4 CHAPTER 4

On the day of the exam, Arata woke up early and got ready quickly. He was looking forward to the people who he would encounter. What tests will he give. What will be tested ?

"Let's go Arata !", Rachel called out to him. She looked pretty in her skirt. Hell, she looked good in anything. The venue of the exam was…. In the forest. There were 7 parties already gathered when Rachel and Arata got there.

"This is where I leave you. Good luck. I am sure you will be good ! Bye !", Rachel waved and went away.

Arata looked at the other participants. All of them looked muscular. After a while, A guy in glasses came in front of them.

"What's with these people ! All muscular. This is the future of Assassin…. Oh there is one. Let's see what he has got …!", Raiku thought to himself. Raiku was a tall man in a purple coat with matching pants.

"Umm, ladies and gentlemen, and all the other genders that are possible, just kill everyone. Last one standing can go to the assassin squad they like."

"That's all !", Arata thought to himself. Ok, for killing, I need to pierce them in the heart or the head. That's all right ?

As Arata was thinking this, The muscular Barbarians jumped at each other with their swords and other weapons with blades.

At Least there are no guns, Arata thought. Most standard approach is to attract less attention and kill the last person… But I knew it was not gonna be that easy.

Arata dodged to the left. He felt the wind pressure behind that blow. Arata took out his dagger and thrusted it in the opponent's brain quickly. The opponent's eyes went lifeless. Arata was stunned. He was excited. He was shaking. He never thought this was so much FUN !!!!

The first person to be killed. By a thin tall handsome man. The others who were fighting stopped in their tracks.

"Interesting talent. Wonder how high he will reach.", Raiku thought.

All the clashing and ching ching came to a stop. My plan has failed huh ?, Arata thought. I haven't really dealt with 6 people at once, do I need to ? As he was thinking, 2 muscular heads came in from the left and right. Arata jumped out on the last second as those hit each other. They got wounded by the blade. Arata took a good chance at this and stabbed one muscle head on the back of his head

Kchack !

Then he rushed towards the other muscle head but got intercepted by another guy. He dodged his attack in time, just sliding past his stomach. Arata decided to stab that guy in the heart and so he did. The wounded muscle guy rushed from the right and Arata held the dead body in front of him to stop the attack. He then pushed the body towards him as they both fell over. Out of the remaining 3 guys, two guys were already lying on the ground wounded. There was one guy still standing and he looked strong.

Arata decided to duel this guy quickly and kill him. Before Arata had any chance to move, the muscular guy sprang towards him. He was strong and agile. How could he move so fast with a grand torso like that, Arata thought to himself.

Arata was beyond anyone though. His dodging skills were top notch. It could be called like the eyes of God. He had talent for looking ahead into the future. He could predict the attacks after looking at someone's face. Person always attacked with emotion and skill, just like how music is played. Arata captured all movements and emotions of a person and predicted their next moves to dodge.

Powerful blows were being dealt by the very strong muscular guy and Arata dodged them all with ease. It was nothing compared to Rachel's beautiful attacks. These melodies were not very good but still understandable. Arata understood it and dodged accordingly. Arata thought of launching his La Campanella attack but wasn't getting the chance to execute it. He thought of an ensemble piece now.

That's it ! Ensemble piece ! The melodies which overlap to become a beautiful harmony. He thought of counterattacks now.

As The very strong muscular head was going for a slice on Arata's neck, Arata decided to block with his head. The opponent was stunned.

Hmph, This dodging freak decided to block with his arm, he is asking for death !

He forced Arata's arm out of the way to get a slice at Arata's neck. But doing so gave him a bit of delay. That was not allowed in Arata's ensemble. No mistakes were tolerated. No force was allowed. Only a battle of skills and overpowering the opponents, that was Arata's way of having fun with martial arts. Arata took this delay as an opportunity and quickly stabbed his opponent's leg. The opponent stumbled forward and missed Arata's neck. Arata then quickly finished him off with a stab at the side of the back of the opponent's head.

Arata didn't need to look back to check if he was dead or not. He went around and stabbed on the opponents hearts who were fainted or wounded to confirm their death. Screams were heard, but Arata didn't mind.

Arata had fun in killing. It marked the end of his musical piece.

"Congratulations Arata ! You pass. Now you can choose the squad you want to go into.", Raiku came out and said.

"That's it ?", Arata asked. He thought this was just the first round. It's over so fast. Woah !

"Not many people get to know the underworld after all. This was actually the most in an Enhancement type Assassin Unit exam.", Raiku answered.

"Did your unit not say anything? You must have been training with someone for over an year so they should have told you about the underworld. Otherwise how do you have those god speed reflexes?", Raiku asked.

Oh. So these people were specially trained and became muscle heads. Well, I think I am a bit overpowered….

"They said they would tell after the exam.", Arata told Raiku.

"It can't be helped, I will tell you the basic things. One of the most asked questions is how many people are involved in the underworld and how have they maintained their secrecy. Well, they haven't. There are spies and people in this line of business know the underworld know there are strong people here, and they are the ones who drive the Alvarez empire. Only Cultivation techniques are a secret. There are hypnotists applied in all squads. They can wipe a name or event from a person's memory. Also, there are alarms all over the country which tell if a person is talking about Martial Cultivation. And this alarm is made by the Prokofiev. If you have noticed, Alvarez Empire is self sufficient, has its own currency and does not trade. Trade is only between districts in the Alvarez Empire. So we have somehow maintained secrecy about martial cultivation by not letting many people to go outside the country. They just know that this country was made by those 8 specialists and are happy", Raiku said

"Ok. Hmm, What are the types of squads I can join into ?", Arata asked.

"There are three types of squads : Frontline, Assassin, Support. You can join only the Assassin squad right now. There are 19 Assassin squads. You can join them as long as they have free space and you pass their test. Here is a list", Raiku said while handing over a list.

Arata saw Zipang's name on it and it had 4 people. He also saw Mahler on that list with 8 people on the S tier. All the A tier squads(3 in total) were. There were 7 B tier and 8 C tier squads.

"I want to join the Zipang squad", Arata said.

"OK, So they were the ones who picked you up. It seems Solork has picked up an interesting talent.", Raiku thought.

"Ok, I can take you to their place and you can give their test to join. This test was for your registration and to get your first Scroll.", Raiku said.

"Oh."

Raiku handed out a scroll made with old paper. Arata gladly accepted it.

"This is the Enhancement scroll. Now it has steps that have to be followed everyday. The more do them properly, the stronger you get. After a while, you will break into the Novice realm. There are 5 realms, which are known to us. The Novice Realm, Bronze Realm, Silver Realm, Gold Realm, and Legend Realm. Only the people in the S tier squads are of Legend Realm. Also you need to be Gold Realm to form your squad."

Oh, so that's why Solork is so strong. Arata thought to himself.

"I feel like your squad will brief you on the rest of the information.", Raiku said with a smile and began walking out of the forest."

"Well, ok then, Let's see what Zipang's test is.", Arata said, following Raiku. He wanted a better and more interesting test than the one he just gave.