บท 23: Infiltration

Instinctively, Alexandre stepped to the side and shoved the speaker violently away. A moment later, he saw his assailant's identity.

She was a young woman of about the same age as him, probably of Indian or Iranian origin, with fair skin but lightly tinted. She wore a uniform similar to his own, though it was integrated with what looked like riot gear-style armor.

The young woman snapped, "What the hell are you doing? Maybe you need to spend a few days in the stockade to calm down…" Her voice trailed off when she noticed the badge on Alexandre's chest. "Oh," she said in a much friendlier tone, "You'll be taking part in tomorrow's test! My apologies. Still, you're not supposed to be out here alone. Please come back to the fire. There'll be an announcement shortly."

"No problem," Alexandre said in a flat tone. "I was just on my way back anyway." He followed the young woman to the bonfire, where everyone else was wearing school uniforms and drinking alcohol. 'This must have been the group the idiot on the road was part of,' Alexandre thought to himself.

The young woman gave Alexandre a nod. "Alright, enjoy your evening. I need to return to my patrol."

Alexandre had a sudden impulse. "Wait, I've never seen you around before. You're very pretty. What's your name?"

The woman gave him a surprised look which turned, after a moment, to a slight smile. "Latika," she said. "And you?"

"Alexandre," he replied. "Can we meet again?"

Latika said, "Sure. I'll be done with patrol duty tomorrow at dawn. If you want, we can grab a bite to eat tomorrow evening at eight. Does the Iwo Chinese restaurant sound good?"

Alexandre nodded. "I'll see you then."

Latika left, leaving Alexandre alone with the other students of the academy. A young, drunk student nearby shouted, "Hell yeah, brother! Ready to crush some maggots tomorrow?"

Alexandre grabbed a bottle of beer from a nearby folding table and raised it. "Yeah, brother, I'm so looking forward to it. I hope Omega lets me take one of those losers' skulls as a trophy."

It'd been a while since Alexandre had drunk a beer, and the chilly air had kept his can ice-cold. He cracked the can open and raised it to his lips, but before he could take a sip, a skinny man wearing glasses grabbed his arm, spilling the beer all over Alexandre's front. "Bro, where's your Hunterdeck? You're never supposed to take it off!"

Alexandre shook the man off and snapped, "Fuck you, asshole!"

The man with the glasses squinted at Alexandre in the firelight. "Wait a second, I don't recognize you. What'd you say your name is?"

The drunk student who'd cheered a minute ago laughed at the man with the glasses. "Calm down, Iwaka! Have another drink. You're too on edge, brother. You can be all hardcore tomorrow for the test."

Iwaka glared at him. "You're too trusting, Mindaugas. Have you forgotten that there are currently thousands of Hunter candidates roaming this island, including just down the road in town? I'm starting to think this guy's an impostor—"

Alexandre knew he had to act immediately to preserve his cover. "You're talking a lot of shit," he spat. "How about I shut you up?" At the same moment, he allowed his anger to take hold, and his eyes turned fluorescent blue.

This was the sign that proved to all the students that he couldn't be a mere candidate. When a Hunter used their powers or experienced strong emotions, their eyes turned a brilliant, shining blue which grew in strength and intensity as their powers or emotions grew stronger. Up till this point, Alexandre had kept his emotions under control so that he wouldn't tip off the other candidates, but now he allowed the color to shine brightly for everyone to see to prove that he, just like them, had been modified by the Z Virus.

Despite seeing the light in Alexandre's eyes, Iwaka didn't back down. He curled his hands into fists and raised them up.

Mindaugas shouted, "That's enough! We're forbidden to fight!"

Alexandre ignored him. Before the cocky Iwaka could make another move, Alexandre lashed out and snatched Iwaka by the throat, lifting him into the air. "Try to punch me, will you? My turn first." Then he curled his free hand into a fist and prepared to send Iwaka flying.

Suddenly a woman of about thirty-five, dressed in a military uniform, stepped close and grabbed Alexandre's punching arm with steely strength. "Enough! You should've listened to your friend. Move one more finger and you'll be locked up. Make me angry, and you'll be expelled entirely!"

Alexandre turned to glare at the woman, his fluorescent eyes shining even brighter as he let his anger fill him up. "Let go of me right now."

There was a long moment of frozen silence as everyone at the party stared on. The only sound was the crackle of the bonfire.

Then Alexandre Alexandre dropped Iwaka and suppressed his rage, letting the light fade from his eyes. Iwaka gasped on the ground, clutching his throat, and the woman finally dropped Alexandre's arm.

"Smart move," she growled. "Don't let this happen again."

Alexandre let out a bitter laugh.

He struck out at Iwata who was just getting up, slamming him in the face with his fist. The student went flying and rolling three meters along the ground, screaming in pain.

And in the same moment, Alexandre pivoted on his heel and drove his other fist toward the solar plexus of the woman who'd grabbed him.

But the woman was no rookie. She reacted at lightning speed by blocking with elbow, though the force sent her staggering back nearly a meter.

The woman's own eyes lit up even more brightly than Alexandre's own. "Watch carefully," she called to the gathered students. "Observe how you pay with your life when you attack a professor."