Chapter 8 Hunter exam

Buck sat at the port watching the sun begin to rise "A new world free of my history, a fresh start, I don't know why or how I was brought here but I believe I can be free here and live how I want to, to be able to achieve my dream of becoming the best swordsman."

He contemplated his life here as he sat dangling his legs above the water as the sun grew higher and higher on the horizon

Buck stood at the edge of the harbour, watching as the first rays of the sun began to paint the sky in shades of pink and orange. The air was still and cool, and the only sounds were the gentle lapping of the water against the shore and the distant cry of a seagull.

As he gazed out at the horizon, he noticed a dark shape emerging from the mist. It was a ship, slowly making its way towards the harbour. Buck watched in fascination as it grew larger and more defined with each passing moment until he could make out the details of its mast and rigging.

The boat soon grew closer and pulled up to the harbour near where Buck was sitting watching the sunrise

Upon the boat, Buck could see rows of men eagerly waiting to get off some wanted to be finished being on the water for too long with grief-stricken expressions on their faces while others were proudly standing with smiles on their faces

While He looked up at the boat he saw one of the crewmen on the boat shout down to him "Hey kid, grab this for me and ill give you an apple" he then threw a long thick rope down to buck

Buck stood up and grabbed the rope with one hand not letting it fall into the water, "good job kid" the man said seeing the boy managing to catch the rope

The crewmen then jumped down from the boat onto the harbour and buck-handed him the rope, which he tied around a stump at the harbour

"What's your name kid?" the man questioned

"I'm Buck," Buck said in the tone of a question not sure why the man was asking and was trying to portray his curiosity

"Are you here to see the hunter exam applicants? we get a few kids every year come nosing around, normally none one comes around this time cause we originally were set to arrive in the afternoon but you seem to have come early to have a look, you shouldn't come like this, I keep telling the kids that its dangerous to come into contact with these sort of men" the crewman said while looking up at the men on the ship waiting to disembark

"No, no just wanted to watch the sunrise, but I would like to see these hunter applicants, is the test being held in this town?"

"One of the tests is then you have to go somewhere else but I'm not privy to that information, why does a kid like you want to grow up to become a hunter? Haha, it's not exactly an easy dream. I once tried and failed myself I made it to this harbour town but couldn't pass the test so I decided to stay here and try again in the future."

"Is the test that hard," Buck asked getting curious about this hunters exam and if it will be a challenge for him

"I don't know if they change it each year, but when I did it they had us racing to that cottage on top of the hill there and the top 5 would pass, but they also had other routes and tests you could take in the same town, so there could be a test set up anywhere and it's the applicant's job to find and pass these tests."

"Sounds like it would be a fun challenge, can anyone partake in the challenge, do I need to sign up anywhere?"

"Haha, you want to take the hunters exam kid, maybe grow a few more years before you do, it's no joke, there are even stories of people dying while taking the exam, it's no place for kids"

"This kid! Can handle himself" Buck said emphasizing his pronunciation of kid, as he no longer thought himself to be a child after what he's experienced and being 19 years old

"Haha you're still a kid to me, look up there at the people on board the ship what do you see, people your age or big men, martial artists, people who have experience of many more years than you both wisdom wise and strength wise, can you compete with them when even these people are uncertain of passing the exam."

Buck once again repeated "I can handle myself" with a tone of confidence in his voice while touching the knife on his hip

Seeing the confidence in this young man's eyes and the shadow of his past self the man no longer seemed to be amused by the kid wanting to attempt the exam and sighed

"Ok then ill sign you up and your test starts now, why do you want to take part in the hunter exam?"

"I think it'll be a good challenge and a way to achieve my goal of becoming the best swordsman in the world."

Upon hearing the statement the man looked at Buck scanning his body "How can you become a swordsman without even having a sword"

"I may knot have a sword but ill get one eventually, a knife like this is still considered a sword in my eyes," Buck said while showing the man the hilt of his knife in his waistband "As long as you can do what you can do with any sort of blade that is just the basics of being a swordsman"

the man smiled at the young man's statement "What a good goal you have young man and good luck on your test" The man was then shouted over by the captain of the ship and boarded the ship leaving Buck clueless as to where to find his test

"I've got three options here, I can wander about and hopefully find a test, follow the people who just left the ship in case they have an idea where to go or I could check out the cottage the man had to go to before for his test," Buck said allowed trying to help himself decide between the options

'But it's not like this test means much to me and I probably need a few days to properly adjust to this world so if I fail it doesn't matter too much, I can always do it next year, after all, I've been told that people at any age can do it so they hold the upper hand with experience and time to learn their skills. I'd be competing with the best but I'd eventually get better than them, that's how much faith I have in myself.'