IDA
Uh oh, through out my stay with Rion,only being called boy was capable of making him truly angry, but now I wonder what he will do."Hey, I'm talking to you boy",the man whose voice definitely didn't go well with his delicate looking constitution."oh I'm sorry,my name is Hyperion, I'm visiting from the states",Rion replied with an innocent look."Well I still need to check you and your companion".Please,help yourself, Rion replied as he took off his backpack. "Also, you won't happen to know were two mages could go to take the huntsman exam, would you?",he asked." Just go into town,the huntsmen Serbik branch is the building with the tall mast, you could see it from anywhere in Serbik".
After he had used a baton like device on our luggage,he handed them back to us. "You're free to enter",he said. "Thank you", Rion replied rather cheerfully before we walked past him." Wow, I've never seen you not freak out, when someone used the "b word" to refer to you",I said in an amazed tone. "Wouldn't want to begin this adventure with trouble would we. Plus,there were several factors to consider;you probably noticed his influence on the surrounding magical energy,he was strong,and fighting him would not only be tiresome,but implicating. We were in public,and he only spoke that way to assert some form of dominance,he actually spoke calmly after that, not that you'd notice. Now double up,we don't have all day",he said before beginning to speed up.
The city was amazing.nearly all the buildings were silver.probably not real ones,but it certainly gave a glow to the city,there weren't any stray bungalows or huts,all the buildings were complexes and high class, infrastructure dwarfing that of even Antiya.the people here were also dressed up. Almost as if they were all royalty. I would have said we looked out of place, but we surprisingly didn't. A lot of people,I believe were huntsmen were dressed nearly the same. "Stop ogling,we have work to do", Rion said as he pulled me by my hands.
We finally got to the huntsmen headquarters.it was an enormous building about half the height of the wall,made even taller by the mast on it.it was made of grey bricks and glass, slightly contrasting this silver city. We went in and the place was surprisingly not crowded. Probably because of the several receptionists at the entrance,"let's go", Rion gestured at one of the receptionists. "Good day...", Huntsmen exam,he cut Rion off as he took out a paper." Take this,fill it out and bring it back now or later, your choice",the said hastily. "Sorry to bother,but is there no prior qualifications", Rion asked." Strength is the only requirement for application and that is an enchanted door. You wouldn't even be able to pass through if you weren't strong enough. Which means,if you managed to enter this place, you're qualified. You can take the lifter,all odd numbered floors are for scavengers, even numbered for regular huntsmen".
We opted to fill the forms instantly,and handed them back to the receptionist." If you pass, you'll be given the seal, bring it back here, and you'll be verified".
"So,will you become a scavenger or huntsman",I asked rion. "I don't know, why is there even a distinction?",he asked. Probably because scavengers are better with there range art and can't fight,while huntsmen are better at augmentation and pure magic used."No matter,I don't think it will be impossible to do both",he replied. As we got into the sixth floor for some reason, due to the second and fourth floors being locked,the doors here also locked. "I guess there is a quota for the number a floor could take", Rion said. We walked up to see the other applicant standing in lines like a bunch of soldiers and a man with rather effeminate looks in a pitch black military uniform with golden striped patterns.
"Good day applicants,my name is Wyatt Lawrence,one of the four hundred huntsman captains. This exam shall begin and end today.It shall be in three phases;first,a written exam, largely inconsequential but necessary to test your intelligence.The written exam shall cover schoolwork like maths and science, current affairs,and theoretical magical science. The second phase is the augmentation exam to see how good you are at strengthening,enhancing, and or healing. And the final and most important part of the exam is the combat exam.all one thousand of you shall be locked with fourth grade chimeras for an hour. After the hour has elapsed,the beasts and incompetent applicants will be taken out. Then, the remainder of you shall be locked with third grade chimeras for another hour. Points after the entirety of this examination shall be summed up to determine your rank among the huntsman organisation. You are allowed to forfeit at any point in the examination..."The statement was met with laughter from the applicants
.... Come all the way here to quit halfway.
....Type of cowardice would that be.
....Can never be me.
A raised hand from the captain silenced everyone."any form of injury to a human is not allowed during this examination, you will be provided protective gear during the final examination to prevent lethal damage,any offender shall be sent to a penitentiary indefinitely.
After the examination, those who complete it shall be ranked to equate them to the class of chimeras they are capable of killing.It will range from grade five to two, completely dependent on the final examination. And grade one will be determined not only by the third examination, but by the cumulative.The grade one,are also eligible to contest for positions in the huntsman organisation starting from receptionist." Gasps pervaded the hall as everyone realised the receptionists at the hall were high ranking scavengers or huntsmen. "You can contest a promotion based on your achievements as a huntsman,so also can you be stripped of your position as a huntsman if dormant for too long. Your payment will be based on rank,and extra for all missions accomplished. From hunting chimera's to capturing criminals. Good luck to you all".
"Well that was a lot of information right",I asked Rion."Sure",he replied swiftly. So are we going all out, or are we still keeping a low profile?."I think you might be underestimating the complexity and difficulty of thus examination to suggest we hold back.But you are free to decide your approach to the exam,the bare minimum I require from you is passing this examination",he replied matter of factly.Well come along,the written exam is about to start.
***
HYPERION
The written exam was actually rather complex,but nothing actual reading and common sense couldn't traverse but the second round was harder. Considering the third round would be two hours long,that definitely took the most time. Requiring us to stay under inhuman condition like burning heat, freezing cold and crushing pressure using density augmentation to stay alive. The exam saw a lot of forfeiture in this round I began to doubt whether the third round really was the hardest. Halfway through the second round, and our number was a little above six hundred remaining. The second phase of the second round required using our perceptive augmentation to sense things way below human cognition.there were no withdrawals, but we knew a lot of people had fumbled that exam. And eight hours after we arrived here, the third round began.