The Teacher and the Student (4)

Yin Mei ran for several more tens of meters before skidding to a stop before the next obstacle, right at the edge of a large pit that dropped down into an unending darkness below. Several small pillars, just large enough for perhaps a single foot to stand on, dotted the pit, and several metal chains hung from the ceiling high above them.

In other words, they would have to either cross by using the chains or the thin pillars.

But Yin Mei barely blinked and she ran straight across. Qin Shuang couldn't help but blink in slight surprise as he caught up just in time to see the darkness beneath Yin Mei's feet swirl, like some sort of living beast, before dispersing itself just as quickly.

It was like she was walking on clouds. No, more accurately, she was walking on shadows!

This girl, her ability was actually shadow manipulation? A strong shadow user was absolutely terrifying - Qin Shuang couldn't help but feel slightly could inside. The strength of their ability was truly to the point of almost being disgusting. Even Qin Shuang, who had the extremely powerful blood manipulation ability, would have a hard time facing someone with a shadow manipulation ability. Not only that, but there were some who had special mutations of the ability that only. made it even. more powerful...

But so far, the girl didn't seem to have done much, so he didn't know just how powerful her ability was. He thought that he needed to test her. He had already pegged her as a rival at this point. The other kids, even if they had powerful abilities, were too inexperienced and young to enter his eyes.

But he could tell this girl was different. She had the aura and bloodlust of a well trained warrior, one who had seen many battlefields.

It was hard to think of her as the same age as the other kids.

He reached his hand out, several blood threads shooting toward the girl to tangle up her feet. Yin Mei didn't blink as the dark shadows shot up to protect her, forming a shield that the threads glanced off of. Qin Shuang's fingers twitched ever so slightly and the threads changed direction, trying to get around the shield, but the shield moved each time with unparalleled speed, defending Yin Mei from them.

He clicked his tongue, but seeing the other people catching up, knew he couldn't waste anymore time trying to test out Yin Mei's limits. Yin Mei smirked to herself as the boy formed a bridge with blood, traveling across it as quickly as possible. He continuously created and destroyed the bridges without a change in expression. For most people, even if they had the same ability, they would not be able to achieve this level of control and manipulation. It required not only good concentration, but a large amount of power - many would be exhausted at this point. But Qin Shuang wasn't even breaking a sweat.

Yin Mei stepped on one of the small pillars, leaping up and landing gracefully with one foot on another. In reality, she didn't even need her ability to cross this obstacle - but she wanted to pressure Qin Shuang a little.

It looked like it had worked too.

At this moment, a small glittering white feather entered Yin Mei's sight. It was slowly floating down, right a few meters before the pit ended. A few of the other applicants also saw it, appearing slightly confused.

Qin Shuang too, was momentarily puzzled before recalling what the proctor had said. Could this be one of the bonus point chances? Yin Mei was the closest to the feather, and was not far from it. But Qin Shuang didn't want to let her have the feather. He immediately sent his threads out to grab it for himself, but a wave of darkness rose up to swallow them whole. He frowned. This girl's power had too much of an advantage here, where they were surrounded by shadows in this barely lit room.

Yin Mei leapt up, flipping in midair and grabbing the feather midway through, while she was still upside down. By the time she was righted, a pair of shining white winds had appeared on her feet, giving her a speed boost. With a hop, skip, jump, she was past the second obstacle and running again, faster than before, but appearing even more relaxed, looking as if she wasn't trying. Because she wasn't. This speed boost was really great!

The proctor: Why in the world is a hidden examiner like you stealing such obvious points from the applicants? This is just bullying children!

Yin Mei who was currently having fun bullying children couldn't read the proctor's mind, but she did sneeze delicately, wondering who in the world was thinking of her right now. She slowed down as she reached the next obstacle - a bridge of swinging axes.

This allowed the time for the group to slowly catch up, and she patiently waited a few moments, lightly bouncing back and forth on her feet, appearing to be impatiently thinking of her next move. At least, that was the explanation that Qin Shuang gave for her just standing there.

She looked back, checking the distance between her and the others with satisfaction before turning around and jumping up. She grabbed the hilt of the large and menacing axe that sung buy, standing gracefully upon it before jumping to the next. And the next. And the next. Her movements were rhythmic, never missing a beat as she made it appear oh so easy.

And it was. For her at least.

When she lightly landed on the other side, she looked back again, as Qin Shuang landed next to her just a few moments after. She let out a sound of mild surprise - faster than she thought he would take. He really had improved from what she recalled. She remembered that back then, he had been weaker than her.

She wondered if he was still weaker than her now?

She smiled. "How much have you improved?" She thought, and Qin Shuang blinked in surprise. Oops. Did she say that aloud? Even as she thought that, her hand reached out, shadows dripping down from her fingers in slender threads.

She had been the one to teach him how to manipulate his strings. Not only that, she had experienced manipulating them herself, together with him. So it stands to reason that she was a fairly decent string user herself.

"Threads!?" Qin Shuang said in alarm. This usage was too similar to his own, but then he wondered why he was surprised. His style of fighting was well known now, and widely imitated. That being said, though people may be able to copy him, they may not have the talent to master the skills they were copying.

The threads were darkness, melding with the shadows, silent and unseen. He could almost feel them, like a snake readying itself to strike. He flexed his hand next to his side, his own threads trembling as they sensed the vibrations in the air, as they sensed the strings.

Yin Mei could see that Ri Yang and Alice were both getting close. Her eyes glittered in the dark and she struck, quick and vicious, her threads attempting to coil themselves around Qin Shuang's body. Qin Shuang's fingers twitched, as if to the sound of music, as the threads of the two battled unseen in the air.

They weren't moving, but sparks clashed around them, as if they were at the center of some unseen battle. Which they were.

But Yin Mei retreat the moment the flame haired boy and silver haired girl caught up to them, flying backwards by a several meters with one leap.

Add in a few elegant flips, and she thought she looked pretty cool as she twirled around to start running again. She knew that there were still several more obstacles left. Just this much wasn't enough to be considered too difficult for the applicants present. After all, they were even allowed to use their abilities.

At this moment, when Yin Mei stepped forward, a square of floor that she had stepped on clicked as it sunk in by an inch, and she immediately jumped back, right as a giant spiked steel ball came hurtling at her. The shadows surged upwards from the ground to protect her, but she hadn't needed it, jumping just far enough that it only missed her by a few centimeters as she leaned back.

This was the next obstacle. The metal floor stretched out in front of them, with no indication that their next step could land on a trap. This obstacle would favor someone like Ri Yang, who could travel the entire length of the floor without touching the ground.

Of course, with Yin Mei and Qin Shuang's abilities, they could also do the same. It would be Alice who would have a few more difficulties with this obstacle, resulting in a lower score for her in comparison to Song Hua and Qin Shuang.

Yin Mei built a bridge of shadows, and Qin Shuang, a bridge of blood, in order to run across without touching the floor. But just that wasn't enough to prevent traps from activating. Yin Mei stopped, seeming to silently observe the empty space in front of her for a moment, as Qin Shuang rushed by. He felt something snap, and knew he had made a mistake, not copying Yin Mei's actions.

Flaming arrows flew toward him from out of nowhere, and he quickly manipulated his threads to cut down the few that he could tell would hit him. He made no wasted movements, staying still as he let the other arrows pass.

Yin Mei, when Qin Shuang had activated the trap, had quickly ran as she put up a shield of shadows before her in case she would be hit by any arrows. She was, but the shield protected her, steadfast and unbreakable.

Well, unbreakable to anything weaker than the strength of her ability.

Yin Mei looked at Qin Shuang, who had now fallen behind. The two of them continued back and forth, switching places constantly as to who was in front and who was behind the other.

After making it past the floor of traps, they reached a door, where Ri Yang stood, completely stumped. His brows were furrowed as he looked at the large door, an expression of thought on his face.

Yin Mei knew this door - it was a truth door.

It was a mean door that would pose a single question, the same question, to each applicant, which they must answer truthfully. Whether or not they had told the truth would be determined by the pod that was constantly scanning their brains - it would use something like a lie detector program, except this one was much more trustworthy than the lie detectors of the past.

Ri Yang glanced briefly at the two who now approached, unable to prevent himself from frowning. He looked reluctant before speaking out a single word - "Failure."

"Correct," a deep voice boomed, and with a bright shimmering light, Ri Yang was teleported away. Not, to the end of the obstacle course. No, there was still technically one more trial left - the room beyond the door.

But that was for later.

For now, they would need to answer the question of the door first.

At this time, Alice and the other boy who had created a golem, a boy by the name of Jade, had also arrived.

Yin Mei stepped back, clearly not wanting to go first. Qin Shuang, who was curious, looked at the girl, but still approached the door.

"Applicant Number 0083, you must answer the following question with the truth and nothing but the truth," the door said. The metal double doors had on it a carved lion's head, the pair of glowing golden eyes staring down at the small human before it.

Yin Mei really wanted to ask why they had even bothered to make it look like a door - they were being teleported so it's not like the door would ever even open!

"What is your greatest fear?" It asked, watching him. Waiting. Judging.

"... Losing the people I hold dear in my heart," Qin Shuang said bitterly. Resentfully.

Yin Mei stayed silent.

"... Correct." The lion said, and Qin Shuang disappeared.

"What is your greatest fear?" The lion asked once again, and the applicants who arrived answered one by one.

Until the only one that was left was Yin Mei.

The lion asked her the same question as it had to those before her.

And Yin Mei answered in a soft voice. Her answer didn't matter. The last obstacle was not one that others could interfere with anyways. Her answer was truthful, but when she opened her eyes, the door to her pod was opening.

Her job was finished. For now.