[-In The Hunter Academy-]
Everyone was fixated at the hologram announcing the opening ceremony.
Standing at their own positions with anticipation.
No one expected what came next.
"For the opening ceremony of this year's semester… a selection process has been decided!" announced to everyone.
Others remained calm but others were confused at what it entailed for everybody.
Mostly, everyone was waiting for the whole scenario to be explained to them.
"Since we have a lot of promising and full of potential candidates in becoming professional hunters, we had to narrow it down to the strongest and best of the best, amongst you. So, the faculty of the Hunters Academy prepared a selection process. A process where each of you must survive until midnight," the voice from the hologram sounded excited.
It further explained, "You have an option to retreat or fight for your life. Remember, if you choose to retreat, you will never be eligible again to attend the semester here in Hunters Academy. And if you choose to fight for your life, you will have to defeat criminals from different cities who are sentenced with death penalty."
Everyone gasped in their surprise at the number of criminals appearing from the sidelines.
The courtyard of the Hunters Academy was incredibly wide and spacious.
While the majority remained surprised, Scarlett was already preparing herself for an intense battle.
Others pondered on the two options given to them.
RETREAT OR FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE!
'I only wanted to learn and become a professional hunter.'
'My family did not inform me about this!'
'Is this for real? The training has not started yet and they are already putting us in a life threatening situation.'
Different thoughts were going through each participants' mind. Thinking of whether they should retreat or fight against the group of criminals who were thirsty to liberate themselves.
The faculty of the Hunters Academy promised the chosen criminals with freedom if whoever kills the most participants in the process.
Driving each criminal to their utmost killing instincts. In order for them to have a reason to fight for their lives.
Some of the participants remained calm and collected, while most of them panicked at the overwhelming number of criminals they had to defeat.
"Another reminder, each of you will be ranked based on the number of your defeated targets and your performance tonight. Thus, all of you must seize this opportunity to impress us!"
"So… GOODLUCK EVERYONE! MAY GOOD FORTUNE BE WITH YOU!"
As soon as the hologram disappeared, a signal was alarmed for the beginning of the selection process.
Many invited participants ran towards the huge gate of the Hunters Academy. While the others looked for weapons to use against their opponents.
They noticed rack of weapons were placed nearby.
Those who chose to fight for their life did not waste a single moment and took their own choice of weapon.
But a few had their own kept weapon with them. One of them was Seth, he took a special gauntlet with distinct embedded gem on it from his pocket and wore it for the battle.
At the same time, Scarlett was trying her best to keep herself calm.
'Criminals? Fight for our lives?'
'I only read of these things but not in a million chance I imagined myself being in this position. Not this quick! My expectation was… training first, before any fights or dangerous tasks!'
Scarlett thought to herself the situation she was currently in.
Then, she recalled that members of the Pride Family are known for their keen senses.
Upon choosing her own weapon, the red velvet-haired daughter of Richard Pride chose to equip herself with a bow and quiver of arrows.
The wide and spacious court yard immediately became a battlefield for everyone.
Group of participants worked together in defeating their targets. While some preferred to fight alone.
A loud clash between the criminals and remaining participants reverberated around the court yard.
It was something that Scarlett could not believe herself. She was astonished at the real life battle, a life and death moment.
In Scarlett's previous life, she had an experience to work part-time as an instructor assistant in an archery school. One of her life experiences along the way in her foster family.
Right at the moment when Scarlett found her spot to aim her arrow, she released one arrow after another.
Taking down her targets one by one. Cases of arrows were stacked beside her.
She chose to fight from a distance. Overlooking the entire battlefield.
Having the opportunity to have a better positioning in the battle compared to those who rushed themselves towards the enemies.
For Scarlett, it would be more strategic for her to fight in a long-range distance rather than the shorter range because of the obvious disparity in strength from the others. And she lacks information regarding her targets so it would be difficult for her to discern the weaknesses and strength of her targets.
And Scarlett thought, she will have a better foresight for her counter attacks if she chose to utilize the long-range tactics for her survival.
Especially, she had to consider of taking down more opponents for her to rank.
Though, after hitting more targets than usual. Her pacing reduced as the realization kicked in.
"You will get points for immobilizing and wounding your targets but you have to eventually kill your targets. Or else you will give them an opportunity to harm one of ours," a fellow participant told Scarlett from behind.
Scarlett's hand shivered in fear of the thought of killing someone.
It would be her first time to kill someone if ever she truly aim to kill.
"I… I…" Scarlett began to hesitate in releasing another arrow.
Due to her hesitation, some of the criminals grabbed the chance to pierce through their line of defense.
One of the criminals was about to attack Scarlett but Seth prevented the man with plenty of tattoos to get near to Scarlett.
"Hey, what are you doing? Are you planning to get killed? This is kill or be killed situation!" Seth pointed out to Scarlett.
Then, he realized the look on Scarlett's face that she was flustered at the scene of people dying and covered in blood.
"Is this your first time to see people die and covered in blood? I think it would be better for you to head towards the gate and retreat. Becoming a hunter would require for you to kill! Your life will be put at risk if you hesitate in killing your opponent," Seth expressed his thoughts to the only daughter of Richard Pride.
From that point on, Scarlett finally understood that the path of her own survival will not be that easy as she thought it would be.
There will be a lot of sacrifices and hurdles to overcome if she wanted to change her fate as… SCARLETT PRIDE!
"I WANT TO LIVE!!!!" Scarlett screamed as she released one arrow after another.
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<<<_TO BE CONTINUED_>>>
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