Chapter 5: Entrance Exam End

Ellis not bothering with the twins advanced without looking back. They were not friends anyway and they can do whatever they want and he will not feel anything about it. Honestly, he felt a bit of lonely now since it is nice to travel with somebody. It’s just too bad that the twins have too much energy to spend on useless things.

As he continues to advance, he noticed the red streak traveling almost at the same pace as him. It was faster than him actually but not too much so he can keep up with it. Rose petals scatter everywhere it traveled and he knows who the one is causing such bizarre phenomena. He sighed as he asks himself why it has to be her. He told himself many times after their first encounter to make sure to stay away from popular people and just quietly amass strength and go home after. He can only resign to his fate as the two of them travel straight towards the designated location.

After traveling for some time, he caught the presence of some people trying to catch up. They are fast and they have considerable numbers. The announcement earlier might have caused this chase down when he think about it. He can only guess that these people does not have a relic for them to pass and hoping to snatch from those that are not yet able to submit theirs by cutting them off along the way.

Ellis actually hopes to compare his skills against other people outside from Lutton town. He also longs to prove himself and actually he only traveled the whole journey uneventfully. Aside from meeting the twins and the crazy duo battling without minding the examination, he has not even made a move. He deliberately slowed down his speed and let the pursuers catch up to him. After a few more seconds, the first pursuer finally caught up to him and without any words, the pursuer started shooting to hinder his path.

Ellis looked back and saw the appearance of his pursuer. It was a slim male with black hair with contrasting green eyes. It was a weird combination but an interesting one nonetheless. Ellis dodged left and right but his speed only slowed down more as more time pass. The pursuer is equipped with two hand guns with such explosive ammunition which only adds to the difficulty in dodging as the bullets were not made to penetrate but for mini explosions. Ellis found in interesting because no one in Lutton town uses guns. In Lutton town, there are only bizarre looking weapons; it is refreshing to see standard type weapons from the people of Kingdom of Vale.

As time went on, more pursuers started to catch up and their numbers are building quite fast. Ellis wonders if he can really stand up his grounds and if his skills are really up to standard compared to other people. He stopped his advance and skid before completely stopping. After a few more moments, six people surrounded him with weapons in front.

“Give us the relic!” A man which seems to be the leader of this pack said.

Ellis stayed quiet even with the angry roars from the other people surrounding him. He finds it funny when people battle with words too when they will be crossing swords in the end. He threw the cube on the ground and it started to morph into oversized sword with no handle. The people looking at this scene stared at the scene with amazement. They are people that were educated from young and they thought they saw all kinds of weapon which can be infused with aura and empower with dust but they never saw such barbaric weapon from a tiny cube. Their brain started to rotate on what the cube is and they all arrived on one conclusion.

Artifact! Lost Artifact!

They recognized it after a few moments of thinking. Their weapons can also transform but not to the point of breaking the laws of physics. Only the artifacts of the old can do so and they are all sought by every clan and every kingdom. They looked into Ellis to size him up again and honestly they are disappointed. A male that clearly looks like a country bumpkin is holding such precious artifact. They are also from prestigious academies and well off family and clans but they can only hold standard equipment but this country bumpkin actually holds an artifact. Jealousy and envy started to crept into their hearts and somehow anger started to rise from it. In their minds, they are more superior to this kid and they deserve it more than him to wield such artifact.

As jealousy and envy started to corrode their thinking, the sword once again shocked them as it floated from the ground. They looked at Ellis in horror after seeing the scene. They have huge collection of semblance and their tiers learned from the academies they went in the past. All of them can see that the semblance of the kid standing on the center will be the minimum of Telekinesis. The tier of Telekinesis ranges from rank B to rank A. It is one of the semblances which have many uses depending on situation. They are not yet sure of what the semblance of the kid is but they are showing more vigilance with the Ellis now.

“Hand over the relic and the artifact kid and we will be on our own ways!” The leader of this group said once again as he look at the artifact with excitement.

Ellis looks at him like he is an idiot. He waved his hand and the sword made a sweeping motion. The people, even though they are having bad intention and despise Ellis actually still keep their guards all the time. It is the basic of the basic to not lower the ground when facing an opponent. They scattered like flies and evaded the strike and started to counter attack.

Most of them are equipped with guns varying from pistol to some auto-rifles. The leader is the only one different as he is wielding a big sword which exudes flame aura but much smaller compared to the sword Ellis has. Ellis shielded himself with the help of the sword surrounding him and blocking the bullets from many angles. The attackers are actually surprised to see how flexible the artifact is despite its huge size. It only fueled their desire to possess the artifact more and they started to attack more aggressively.

Ellis is actually just sizing them up at this point. Humans fight differently compared to the Grims. He has only little experience battling with fellow humans and they are only sparring at best. The citizens of Lutton have the maze ruins that always keep them at their toes and they have no time to fight among themselves. If they let up just a little bit, their town might get overrun instantly. Because of that, the people of Lutton have good relationship towards each other aside from the newcomers and some people who does not like interacting with people.

Ellis watches them as they perform. He is trying to see what level they are compared to the people of Lutton town. After a few moments of dodges and blocking, he was actually disappointed. The attackers have good reflexes and good grasp with their weapons but they are actually too cowardly to take some risks and change the rhythm of the battle. They just continue to shoot from a safe distance trying to wear him down. They are hoping to empty the Aura of Ellis by harassment but they did not know that Ellis consumed countless crystals back in the ruins to survive. The sheer amount of Aura Ellis has is monstrous already. Paired with his rich battle experience, the fight seem like a tease to him.

After a while of expecting something new will happen, Ellis finally had enough and waved his hand and the sword cut through the surrounding trees. He leapt towards one of the attackers which shielded his face from the fragment of broken trees. When he looks at the advancing Ellis towards his direction, he frantically shoots to deter Ellis attempt. Sadly for him, the sword in front of Ellis faithfully blocked all of his shots. When the distance is enough for Ellis, he plans to eliminate one but the others also recovered and frantically shoot towards him. Ellis has no choice but to dodge and place the sword in his front towards the sidelines to stop the assault of other people.

Even though he is forced to guard, Ellis is not as simple as attack and block kind of warrior. He dives the ruins many times and almost reached the deepest part of it and he has learned some tricks on fighting a crowd. He extended his arms and made a crushing motion towards the one which is frantically trying to create some distance from him. Sad for him, Ellis is not having any more scruples with them.

Suddenly, the man trying to flee felt his body being held by something. He felt like a huge palm is holding him firmly. He looks towards Ellis in horror as he felt the hold in him started to tighten more until he can’t breathe anymore. He felt his head spinning and his sides started to creak as if his bones are starting to break. He can only look at Ellis in hopes of him showing some mercy towards him as he can’t even open his mouth to speak. Before he lost consciousness, he saw something hovering above Ellis and he can only look in horror. If he knew that Ellis is one of those people then he will have never messed with Ellis. With those last thoughts, he lost consciousness and fell towards the ground motionless.

Ellis wanted to eliminate one of the attackers but he also knows how to hold back. He did not want to shed the blood of fellow humans especially since this is just a test. It is not worth the trouble of him crippling someone for life just for an entry to an academy. He only maintained the grip until the man lost his consciousness and left him on the ground right after. He leapt from his position as he saw the leader of the group fall down from above while bringing the huge sword down towards his body. The ground where he is a few seconds ago exploded and dust started to mix in the air making the visibility low.

Ellis used this chance to gain some breathing room and regain some control over the battle. In a fight, it is important to grasp the control or maybe just gain some of it so that one will not be too passive and lose in the end. Ellis started to quickly go around and look for this second victim. The oversize sword hovering in his head in also dutifully complying by not knocking on the trees around him and so he can move more quietly.

Ellis saw a frantic girl equipped with a small dagger and a pistol on her hands. She was looking all around him and was clearly on panic. She has not thought of the current situation being like this. It was six versus one but they are clearly being pushed back slowly. She also saw the bizarre event earlier where his comrade fell due to an unknown power them the one they are besieging. She has not expected the bumpkin to be formidable to this degree.

As she was frantically scanning his surroundings, a figure leapt out from her side and she hastily look towards the direction just to see a mismatched pair of eyes. One of the irises of the man is actually red as if it was bleeding and the other side is golden yellow. She can’t help but fear when she sees this. She already saw the man earlier and he has normal pair of brown eyes earlier. When one is under unknown situation, people tend to panic and blank out just like this.

The girl hopelessly looks as the huge surface of the sword smashed towards her stomach knocking out the air out of her. She lay on the ground like a gold fish out of the water trying to breathe but it was useless. She felt her surrounding spin and she lost consciousness soon.

Ellis looked at her and can only offer a silent apology. They are on opposite sides and he prefers not to do anything with others, sadly the situation does not allow for him to do nothing. If he wants to be admitted to beacon academy, he needs to force his way in and show some skills. After saying a silent apology in his head, he left the scene and blended with the surroundings.

When the dust finally settled down, the attackers are in shock when they see their comrade lying down on the ground unconscious. The events happening in front of them are starting to spin out of their control. Their opponent they are after is clearly well adapted in fighting crowds with how he moves. They also saw how their opponent keeps his form hidden behind the huge sword most of the time unless he will attack. They all noted this but they can’t do something about it and force the enemy to show some weakness which they can capitalize. The battle seems like they are being tied into strings and they can’t follow up on their own.

“Don’t spread out and keep a close formation!” The man angrily shouted and the other three people left on their group started to group up.

“What do we do Ben? This bumpkin is too strong!” the last female of their group which holds an auto-rifle on her hands earlier is now holding the second form of it as a straight katana form. The sharp side of the blade is gleaming with a scary luster which seems to reflect the light.

“Keep calm! He is alone and we can do this! We need that relic to pass and we can’t afford to fail! I don’t want to shame my family with this failure!” the leader named Ben said as he scans his surroundings for any sign of their enemy.

The other three also realized their situation. If they don’t get a relic, they will be going home with shame painted on their back. They still need two more relics for their three pairs to pass. They are already running out of time but they can only wait for their target to make a move. They warily look around waiting for something to happen but after a few moments, they felt something is wrong. They are supposed to be the attacker and aggressor. They are the hunter and not the hunted! They realized this and someone their face changed. They can’t feel the presence of their opponent which can only mean two things. Either their opponent is too good in hiding his presence of he already left.

“He would have not escaped right?” One of the member holding twin pistols said doubtfully.

“A coward is the only one who will escape!” Ben shouted towards the surrounding trying to rile up their opponent.

Sad for them, there is no response from their opponent. They can only fell down in disappointment as they realize that their opponent already left the scene. The girl started tearing up as the pressure started to press down on their body. They traveled far from their homes just to attend the academy in hopes for a better future. They went to many schools for huntsmen and huntresses just to be ready for this day and yet they are clearly failing. If they don’t find three relics, then they will be going home in shame and they can’t possibly bear it. They felt that their world will crumble if they fail in this test.

They went towards their fallen comrades and started to see if they are ok. Fortunately, their opponent is not ruthless enough to incapacitate them for the whole duration of the test or for life. They nursed their fallen comrades until they finally woke up after a few minutes. They offered water and laid them down while two of them left to scout for targets they can take.

“Are you ok? What happened back there?” Ben asked the guy that first fell during the battle.

“It is a rank S… it is not telekinesis… We are fools for clashing with that fellow.” The man said with cold sweats running down his face.

“What do you mean? He clearly makes the sword float.” Ben said trying to get more information.

“It is not him making the sword float.” The guy shook his head.

“What?” Ben was shocked and his brain started to rotate once again. “Avatar?”

The guy nodded in response and Ben can’t help but fall down in his butt flat on the ground. His knees started to shake in fear and gratitude at the same time. Avatar type semblance is a unique and enigmatic presence in the world of Sielaria. They are so rare that one is not normally aware that they exist. Their existence’s records are so few and only rumors and some random legend support their presence. Some people consider them as just myth and random talks of drunkards but Ben knows that they exist. They are just so rare that people don’t meet one in their lifetime. One thing for sure is that they are either the highest tier warriors or the most useless ones. Clearly the one they fought with falls into the first class.

“We were lucky he was not too ruthless to cripple us.” Ben said in fear. “What were we thinking?”

The other girl on their group which lost consciousness started to wake up and cough a bit. She greedily took air into her system before calming down. She can’t help but shiver in fear as she remembered the scene before she lost consciousness. She remembered the mismatched pair of colors staring at her on the last moments.

“What a bunch of weaklings…” They heard a girl’s voice suddenly.

Ben looked up and saw a lady in black outfit with a red scythe staring back at him. Then the surroundings suddenly went dark. A gush of wind descended upon them before Ben started to fill dizzy and his body hurting all over.

Emerald Rose looks at the fallen people below him unemotionally. She watched the battle between that boy and with these guys. At first, she is not expecting much but when the battle unfolded and she saw the artifact, she stayed to watch. It was six versus one but the result is unexpected. The disadvantageous side managed to knock out two people and leave the scene without scratch. She saw how the guy fights and she can’t help but be mesmerized. It is not just the raw power he has shown but the movements and the planning he has when facing crowd of opponents is flawless. She can’t help but somehow admire him and wanted to test herself against this random bumpkin she met earlier.

“Weaklings have no right to be on the spotlight. Go back in shame and train another 10 years.” She left the said with those words of contempt.