Chapter 39: Hunter Exam (5)

'It makes sense. Why else would they add another test after examining your strength and speed? They don't care about those stats much at all, or else the exam would end there. No, instead, those tests are to create a beast that counters the examinee's abilities. Whoever created this exam was thinking in the long term.'

Tyr noticed the beast continue to circle above him, the force of its flaps brushing against his face every few seconds.

'I can't use Blink Step since its too far from my range. My strength is my only option, but with this thing being aerial its going to be fast. I'll have to be able to attack it without getting hit myself.'

As Tyr began to plan his mode of attack, the eagle abruptly pointed its beak to the floor and powerfully thrust its wings.

It zoomed downward, accelerating instantly as it nose-dived toward Tyr at lightning speeds out of nowhere.

Tyr's eyes widened slightly. He gripped his spear, staying still and waiting for the eagle to come down to him.

As it came mere feet from the ground it thrust its wings again--changing its direction to torpedo toward Tyr while being parallel to the ground.

It swooped in before Tyr could react--inching under a foot away from him in under a second.

'Blink Step!' Tyr said, appearing behind the beast as it barely missed and flew up into the sky.

'Shit! Its too fast! I couldn't even try to attack. If I hadn't used Blink Step there, I would have been obliterated.'

He quickly turned, looking at the eagle in the sky again as his mind began to race, 'What do I do? Its attacks are too strong, but it isn't because of its strength that the attacks are strong, but rather its speed. Without the speed, its beak wouldn't do much to me, but as it stands now my Vitality won't do shit.'

He began to think of more options, rushing to make sure he had some sort of plan before the bird swooped down again. He was on Blink-Step cool down for a few more seconds.

'I can't use Hypnosis because its far faster than any other creature I've faced. Even if I manage to Hypnotise it, I can't stop it from attacking fast enough.'

Speed usually worked against a strong creature as its weakness, but this creature was strong due to its speed of all things in the first place, so Tyr being able to use Blink Step to get a quick hit wasn't possible.

Hanzo squinted his eyes slightly, 'For him, there's only one way to win. It's unfortunate that he got such a strong creature, but that's what happens when you max out a test with such a powerful ability when you aren't supposed to have any Ancestral Ability to begin with.'

He paused, staring deep into Tyr's somewhat desperate and focused eyes:

'Still, If I know you correctly through the short time I've spent with you, Tyr, I know you can do it. Compared to Rudra, this thing is still inferior.'

The eagle swooped down again, pin-missiling toward Tyr before narrowly missing again.

This continued for a little while longer. Tyr got shoved and bruised from time to time, even getting a little lacerated on his abdomen.

Yet, the look in his eyes remained the same. He was focused; determined to find a way to win.

Tyr attempted to use Blink Step to catch the bird but failed since it didn't stop moving--unlike Tyr, who would go back to normal speed instantly after using his spell.

He tried parrying it with his spear, but its sheer force was too powerful, knocking the boy off course.

30 seconds had passed, yet there still seemed to be no way to win.

Most of the people viewing this part of the exam were silent, closely observing Tyr as he struggled.

Some examinees gulped loudly, 'I got off easy... there's no way in a million years I could beat such a beast.'

'The fact he's still in the battle is impressive on its own, whether he manages to win or not.'

The squads didn't talk much either, absorbed in the actions of the teen.

They couldn't help but be captivated by his conviction. It didn't seem like he could do anything to win--he was completely overpowered in every metric at first glance.

The eagle swooped down, narrowly missing this time as it went back up.

Tyr began to run around the arena, a new plan sprouting in his mind.

As he panted slightly he mused: 'I'll have to do something out of order to beat this thing. At the end of the day, it isn't a real creature. I'm just going to have to bet that it won't be able to adapt quickly to a sudden and odd movement that isn't normally seen. Otherwise, I won't lose to this thing, but I won't be able to beat it in the 10-minute deadline either.'

As Tyr continued to run around the arena, he kept a good eye on the eagle as he had been doing for the entire fight, 'From what I've noticed, it flies exactly about 20 feet away from me in a perfect circle at all times before swooping down. This is probably to get the perfect attack every time. This means that I am a means of its coordination. I control its movements.'

At that moment, The bird flew closer to Tyr--attempting to circle him.

However, since Tyr was hugging the wall at all times, the bird was unable to circle since it was going to have to exit the parameters of the dome over the examination room.

Tyr smiled as he saw this, 'Perfect! This is exactly what I wanted.'

The eagle's perfect circling motion broke off as it began to move in an obtuse half-oval motion.

Still, this didn't stop it from swooping down.

'You can come for me, but your path isn't as perfect as before. It won't be a perfect shot.'

The eagle thrust its wings against the ground and began swooping around the side of the arena toward Tyr.

However, with its perfect circle off balance, its right-side wing scraped against the wall. This caused it to sway side to side for a moment. It looked to the right momentarily, balancing itself again but unable to lose contact with the wall.

Tyr noticed that it was more preoccupied than before, 'It's still coming for me though, as expected. Its balance is off, unlike the other times, and its thinking is slightly distracted. This is the perfect opportunity to catch it off guard.'

As the beast's sharp beak closed in on Tyr, he abruptly jumped forward and landed on the wall in front of him without curving--bouncing off of it again as he pointed his spear toward the bird.

'Blink Step!'

With the momentum of his jump still propelling him through the air, he appeared directly in front of the bird: above its beak and in front of its eyes with his spear pointed right at its skull.

This was done in a swift and almost flawless manner, taking everyone in the examination room in shock.

'I win.' A grin stretched across Tyr's face.