The Casting

Denso was almost starting to regret suggesting all of this. It was 3 AM, and he wasn’t even close to being done with reviewing all of the submissions, despite this being the second day already. He expected something like two hundred contestants, tops. Not over a thousand. He was also regretting allowing the submissions to be up to ten minutes long. But he kept going, knowing that it’d be worth it once he was done. With another sip of his energy drink, he pressed on.

He did have to resort to watching all of the videos at double the speed, otherwise he’d never finish this. Despite the conditions, it was still somewhat fun for him. After all, he was getting to see all kinds of talented people, from almost every country in the world. Talented enough to be Olympic gymnasts, or work at the most famous circuses in the world. Unfortunately, just that kind of talent doesn’t cut it for someone to join the agency.

If they were a backbender, but couldn’t pull off a Ruppelbend, they’d be out of the running. If they chose to show off splits, but couldn’t manage at the very least 270° for an oversplit, they’d be out as well. The criteria were subjective, but Denso had to pick out the cream of the crop of whatever they decided to do.

Denso had already prepared a nicely written message about how they hadn’t been accepted, ready to send them all back at once after the results were finalized. He really felt bad about having to refuse some of those submissions. He mostly knew about contortion, but all kinds of acts were submitted. Some dancers, jugglers, balancing acts… All stuff he had found interesting, but which just wouldn’t cut it.

Four hundred videos in, he found a submission that really piqued his interest. It was sent in by a popular influencer he knew from Instagram and the like. His name was Andrea, and Denso had seen plenty of his performances, even if only in short clips. But this was over eight minutes of him showing off in just a speedo. Those limbs were so ridiculously slender. Although he was a fan, Denso knew the stuff Andrea usually posted wasn’t up to par with what the agency was known for. But still, he deserved a break, he thought.

He turned off the double speed in the video. And then, his eyes were glued to the screen. Andrea started off by doing peace signs with his hands next to his head, bending his right leg at the knee and showing off that oh-so flamboyant personality he was known for. Denso laughed at the cute introduction. But then, that laugh turned into shock as that bent leg rocketed upward behind the blue-haired performer.

Andrea kept that leg perfectly straight behind him for a bit before bending it at the knee, hooking his foot under his chin before winking at the camera. He stretched his arms upward before placing his right hand on his right knee. He then pushed that leg down, farther and farther. It looked like he had no tension there at all. Eventually, he was able to keep his leg in position using the underside of his arm, his knee past his armpit.

Denso was alarmed. This was already way more impressive than anything he had seen Andrea post on his socials. And he looked so casual doing it. He stood on the tip of his toes, swinging that bent leg at the knee back and forth as he put on his cocky, happy smile.

He then did a half twirl with his whole body, keeping his back to the camera. Then, he began twisting his body at the waist, using his left hand to push against that extremely bent leg for leverage. And that twist just kept going, until he was facing the camera again. He did a little flourish with his free arm as he smiled.

Denso watched in awe as he held that pose for a few seconds. After that, Andrea began performing his next feat right away, undoing the twist at his waist to once again face away from the camera. He quickly dropped down to his knee before practically diving at the floor, his chest touching the ground with his right leg still in that backbend state, hooked under his armpit.

Andrea then finally kicked his left leg overhead, performing a more normal backbend. And he didn’t pause or go slowly at all, that left leg went straight under his left arm for a Ruppelbend that rivaled Eos’ level of effortlessness. But Denso did think it was really odd how he was facing away from the camera here.

Of course, it was all planned. The performer casually crossed his legs, resting his right ankle over his left. Then, he set his hands on top of his knees and began pushing, making that backbend even more extreme. He put a lot of effort into curling his whole spine as far as he could, so he could look at the camera behind him and do his confident smile. Denso looked at that upside-down face with a smile of his own.

That showmanship, the cockiness, and the skills to back it all up. Denso already knew he was a contender to win the contest, but why not watch the remaining minutes of the show? Andrea tilted his head back down as he placed his hands on the floor on either side, still keeping his legs under his armpits. All so he could lift himself up and do a few hops on his hands to turn around. After that little display, he finally uncurled his back and stood back up normally.

What followed was a sequence of fast and impressive feats of acrobatics. The room Andrea was in was spacious, and he took full advantage of that. He ran around and jumped repeatedly, quickly raising his legs into all kinds of splits in midair. Denso’s favorites were when he held his arms out parallel to the ground and raised his legs far enough to touch the tips of his hands with them.

Then, he stood in the center of the frame, turned to the side with his left hand elegantly held behind his back. He raised his right hand above his head and stood still for a couple of seconds. After that pause, he bent his torso forward, touching his right hand on the ground and kicking his legs up. Andrea performed that handspring with elegance, his back flexibility on full display as his feet touched the floor before he had even raised his hand.

But he didn’t stop there. He used the momentum he got to perform another handspring. And then another. And another. He expertly moved his limbs so that he’d stay in place while building up more and more speed. Denso couldn’t even count how many he was doing. It almost got to the point where the camera’s framerate couldn’t keep up with that kind of speed.

To finish the number off, Andrea began twisting his body so he was doing those handsprings away from the camera. Then, he did an especially high jump that allowed him to perform a double frontflip before landing on his feet. And his landing was far from normal. His legs were spread apart farther than his shoulder width. That was so he could bend his upper body forward in a frontbend, keeping his legs perfectly straight as he got his arms past them. Showing that he even had talent for frontbending.

The video ended with him waving to the camera while winking, letting out a very feminine “Hope you enjoyed~”. Denso was sold. He made sure to save that submission in a separate folder. Of course, he still had hundreds of videos to watch, but he wouldn’t be surprised if that one ended up the winner.

Then, it was back to what he had been doing for the past few hours. One hour later, he decided to call it a day. Nothing else there had really caught his attention. But, he had struck gold once, he was sure it was possible there was more to find.

He decided to keep his selections and what he saw a secret from the crew, no matter how curious they were. His idea was to pick out at least three contestants to show to everyone else, letting them vote and decide on which would be the grand winner. So he was hoping there was talent comparable to what he saw with Andrea.

Luckily for him, it only took about fifty more videos or so for him to find it. The setting immediately caught his eye. It was just like a training ground you’d find in an old-school kung-fu movie, with a temple in the background. The person in the video was wearing a jet-black kung-fu uniform with white buttons. The black on the uniform perfectly matched his dark hair. His skin was very light, pale almost. Other than that, he had a tiny scar under his right eye. Looking at the submission form, Denso saw his name was Adam, and he was eighteen years old.

The video began with him in the center of the frame, his right hand balled up into a fist with his left hand covering it. He had his eyes closed and his head tilted down. Right after raising his head and opening his eyes, he jumped high and unleashed a very powerful-looking spinning kick. This happened way too fast for Denso to catch it, as he was still watching everything at double speed. He had to do a double take, restarting the video at normal speed so he could pay more attention.

Now, he could actually look at those black eyes of his as he began doing those wild movements. Although he was only a year older than Andrea, he had a far more… mature appearance. Not that his face was rugged or anything, but his expression was far more serious. He also paid closer attention to the uniform. Pretty much only his forearms were uncovered. The quality of the video wasn’t the best, but he could still tell how toned those arms were.

Denso now watched that enormous spinning kick in all of its glory, followed by some very impressive high kicks. It really was too bad that that uniform covered so much of his body, but it was still very impressive. After kicking the air for a bit, he then kicked a wooden pole that was stuck to the ground. A thick one too, about as thick as Adam’s leg. Well, as far as Denso could tell under that uniform, anyway.

One kick was all it took for that thing to snap. Once again he had the problem of the camera’s framerate not keeping up with the action. The kick was blindingly fast. All he could get was the audio from that log snapping and the visual of the piece flying away, with all of its fibers sticking out as they had been torn.

Adam then turned to the camera and did the same pose he started the video with, punching his left palm and tilting his head down. Denso thought about what happened for a split second. He’d have to check if that could have been faked somehow, but the audio and video all seemed pretty seamless. Also didn’t seem like that log was broken beforehand either.

Before he could process much of it, the video cut to another scene with Adam standing in between two trees, facing the one on the left. There was also a much older and larger person standing in the background with his hands behind his back. He looked pretty muscular, but again, Denso couldn’t tell much. Before he could even think about it, Adam jumped high and performed the most… powerful midair split he had ever seen. Just from the speed at which those legs moved and how loud the impact was from when the martial artist’s feet touched the trees, suspending himself like that.

Denso felt like if those trees were people, they would have easily been knocked out and sent flying. Adam held his arms out to the side, his expression displaying an extreme amount of focus. That was when the person in the background moved closer. That large, muscular guy performed an impressive jump, landing on top of the martial artist’s legs while facing the camera. He had a blank expression, standing on what Denso assumed was his pupil. Adam’s upper body fit perfectly in between those muscular legs.

Adam then began shifting his feet, slowly rotating himself to be upside-down. The larger guy had no trouble maintaining balance, repositioning his feet as needed. Once Adam was upside-down, he balled up his hands into fists as he displayed some great core strength, curling his back in an impressive backbend. He kept raising his body until the back of his head touched his leg. Then, he raised his arms behind him and opened his hands.

Denso wasn’t sure what this was about, but when the large, muscular man moved, he almost gasped. That guy moved his feet to stand on Adam’s hands, meaning he was now carrying all that weight with his arms in that extreme, awkward position. And it didn’t look like he was struggling at all. Denso guessed this was his attempt at showing how he could work in a group. Arte being so strong opened up a lot of possibilities, so one more strong guy could help a lot. Although, his strength seemed different than Arte’s, somehow. Like it was a lot more about control than anything.

The video continued with Adam holding that pose for thirty seconds straight, barely shaking all throughout. The larger man finally jumped down, freeing up the martial artist’s hands. Adam undid his backbend, extending his right arm down until his fingertips touched the ground. Holding himself up just by them, he raised both his legs, performing a wonderful handstand on his fingertips. He kept his left hand behind his back.

What then followed was more of that control Denso was thinking about. Without any shakiness or signs of a struggle, Adam used his hands to move his body in crazy positions, from planches to handstands in all kinds of angles, not giving himself any rest in an intense routine that went on for two minutes. He even showed off more of that back flexibility, incorporating some backbends into the exercise. He finished off by performing a handspring and landing on his feet, quickly doing that pose from the beginning of the video.

The video cut one more time. Looking at the timer, Denso was sad to see there was only one more minute remaining. Adam was holding a staff, as tall as he was, which he quickly spun around in his hands. Pretty standard stuff. It ended only five seconds later, with him performing a mighty, impressive jump. During that short time, he managed to slip that staff under his left foot, keeping it vertical. That way, he stood on top of it, showing off his balance.

The staff wasn’t attached to anything, it was just on top of the stone floor. Yet, he stood on top of it with his eyes closed, his right leg bent. Adam then raised that right leg without using his hands at all. He smoothly hooked his foot behind his head, keeping his arms in front of him in a meditative position. Slowly, he lowered that leg down his back. And that’s how the video ended, with him just standing there.

“Welp, that’s another one…” Denso thought as he saved the submission, keeping it next to Andrea’s. Although his contortion skills weren’t too mind-blowing, he had so much to offer in a ton of other areas. He was off to a great start for this session, so he was hoping good submissions like that would keep on coming.

Unfortunately, none did. Video after video, from more amateurish performers to professionals in their area, none really lived up to the expectations. Denso looked at the remaining submissions. Only two hundred and five to go. He thought about just going for it, but it was getting very late again. And he didn’t want his tiredness to affect his judgment either.

While in bed, he thought about how his two picks would fit into the agency. He knew Andrea would be a blast to work with, his personality would probably fit in well. As far as Adam… he didn’t know what he was like at all. But he did have the skills. Maybe some closer examination would be in order. Eos would probably scold him for it, but he did have an idea that was better than just showing off the videos to the crew.

Day three. Denso had his energy drink ready for the last session. It did start off very cold, with a lot of contortionists who just didn’t live up to the expectations. Video after video came and went, and he was starting to get very worried he wasn’t going to find anyone else. He wanted at least three. And the last thing he wanted was to have to go back through the videos and try to remember who could be a good runner-up.

Still, he had hope. That hope diminished more and more as he reached the last dozen videos, but it was still possible.

The fourth to last video began with a very tall man in some very shiny black shoes, a white shirt and black suspenders. He had blonde hair and the single word most fitting for him was “handsome”. His face was so soft and perfect, with some bright, blue eyes. Like a bartender in a very fancy place. He began the video holding three knives on his right hand, and two on his left.

He quickly began handling those things like a professional. The jugglers Denso saw, when going with five or more objects, seemed very restrained with how they moved. They had to keep immense focus just to keep juggling. And yet, this guy had the most natural, casual expression as his arms moved at the speed of light.

Once again he had to restart the video at normal speed. Only then he could see that number was actually even more impressive than it seemed at first glance. With every catch, this guy was actually spinning the knives in his hand before tossing them. He looked all around himself during the act. Then, he started walking in circles. Whenever his back faced the camera, he switched his juggling to do more throws behind his back, exhibiting mind-blowing precision with each throw.

Denso had to check out just who this guy was. From the submission form he learned his name was Beau, and he was twenty-one years old. Looking back at the video, Denso saw that Beau had gone offscreen. A couple of seconds later, he returned with a very fancy-looking red drink in his left hand. Denso guessed it was a Bloody Mary. He also had three knives on the other hand.

Beau threw one knife into the air followed by the other. The third one he began spinning in his hand, and so he juggled the other two while maintaining that pattern. The confident, cocky performer then turned his head to the left before closing his eyes and casually taking a few sips of that drink.

After finishing the beverage, Beau then switched his stance, shifting to the tip of his toes. He began raising his left leg in a side split motion. Denso really now thought about how long those legs were. He looked to be very tall. Once that leg was fully stretched upward, he casually set the empty glass on top of his raised foot. Then, he pulled out two knives from behind his back and returned to juggling those dangerous things while standing on one foot, balancing the glass on the other.

The number continued with him doing a few spins, gradually picking up speed. To finish it all off, he tossed all of the knives one after the other, all of them having the perfect trajectory to land inside the glass, each one gently clinking against the inside as they landed. For a stylish finish, he flicked his foot up to gently launch the glass up to catch it with his left hand, lowering his leg and doing a respectful bow.

He continued his performance with some different objects to juggle, like glass bottles or metal cups. He also incorporated a lot more leg movements. Denso noticed he certainly wasn’t as flexible as many that came before, but those long legs moved so fast and in such wide motions that it still gave plenty of wow factor. That aside, he could do the splits easily and make them look wonderful, as evidenced by the video.

Denso also noticed how adept Beau was at dancing. He performed twirls he had only seen professional ballerinas perform, and that was WHILE juggling and throwing stuff under his legs whenever he raised them. His rhythmic steps and the overall ease with which he performed were very enticing.

The performer closed the video off with one final juggling number. He grabbed the knives again; except he grabbed six of them this time. With three in each hand, he began juggling them as normal. A bit more restricted than before, but still very impressive. Then, Beau lobbed one of the blades over his head, letting it fall behind him. As that blade neared the ground, he bent his right leg at the knee, raising his foot behind him and bouncing that knife with his heel. He had to know just how much spin to give the blade so he’d kick the handle.

He kicked it with enough force to lob it over his head again, the knife’s trajectory a bit longer. That was so he could reach forward with the same leg and kick the blade up in front of him. At the point he did that, he had already lobbed another knife over his head. He caught the one he kicked in front of him and restarted the cycle, keeping all blades moving at all times.

Denso had to actually slow down the video and pay very close attention to each blade to even figure out how the trick went. When he finally learned how it goes, he was mind-blown. Especially as he began to switch which leg was doing the kicking, almost dancing in place as he performed the intense, difficult routine. After doing a few repetitions of that, Beau grabbed all of the knives and bowed in front of the camera one final time, the video cutting at that point.

After watching the remaining few videos and finding nothing that was too interesting, Denso had his three picks locked. Unfortunately for him, he still had a ton of work to do. Plane tickets to be bought, people to be contacted, vehicles and places to be rented, hotel rooms to be booked…

It all took over two weeks to fully coordinate. And the entire time Denso had to keep everything a secret. For how against Eos was about the whole thing, he sure asked a lot of questions. But the day finally arrived. The crew had all joined together, about to board their private jet.

“So, can you finally tell us what the hell we’re doing, where we’re going?” Eos asked.

“Hah, alright, alright. We’re going to be interviewing the three people I pre-selected from the casting. And we’re going to England!” Denso said with a smile.

“England?! What for?” Eos shouted back, the other guys laughing in the background. Denso had let them in on a few details prior but decided against telling Eos in case he’d complain too much.

“Well, want them to know exactly where we live and operate in? I did everything to keep our secrets under wraps. We’re going to go to a studio I rented to interview them and let them show off what they can do.”

“I know you told me what we’re doing, but couldn’t we just watch their videos and decide here?” Benx interjected.

“Well, two things about that. We need to see how well they do under pressure, and, well… we also need to learn about their personalities. Eos had a lot of concern about too many people joining in and ruining the friendship circle we have… And I can see his point.” He began before turning to Eos, placing a hand on his shoulders. “So, we’ll spend as much time as we need with them. And hey, if you truly don’t like any of them, we’ll just call the whole thing off, alright?” Denso reassured his friend.

“Heh. Thanks.” Eos replied with a small smile.

“And I’m not showing off the videos to you guys until we meet them! I think it’s better to go in without any expectations. Now let’s go, guys!” he said as he headed toward the jet.

The next couple of hours were filled with chatting, laughter, and the guys casually contorting their bodies instead of just sitting around. Denso noticed Eos wasn’t entirely at ease still, but he knew he’d change his mind. He did find it amusing how they couldn’t go without showing off and stretching. It was natural, it wasn’t all that often that all six of them took a trip together.

From their private jet, they then boarded a limo for a short trip to the studio. They were a bit hungry, but Denso decided it would be a good idea to have dinner with the three candidates for a bit of a bonding session. The place was pretty inconspicuous, just an average building from the outside.

“Alright, we’re here. And the candidates are as well, just beyond that door. I’ll go in first to explain everything to them, and you all come in when I call you, alright?” Denso explained, taking his laptop out of his bag.

“Sure. Excited to see what they are like!” Arte said with a thumbs-up.

Everyone else just nodded, all pretty excited for this. Well, except for Eos, who just had his arms crossed.

Denso went through a small door into the largest room in the building. Everything was already prepared, a large table set up with chairs for the crew to sit on, in front of a larger open area for the contestants to perform. There were also a pair of professional cameras and some expensive-looking lighting equipment. It really was like a talent show on TV. Denso smiled seeing the three there, in one spot.

Andrea had the biggest grin Denso had ever seen from realizing the show was about to start. “Yoooo-hoooo! Heeello there!” he shouted in a feminine voice, standing on the tip of his toes while waving with his right arm, fully stretched above him. He was wearing some torn jorts, as well as a rainbow tank top that left his abs exposed. He had some tennis shoes on as well.

Adam was wearing the exact same uniform he had in the video. He had been leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, meditating. Noticing Denso coming in, he raised his head and walked forward a few steps before bowing slightly. “Good evening. It’s a great honor.”

Beau was classy as always, going with a shiny red leather jacket over his white, button-up shirt. No suspenders this time, but he had similar pants to the ones he wore in the submission video. He also had some nice brown leather gloves which he was in the middle of adjusting. “Good evening, mon amie.” he said, placing a hand over his chest and bowing.

“Good, good! Nice to see you all here, it’s a great pleasure to meet you all in person. Now, we’ll begin the performances soon, but just to explain a few things… These cameras will record your show. However, these are only for us to review later, and the videos will not be posted anywhere. You will do your performances, and we’ll all ask you questions afterward. Then, we’ll go for a meal together, if you’re fine with it!”

“Hell yea!” Andrea eagerly responded. The other two just nodded, Beau adding a chuckle as well.

“Alright, I’m sure you all remember the instructions for the show then. We’ll start off with Andrea. Adam, Beau, please wait outside until it’s your turn.” Denso said, setting his laptop on the table.

The two contestants obeyed, leaving behind just Andrea who began undressing, deciding to go barefoot and with just his jorts. He hopped in place excitedly as Denso called everyone in.

Andrea began blushing seeing his idols come in through that door, one by one. To see them in real life had been a dream of his, they motivated him to go so much further with his stretching. He was having a hard time containing his fanboying.

Though, he wasn’t the only one getting at least a little bit starstruck. Benx, Arte and Ienge all looked at each other before Benx pointed a finger at Andrea. “I-it’s you!” he shouted.

Eos was a bit confused, and Leit simply took his seat, just deciding to enjoy the scene. “You, who?” Eos asked.

“Andrea! He’s super popular on social media!” Ienge said, closing his hands into fists as he excitedly explained it to Eos.

“R-really now…” Eos said, not really wanting to hear such things.

“Now, now. Let’s let our contestant introduce himself… Take a seat, everyone!” Denso said.

“Teehee, seems we’re a little bit familiar already, huh? Well, you guys, I’m Andrea! It’s absolutely marvelous to meet y’all! I do a lot of contortion and stuff to post online…” Andrea said, blushing.

“Hah, I think I know what to expect, then…” Arte said.

“O-oh, not at all! I don’t post the HALF of what I can do with this gorgeous body of mine!” he replied.

“Alright, give me a bit…” Denso said, fiddling with his laptop for a few moments. “…Alright, feel free to start whenever!”

Andrea nodded, wasting no time at all. He started his performance off with a huge jump, landing on his hands while pulling off a backbend, his legs pointing straight forward. He then shifted his legs a bit to the side, letting them both rest on his right shoulder. He then bent his legs at the knee as he lowered himself to the ground, performing a triplefold with both legs on the right.

That was already getting the attention of most of the judges, but then he raised his right arm, placed it on top of his legs and began pushing himself up, curling his spine tightly. Once he had enough leeway, he then began to twist his body at the waist. And he twisted himself far enough to touch his right shoulder on the ground.

Denso was impressed by such a strong start. The others were as well, clapping for that incredible feat. Andrea’s show continued for minutes, him showing off how nimble that body was. His proportions lent themselves incredibly well for these kinds of performances. Splits looked especially wonderful, mostly due to the fact he was able to take them very far. Then came the impressive flips and cartwheels.

At the end of the five-minute show, the judges all cheered. Andrea stood up proudly, taking a bow.

“Wonderful stuff, Andrea! Why don’t we begin the interview with why you want to join the agency?” Denso asked.

“Well, because you guys are, like, super amazing! I’ve never seen a group as talented as you are, and I’d love to add to that!”

“Well, aren’t you a bundle of joy…” Eos said. “But it seems you already have quite the following. Are you going to abandon that, or what?”

“Well, not abandon… But, I feel like when I’m posting to the general peeps, I can’t truly show off what I can do. I just gotta go with what’s popular, and not scare everyone. That’s super lame! With enthusiasts, I can go all out!”

“And you haven’t tried for a job somewhere like a circus…?”

“Well, here I am now, trying for the best of the best!”

Eos just nodded. A bit of silence came before Leit asked the next question. “So, what do you think you could add to our group? We already have backbenders, people who can do splits and twists…” he said, looking at fellow members of his group.

“I think I can help add a more joyful, wild atmosphere! I love your style of having your feats portrayed as beautiful or majestic, buuut… I can add the ‘WOW!’ and ‘Holy moly!’ to shows with fast, impressive moves! It’s my style!”

Leit nodded with a smile at that reply. Ienge was the next to speak up. “U-um… you look, quite nice…” he said with a smile. “…do you have any other… abilities you haven’t shown?”

“Well, I can do some frontbending too… But that’s the thing! I can adapt really well, I’m always looking for new things to try! I saw a tightrope performance a bit ago, and I’ve begun doing it too! Anything I find cool I’ll try my hands at!”

A few more moments of silence passed before Denso spoke up again. “Alright, that’ll be it for now, unless someone has any other questions…” he began, looking around for confirmation. “Ok. Could you please call in Adam for us?”

“Can do! Thank you all so much, once again! I’ll never forget this!” he said, leaving the stage. Denso stopped the recording, the video files already in his laptop before Adam even entered the room.

“…See? I told you they’d be impressive!” Denso whispered to Eos.

“Well…! We’ll still see about that…” Eos replied, staying quiet once he saw the martial artist getting closer.

“Good evening! A martial artist, huh?” Arte said.

“Good evening. Yes, indeed. I’ll do my best to show off what my body can do.” He said, setting a pair of 40Kg kettlebells on the ground on either side of him.

“Sounds good, feel free to start whenever you’re ready.” Denso said.

Adam nodded and lowered his head. He started off much like he did in his video submission, throwing out impressive, large and wide kicks along with mighty jumps. He made sure to kick nice and high, showing off how flexible his legs were. After that impactful intro, he stood in front of the kettlebells, bending forward and placing his pointer and middle fingers on top of the handles.

He slowly lifted his legs off the ground, all at a constant pace. He was shaking a small amount, but not from the strain; it was from nervousness. Still, he managed to pull off a handstand on just those four fingers, holding the pose for a good while. Then, he began curling his spine, performing a nice backbend with his feet under his chin. That was when he dropped down from the kettlebells, landing on his palms on the ground behind them.

Then, he tightened his spine so his feet could reach and go through the handles of those kettlebells. That allowed him to lift those heavy weights with his legs while still maintaining a formidable backbend. To add a little bit more flair, he raised his left hand off the ground.

His performance continued with his showing off various feats of strength along with his above-average flexibility. Everything was very controlled, and he even managed to keep the shaking away as the show went on. He ended things off with a respectful bow, taking a deep breath. He didn’t seem like he was tired at all.

“Great showing! Now for the interview… Why don’t you tell us why you want to join the agency, to start things off?” Denso once again led the interview.

“Ah, good question. It’s because I want to spread how wonderful martial arts are, the self-improvement and realization it brings.”

“But… why not, y’know, do it through fighting?” Eos asked, not trying to be rude, just legitimately curious.

“That’s… Well, it’s almost embarrassing, but I simply can’t stand the thought of hurting others. The feeling of building my body like a temple, improving it further and further, the discipline and strength required… It’s my lifestyle, I can’t abandon it. But I can’t fight. I saw your contest as the perfect opportunity to realize my objective.”

“Cute…” Arte said with a chuckle, standing up from his seat. “Now, let me just check something…” he said, heading toward those kettlebells. He crouched and grabbed one with each hand, lifting them up as if they were nothing more than a plastic bottle.

“Woah, are those fake?” Ienge asked, seeing how easily he grabbed them.

Arte dropped them on the ground, a loud thud coming from the impact. “Nope, definitely real.”

“Ah, right…” Ienge replied, having not thought about the person lifting those things.

“That is truly incredible.” Adam praised.

Arte chuckled, playfully bowing before returning to his seat.

“Now, let me ask a question…” Denso spoke again. “I see you’re wearing the same uniform you wore in the video you submitted. Are you fine with wearing other things, or is that uniform something you can’t just take off?”

“Ah, not at all. I just thought it’d be adequate, but…” Adam began speaking before taking off the top half of his uniform right then and there, revealing a ridiculously shredded and defined, while still lean, build. “I can take it off, without an issue.”

The board of judges just remained silent for a few moments. A few blushes certainly popped up, and Benx just couldn’t resist letting out a whistle for what he was seeing.

The awkward silence remained until Leit cleared his throat to ask a question. “Uh, and what do you think you could bring to our agency?”

“I promise to be the best foundation you could hope for. I will be your ground, your stepping stone, your bodyguard. I’ll put every muscle I have to work, ensuring you won’t fall. I’ll train harder than ever to match the expectations your clients have. I’ll stretch my body until I can’t take the pain, and then stretch more!” he said in a powerful tone, which seemed to be at least a little bit rehearsed.

It was cheesy, but everyone there could tell it was genuine. No one else seemed to have any questions, so Denso sent him off.

“How adorable…” Benx teased.

“He seems dedicated at least. But Arty already has the strength, think he’d fit?” Eos asked.

“Y’know, even if you say that, having two Arty’s would help my scheduling job a lot…” Denso shrugged.

Arte chipped in. “I can see us sharing roles, even if our strengths aren’t exactly equal…”

Beau then came in through the doors, a casual smile decorating that cocky expression. “Good evening.” Denso said.

“Bonsoir, mon amie.” Beau said while bowing.

“Feel free to start whenever, everything’s ready.”

Beau nodded before grabbing no fewer than six knives from the inside of his jacket, three on each hand. He quickly began juggling them, showing off his dexterity right from the get-go. He wasn’t shy about adding pirouettes and jumps to his routine, all elegantly performed.

After a few of those maneuvers, he let one of the knives fall further, catching it with his shiny shoe on his right leg. After bouncing it a couple times, he balanced that thing, keeping it upright. Then, he started bending backward.

It was nothing too impressive by their standards, the angle his torso and left leg made was only slightly less than 90°. Still, he managed to keep juggling from that position, tossing the knives with a completely different arm position. Not only that, he began bouncing the knife he had on his right foot, making it do a complete flip before kicking it again.

He continued with incredible displays like that, definitely showing off how damn good his long legs made splits look. He was overflowing with confidence, only a tiny drop of sweat forming on his forehead by the end, which he quickly wiped away.

The judges all cheered. “Nice job!” Denso began, waiting for the cheers to die down. “Why don’t we begin with you telling us why you want to join our agency?”

“Ah, of course. Well, má chérie, that’s because I haven’t seen another group with the standards you have.”

“Standards… as far as what?”

“Everything. The quality of your shows, who you perform for… It’s all top-quality.”

Denso nodded. Then, Leit spoke up. “Uh… well, I don’t think many of us here know much about juggling, so it’s difficult for me to know just how impressive that was. It certainly looked like it was.”

“Trust me. You will never find someone as talented as me when it comes to these things.”

“Mmhm. You’re… very confident.” Leit replied, starting to get ever-so-slightly annoyed at the cockiness.

“Well, I know for a fact out of all the jugglers that submitted, he was the best one.” Denso said. Beau chuckled and bowed.

“Um… What do you do for a living right now?” Ienge asked.

“I’m a bartender. High-end spot, usually entertain guests with my skills. Unfortunately, I have to serve them drink eventually, so I can’t do long performances…” he replied, right hand’s thumb and pointer on his chin.

Eos decided to ask a question. “And how do you think juggling would fit into our shows? We haven’t had a juggler, and most of our clients are interested in contortion.”

“I can certainly practice to obtain more of those wonderful skills you have. But I think you have a wide variety of clients, don’t you? Wouldn’t it be good to increase the variety of acts on offer to meet that demand? I’m here to offer that and more.”

“Hm.” Eos let out, leaning back on his seat.

After noticing no one else really had much to say, Denso cut the interview there. “Alright, thank you very much! Please wait outside with the others, we will meet you soon.”

Beau nodded and left.

“What a jerk.” Eos said as soon as he was out the door.

Benx chuckled. “Aw, I kinda like his cocky attitude…”

“I’m with Eos here.” Leit shrugged.

“Now, now… I’m sure he’s just trying to sell himself. We’ll find out more soon, anyway.” Denso said, calming everyone down. “Let’s go have dinner now. I rented a place we can go eat in private.”

“You did? Sheesh, you sure are spending a lot of money on this…” Eos said.

Denso shrugged and chuckled. After that, the group went to meet the three contestants. Though, what was meant to be a simple dinner quickly turned into a party. Beau made drinks for everyone, proudly showing off his skills. Adam was a bit more reserved, staying quiet unless addressed. Andrea on the other hand was by far the loudest one, the extrovert just having to talk to everyone constantly. When some music was put on, Andrea began dancing while showing off his contortion skills. Then, a couple more of the guys joined. Adam also did a few moves, even if they weren’t very conventional. Still impressive, anyway.

Even Eos quickly began laughing along with everyone. Beau turned out to be very gentle, while Adam was shier than expected. They spent several hours there, having eaten some wonderful food and enjoyed good times with friends.

But eventually, they had to decide who the winner would be. Or if there would even be a winner at all. To help a bit Denso showed the crew their submission videos in private. They were all reminded of how insanely talented the three were. It was going to be a very, very hard decision to make.