Chapter 25: Chapter 25- Pre-Hunter Exam (Part 4)
The next few days passed considerably calmly. Except for training, Acht had to deal with Tania who was following him like his shadow whenever he left his room. It was quite annoying at first but he grew accustomed to it and began ignoring her weird behavior.
He was able to see that she was a rather normal child who wanted to make friends and her unusual ways of doing so were because she never interacted with strangers before. He also discovered that she was still incapable of speaking long sentences when she talked.
Unconsciously, he started pitying her. He saw some of his childhood in her since he also didn't have friends and was only able to speak a few words. His parents left him when he was young and no one wanted to take care of him. With no one to teach him how to speak or do anything for that matter, Acht could only rely on himself and find a way to keep on living for another day.
He may have hated that life but he was also grateful for it since it built up what he was like in the present. He saw that his mature self was what gave him the power to resist the cruel world. A world that never forgives. Maybe he became a hitman because deep down he wanted to punch those who made the world like that. But, it's all speculation and even Acht can't fully understand his own self.
Anyway, the day of the second test came and the remaining candidates had to regroup in the same place early in the morning.
As usual, Thyrus didn't arrive on time and they had to wait for one and half hours standing in the coliseum. His behavior didn't fit what people saw as the strongest human alive and that fact made Thyrus such an interesting person.
Then, when they started getting annoyed, he appeared with his casual and lazy appearance as if nothing happened.
"Yawn…Hello again…This is the second test…let me explain….oh wait, I explained that a few days ago." He scratched his messy hair while having trouble saying some coherent sentences.
"Anyway…Let's get this over with…I will start naming the candidates…The rest…sit in the stands and watch carefully."
Then, he took a piece of paper and named someone randomly. The person chosen was a young man with frivolous looks and a cocky smile plastered on his face. He looked like a typical douchebag.
He looked around him before advancing to the middle of the arena. He was visually nervous but he tried to hide that with his stupid attitude.
The rest of the candidates walked to the stands and sat down to watch what would happen. They were all eager to see what Thyrus is capable of. For the longest time, they only heard about his achievements in the news around the world, dreaming of meeting him one day. And now, that dream has been fulfilled.
The young man stood in his place for a while, Thyrus was puzzled and so he spoke to him.
"What are you waiting…for?" He asked.
The young man was also confused by his question.
"Where is your weapon?" He said while holding his spear tightly.
Silence invaded the place, no one was able to comprehend his words at first, but soon, their minds processed them and a string of laughs echoed in the place.
Even Thyrus started laughing loudly as if he heard the funniest joke ever. His laugh wasn't even forced or fake to show his mockery of his opponent, he was genuinely laughing from the bottom of his heart.
"Hahahaha…Weapon?...You are funny…I don't need that." He answered after some time.
The frivolous guy was embarrassed by the situation himself and had to look down in frustration for a while.
"You can start…hit me with all you have…you can use everything with the intent of killing me."
"Fine."
Then, without hesitation, the young man dashed toward him quickly and slashed down with his spear. He was quick in his actions and his attack was also packed with strength. But, that didn't seem to bother Thyrus as he just tilted his body to the side to let the spear pass beside him as if nothing happened.
He wasn't even looking at the weapon when he did so.
The young man found it shocking but shook his head and started throwing all kinds of attacks at him. Thyrus tilted his body left and right like a snake avoiding all the attacks with no effort whatsoever.
The young man didn't use his gift at first but when he found it impossible to continue at such a rate, he stopped his attacks and channeled his soul force.
Then, with a grunt of anger, he released a huge cloud of extremely hot steam directed toward Thyrus.
"Take that!" He shouted with a big grin.
'He has an affinity for the steam. I think that's a sub-element that derives from the water element..' Acht thought while watching the fight.
Thyrus didn't move from his place as the cloud of steam engulfed him completely. No one could see Thyrus inside and any even thought naively that he would not get unscathed from that attack. But, he wasn't the strongest human alive for nothing.
A few moments passed before the hot steam dispersed and Thyrus appeared again. He was totally unscathed by the attack. Even his clothes were as spotless as they were before.
"Thank you for the free sauna." He said with a lazy tone.
The young man gritted his teeth and charged at him again. His gift had no effect so he could only spend the rest of the three minutes doing whatever he can to make Thyrus impressed with his close combat skills.
When the time was over, Thyrus looked at the spear and grabbed it mid-air with his bare hand, and said.
"The time is over…Next…"
His palm was directly touching the sharp blade of the spear but no blood trickled down his hand.
'Impressive.' Acht the thought with a slightly surprised look. He didn't know how tough his skin was to be able to touch sharp things with no injuries.
The young man looked at the spear and tried to move it, but it was frozen in its place.
He felt helpless in front of such a simple show of power that he almost fell on his knees, but he held himself and walked away from the arena with a defeated look but with hopes that he had done enough.
The test continued and people kept on going to the arena. Each one showed their best performance but no one was able to touch Thyrus let alone harm him.
He just deals with them with such a simplicity that it makes people question whether he's a human or not. Yet, it was also entertaining to watch him in action even though he doesn't do much throughout the fights.
A few hours later, Acht's name was finally called. He was bored to death waiting for his turn.
When he landed on the ground and walked to the middle of the arena. He saw Thyrus's gaze change for a split moment.
'He is either interested in me or he knows something.' Acht saw that brief reaction and noted it in his head.
When he was finally only 10 meters away from Thyrus, the latter spoke.
"You could start whenever you want."
"Wait…before that, I have a request."
"A request?" Thyrus asked in a confused tone. He didn't expect anyone to request something from him in this test.
"What is….it?"
"I want you to cover the arena so no one sees our fight." He requested with his same calm tone as if he was asking something simple.
"Hmm…and why is that?"
"I want to keep my secrets."
"Wouldn't that be unfair…for the others?" He responded after some brief thinking.
"They could've requested the same thing if they wanted since no rules prohibited it." Acht shrugged his shoulders casually.
Thyrus didn't speak for a while as he looked at Acht. He was trying to read what was in his mind. But, he soon gave up and smiled slightly.
"Fine...I will allow that since you seem to be way too smart for your age."
Then, with a move of his hand, a huge dark barrier covered the arena and made it impossible to see from the inside nor the outside.
"Your request is granted…now show me what you've got." He said.
"With all pleasure."
Then, with a single step, Acht crossed a few meters. His silhouette appeared like a blur and instantly closed the distance between him and Thyrus. It was the hardest fight Acht had had since he reached this world and he was excited to experience it.
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Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone