Stomping sounds appeared out of the blue as Donovan spoke. The air thickened in response of the behemoth's arrival. From a short distance, Gary appeared from seemingly nowhere. His towering body lumbered towards the group. He slowly increased the terror within the candidates as he approached.
The first year had seen him before. But not the second or third. From their perspective, the only thing they knew about Gary was that he was a raging behemoth of a human. Some don't even consider him human. An unstoppable force of nature. But is he even made from Mother Nature? It's more befitting to believe he was the creation of monsters and demons.
Yuri clearly remembered what he did to her and the other five in the tournament. Even the said five received vivid flashbacks to his brutal rampage. Prince still feels protective of his neck after Gary bit down on it as he rubbed his fingers over his scar. He could file a complaint to his servants or father, but he feared that doing that would end horribly.
"Ugh...I was having a good nap asshole..." Gary rubbed his eyes. The small action caused the others to flinch.
"I know man. But! I have something fun for you to do!"
"Which is...?"
"Beat the shit out of people-"
"-WHO?!" His eyes shot wide open. The mere mention of him being tasked to fight someone immediately gave him motivation, he pointed to the candidates with hunger in his eyes, "Is it these guys?! Oh, my days...when can I fight 'em? Now? Right now?! Please?!"
"C-Calm down Gary...!" The blindfolded Samuel appeared from behind him, further shocking the candidates. It's them. It's the trio that had so-called killed the Oni-level monster, "We haven't even heard of what Don wants us to do."
"That is correct!" Donovan turned towards the candidates, in his eyes, they looked like they were pissing their pants. Which is quite a sight for him, but he doesn't desire that for himself. It's rather befitting of Gary, "So! We'll take turns performing an honoreable one versus one! A duel you can say! With Gary."
"Hey! Aren't we going to fight as well?" Matthew interjected.
Donovan turned to him with a smile, "You might be right. Elyssia, Rovanne, Azzy, would you be participating in the duels?"
The other three looked at each other before Elyssia and Rovanne shared a nod. As they turned to Aziroth, he shrugged his shoulders, "Alright. I'll help."
"Wonderful!" Donovan turned back around, "You won't only be fighting Gary. But you have the chance of fighting the other three."
Most of the candidates breathed a sigh of relief. Who wouldn't? Who would want to fight a towering monster with the strength of a hundred dragons and the ferocity of a battle-addicted chihuahua on drugs?
"Let's get started! Everyone, please take a seat somewhere on the ground, or bench. Or stretch your body if you're lucky because I'm going to be choosing now-"
Elyssia cleared her throat, "OR...We can call their names one by one with this-!" She held up a clipboard with a list of names on a sheef of paper, "This will make it easier to complete the trial and give our thoughts."
"Why not! So here's how it goes, you duel one of our members, we watch your actions and write down comments, score you out of ten, yada yada. You know what we mean." Donovan explained the final few details, "Now! Let's truly start. Elyssia, call out the first candidates."
She turned her gaze towards the clipboard, "Alright, let's see here...Prince Mudenda. Prince? Are you here?"
Every candidate turned to Prince, who stood there idle. Drowning in hesitation and uncertainty, "H-Here..." As he raised his hands, he prayed that he didn't need to fight Gary again. It was a nightmare dealing with him with six people, Imagine a duel with him.
As he stepped forward, he swore that Gary was grinning like a devil towards him. Gary remembered him, "Wonderful, do you have your weapons?" Donovan asked.
"Yeah...I do." He took out his borrowed spear. After Gary broke his original one, he had to take this from the armory. A cacophony of whispers and murmurs swam through the candidates as they sat down, eager to watch the duel. They never expected something like this to occur when applying for the team.
"Great! Let's have...Azzy!" Donovan pointed at Aziroth, "Why don't you have a duel with him?"
His gaze shifted through Donovan and Prince. And to his other friends: Yuri, Carmilo, Enzo, and Zhu. Who looked shocked to hear Donovan call him Azzy. He reluctantly agreed as he took a step forward and faced Prince directly.
They had a wide area for the duel paved with smooth stone. It would have been a nightmare to duel on rough terrain. It's important to learn how to fight on said terrain, but that will be for training later.
Aziroth held out his right hand to his side as dark smoke exited from his sleeve. As it obscured his hand, he grabbed onto his scythe from within. Causing the smoke the disappear in an instant and let his weapon shine under the sun.
Its pristine silver blade was adorned with a golden chain that are present around the end of the shaft which extends from his sleeve. The shaft was made of a thin and dark material with golden engravings. Which Aziroth had the honor to decorate himself.
He wiped the blade with his fingers before entering a stance with his weapon. Prince took the sign and readied himself, Donovan nearly forgot to mention, "One more thing to mention, magic is allowed, just try not to harm anyone around you. Anyways, ready..."
Elyssia and the other members sat on a nearby lunch table as she shared a few sheafs of paper and pen with the others. Except Gary and Samuel. Samuel had his gaze concentrated between Aziroth and Prince as they stared at each other. Donovan had told him to heavily focus on their fight, and mention any detail that he caught up on to Gary. For a meathead like him, he can still remember things easily.
"Fight!"
The two pushed off the ground with a deafening boom. Cracking the ground beneath them as their weapons clashed against each other. The symphony of colliding metal filled the air as the sound of cheering from the other candidates accompanied the music.
As Aziroth jumped back, Prince pierced his spear on the ground and swiped upwards, sending a golden wave of magic towards his opponent. In response, Aziroth side-stepped it and continued on. The other candidates cheered as Prince gave a good fight for Aziroth. However, Carmilo was put off by his decisions.
"It's weird for someone like him to join the Security force."
Zhu watched on with interest, "He's an odd one, that's for sure. He does what he wants."
"But joining the security force instead of the damn book club or something?" Enzo added, "I don't even know if he's the same Azzy we know. Donovan calling him Azzy still hits weird, I can't lie."
In the meantime, Elyssia went around and questioned other candidates on their motives for joining the force. Some said that they were inspired, some said they wanted to become stronger, a few said that they felt bad which was odd to her. Now that there were more members in the force.
Samuel watched the fight intensely. Never averting his eyes from Prince's movements and fighting style. Taking in every single detail, habit, and technique. Rovanne scooted herself next to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Sammy!"
"Hm?"
"What are you seeing from them?" She asked, "What are your opinions? Critiques? All that stuff."
"Even with most of his injuries healed, he still isn't at his best level. But he can move well. And persistent. He has good technique and everything. But compared to Aziroth, he's a bit slow and less elegant." Samuel mentioned his few thoughts, "His shoulders are too tense, his legs are too tight and close. His body is too crunched up-"
He continues to ramble on about Prince's formation, technique mistakes, and everything. In precise detail and without missing a single piece of info. 'Those eyes are no joke. No wonder he was able to beat a second release Lucas back in the tournament.' Rovanne thought to herself.
As they continued fighting, Rovanne noticed all the other Candidates. Arthur Silbrook and Mary Sachiel were next to each other, commenting on this event. Alongside Nicola Iyesil and Anna Becker standing nearby them. Then the only other people she recognized were Enzo and his friend group. All standing together and commenting on the fight.
As Rovanne turned her eyes back at the fight, Aziroth caught Prince's spear with his scythe and pushed it to the ground before kneeling down and sweeping his legs. Sending him falling to the ground as the scythe was pointed straight to his neck. Eliciting a bunch of ooh's from how hard he fell.
"I win." Aziroth calmly stated before pulling the scythe back.
Prince grunted and stood up in frustration, "Ah, it happens to the best of us, my friend!" Donovan tried to cheer him up, "You got your thoughts down everyone?!"
He waved at his other team members as they gave him a thumbs up, "I think Prince could get in. He's pretty good himself." Samuel whispered to Rovanne.
"Oooh. I see. Both of them put up a show." Rovanne leaned closer to him. Causing him to tense up slightly, "Don't you agree?"
Samuel fidgeted with his shirt as he avoided eye contact with her, "Y-Yeah...I-I guess so...With some proper training, he can go far."
As Prince was told to have a seat and drink some water, Donovan took the candidates attention yet again as he announced the next fight, "Alrighty then! Wonderful fight by Prince and Aziroth! And now I wonder how the next one will proceed! Elyssia! Call out the next Candidate!"
She flipped through her page accordingly before settling on a name, "Yuri Mardiovana."
Low murmurs scattered through the area as her friends stared at Yuri, ushering their friend to step forwards and handing Yuri's great axe to her. As she stepped forward quietly, she prayed that she wouldn't fight Gary.
As she peeked from under her eyebrows, she swore that she could see Gary staring at her with the malice of a chained bear. By the freezing winters, probably even worse.
It's all up to Donovan to choose her fate now, "I believe you should fight...Matthew! Come on up!"
Yuri breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the name of her opponent. A shorter boy walked away from the security force group and stood in front of her. Clenching his fist tightly as a whirlwind formed around his forearms. But for Yuri, it looked adorable from her perspective.
By all means, he's not that short. He's probably a solid height, it's just that she's so tall compared to him that it looks comical in her eyes. He's like a little wind gremlin or gnome.
"Ready..."
Yuri tensed herself and gripped her axe harder as pressure built on her shoulder, is this what Prince felt?
"Take your marks...Fight!"
The ground beneath them cracked under the pressure of both fighters jumping forward like the previous set. The swings and strikes of Yuri were met with equal strength from Matthew's wind spells. The other Candidates cheered the duel on as Yuri's friends did the same. With Carmilo giving her instructions.
Matthew could still hear what Carmilo was doing, coupled with the fact that Yuri's following his words. He was able to counterplay and halt any of her incoming attacks. He moved with precision in avoiding her attacks and pushing her back with his wind spells.
As Yuri swung her axe down, Matthew jumped back a few feet before closing his fingers. Piling up magic along his fingertips before he swiped his hand diagonally towards his opponent. An arc-shaped wind projectile flew from his fingers.
His opponent gritted her teeth before she ducked under the arc and tore the axe from the ground. And charged forwards. If one thing is for sure, he's more manageable compared to Gary.
Samuel began mentioning his thoughts and critiques for Yuri to Rovanne, "Woah. She's buff. With strength like that, she moves fast for her size, and swings with good precision. But she moves slowly and performs too many unnecessary moves. And right now, all that I can see from her is just physical and slight bits of magical enhancement."
"Soooo~ what do you propose she needs to do to improve?" Rovanne asked him. Watching the blonde Russian hack away and attempt to land a hit on Matthew.
"Learn a magic path or something? She looks Russian. Maybe the path of the frostbreather could work? It did originate from Russia." Samuel answered.
"I mean, you do know your friend Gary fought her in the tournament?"
Samuel delved into his memories and recounted the events, "Yeah I do. He left her in a bad condition..."
"Remind me to not piss your himbo off." Rovanne lightly elbowed him.
"And I'm going to remind you NOT to say that around Aurora." Samuel added.
"Who's that?"
"His girlfriend. The girl you saw two days ago entered our place. She may seem small. BUT!" Samuel held his hand in front of Rovanne and tightened it into a fist, "She's a chihuahua. I like dogs but chihuahua are crazy. Very crazy. She would drag you through broken glass if you ever say anything bad and maybe even good about Gary."
As they turned back toward the duel, Yuri constantly put pressure on Matthew, not letting him use his spells and causing him to rely on his blessing too much.
He decided to try and perform what Donovan had recommended him to do. He compressed wind magic into his hands and formed a green whirlwind blade. He spun around and swung it diagonally towards Yuri. Surprising her momentarily which allowed him to go on the offensive and and attack more often.
In response to this, Yuri took a second to halt and grab Matthew's hand before he could swing down, with total control of his hand, Yuri threw her opponent behind her. Causing him to roll on the ground for a bit. And giving her the ample opportunity to attack him.
Matthew gritted his teeth and piled up magic into his palm, ready to send it forward to Yuri and possibly injure her. But before he could, Donovan shouted something out, "Stop! The five minutes are over! Put your hands and weapons down!"
As the two of them abided by Donovan's announcement, the candidates cheered for Yuri's victory. Even though it's a draw, someone from their side achieving that is a win in their eyes. Anything that isn't necessarily a positive or a negative was viewed as a positive just because it's the security force. It's funny, how the force was viewed as a joke before and is now being taken more seriously.
"Huh...Good fight Mr. Matthew..." Yuri panted as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.
"Good fight to you..." Matthew then turned to the others, "Damn, he's an aggressive."
Yuri and her friends picked up on what he said, "Excuse me...He?!" Yuri called out to him.
"Yeah. YOU." Matthew confirmed.
Yuri took off her jacket, showing her tight-fitted compression shirt that revealed her buff physique, and pushed her hair up, "Любимый, I'm a female!"
"Oh shit!" A few chuckles and giggles rummaged through the group of Candidates waiting, "I didn't know-!"
"Course you didn't dumbass." Donovan kicked him in the shin, and pushed him away, "Anyways. I hope that every security force member had jotted their thoughts down! On to the next one..."
"Ooh!" Gary raised his hand, "Me! Let me fight!"
"Alright alright. I will. Now which one of you people would be facing him..."
They stiffened up and prayed that they wouldn't fight him. It didn't save a few who were hand-picked to fight Gary. That did not end well in the end. This process continued for the whole afternoon and into the evening. They went through every single candidate and pit them up against every other security force here.
Samuel had his list of people he thought might get into the security forces, "What'd you get Sammy?" Rovanne asked him.
"My list is...Yuri, Enzo, Carmilo, Zhu, Prince, Mary, Arthur, Nicola, Anna, and..." Did Samuel write it correctly? He wrote a name on his personal list that looked familiar, "Marlen Rosenfield?"
"Ah yes! Marlen!" Rovanne clapped her hands, "Wonderful girl! She's one of my besties~!"
Samuel scratched his head in confusion, "Did I really see her?"
"What are you talking about? Of course, you did! In fact, you dueled her didn't you?" Rovanne mentioned.
"Oh. Right..." Now he remembered. He scanned through the candidates. Who all sat near the benches as the other Security force confer with each other. He brushed his eyes past Yuri and her friends. Past Arthur, and the second years. Before laying his eyes upon a girl standing idle under a tree, "Is that her?" He pointed towards the girl.
She held a timid posture. Holding her right elbow in her left hand. Staring at the ground quietly. Her dark blonde hair reached all the way past her shoulders and even elbows. She was blessed with heterochromia. With one eye being blue and the second hazel.
"Yes! That is! Awh...look at her. Lonely and everything..."
"She doesn't have friends?" Samuel asked out of pocket.
Rovanne elbowed him on the arm, "Don't say that! It's just...she's still a bit shaken up from what happened ok?"
"Ow...ok ok..."
Shortly after that, Donovan clapped his hands to grab everyone's attention, "Alright everyone! We have gathered every info we can, and we're going to head on out to the final test! This is what truly decides if you join us or not!"