Chapter 108: End of the Trial of Strength
Liam stood alongside Lydia and Emily, watching the various testing areas as the last applicants finished the first stage of the Squad Selection.
The enormous hangar no longer looked as crowded as it had a few hours earlier.
Many of the Hunters had left their respective areas with frustrated expressions, while others walked out smiling, clearly satisfied with their results.
Liam looked toward one of the areas.
There, an enormous rock creature lay completely shattered.
It was a golem nearly twice his size.
And standing in front of the creature was Chuck, shaking his hands while exaggeratedly chewing his gum.
The man raised his arms.
"That was it!"
The creature finished disintegrating into particles before disappearing.
Liam began clapping.
Emily and Lydia did the same.
Chuck walked out of the area with a huge smile.
"Did you see that?"
"Yeah,"
Liam replied with a laugh.
"We definitely saw that."
Chuck walked over to them, still chewing his gum.
"And how did you guys do?"
Emily was the first to answer.
"I got some kind of horse-man with an axe."
Chuck raised an eyebrow.
"A centaur?"
"I guess that’s what it’s called."
Emily crossed her arms.
"It was pretty annoying. Every time I fired one of my blasts, it used the axe to reflect my lightning."
Liam’s eyes widened.
"It could do that?"
"Yeah. And it was pretty fast, too."
Emily smiled as she remembered the fight.
"But I managed to climb onto its back and ride it. Then I made it fall and discharged all my electricity directly into its body."
Liam let out a small laugh.
"I would’ve liked to see that."
Chuck whistled.
"I wouldn’t expect anything less from my partner."
Emily smiled proudly.
Chuck looked at Liam and Lydia.
"And you two?"
Liam scratched the back of his neck.
"I’m not really sure what to think."
Lydia raised a hand.
"I think we did well."
Chuck stopped chewing for a moment and looked at their faces.
"Then why do you look like you just walked out of a funeral?"
Liam let out a small laugh.
"It’s complicated to explain."
He didn’t want to tell him everything they had experienced yet.
Not because he didn’t trust him.
Simply...
Even Liam didn’t fully understand what had happened.
Pix had confirmed that they had fallen under a pixie’s charm, but that only made everything even stranger.
Chuck went back to chewing his gum.
"Relax. There’s still plenty of the Selection left."
Emily nodded.
"Exactly. Let’s take the opportunity to rest while we wait for the others to finish."
◇◆◇
After a while, Liam looked around.
That’s when he noticed that there were far fewer Hunters than before.
At first, the hangar had been practically packed.
Now they could walk between the testing areas without constantly having to dodge other people.
"What happened to everyone?"
Emily pointed toward one of the exits.
"A lot of them left."
"They left?"
"Yeah. I saw several of them leave looking pretty upset."
Lydia tilted her head slightly.
"Did they get eliminated?"
Chuck shook his head.
"As far as I understand, there’s no direct elimination."
Liam looked at him.
"Then they can continue?"
"Yeah. Everyone can advance to the next trial."
Chuck put another piece of gum into his mouth.
"At the end of the day, the ones who decide who gets into the squads are the sub-captains."
Liam looked toward the tinted windows again.
The five sub-captains were still hidden behind those walls.
’So they really are the ones watching everything.’
Lydia looked at the other applicants.
"Did you see any interesting Hunters?"
Emily smiled.
"Robert Hanks was over there."
Liam immediately paid attention.
"The lone Hunter?"
"The same one."
Emily discreetly pointed toward one of the testing areas.
"He finished his trial in a matter of seconds."
Liam raised his eyebrows.
"As expected."
He was the Emerald-ranked Hunter Emily had told them about. He preferred working alone and charged lower-ranked Hunters to accompany them on raids.
"What kind of Awakening does he have?"
Liam asked.
Emily shrugged.
"From what I could see, he can make anything explode."
"Anything?"
"Seems like it."
Emily frowned.
"But I still don’t understand exactly how it works."
Chuck chimed in.
"The girl who went before me was pretty interesting, too."
Liam turned toward him.
"What did she do?"
"She fought a huge monster."
Chuck smiled.
"And devoured it."
Liam blinked.
"Devoured it?"
Chuck nodded.
"In the literal sense of the word."
Lydia raised her eyebrows slightly.
"Maybe she has a power similar to mine."
"That’s what I thought,"
Liam replied.
Emily looked at Chuck.
"What’s her name?"
Chuck shrugged.
"I didn’t hear her name."
Emily looked at him incredulously.
"You weren’t even interested?"
"Not really. I was too worried about my turn coming up."
Liam laughed.
Chuck shrugged.
"If she’d been important, I’m sure I would’ve remembered her."
◇◆◇
Before they could continue, someone walked past them.
Roy.
The young man from the Ouroboros Guild was walking alongside the two Hunters who had entered the Selection with him.
The same friendly smile remained on his face.
"Hello."
Liam looked at him.
Roy stopped in front of the group.
"I heard some rumors about the next trial."
Chuck stopped chewing for a second.
"Oh, really?"
Roy nodded.
"They say we’ll have to work as a team."
Liam remained silent.
Roy pointed at the two men behind him.
"If you’re interested, you can keep us in mind. The three of us have plenty of experience working together."
Liam looked at the three of them.
There was nothing particularly strange about his words.
But something about that smile still made him uncomfortable.
’I don’t like this guy.’
Liam smiled politely.
"Thanks for the offer, but I already have my team."
Roy watched him for a few seconds.
"I understand."
His smile didn’t disappear.
"Then you’re missing out on a huge advantage."
Liam didn’t respond.
Roy simply nodded and continued walking alongside his companions.
Emily watched Roy walk away.
"What’s with those three?"
Chuck resumed chewing.
"I don’t know."
Liam looked at his group.
"I think we made the right choice by not accepting."
He didn’t have time to say anything else.
BEEEEEP!
An alarm echoed throughout the hangar, and all conversations stopped.
The applicants who were still inside the testing areas began looking around.
The lights in the enormous space changed.
Then James’s voice echoed through the speakers.
"Attention, applicants!"
Everyone looked up.
James continued:
"The first trial has come to an end."
Liam felt a small amount of tension leave his body.
"After observing your individual abilities, our sub-captains now have enough information to evaluate this stage."
In the various testing areas, the assistants began helping the last Hunters remove their sensors.
James paused for a moment.
"Therefore..."
The giant screen at the back of the hangar lit up, and the words appeared across it.
TRIAL OF STRENGTH — COMPLETED
"You may now officially conclude the Trial of Strength."
The hangar erupted in applause and cheers.
Chuck raised both arms.
"One down!"
Emily smiled.
Lydia took Liam’s hand, and he gently squeezed it.
’’One less trial.’’
But while everyone celebrated, Liam looked back toward the dark windows where the sub-captains were.
’What did they see during our trial?’
The question continued to linger in his mind.