VARSITY 9 | BL

THIRTY | TO PASS OR TO FAIL

While Toma and Brix were verbal in their want for Wen to join them, Stryke and Liyam were understanding of Wen's drive and herded the others out of the lounge and to the transit stop just outside the school. As the six spent their day in the city sightseeing and trying yummy street foods, Wen stayed in the training room and fought multiple simulations as well as practiced the basic stances in martial arts for several hours.

Wen was still in the training room when the six returned from their trip to the city. Lay and Toma immediately pulled Wen out of the training room upon their return and dragged him to the dining hall where the seven had dinner together. The group had a relaxing time as they ate delicious food and showed Wen all the videos and pics they had taken throughout the city.

After dinner, the seven retired to their dorms where they wound down for the night. They would then spend their remaining free days practicing together to help each of them advance as much as they could before the tryouts.

The weekend passed faster than the seven had anticipated, and it was now the day they had been waiting for. Much like their exam days, Lay woke everyone up bright and early and presented to them an immaculate breakfast curated of the finest foods to boost one's strength and endurance. The seven enjoyed the hearty breakfast and relaxed for a few hours before relocating to Training Center D where the tryouts were set to begin at 10:00.

Roughly an eighth of Azari's student population had gathered in the largest training room of the center. The instructors for each class section were present and observed the students milling about quietly as they waited for the tryouts to officially begin. The seven friends huddled together near the edge of the crowd of students; Toma, Brix and Stryke were engaged in a rather rambunctious conversation while the other four mostly people-watched and chuckled quietly as they watched their extroverted friends be hooligans.

After a little more than fifteen minutes of the students standing around having small talk, the hosts of the JV tryouts entered the training room. The director of Azari's Xaiyon Training Program called the students' attention by introducing herself. "Welcome to Azari's sixty-fourth annual JV Game Tryouts!" The director's voice was amplified throughout the large room through speakers integrated into the walls and ceiling.

"I am Dr. Valry Klauhns, Director of the Xaiyon Training Department here at Azari High." The students had fallen completely silent by the time the director had finished introducing herself. "I stand before you today to introduce you to today's event. The tryouts for Azari's Junior Varsity Games shall be hosted by the PHA's JV head coach and assistant coach as well as Varsity Player Tomas Gomar who is a member of the varsity team for Jozai Specialized Academy."

At the mention of a current varsity player being present, excited whispers circulated through the room as the students immediately began searching for the xaiyon celebrity.

"These three will work together to decide whom among you will become this year's JV players. Follow their instructions to ensure your best performance. I shall now hand it over to Coach Staer who will introduce the tryouts and what the requirements will be. Best of luck, young xaiyons!" With that, the director stepped back and allowed a slim-fit man to take the reins.

"Good morning!" The man began as he clapped his hands together exactly once. "Thank you for the lovely introduction, Dr. Klauhns," the coach said with respect as he gestured to the director before continuing, "I am Coach Staer. You shall learn my common name should you be selected to serve as one of the ten members of Azari's JV team. But, for now, you may call me Coach Staer."

"This is Jared, my assistant coach," Staer said as he gestured to the man standing to the right of him. "You will learn his formal name should you be chosen to be part of the team."

Wen cocked his head slightly as he gazed at the two coaches. There's something strange about these two. The brown-haired furrowed his brows as he observed the two closely. They had different colored hair, different body builds, and there was a slight height difference. Coach Staer had flaming red hair and had broader shoulders than Jared who had electric yellow hair and was slightly taller.

Wen could not quite tell what was so strange about the two men until it dawned on him. While the two coaches were different in much of their appearance, they had the same exact eye color. Although the shapes of their eyes were not the same, the color of both men's eyes were a golden-yellow. Judging by the other physical features of the two, Wen determined Coach Staer was a kyro while Coach Jared could be either a kyro or raikyn.

Upon discovering what had been strange about the two men, Wen then shifted his gaze to the young xaiyon celebrity standing to the left of Coach Staer. Tomas Gomar was no doubt a lyr. Wen had read up on his profile while conducting his research of all the specialized academies and their varsity teams. Jozai Specialized Academy was famous for producing xaiyons who were experts in combat. Wen had set his sights on applying for Jozai and had studied the profiles and stats of all their current varsity players; however, since Dawson Specialized Academy was now courting him, Wen had halted his investigation of Jozai.

But, now that a varsity player from Jozai was now before him in the flesh, Wen thought this to be a good opportunity to learn more about being a varsity player and see if he had what it took to impress both coaches and Tomas enough to take a slot on Azari's JV team.

Wen's observations of Tomas was cut short by Coach Staer clapping his hands together once more and proclaiming, "Now, who's ready to get their game on?!"