New Carnage Begin

The loudspeakers thundered like the trumpets of Jericho as they signaled the start of the test.

Those who were organizing the test had given each side a nickname: First were the "Cats," or the Hunter students. They had to catch the "Mice," or the aspiring Hunter candidates. However, the nicknames were a little too cute for the reality of the situation. As soon as the loudspeaker blared, the small army of Hunter students set out to hunt like a pack of wolves.

On the other hand, many of the candidates adopted a very prey-like mentality. A large number of candidates formed groups, hoping to protect themselves through sheer numbers. Even though these people had considered each other enemies only a day beforehand, they now looked around at their fellow candidates with confident grins, seeing each other as allies against the common enemy of the Hunter Academy students.

Unfortunately for them, their confidence was completely misplaced.

It wasn't long before a small pack of four Cats encountered a huge group of over a hundred Mice very close to the starting area. The Cats sauntered up and stared mockingly at the candidates in front of them.

One young woman in the Mice yelled out in surprise, "How stupid are you!? There's over a hundred of us! Get out of our way or we'll rip you limb from limb!" The group of Mice erupted in mocking laughter. Another candidate yelled, "Piss off and go find someone easier to catch!"

Without a word, a young Hunter with an eye injury stepped forward. Though he was the same age as the candidates themselves, his face bore the signs of stress and strain as though he were in his forties. His face was weathered, there were dark rings under his eyes, and wrinkles covered his face. If Alexandre had been there, he'd have recognised this person as Iwaka, the man with whom he'd had a tense exchange the previous night.

Iwaka approached the young woman who'd been threatening his group. Without a word, he reached out, grabbed her by the face, and smashed her to the ground. "You humans are like slabs of meat to us Hunters," he growled.

With that, the other Hunters leaped into action, charging the group of candidates like sharks sweeping through a school of tiny fish. The "fight" was quick and brutal. The untrained candidates had no idea how much power and training even these nearly-faired students possessed, and it was true that the gulf between the two groups was insurmountable. Bones broke, flesh bruised, and people fell screaming to the ground, only to fall into silent unconsciousness a moment later.

After the first few brutal eliminations, the Mice's morale broke. They scattered and fled in all directions, hoping in their terror to survive the test for a little longer.

For the thirty or so unlucky victims of the Cats, their adventure ended right there and then. In moments, the four Hunters began to collect their watches.

Fortunately for the Mice, the test rules forbade the Cats from killing them, and all the victims were merely unconscious on the ground. However, there was a certain level of tolerance on the part of the testing staff—many of the candidates had severe injuries that would need to be treated as soon as possible if they didn't want to deal with chronic pain for the rest of their lives!

For his part, Iwaka was still suffering from the eye injury Alexandre had inflicted upon him. He winced as he bent over to retrieve a watch, sending blood pounding through his head and making his injury hurt worse for a moment. "Are you certain about what you told me, Mindaugas?"

Mindaugas replied, "Yes, for the last time, I saw him talking to Omega last night. I also saw him here before the start of the competition. There's no doubt about it: that guy's a competitor, not an Academy student like us." 

Iwaka, still soaked in the fresh blood of the students he'd neutralized, gave a frightening smile. "Thank God. Now I can make him pay for what he did to me. It might be forbidden for students to fight each other, but Mice have absolutely no protection." He shook his head. "I swear, I'm going to kill that son of a bitch, Mindaugas." 

His companion replied, "Calm down, Iwaka! First, we've got to fill our quota so we don't get expelled. Then you can do whatever you feel like to that guy. And even then, I'm curious about how he got as far as he did… and you saw what he did to a professor. I don't know if you can beat that guy, Iwaka. Hey, are you even listening to me?"

Iwaka didn't even seem to hear what his comrade had said. He was filled with rage from last night's humiliation. He glared at the treeline with one bloodshot eye, as though the unknown asshole were hiding just out of sight. "Let's go," he growled, and continued forward.