Physical training

Alice held her whip tightly in her hand, it was her turn to face someone. She was nervous and scared, her opponent was a big muscular, you man. She hated that kind, preferred one that is moderately fit.

"Hey, do you really want me to fight this skinny woman?" The young man yelled at the teacher.

"She is here to become a hunter, she is no different from the rest of you." The teacher said with a calm face.

"I know that, what I asked is if she knew what awaits her. She won't faint with a little tap will she?" He didn't seem that excited to fight her, he wasn't fond of fighting someone who can't fight back.

"She can, and why do you care? It's better for her to get punched by you and give up than end up dead to a blood beast." The teacher yelled at him.

"I see, fine then." The young man turned toward Alice, "It isn't easy to fight blood beasts. Give up, this is no place for someone who isn't willing to die." He said.

"What are you talking about? We're not fighting to die, but live and kill the beasts." She said, deep darkness looming in her eyes. She had no intention to die to the monsters who killed her family. "You aren't cut to be a hunter." She said with a disappointed face, seeing them all there she expected them to show some energy and scream, only glaring at the victory like a proud hunter.

What Alice saw in front of her was a bunch of people who feared the beasts and trained to not die fighting them.

"Fine, let's see how you fare then." The young man clenched his fist and rushed at her.

'Don't hold it against me.' He thought taking a leap toward her with a punch.

She tried to jump back but he had larger steps, his fist connected directly to her face. BAM! Her body slammed to the ground like a ragdoll.

The young man looked at Alice lying on the ground with blood pouring from her nose. "Get back to your home, you will live longer there." He turned around.

CRACK! Something sharp, painful, and loud slapped at the back of his neck. The young man leaped in pain, his hands were shaking.

The moment he turned toward her another strike hit his chest causing him to wail in pain. Alice was standing in her place, her head down and the rope in her hand had traces of the young man's blood.

"Is that whip?" one of the trainees yelled.

"I only saw swords and spears, could they even make a sigil for that?" another said.

The young man glared at her, he might have underestimated her will. Standing after getting punched in the face, she was no ordinary woman.

"Those hits hurt. Since you drew your weapon, I shall draw mine out of respect." He pulled the wooden sword he was keeping at his hip.

This was a mock fight, Alice was allowed to carry her rope in since it wasn't an actual whip, so he was given a wooden sword.

The young man rushed at her again, he tanked another whip lash from her and tried to tackle her.

As Alice glared at him charging, she thought he resembled a bull charging. Remembering an incident from years back, a bull that was brought for their cows escaped and chased her, this man looked similar.

Her muscles acted on their own, she leaped to the side avoiding the charge.

Thud! The young man stopped and aimed a back kick at her guts. As she got hit by the unexpected attack, she could remember, that same bull did kick her as well.

Her father and mother were panicking at the time, even the doctor who came later said it was a miracle that she only broke one rib.

'But…this isn't like the last time.' For some reason her head was clear, and the man's kick seemed weak and soft on her stomach. She could hear her heart beating loudly.

Her eyes emitted a faint red glow, her nose stopped bleeding and her body felt lighter. Alice grabbed the man's legs and lifted him up, surprising everyone.

"You're lighter than a churn of milk!" She yelled throwing him to the ground.

The trainees started cheering, the girl was putting in a good fight.

"Stop the fight!" The instructive intervened.

"Why is that, just when I was winning?" Alice complained.

The instructive stared at her, "Loot at yourself." He said.

As Alice looked down, her legs were shaking and her vision started to blur. She was barely standing. Suddenly she vomited.

"You only managed to counter due to an adrenalin rush. I already called the medical team so lay on the ground." He said.

The kick managed to swash her stomach, it was a miracle she managed to lift the young man up.

When the medical team arrived, Alice was already unconscious. "What happens?" They asked.

The teacher briefly explained how Alice got hit as the team transferred her to the clinic.

"Also, give her the V blood test." The teacher whispered to the medical team.

Their faces paled looking at the unconscious Alice. "Is it code red, should neutralize her?" one of them asked.

"No, it's just my hunch. I'm mostly wrong but just give it a try and send me the results."

"As you wish!" They saluted him as they left.

The instructor dismissed the class and walked toward his office.

In the fight, for a moment, he could swear he saw Alice's eyes glow red. That was the reason he didn't stop the kick. This girl displayed an unimaginable power that he got even more suspicious.

…

Later that night the results arrived, he didn't even need to open the envelope to know they were negative. Since if they were positive, the whole training ground would be in chaos.

'So it was just a trick of the light?' he sighed regretting not intervening earlier and saving Alice from getting kicked.

As he calmed down he went through their training schedule. "At least, I can help you with those." The instructor added Alice's name to all the classes, even those reserved for top talents.

The next morning when the students received their training schedule, Alice had the harshest one of them. This made the other trainees think the instructors hated her for beating their talented students.

As if in the blink of an eye, a year of physical training had passed and the students were ready to receive their first sigil.

"ALICE!" A woman yelled at Alice who was taking a nap on the tree.

"What? Can't you let me alone for a minute?" Alice replied.

"The instructors are looking for us, please hurry!" The woman yelled again.

"I can hear you, stop barking." Alice used her whip to grab a branch and leap from the tree.

Thud! "Today we receive those papers? Do you think they make ones for this?" Alice looked at the whip in her hand.

"The training ground provided you with that whip, they must have taken that into account when making the sigil." The woman replied with an exhausted face.