'Fire Escape'
Turning to fire, X sped through the empty streets, searching for demons. He turned back to his normal, human body, then jumped up to land on top of a short brick house. Scouting from there, he should have a better chance of spotting the larvae. Straining his eyes, he managed to find three demons and seven contestants. He had to get them before the others. He returned to his fiery form and rushed to the demon closest to him, remembering the positions of the others in his head.
He appeared behind it, a jet of golden flames. Immediately transforming back, he sliced down with his hatchet, embedding it in the demon's unguarded back. The demon howled in pain as and fell down to the ground. X knew that it was dead, and was surprised by the ease with which he had killed it. Bending down to pick up his weapon, he thought about the position of the other demons and contestants. He had lowered his guard, assuming victory.
The demon lashed out at him, turning around with incredible speed. It should not have been able to move so quickly with its weak body, especially when it was heavily injured. X ducked from the attack, pulling his hatchet from its body. With a quick, practiced movement of his right hand, he decapitated the demon and kicked down its light corpse. Leaving the demon's body behind, X checked up on himself, wiping away the blood that had stained his neck. The demon's claw had managed to cut through his asking there, leaving behind a small wound, but X knew that it was not something he should be afraid of. It won't even leave a scar.
X turned back to fire, zooming away from the corpse, knowing the exact routes needed to reach the second demon and third demons, who were close enough to each other to be considered a double kill. The stream of flames went past a few other people who were looking at him mystified, forgetting their own tasks. Flashy abilities like his were something most people would be envious of anyway, especially if it was not something he had received after becoming a knight.
X saw the two demons, one lying on the floor, dead, and the other running for its life from a party of three. He would lose the point if two contestants attacked together, however, he will receive the point if he killed it before the others attacked. Increasing his speed to the maximum, he paced ahead of the exhausted party and slammed into the demon head-on while transforming, causing it to fall down. The heat of his flames and the force of the attack were enough to kill the demon without any further actions, so after X thoroughly checked if it was dead or not, he left the spot, jumping up once more to land on top of another house.
He looked around, trying to de the same thing he did last time, when a smooth voice whispered something in his ears. All of a sudden, the temperature dropped down to room temperature, then decreased further. The cold felt artificial, yet it was there. The voice, which definitely belonged to a young lady, had a similar icy tone to it, echoing through his ears like a snowball falling into a well.
'Left. Hiding inside a straw house, the smallest one in the area.'
X turned his head around, trying to find the voice. Unable to find her, he decided that it was some weird part of his forgotten memory. Turning his head around and looking left, he saw that there was indeed a small straw hut in the region. He did not trust the voice, even if it was a part of himself. Maybe the voice of a forgotten friend.
'I don't think I had friends who were younger than me.'
The voice replied, the cold returning the moment she spoke. Even though he did not know who she was, he already hated her. Breathing heavily, X placed his hatchet on his right shoulder. He was tired. Using Fire Escape thrice, for a longer time than usual, was extremely exhausting. But he had to enter into the academy, and for that, he had to prepare to get tired, especially since he had only killed two larvae. Twenty-three left.
'Fire Escape'
The jet of scorching flames flew through the streets once more, taking the shortest route to the hut. Honestly, X felt like he should stop using it, since not only was very tiring, but he also had to deal with a lot of envious looks from some less fortunate participants. He was close to the hut, he knew that, and therefore he swapped back to the human form. Streams of golden fire could not open doors.
As soon as the house came into his sight, X knew something was wrong. His instincts, which had managed to pick up on the presence of Stage 2 demons immediately after Uncle Ken warned them, were going haywire. Whatever was here, it was strong. Either that, or there was an army of demons here. Had the voice betrayed him to a hidden monster. Suddenly cautious, X took a closer look at the surroundings, trying to ensure that he was safe. He could feel the gaze of something on his back, something deadly.
Just then, a shadow that looked vaguely humanoid was visible in the distance. If this was the cause of him feeling odd, if this was the powerful demon that gave him the creeps, he had to take the initiative and attack first. But if this was just a human, he couldn't attack them, since that would result in his disqualification. Suddenly puzzled by his current dilemma, X could not make a decision fast enough. He wielded his hatchet and got ready to attack, waiting owner of the shadow to slowly walk from the hidden street.
'She's human, ignore her, and stop badmouthing the demons so much. Kill those fools in the hut before this girl takes them, especially since she is closer than you are.'
The icy voice spoke, and it took a moment for X to register the whole thing. Many questions raced through his head, but he did not have time to think about them. Assuming that it was not misleading him, X needed to rush to the hut. If it was misleading, he had to attack the demon, or run away, which was something he did not want to do. Because the last time he had to run away from demons was not exactly a good memory. Therefore, whether this cold woman was benevolent or not, it was in his best interest to move forward, and so he did, running forward as quickly as he could while still being cautious enough to save his life.
A girl walked out of the street, coming towards him. Seeing X sprint, she followed suit, her close-cropped hair swaying lightly as it followed her motion. Relieved that the voice had not been lying, X decided to trust it, even if it was a little bit. The thing was still too creepy, and he was not happy about the fact that it declined the chance to be his friend. Most people he met had done so, and X did not really care, but the fact that he himself did not want to be his friend did sadden him a little bit.
X was the first to reach the place, and when he opened the door, he was truly happy that this icy woman had decided to help him instead of someone else. There were a lot of demons here, at least five. He did not mind sharing with the other girl now, since there were more demons here than twice the number of ones he had killed, but he did need the points.
'See, I told you to trust me'
X jumped in excitedly and swung his hatchet at the closest demon, missing its neck by an inch, and cutting a fatal gash in its upper chest. Another demon jumped up behind him and impaled his back with its sharp claws, threatening to rip it apart. X jumped backward while using Fire Escape, turning into fire for a moment. The sickly thin larva was unable to maintain its hold on him, and fell forward, right through the fire. X transformed back and pounced on it, but there was no reason. It had already been burnt to death.
The first demon crawled back, obviously afraid of the guy who killed one of its companions, especially since it was injured. The others took its place instead, making a semi-circle while staring at him with angry eyes. One of the demons pounced, and X barely dodged the attack by sidestepping and stretching backward, his fingers touching the ground. He got back up and swung his hatchet down on another demon, cutting cleanly through its weak neck with such speed that blood did not stick to the weapon.
X waited for the third demon, the one which had leaped over him, to attack but did not, so X ignored it and charged forward, kicking a demon in the gut and slashing at the first, injured demon once more, ready to finish the task this time. The weapon struck it in its wounded chest, and as soon as the weapon left its body, it fell, dead. The other demon clutched its stomach as it moved back. He cut off its head with a simple lunge and a simple attack. Out of nowhere, another demon leaped on him. X had lowered his guard and was not expecting the attack, but one had to expect the unexpected if they were knights.
Luckily for him, something hit the demon, causing it to fly away and crash into the wall. X wished to continue with the attack, but his exhausted body did not allow him to move. He had only killed five demons and was running out of time. Rest could be done later. Just as he was about to get up, a mummified hand appeared beside him. X was startled and turned to see whom that hand belonged to. The girl was standing there with a grin on her face, and finally aware of the fact that she was not a demon, he used her hand as support to get back on his feet.
'Honestly, thanks. I might have walked past this place if it was not for you, and have missed all these free points. I am happy with the two I got, and you killed four, I suppose. Or three.'
X was not keeping track anymore, but that did not matter so much all of a sudden. After all, he had been suddenly put into a conversation. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to say "You're welcome".
'Uhh...urr well'
X was unable to express himself, like usual. He still did not know how he had managed to find a place to live with such bad social skills. The girl looked at him with surprise. Who would have thought that this great demon slayer would be unable to talk to people? Snickering, she spoke
'Well, my name is Rose. They call me One Fist Rose in my village, mostly due to the bandages. You?'
'X'
'Demon ten meters ahead, run away.'
The voice spoke, unable to handle this awkward situation. Whether it was lying or there was actually a demon so close, X did not know, but today he was feeling exceptionally thankful to the voice. He made a mental promise to grant any wish of the icy voice one day, even though he knew that it was probably just a part of his imagination that was actively telling him things that he had somehow guessed. He was too much of an anomaly, after all.
'Hey, remember the promise okay? I might hold you to it.'
With a small smile on his face, X ran out of the hut, ignoring the girl who was talking to him. When Rose realized that X had left, she ran out of the straw building and yelled something at the top of her voice.
'Hey, after this, fight me. I want to see how strong you are.'
X already knew that he would not fight her.