We walked towards the direction Mr.Shouji was pointing, up until we reached the crowd.
While running, we saw many competitions like that one being held around us.
There were people fighting or playing games, even the bets were considered safe since you always had the chance to win.

Some famous faces were also taking part in this. One of them had straight long red hair and was wearing a sleep mask: his name was supposedly Drowsy Tim. Another had spiky green hair and freckles on his face, he seemed to be on edge, with a huge grin on his face as he was fighting. Just like the other guy Tada also told me that this guy's name was Genkijo Natsuhiko and that he's supposed to always smile during a fight, that just how he is.

As we walked away from those events we stumbled across a particularly odd one.
Some kids stood in front of one of the walls. There were four kids that seemed to have gathered around another one of them with a specific disability: The kid at the center was physically disabled. Anyone could have guessed as much just by looking at his wheelchair.

He had medium-short straight purple hair and was wearing glasses just like Tada. He seemed a little older than us but that didn't seem to stop those around him from making fun of his condition.
" What the hell!? I didn't think useless people can attend this academy! "
"Yeah! What is this prick expecting to do here? "
As he finished, the guy with the afro that spoke second punched the one on the wheelchair whilst the others laughed. 

"Why don't you try hitting him? Sometimes I do that to my PC and it suddenly works"
Said the girl next to him that had short pink hair and was chewing a piece of bubble gum.
"Hey that's a nice idea" Said the black wavy-haired one next to her as he grabbed his sword and hit the disabled kid's legs.

"The fuck are you doing you bastard!!?" Said me and Tada as we both charged and punched him.
The others raised an eyebrow. " YOU BASTARDS!! What the hell are you trying to pull!?" Said the wavy-haired guy wiping his face.
"If it isn't the amazing heroes to the rescue" The one who spoke was a girl with golden twin tails and a cross-shaped mark on her forehead, painted with black color.

"Seriously! Hitting him where it hurts most... Just who do you think you are!? " Said Tada pointing towards them.
The girl giggled and then bowed. "Oh my! You are absolutely right. Please excuse my rudeness." 

She then placed her hand on her chest. "My name is Mary Kinohara and these people here are of course my team. The wavy hair over there is Ma Hiiro, That bubble gum addict is named Lisa Hanakura and the one with the dark skin and the afro is Disc our informant. Now may I ask for your name? We shouldn't be the only people doing the introduction, don't you think?" As she finished speaking she glanced over Tada and put a slithering grin on her face.

We could feel her amusement. She didn't think much of us.
"It's a waste of time to introduce myself to scum like you"
"Y-Yeah...people like you have no right to become s-swordsmen..."
Tada and Tifa stepped to the front as I tended to the disabled one behind me.
{ I was expecting Tada to step up but even Tifa? She doesn't talk much but she's decided to help us despite her shyness }

"Hey... You're really rude aren't you" Said Mary as the little grin vanished from her face.
"As for that four-eyes named Soro over there, he's my slave you know so I do indeed have the right to treat him however I desire" She pointed at the person in the wheelchair, Soro gave a look of grief.
"But why? You already have four members in your team!" I said glaring at her.
Her attitude truly pissed me off.

"Because it's fun of course! I love playing with my toys until they break. Ah that feeling of despair in their eyes, I just can't get enough of it" Mary replied with an ecstatic expression on her face.
"In fact" Said the twin tail girl as she once again looked towards us."I think you guys would make splendid servants as well" 
At that moment we all felt it. A pain in our body. A devastating pain that passed through our internal organs and crowed it's way up to our heart. 

"What...The hell!? " We were all shocked.
"Surprise surprise! You've done it now. You can't escape anymore." The girl that had captured us, was amused by our reactions as she continued. " You see I really like playing games, and since we're all here let's play a game shall we? And tell you what: since the exam is still going, let's up the stakes with our coins! That will certainly be one exciting match, I can feel it" She kept talking as we still were puzzled.
Trying to leave was not an option. Every time we attempted to escape, that horrible pain kept growing.

"Let's calm down. We can't leave but there should be something we can do about this" 
Said Tada as he moved his head towards her, signaling me to attack her.
So I did but once I reached closer that pain struck me again.
No, it's was even more intense than before. Once again in my life, I felt death approaching.

"RANT!!" Shouted Tada as he glared at the girl with the golden twin tails.
"Damn you! Okay, we just have to win then, don't we!? "
I could see Tada's worried face as I tried to stand up, groaning in pain.

"The hell are you trying to do!? Just because you could move towards me don't expect that you'll be able to attack me you moron!!" Said Mary who was clearly angrier than before.
"Listen here! As my future slaves, I think it would be suitable for you to know my nature and therefore the rules of the game. My nature is very different than most. It's that of obedience.
And just as many swordsmen, I too possess a Secret Art a special technique you could say. I call it Winner Takes All  which lets me challenge someone, to some sort of game for example. The outcome is simple: If I win, the enemy becomes my slave, and of course, if I loose the opposite happens " 

"So it's a gamble" Said Tada as he glared at her. "You idiot... Don't you value your life at all!?"
At that moment the girl named Mary laughed. "I don't know" She said.
"It's not like I've ever lost before."
Mary was seriously amused by Tada's attitude. But for some reason, she seemed...sad.

"O...Okay then! I'll take you on!" I said. I was seriously worried and didn't know if I could seriously win after that pain I felt, but I could only bet on it.
"Wait Rant" As I was about to volunteer, Tada stopped me.
"I'll take on this one" Looking back I could see the determination on his face.
This time Tada was serious.