Chapter 17: First Exam — Hunt (3)
In the vast spirit guardian's domain, the participants of the yearly exam were already engaged in battle with various monsters or had taken a voyage into their mini domains.
It was particularly easy to tell a domain.
More often than not, domains stood out in the vista of a seemingly peaceful environment.
As the exam took place in the spiritual domain after the inhabited woodlands before the first union occupied them, it was mainly forest and their gargantuan trees standing before the aspiring hunters.
How could a mini domain of a monster look in such a place?
Taking an instance from the exam, it could be a cave surrounded by forcefully bent down trees allowing people to only enter it through its seemingly bottomless mouth. Hunters would enter the mouth in search of a monster sleeping or waiting for new snacks, naively trying to enter inside.
But since it was an exam, things appeared a little different.
The entrance to the cave was guarded by a group of five huntresses donned in leather armor and steel weapons. All were on guard, keeping their strict eyes jumping from one tree to another, just to find a possible vestige of someone trying to snatch their prey!
And those women didn't think that a monster would ambush them.
They were here to kill other participants!
As one of the ladies turned her eyes in another direction, her blank point momentarily became more liable than ever before, exposing her to a threat lurking in the shadows.
Waiting for that chance, Aimee had left her sneaking spot and run through a safe line of sight, shrinking the distance with her opponent in the blink of an eye.
When the woman blinked again, Aimee had already thrown a thrust at her face's scratching one of her eyes.
It was a fatal wound, compelling a shrieking scream from the woman.
She notified others of an intruder, but the price of it was more than just an eye, as Aimee cut the woman's neck, leaving her on the ground to die.
Understanding the prowess of quantity, Hunter's teammate invited another opponent into one versus one scenario with nothing but a victorious smirk and a step to the side.
At the same time, Hunter came out on the scene, his presence drawing only one woman…
"Just a man! I'll deal with him quickly," the said woman calmed down her friends before rushing to deal with what appeared to be the golden-haired bitch's sidekick. "Go back to the kitchen, bastard!"
Smirking at the woman and her balled hand going at his face, Hunter replied with his strength, hurling his gloved punch at her attack.
Their fists connected, the loud explosion of raw power and cracking bones rang out, and the woman's entire arm flew over her shoulder, only to dangle like a broken piece.
Her eyes widened, and her bewilderment jammed up the painful scream in her throat. Her heart babbled all insignificant questions in her heart, such as how could this man in low-quality armor be stronger than her?
'A man is stronger than me?!'
Following the momentum, Hunter punched the woman's face, ending her distressed and hectic monologue!
"You can cook with-"
As the headless body dropped in front of him, Hunter finished the rest of the sentence in a cold whisper…
"-with one hand… I guess not."
-
A few minutes later, Hunter joined Aimee's side and instantly received a new opponent himself.
This time, the group was wary of them, but that was nothing but a new advantage for both Aimee and Hunter. The experienced lady used it much better than him, finishing off her enemies with quick and flexible swordsmanship.
As for Hunter, he once again decided it was better to aim for the head, sending the woman's pretty face off her neck.
As the silence blanketed them both, Aimee sat down on a rock and began cleaning her blade off the blood with a handkerchief, "Was that your first kill?"
Her question was valid, as Hunter hadn't said a word ever since killing their opponents. He didn't even try to score points with Aimee and hovered his eyes on the headless bodies instead.
Since Hunter didn't reply, Aimee took her eyes off him and returned to polishing her black blade.
Meanwhile, Hunter had different emotions tangling within his heart.
'Why do I feel so relieved and ecstatic? Why is happiness so much stronger than relief? I don't feel sorry for them at all! Yes, they all came here prepared to die… and even the headmistress confirmed it… but I shouldn't feel this way. How should I feel, to begin with? Should I ask Aimee?'
As Hunter turned his eyes toward his teammate, he saw her looking at herself in the reflection of her black sword and wiping the blood off her face. Aimee then stuffed the bloody handkerchief in the pouch strapped to her hip and took out lipstick, smearing her lips red.
All while holding her sword up as a mirror…
"Oh? Already done grieving them?" Aimee sucked in her lips, bobbed them a little, then curved out a beautiful, teasing smile.
All because Hunter looked different from his usual self.
Which was surely because of the new experience he just had thoroughly thought of.
"Yeah, I've sorted my head out… and you just bust it up! Why do you look so sexy putting on lipstick while holding a sword up like a mirror? Are you trying to charm me?"
"Yes, it's so impossible to charm a man like you. It's not like you are seeking a harem and undressing every woman you lay your eyes on. I must play my best cards from the beginning!" Aimee's passive aggressive tone was back!
Which was what Hunter needed to thoroughly return to himself!
He crossed his arms and lifted his chin up with a chuckle, "Watch your words, Aimee! I don't do something so idiotic as that! Rather than undressing women with my eyes, I'd rather not waste time and work hard to have them take off their clothes one by one before me."
"Anyway…" Aimee sighed and stood up, "Can you continue?"
Glancing at the black gloves on his hands, Hunter laughed and nodded, "I'm ready to take you to the top, beautiful."
"Carry me to the top, handsome beast."
"I sensed a hint of honesty in those words!"
"Of course you did."
With that, Hunter took the lead and headed into the cave's mouth to see the main members of the enemy's team and to snatch their monster.
Although Hunter hadn't sustained any serious words, he looked quite pale already for some reason.
Aware of what the culprit was, Hunter couldn't help but glance at his hands and recall what Aimee had taught him about.
'Strength Origin?'
'Yes, the description says that those black gloves expand my Strength Origin!'
'Mrs. Leona really must think you're a weak woman if she had sent you such a treasure… listen here, humans are born with three main origins: strength, mana, and vitality. Then, some are lucky to be born with more, such as me, as I also have a highly expanded Agility Origin, which I have focused on for the last fifteen years. Items can expand those origins so more mana flows into them, further increasing our abilities.'
'Thank you for your lesson, Aimee! I love when women teach me. Makes me wanna work harder for them!'
'Just don't become hard.'
'Haha!'
Hunter recalled that new information with a faint smile.
Since he didn't have mana, the black gloves sucked his blood. In order to enable that, Hunter left wide scratches on his palms, hoping they'd never close in this exam.
Perhaps the gaping wounds never closed because it was his intent, or maybe the item was leveraging those lacerations for his sake.
Hunter was constantly losing tons of blood, yet his regeneration proved to be better again, allowing him to fight at a higher level than before.
What Hunter didn't know was that… his cold blood increased the black gloves' quality.
Which was slowly turning him into a real monster.