The entire hall was submerged in a frenzy. All the contestants started targeting each other with no hesitation. It took exactly three seconds for Talon to hear the sound of two individuals clashing not that far away.
Then, that sound quickly spread across the entire hall like a disease. Fights broke out everywhere he looked. It was as if all these people turned into barbaric monsters the moment they heard the word 'Begin'.
'Wow...' Raising an eyebrow, Talon could only be impressed at how everything shifted this quickly.
"They're really going to do anything just pass, huh?" He muttered. These people were here with the hope of becoming Sky Seekers and making their families happy, he wasn't surprised it ended up this way.
Scanning the area around him, Talon noticed that many fights started and ended quickly while others were still raging. People mainly used their fists rather than their weapons to avoid hurting someone badly. Even the way they fought seemed far more reserved than normal.
'If there was no such rules, this entire place would collapse quickly.' He thought to himself.
"Aren't you going to move?" Acrypha asked.
"Hmm, not yet. I want to see what will happen first." He said.
Talon wasn't worried about achieving the goal of the test. So, instead, he decided to take his time and see if there is anything interesting happening.
'Where is that girl?' That's when he remembered that person from before and quickly looked for her.
It didn't take him long to locate her silhouette. She was moving far away from him at an incredible speed. She almost seemed like a ghost as she cut through contestants without looking back. Nobody seemed to notice her at all. But, eventually, they started feeling the lack of weight on their chest and looked down.
"Huh?! Where is my tag?!!"
"My tag too! It has been stolen!!"
"W-Who did that?!!"
Such cries could be heard everywhere. The tags seemed to vanish out of nowhere and that sent many people into panic. Looking around them, they couldn't see anyone at all. She just vanished from their sight almost immediately.
Talon silently followed her for a while, trying to understand what kind of ability she was using. Because, she clearly was using something that made her disappear in their eyes.
'Is it some kind of illusion?' He mused. 'Could be, but I can't say for sure yet.'
As he was like that, he suddenly heard a loud yell. Turning around, he saw a young man rushing toward him.
"GIVE ME YOUR TAG, BASTARD!!!"
"Interesting..."
Then, he moved through the list again and found the young man. His information made him look closer as if he didn't understand something. Then, after a while, he closed the list and looked at the screen again.
"These two..." He said as he handed the list to the woman next to him. "Mark them down." He said.
"... Understood." The woman didn't know why he said that but she still did what he asked. After all, Winsdoor knew far more than they did even though they were all supervisors.
"This exam might turn out to be far more interesting than I expected." He said as his eyes flashed with a weird glint. Something inside him told him that he might've come across something really worth looking into.
Whether that was true or not, only time will tell.
***
*Back in the hall*
Almost an hour passed quickly and the entire place was now disturbingly quiet. Nobody dared to move or speak as they knew that they would be the next target.
Talon eventually stopped as he quickly put the tags in his storage. Then, he exhaled a long breath. 'That was a little exhausting. Gathering all these tags is a task!'
If he counted right, he had easily snatched almost 800 tags on his own. Even with his monstrous stamina and speed, it was a tough task to pull off.
'It seems no one realized that I am the one who stole them yet.' He scoffed as he looked around him with a smile.
The contestants around him were panickedly searching for the culprit that stole their tags but failed to find him. He had made sure not to stop even for a moment and let them get a look at his face. He also made sure to cover his tag with his hand so that they wouldn't suspect him.
Usually, this would've been impossible. To trick hundreds of people. But, in this situation, it turned out far easier than he expected. Everyone was on the edge due to the test. So, their ability to focus was hindered greatly.
Most of them can't even see beyond their target and themselves, let alone find someone as fast as Talon. On the other hand, the girl seemed to have done the same thing as she snuck her way into the masses again as if she belonged to them.
"Where are they?! They could've not disappeared!"
"My tag, my goddamn tag! I need to find it before I'm screwed!!"
Talon could hear the cries of anguish everywhere. Some people even started crying as they thought they were done for now that their tags were gone. In reality, he did feel a little bit bad for them. But, he knew that he couldn't simply be merciful, not here.
He also had things to do, and people he had to go back for. He had to protect them. So, if he finds any ounce of opportunity to quicken the progress of this quest, he is going to do exactly that.
No matter what consequences others might face. That was what he believed.
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!