01.34 - Permission Denied

Luc walked alone in silence through the maze of corridors within the hunter’s guild headquarters on Arcana Maiora. A few hours had passed since their Aura Core evaluation.

They did not join the other candidates for lunch but took their food out of the cantina and into their rooms. Each was assigned a small, hotel-like chamber within the building. Not having to continuously drain part of their Aura for their disguise doubled as a very welcome rest period, since they would have to spend the rest of the day incognito.

After dinner, everyone began to scramble and prepare for their individual combat evaluation.

There were colored lines on the floor, guiding visitors through the building, but Luc had failed to pay close attention earlier before splitting off from the rest of the group. Now he was guessing his way around, following a red line.

Finally, after turning a corner, what seemed to be daylight shone through one of the faraway doors.

Once he stepped through, Lucian was greeted by a huge open arena, with a grandstand to the side and a big combat ring in the center, below a big skylight through which the rays of the midday sun shone bright.

He was greeted by a receptionist, apologized for the delay, and followed along the perimeter, making sure not to disturb the ongoing match.

Though there was no time to sit down and enjoy the show.

Seconds after Luc reached the stand, the prior contestant was catapulted out of the match area by one of several mid-sized boulders thrown at him by the evaluator.

Before Luc had time to fully process the end of the last match, it was his time to participate.

“Oudeis?” the evaluator asked.

No one answered.

Then Luc remembered his alias.

“Yes,” Luc said as he entered the combat area.

“Rare Green Core?”

He nodded.

“Energy Affinity?”

“Yes, with a focus on Manipulation spells, with some experience in Creation and Transmutation. Mainly kinetic and heat.”

“Combat weapon of choice?”

“Battle Staff.”

Luc pulled a small cylinder out of the void miasma mantle surrounding him. After the press of a button, the telescope staff expanded, shaping the former cylinder into a bona fide combat weapon.

The evaluator went ahead and retrieved a simple wooden staff for himself with a smile on his face.

“This will be a nice change of pace,” the evaluator said. “Half of the contestants so far would be better off at a daycare instead of the guild.”

He glimpsed some of the former contestants, some of whom were being cared for by other personnel and seemed to have already dropped out of the competition, without advancing to any further test stage.

“No need to hold back,” he said with a confident grin. ”We’ve got some first-rate healers here.”

“Didn’t plan to,” responded Luc, his expression and tone unreadable under the mask's effects.

“Neither do I,” the evaluator said before stomping on the ground. He ripped parts of it off, forming three large boulders, then sent them off toward Luc’s position at high speed.

Those had been the last contender's downfall.

Not so much for Luc, who easily dodged the first by a step to the left, knocked the second one out of harm's way with his staff, and used his Energy Manipulation spell to alter the third one's direction slightly, nudging it just far enough, of course, to get himself out of harm's way.

The evaluator used this distraction to close in on Luc, aiming his staff at Luc’s head in a long arc.

Luc countered with his own battle staff, diverted the first swing, parried the follow-up, and then took a swing at the evaluator.

They kept exchanging attacks and counters for half a minute, without anyone gaining the upper hand. Then the evaluator created a small stone wall between them and gained a bit of distance for himself.

“Not bad,” the evaluator said. “Your close combat abilities are solid, and you did well in evading my initial spell. But you seem to lack offensive capabilities.”

The mask did its best not to give away its wearer's disposition.

“How about you say that again after you dodge this?” Luc said as he took aim.

The evaluator readied his own staff to counter whatever his opponent might throw at him.

Luc, meanwhile, calmed himself down, readied a projectile, and gathered as much Aura as he could muster, without cutting off the mask's effect, near the projectile dispenser on his right arm.

Recalling his firework spells and the experience with the Fire Elementals, he aimed for the center of the evaluator's torso.

Luc released the projectile with a click from his left hand.

He infused the ball with a delayed explosive Energy Creation spell he wrote together with Uriah, then added as much kinetic Energy as he could.

The projectile cut through the air, zeroing in on the evaluator.

His target had almost no time to intercept or counter the projectile.

No time for any calculated action.

His opponent acted on instinct.

He barely managed to move his own staff into harm's way to prevent the worst.

But it was all for naught.

The bullet cut right through the wooden staff, breaking it and sending the splinters all across the field.

Then the barely decelerated projectile made contact and dug itself into the evaluator's right shoulder before exploding shortly after the impact.

The following explosion almost ripped off the evaluator's right arm along with his shoulder. Pieces of flesh, splinters of bone, and blood drops galore were sent flying through the ring as he was knocked out of it.

Gasps and shocks were audible throughout the room.

The two healers rushed to the seemingly lifeless evaluator lying next to the wall in a growing pool of his own blood.

Amidst all the clamor, it slowly dawned on Luc why Hannah was against this spell combination when he first suggested it.