this, he didn't come this far just to fall back in his first trial. Ethan walked to the far corner of the stadium and leaned against an iron bar. His eyes focusing on each and every figure inside the room. They took their stances, some of the kids were already shaking, their fear for failure overtaken their courage, shrinking it down to nothingness. Shu kept his eyes focused on the track, his mind blank, only one thought running inside his mind, he'll survive. Ethan gave them the signal as they started off their laps. Shu kept a steady pace from the start, as far as he knew, to run several kilometers the body needs to keep a certain rhythm from the start. This trial was not about speed, Shu thought, finishing his first lap. None of the trials would check their speed, all of them only have one goal, survival.

The time passed, seconds turned into minutes. One by one falling down and getting disqualified. Shu tried to keep the count at first, but soon after his 15th lap he started to lose focus. His lungs gasped and screamed in agony. His legs slightly trembled as the albino rasped for breath. Sweat beads fell down his features as he struggled. There were only several left. From the first trial, Ethan cut off more than half of the trainees. Shu glanced around from the corner of his eyes to see ten or eleven people. All of them gasping for breath, struggling to move. Shu focused his eyes back to the track. His mind going dizzy with the exhaustion hitting him like a storm. "Ten more" Shu whispered to himself, breathing hard. He was at the edge of breaking down, his throat was dry. Shu licked his lips, desperately trying to focus.

"Five more," He said to himself. More than half of the survivors were running ahead of him and there were several of them behind him. Shu kept his pace and just a few seconds after the first trainee ended the fifty laps. Ethan gave out a murky smile to him at return. Shu teared his gaze away from the raven haired male, his mind was still settling on the fact that Ethan was working on the dark web. "Three more" He thought, trying to sound optimistic. For some reason, even the three laps seemed like an eternal run to him. The left side of his stomach started to cramp as it gave out a painful squeeze. Shu almost dropped to the ground but held himself at the last moment forcing his legs to run. He was not doing this to himself, it was for his friends, it was to save everyone.

"Two more" Another dull cheer echoed as another finished the laps, falling face first to the ground in exhaustion. "One more" Shu breathed, forcing to keep his eyes open, putting away the temptation to stop and drop to the floor. The end of the run was almost dreamy. It was like the force itself carried him to the end of the race. He fell into his knees clutching his heart, the other hand reaching for his stomach. He gulped down several deep breaths and waited till the dizzy feeling was over to raise his head. There were only ten survivors and there was no hint of the rest of the trainees who entered the arena with them. Shu closed his eyes, not wanting to think about the consequences they might've to face. Instead, he focused on the remaining nine. Seven of them are still on the floor, gasping for breath like him. The other two, looking better than the rest of them. Grinning smugly at their win. Ethan gave them all a bored look, he practically yawned to the back of his hand.

"A boring bunch" He muttered under his breath. "The ten of you are the only ones who will be passing the trials. From tomorrow on, we'll start training and at the end of this month, only two of you will remain. Good luck"

"Man" One of the guys, who was lying on the floor with his face facing the ceiling said, His eyes were light orange, almost the colour of a melon. "I'm starting to question this place"

"Funny" Another said, watching Ethan walk away from them, to the exit. "We all came here to become powerful, and we are put to the test now" Shu studied him. His eyes were lavender coloured, and it strangely reminded him of Lui's violet hues.

The guy threw a look at him, "What?"

Shu shook his head, getting up. "Nothing"

He stumbled the first few steps, his legs trembling so hard that he could feel the muscles spasming. He leaned against the wall, trying to steady himself as his eyes wandered to the two talking with each other, not a hint of exhaustion in their features. Both of them were well built, with perfect shaped muscles which gave away their athletic inheritance. One of the guys had slate eyes with a thick muster of black hair covering his head. The other was slightly linear and shorter than him, his amber eyes glistening with excitement.

"Man" Slate said, "We are paired up with a bunch of losers"

Amber smiled haughtily. "Tell me about it." He said, walking out of the room, following the other guy closely behind. One by one, all of them started to walk out from the room, and soon it was only Shu left inside the huge quiet stadium. His legs seem to be better than earlier, but his throat beg for a drop of water. He forced himself up and walked out, it didn't take him much time to reach his room. Norman gave him clear instructions to find his way through the jumble of corridors. Shu grabbed the water jar from his nightstand, and for the first time in his life, he didn't even bother to look for a glass. The cool water splashed against his dry throat giving Shu a heavenly relief. His mess of a mind finally jumping into a more clear view. He slumped into the bed and looked at the clock. 4;00pm it said. Shu took a shower and put on new clothes. He was glad that each meal was served to their room, and as far as he knew, the trainees only got the chance to walk freely inside the Snakepit after two weeks upon their arrival and Shu was okay with that. He could use some of his alone time to process all the things happening.

He looked down at his casual white T shirt and black pants, it was way more comfortable than the stuffy uniform given to them by the Snakepit. The fatigue inside his body was still there, settled inside his muscles. And when Shu stared for several seconds he could spot the slight tremble of his legs and arms. He fell back to the bed and curled into himself when he heard the door open behind him. Shu immediately shot up and stood beside his bed, ignoring the shots of pain running through his muscles because of the sudden movement. He stiffened shoulders and relaxed when he spotted Norman standing near the door, his mask casually hanging from his hand. "Do you need a rest today?" He asked, "I heard Ethan made you run twenty five laps or so"

Shu shook his head, "I'm fine. Let's go"

Norman shrugged at him, "If you say so"

He followed Norman out of the door. They walked along isolated corridors until they reached a complete black door which blended perfectly with the identical walls. It was hard to spot it's existence if one did not stare hard enough at the same spot to see the black door knob. Norman twisted it and opened the door which led them to a complete dark room. The gold eyed male stumbled several seconds with the light switch and finally turned it on. Shu inhaled sharply, taking in everything. On each and every corner there were weapons. From swords to guns, Shu didn't even know the name of some weapons. The sleek blades shone against the white light of the room, there were different types of guns, a shelf covered with them from top to bottom. His eyes lingered on them for a second as his heart skipped a beat, he shook the thought away and looked at Norman who was walking to the middle of the room which was empty and arranged to practice fighting. "What is this place?"

Norman took off his long blue jacket and tossed it to an empty chair standing in the corner, just before the shelves of swords and daggers. "This is a weapon room, obviously. Theodore moved some racks and made it a temporary training room"

Shu nodded, and walked to the middle of the room as Norman spoke again. "There are no cameras in this one. Don't worry"

"Okay" Shu said.

"How much about fighting do you know?"

Shu shrugged, he did learn the basics from Xander's grandfather years ago. Valt, Xander and him took basic martial art lessons when Xander's family used to live in Beigoma but when they moved it just went out of practice. "Just the basics"

Norman did not say anything, he lunged at Shu, taking the albino by surprise and pinned him to the ground. "First lesson, be cautious. You don't know who will attack you at any moment. Even your greatest allies can turn to bitter enemies. This is war"

Shu looked at his Gold Eyes, straining with determination. Shu nodded as Norman pulled away. Soon enough, both of them were engulfed in the training session. Norman taught him close combat with no weapons and Shu inspected them closely mimicking them almost perfectly as it was. Shu had always known that fighting was hard, and now training with Norman, trying to block all the blows he wondered why he ever gave up on learning them. "You're exposing yourself too much," Norman said, landing a blow to his jaw. Shu stumbled a few steps back.

"You're small," Norman said, "Take advantage of that. Be more vigilant and quick. And don't leave your face vulnerable to your enemies. Block the blows from your left hand and attack from the right simultaneously"

Shu nodded, taking in the information as he blocked Norman's blow successfully, landing a fist to his gut. But Norman was quicker that he caught his arm and twisted it, pinning Shu to the mat again. "Again" He said, standing up. Shu sat down and felt a sudden wave of dizziness. The rush of adrenaline was gone as the exhaustion and heaviness settled back into his body. Nevertheless, the albino stood up, swaying on his feet a bit as he took the stance. How long have they been training? He did not know. Two hours? Three? Maybe, but at that moment all he wanted to do was pass out. Shu bit his bottom lip as he weakly blocked Norman's attack, the force knocking him back. His eyelids felt heavier and instantly Norman seemed to notice the difference. "Oi Kid" He said, placing a hand on Shu's shoulder. He groggily looked up, wondering about the sudden feeling of exhaustion swallowing his body.

"Huh?" Shu said, "I'm fine"

"Clearly, you aren't," Norman said, placing a hand on his forehead, checking his temperature. "Holy Shit" He said, "Why didn't you tell me you're not fine?"

"I'm fine" Shu narrowed his eyes, even though his words didn't seem to reassure himself.

"You're burning up! That shitty brat Ethan..." Norman cursed, guiding Shu to sit down. But the albino looked delirious and his eyelids felt heavier and heavier until he finally gave up to keep them open. Norman caught him as he passed out in his arms, his whole body burning up. He was about to call up for Theodore when the door opened and Norman instantly knew it was Theodore. Only he and Theodore had the keys for this training room. The teal eyes man stepped in, looking forward to a training session but was met up with a rather peculiar sight. He stood by the door for a few seconds processing the situation before rushing into Shu's side.

"What happened?"

"Too much running I guess," Norman said, opening a water bottle as he splashed cold water into a clean white towel. He pressed it against Shu's sweating body. "Theodore," He said, his voice suddenly serious. "Why him?"

Theodore didn't say anything. He looked at the pale boy in Norman's arm. "Why not?" He said quietly, knowing Norman could list a whole set of reasons for not him, option.

Norman mumbled something under his breath. "I didn't expect you to bring a supernova or some buff kid but I certainly did not expect to see you with him."

"What about today's training?" Theodore asked, picking Shu's unconscious body up. He was starting to get worried over the increasing body heat of the boy.

"Okay, I guess..." He followed Theodore out of the room and closed the door behind him. "He catch up with things quickly, but he has lot to learn and so little time"

"I know," Theodore said, putting him down on the bed. Shu whimpered and turned around, curling to himself. The teal eyed man stared at him for a while. "He's still new to all this" He started, sitting at the edge of his bed as he stroked his white locks. "He'll get around it, I just know it. I chose him-" He said looking at Norman who was waiting for an explanation. "He struck me as a kid who's ready to go through any hell and he didn't seem to be a person who always had it easy"

"Sure," Norman said, gesturing at the feverish boy on the bed.

"It's not everyday you run that much and he's still a child. Give him some time and you'll see for yourself how he is the best person for this project"

"That's the reason Theodore," Norman said, his voice was low. He did not want to wake up the kid in between their serious conversation. "He's just a child. All the other trainees are like sixteen or eighteen and he's what? Eleven?"

"Age doesn't matter in this. What matters is your mind. He'll survive, I know it" Theodore said heaving a sigh.

Norman just shrugged, and walked over to Shu. "You think he will be fit to join tomorrow training? Ethan wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Oh" Theodore said, his lips perking up. "This kid wouldn't either. When it comes to stubbornness, he has natural talent"

Theodore placed some medication on the nightstand before leaving the room with Norman. Both of them couldn't stay beside him and risked someone to see them.