Everyone made their way through the corridor, grouping up at one side of the arena. The audience above began to lean against the railings, whispering as they looked at the examinees down below.
Sin glanced at everyone above him. They all, for the most part, looked distinguished. No one looked like some random civilian. Sin imagined all of them to at least be Hunters.
In that moment, he even saw a familiar face all of a sudden.
"Ince?" He muttered under his breath, slightly surprised. He made eye contact with the girl, causing Ince to smile.
It seemed she hadn't expected him to be there either, but Sin wasn't sure. Because they noticed each other, Sin decided to give a small wave, which Ince quickly followed.
'Is it just by chance that she's here of all places? I mean... maybe this specific exam is worthy for her to view.'
The man wearing green robes, who was pacing back and forth in the center of the arena, finally stepped forward and stood in front of all the examinees with his hands clasped behind his back.
He had a long man bun, with thick eyebrows that were raised right now to make a stern expression on his face.
His eyes scanned through the group of examinees like a hawk, his gaze threatening yet composed at the same time.
"Listen up!" The man yelled, "You must have heard of me by now. I am the leader of the Blade Hunter Group, Bao Huxin!" The man bolstered, his angry eyebrows slightly lessening for a moment as he bragged about his title.
Sin heard a few whispers behind him.
"The Blade Hunter group is pretty popular."
"That guy has an A Grade Spirit Affinity, right? I heard he's one of the strongest Hunters in Solstar."
"Yeah... his group is one of the three stronger ones in this city."
The man continued, "Let me clarify some things for you since this is most likely all of your first times. Unless you are one of those unfortunate, but more so pathetic, individuals who even failed the training camp which failures go to!"
A natural urge to straighten one's posture and appear better came to everyone as Bao spoke, his gaze judgmental and scorning.
"This is going to be similar to every other Hunter exam. It will consist of three main sections, so listen closely! First, your Spirit strength will be tested. There is no affinity testing here. Your affinity doesn't matter if you are weak right now. Out there in a real dungeon, you won't be able to boast to a beast tearing your guts out that you have some sort of high potential in life. Next, your physical strength will be tested. Finally, there will be a one-versus-one duel amongst everyone. You should want to do well here. The main reason's are self-explanatory; a higher passing chance, a higher Hunter Rank, more recruiting eyes placed on you, and obviously a confidence boost. But apart from that, there is also a physical prize that will be given to the person who has the best performance, according to me. You will be allowed to pick from a handful of treasures and choose one to accompany you on your journey." The man stopped talking.
Everyone's faces became more serious. This was it, the moment they had been waiting for, where their hard work would finally pay off...
Sin narrowed his eyes, 'That's it huh? Hmm... my Spirit is unfortunately quite weak right now. I won't do well on that portion... I will need to focus on the other tests to get a good grading.'
"All of you will be split up into ten groups of five!" Bao Huxin exclaimed. "Choose your groups... I couldn't care less who you decide to mingle with. Understand that the first two tests will be done simultaneously with your group of five. You will be graded individually on your own performance, and your entire team will also be graded together to form a score. Also, the person you will fight will most likely be from your own group, but that should be self-explanatory. Now go!"
Before Bao had even finished his sentence, people were already looking around to see who they should choose.
Sin furrowed his brows, 'Huh? Now why would they want to grade entire groups as a whole along with individual grading? I can only imagine it's to see whether or not we are fit to choose good teammates or not...' He looked around as he saw everyone around him scurry around with urgent looks on their faces.
Most didn't hesitate, quickly clinging to the strongest person they knew and sticking to them like leeches.
"Hey! Can I join your team?"
"Please accept me!"
"We already have five, get out of here!"
"What's your Spirit affinity!?"
"Choose me, not him! He's pathetic! Look at him!"
It was a bit sad to see the desperation in people as they did this, but it was explainable. They were putting a lot on the line here, so their own doubts weren't going to stop them from trying their hardest to pass.
There were also a few who didn't have the courage to go and ask others. Their best hope was to be recruited by someone or to end up in a group of people that no one chose.
'But what these people don't understand is that although there is a good side to teaming up with the strong, there is also something you give up. The exam makers are smart... they have fooled these idiots with the promise of a better score by teaming up with someone strong. But later, they will have to fight these same powerful individuals, most likely lowering their score even further.'
And finally, there was the golden bunch. The people that everyone ran over to as soon as Bao Huxin finished speaking.
This included nobles and well-known people in the city.
The golden-haired boy from before was crowded like no other. And since he was right next to Sin, Sin was smushed together with Golden hair, people screaming toward them.
"Please! Young master Magnus! Choose me!"
"My name is Hitch! I'll be your teammate!"
"I have a C Grade Spirit Energy affinity!"
People crowded Golden hair, who everyone was calling 'Magnus.'
Sin was surprised by this, and he glanced at Magnus' face to see how he would react.
Magnus looked disgusted and angry at the same time.
"Get the hell off me, you cretin! Don't you dare fucking touch me!" He was rambling off to everyone in a slightly raised voice. He sounded rough, but he wasn't backing down at all.
When others pushed to get near him, he simply stopped them with a push of his own and seemed to easily overpower anyone that got too close.
At that moment, Sin also felt a heavy hand rest on his shoulder.
He turned to see what looked like a monstrous creature from the depths of hell—oh no, it was just the obese girl from before.
Sin still got chills all the same, "What do you want!?" He exclaimed as he saw her.
"Don't play hard to get." She winked.
"What!?"
"I'm going to join your group no matter what!" The fat lady smiled.
Sin shook his head with confusion, one of his brows raised, 'What have I got myself into!?'
Just then, Sin noticed a face poke out from behind the round woman's gigantic belly.
Dreli made his way around the woman, his face shadowed with a surging rage that was almost palpable in the air.
There were five band-aids on his nose this time instead of just one.
"Oi..." Dreli said as Sin gulped, "You know... it didn't make much sense to me at first."
Sin could only imagine what the young man was yapping about.
Dreli continued, "Why is this guy shielding his face? Why is he getting away from me? But after that familiar attack on my nose, it all clicked. You're the guy from yesterday... the Spiritless little freak."
Dreli finally looked up at Sin with eyes seething with hatred, "COME HERE, YOU FUCKER! I'LL KILL YOU!" He lunged at Sin, throwing a punch with full force.
At that same moment, one of the examinees that was trying to team up with Magnus abruptly jumped on his face, pushing him backward.
Magnus stumbled, ending up between Dreli and Sin without knowing it.
Dreli had already gone too far to stop now. His anger clouded all reason as his punch continued to soar.
In the midst of all this, Magnus inhaled sharply, his teeth gritting hard as he stomped his foot on the ground.
*BOOM*
A shockwave of energy traveled across the arena, causing everyone to lose their balance slightly as they stopped what they were doing.
"I WILL KILL EVERYONE HERE IF YOU TOUCH ME AGAIN!" Magnus' voice echoed with some sort of supernatural energy, rattling the eardrums of everyone present like thunder crashing from the sky.
Most people cringed at the piercing noise, blocking their ears.
The girl who was clinging onto Magnus' face was knocked unconscious, and she slid down to his feet, still holding onto his leg.
A silence fell over the entire arena, only Magnus' furious pants sounding. "Whoever is closest to me right now is my teammate. Everyone else... fuck off." Magnus finally exclaimed.
The people closest to Magnus happened to be Dreli, Sin, the girl on his leg, and also the obese woman.