Three days later, I went to the testing ground. I passed through the richer district along the way, and had to stop the Blood Assassin from attacking those arrogant Yeon family members that got privilages that were extravagant, even by the standards of those from the ten great clans. He was jealous and I couldn't blame him. But I couldn't lose focus from the test.
I arrived there and saw that this testing ground was packed. There were fifteen other teams, including a team of five, where I saw the two people who'd helped me. There was also another soloist who was a girl. I hoped this test wouldn't be violent. I didn't want to hurt them. Well, I didn't want to hurt anyone, but the Blood Assassin did. Since he controlled my power, it was up to him whether he killed them or not.
The test administrator was obviously someone from the Yeon Clan. He was wearing a pink shirt and white trousers. Koon was Blue, Yeon was pink, I wondered if there was a black colour. He smiled, they always do before you screw them over, and greeted us. "Greetings to the 42 regulars here. I am Phua-Ryong Yeon, your test administrator. Your test will be... " He paused for grand effect. "The great shinheuh race!" He continued in a vibrant voice.
We all paused, then looked at him to see if he was joking. There were test admins who did that, trying to tell us all how they understood the regulars. Just like these arrogant uncaring bastards who had forgotten what it was like to suffer, to hurt, to-. I stopped the Blood Assassin. He couldn't be allowed to dominate me, not now.
"Trust me, dear regulars" He said. "This is not a joke. Please follow me."
He led us to a huge race track that winded up and down and out of sight. He gestured at shinhueh straining at the chains that bound them. The Blood Assassin growled at the idiocy of the test, but I smiled. It looked fun. The Blood Assassin told me to stop wasting energy on frivolities, but I was determined to find it funny.
Phua-Ryong was speaking again. "Each team will select two representatives to mount these shinhueh. Since we have two soloists, we shall put them together. I trust that is fine? He looked at us and I nodded. Not like I could say no.
The other two teams selected their representatives and Phwa-Ryong called out their names as they stepped forward. I never really cared about names but I saw that the handsome boy who saved the district from the Blood Assassin was called Nal-Kae, and he was with a sullen redhead called Nathan. Their hair colours were distinct, and I wondered if there was a family with a colour the shade of gold Nal-Kae had. My partner was Alasis, but when the test administrator called my name, I got a couple of nervous looks, then the murmuring started. Everyone thought that I was the one who killed people. Why didn't they understand that I wasn't the Blood Assassin? They called him by his real name, so why didn't they see that I wasn't the Blood Assassin. I was just a normal kid, Hanaki. I grew up in the residential area, just like everyone else. I did everything I could to keep the Blood Assassin under control, but was it my fault that I sometimes lost my hold?
I only took notice of the shinhueh as I walked up to it. It was a little taller than I was and had a lot of fur around the top. It was four legged, and had a short, stubby tail. Almost like a dog. Except dogs didn't have huge trunks instead of noses that was half the length of their bodies. They swung them about erratically, and I swear those arrogant rankers just conducted this test to see the regulars fail just for their pathetic, sadistic amusement. I jumped up on top of the shinhueh and saw that there weren't any tools people normally used to control shinhueh they rode. Great, another way the test admins liked to screw with us, laughing at us from their high seats reserved the al-fucking-mighty chosen.
Alasis jumped behind me and wondered "How are we supposed to control these things?"
I shrugged. I could always get the blood assassin to kill the other regulars, but that would mean killing Nal-Kae.
"Oh well. We'll just learn as we go along." Alasis said cheerfully. "Oh and don't worry. I'm immune to whatever you're emitting. One of the privileges of being from the 10 great clans."
I whipped around to look at her but she had already jumped up onto the shinhueh behind me. How did she know I was emitting something, and how did she know I was immune to it. And how did she not think I was the Blood Assassin. Maybe she didn't know.
By now the shinhueh were straining at their chains, and I could see that this wouldn't end well for some of us. "The shinhueh will be released on my signal." Phwa-Ryong said. I looked over and saw that he was carrying what looked a gun. Then I looked over to the shinhueh and saw them straining at their chains. I was a little worried but didn't want to ask the other soloist.
"Got a plan?" She asked. She grabbed onto my waist and I stiffened "Hey, no need to get tense." She laughed "Just holding on."
My heart was beating fast, I was scared that she'd fall off the shinheuh because her legs or arms decayed. But instead she leaned in closer, pressing herself against me. It was a funny feeling once I'd gotten over the shock. No one had touched me like that for years, and the Blood Assassin only touched people when he wanted to hear their bones crack and see their blood flowing out of them. But before I could actually think about it, Phwa-Ryong shot his gun and the shinhueh shot of faster than any suspendiship I'd ever been on, and the test started.