The next day.
Maeyurai stood on the grass at the archery range with a new longbow in hand while wearing a new set of uniform. This time around, the colors were brown and black.
A black high-collared tunic serving as the undershirt and a flexible brown coat for the upper body. Brown pants with several pockets and black boots with flat soles.
He also wore a long scarf with a dark-brown color.
Tugging on this scarf, he spoke, "Huizen, is it really fine to fight with a scarf on?"
"Not really, but it looks good for the overall fit," Huizen replied as he stared at the two girls sitting on a log at the side. "Am I right, ladies?"
Shienne and Mhiya merely gave him a thumbs-up.
"Show some more enthusiasm, would you?" Huizen said, sticking his tongue out.
"Anyway," he continued. "Maeyurai, ready when you are."
His head hung down, Maeyurai took one long breath, and exhaled. He studied the environment, where there are several logs serving as the obstacle.
He gripped his longbow with his left hand tightly and said,
"I'm ready."
A beat passes.
Maeyurai sprinted to the side and loaded his bow with a blunt-tipped arrow.
Seven logs placed randomly across the field, with Huizen at the other side...
I'll run between logs so I have a way to hide my body in case he shoots.
After a moment of thinking, he took aim and shot the arrow in Huizen's direction before going back to hide behind a log.
Huizen noticed the arrow and immediately ducked, running forward to try to intercept Maeyurai.
"I see you!" he yelled out, drawing his bow.
Reloading his bow, Maeyurai stepped back and was met with Huizen, who was already aiming towards his stomach.
Then, Huizen shot the arrow.
"Crap!" Maeyurai exclaimed, doing a side-step in order to avoid the arrow that's coming directly to his stomach.
Whiz!
"That was close!" he said while running away from Huizen.
Of course, Huizen wouldn't just let go of Maeyurai that easily. He sprinted in the direction that Maeyurai went and drew his bow again.
Taking aim, he predicted that Maeyurai would pop out behind the farthest log and shot the arrow.
In that same moment, Maeyurai did appear and was hit in the neck by the blunt arrow.
"Ack!" he uttered loudly.
Stunned, Maeyurai's movements drastically slowed down. He clutched his neck with a hiss, losing balance along the way.
Huizen was ruthless. After releasing, he had already loaded another arrow and shot.
Maeyurai stumbled forward, and the arrow missed the side of his stomach by a hair.
"Lucky," Huizen muttered with a smirk.
Immediately after, Maeyurai went back on his feet and started running. To slow down Huizen's pursuit, he kicked a nearby log towards the pursuer and aimed.
Noticing that a log was leaning into him, Huizen stopped moving forward and stepped to the side.
I got you now.
Maeyurai shifted his aim to the right and shot the arrow.
Huizen didn't notice that Maeyurai had already shot the arrow and was hit in the stomach.
"Mmph!"
He took the hit directly. But that didn't stop him, as he immediately recovered and fired the arrow.
For revenge, Huizen aimed directly towards Maeyurai's forehead.
With a sharp exhale, Maeyurai dodged the arrow and reloaded his bow simultaneously.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" Maeyurai shouted before he launched the arrow.
Huizen laughed. "Hahaha! It's just a blunt-tipped arrow; it won't kill you!" he said as he dodged the arrow.
For the next few moments, there was only an exchange of arrows between the two sides. It was an equal fight, due to Huizen going easy on Maeyurai.
This is infuriating! I swear, I'll win!
He reached to his bag to get another arrow.
But there was none; he had already used up every single one he had.
Looking at Huizen behind a log, he still had three more. And clearly, three was enough for Huizen to defeat the powerless Maeyurai.
"Not if I force myself to use this," Maeyurai said to himself, gritting his teeth as he flexed his forearms.
Soon, he conjured a ball of fire in his palm. He dragged it from the arrow rest up to the bowstring.
He jumped to the side, leaning into his back, and aimed towards the opponent.
On the other side, Huizen was running confidently with a smug smirk.
His confidence suddenly fell as his face scrunched in confusion.
"What is that glow...?" he asked.
Thwip!
Maeyurai released, and the fire arrow blasted through the field.
Fwish!
The fire arrow spread out and did not hit Huizen. He could, however, feel the intense heat that Maeyurai's flames contained.
I failed... I failed to create a proper arrow again! Maeyurai cursed mentally, his face clouded in disappointment.
His expression suddenly changed—an expression of intense focus.
"There's hope," he said under his breath.
"That's hot!" Huizen exclaimed as he thrashed around, rubbing his body so that the fire would not spread to his clothes.
Maeyurai fell to his side, but he managed to support himself with his left hand.
He immediately stood up and sprinted towards Huizen.
Thud-thud-thud, smack!
Maeyurai tackled Huizen to the ground and pinned him down. He then brought his hand to Huizen's face with a swift movement, imitating a punch.
"I win, Huizen."
Huizen raised his hands in submission, then chuckled. "Hahah... Fine, you win."
Hearing Huizen's declaration of defeat, Maeyurai groaned and stood up. He raised his hand in victory.
"Yes!" he exclaimed with closed eyes.
On the side, Shienne and Mhiya were clapping. Both of them were nodding at each other for Maeyurai's display of improvement.
They didn't expect that Maeyurai would attempt to end the match with a fire arrow, much less win against Huizen.
But of course, they are all aware that Huizen went easy on Maeyurai.
While Maeyurai took off his scarf, Huizen, alongside the two girls, approached him.
Huizen slapped Maeyurai's back, a proud smile on his face. "Great job, Maeyurai! You're showing spectacular improvement!"
"Be proud," Shienne said. "Just keep practicing your magic, and The Hunt will become easy for you!"
"Right, you just need to polish your magic and create a technique. That way, you'll be unstoppable in The Hunt."
It was a motivational moment for Maeyurai. While he couldn't accomplish what he wished for, he did at least gain praise from his seniors.
"Yes, thank you. I'll do even greater in the future."
***
It was the day of The Hunt.
The time is currently 9:30 AM. Maeyurai, Shienne, and Mhiya walked outside of Gangumen in order to go to The Hunt's venue.
For the past four days, Maeyurai continued to train his magic relentlessly. He was first trying to master how he could conjure and infuse with his Fire Magic. Next would be learning Lightning Magic, which was his second goal.
The basic things he did were conjure a fire arrow 50 times in a day and infuse 50 normal arrows with his Fire Magic.
What he noticed was that Mana doesn't just come out on your arms but on every pulse point in the human body.
The main reason for this is how Shienne was electrocuted four days ago. He was unconsciously infusing his whole body with lightning, so when Shienne made contact with the spot between his neck and shoulder, which was near to the carotid pulse point, she was electrocuted.
Another thing that Maeyurai learned is that infusing your own body has its own boosts but also comes with a cost.
Infusing a body part with Fire Magic will boost its strength, but it only lasts for five minutes and will leave the user exhausted, rendering them slowed down. If the whole body is infused, then when the effect wears off, it will make the user faint.
For Lightning Magic, it gives a body part a better response time for two minutes, then paralyzes it for two hours afterwards. It wasn't a good deal for the long term.
As for Maeyurai's archery, he got significant improvements.
According to Huizen, his form looked consistent and neat. The way that he can transition to a drawing form right after a movement is incredibly clean.
His aim also got much better, as he can consistently hit bullseyes at least two in a row.
The major contributor to this growth is his eye.
It was subtle, but he can feel that his eye keeps getting better sight as each day passes.
"Mr. Koja should be at the venue," Mhiya said. "He went ahead of us three hours ago."
Listening to Mhiya as he followed along, Maeyurai spoke, "What exactly do we do in The Hunt?"
"It's as I told you. We compete with other people as we hunt Hell's Spawns individually."
"That's all?"
It would be very simple if it did. That's what Maeyurai thought. He thought of the possibility that The Hunt couldn't be that simple.
"'That's all?'" Mhiya repeated. "Hell's Spawns are dangerous creatures. A Common-Level can massacre ten people within a few seconds. And the thing about this event is that a lot of participants are selfish and would rather have you die just so they can win."
Maeyurai was taken aback by her words. He lowered his head and apologized.
"Ah, right. Sorry, I was being naive."
"I don't know what your situation is, but you know almost nothing about your surroundings. I'm not going to bother asking, but I suggest you explore and learn more."
Listening intently to Mhiya's advice, Maeyurai merely nodded his head.
Time passed by like a gust of wind. The three arrived at the venue, just 2 kilometers away from Gangumen. It seems that The Hunt will take place inside the forest.
There were several participants waiting in line. In front, there was the receptionist table. One would need to sign up if they wished to participate.
Just nearby was Huizen. He was standing near the receptionist, taking a look over each participant.
From afar, Maeyurai immediately recognized him. He pointed his hand and said, "Guys, Huizen's right there!"
The two girls shifted their gaze from the long line to the direction where Maeyurai pointed.
"Oh, you're right," Shienne said.
They immediately lined up as a few more people arrived.
"We're going to work individually, right?" Maeyurai asked. The rules of The Hunt still weren't clear to him. He thought that it might be possible to work together if they sign up and say that they're participating as a group.
"Yeah," Mhiya answered. "That means the three of us are going to be competing against each other. So it's best for the both of you to go all out, because I am."
Mhiya was smirking as she challenged the two.
"Is that so?" Maeyurai asked. "I'm not going down easy; I'm quite proud of what I've achieved recently."
The line moved up until it was their turn to sign up.
"Good day! If you're participating, please sign your name on this paper," the receptionist greeted Maeyurai, handing out a paper and an ink-dipped quill.
Maeyurai wrote down his name on the participants' paper. "Done, what next?"
"Thank you! Please move to the waiting site before the event begins. Once The Hunt starts, Mr. Huizen will be blowing a horn, indicating the archers to begin their hunt."
Maeyurai nodded.
The procedures are quite simple.
But all these people... They look so weak.
Is it just me, or do they not have that striking presence? I can't feel power from any of them.
As Maeyurai was walking to the waiting site, someone approached and greeted him.
"Hello, beautiful. Are you participating to become an archer? Or is it for fun?" The man spoke to him in a friendly tone. But the word 'beautiful' indicates that he's gotten Maeyurai's gender wrong.
"Hm? It's both, actually," Maeyurai replied, ignoring the fact that he was just called beautiful.
The man grinned upon hearing his answer. "Both, huh? So you're looking for thrilling fun in this competition? Quite the intense lady you are."
Lady? What the hell is this guy on?
Whatever, I'll just keep ignoring it.
"Well, yes, I love the bow, and I would definitely love to encounter the Hell's Spawns."
A smirk appeared on the man's face. "Wow, so you—"
"Back off."
A familiar voice said to the man, pushing him away from Maeyurai. It was Shienne. It seems she did not like the fact that the man approached Maeyurai.
"Come on, let's go," she said.
"Ah!" the man exclaimed. He was surprised by Shienne's sudden display of aggression, but he didn't dislike it. "A feisty woman here, just what I like."
Shienne turned her attention to the man, her face scrunching in disgust. "Can you back off? We're minors. We can have Mr. Koja disqualify you immediately if you keep that attitude up."
Then, the man immediately lost interest. He stood upright and stepped back. "Okay, okay, chill. I didn't know, damn," he said before walking away, clicking his tongue along the way.
"You okay?" Shienne said, turning her head to face Maeyurai. "That guy was hitting on you, right?"
Maeyurai's face was painted in confusion. "Huh? He was?"
He thought that the man only spoke that way, which was why Maeyurai ignored the weird things the man said.
Shienne facepalmed. "Of course you don't know," she said with a sigh, shaking her head.
She still couldn't believe how stupid Maeyurai was when it comes to things like this. With how fast he improves, you'd think he would be clever.
"C'mon, let's just move on," she said, walking ahead.
Maeyurai followed, still confused about what just happened.
At the waiting site, there were even more archers than there were during the line. If an introvert were to visit the place, they would most likely shrink down in embarrassment.
"The Hunt sure is a big event," Maeyurai said, looking around the crowded area.
"Of course, Mr. Koja is quite popular. He's the main reason that these people want to become archers," Shienne added. "Well, I guess. It's Mhiya's and my reason for joining this event."
Maeyurai nodded his head. If it really was the reason, then Huizen is a far more amazing person than he initially thought.
Looking around, Mhiya was nowhere to be seen.
"By the way," Maeyurai spoke up. "Where's Mhiya? She can't be taking that long just writing her name."
"Mhiya? Oh, she's talking to Mr. Koja," Shienne replied, looking at Maeyurai.
"Ah, I see. Do you know what she's talking about with him?"
"Not a clue."
The two would then stand still, waiting for the blare of the horn.
After a while, Mhiya finally arrived. Her talk with Huizen was quite long. Whatever the topic was, they exchanged a lot.
"What took you so long?" Shienne asked while tapping her foot. She felt quite lonely without Mhiya.
"Oh, Mr. Koja just gave me small talk. I ended up talking with him for a little too long, hehe."
Oh well, they're talking now.
I'm gonna go do my own thing.
Maeyurai would then walk away from the two without notifying them. He felt that he wasn't really comfortable being in a place full of people and decided to find a spot somewhere secluded. A place that he could stay while waiting for the horn.
He had already walked quite a while; he found a corner he could stay in.
But before he could even claim the territory as his own, the loud horn was blown, indicating the start of The Hunt.