Time had passed and Jongin had become a mediocre sword fighter. Wielding one sword, he was actually pretty good but with two he could manage. That was enough for Sehun. In the weeks they spent training Jongin had gone farther than anyone else would have in a regular class. 

But they were on a time schedule and were unable to dawdle and take time to learn techniques and manoeuvres. Although Sehun knew Jongin could go much farther in his training, they were out of time and Cha Min had challenged them to a duel. Thankfully, they would not have to fight whoever one on one, because Jongin most likely could not manage but they were given the chance to face this together as they were facing everything else together. 

Jongin was also trained in fighting so he was more than capable of fighting in that way, which would be a big advantage. 

They stood in an open terrain at the bottom of the cave, with their swords grasped tightly and a tense atmosphere in the air. 

Sehun could feel a sudden shift in the air, like an impending doom was out there. He was worried Jongin might not have noticed it, but one glance out of the corner of his eye and he could see that Jongin was tense and alert. 

Out of thin air, ninjas appeared. Yes, ninjas. Not people dressed as ninjas, full on silent mode quick, and agile moves all wrapped in black. While the black helped maintain the illusion of a shadow at night, it was a dead giveaway in broad daylight but that made no difference. It was clear they were trained ninjas. 

There was no need for quick and unseen movements here, Sehun and Jongin were there to fight them. They were not there to act unseen. 

There were about five of them, which worried Sehun. Could they possibly win against so many? He was surrounded by three while Jongin got two to deal with. Thankfully Sehun got more to deal with. 

The ninjas came out of nowhere throwing stars and ducking and dodging every swing of the swords. Sehun was spinning and slicing through the air, missing the ninjas. As he attacked one or sometimes two, thankful he had two swords, another would be jabbing at his body in quick moves. 

They were quick and skillful moves, meant to disable Sehun and while he was able to focus enough to move slightly each time, the moves unable to hit the correct spots, they were wearing on him and with his focus torn between dodging blow and trying to deliver blows, he was making no headway on either one. 

It didn't seem Jongin had it any easier. One had was hanging limp, having lost feeling due to his pressure point and joints being hit, rendered useless and he looked ragged already. 

Sehun summoned his strength and turned tail, running away. He couldn't take them on alone, the ninjas managed to split up and crowd both Sehun and Jongin but Sehun knew if they faced all five together, it might work better.

Sehun came charging through the defence the two ninjas around Jongin had, pushing through and coming to stand beside Jongin as the three tailing him joined in, caging them fully in a circle of black. 

"You protect me, I'll attack them. This is the only way." Sehun whispered to Jongin. Jongin nodded in acknowledgement before kicking away the sword he had dropped from his now lame arm. Thankfully none of the ninjas cared to pick it up.

Jongin feigned an attack, extending one leg out before spinning with his sword hand outstretched causing all the ninjas to jump away from the point of the sword as it passed them granting Sehun his needed moment of distraction. He flipped his sword before hitting one ninja on the head with a brutal force, then stuck the sword in the ground, jabbing the pressure points on the stunted ninjas neck causing him to drop on the floor in a heap. 

Sehun had to give it up to Lu Han. While Sehun enjoyed sword fighting, Lu Han trained with ninjas for a while. He taught Sehun some important points to hit and other moves, while Sehun taught him a bit about sword fighting in return. It seemed to pay off right at his moment. 

He whirled on another ninja, who had managed to swing a star at him, lodging it straight into his shoulder. It made wielding his sword harder but he grit his teeth and continued his fighting, he grabbed the sword he had stuck in the ground previously before swinging it around and and cutting through the air. 

His movement so unexpected to the ninja who was focusing on dodging blows from his other arm that worked relentlessly before he could see the other sword coming at him with a purpose. The sword swung and Sehun held back some of the force so the sword only managed to cut him a little bit and not completely take his arm off. 

The stunned ninja didn't have time to dodge Sehun's attack either. He protected his neck thinking Sehun would go for his pressure points as well but did not expect Sehun to jump forward and sweep a foot under his legs causing his to tumble forward. Sehun having dropped both swords caught him and hit his now exposed neck. 

He dropped the unconscious man, steering clear of the fighting and swords before whirling on the three that were left. Jongin having dropped his other sword managed to duck and whirl from their oncoming attacks. He had kept their attention off of Sehun making it possible for Sehun to take two out. 

It did cost Jongin who still had a limp arms, now along with a few cuts on his lip and swollen eye, Sehun could tell he was also moving with difficulty in one leg. 

It took a lot out of Jongin, but he managed to give Sehun the time and ability to knock to out. 

In a rush of anger and protectiveness, Sehun rushed at them, jabbing quickly with both hands at two of the ninjas, causing them to drop before both Jongin and the remaining ninja glanced up at him, not realizing he was there. 

The ninja looked around seeing his fellow ninjas sprawled out on the ground and knowing it was only a matter of time before he joined them. However, that did not stop him from giving it his all. Sehun swiftly slid to the floor, grabbing his swords, before tossing one to Jongin. Jongin caught it and Sehun then grabbed the remaining sword Jongin had tossed aside. 

Sehun knew Jongin needed to finish this with swords. He hoped Jongin had displayed enough skill with his sword fighting since this was their task. 

Jongin swung relentlessly, but this ninja was a tricky and sly little fella. Jongin could not hit him no matter what. Sehun then joined the flurry of attacks. Swingin both swords endlessly. Where one sword swung to the right, the other swung to the left, making it impossible to move without getting cut. He had the ninja cornered, Jongin came from behind raising the sword before swinging it straight at his neck. 

A blow with that amount of strength was sure to behead but at the last second Jongin stopped the sword short, it barely grazed the ninjas neck causing a small line of blood to well up, not even enough to cause it to leak. The amount of strength it took to stop a blow was difficult. Jongin's arms were quivering from the effort and he was grinding his teeth together.

He then mercilessly raised the sword and skillfully flipped it to have the pommel facing the guy this time, before conking him on the head hard enough to knock him out. 

"Whoa Jongin, I was trying not to hit that hard."  Jongin sneered, "Not everyone is like you and knows how to knock a person out with a few well aimed points, Jackie Chan." 

Sehun looked slightly offended, for both himself and Jackie Chan but then he laughed knowing Jongin was just teasing him. They glanced around at the scattered bodies before Sehun pulled Jongin in towards him, with open arms, and an open mouth. 

He greeted Jongin with a somewhat sloppy and desperate kiss as soon as their bodies made contact. 

"As heartwarming and really gross as this is. That was brilliant, you guys managed to take on five of the most skilled and trained ninjas we have. It's actually pretty impressive and not only did Sehun display great skill with his fighting and sword fighting, so did you Jongin. You managed to fight skillfully with your swords and even knew when was the right time to abandon it. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the level of skill in that last blow, managing to stop at the last second is very difficult and not very practical because most are unable to stop themselves in time. You did! You guys have passed this test." Cha Min praised from where he was standing, away from harms way. 

He then ordered Sehun and Jongin to help him lug the bodies back up into the cave. It took them a couple trips as Sehun could only take one at a time and Jongin struggled a lot, what with one arm completely useless for the time being. They managed though, it took Sehun and Cha Min the time to take up two bodies each as it took for Jongin to struggle with one.

They reached the top and just waited for the effects of the jabs to wear off and the ninjas eventually woke up revealing that they were ninja vampires that lived in this very cave. While Jongin's arm finally gained some feeling. 

Cha Min brought blood, it was in a fresh bowl, "I got it from a human. Don't worry, I fed her the serum we gave Jongin. She didn't lose any blood, not really at least and she's still alive." Cha Min reassured, "She does have some bite marks thought, I couldn't resist all that fresh blood just taunting me." 

There was enough for Sehun and the five ninjas to drink and help speed up their healing process, Sehun didn't want to drink from the already injured Jongin and slow his healing process more. 

Cha Min also brought a rabbit for Jongin, one he caught. Jongin shrugged before peeling his clothes off in a corner and transforming. He then ate the rabbit meat before transforming back and putting in his clothes again. 

Sehun looked at his with confusion. "Why'd you transform?" Jongin just looked up at him before wiping a bit of blood from his jaw. He had only managed to smear it. 

"Raw rabbit meat tastes gross to me in human form. When I transform, my body changes, every basic function changes to that of a wold, including my taste buds. To my wolf form, raw meat tasted delicious and I can stomach it better, besides it will help my healing." 

Makes sense Sehun thought. He finished his blood before wiping his mouth and leaning in close to Jongin to the rabbit blood that was smeared from his mouth to his jaw in a rather ual way. Jongin purred pulling Sehun in closer to him. 

They kind of awkwardly managed to cut the tension between them when they remembered they were not along and ended up just sitting cuddle up together. 

Proud of their first accomplishment and test passed. They were both eager for and scared for what was to come. They would find out soon. 

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I would love to continue this chapter. But I'm not sure what other kinds of tests they should be put through. If anyone has any ideas, I'm open to them. It might even help me think of some.