It was the next day, and Dan had just arrived at the gate of the country.
Greg stood impatiently, scanning the area. "Where is the lightning boy? You share drinks with a guy, and suddenly, you think you know them."
DG, standing beside him, frowned. "Sir, I really don't think you should be drinking with a kid."
Greg smiled, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Hehe, well, I can't control myself sometimes."
Vixen crossed her arms, her foot tapping against the ground. "Sir, we should've left thirty minutes ago. I swear, when I find that kid, I'm going to—"
"Heyyyy, wait for me!" Dan yelled as he ran toward them, panting.
Vixen immediately wrapped her chains around him, her eyes narrowing. "You! Where the hell have you been?"
Dan chuckled nervously. "Erm… I slept late last night, and my older sister was hugging me for too long. Sorry…"
Vixen glared at him but loosened the chains. "You're lucky the general decided to wait for you, or else you'd have been left behind to do the long travel on your own."
Dan blinked. "Long travel? Won't it take us three or four days to get there?"
Greg burst into laughter. "You really are a funny one."
DG explained, "Well, you see, the five nations use horses energized by a special substance. It makes traveling much faster."
"Yeah," Vixen added. "Do you really think we'd waste three days getting to a kingdom under attack when we could get there in hours or a day?"
Dan's eyes lit up. "Wow, that's amazing! So, how long will it take?"
"Five to eight hours," Greg said with a grin.
"Super fast!" Dan exclaimed.
Vixen sighed and shook her head. "Alright, we're heading out."
As they rode in the horse-drawn carriages, Dan leaned back and smiled to himself. "Boy, oh boy, I can't wait. I'm going to the grand stage. I have to do it—learn more, train more, express myself more. I will do it. I will become the Lightning King and prove I'm the strongest knight."
The group arrived the next day after an unexpected delay.
"I can't believe we had to stop yesterday because of those fallen trees," Dan muttered as they approached the city gates. "At least we're finally here now."
Greg turned to the group of candidates. "Alright, kiddos, head to your rooms. We'll brief you on the event tomorrow."
"Yes, sir!" the contestants responded in unison.
Dan stared at the massive hotel in awe. "Wow, this place is huge! Time to rest on a proper bed."
Greg spoke to DG as the candidates scattered. "Have the other kids arrived yet?"
"Yes, sir," DG replied. "Though Ash had a tiny… incident the other day and wrecked a bar."
"That idiot," Greg muttered.
"Lady Esther arrived yesterday too," DG added.
"And White?"
"He didn't show up. Said he had more important things to do."
Greg smirked. "This year is going to be… interesting."
Dan wandered into the crowded lounge, struggling to find a seat amidst the throng of knights and candidates.
"This place is packed," he muttered, squeezing past several large men.
Nearby, a young girl was trying to move through the crowd as well. "Hey! Move!" she shouted. She lost her balance and was about to fall when Dan rushed forward, catching her just in time.
"Hey, bozo! The girl said move!" Dan snapped at the man blocking her path.
The man turned around, startled. "Oh, sorry about that. I'm just too pumped for the exams."
Dan relaxed. "Oh, okay. Hey, are you alright?" he asked the girl.
The girl, brushing herself off, nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Before Dan could say more, the girl's companion appeared.
"Rebecca, there you are!" the boy called out. "Did anything happen?"
"Nothing at all," Rebecca knight exam candidate from the lightning nation 16th branch replied quickly. "Let's go."
"Fine," the boy, Chase Knight exam candidate from the lightning nation 16th sub- branch muttered as they walked away.
Dan sighed and finally found an empty seat, only to see someone already sitting down.
"Finally a place to—"
"Sit and relax," the stranger finished with a grin.
"Huh? Who are you?" Dan asked, startled.
"Oh, didn't see you there," the boy said, looking around the room. "This place is packed. I just needed a spot to sit and relax."
Dan shrugged. "Same as me."
The boy chuckled. "Hope I'm not disturbing you."
"Nah," Dan replied. "Okay, since we're both stuck here, it'd be weird not to talk. How old are you?"
"Sixteen," the boy said. "You?"
Dan's eyes widened. "Wow, same age! Where did you qualify from?"
"A kingdom in the Fire Continent. You?"
"Same," Dan said with a grin. "Favorite food?"
"Rice balls," the boy replied.
"Same too!" Dan exclaimed. "Favorite drink?"
"Berry."
Dan cringed. "Ew. Mine's mango juice."
The two laughed and continued talking for a while.
Eventually, Dan stood up. "Wow, look at the time. I need to get my room number. Bye! Oh, by the way, what's your name?"
"Samuel," the boy said. "You?"
"Dan. See you later!"
"Yeah."
Dan got his room key and was taken to a special floor where all the children from the five nations were staying. Entering his room, he threw himself onto the bed.
"Time to relax," he muttered.
Hours passed, but he couldn't sleep.
"Oh, come on," he groaned. "I'm too hyped up to sleep, and the exams aren't even tomorrow. Ugh, I'll just go outside for a bit."
Dan wandered outside, holding a bottle of mango juice in his hand.
"What a—"
"Night," a familiar voice interrupted.
Dan turned and saw Samuel standing nearby.
"You again?" Dan said with mock irritation.
"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Samuel replied with a smirk.
"Nothing."
Samuel studied him for a moment. "Are you bothered by something?"
Dan sighed. "Yeah. I can't sleep. I'm too excited about the exams."
"Same here," Samuel admitted.
Dan perked up. "I forgot to ask—what chi ability do you have?"
Samuel grinned. "Let me show you."
He raised his hand to the sky and shot out a brilliant beam of light.
Dan's jaw dropped. "Wait—you have light chi abilities? That's freakin' cool!"
Samuel smirked. "Yeah, I know I'm awesome. What about you?"
Dan straightened up. "Lightning."
Samuel's mouth fell open. "What?! I thought you said you qualified from a Fire Nation kingdom!"
"I did," Dan explained, "because I didn't know I had it. I was wearing a chi-blocker bracelet the whole time. It's… kinda complicated."
Samuel stared at him in awe. "You're awesome, dude."
Dan laughed. "Thanks." He smiled to himself. This guy is fun… he reminds me of Damon. It's okay for a guy to have two best friends, right?
The two talked until they were tired, then went back to their rooms to sleep.
The next morning, Dan woke up with a yawn. "What a night. Tomorrow's the big day."
A knock at the door startled him.
Dan opened it to find a man standing there.
"Hello, Mr. Dan," the man said politely.
"Yes?"
"You're wanted in the main hall of the hotel," the man explained.
"For what?"
"The children from all five nations participating in the exams are having a get-together."
Dan hesitated but nodded. "Okay, I'll be right there."
On his way to the hall, he muttered to himself. "My hands are shaking. Just stay calm. I'm meeting the people from my nation for the first time… and others too. I just hope they don't judge me."
Entering the hall, Dan plastered a smile on his face. He was about to greet everyone when a sword suddenly flew toward him. It missed him by a hair and embedded itself in the wall behind him.
Dan froze. "What the hell?! How did that sword almost hit me?"
A boy walked up to him, smiling nonchalantly.
"Apologies if that harmed you," the boy said, pulling the sword from the wall. "But you should be smart enough to dodge it, since I didn't aim for you." He turned and called out, "Anyways, how dare you, Steven, for knocking my sword out of my hand like that?"
Another boy stepped forward, glaring. "How dare you point it at my face, asshole?"
The swordsman smirked and walked up to him. "So what if I did? What will you do—beat me?"
"Don't push me," Steven growled.
Before things could escalate, a young man stepped between them, smiling.
"Ash, Knight Exams Candidate from the Ice Nation's 10th Branch," he said with an almost cheerful tone, "You guys should chill out. We're all friends here!"
Steven, Knight Exams Candidate from the Fire Nation's 6th Branch, and Alexis, Knight Exams Candidate from the Weapon Nation's 3rd Branch (Sword Nation), turned to him in unison.
"Don't touch my shoulder, you disgusting idiot," Steven growled, shrugging Ash's hand off.
"Yeah, get your hand off my hair," Alexis snapped, swatting Ash away.
Ash's grin didn't falter. "Oh, come on. Let's be nice to each other, huh?"
Dan stood at the entrance, frozen. He watched the three with wide eyes as their overwhelming auras seemed to dominate the entire room.
What the hell? Why do these three stand out the most? And why does their presence feel so terrifying? Who the hell are they?
Dan swallowed hard, quietly stepping aside as the candidates continued their tense standoff. His smile from earlier had faded completely, replaced by a mixture of fear and awe.