01.36 - Before The Fall

The individual examinations had concluded, and the participants of this year’s hunter exam enjoyed a well-deserved rest in the guest room section of the hunters' guild building. At least, those who had passed the Aura evaluation and the individual matches.

The rooms were neither luxurious nor entirely plain. They were functional: white walls and matching bed sheets with fluffy cushions, a medium-sized bathroom, and a small kitchen section. They were designed for pairs, groups of four, or six at most.

Mirai, Gabe, and Luc were placed in one of the four-person rooms. The same was true for the group consisting of Hanna, Sascha, and Rafe, and the one made up of Uriah, Rogue, and Rem.

With the constant need to supply Aura to keep their disguises active, and the exhaustion from the single combat examinations piling up, they had a lazy late afternoon.

Luc’s group gathered around the kitchen table after ordering meals to their room. The smell of cumin, coriander, and turmeric filled the air.

“The food here isn't that bad,” Luc said while gobbling down another spoonful of a curry rice dish. “After all the stories I heard from Mom.”

“Maybe they’ve exchanged chefs?” asked Gabe between bites.

“It’s also pretty hard to mess up curry and rice,” added Mirai after finishing the rest of her plate.

Gabe nodded.

“Last time Mom made curry, the rice was mushy, the curry was too spicy, and the vegetables were overcooked,” said Luc. “Dad’s dishes are usually pretty good, though. She once said that she only married him because of his cooking skills… Maybe she wasn’t joking.”

“What do you think about the hunter exam so far?” asked Mirai. “I think this whole thing is a bit of a letdown.”

“My single combat test was a farce,” said Gabe. “I literally won by dropping my opponent from high up.”

“We are all still in the top ten,” said Luc. “They failed almost a fifth of the contestants in the first round, yet I nearly killed my examiner. I expected more, to be honest.”

“Right,” said Gabe. “I think this is going to be a walk in the park.”

---

The second day of the exam was designated for group combat examinations.

After a long night's rest and a hearty breakfast, Mirai, Gabe, and Luc, back in their familiar specter form, found themselves before the door leading to yet another arena. It was more spacious than the ones from the day before and entirely outdoors. The audience seats were farther away, and the radius of the battleground about three times as big as before.

“‘Oudeis’, ‘Heison’, and ‘Dualys’?” one of two clerks asked as they stepped through the door.

They nodded, then went along, kicking up dust and small rocks from the battleground.

Their three opponents already waited near the center of the arena. They were decked out in combat gear, all calm, maybe even relaxed. But yesterday's evaluators had been confident too. Pride goes before the fall.

The group leader, a tall woman in her early thirties with long black hair and green eyes, introduced herself as Esmeralda. She was wielding a telescopic battle staff, not unlike Luc’s.

The shorter woman next to her was of a similar age, had shoulder-length black hair and crimson eyes, and was called Rubi. Her weapon of choice seemed to be a pair of gauntlets.

The final member was a man of average height in his late thirties, with short black hair and blue eyes, and went by the name of Zafiro, who seemed to keep his weapon of choice hidden for now.

After a short exchange of meaningless platitudes, the match was about to begin.

“Let’s make this quick,” said Luc as he took aim at Esmeralda.

His projectile cut through the air, but the following explosion seemed to happen maybe three-quarters of the way to his target. The combustion and blown-up dust made it hard to tell.

“What the…?” Before he could fully comprehend the aftermath of his attack, something accelerated Luc, as well as the air around him, towards Zafiro’s position, despite his own best efforts to slow down or reverse course.

At the same time, Rubi appeared right before Gabe, whose attempt to switch his position with Zafiro failed miserably for reasons beyond his immediate comprehension. Rubi’s right fist connected with Gabe’s mask. The impact was heavy, and the pain radiated through his face, but Gabe’s body didn’t move at all. The damage spread through his body as more and more hits connected. Still frozen in place, it started to dawn on him.

Concurrently, Esmeralda closed in on Mirai, whose future sight ability seemed to glitch out. She reacted by throwing a fireball at her opponent.

To Mirai’s great distress, the fireball vanished a moment later, as her opponent reached her position.

Esmeralda’s battle staff swung in a great arc at Mirai.

Right before the impact, Mirai’s place was switched with Rubi.

It was too late for Esmeralda to stop. The staff almost connected to its target, and neither space nor time was left to decelerate.

Yet, it somehow froze in place.

Gabe, on the other hand, was able to move again. He immediately tried to switch Esmeralda’s position with Luc’s. His spell failed again. He immediately pivoted his target to Rubi and switched her with Luc.

Rubi hit an invisible wall close to Zafiro a fraction of a second later.

Esmeralda, meanwhile, took a spell-accelerated battle staff hit from Luc right to the left shoulder without moving at all, then seemed to break free from whatever held her back and retreated to her teammates.

Mirai, Gabe, and Luc used the time to regroup as well.

“I take back what I said yesterday,” said Gabe. “We might be in trouble. I think Rubi is a Space Manipulator, Transmuter, Deviator, or all of the above. From what I saw, she is able to anchor at least one target in position for a short while. Maybe more.”

“There’s something fishy about Esmeralda too,” said Mirai. “My spell glitched out. She might be a Time Deviator too.”

“And Zafiro has some kind of barrier,” said Luc. “His other spell reminds me of one used by my dad. Zafiro’s version seems way weaker, but he might just be holding back.”