Chapter 32 Examination Part 10

Before the great blacksmith, there were many things that didn't exist. For one, before him, there was no blacksmith in the world that could even create any of the mystic swords. But another thing was the wildlife; animals before the great blacksmith were just animals. But when he came and started to create and birth his children, his actions began to change the world. The birth of only one of his children could change an entire ecosystem. This drastic change forced the natural wildlife to either adapt or die. Some evolved into behemoths—roided up super monsters that are seen as highly vicious and dangerous—while other animals evolved to be closer to that of humans, having the ability to speak and walk on two legs but still sharing their original animal traits. These beasts that were able to evolve this way are referred to as beastmen, and their natural habitats that were forever altered by the great blacksmith were called the badlands.

And one of these such beastmen was now standing between the entrance exam applicants and passing the first part of the exam. The bull beastman, Angus the Minotaur, stood proudly where he was. He waited expectantly for one of the applicants to grow some balls and come right at him, but none of them did. As he scanned the crowd, looking at all the terrified faces, he sighed, "You know just standing there isn't going to help any of you pass. Come on," he said, waving his hand towards him, "one at a time or all at once, I don't care which, just stop being such cowards and just come at me."

The beastman was laying out bait; he was trying to goad them into a fight, but none were biting well, I wouldn't say all of them. From the crowd, an applicant rushed out with blinding speed. If the beastman wasn't a trained soldier, he would have been caught off guard. But he blocked the attacker's incoming attack, clashing blades with them. The applicant that rushed out, breaking away from the crowd, was none other than Zack. He clashed with the big bull man who towered over him. Both of them were smiling.

"So," Angus said, "there is one among that does have some semblance of a fighting spirit."

"You damn right I do," Zack responded. "Here I thought this exam was getting a bit boring, then here you pop up like a gift from heavens," Angus laughed. "Well, aren't you so sweet."

The two then proceeded to be locked in combat as the crowd looked on, mostly in horror. "His insane," many thought. "He has one of the mystic blades, a rental can't do a thing against him." And even though it was true, Zack continued fighting on. Zack swiped at the bull's head, but their size difference was too great; he couldn't reach him. Angus swung his axe down with unbelievable strength and speed. Zack didn't even waste time trying to block or parry; he just dodged his attack. The axe coming down created a large crater. From a bird's eye point of view, it looked like a massive sinkhole.

From where he was, the announcer, Moon D, was getting very giddy with excitement. Zack, who didn't fall down the crater with Angus, now had the high ground. He jumped headfirst into the hole aiming to end this fight, but without looking, Angus blocked it with his own weapon. Rickenbacker, "ha! Nice try," Angus said, blood pumping, lifting his head, making direct eye contact with his opponent while still in the air.

Zack did a forward flip, putting his feet on Angus's weapon, then he flipped again. As he did, he slashed the giant beastman across his back. "Damn, too shallow," he thought as he landed behind him, ready for a counterattack. As he prepared himself, he noticed his sword was already cracked from their encounter. He chuckled, "What did I expect? These mystic blades are the real deal."

But his chuckle was greeted with another; the bull man Angus was laughing. "Not bad, kid," he said as he turned around. He rushed at him swinging his axe. As they continued their battle, back to the other applicants, none had moved a single inch since Zack and Angus started fighting, not even Jake. If you would have asked him, he probably would have said it was because he was catching his breath. But that wasn't the real true reason; he was afraid. Seeing a beastman that huge made him freeze up. But when he saw Zack charge forward with not a hint of fear or hesitation, he felt guilty. But even with this mountain of guilt, he felt he still didn't move to back Zack up. And because of that lack of inaction, he was taunted by the voice. She called him a fool and a coward, and that's how he felt.

Within the crowd of scared applicants, there were those that weren't fearful, but they knew they couldn't defeat the Minotaur alone. One of them, who didn't even want to fight the beastman, was a little girl. She was a small, petite girl with big brown eyes and her hair pulled into two messy pigtails, holding a dagger. She smirked when Zack made first contact with Angus and was even happier when they both fell down the hole. She pumped her arms in excitement. "This is my chance," she said in a little squeaky voice. She took off, weaving her way through the crowd of people, being the second of the applicants to have the balls to make a move. She was small but fast. She ran weirdly with her hand behind her back with amazing speed. She was making her way to the only exit. Seeing this, other applicants started to come back to reality. The giant was gone; he fell down the sinkhole occupied, nearly all of them started to follow the girl's lead, running for the only exit.

"Go, hurry while that thing's busy!"

"Yes, hurry! We can pass, we can do it!"

A stampede of people was running for freedom. Back in the crater, Zack and Angus were still locked in combat. Even though he had landed a clean hit on his back, Zack hadn't made any more headway against the beastman. Every slash the bull man swung at him, Zack had to just evade, not taking the risk to block it. But every time he attacked himself, Angus had no problem blocking. Each time their weapons clashed, Zack's would break more, and each time they clashed or whenever Angus's weapon made contact with the ground, the axe's blades began to glow blue. On their current clash, they both could hear the stampede of people trying to escape.

Zack smiled and taunted the beastman, "So, what gonna do now, Mr. Minotaur? You're busy with me while your post isn't being guarded."

Angus smiled at Zack, not the least bit bothered. "Busy is that what you think I am? How cute." After saying this, Angus tightened his grip on his weapon. The blue color it was gaining started to brighten as the blades started to vibrate. The vibrations were so strong that they broke Zack's sword. "Oh great, not again," he thought as he backed up, putting distance between him and Angus. In one fluid motion, the beastman named Angus swung his axe towards the sound of the stampede, just like Judas did and Nefertari. He called out the name of his sword, "Rickenbacker Blue Streak!" The words he said were the name of an attack. As he slashed, blue energy was released from his axe, and that blue energy slash crashed right into the stampede of applicants.