Test [2]

"The watcher from above."

There was a silence that followed. 

"Wow... that's reeaally creative," Xaler blinked. 

The man glared at him and he immediately put his hands up as if to say that he meant no harm. 

Meanwhile, I was starting to think that maybe I shouldn't have helped this guy after all. 

I cleared my throat. 

"Well, can we start?"

The man nodded. I took a deep breath. I needed to pass this test. It was the first step to my grand plan. 

The man positioned himself a distance away from me. I stepped away from the rest of the onlookers.

"Okay, here goes nothing."

One of the underlings handed me a blunt needle. I took it and spun it between my fingers, getting used to the sensation. I had used needles before, though not in this way. 

The person holding the timer adjusted it before saying,"Okay, ready and... go!"

I burst forward with speed. In a matter of seconds, I arrived before my target and swiped at him with the needle.

But I was too slow and he sidestepped me. But that was what I wanted him to do.

I spun around appearing behind him quickly and reaching my right hand towards his neck. He blocked it my right hand, but before he could react, the needle was already on his neck.

I heard the beep of the timer as it paused. 

"Hm?" Xaler noticed something.

"Ah, she sure is crafty," he thought. But it wasn't against the rules, so it should be fine.

"12.87 seconds," the person who was timing announced.

After hearing the result, I let my hand drop to my sides, spinning the needle again.

The man stared at me with an unreadable expression. Annoyance perhaps? I couldn't quite figure it out. I decided to ignore it. 

I walked back, standing next to Xaler. 

"Heh, not bad," he smirked. "Purposely being slow so that you would miss, then turning while changing the needle to your other hand.

Then you misled him with your right hand, before the actual attack with your left. Not bad, not bad."

I raised my eyebrows. It was a simple trick I used, since I wasn't confident in passing with pure speed. 

But this guy was more than he looked. I had thought he was just a normal teenager, but he knew more than met the eye, didn't he?

"Heh," I laughed quietly, turning back to face the man. "I really didn't need to help him after all..."

***

The man could still feel the needle on his neck. She had used a simple trick and he wouldn't have fallen for it had he not underestimated the girl. 

He felt annoyed that he, a Hunter about to ascend to Master, would be defeated so easily. 

"Your weakness is that you underestimate your opponents, Linden," he recalled something that his superior told him before. 

He made a note to himself to not let his guard down no matter who he was facing. 

"You have passed the first test, with an score of 7.13 seconds faster than the requirement. 

Now, your next task is to break that wooden dummy. To pass, you need to destroy it within 10 blows." 

Linden motioned for his underlings to bring it over. It was considerably heavy, requiring two people to carry it over.

"You may start whenever you're ready."

The girl walked up to the wooden dummy and closed her eyes, not moving. 

Just as Linden was getting impatient, she finally opened her eyes and got into an attack stance. 

As she pulled her arm back ready to swing, Linden noticed her blue eyes flashed red and her aura had changed.

It felt deadly.

She released her arm and punched the wooden dummy. 

It didn't move, but the impact of the punch caused cracks to spread throughout the wooden dummy.

She punched it another time. 

The cracks widened.

Another time.

The cracks became deeper.

And with one last blow, the wooden dummy shattered like glass. 

***

I walked up to the wooden dummy after hearing the man say that I could begin. 

I closed my eyes. Just like the previous test, I lacked pure strength. I knew that. 

But if I had something to fuel me, it was different. 

I relieved my memories of my past life. 

The moment Kiefer betrayed me. 

The moment my beloved brother died. 

My parents blaming his death on me. 

All my pent-up anger and grief and guilt came back to me like a tidal wave from just those memories. 

I opened my eyes. 

I saw the leader of that damned organisation in front of me. 

I gritted my teeth, clenching my fists. 

I hated, no, despised him. I wished to kill him with my own hands. 

I pulled my fist back and punched him. I heard a crack. 

The cause of my misfortune. 

I punched him again and again. 

He deserved to die. 

I punched it another time.

I felt it crumble and when I blinked, the bastard had disappeared and in its place was a shattered wooden dummy. 

I looked down at my hand and cursed under my breath. Blood dripped from my fist.

"Uh... four blows."

"Well done, you've passed the test." I heard the man say. He reached his hand out towards me, saying, "Welcome to the Sha-"

I slapped his hand away. Not yet. 

"More..." 

I needed more.

"Huh?"

"There's still... one more test."

I looked up and raised one finger at him. 

"I want to... fight you."

***

Xaler smirked. As expected, she wasn't a normal girl. 

The results weren't exactly exceptional, but he'd seen her fight with the gangsters just now.

She didn't have brute force. That much he knew.

Which meant that something was driving her to pass the test. 

Past experiences, maybe. 

He wondered what she had gone through to be this motivated.

"More..."

He saw her point at the man. 

"I want to... fight you."

Hearing her, Xaler's smile only grew wider. 

He looked forward to seeing her fight against someone much stronger than her.

But if she was in this state... who knew what level she was truly at? 

"Heh..."

"...heh heh," Xaler laughed in amusement. 

"Interesting, Rowena Foxxe..."