Silence.
A chill crawled down the spine of the remaining 3 boys as they watched their friend lay still on the floor, totally unmoving, even his chest.
They could tell that he was dead.
The fact that he died was not what shocked them though. What shocked them was the decisiveness, the ruthlessness, not even stopping when he was knocked unconscious, making sure he was dead before stopping.
And suddenly, the look in their eyes changed.
Staring at the applicant before them, they no longer saw prey, rather they saw the calculating eyes of a predator ready to murder them in the easiest and swiftest way possible.
Murder math.
They shuddered.
"Who… W-what are you?" One of the boys stammered, moving backward.
"Me?" Kairo stood up, raised his right hand and licked the blood on his fists before looking straight at the boy's eyes. "I'm a predator".
That one, he took a page right out of Major Pain's psychological book, but who cared when it worked?
The boy shuddered.
"Why are you scared? He's just one boy!" One of the 3 applicants roared, trying to instill courage into their group.
Kairo tilted his head, looking straight at the boy now. "Just 1 boy huh? Well, catch me if you can".
Whoosh!
He rushed forward again.
A notable fact was that he killed that earlier applicant without even using any of his skills. He did it through sheer technique, timing, and his raw physical stats.
That was an improvement.
The boy managed to instill some confidence into his companions though as they calmed down and got ready to fight to the death.
The boy who instilled confidence called. "Cain, John, attack his flanks, I'll face him head-on".
"Ok". Nodding, they moved.
"Sweet," Kairo muttered but he knew that this time it would be hard. Afterall, they already had an idea about what he could do.
Just like the dead applicant, the boy who faced him head-on seemed to have a special ability focused on amplifying his weapon. He used a sword. Kairo also accounted for the fact that he could have other special abilities.
As for the 2 others, they were Elemental Awakened, one with control over fire and the other with control over ice.
They couldn't react because Kairo moved too fast the first time.
Now though, they knew how fast he was, so they would react.
BZZZ!
All hell broke loose as the boy facing Kairo head-on charged in, but Kairo didn't face him head-on again. Instead, he switched styles.
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee". His voice floated in the night breeze like a silent whisper.
He took on Mohammed Ali's style.
With the ice and fire ability Awakened restricting his movement, he clashed head-on against the other boy but each time, Kairo always managed to slip away, as he kept himself firmly in the game.
This time, he was playing the long game.
The boy with the sword was powerful. He had a domineering sword technique, but it was his special ability that enabled him to release deadly sword auras alongside his attacks that truly troubled Kairo.
"Fireball!"
"Ice Tentacles!"
Kairo dodged it all, kiting, biding his time. All he used was his physical stats, trusting his cardio, while relying on an important factor… his opponent's exhaustion.
Just like his skills, he had no doubt that his enemy's needed mana for their attacks. They may have more mana than him due to their class, but in the end, it was not infinite.
And 5 minutes into the fight, the boy with the sword started slowing down.
3 more minutes in, Kairo finally stung like a bee.
[Muscle Lock Activated!]
Kairo charged. Having been expecting it, the boy snorted and slashed with his sword, unleashing another sword slash as a sword aura followed.
CLANG!
Kairo tanked the attack with his muscle that now turned to armor, shocking the boy. The boy tried to makeup with his physical sword, but Kairo was faster and more physically imposing in close range.
Dodging the sword swing, Kairo ducked and then… uppercut!
BAM!
With his adapted eyes, Kairo saw 3 of his teeth pluck out, flying off like bullets.
BAM!
Before the boy could react, he activated Hypermuscle Creation and slammed his palms against the boy's ear as blood spurted out of his nose, eyes, and mouth.
He died standing.
Horrified, the 2 other boys no longer dared standing as they ran. Kairo wasted no time in pursuing, but…
WHOOSH!
A wind-imbued arrow!
Kairo didn't see it coming. 'Who?'
It was too late to react. But just before the arrow could pierce Kairo's head, a dagger not his intercepted the arrow.
Clang!
The arrow clattered to the ground.
"Thank you," Kairo muttered as he paused, looking in the direction where the arrow came from. That arrow almost killed him!
With his night vision, he knew who helped him. Mira intervened at the last moment, and was now standing back to back with him.
"I couldn't just sit idle while the camp turned into a slaughterhouse". She muttered as she scanned for the hidden enemy.
While she couldn't see him, Kairo saw him already.
"There," he pointed to the roof of one of the makeshift temporary buildings. Mira looked there. She squinted her eyes but still couldn't see him, but she now knew where to expect an attack from.
'His vision is sharp,' she thought.
On the roof, Kairo could see him, an athletic and tall boy on a robe that attracted his attention. What attracted his attention was the fact that the boy's robe had a sigil that he had seen before, a serpent sigil.
'Whispered Fang Guild…'
Kairo doubted the instructors would allow someone like Varrin himself intervene in this test, so this must be one of the candidates that he spoke of.
The boy was strong. And those eyes… Kairo could tell that the boy had night vision just like him. Fight or pass?
The boy made the decision for him. He silently slipped away.
"He's gone," he muttered.
For the next few hours, a few more skirmishes happened across the ground, littering the ground with corpses, and then it finally died down.
Returning to his previous spot, but with Mira now alongside him, they sat beside each other, eyes wide awake and alert.
That night, no sleep for them.
They stayed awake till morning.
And after what felt like forever, the golden sun finally started tearing its way out of the veil of darkness to illuminate the world.
Finally… morning.