The Special Exam [3]

Somewhere in a room inside the academy campus, stood two people; both men. One of them was Robert Halls; the head of the management department of the new students.

And the other person with him was a young man with short blonde hair and a pair of leaf green eyes. His name was Ryfin Jekar; and he was the one who took the role of the examiner in the third entrance exam, though this was not the only part he played in the academy.

"What do you think about this year's batch?" asked Robert as he stared straight in the air.

Where at a distance of around five feet was a large, holographic screen that floated in the air. The screen showed was divided into six small rectangular parts and each of them showed a different scene.

But the area they were showing overall was the same; it was where the new students were teleported for the fourth and final entrance exam. That area was displayed on the screen from six different angles; like someone was looking at CCTV camera footage.

Though this was the case, the image displayed on the screen was being sent here or recorded by a special type of magic spell; one which only a selected people in the academy knew about.

Through this screen, both Robert and Ryfin were able to see what is going on in the playground and how the students are facing the exam.

And then, Ryfin took a few steps forward and stood beside Robert.

"You ask me the same thing every year and the answer I give you is also the same, this time is no different. I can't say about everyone but some kids caught my interest," said Ryfin and folded his arms as he stared at the screen.

"Oh, am I dreaming right now? How rare it is for a student to get noticed by you! How much time has passed since that miracle last happened? Two years? Three years? Or Five?" said Robert, in a tone that was full of sarcasm.

However, Ryfin simply ignored him as he clicked his tongue in frustration.

The view on the screen currently showed a student who was running away from an orc.

"How many of them have been eliminated?" the question came from Ryfin's side.

"More than twenty," said Robert; it was a short, straight-to-the-point answer.

To this Ryfin sighed, "It hasn't even been an hour since the exam began, and already…" a look of disappointment could be seen on his face. He was not at all happy with the current situation.

Robert glanced at him and then with a slight smile on his face, he said, "Can't do anything about that, at least the number of students who failed is lower than the last time."

"Looks like this one is about to go down as well," Ryfin said as he fixated his eyes on the holographic screen.

"Well, let's see what happens."

***

The boy who was running away from the orc—the one whom Robert and Ryfin were looking at through the screen—was clearly in a state of panic.

After all, he has chosen to run away rather than fight the orc then and there. He thought that he'll survive this way but the situation was not in his favor.

When he started running the orc also followed him, and now he was slowly closing the distance between them.

"Fuck you bastard! Why are you so obsessed with me huh? Go find someone else!" the boy cried.

Though the answer was given to him by a sword that came flying toward him; the orc was now close enough to launch an attack and he did so. He swung his broad and heavy blade at the boy; the blade has some cracks in it but even so, it was strong enough to cut down a human.

"Ah I'm dead!" said the boy as he closed his eyes and covered his head with his hands.

A loud CLANK sound was heard but the blade didn't hit the boy. When he stopped running and looked back he saw that someone blocked the orc's attack to save him.

It was a girl. She came dashing from the side and clashed her sword with the orc's blade, deflecting it in a way that the recoil pushed the orc back. Her long blonde hair swayed as she slid on the ground before stopping in front of the orc and her crystal green eyes were locked at the orc with a death glare.

"Are you fine?" the girl asked hurriedly as he peaked at the boy.

"Y-Yeah…somewhat," the boy replied.

Now that she'd made sure the boy was fine, her attention shifted to the orc who was about to launch another attack.

The orc held his blade with both of his hands and raised it high before bringing it down at great speed and slashing everything in its way. The girl quickly leaped on the side and then darted toward the orc.

She tightened the grip on her sword and adjusted it according to her stance and then when she was close enough, she slashed the orc's left leg with it. The orc's skin was hard so the sword didn't cut it completely but provided a deep cut.

"Kwah!!" the orc cried in pain, and that caused him to lose balance.

The girl seeking the opportunity ran toward a nearby tree. Stepping on its trunk, she launched herself on the orc.

The orc's height was more than hers but now she was above him. Her sword glowed as she passed her mana through it. Taking advantage of the gravity and combining it with the force she launched herself, she threw a slash at the orc's neck.

The sword passed through, it was not smooth as she was trying her hardest to not mess this up and applying all the force she could in this attack.

Slowly, the sword slashed the orc's neck and beheaded him. His head fell on the other side while his body sat on its knees and then fell completely to the ground.

The girl landed in front of the now dead orc's body. She swung her sword in the air, removed the blood on it, and then put it back in its sheath.

"Phew!" the girl let out a breath of exhaustion as she adjusted the hair that was coming over her eyes.

Then, she looked at the boy who was standing frozen while all this happened.

"U-Umm, thank you," said the boy and slowly walked toward the girl.

"It's alright. I was in this area when I heard your scream, and I wasn't able to just sit and watch from the distance while someone dies before my eyes," the girl replied in a soft tone.

'Damn that hurts! So she was sure that I'll die,' the boy said inwardly.

"Anyway, I'm Ster, Ster Grandkeep. What's your name?" the boy asked after revealing her name.

The girl looked at him for a while, it was as though she was hesitating, but soon that thought left her mind as she said.

"I'm Anya, Anya Blanks."