The very moment the voice approached them with glee, they looked at her with a questioning look in their eyes. Her appearance gave off a friendly and charismatic vibe, yet, contrary to that is a very hysterical person if things don't go to her liking. Wearing a V-neck shirt and high waisted jeans to match her crimson hair and hazelnut-like eyes.
When the hunter arrived beside him, Hans briefly explained who she was while she waved to them with a smile on her face.
"This is Ashley Spencer. She's Head Akito's apprentice, a special agent. Her ability is classified as High-difier."
"High-dier?" Both the Female Blood tilted their heads in question.
"She has the ability to identify other abilities. May it be hunter, lycan, vampire, and even Female Blood. High-difier is an ability by how far they will be able to identify one's ability. It consists of three classes which are A, B, C. High for A-class identifier, Mid for B-class, Low for C-class. And she happens to be an A-class identifier." Hans concluded.
Ashley pouted as she crossed her arms after she scanned the place, "Still not done yet? How many minutes has passed already? Shall I give them a hint?"
When Emma and Hazel heard her suggestion, their ears and irked with glee as if a lost puppy who found its owner. However, to their dismay, Hans opposes without giving them a chance of hope which makes them gloom in defeat.
"No." He protested.
"Hmmm… Well, I'm pretty much surprised you didn't do anything yet." Ashley remarked.
Hans remained silent and glanced at her shortly then focused back to the battle in front of them. Emma started to feel exhausted and frustrated by the situation because she couldn't find an opening to fight back. She started to curse in her mind of her uselessness and incompetence whereas Mark continued cornering her.
'Damn it! Why is this happening to me?! I wish he couldn't see me… I never wanted this anyway! But I don't want to regret anything anymore. I want to protect those people who are important to me. I want to help him. I want to stay by his side. Please, let me stay by his side!' She thought to herself.
The memories from when she and Head Benjamin met till where she is now kept flashing back in her mind. When a smiling Head Benjamin came out of the picture, her determination and tenacity bloomed. She held her dagger as she was about to launch at her opponent but stopped midway when she noticed that something weird was happening to Mark.
She looked at him while he was searching the whole area as if he couldn't see or locate her. She held the dagger tightly as she breathed heavily from exhaustion. She called Hazel's name if she could see her and Hazel instantly said 'yes' as she struggled from her opponent's attacks.
Emma slowly and cautiously walked towards him to confirm her hunch and she was right. He couldn't see her as he kept throwing punches in the air. Ashley approached her while she clapped her hands as her eyes smiled with glee.
"Finally! You use your ability and also… Congratulations for becoming a full-fledged hunter!" she said.
"Full-fledge?" she asked.
Ashley took out her tiny mirror from her pocket and handed it to her then pointed at her neck as if she wanted to indicate something about Emma's neck. Emma looked at the mirror and saw that her mark went into full bloom with a letter 'H' above it. She smiled as tears slowly dripped down her eyes because of the happiness and relief she's feeling right now.
"Is it my ability perhaps–?" she asked when she remembered that they're still in the middle of the test.
"Yes!" Ashley answered cheerfully.
"Your ability is Illusion. You can depict an image into your target's mind. It's more or less like bringing their sub-consciousness to another dimension and your eyes glow purple while using your ability." She added.
"That's true. I kind of wished he couldn't see me." Emma announced.
"Yeah, so you can stop now." Ashley commanded.
"Stop what?" Emma asked.
"Using your ability." Ashley said.
"How?" Emma asked again.
"Ohhh… right… I forgot you're still a beginner. Okay, so close your eyes and slowly calm yourself down. Relax your nerves. That way your eyes will go back to normal. Pretty easy, right?" Ashley instructed.
"Y-yeah." Emma agreed as she followed her instructions.
When she opened her eyes again, it went back to normal as she felt the dying tension in her body. Hans approached them then gave Mark and Emma some towels as he congratulated her.
"Congratulations. You passed the trial. Now you are not only a full-fledged hunter but an agent, as well."
"Two weeks from now, you will start receiving some training routine from whoever your master will be. On the other hand," he added.
They all watched Hazel and Aiden fighting with the tension rising around them. Hazel couldn't find an opening to strike at him nor does she know how to make use of her ability. The thought of Emma being able to use her ability made her unable to focus on her fight. Unfortunately, Hans realized it the moment he approached Emma so he called Mark to get his bullwhip. As soon as Mark gave him the bullwhip, he saw Aiden attempt to strike at her.
Hans took this opportunity to stop him, so he wrapped his weapon around Aiden's wrist and pulled him away from Hazel. As he was sent flying, the impact of being hit by the wall made him gawked and crunched in pain while trying to support himself with his other arm.
He tried to search for the person who attacked him out of nowhere but when his eyes met Hans gaze, he trembled by the sight of Hans glares. Whereas Hazel gasped by the situation while she covered her mouth from disbelief and looking confused as to why he did that made her shiver in fear, hoping that what she's thinking right now may not happen.
When she took a glimpse of Hans, she saw him march his way towards her whereas she struggled to take a step back. Once Hans disclosed their gap he glared at her and asked her with an authoritative tone.
"Your opponent is right in front of you, so why is your mind elsewhere? Why are you so distracted? Is it because Aiden is giving you a hard time? Or is it because of Emma?"
Hazel avoided his gaze with a sense of guilt rising upon her and it gave Hans a hint which in return he decided that made her sweat drop in fear.
"You won't say anything? Fine, then I'll take care of this myself." He announced firmly.
The Heads above them knew exactly what was going to happen. Head Asher couldn't sit idly knowing that his pair is in danger. When he was about to stand to intervene in the trial, a gun was pointed in his head and he turned to see Head Audeth pointing her gun at him.
"Sit down." She commanded.
"She'll die!" he exclaimed.
"Sit down or I'll shoot your head before you could even save her. Head Kelly…" She called out.
"Yes, Head Audeth." Head Kelly responded.
She immediately took out a small dagger given by Hans and went behind Sheryl as she placed the blade on her neck while her other arm confined her target's hands. The restricted hunters flickered in annoyance as their faces showed displeasure towards the situation but couldn't fight back because of their disadvantage. Whereas Head Benjamin clenched his fist for being unable to help them because his pair might take the consequences for him instead.
As soon as Hans removed his coat and took his bullwhip, he began advancing towards Hazel while she continued being cornered by his attack. With his last strike Hazel got whipped that made her stumbled on the ground. She struggled pulling herself up while holding her bleeding arm. Soon after, her anger and desperation started building up. Emma, seeing Hazel's condition, was about to interfere and help her but Ashley held her shoulder.
"You'll only make things worse." Ashley warned her.
"But…" Emma tried to reason out but it only made Ashley glare at her.
"You're no match for him. He may be human but he worked more than twice as hard as everyone else here did. Which means he is far more superior than you. Unless you've got a death wish then I won't stop you." She concluded.
Emma didn't say anything in return and followed her warning while her uneasiness was clearly visible in her face. Hans started insulting Hazel while attacking her when he sees no room for improvement from her after fighting her these past few minutes.
"Seriously, did your confidence a while ago chickened out now? Why are you here then? You couldn't even stand the words you were spouting earlier. Ha! Don't tell me… Were those just baseless convictions?" He asked.
"If I had known you're this weak then I shouldn't have made such a huge effort for you to take this test. If you won't use that ability then you're nothing but trash! Useless! A good-for-nothing Female Blood! You won't be able to stand beside the people you cared for and will continue to disappoint them! Especially SHERYL!"
With his last offensive remark, Hazel could feel her nerves snapping one by one. She screamed and vented out her anger and frustration towards Hans as her eyes turned purple. Suddenly, Hans could feel the gravity pulling him down while Hazel took her spear and threw it in his direction. Having the gravity weigh him down, Hans couldn't even lift a finger to avoid the attack.
Ashley immediately rushed whereas the other Heads and Sheryl above them rushed down to save Hans. Head Benjamin, contrarily, smashed the glass without giving it a thought just to save him. But, regardless of the situation, someone already stopped Hazel's attacks.
When Head Asher along with his companion arrived, they saw Head Melissa holding the spear as she playfully whirls it through her fingers then she smirks at her savagely.
"Woah…. Chill out there, sweetie."
...