19 Examination

Diether entered the door as the two hunters at the lounge clicked their tongue. They were disappointed that the kid wasted his silver coin just like that.

Even the lady shakes her head after seeing him enter. Anyway, it would also turn as a lesson for the kid. It was better for him to learn the difficulty of being a Hunter at an early age.

As soon as Diether entered the room, Reiji surveyed the place and found that there was only one old man standing in the middle of the room.

The room was wide and it has about 20 tatami--

"Wait... these are similar to tatami!"

The floor mats were definitely close to the traditional Japanese flooring material. It was a bit surprising but Reiji quickly kept his cool.

"Hoho~ So it was as she said. You really look so young..."

"I may be young, but I have skills!"

"Oh! Don't take it badly. I'm actually impressed by your determination. I don't think that I'm as active as you are when I was at your age."

"Eh? Is that so? Then... thank you, old man. I misunderstood you..."

The old man just laughed at this. He has long white hair and thick eyebrows. His eyes don't seem to open at all as far as Diether can see. He was also wearing a long white robe and has a bulky cane on his left hand.

"I'm here to take the examination to become a hunter..."

"Very well... The examination would come in two parts. The first one is with me... You just have to show me what you've got and depending on your performance. I can either make you pass or fail. If you failed, you no longer need to take the 2nd examination."

"That's all?"

"Yes, that's all..."

Diether went silent for a moment as he calmed and ready himself. He couldn't speak with his master in the meantime since this old man would definitely sense it.

'So, even the examiner was incapable of sensing master's disguise. They were really unable to tell that master was an Arcana! Amazing!'

Diether knows that even non-arcanist should be capable of sensing the aura of an Arcana so his respect towards his master only increased.

"Alright... But what do you mean about me showing what I got?"

"You can try to either show off your skill with a performance or just try to attack me with whatever you got back there..."

"A chance to showcase all my strength, huh."

"Yes... I'll have you know that I'm not easily satisfied."

In truth, the first part of the exam depends on the examiner's whim. Right now, this old man wanted the simplest way to determine one's ability by letting him show whatever power he has to convince him to continue on the second part of the exam.

"Then, pardon me..."

Soon, Diether got close to the center of the room and took his aggressive stance. He lifted the shinai and prepared for a men strike. He was sure that whatever strength he has, this old man who looks so much stronger would easily defend against it so he didn't have to hold back.

"Do you want me to Take Over?"

Reiji asked the kid one last time but Diether only shook his head as he also wanted to let his master see that he was a worthy student capable of utilizing the techniques taught by his master.

Of course, in case his strength was truly not enough, he would have to ask for Reiji's help since their aim here was to enter the deeper part of the forest together with the other hunters. There would be no point if he didn't pass the examination.

Aside from that, he has already spent almost all his money so he had to earn them back by adventuring inside the forest.

Diether decisively took three small steps forward before he used his strongest strike to hit the old man.

As expected, the man didn't bother to dodge as he wanted to see how much power was behind this young man's attack.

Pah!

His overhead strike was met with the old man's cane.

"Ho~ Not bad. But if this is your strongest strike, you might be eaten alive by any normal beasts inside the forest. It's not enough! You'll just be a burden if you're in a team mission."

The old man has such an unusual way to motivate people.

Diether wasn't over yet as he tried to do a follow up attack after his strike was blocked by the bulky cane.

The shinai suddenly move swiftly like it was a snake and aim at the opponent's throat!

'This kid is attempting a Tsuki!'

Even Reiji was a little bit surprised because he never physically taught him this and only showed it a few times during real-time battles.

Whoosh!

The tsuki missed by a small margin because the old man decided to step back to avoid the strike from hitting him.

"That's dangerous..."

He didn't expect that the kid would decisively try to hit him with such lethality. But he also felt better since the kid was truly taking this battle seriously.

Diether was sure that his performance was not enough so he had to concentrate using his spritiual energy and send a much more powerful attack on his way.

Haaa... Haaa...

Diether started to get tired after a few more minutes of battle and the old man seems to have realized this as he was already planning to stop their examination.

"Alright... That should be en--"

As soon as he plans to end their bout, he saw the kid's eyes suddenly change.

'Did he get mad after I parried or dodged all of his attacks?'

He couldn't tell exactly but he knows that something has changed to the aura of this young man.

It felt more dangerous so he stopped himself from talking and waited for him to try one more time.

The kid wasn't moving for a few seconds but he saw the kid's arm moved a little bit and he was sure that he was about to attack him so he raised his cane to parry another one of his strike but he suddenly realized that the kid didn't actually strike!

'Tsk! A feint!'

As he was aiming to block an overhead strike that turned out to be a feint, he wasn't in a good position!

Whoosh!

The kid's real attack suddenly came to him unhindered...