Chapter 281 - 281- Sky Seekers Exam (Part 2)
The person who appeared was surprisingly the same girl that Talon was looking at a few moments ago. She had a cold, apathetic look on her face mixed with clear disdain as she stared at the arrogant young man she just kicked.
'She's fast… I almost missed her movement…' Talon squinted his eyes as he thought to himself. What just happened was so quick that it took him by surprise. She was at least 60 meters away from the scene and yet she appeared there in a moment which was quite ridiculous.
"You! Who are you?!" The young man yelled with clear distress. He had realized that this girl was very strong. Even though he seemed like the arrogant type, he wasn't completely stupid apparently.
"It's not of your concern who I am. Stop making noise, it's annoying." She said coldly as she turned around and started walking away.
The young man stared at her with clenched teeth. Feeling humiliated by what she did, he stood up and yelled. "Who said you can leave? Do you know who I am?!"
"No." The girl replied as she continued walking without looking back.
That naturally frustrated the man even more. But, he was not stupid enough to try and do anything else like attacking her. He knew his limit and that limit was clearly exceeded by that girl.
'You think you can do that to me?! Watch, wench! I will show you what I can do!' He thought to himself as he swallowed his anger and moved away. With that, the situation was resolved rather quickly.
"He is definitely going to try and do something stupid." Talon shook his head with a disappointed look on his face. He knew that the young man wouldn't let that slide without trying to ruin the girl's test.
"They all have the same attitude no matter the place or the race," Acrypha commented casually.
"You're right."
At that moment, Talon heard a rather particular noise coming from afar. Looking in that direction, he saw two massive double doors open on the other side of the great hall. He did notice them at the start and guessed that the supervisors will enter from there.
According to Emino, the Sky Seekers exam is different each year so nobody can predict what could it be. It was also composed of three parts. Each one was harder than the other which resulted in an acceptance rate of less than 10%.
'Well, I guess it's time.'
From those gates, a group of three people walked in. Two men and one woman, they were all clad in Sky Seekers Uniform with many badges on their chests. Talon could see that they had a high position.
Especially the man in the middle, he seemed to be the strongest out of the three, by a far margin. The entire place went silent as the contestants turned to face these three people.
"Welcome, dear cadets to the Sky Seekers Guild Exam. I am the general supervisor, Winsdoor. You can address me as 'Supervisor'." He said in a cold tone. The man was rather tall, with a good physique and a pair of glasses that added a hint of elegance to his handsome face. He had well-combed red hair and a sharp glare that made anyone avert their eyes instantly.
'Winsdoor… Didn't Emino mention him yesterday?' Talon recalled hearing about the man. From what he knew, this man had a very high position in the Sky Seekers Guild, only a few degrees under the 'Great Dean' who is the highest authority in that organization.
"Hey, Acrypha, how strong is that guy compared to me?" Talon asked casually as he continued inspecting the man with his eyes.
"Compared to you? I would say he is a few dozen times stronger." She said.
"... That much, huh…"
Talon wasn't surprised by her harsh response. He could feel the terrifying aura that man was hiding. If he ignored Acrypha and Merit, this was by far the strongest person he had ever met.
'I guess he lives up to his name.' He mused.
"I am sure all of you are on the edge, eager to know what this Exam is going to be all about. Let me assure you, this is a rather easier test than previous times."
"Oh!"
"Really?!"
"Did he say it's easier?!"
"It's our lucky time!"
The moment the contestants heard that, gossip erupted amongst them. Some even started celebrating too early.
'He still didn't finish, idiots.' Talon facepalmed.
"I said easier than in previous years. But, not in the sense most of you assumed. This year's test is going to be straightforward, with no tricks or puzzles. That is why it's easier. However, to compensate for that, we decided to make the challenges harder and more direct." He said.
It was completely silent after that. Nobody uttered a single word as they looked at each other. The awkward atmosphere was so strong even Talon cringed visibly.
'Oh boy, that isn't a nice way to say it, friend.'
Immediately, the somber atmosphere came back stronger than ever. Since he said that it was going to be harder rather than trickier, it made everyone even more worried. As far as they knew, it was never said before that a test is hard. The supervisors would try to simplify the problem to lift the spirits of the contestants. But, this time was different.
"Now, I suppose we can move on to the first test since we don't have the entire day. Your first test is going to be here, in this very location, and the time limit is… Two hours."
"Two hours?"
"What is it? That's very short for a first test."
"Doesn't it take more than that usually?"
"I don't like where this is going."
Such comments could be heard everywhere around Talon. The short period of time, coupled with the location still being that very hall they were standing in made them feel worried about what the test is.
Ignoring that fear, Winsdoor continued. "The test is very simple. Each one of you has a tag pinned to your uniform. That tag identifies you and gives you a number." He said. "The first test is simple. For the next two hours, each one of you will try to snatch the other's tag and keep it till the time is over.
You are allowed to fight, but you aren't allowed to kill or injure someone heavily. If such rules are broken, you are immediately disqualified and punished appropriately. Understood?"
Then, the man snapped his finger, and right above the doors, a timer appeared. It was surprisingly engraved into the stone wall itself and appeared like a ticking clock.
Everyone paled as they saw that and the tension rose immediately. The constants started looking at each other warily, their bodies were already on high alert.
"I will be counting down from ten. Once I'm done, the first part of the test officially starts. Are you all ready?"
No one replied as they readied themselves for what was about to happen. They knew that the moment the counter hit zero, it was going to be chaos. Even Talon felt the tension rise.
"This is certainly going to be interesting." He muttered coldly. Things might get out of control rather quickly which was something he didn't want to deal with. So, he already started forming a plan in his head on how to go about doing this.
"10… 9… 8…" The man started counting and the students felt their hearts starting to race along with it. "7… 6… 5… 4…"
As he counted, all the people in the hall started distancing themselves from each other. However, due to the tight space, nobody could move more than a few meters before ending up near another person which made it almost feel suffocating.
It was amazing how much the situation could change this quickly with a few words. Before, these people were amicable, even friendly with each other. But, now that the test was about to start, those friends were now opponents.
The only people that looked calm where Talon and that girl as they knew it was pointless to feel pressured by the others. That was the first step of passing this test, not freaking out by the sheer number of enemies around you.
"3… 2… 1…" Then, Winsdoor stopped for a moment as he glanced at everyone in the hall with cold eyes. They were all on the verge of moving, but they didn't move yet and instead opted to simply remain in their places.
'Well, let us see who shall remain after the two hours.' Read next chapters on freewebnovel
"Begin!!!"
The moment those words were uttered, the entire hall was submerged in endless chaos. Everyone immediately moved as they started looking for targets. Thousands of people were inside the hall, so one could only imagine what was about to happen.
It was a war… A war where no blood is going to be shed.
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