At the summits of the broad azure sky, a magic airship continued to hover as it leisurely toured the chaotic lands below it. While the savage battles continued across these wetlands, the scene within this floating ship remained that of a peaceful one. Currently, a group of men dressed in similar uniform, as well as a slouchy looking man, we're staring at a few magic crystal screens which displayed many different images. These display screens showed the scenes of each of the various adventurer candidates as they struggled to survive in the wetlands.
Looking closely, one would notice that a few of them had already fallen to bandits, while others were putting a good fight showing extreme battle capabilities. Some of these key individuals were none other than Gust, Reya, Xeon, Rajen, and even the blue-haired girl that was an ice mage.
In the regions were Gust 'swept' across, a black wind would howl across the land, blowing away not only the weaker bandits but savage amphibious beasts.
Xeon calmly walked through a sea of darkness that swallowed his enemies, as Reya overwhelmed her foes with her scarlet fires that burned everything into nothingness.
Rajen casually cut apart any beasts he came across while jumping from tree to tree as if he was on vacation, even his manner seemed to be somewhat bored.
However, looking at the images of the blue-haired girl, one would notice that she was capable of casting relatively strong ice-type spells that skewered her foes, but for each enemy, she killed she would show signs of trembling.
"Well now, these kids are certainly more talented than the batch we carried last year; even that little lass is giving it her all. Hmm, she may have what it takes if she can overcome her fears," The slouchy looking man said in a laid-back manner as he placed his crossed over legs on top of the desk while both of his arms were behind his head.
The different supervisors seeing this shook their heads and replied, "Indeed, especially those four, not only are their strengths on an unusually larger scale their mental faculties and ability to adapt to the current circumstances are truly astonishing."
"Your right, look at that kid, he was called Rajen, right? His force energy is of the purest quality I've ever seen, even more so that child called Reya and hers is by no way inferior to Top Class Talents of the union. I'm even suspecting her origin's a bit… as for that boy, it's almost as if he's a monster in living flesh, the only he lacks is Arts Prestige. Do you see that sword technique he keeps on using? These are the Low-Level Warrior Sword Arts of the Old Empire, and he can use such a thing show to Stage One battle power; it makes me wonder what kind of strength he would wield if you use more powerful skills more tailored to his force energy," The slouchy-looking man said with bright eyes as he smiled.
"Sir Wolfwood's right, these kids a quite amazing, especially that Xeon, Rajen and Reya, they may just put up a decent show at the Final Phase in the capital city," Another supervisor said with bright eyes as he looked at the slouchy man.
Wolfwood hearing their words, nodded his head, he was also eyeing Xeon and knew that he too was a little monster in living flesh, his mouth curling into a devious smile as he replied, "Heh, you're right, but that's if they can manage to resist those bandits in the period required. There's still a few hours left, and those bandits aren't as stupid as monsters."
Upon hearing his words, the supervisors once more became silent as they looked at the screen with deep looks in their eyes. The winds from the skies brushing across their garments as it traveled downwards to the battles in the Wicked Wetlands.
****
It was an oddly quiet scene, as only the sounds of the croaking critters and myriad lifeforms could be vaguely be heard, much like the gently rustling shrubberies of the wetland's night scene.
Suddenly, a wild bush shook violently as a small figure darted outward, moving like a blur that swiftly traversed these lands as if it was escaping from something. Yet, despite its swift movements, this small figure wasn't fast enough to flee its predator.
Pow! A sharp sound soon echoed across this silent scene as a small knife stabbed into the vitals of this small critter, the moment this happened, the critter fell onto a verdant patch of land that was surrounded by swamp waters as its blood began to form a pool around its body.
Swish! Like the wind itself, a blurry figure suddenly appeared from the darkness landing on top of the land where the critter fell. His previous bright green hair covered in mud as the lights from the three moons and myriad stars could barely illuminate his current form, he swiped his hand across the critter's corpse picking it up from the ground.
"Haa…" The green-haired youth then slightly blew across his hand, causing a small green flame to instantly appear burning the critter that was in his hand, within moments it became barbequed as a mouth-watering fragrance wafted through the area.
Not wasting any time, this youth abruptly wolfed down his late-night meal leaving behind not even a fragment of bone as he swallowed and heartily exclaimed, "Wow! That was delicious! This atmosphere reminds me of the days before I met master…"
As Rajen said this, he couldn't help but think back to his days in the wilds. However, before he could have a decent moment of thought, there was a change.
Bang! A different section of this wetlands became shrouded by scorching red flames as a dreadful series of wails ensued. As these cries resounded, a few persons appeared running towards Rajen's location as if they were trying to escape from the most fearful existence in their lives.
Swish-Swish! These individuals swiftly made their way through the tall trees with a look of panic in their eyes. Eventually, they noticed the dazed-looking Rajen, who was staring at them as if he was too shocked to do anything. The bandit sneered as they looked at each other and nodded their heads.
"That She-Devil won't kill us if we have a hostage! Grab him!" One of them shouted as the two bolted towards Rajen with full speed, like blurs they rapidly shortened the distance between them soon arriving before Rajen.
Boom! As this happened, the area which they had just sprung from was enveloped by dazzling red flames. These flames soon parted, revealing a beautiful red-haired young girl with two large twin tails. Her scarlet eyes glared at the two escaping men in anger before transforming into one of surprise as she noticed Rajen.
"Rajen!" Reya yelled as she was about to rush out towards them, but quickly she remembered his results from the tests done on the magic airship. The moment she thought this, her look of concern soon after became one of mockery as she muttered to herself, "Hehe! These bastards made the wrong choice…"
As if he could not wait to prove her right, Rajen's green eyes gleamed a strange a greenish glow as if he was about to erupt a terrifying power. However, upon seeing the distant figure of Reya, these lights soon faded as he muttered in a soft voice, "So it's Reya? They were running from her; it looks as if her fire type force energy is more special than I thought. While I can still use my Dragonic Arts as it is public knowledge in these lands, it is best to stick with common grade styles for now. I won't show them until I find something worthy enough for me to wield it."
While Rajen thought to himself, the rapidly approaching bandits seemed to be moving in slow motion. He slowly spread his arms and legs apart, taking on a classic posture commonly seen by Sword Force practitioners as he lightly exhaled, releasing a small cloud of air.
"Arts of Swords – Cross Sword Slash…" Rajen said as both of his arms casually swung the sword across the bodies of the bandits, leaving behind a flash of white light that cut outwards horizontally.
In only an instant, this flash of light faded away as the world which seemed to have been moving slowly once more speed up, the bandits carrying a vicious expression on their faces as they continued to charge towards Rajen.
"Little brat, get over here!" One of the bandits yelled as he stretched his arms towards Rajen's neck, the other showed a look of excitement on his face as he could now use leverage against this 'She-Devil.'
Reya seeing this frowned as she started to ponder, "What's going on? Why is Rajen just standing there like an idiot? He has to do something now before they catch him…"
Reya was beginning to grow anxious upon seeing Rajen's state. Soon, however, she opened her mouth wide in shock as she had only now noticed that his posture was no longer the same with both of his arms holding the massive sword to the side, as if he had just attacked with a full swing.
It didn't take long for the bandits to share her mood, but the difference between them was that of one being in a state of pure awe as the other side was in fear and despair.
"Uwaah!" One of the bandits yelled painfully as his body was severed into two halves, his guts and entrails falling to the ground as his blood spouted like a geyser.
"Oh shit!" The other two bandits seeing their companion's state exclaimed, they then looked towards Rajen in terror as they shouted, "Wait, please spare---"
As they were about to finish their words, their views of the world soon changed as if their world had turned inverted. They soon saw their lower bodies spewing out endless amounts of blood before their consciousness faded into the realm of eternity.
Soon, the different parts of the bodies belonging to the men fell to the ground painting the grassy earth and watery swamp with the color of blood.
Rajen frowned as he saw this scene, he shook his head and looked at Reya and spoke, "I didn't think we'd meet so soon Reya, how many of these bandits were you hunting?"
Reya had only now arrived before Rajen, she replied with a smile, "Not many, when I landed, I was surrounded by quite a bunch, but thankfully they weren't too strong, or I'd have been in big trouble. But enough about me, that's a Low-Level Warrior Sword Art, right? Is your master apart of our empire's Warrior Sword School?"
Rajen started to sweat as she quickly replied, "I… I guess you could say he's someone like that…"
"Hmm, is that so?" Reya replied in a non-believing tone, not buying his words, but she didn't try to pry any more than necessary either. After giving him a careful stare, she then changed the topic while looking around at their surroundings, "We should get moving, if we work together as a group, we may be able to survive this test a little easier. Let's try and find my brother."
As Rajen heard this, he nodded and replied, "Sounds good to me, lets head north, I've been sensing a few strange forces there, it seems that quite a lot of people are engaged in combat."
"Okay~" Reya replied cheerfully as her twin tails bounced freely; she smiled and dashed towards the northern direction, moving in a manner that had no hint of caution or worries about the unknown.
Rajen seeing this shook his head and followed while commenting, "She's quite fast, her strength may be that of an E++ Class, but her battle prowess seems to be nearing a D+ Class. She's either one step off, or pretty much at Stage Two Battle Power."
A moment after, both figures vanished into the darkness of the night, moving between the tall trees and grasses. The stars of the night that the brightened scene, soon after becoming shrouded by a large patch of dark clouds as if this night was about to enter its closing act.