"Who the hell are you?" Zack shouted."Me?" the mysterious stranger asked curiously."No one of any importance, just a big fan of Mr. Minotaur'rus ," they said as they continued to hold back Angus's strike. And this, in itself, was quite impressive.
After the shock of the unwanted entrance, both Angus and Zack got a good look at them. They were big, not as large as Angus but probably larger than any other applicant at the exam. They were wearing baggy sweats and an equally baggy hoodie, but the clothes weren't the thing that caught Zack or Angus's eye. No, the centerpiece of the outfit was what was on the stranger's head, or rather, around their head. This applicant was wearing a carved wooden helmet that kept their true identity hidden.
"A fan, ughh I never had one of those," Angus said, staring at the helmet curiously. Something about it was familiar; it was covered in odd markings and symbols. The beastman was sure he had seen it somewhere before.
"That's a shame," the stranger spoke, snatching Angus's attention back. "A beastman of your incredible caliber should have fans around the globe."
Angus smirked, "Don't flatter me, cause it won't get you out of this."
The mysterious person was about to respond but was cut off by yelling from behind him. "Fan or not, get out of my way, asshole!"
The stranger slightly turned their head. He saw Zack rising back to his feet; his knees were shaking, but both Mr. Mysterious and Angus could see how determined he was. "Sorry, buddy, but I can't do that. Technically, I saw him first."
"Like hell you did!" Zack shouted back.
"Girls, girls, please, there is plenty of me to go around," Angus chuckled.
"No, I'm serious," the stranger was persistent. "I did see him first. I was in awe of him. I never expected to see, let alone meet, the great Angus Minotaur'rus in person."
Though one couldn't see it with him having hair all over his body, the constant praise was making Angus blush. "Being such a fan of his for years, I got frozen in place. I wanted to approach, but you beat me to the punch."
"That's… right," Zack stammered out. "It's first come, first serve, so step aside, dipshit! I've got a fight to finish!"
Zack managed all of two steps before he coughed, then collapsed to his knees. "You're in no shape to fight a soldier of the Gardenia army," a simple "fuck you" is all Zack could say back.
With the spiky-haired boy unable to get in the way, the mysterious stranger turned their attention back to Angus. "Mr. Minotaur'rus," he said in the most proper and respectful way he could manage, "It is a great honor to cross blades with you."
Angus readied himself for battle as he responded, "I bet it is."
With all his strength, the stranger pushed Angus back; they was strong, stronger than the beastmen thought. The force made him stumble back for a moment. The mysterious applicant rushed in without a single moment's hesitation; they slashed at Angus, and he managed to block it. Now knowing this applicant had some power, Angus adjusted his stance to prepare for the blow, but still, it was a powerful strike, stronger than the slash that Zack had landed on Angus earlier.
The two proceeded to be locked in combat. Zack, though tired, was able to look up at the battle happening before him. He watched the stranger's moves, their form; it was sloppy. The only thing Zack could see that was giving them a leg up in his battle was his strength. Zack presumed that Angus would take control of the battle in no time at all, and he was right.
After furious slash after slash, Angus blocked each one. The beastmen slowly got acclimated to their strength; he thought he saw all he needed to see. "All this punk has is above-average strength. Besides that, they're nothing."
After the applicant landed another slash, Angus shot out his foot, kicking their leg. The applicant began to fall forward before they felt a knee hit their chest. The applicant cried out in pain as the power from Angus's knee knocked them backwards.
"Amateur," Zack thought. The attack from Angus must have been strong because the applicant struggled to get to their feet as they fought with their own body. They were facing away from Angus. "Amateur," Zack thought again. Having your back facing your enemy, rookie mistake, and it was a thought shared by Angus.
"To a swordsman, protecting their back is one of the most important fundamental lessons one must learn," Angus thought. And Angus thought that he would be the one to teach. He rushed forward, preparing Rickenbaker. He aimed to slash the applicant across their back. He didn't aim to kill them; he agreed when he signed on as an examiner that he wouldn't kill or severely injure any of the applicants. He aimed to teach this one a lesson, a lesson that they would carry on their back forever.
Zack saw all this happening before his very eyes. Even though he didn't like whoever this stranger was who intruded on his fight very much, he was about to scream out for them to look out. But the words got caught in his throat, and only furious coughing came from his mouth.
Once Angus was right on the unaware applicant, he swung his weapon, aiming at the foolish stranger's exposed back. Zack watched, expecting the worst, but he didn't get to see it. What he did see as Angus swung down Rickenbacker was the stranger dodge out of nowhere. They dodged an attack that they didn't see coming, as if they knew that it was there. The display shocked both Zack and Angus.
But the mysterious stranger didn't just dodge; as they avoided the attack, they swung their rental weapon backwards, aiming it for Angus's head. The beastmen's eyes went wide as he jumped backwards to get some distance. Zack was stunned. "Damn, for a sloppy sword fighter, this guy isn't that bad," a sentiment that Angus unknowingly shared. Unlike the applicant, Angus didn't dodge the attack; it managed to slash. It was a small slash that cut right over one of his eyes, and it was a slash that bled. The blood fell down his face, even falling into his eyes.
Angus was frustrated. Two hits in one day wasn't what he was expecting. His blood began to boil once again. But on the opposite side of the spectrum was the mysterious stranger. They were jumping up and down, overjoyed. "Yes, yes, yes! I did it! I actually hit you, man! I can't wait to tell grandma!"
Angus couldn't help but smile. "You know, jumping up and down like a schoolgirl with a crush isn't the makings of a soldier."
That comment stopped the applicant in their tracks. "Oh yeah, sorry," they said, all embarrassed and bashful. "Sorry, I was just so excited. But you're right; I must take this more seriously." As they readied their weapon, the applicant said "Next, I'll get two more hits on you," but before they could make a move, a noise came from the loudspeakers.
"Yoyoyoyo!" It was the voice of the exam's announcer. "Just letting you applicants know, know, know that even more, more, more of y'all have passed the first part of the exam. For all of you that haven't passed yet, better hurry! Only three hundred are advancing."
"Shit!" came from the mysterious applicant. "I got too caught up in the fight. I can't fail!"
The applicant no longer wanted to continue fighting Angus; they started to run to get out of the hole that they were in. Then Angus rushed them. The applicant blocked the incoming attack. "Where do you think you're going?"
"I hope you don't think you can just leave after landing such a lucky hit," Angus said.
"Oh, Mr. Minotaur'rus, I truly wish I could continue crossing blades with you, but to accomplish my dreams, I need to pass this exam," the applicant reached out and grabbed one of Angus's horns. With all of their strength, they began to throw the large bull beastman.
"What the hell is this? This strength isn't above average; it's more than that it's like the strength of a—" Angus's thought was cut off as he was was thrown a great distance away from the applicant. As they readied to escape, they got distracted, then turned back to Zack, still on his knees.
The applicant thought for a while, then decided to act as fast as they could. They ran over to Zack, threw him over their shoulder, then they jumped out of the hole from a standing position.
"Hey, Zack screamed! Hey, dipshit, what are you doing?"
"What does it look like? I'm helping you. I didn't ask for your help, so let me go. I want to have another go at the beastmen."
"No, you're much to beat up for that," the applicant said as they and the spiky haired boy landed on the solid ground. As they took off at full speed, they said, "Besides, I need to pay you back."
"Pay me back for what?" "Oh, back there you were about to warn me about Mr. Minotaur'rus attack, weren't you?" Zack didn't say a thing the applicant chuckled that was nice of you, my grandma all ways told me return kindness that is given to you so if I pass the first part of the exam well so will you." Zack was frustrated and was about to scream, but he couldn't find the words, so he stopped fighting them, allowing them to carry him back into the hole where Angus sat, angered.
"Those little shits just running away when things started to get good," he was huffing and puffing, angry, the way bulls are known for. But he was distracted from his little tantrum when he heard a male voice.
"What are you so mad about?" the voice said. "You were the one complaining how boring this exam would be. Looks to me you were having fun."
Angus looked down at the weapon that was in his hands and spoke to it as if it wasn't something that was strange. "I was having fun. That's why I'm mad. Things were getting good, Rickenbaker."
Angus's double-sided axe chuckled. "You should have gone all out then; they would have died."
"But next time," Angus said, getting to his feet, "Next time when they're strong, we'll fight again. Then both you and I will show our true strength."