Chapter 72: The Exam

The rainfall had become heavier with the ringing of the gong. Almost as if it has been preordained by the heavens.

Yet, despite the weather, a stillness hung in the air. Everything was far too quiet.

Solomon’s group is spaced out at the four corners of the gates. They listen closely as the sound of the ringing gong is drowned out by the intensifying rain.

Five minutes go by, and Solomon is the first to hear their enemy approaching.

It’s a big group. He cannot make out the number.

They move together tightly in unison to make it harder for him to count from afar. As they had yet to break through the trees, he was unable to get eyes on them either.

The group was quiet. Organized.

The footsteps suddenly stopped.

Solomon didn’t need to see the enemy to know what they were doing. His wall was so shoddy that anyone who saw it would stop to ponder whether it was all a big joke.

That was a bit expected, but the problem was that they were taking too long to stop and stare. It was better for his group if they were a bit more reckless and quick.

“Enemies!!”

Nila rushed out into the open, stunning Solomon and their other teammates.

She buried the tip of her sword in the mud and stared at the soldiers in the trees with a menacing expression.

“Before you stands the elf warrior Nila Greenfoot! Descendant of the great Elven Warrior, Cypress Greenfoot! Know now that beyond this gate, all that awaits you is a noble, albeit painful death!”

Solomon rushed out of his hiding place, cursing the boisterous elf. “Nila, what the fuck are you doing?! Get back in position!”

“Hiding is undignified for one such as myself! Though I would never expect a human to understand! Your species has practically invented devianism and shamelessness!”

Solomon grabs Nila by the wrist and attempts to drag her back into hiding, but by then it is too late.

Arrows soar through the air, striking Solomon and Nila in their upper chest. Both double down, groaning like stuck piglets.

“They’re fragmented! Hit the town, now!”

Dozens of warriors broke through the trees, armed with only simple shortswords.

The support actors for this exercise were simple swordsmen. They used no aura and limited their movements to those of the average human.

However, their numbers were problematic enough.

As over ten men rushed out of the trees all at once, they felt much more daunting than the group had initially anticipated.

It was a good thing that they were well prepared for crowd control.

Screams arose from the edge of the forest as the sound of wood snapping filled the air.

Dozens of wooden traps sprang to life, trapping the unsuspecting actors in their clutches.

The traps Dakota had erected were basically sharpened wooden rat-traps that resembled the teeth of a large animal.

Upon stepping on the trip wire, the jaws of the teeth snap closed on the midsection of whatever unlucky soul wasn’t looking where they were going.

According to Dakota, it wasn’t lethal… but Solomon wasn’t exactly sure if he really believed his teammate in this instance.

Solomon glanced at Nila out of the corner of his eye.

He found her with the fattest, most insane grin on her lips. It honestly terrified him a bit to witness it.

“Compliment me! My acting was splendid!”

“I wouldn’t call that acting.” Solomon yanks the arrow out of his chest, but doesn’t immediately stand. “You were pretty much just being your usual self.”

“I am not that thoughtless!”

“Uh-huh. You okay to take the arrow out, or do you need help?”

“Ha! This is nothing! Elven skin is much denser than your human flesh! This barely even tickles!”

Nila rips the arrow out of her chest, and her smile threatens to crack.

“…Are you crying-”

“NO! I am not! That is just water!”

“That’s what tears are…”

“N-No, I mean it’s rain! Rain! I told you it’s fucking rain, Solomon, now stop laughing or-”

“TRICKERY!” A voice booms.

A bitterly cold aura swept over the forest floor.

The rain falling from the sky miraculously turned into shards of ice.

A large behemoth of a man steps through the trees, pushing aside the injured actors and worsening their wounds.

Rowan Ashtear resembles a polar bear in human form. His family’s aura was unique in that it was capable of turning the air frigid in seconds.

Rumors were swirling about that after a rampage, all of the blood of his enemies’ corpses would be frozen solid.

The beast began charging at their barricade.

“…He’s fast for his size.” Nila noted.

“Then go do something about it.”

“Fine… but what about-”

“Keep your eyes open until Dakota gives the all clear.”

Nila grumbled aloud as she picked her sword out of the ground.

“I hate having to think about other things while fighting…”

Nila begins rushing towards Rowan with her sword dragging behind her.

The behemoth grins and increases his pace. His feet pound into the mud like the hooves of a great beast.

Before the two powerhouses can collide, Nila drags her sword from behind her and flings a wall of mud into the eyes of her opponent.

The beast howls at the insult and swings wildly; missing Nila at every opportunity.

The elf smiles mischievously at his floundering before she raises her sword and swings for his midsection.

But before her attack can connect, Nila shifts the trajectory of her sword.

An arrow strikes the flat of her blade so hard that her arms ring from the impact.

Nila’s eyes instantly shoot towards higher ground.

Overlooking the battle was the hunter boy whose name Nila didn’t remember.

When she locked eyes with him, the archer’s face immediately paled.

He ducked behind four of his support actors. They covered him with iron shields as they changed location.

Nila pointed in a specific direction and a shadow passed over her head.

–

“Man, that elf is nuts… It’s been a while since I got picked out of a vantage spot like that.”

“Elves are remarkably in touch with nature, young master. That may have contributed to our discovery in some part…”

“Damn it all… here’s hoping that big oaf does a better job of keeping her occupied. I can’t believe they baited us like that..!”

Joseph Au Varrick pushed back his shaggy blonde hair angrily.

Their initial plan to breach the wall had basically gone out the window with Rowan’s sudden rampage.

Even if they hadn’t just lost several of their support actors, they still should’ve had more left if it were not for the giant becoming upset about being ’tricked’ and begin knocking them aside.

It seemed that his actions were counting against the team as a whole.

Once they were knocked down by anyone, they didn’t get up. Even if they weren’t actually incapacitated.

Joseph was beside himself with annoyance. They were losing more and more room for error at every second.

Rowan hadn’t even done his job of breaching the wall and distracting Solomon. Leaving the biggest obstacle for them still on the board was pure insanity.

“… Let’s hope this damn plan of hers works.”

As his small group moved deeper into the forest, Joseph heard another wooden snap and immediately rolled out of the way.

One of the support actors screamed as another teeth trap bit into his midsection. Joseph cursed as he swept his eyes over the ground.

“W-Watch where you’re stepping! These traps are hidden by the mud, so you have to be light on your feet!”

The support actors silently shook their heads in disapproval.

They were also something like examiners for this test. Meaning that even if they were aware that Joseph was making mistakes, they couldn’t really say anything to him. Master Abel had forbidden it.

Since the support actors were supposed to be normal people in this scenario, they couldn’t use aura to feel out disturbances in the ground.

Meaning they had to walk blindly into danger like idiots.

Once Joseph realized there were traps, he should have been the one to offer to take the lead and sense the traps.

But he feared getting eliminated too much for that something like that to happen. Putting them in the worst position possible.

Twice more were support actors caught in the jaws of Dakota’s fearsome traps.

Joseph was quickly losing what little rationale he had left as frustration seized his mind.

No matter how much he shook them or tried to threaten them back into action, they did not move from their spots.

“Damn it… Damn all of you useless things!”

Joseph lashed out and grabbed his last support actor by the scruff of his collar.

“You listen to me, dog! I will not suffer a stain upon my name with a loss this day! You had better step exactly where I do, and not bumble around into these childish traps like a-”

“S-Sir..!”

Slowly, the applicant raised a trembling arm.

Joseph followed his finger towards the top of the trees.

There, looming above them in the shadow, was a small figure wrapped in black with burning scarlet eyes.

At that moment, Joseph, who had spent a lifetime as a hunter, came to know what it was like to be the hunted.

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