Demo sits in the corner and turns the black sphere into a giant glass cube. The transformation is smooth so smooth that it catches the eyes of some of the pupils in the gym. Once the cube is finished, he asks for it to be checked. Eight who was watching, walks over and checks the cube. He nods with a face of consignment and signals with his hand for Demo to continue. Demo starts going down the list of items he has to make at a pace that baffles all those in the gym. They are no longer doing their exercises or focusing on their breathing instead they are watching Demo.

After each item he clears, the murmurs and chatter increase.

“He has to be cheating.”

“Is someone helping him?”

“There is no way this is real.”

Once Demo got to the end of the list, and the item was checked. Eight stood there with a blank look on his face as if he had just seen a miracle. Demo, confused at all the confusion surrounding him decided to ask Eight what the problem was.

“Why is everyone looking at me?”

Eight looked at him with a face that showed he was unsure whether to revere or hate Demo. He opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out.

“…”

Demo looks at him as if he is still waiting for the answer. Eight finally gathers his thoughts and answers.

“Every time you turn something into something else a little bit of the original is lost in translation. If the sphere was 100 then the glass cube would be 90. A copy or a remake is never as good as the original. But yours were equal to if not better.”

Demo looks slightly surprised as his eyebrows go up.

“I just did what the old man told me to do.”

Eight looks at Demo with an expression that is both bewilderment and surprise.

“The last step is to turn it back into a black sphere.”

Demo nods and places his hand on the item and turns it into a sphere. Once completed the sphere is the exact size and smoothness as the one Demo started with. Eight looks at the sphere with his mouth open. This has never happened to him before. The rest of the pupils all talk amongst each other as they also can’t believe it. Eight looks at Demo and closes his mouth.

“Ok, you finished your first test early. Are you ready for the final part?”

Demo smiles and with an enthusiastic face, he replies.

“Yes.”

Eight turns around and gestures with his head for Demo to follow him. They walk to the center of the gym and then Eight points down and lowers his head to signal Demo to stand right there. Then Eight looks around and points at 5 random pupils. The 5 chosen ones line up side to side in front of Demo and smile with an almost evil grin. Eight moves so that he is standing in front of Demo in front of the 5 pupils.

“The last stage of the first trial for XX is simple. You will match the power of each pupil. They will punch you and then you reply with the same amount of force. Each pupil will punch you 5 times.”

Demo’s eyes light up as his smile goes from ear to ear. His smile can be seen through his mask and it kind of creeps a few of the pupils out. But the first pupil is ready to punch Demo and steps forward. He was also impressed by the ability shown by Demo. But he never liked people who stood out more than him, and he figures that if he punches Demo out cold his position in the mind of others will rise.

Demo stands still waiting for the pupil’s punch. The pupil takes a martial arts-trained fighting stance. He then keeps his pose still as he starts whispering a math chant. Eight quickly recognizes the pupil’s intent and goes to stop him. But the pupil used a chant that was only meant to strengthen his fist and kinetic energy which means it was concluded quickly. Demo can sense the blood lust coming from the pupil’s fist and his eyes start to glow red.

In the few moments before Eight can reach the pupil he releases the pent-up energy and punches Demo in the stomach. An explosion of energy bursts forth and causes a soundwave to reverberate in the gym. The force of the punch was enough to knock Demo back and force him to kneel on one leg. His head down. The pupil looking at Demo’s position looks down on him with a smile as if he succeeded in bringing him down a peg. He knows that this punch is one that can destroy internal organs and put even the strongest man into a coma. There is no way Demo will be able to do anything for at least a year. The pupil then looks around to see what the other students are looking like. Their faces are stunned and their eyes wide open. The pupil then sees a certain amount of fear in their faces, which is weird because it should be reverence. But then he hears Demo’s voice.

“That hurt.”

He quickly turns his head back to Demo. He is just in time to see Demo stand up fully erect with glowing red eyes and a smile on his face. He immediately breaks into a cold sweat. Demo cracks his neck and takes a step towards the pupil as he looks him dead in the eye.

“My turn.”

The pupil doesn’t understand what is happening. But he can sense an insane amount of bloodlust coming from Demo. Fear grips his very soul as he becomes unable to move.

“Wa… Wait … Wait … wait … No No No.”

Demo takes another step forward. With each step, the pressure on the pupil increases. It’s as if death itself is walking towards him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it … I mean, look … “

Demo takes another step, and the pupil now breaks down. Tears start flowing down his cheek. His entire body starts shaking, a cold chill runs down his spine as Demo is now but one step away from him. And then Demo takes the final step. Demo slightly tilts his head.

“Ready?”

The pupils in what can only be described as a begging tone whispers.

“No.”

Demo takes a similar punching pose to the one the pupil took. Eight looks in sheer horror as he knows he is unable to stop this, and the test requires Demo to reply in kind. Demo doesn’t say a chant instead he simply smiles and releases his punch. The pupil sees his life flash before him.

The punch connects and an explosion is multiple times bigger than the first one. The sound wave is so big it can be heard on the edges of the city. As if a plane went through the sound barrier. The sheer force of the punch not only pushes the pupil back but sends him flying. He flies past the other 4 pupils waiting for their turn and then crashes through the wall behind them. The dust cloud covers the gym and everyone in there stands motionless as if they just saw a predator and their instinct was to play possum.

The remaining 4 pupils are covered in a cold sweat with their eyes wide open. Eight keeps looking back and forth between Demo and the hole in the wall he just created by sending someone through a wall. No one says a word as the dust settles. Everyone is now clearly aware that Demo isn’t normal. As the dust clears Demo is standing in the spot Eight told him to stand. He is smiling with an innocent face as if he did nothing wrong as he asks.

“Next?”

The 4 remaining pupils look at each other nervously. Then Eight breaks the silence as he points at 6 different gym members.

“Go help him!”

The 6 members then ran outside to help the pupil who was sent flying. Eight then walks up to the 4 remaining pupils and in a whispering tone he advices them.

“Do not use any force or power. Just touch him with your pinky finger.”

The first one that is next up takes a gulp of fear as he walks towards Demo. Demo looks at him trying to see if there is any bloodlust coming from him. But he can’t sense anything. The pupil doesn’t say anything and simply touches Demo with his pinky finger. Demo looks down a bit confused but he knows he just has to match what he felt. So he goes to touch the pupil with his pinky finger as well. But he moved his arm a little too fast and the force that was put into it was a bit too much for the pupil. His body folded, all the food he ate last week came out and he flew backward. He didn’t go through the wall but he hit it really hard.

The remaining 3 pupils now have tears in their eyes. They can’t back down because they are members of the gym but this is way more than they signed up for. Eight is now thoroughly confused at what he is witnessing. And again in a low voice, he advices them.

“Do not touch him, just get close enough to make it look like you touched him. All 3 of you go and let’s end it here.”

The three pupils nervously walk towards Demo. Demo calmly looks at all three of them and awaits their move. They all bring forth their pinky fingers and stop centimeters away from Demo. Demo looks at their fingers not touching him and smiles. He then does the exact same in a very slow and calm manner. His pinky finger stops centimeters away from the pupils. They repeat this process 4 more times. After the last time, Demo nearly touches them, the 4 pupils fall down as if they just played Russian Roulette and survived.

Eight walks towards Demo and stands in front of him. He looks at Demo with sheer confusion and amazement.

“You’re done for today.”

Demo smiles.

“Thank you, I look forward to tomorrow.”

Chapter 9 Fin