• Jahn was troubled. He had no job and, if he didn't get one soon, no place to live. Amanda would still be able to pay for her own living quarters, but not his as well. And she wouldn't ever think of leaving him out on the streets while she had a bed to sleep in herself.
    Jahn had applied for a job in many places. Thirteen places to be exact. Not a single employer called back. There were no options for him. Well, there was one, but it was a long shot. A very long shot.
    The one way Jahn could support himself and Amanda was coming up in a few days. There was a tournament held annually near the city center in Raan's Stadium. The winner of the tournament earned a small fortune and the highest-held title in the world: Ringleader. Second and third place winners also recieved enough money to buy a small home all their own and support themself for at least a year. This was Jahn's goal.
    I just have to use this blasted thing! Jahn shouted in his mind.
    This was why he was in the city outskirts. He needed to learn to use his ring in order to compete in the tournament. It was not cooperating, though.
    Jahn was focusing all of his energy into the ring, hoping to activate it. Minutes passed, and nothing was happening. The little golden ring was defying him every step of the way. After a while, Jahn let out a roar of frustration.
    Everyone who knows Jahn knows the kind of temper he has. When he's frustrated with anything, he often resorts to a more aggresive and destructive method of realizing his will. This is one of the things that caused him his mistake earlier when he was still on the RDDF. Since the ring would not show him its power, Jahn decided to get rid of it. He reared back and threw as hard as he could.
    Jahn is not known for his throwing arm. He may be able to aim a gun with almost perfect precision, butwhenever he throws something, the safest place to be is often where he's aiming to throw. This applied here as well.
    The ring, instead of flying several yards in front of Jahn, hit a rock just fifteen feet from him, with enough force to send it back where it came. It ricocheted straight at Jahn's forhead and knocked him onto rear end.
    The boy glared at the piece of gold now laying at his feet, as if it were the ring's fault and not his own that it had struck him. He stood up and retrieved the ring. He cocked his arm again, and prepared to throw.
    "If you wish to see my power, than do not throw me!" A voice commanded in Jahn's head. They were not his own thoughts, but rather, they were coming from an outside source. The boy jumped in surprise and fell on his backside for the second time in as many minutes. The ring fell again, and emmited its own pulse, its own voice.
    The pulse quickened, and the light glowing grew brighter. Suddenly, a blast came from the ring that knocked Jahn from his behind to his back. He was blinded for a few seconds. In those few seconds, his mind raced, going back five years to the last time he had been blinded like this. He half expected to open his eyes to columns of fire burning around him.
    The boy cautiously opened his eyes, and saw no flames. The ring was gone, and in its place stood a large black panther.
    "So," stated the panther, "this is the first of the Seven."
    It's a good thing that Jahn was already on the ground, because at that statement, he fainted.