"1, 2, 3... 15... 98... 106... 357... 784... 1125... 3689...5345...8764... Eight thousand, nine hundred and forty six!" Xenon muttered.
He entered the amphitheatre and was greeted by it's vast interior built entirely with white stones of some sort, he quickly counted how many people the amphitheatre could accommodate within 7 seconds and was partly shocked while his anxiety grew.
"Don't tell me I'll be participating against almost nine thousand contestants." He said to himself, worry creeping upon his countenance.
He left the entrance and ascended the floors of which there were five in total, to get a place with a nice view over the vast arena in the amphitheatre. He settled at the fourth level –second highest level– and watched as people continue to stream in one by one.
After about an hour of waiting, everybody was settled in, he wanted to count the exact number of people present but was interrupted by a booming voice that disrupted his thoughts and was heard all around the amphitheatre.
"Hmmn hmmn." The owner of the voice cleared his throat. "I welcome you all, aspirants from around the world. I am Professor Arkham Lopez of the Askesis academy and I am here with Professor Franz Cottonwood and Miss Felicity Havisham, and we are in charge of the entrance examination today!" The voice of Professor Arkham said.
Xenon's eyes combed through the crowd searching for the owner of the voice, he eventually found him at a standing in a specially made platform on the fifth floor that stretched out from the sitting area, into the arena.
He looked closer and saw that the whole of the fifth floor was constructed differently from the rest of the floors and there was no one else there except three people which he guessed were Professor Arkham and the other two introduced.
"It is quite disappointing that more than half of you contestants couldn't meet up with the minimum requirement we set this year and have been disqualified the moment you stepped foot in the amphitheatre." He continued. There was an uproar in the crowd, everyone was confused and shocked, but that wasn't what was on Xenon's mind.
'His lips aren't moving, how is he talking to us? Is it... through telepathy?' Xenon thought.
Professor Arkham, who sported raven black hair greying at the sides turned his head towards Xenon, his eyes like pools of eternal darkness looked into his eyes and his lips contorted in an almost unnoticeable grin before turning away.
'He can read minds too!? And what's with his eyes... cool and creepy' Xenon grimaced.
Professor Franz was donning a black mantle that covered his figure completely except for his head.
To his right was Professor Franz also donning a black mantle with green accents, his features were completely covered and only the green glow of his eyes could be seen while the rest of his face was shrouded in darkness due to the hood on his head.
At Professor Arkham's left was miss Felicity, she was donning a white coat over a white, tight fitting, outfit. Her long, silver hair was flowing in the gentle breeze, her beautiful face turning from one side to another as her grey eyes inspected the crowd.
"Without further ado, those of you who have qualified will be called unto the arena to contest for the limited spots provided by our academy." As soon as Professor Arkham said that, the vast arena below split into 25 smaller, raised, round stages, each as wide as two train cars.
"At the end of this process, those if you who haven't been called are the ones who had failed upon walking into this amphitheatre." The crowd started to mumble again.
"Silence!" Professor Arkham ordered and everyone obeyed.
Xenon eyes widened. 'Don't tell me... mind control too? And on this enormous number of people at the same time, who is this monster?'
"Now, the rules are as follows." Professor Arkham continued.
"When called into the arena, you will be paired up with an opponent in a designated stage where you will battle it out for your chance at admission.
"You are allowed to fight using any style, utilising your abilities and using weapons if needed. You are free to assault your opponent as much as needed to ensure your victory but do well to avoid dealing life threatening blows as you will be automatically disqualified and the academy will not be responsible for what happens to you afterwards...
"If any one of you surrenders, gets knocked out, or step out of the assigned stage, the other automatically wins. And!... winning against your opponent doesn't necessarily guarantee your pass, you have to meet up with the scoring standards of Professor Franz, who will be scoring you with his unique methods as he sees fit. That is all!" Professor Arkham stated blandly.
"Now the first round of contestants..." He called the names of fifty persons who made their way to their assigned stages.
As the called upon contestants were making their way to the arena, green mist emanated from Professor Franz and spread throughout the fifth floor. The mist coalesced and separated into 24 portions each which in turn solidified into clones of Professor Franz with a slight 'pop' sound.
When the fifty contestants got settled in the arena, two occupying each stage, a deep voice belonging to Professor Franz and his 24 clones rung out, speaking the same word at once.
"Begin!" They said and each contestant obeyed willingly, dashing at their opponents without any hint of hesitation or remorse.
"I'm beginning to love my ability more and more, while Professor Franz might have clones watching each match, I can watch them all at the same time." Xenon said to himself.
His eyes darted all over the arena, observing all the battles happening in the arena very swiftly it turned into a white blur. He took his time to study each and every contestant's move.
"What better day is there to observe various combat styles, dissect them and add to my experience." He muttered, his face beaming in excitement.