FanFiction:The Art of the Hunt/Season 1/Chapter 6 - Long-Awaited Award

A fter what seemed like a restless, endless night, the morning actually did dawn and each of the students awoke. The few that had returned to their homes readied for the test, having all the necessary resources at their disposal; the others, who had to take extra time for their return home, were not so lucky. The same thought lay in each student's head: "Pass the Elimination." If they did not pass the Elimination, the Pretest, they would never be allowed to become Guild Hunters unless they took another year of the school; and none of them, being some of the oldest students at the Academy, were interested in this path.

The Pretest did not begin until noon; and even that was but seven hours away, for those who awoke earlier for lack of a bed or the comforts of Tanjian housing. Seven long hours of warm-ups, discussion, thought, and anxiety. Seven hours to prepare while they could, while their spirits held before the true effect of the upcoming skill test came before them. Each of them knew, in their hearts, that this would make or it would break their future career.

Noami was the least worried. She strung her Hunter's Bow III with ease, taking pride in the carefully calculated loops and knots to ensure the strength of the weapon. She was always the archer; Reia preferred her quick and sharp Long Sword. Together, the two weapons blended in a sort of morbid harmony of blood, steel, and darts. Each instrument's music was all its own, but when they came together, the resulting sound was so beautiful that little else could come close to comparing to the sound.

Her bow ready, she mounted it over her fine armor set (a simple Bone Gunner's armor set) and flexed, nurturing all the knots, joints, and plates into their proper place. With a happy smile, she grabbed her quiver and looped it through the minuscule belt loops located on her hips, where the arrows would be easy to grab. She grabbed an arrow out and drew her bow in practice. The strings unfolded beautifully; the arrow slid right in. "Everything's in working order," Thought Noami, "now, if only I can keep focused on this Elimination, and not just Reia...."

As if that would happen. Reia, too, was preoccupied with her preparations; but the only thing that her mind was focused on was Noami. They really did wholeheartedly love each other, and even those that didn't know them could see it in their eyes--the eyes of lovers. That, too, probably assisted them with their harmonic attacks. The great sword of Reia was particularly sharp and lovely, and always seemed to shine brighter when she was around Noami.

Brutus and Ali had exercised together each day since their acceptance into the pretest; they had to be ready and raring to go when the test got there, or--as has been stated before--they'd lose all chances. Brutus, as usual, took the heaviest route possible, trying out every form of weightlifting and marathon training before finally reserving himself to one effective method. Ali did not follow this path. She stayed to the basics, simple exercises they learned in physical education classes and from their own parents, but in great enough quantities to still be considered training.

Meanwhile, in downtown Tanjia, Gamor was working out alone with nothing on his mind except the test. One thought alone pounded through his head: "win, win, win." And he would, if he had any say in it. With each tug of the heavy weights, he bore himself ever closer to his goals. The owner of the facility looked at the student with proud eyes. In them, he saw a young man who had trained for a long time at one steady goal, and was about to accomplish it. It made him smile.

Calli trained mentally. Her books surrounded her in the study, and every one was opened up to the test preparation page. Every hour, on the hour, she would stop completely and meditate. This, she believed, would help her concentration. It did help, too, and it's a good thing, because she would need all the focus she could get.

Taka, too, trained for the pretest; he knew that if he passed, and then passed the Graduation Exam, he would be given a Hunting License, a Guild Card, and free-roam permission to get escorts, even, when needed, around the Guild jurisdiction. When he got this, he'd be able to set out finding Relcia again. That thought alone kept him going. It's a good thing something did... Even the school library was full of distractions, and the test looming like a wyvern in the background was no help, either.

Last but not least, Yuki was out riding. She practiced every variety of skill she had mastered, from tool mastery to riding to physical strength and blade aim. With deadly precision, she swung her gunsword from on high, blowing up odd rocks and small trees on its way. She was not distracted in the least. The field was quiet, her eyes were focused, her mind, clear. Everything was in line. She knew exactly who she was, and exactly where she was headed.

The hours seemed to fly by for each of the young hunters. It just so happened that each one took their break in the Library. Taka had secretly planned the whole thing, of course, so that he could give a last-minute speech before the test.

"All right. Quiet. I want to say something," Began Taka, powerfully enough to grab their attention, "You all must pass this test. Otherwise, you'll be stuck here for another wyverns-only-know-how-long. But if you do succeed--and I have faith in you--each of you will graduate, and you'll all be free from the confines of this town, as I've heard several mention. You'll be free to find your own fate. I'm hoping this school has done as much for you guys as it's done for me; when we leave, I want to be able to see each of you sometime, living your lives as you wanted. Yes, I realize I'm not all that close to you all; but still, I wish you the best. You get out there today and win." He finally finished after what seemed to be an eternity.

For a long while none of them spoke. It was Brutus, of all people, who finally nodded his head. "A noble man, wise and honorable. Strength in arms... A willing heart... Loyalty. We can ask no more than that," he said with a solemn nod. One by one, each person nodded in agreement. After a few minutes, the bell rang, and they filed out to an uncertain future.

* * *

The Battle Field; a fitting name for a fitting place for the Elimination. Today, in this place, the power and education of the aspiring hunters would be tested. Every piece of grass seemed to stand at attention; every grain of soil like a new challenge to the young men and women; even the birds seemed to look as though they were waiting on the edge of a knife.

Finally, the bell rang for the Hunters to come to the center. Each of them mounted their weapons upon their backs and looked at one another with concern. "Are we ready?" Gamor asked them all at once. "Yes," Each person responded in his or her own way. They marched solemnly to the center, where they formed a circle and waved to the crowd, performing a few trick maneuvers with their weapons to heighten the excitement. "All part of the show," Taka said, knowing fully well that this would not raise or lower their grade, but participating nonetheless. Each of the other hunters acted as if their grades rested upon their fancy blade-wielding.

With a louder, more obnoxious horn, the announcement came: "Hello, and welcome to the twenty-seventh Annual Student Hunter Elimination! In this massive test, each hunter will be faced with a Minor challenge that they must overcome to defeat the Primary challenge that lies at the end. Based on the level of hunters left at the end and the performance, there may or may not be more Primary Challenges," The loudspeaker called, "And each hunter is only allowed one faint. If he faints, he is returned to the rest room and is not allowed to move on to the Finals. Is this clear?" The voice finished, its confidence boosted by the loud yells of the crowd. "On your marks, draw weapons... GO!" And with that, the hunters moved off in search of their prey.

* * *

Brutus, with his greatsword in hand, searched the surrounding area. No sign of monster activity. All was quiet, nothing stirred. "It's quiet.... Too quiet," thought Brutus as he gulped down a psychoserum. Suddenly, he was aware of a strong, almost unbearable, presence directly behind him. He jumped forward, swung his blade around him, and peered into the darkness of the foliage. For a few minutes, he didn't move. Neither of them did.

At last, the monster that had been concealed revealed itself. Brutus had to stumble backwards as a young Urelun lunged at him. The creature's screeches were almost too much to bear. With a determined glare, Brutus let his great sword arc through the air and slash through nothing more than a feather of the young beast's head. Unperturbed, it lunged again, using its tail to perform its signature move: whirling rage. With this, it made a wind around it in a disc shape from the swift spinning it was doing with its tail and front legs; as Brutus tried to get close, he was first pushed back by the wind and then swatted back several feet by the tail.

Brutus totally didn't understand the monster's behavior. It fought aggressively, cruelly. Most monsters didn't do that until you provoked them, and they had learned in their classes that Urelun were naturally easygoing creatures. Why, then, could this one be so harsh?

With quick, discerning eyes, Brutus searched the monster over in between slashes and whacks from both the monster and himself. At long last, after several hits and the first blood, he noticed the reason. Tied to its tail was a thin, but jagged, wire tie, complete with a welded catch. The poor thing was being torture-forced to fight. Brutus felt sorry for the creature, for some reason. Jumping backwards and evading, he began focusing on the tail. After a few hard whacks, a scale chipped off and the hide underneath was exposed. It was positively beautiful. There was no time to think about it, however. The young hunter sheathed his blade and sprinted a few meters away, and then, taking out his horn, he let out a mighty blast to signal the hunt.

The other hunters, who were getting busy with tiny, annoying Jaggi packs, heard the blasts loud and clear. Noami commanded the other hunters to pursue the beast while she worked on her own Challenge: neoptereps. These large bird wyverns, capable of flight and poisonous breath, were circling her in the air, tempting her to shoot, taunting her. Occasionally, one would swoop in and tease her, at which point she'd shoot it down and watch in dismay as two more would replace it.

Noami's shots flew one after another, and she watched her quiver deplete. "Soon I'll be out of the game! Shit," She thought aloud. Luckily, that wasn't going to happen just yet. Out of nowhere, Reia sprung out of the bushes, her Wyvern Blade "Fire" spinning in the air and forming a sun from its sheer heat and speed. At once, the insectile birds were incinerated, and Reia stood up with grace. She kissed Noami on the cheek. They looked with determination at the forest ahead and ran.

Next, however, another challenge awaited Reia. They were suddenly surrounded by the creaking of wood and about three-thousand wooden spikes, each with a point so sharp that the mere thought of them drew pain. An Entul. So similar to gobuls that they were often confused, these massive creatures sat with their cup-like backs upwards until prey arrived inside; then, it was a challenge in itself to get out.

So Reia, thinking quickly, did another flaming spin, with less-than-adequate results. She angrily threw a knife at the wooded spikes. Still they did not relent. Luckily, Noami was observing the beast carefully from her awkward place hanging on to a few spikes, and noticed that when Reia did hit the spikes, only the innermost core even emitted smoke. Her mind formed a plan. Without another word, she got up and armed an explosive-coated arrow into her bow, and shot it through a flaming arc of Reia's swords. Seven spikes exploded at once. The creature reeled in pain, about 30 more of its spikes having now been exposed. Reia mowed them down with just a few spin attacks, and Noami pulled them both out of their, dragging Reia's stamina-depleted body with her. The creature attempted chase, but was somehow blocked in by the strangely still trees...

What they didn't know was that the vast majority of this forest was controlled from atop a huge viewing platform, where the judges watched. They could challenge individuals and the group selectively at different times this way. Countless guild officials have passed through the same test, lived hunter's lives, and then finished their careers lazily testing teens from that tower.

Gamor was set upon by hungry Jaggi on all sides. They lunged with fierce eyes and eager mouths, seeking blood. Gamor swung time after time with his great hammer, but they did not relent. He didn't know where they came from--each time he slayed one, two would run from the forest to the group, and his hammer grew dirty and slippery with blood. With a windup smash, he made the Jaggi packs relent enough so that he could use a whetstone on the dull and dirty hammer. It wasn't long, though, before they were back, with improved strength and what seemed like improved numbers. So soon, he was right back to slamming them around with the fierce butt of a hammer strike. After a few good whacks, their numbers began to thin, and finally, when the ground was out of sight because of the blanket of Jaggi carcasses, they relented and what few remained ran. But that was only because a Great Wroggi had come upon them.

But this was not for Gamor. He had no idea of it, but around a massive tree came Jeren, armed to the teeth and charging with a gunlance. The mighty blade of the mightier weapon clashed against the solid skin of the poisonous creature, but luckily, the high-power explosives in the weapon blew apart many of its scales and paved a way for cutting wounds. As the creature jerked back in anguish, Jeren squeezed in a quick word with Gamor. "Hey, Gamor, Brutus needs you," He grunted, "He's dealing with a provoked Urelun, and it's about to crucify the poor guy," Jeren lifted his voice to a shout as the Wroggi side-checked his spear. He fell back, and came back with a new strength, jabbing the creature's poison sac. "Go!" Jeren shouted again, and Gamor was off. Jeren continued to slash and jab at the Wroggi, each hit blowing away more scales, until it decided to roar for backup. Jeren put an end to its short life with a blast of Wyvernfire, and went to help Brutus.

Yuki was nowhere near any of this; she was completely focused on a sneak attack involving ending the lives of five juvenile Rathlings. They were weak anyway, probably not more than four weeks old, but even in their hatchling stage they were armed and dangerous. She slowly crept towards them, not making even the slightest sound as she spun her blade to her back, still silently, still deftly.... But as she went for the explosive maneuver, her blade hit a branch and all five Rathlings were alerted to her presence. They began shrieking and screaming for their parents, who, of course, had been isolated (for now...), and the hunt began. Yuki repeatedly slashed at the tails of the creatures, which, to her surprise, were rather fragile. The tails splintered in no time, and the heartbroken and enraged creatures began fighting to their deaths. With tears in her typically dark eyes, Yuki charged her blade and ended the suffering of two Rathlings in one fell hit. Three were left.

One, which was the biggest of the three, stepped up and roared to its parents; it was the "Come! Death is upon us," roar, and Taka--who was nearby--understood it perfectly. He winced and went on. Yuki waited until the breath was out and jabbed the blade of her Gunblade into the neck of the creature and fired. It cried a death cry. From Taka's face fell a single tear. He couldn't bare to watch or hear any more Rathlings die as they were. He sprinted to Yuki's location, and with a few deft maneuvers killed off the remaining beasts. He gave Yuki a look of mixed terror and hate, and ran towards the horn blasts. Yuki, too, followed.

Calli was faced with a unique kind of threat. From all sides, more tendrils from what she presumed were plants began appearing right out of the ground. She thought nothing of it at first; the guild's way of dynamic terrain, she thought. But that was indeed not what it was. It was a Chloro Wyvern, and one that had not ever been heard of before until recently, too. No name had been assigned to it yet, but it was a powerful thing. Calli repeatedly stabbed her lance into the widest part of the tendrils and they would drop, but then another would move to its spot and the whole process would repeat itself. With a spiral charge maneuver, however, she managed to cut a good deal of them down, and when she caught herself, the creature raised its lone simple eye to her level. With primitive jaws, it snapped at her constantly, irritation in the simple eye and blood of some kind staining the stem. She continually gouged the eye, attempting to destroy the stem. After many stabs to the core, and a considerable wound to her leg, Calli succeeded in making the head practically fall off.

Katrina had just played some lovely notes on her very own hunting horn when she heard the blasts. She was just finishing off a bunch of Giggi eggs, which were a challenge to even get off of a sword, and with a few deft sweeps she rid herself of the problem. Sheathing the horn, she dashed towards the loud blasts.

Ali had just finished her challenge, in which she had to fend off various small monsters from a Guildie carrying an important egg to the Tower; very soon after beginning the walk, her ears pricked up to the sound of her boyfriend's horn. She hurriedly slayed Jaggi, Wroggi, and Melynx without flaw, hitting hard and shielding with every attempt at her life. Without missing a single beat in her attack, she strung together a very clever combination and managed to completely obliterate a Wyvernid Minor--a smaller creature, which has a tendency to attempt eating anything, as Ali could tell. You see, she isn't inherently stupid, only she has a very obvious lack of common sense and has a thing for rude, standoffish men such as Brutus. Most students, however, just assumed she was stupid.

She dashed to Brutus's side, where Reia, Noami, Taka, Jeren, Calli, Katrina, Gamor, and Yuki were already waiting. As they saw the Urelun and its condition, their minds instantly sprung to action. They nodded to one another; all the other hunters had already fainted in various gauntlets. This was it. First of Five challenges. Reia dashed, longsword burning bright. Noami shot seven arrows at once into the head of the beast. Gamor grabbed his hammer and prepared it for a Wind Smash, to knock the thing out. Yuki readied and loaded her Gunblade. Jeren charged time and time again, filling one side of the beast will hell's fire and a dizzying amount of flak. Katrina played lovely tunes to improve their speed, and got to work on the back.

Within minutes, the combined efforts of the blademasters had the tail gone. It was on its last legs--literally; Gamor's hammer hadn't went without effect--and it was limping away when, with a clever shot, Noami loaded it with three arrows in the head. Its body went limp, it fell to the ground, and as Jeren took the opportunity to sheathe his gunlance and open the throat of the creature, they all cheered in applause. But just as they began to carve and hop with happiness as the intercom finally made its voice known: "Due to the stunning performance of the hunters, there will be no more Primary Challenges! You pass!", the sky darkened. A deafening thud. It was felt in the very bones of those who witnessed it; it was as if the moon had dully fallen to the ground. A resonating hum in the ears of those nearby; a steady feeling of foreboding. Suddenly, all the hunters' eyes grew wide and they covered their ears as they felt the vibrations of what could only be the most agonizing crack of a tail ever heard. The sky grew light again, but the hunters would have sworn that were it a cloud, it had moved speedily against the wind. A heartrending howl resonated through the Valley of Mists.

"What is that?!" Whispered Calli to Taka, who she happened to be standing near.

"..." No reply for several moments. Calli looked at him with urgency in her eyes.

"Is it a wyvern, or a strange cloud....?" Gamor wondered aloud.

"This is bad, this is so bad, this wayyy bad..." Brutus said with true fear in his voice.

"I have read volumes of text from the libraries of the Guiild, and never have I read of this beast. Be prepared for anything, hunters!"

To be continued in FanFiction:The Art of the Hunt/Season 1/Chapter 7 - The Shadow of Death