Episode 3: License Exam (5)

Just behind the Aurelis Hunter's Association Building, a large open-space training arena could be seen filled with many people sitting by the stands, waiting for the first match of the exam to begin. There, among the crowd, a few prominent figures could be spotted in the VIP section of the arena.

"...seriously? Is this what the association used their budget on? A freaking arena?" Barging into the VIP room, a white-haired man dressed in plain clothes made his way over towards a small group of people comfortably sitting by the couch. "How tactless can the association be when they don't even have the money to hire competent people to work for them?"

"Oh? It looks like errand boy Howl came! Craus too busy hanging out with women in the bar to attend?" Greeting the man as he sat down, a blonde-haired woman with round glasses and a pink beanie on her head rolled her eyes. "If you ask me, you should be more worried about your guild leader than what the association spends on!"

"Haha, very funny," Howl scoffed. "For the Merchant Time's guild leader to personally come herself, you must really not have anything better to do, huh?"

"Well excuse you! I am one of the sponsors of this event," she humphed. "It's thanks to me that you would even have the opportunity to recruit people into your sorry state of a guild! So appreciate me and my money!"

"Hah?!" With a disgusted expression, Howl scowled. "Who in their right mind would appreciate you?!"

"Enough." Before the conversation became heated, a blue-haired woman dressed elegantly in a black suit intervened. "Don't make a scene here. We're honoured guests of the Hunter's Association. So watch yourselves."

"What?! Selene!" The girl pouted. "It's just friendly banter!"

"Tch, whatever." Irritated, Howl crossed his arms, soon turning his attention over towards a black-haired man leaning against the wall in the corner of the room. "The old man couldn't come?"

"He's busy in a dungeon," the man replied. "So I was sent here in his stead."

"Huh. So it's just us A-Rankers and some lowly S-Ranker here?" he asked.

"What? Who are you calling lowly? Do you want to fight? Huh? Huh?!" The blonde-haired woman frowned. "I'll have you know, I'm the greatest and most richest S-Ranker to ever exist! You think you have the power to oppose me?"

"You want a fight? Sure! I'm sure anyone in this room can win in just seconds against you!" Howl sneered. "Your combat abilities are such a joke that if not for your stupid buffs, you wouldn't even be called an S-Ranker. So why even bother lying?"

"...why you!" she clenched her fist at Howl.

"Howl, Angela. I said enough." Once again, Selene intervened. "Rather than arguing over nothing, you should all instead be focused on the match ahead. It's about to start."

"Hmph, fine!" Sticking her tongue out at Howl, her attention moved towards the very middle of the arena, where a hunter associate stood in place. "It's a 2v2 fight, right?"

"Yes." The man leaning against the wall nodded his head. "It's a Marksman and Synergist versus a Striker and Sentinel. The opening match."

"Ugh... This better be worth my time," Howl grumbled.

...

"Woo! Go Landon go!" Loud cheers could be heard from the audience stands as two men could be seen gradually approaching the arena's stage. "Take down your opponents like it's nothing!"

The arena was filled with many people, eager for the first match of the practical exam to begin. However, despite the lively feel of the environment, the blonde-haired man in the middle of the arena had a worried expression on his face.

"Hey, Lazy Eyes! The match is about to begin! Quit joking around!" Landon whispered over to Jace. "It's not too late to discuss tactics! So what are we going to do???"

"...just do your best?" Jace shrugged, turning his attention over towards the audience stands. "That's all there is to it."

"Hah?!" At Jace's casual tone of voice, Landon cried out. "I'm being serious here! This is no laughing matter!"

"...and I'm also being serious here. What more do you want me to say?" He helplessly replied, scanning the crowd in the stadium the next second. "I'm just a poor Synergist, you know..."

"That doesn't help at all!!" Landon screamed, pointing over towards the opposing enemy team that was slowly coming into the distance. "How are we supposed to work together as a team if I have absolutely no clue what you'll be doing?!"

"I'll be supporting you," Jace reasoned. "You just have to go on the offence."

"Seriously?! I'm telling you, that's not how strategy—" As Landon was about to refute Jace, a loud whistle rang out into the area, indicating that the match had begun. "Bah! You know what! Fine, have it your way! 1v2? No problem! You can just sit back and watch the show! Don't regret not joining in sooner!"

Having had enough of Jace's laid-back attitude to the match, Landon gripped the handles of his two pistols tightly, soon pointing them straight at the two rapidly approaching opponents. At that moment, two bullets were shot out.

Bang!

"Jordon, as we discussed!" Right then and there, the Sentinel, Tammy, rushed forward, creating a magic shield to block off the incoming bullets. Then, following up from behind her, the Striker, Jordon, leapt straight at Landon with a sword in hand. "Take down the Marksman and go straight for the Synergist after!"

"Already on it!" Flashing his blade in a yellow hue, Jordon slit the air around him, protruding out lightning bolts that chased after the blonde-haired man. "This will be over in a jiffy!"

"Over in a jiffy? Dream on!" With bullets running free from his pistols, Landon continuously leapt backwards, avoiding the streaks of thunder dancing around him. "You'll have to try harder than that!" Whilst he was busily working to shake off the swordsman's mark on him, Jace stood at the back, unmoving. It was as if he was a bystander of the match.

"...ugh. Soren's not here, right?" Prior to the match starting, Jace had been on the lookout for a single person within the crowd—Soren Blade, the guild leader of Daybreaker. "If he's here... Then I'm so dead..."

Ever since finding out that the guild leaders would be a part of the audience, he was put on edge. Not because he would be in the eyes of the public, however. Rather, it was all the fault of Soren. If he were to attend, Jace would not live to see another day. After all, out of everyone in the hunter community, Daybreaker's guild leader was one of the two that knew of Jace's real identity.

"I'll be lucky if he only gives me a call after this..." He frowned, turning his attention over towards the association-distributed training pistol in his hand. "But even if he doesn't attend, there's still the problem of drawing attention to myself during this stupid exam... Ugh. I need to avoid the spotlight at all costs if I want Soren to never find out that I'm here..."

From the very beginning of the match, Jace was placed in a tight spot. All he had wanted to do was to become a hunter without any issue. But, who would've thought that everything would go wrong the moment he stepped foot into the association? From the changes to the exam's format to worrying about Soren's wrath on Jace, it was all an inconvenience.

"...sigh. This will be so much simpler if it was just a battle simulation exam." Jace ruffled his hair in frustration, soon turning his head over towards the ongoing battle between Landon and the enemy team. "But whatever... I'll just have to ensure that all the attention goes to Landon and... Huh?"

"Will you just stay put?!" Each time Jordon closed in on the distance between the Marksman and himself, the blonde-haired man pulled back, kiting at the Striker. "Tch... There's no use putting up a fight!" With the magic shields deflecting the onslaught of bullets, Jordon's blade lit up a golden hue, sending out a thunderous strike over towards Landon the next moment—throwing his rhythm off slightly.

"U-Ugh...! This is nothing!" Gritting his teeth as he took the full impact of the attack, Landon swayed to the side, shooting out bullet after bullet towards Jordon. "It's not over until say it is!"

"...what the hell am I seeing here?" As Jace turned his attention over towards the ongoing battle, his eyes opened wide in shock. "Are my eyes fooling me right now?" Witnessing what was before him, he saw that no matter the number of bullets Landon shot out, something felt amiss.

Although bullets rained down on Jordon, Jace could see that he was completely unscathed. Though, it wasn't because of the magic shields that were single-handedly blocking off all the shots. Instead, it was the problem of Landon, who was seemingly missing every single bullet he shot out.

"...????" Squinting his eyes in disbelief, he noted that there were no problems with Landon's movements. However, no matter the distance between Jordon and Landon, not a single shot landed on the Striker. "...how can he be missing this many shots???"

"Hey... Are you the Marksman or are you the Synergist?" The sight was disbelieving even to the opposing team, especially to Tammy. "How can you be missing so many shots at such a close range?!" Although there were a few bullets here and there that randomly landed on the magic shields she was busily putting up, it was nothing in the face of the other countless misses.

"...no way can his accuracy be this bad, right?" Jace was doubtful of Landon's performance. He knew not whether it was intentional or not, but the more he saw the situation, the more the situation grew dire. "Does he have something in mind?"

"...hey, Tammy!" Though the swordsman was just as shocked as everyone else, his movements didn't stop, nearly catching up to Landon as the battle raged on. "Don't get distracted! Put up your shields!"

"How the hell are you so fast?!" With Jordon's constant attempts to be up close and personal with Landon, the man was slowly backed into a corner. "Ugh...!" With the sword swaying in front of him, Landon slid down to the ground, barely dodging the attack. "But never mind that! You're dead now!"

Taking the opportunity of a back attack, Landon held up both of his pistols as close as possible to Jordon. Then, without an ounce of hesitance, he pressed the triggers, soon shooting out two bullets simultaneously.

"...?!" Taken by surprise by the attack, Jordon belatedly reacted to the bullets. However, right at that moment, a shield appeared, completely nullifying the attack. "...ah! Nice one, Tammy!"

"S-Sorry...!" Tammy cried out, focusing her energy on creating another shield for the swordsman after the previous one was shattered almost instantaneously. "I got distracted. But, let's end this now!"

"...this." Witnessing the tragic scene before him, Jace was left dumbstruck, unable to make sense of the current situation. "There's no way it'll just end like this, right?" Just moments ago he was resolute in ensuring that he wouldn't draw attention. But given the situation right now, he was in as much of a pickle as Landon. "D-Do I intervene? Ugh... At such a crucial moment too..."

"...ah." As Landon witnessed the horrific sight of his bullets rendered useless, his eyes trembled. "Dammit! After all that built-up stacks!"

"Now you've got nowhere to go!" With the opportunity given by Tammy, Jordon raised his blade high up into the sky, wanting to end the battle once and for all. However, right at that very moment, a sudden bullet shot out, accurately piercing the swordsman's leg. "A-Argh...!"

"This should be enough..." Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Jace discreetly tucked away his pistol the next moment. "Landon can't miss this next shot. Surely?" To prevent attention from being drawn to him, Jace could only shoot out a single bullet over to the Striker. However, it was more than enough for Landon to break free from his struggle.

"...!!" At the sudden turn of events, Landon who was backed into a corner a few seconds ago hurriedly took the opportunity to reposition himself, siding down onto the ground once again and appearing behind the man. "You're done for this time!"

With the discreet bullet shot out by Jace, Landon was now in an advantageous position. Not wanting to lose it, he pressed the trigger of both of his pistols, shooting out a pair of bullets in point-blank range over to Jordon.

"Tch...!" Right as the bullets made contact with the man, Jordon gritted his teeth, bearing the pain as he twisted his body, tackling Landon to the ground the next second. "Got you!"

"A-Argh...!" Landon cried out, abruptly dropping both of his guns. "What the...?! That wasn't enough?!"

"Hah... It looks like you're the one who's done for." Although he directly took the impact of the bullets, it didn't mean anything fatal. "This is the end of the road. We won." With a smile, Jordon ended the battle once and for all.