Strength Test

5 Minutes Earlier,

"I'll be going next, so how about we hold a little contest" Lydia said.

"Contest?" Akira said.

"Yeah, the loser has to obey any three things the winner says" Lydia said.

"The person with the shortest time to complete this test wins"

"Ok, how can we make sure the loser will obey?" Akira asked.

Lydia activated her aura and made a little dagger, and she made a little cut on her thumb.

"What are you doing?" Akira asked.

"Insurance policy. A way to make sure the loser will obey" Lydia replied

"Now do the same"

Akira activated his aura and made a small cut on his thumb.

"Now we will touch our thumb together, making a blood oath" Lydia said.

"Blood oath? Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Akira said.

"Yeah, it's a deal that can't be broken, because it was forged with the blood of the two people making the deal" Lydia said.

They brought their thumb together.

"It's done" Lydia said.

Present,

Lydia is standing in front of the instructor with her bow in hand.

"You may now begin" The instructor said as he held his sword and activated his aura.

"Is she seriously using a bow" Someone said.

"And she didn't pick any arrow"

"Isn't that Lydia Spellbound"

"Thar's right. She is the one recognized as the one with the best talent of her generation in the elven kingdom"

She immediately pulled the bow string and activated her Nature property.

"PLANT ARROW" Lydia said. An arrow made of plants formed at the stretched bow. She released it, It flew at a great speed towards the instructor.

The instructor was barely able to dodge it due to the seal on his power, the arrow left a scratch on his face, and even with his aura, he still got injured.

"That's one" Lydia said.

She rushed towards him, covering her bow in aura and swinging it at him. He uses his sword to parry her attack and pushes her back. She draws her bow and the plant arrow forms once again on her bow. She held her stretched bow and started adding more mana into her attack. The instructor saw this and rushed towards her and attacked; she dodged the attack and released the arrow. The arrow flew up

~Her shot missed, now I just have to wait until time is up~ The instructor thought.

Lydia smiled while looking at the instructor.

"I'm sure you think that you made me miss my shot when you rushed at me" Lydia said.

~Wait that means~ The instructor thought, then he looked up.

He saw the arrow was still in mid air and was falling down.

"I guess the test is over now" Lydia said as she snapped her finger.

"Explode" The arrow in the air burst and many arrows rained down at great speed on the instructor, creating a cloud of dust around him.

Everyone stared in the direction of the dust, waiting for the instructor to come out.

"Candidate 300, you have passed the test" A voice said from inside the dust.

The cloud of dust settled soon after and revealed the instructor with multiple cuts on his body. Lydia walked towards Akira.

"It's your turn" Lydia said.

"It's been only 5 minutes since she started" Someone said.

"Yeah, Lydia Spellbound finished the test in 5 minutes"

"She really is the strongest elf of her generation"

"Next candidate!" The instructor yelled.

Akira walked up to the weapon rack, picked a katana and walked towards the instructor.

"Sir are you gonna be alright? You can rest if you want to, you're full of scratches" Akira said.

"Hahaha" The instructor laughed.

"There is no need for that. It's all just starches as you said. I'll be fine"

"Are you ready?"

"Yes" Akira replied.

"You may now begin" The instructor said.

Akira unsheathe his sword and charged at the instructor.

*Clang*

Two swords clashed as Akira and the instructor exchanged a flurry of attacks.

~Even though my powers are sealed, but to be able to fight on equal terms with me is impressive~ The instructor thought.

The stale mate continued, but the instructor was slowly getting pushed back.

~No, he's actually pushing me back. I'm losing ground~ The instructor thought.

~He's definitely better than the last candidate, but this won't be enough to win~

"If this is the best you can do, then you won't pass this test" The instructor said.

Akira jumped back, breaking the stale mate and activated his aura. He made swords put of aura and launched it at the instructor.

"Aura attacks" The instructor said in shock as he dodged them.

"You're the most skilled candidate I've seen"

Akira made one more aura sword and launched at the instructor. The instructor parred the attack, but Akira wasn't in front of him again, he was behind him. Akira attacked him, but the instructor blocked it. The force of the attack blew him up.

~Such strength and speed~ The instructor thought.

"Now comes the final attack" Akira said as he activated his weapon property.

"Bring it on" The instructor said as he activated his aura and took a defensive stance while in mid-air.

"DEATH STANCE" Akira said as he entered a quick draw stance. A black aura surrounded his sword. He continued charging the attack

~It's that move he used when he was fighting against the commander~ The instructor thought.

"CUTTING EDGE" Akira said as he swung his sword at the instructor as he was still in mid-air. A black sword energy flew towards the instructor.

As the instructor was about to dodge the attack, the felt dizzy and his vision blurred.

~What, so he can also use frequency~ The instructor thought.

The attack hit the instructor, and the fell to the ground, causing a cloud of dust to cover the area.

"Candidate 493 has passed the test" The instructor said from the cloud of dust.

"But how, he only landed one hit on him" Someone said.

"Yeah it's not fair"

The dust cloud settled soon after, revealing a huge slash across the instructor's chest.

"I think it's safe to assume that he passed the test, because I am unable to continue" The instructor said.

"He passed the test in 2 minutes" Someone said

"Who is that"

"Isn't that the guy that fought the commander"

"It's no wonder he was able to do that"

Akira walked over to Lydia.

"I win" Akira said with a smile.

"So what are the three things you want?" Lydia asked.

"I hope it isn't something perverted?"

"No need to worry, I won't. But I won't use them now anyways" Akira said.

Some time passed and the test was over.

[The second phase of the test is now over and out of the original 500 candidates, only 250 remain. You can see the rankings of the first and second tests on the leaderboard] A woman over the P.A. system said.

[The final test will start the next day, so candidates go and rest and replenish your energy before the final phase.]

A leaderboard appeared in front of all the candidates. Akira and Lydia walked over to the leaderboard.

"Hey, Akira" A familiar voice called out from behind.

Akira turned back and saw Naomi and Jake.

"Hey Akira, how did your test go?" Naomi asked.

"It went well, what about you?" Akira asked.

"It was alright" Naomi answered.

"Same" Jake replied.

"Hey" Lydia said as she came from behind Akira.

Akira and his friends looked at the leaderboard. Jake was ranked 8th, Naomi ranked 6th, Lydia ranked 3rd , Akira was ranked 2nd and Elisabeth was ranked 1st.

"What? Akira finished in 2 minutes but ranked 2nd , then who ranked 1st?" Jake asked.

Then they looked and saw the name Elisabeth Dawnstar and she finished in 1 minute.

"Who is Elisabeth Dawnstar?" Akira asked.

"Akira you need to be careful when you're around her, she can be….." Lydia said, but she was interrupted by someone.

"I can be what? Lydia" A voice said from behind.

Lydia turned back and saw a petit, short, black-haired girl.

"Elisabeth!" Lydia yelled with shock evident on her face.