44 Adventurer's Guild (pt5)

*Kling* a metal sound rebounded around

But it wasnt the end yet, he saw Xylene running in front of him, since he was used to being a defender he decided to risk and do a forward slash to create a gap between them and for him to stabilize his balance

However, instead of avoiding the attack, Xylene only slowed her movement before finally striking his sword and guiding its speed further away

The weight of her sword was lighter, and its a given that her sword should be more faster in attack

He didn't expect his attack to end up like this, and Xylene managed to closely get into his own zone

As a trained one, he disregard the sword and quickly took a stance with a shield. However he was shocked to see that the shield itself was broken and had a huge dent in it that was clearly emitting a few strand of smoke

Unable to believe the sight of it and even felt that the hand itself was numbed, he looked up infront of him only to find Xylene slowly raising her head into him with a resolute face

●●●

After she threw the knife like she never cared for it at all, she broke into run forward intercepting the incoming sword with force, while her head lowered, leaving everything into her senses and only looking at her path

She held the Rapier on her Main hand and drew an upward arc swing disregarding everything and leaving it all into strength

She didnt care at all and saw that the sword only managed to hit the shield in front of her away. She didnt care. And all she wanted to do is to end it all. She threw her frustration inside the burner to fuel every bit of her attack

'Fighting others and quarrels' as much as she can she avoided them all. She forcefully plastered the word pacifist in front of her face and pulled her punches until one day, she can no longer make herself fight back anymore. While she knew that her former self did this, she knew that once she fight back, they too will fight back, and in the end who will be the one that will be on top? we both will only end up on the same result and bad end. Its just useless fighting back, it wont do any better to return the punches so she disregarded them all and put a face of a pacifist

But deep inside?, what she actually felt is that she wanted to curse them all endlessly and tear them off limb by limb until they die...

Just for today, the bottle with cap was released, and for the first time in her life she managed to release it

Seing the sword coming back to her everytime the shield was off, it was like a seesaw that was never ending, a mark she knew was part of her enemy's fighting style

*Step*

Her heart was pumping furiously and everything around her darkened out, but one figure in front of her remained the same

Ray, and the incoming sword

Time seemed to slowed down and she felt and understand that everything in her vision was moving as if it was frame by frame...

*Tick*

*Tick*

Slowly and slowly everything progressed, and a small tick can be heard slowly amplifying itself on the background

Its familiar... When did I heard it? she knew that its just recently. A word was appearing on her mind but she cant happen to actually remember what it is

She, or specifically her body, it instinctively punched the sword's face and it miraculously managed to actually redirect the trajectory of the downward slash

Losing both the shield and the sword, for the first time Ray felt that he was cornered

However, both the left and the right hand of Xylene was off as they both hit something and its hard to just regain control of it back

Losing all cards, they are both left vulnerable to any attacks

Xylene gritted her teeth and decided to stake everything and moved a step forward finally deciding to tackle her body into Ray. Her tackle was upward and it manage to break the last bit of Ray's stance as they both fall into the ground

Xylene with both her hand, held the belt immediately, throwing her remaining Rapier away while the off hand dagger already flown away earlier when she punched the sword and when she felt numb with her hand

With the belt, the knives and the last dagger, she held it high and was about to stab downwards to Ray to finish him off, when a voice suddenly called from behind

"Stop"

A simple word, stop, but she managed to calmed herself last minute

Her hands was severely shaking before and she cant pull a knife out so she took the whole belt instead

Tears runs in front of her face along with sweat that was going down of her face. For the first time, she felt that she was freed of her emotions, she managed to release her pent up anger, and finally she let loose a smile before weakly dropping down beside Ray

She fall unconscious...

●●●

"That was indeed problematic" the Guild master said a he kept pondering on the topic that they had

"We would need to make a request to Mercenary's Guild for this and if they are not able to get on it, we would need the help of the prided Mounts that Knight's Guild specializes. Since it was on the waters, the Adventurer's Guild couldn't do anything with it can only pass it on others"

"Is that so?" Eline said lowly

"Miss Eline, you should contact the Merchant's Guild so that they could personally request of it. You should know that it would also boost the guild's credibility if they do that" the woman said

"Well it would indeed help. I was hoping that you could do something about it beforehand so as to avoid making it any worst. But I agree, I should get a say from the Merchant's Guild first before the first step could be done. Ill head there immediately after this" Eline said in understanding

*Knock knock knock* A knock sounded from the door as it slowly opened

"What is it?" The Guild master said

"Its about the test that was conducted earlier" the voice of Claire could be heard

"What about it?"

"Examinee named Xylene, managed to pass the exam"

"Hoh... is that so" The Guild master replied as he remembered the girl that he saw just earlier, 'She had a small body, and her beauty was kind of high for her age, and she seemed to be shy but that should not hinder her for passing the test' he though as he think about the chances

"Unfortunately she has fallen unconscious after the test" Claire's voice clearly voiced her nervousness

"Hah?" Eline broke a cry almost immediately "What happened to her?" she ask with abit of anger and concern for her. If they did not rush the decision earlier nothing should have happened to her

"She passed the Exam and managed to defeat Ray on a duel, apparently she managed to knock him off and was a single strike away to finish him. After the test she passed out"

"What?" both the woman and the Guild Master said hurriedly

"You mean Ray? that C rank?" the woman said

"Yes Vise Master" she said with her voice nearly cracking

"How did Ray get to be the Test Conductor?" Guild master said as he think of possibilities

"Aparently, none of the on shift Test conductors were available, plus the remaining staff doesnt have enough experience to conduct the test"

"So you called for him who happens to be on site huh" Guild master said finally understanding

"Where is she now?" The Vise master said as they all stood up and ready to move into the location

Seing this, Claire given up and was about to guide them "She is currently being treated on the training hall"

●●●

Arriving on the training hall, first thing they noticed was a number of onlookers seemingly bundled at one spot

And they decided to pushed through the crowd. The crowd, recognizing the Guild master and Vice, set up a distance and let them pass as they give way

Xylene was laid on a make shift bed unconscious while beside her Ray was sitting down being treated of his own injuries

"What happened here?" the Guild master said looking at the scene

"It was the Test and Ray lost to the girl" A guy from the crowd said as the rest of them noded in response

"So its true huh" The Guild master fall in deep thought "Then. Claire go gather the data and discuss it with the Vise master, see what could be done. I'll remain in here to observe the things. As for you others, you can go back to your respective business as we are forming a crowd here"

The crowd disperse at once and the people around decided to train even further as to not lose to the girl

Seing this, the Guild master grin for himself

Eline already arrived beside Xylene. "What happened to her?" she asked Ray while slowly checking on Xylene's condition

"Dont worry, we are using the Protective gear and she only lost her consciousness by either tiredness after the test" Ray said while remembering what happened

He lost on a fight, and that is even against a little girl who was smaller than him

She had the talent and potential, however he cant help but notice the hesitation on her movement and the fact that she mostly paused every after attack which indicates that she wasn't trained with it

He also cant help but remember the smile she gave off after the fight. Its like there's something in her heart that's weighing her and she finally managed to get rid of it

"In the end, I really need to train myself even further huh" he said to himself remembering the exchanges that they had during the battle "If youre just abit older than me, I wouldve fallen in love with you at this moment" sigh... but unfortunately her age was clearly young, he wasnt even sure exactly of it as Claire only pulled him to do the job as a temporary replacement...

"About the protective gear, you dont have to worry about it as it ensures the safety of examinee and the conductor. After all, it was the prided product created by the Craftsman's Guild, specifically tailored for this occasion

●●●

The day ended as Eline decided to return back into the Ship along with Xylene while Mayrine and Erin both replaced her to head into the Merchant Guild

As for the result of the test, it would be released tomorrow along with the plate

The people who managed to see the test spread a word to each others while they all make gossips until Xylene's name was known around

As for Ray, he went home earlier after giving his part on the report, he decided to train himself even further. Thinking about what happened , he tried to remember everything that happened during the match

The Exchange and every single attack that she made

He tried to remember, but the more he remembers, the more details that finally becomes clear

All the attacks apparently happen to have a target, while he was unsure if it was just a coincidence he thinked about the possibilities

Her attacks were similar to an assassin, movements and habits, even including the weapon of choice. The role of the Rapier finally became clear and that she used it to pierce. While that sword was indeed on the Storage room, it was aligned and placed on the unique weapon's line ups. Weapons that comes in that line up were rarely used by people

Also, by putting it all together, he realized that all of her targets were mostly vital parts. The one being under the shield directly into the chest and the heart, the one pointed at the main hand that was aimed to disarm, and another going into the back where his shoulder blade was located

He realized, if he were any slower, he could've lost his life...

Last but not least, he remembered what happened on the shield. It was broken. As if something hard and fast hit it, at first he cant believe it, but after seing it at the end of the match, he was convinced that something serious must have happened to it. He felt no trace of magic in it, not even after he asked Claire who had more experience with magic than him to inspect the place

In the end, its just pure strength, he thanked himself that he didn't took the hit directly but that one was an unexpected event

This observations wasnt written on the report and that he just took it for himself

The report ended with flying colors but he still felt that something was amiss

He sighed once again, his training ended and he's headed to clean himself before finally going to sleep...

●●●

At the heated part of the match, nobody has seen the indescribable anomaly that was happening during their exchanges

It was when Xylene's eyes started give a faint glow and that her surrounding started to fluctuates while several strands of dark mist weaved around her body

Not even Xylene took a notice of it...

None of the Crowd realized what happened...

not even Ray or Claire...

And even by the end of the match, it was left alone with no witness and was quickly forgotten...