The Test (Part 1)

Kai stared dumbfoundedly at the little girl.

"You're the guild-master?"

She gave him a glare filled with thorns, looking disdainfully at him. Apparently, she was used to this sort of thing.

"My name is Iris Weaver, master of this guild." She smirked. "Are you challenging me?"

Kai quickly shook his head, exchanging quick glances between her and her umbrella of death. Noticing his compliance, she smiled sweetly at him and leaned on her umbrella, using it to support her weight- which was practically nothing, since she was so small.

Kai cleared his throat, unfolding the mission slip, only for Iris to snatch it out of his hand.

"So this is why you were looking for me, eh?" She read over the mission slip quickly and glanced at Kai through narrowed eyes.

"This mission says to contact the guild-master, me because it's a dangerous mission."

Kai nodded, "Well, it's a rank 7 mission, so it's pretty clear that it'd be a dangerous one."

Iris made a 'tsk' sound, acknowledging his snarky remark.

"You know, when you choose a mission, the reward shouldn't be the only thing you take into consideration. You also need to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses, then tackle the missions best fit for your style or area of expertise."

Of course, Kai already knew all this, however, hearing it from the guild-master herself made the mission seem a lot more dangerous than he previously thought it would be.

"How bad can it be?" Kai asked her cautiously, half-joking- half not.

Iris rolled her eyes and handed the mission slip back to Kai.

"If you aren't prepared to take this seriously, I think it's better you go home and forget about the mission along with its reward." She turned around, snapping her umbrella behind her, blocking out Kai and his sorry self.

"Wait!" Kai exclaimed, grabbing the guild master's arm.

This was a mistake. Iris whipped around, smacking Kai in the head with the blunt of her umbrella. Kai let go of her hand and stumbled back, disoriented. However, that didn't stop him from trying to get the young guild master to change her mind about him.

"Please, I need to complete this mission in order to find my sister," Kai pleaded.

He bowed his head, feeling the desperation and hatred edging at the corner of his mind. Without Rin, he would probably have ended up killing himself, thinking that there was nothing left in the world for him. If he couldn't find happiness, what else was there? He had made a promise. He promised to find and protect his sister.

The winding halls seemed to fall away as Kai slowly sank deeper and deeper into the darkness of his own heart.

"I can't lose her like how I lost my mother."

At this, Iris paused. Turning to look at Kai's shadowed face, her eyes softened. Underneath the arrogant, indifferent boy was a child whose heart had been broken over many years of being alone. Shaped by the world who did not care for him, he was now standing in front of her, clinging onto his last hope of finding his sister- the last, unbroken piece of his heart.

Iris closed her umbrella, giving Kai a sad smile.

"I know what it's like to lose someone, trust me." Her eyes glazed over, lost the memories of a time long ago. "I've lost more than I can count."

Kai tipped his head to look at her more clearly. This little girl seemed beyond her years, and he started to see her in a new light. Instead of taking in her outfit and youthful appearance, he noted the faint scars on her arms, an indication of the battles she'd fought and the history she'd lived. The umbrella that served as her weapon, with its paint faded over many years of service. Her deep purple eyes, which have seen more violence and hatred than Kai ever could have imagined...

She really was the guild master and no less.

"I'll give you a chance to prove yourself worthy of this mission. I need to be sure that you're both physically and mentally fit. Are you up to the challenge?" Iris asked, looking Kai in the eye and pulling his attention back to her.

The 18-year-old straightened his back, holding Iris' gaze. He was going to find his sister, and he'd do what he had to, in order to find her.

"I am."

"Good, follow me."

Iris led Kai through the winding maze of halls, out the guild headquarters, and into the bustling streets of the village market. Most of the guild members who saw Iris made way for her, slipping quietly into the shadows.

"Where are we going?" Kai asked, after 10 more minutes of walking.

"You'll see."

The two of them kept walking, and eventually arrived at the village border. On their side of the village, the only thing outside the borders was a dense forest.

Iris stepped into the forest, pushing away the branches and leaves the farther she went. Kai followed, mimicking her careful steps. She led Kai deeper and deeper into the forest, where the area around them became a lusher shade of green, overgrown with moss and plants.

Kai was about to ask her what she wanted him to do in such a dense forest with nowhere to move, but she held up her hand to silence him before he had even spoken a word. She signaled for him to sit, and so he obeyed.

The guild-master had her eyes set on something in the distance, and Kai followed her gaze to... a deer. There was a deer grazing in the undergrowth roughly 20 yards away, unaware of their presence.

Iris slowly unsheathed the hidden sword from her umbrella and held it just above her chest level like a dart.

"There's no way," Kai muttered under his breath.

If Iris heard him, she gave no indication of it. Her focus was locked on the deer and only the deer. Kai watched her as she slowly moved the sword, directing her aim back and forth. With a snap of her wrist, the sword was gone- slicing through the air, straight towards the deer.

Kai held his breath as the sword silently sliced into the deer. There was no way she had just successfully hit the deer, Kai thought to himself. With a satisfied smirk, the guild-master flicked her head back, beckoning him to check the body with her.

Kai let out the breath he'd been holding, and walked towards the deer's bleeding body. The sword was wedged into the animal with a clean-cut burrowing into its upper thigh. However, despite the wound, the deer was still alive and breathing. It gasped in quick shallow breaths, eyes glazed with fear and pain. Kai couldn't help but feel bad for the poor, dying creature.

Iris looked down at the deer and pulled out a dagger hidden in a pouch on her leg. It was covered by her dress, so Kai never even realized she had more weapons on her. Expecting her to end the deer's life then and there, Kai was taken by surprise when she handed the sharp weapon to him.

"Kill it." She instructed.

"Wait, I can't just-" Kai stuttered, however was silenced by a cold glare from Iris.

'Prove yourself.' Iris' words echoed in his head. Killing this deer was just the first step to finding his sister. Who knows what else he'd need to do later on down the road? But even so... he was still pained by the thought of killing this animal... killing a living thing.

'Rin wouldn't approve of this.' he thought to himself sadly.

Taking the knife from Iris, he held it above the deer's heart, ready to plunge it into its flesh, ending its life in one swift motion. The deer let out a desperate, final whine of fear, knowing that its life was going to come to an end.

Kai plunged the knife into the deer's heart, shuddering with the movement. He watched as the deer's breathing coming to a halt.

It was dead.

Kai handed the dagger back to Iris, and she looked at the corpse approvingly.

"Good job, however..." she spat on the ground beneath her. "You were too hesitant."

Kai looked away from the deer corpse, still uncomfortable about what he had just done.

In a swift motion, Iris pulled the sword from the deer's body and pointed it at Kai.

Kai's eyes widened in surprise and fear. He hadn't been able to react in time, and now, he had a deadly, bloodied sword pointing straight at his chest.

"What-"

"You were slow. Hesitant. Unsure." Iris narrowed her eyes at him, and Kai winced.

"I'm sorry, I just-" Kai started.

"No excuses. You need to be as strong as a rock, and as quick as a gust of wind. In this world, there is only the hunter and the hunted. The predator and the prey. Don't find yourself on the wrong side of the spectrum, unless you want to die." She told him firmly.

Kai nodded, and she continued,

"Hesitation means death. Fear means death. Being slow means death. You need to be faster than your enemy, always one step ahead of them. You need to be smarter than them, stronger than them, swifter than them. If you cannot do that, you're nothing more than prey, and your enemy, the predator."

Kai bowed his head in shame. It was a wounded deer, it was going to die anyway, it was in pain... yet he'd still hesitated in killing it. How could he ever prove himself strong enough to her? How could he ever find his sister if he didn't even have the courage to finish off that deer? He needed to work harder, try harder if he wanted any hope of finding Rin.

"I'll find her," Kai said, raising his head in defiance. "I'll be stronger, faster, smarter than my enemy. I'll find who kidnapped her and kill them, just as I killed this deer beneath my feet."

Kai could feel determination rush into his blood again, and he stood, his eyes aflame. Iris noticed his change and smiled at him.

"Well... you haven't failed the test yet," She told Kai, and his eyes brightened with hope. "That was just the warm-up. It didn't matter if you killed the deer or not."

Kai stared at the guild-master, confused. "What?"

Iris moved her sword forwards so the tip of it touched Kai's chest.

"Fight me and win. That's the final test."

Kai stepped back, horrified. "Wait! How am I supposed to-"

The guild-master lowered her sword and flicked the dagger to him. It would be his only weapon in this duel.

"The test starts now."