"Enough!" the examiner shouted about a minute later.
During these minutes, three people had been put out of commission.
Kyle, a man with a long spear, and a man with two daggers.
The woman, who was using a long staff, a man using a one-handed sword without a shield, and the Shouter who beat Kyle were still standing.
Based on what Kyle had seen, the three of them had entered a rock-paper-scissors situation.
The Shouter had tremendous issues in dealing with the man using the one-handed sword.
That man was dancing around the Shouter, using his free hand to reposition himself all the time.
He grabbed the shield more than once, pushing himself to the side while avoiding the mace.
Meanwhile, the woman with the staff had it easy against the man with the sword.
The staff moved so fast and with so much power that catching it with a hand would most likely break the hand.
Lastly, the woman had issues fighting against the Shouter.
Yes, her staff was strong, but it couldn't shake the shield. The Shouter just kept charging forward, and she was at a constant retreat.
However, the other two, who had lost, were not helpless.
The man with the daggers had the advantage over the Shouter, while the man with the spear had the advantage over the man with the sword.
The only one who had no advantage at all was Kyle.
For the past minutes, Kyle had watched them fight, and he came to one conclusion.
'I can't beat any of them,' he thought. 'That sucks.'
'Oh well. It's not like I didn't expect that to happen. I mean, I never really fought anyone besides Nervon and that one guy.'
'These guys have probably fought plenty of people before and learned how to fight other people for years.'
'I suck at fighting people.'
The Newbies gathered in front of the examiner, who looked at all of them.
"I have taken note of your strengths and weaknesses," the examiner said. "As far as I am concerned, all of you still have a shot at being chosen. There are differences in power, but they are not too big."
Then, the examiner looked at Kyle.
"Except you," he said.
Kyle smiled bitterly as he scratched the side of his head. "Sorry."
The examiner shook his head in disappointment. "To be fair, for your Realm, you didn't do too badly. After all, you were fighting someone above your level."
"But the fight was still too one-sided. Your opponent only used a single Technique, and he knows nine."
"Even if you were at the same level, you would still lose convincingly."
"Yeah, I know," Kyle said with embarrassment. "I suck at fighting humans."
These words elicited a couple of glances from the other Newbies.
Kyle noticed, but he had no idea why they were looking at him like that.
'Did I say something weird?'
"How many people have you fought before?" the examiner asked.
"I trained with a regular hunter for about two months or so, and I had a run-in with an archer Adept," Kyle said.
The examiner raised a brow. "Where did you learn how to fight?"
Kyle blinked a couple of times. "I just told you."
This elicited another set of surprised glances.
The examiner narrowed his eyes. "Are you telling the truth?" he asked with a dark voice.
"Yes," Kyle answered. "Why would I lie?"
"To excuse your lackluster performance," the examiner answered.
"Eh, I mean, yeah, that would be a reason, but I didn't lie," Kyle said.
"Where did you learn Air Current from?" the examiner asked.
Kyle became a bit nervous and smiled in embarrassment.
"I helped somebody, and as repayment, they taught me Air Current," Kyle answered.
The examiner looked at Kyle with a severe expression. "And who was that?"
"Some guy," Kyle said with discomfort.
"I need a name," the examiner said.
"First name: Some. Last name: Guy," Kyle answered.
Kyle smiled bitterly as he felt his instincts warning him of danger.
The examiner was not pleased with that joke.
At all.
"It is forbidden to teach techniques to someone else without a license," the examiner said. "If you want a chance at entering, you have to follow the rules."
"Give me the name of that person. This is an order," the examiner said.
Kyle looked with discomfort at the examiner.
Theodor wanted to comment, but he stopped himself.
He already knew how this would go.
"Sorry, but I can't do that," Kyle said. "This person has helped me, fully aware of the risk. He even told me I wasn't supposed to tell anyone."
"If you were the only Fighter Guild around, I might tell you and just repay my friend, but you're not."
"If I fail to enter here, I will just join another one. A two-weapons Fighter Guild is also good."
When the Newbies heard that, they had mixed feelings.
On the one hand, they thought Kyle was dumb since he was throwing an opportunity away.
On the other hand, his loyalty to his friend was kind of admirable.
The examiner glared at Kyle without a word, and Kyle's instincts shouted louder and louder.
His instincts were telling him that he was about to die.
He had to comply, immediately!
If he didn't, the examiner would kill him!
Kyle's stance was unstable, and his entire body was covered in cold sweat.
Yet, he just kept smiling sheepishly at the examiner.
'I don't know what this weird, dangerous force is that humans can use, but I'm sure I'm experiencing it right now.'
'Luke did the same thing.'
"Leave," the examiner spoke darkly after a couple of seconds.
"Why?" Kyle asked.
"Because I say so," the examiner added.
Kyle did his best to suppress a grin.
'I mean, if I leave, I have no chance of entering. Also, I'm pretty sure he won't just kill me.'
"Can't I just fight a beast to show you what I can do?" Kyle asked. "I suck at fighting humans, but I'm really good at fighting beasts."
The Newbies looked at Kyle with disdain.
Did this kid not realize that he wasn't welcome here?
After looking at Kyle for a while, the examiner's mouth turned into a sneer.
"You think you can keep up with the others when it comes to fighting beasts?" he asked.
Kyle nodded with conviction.
"Yes!"
When Kyle said that, the examiner's expression changed.
At the same time, some of the eyes of the Newbies opened in surprise.
Kyle took note of that, but as always, he had no idea why they reacted like that.
An evaluating expression appeared on the examiner's face.
"Alright," he said, his voice calmer. "You get one more shot, but if your power is not to my satisfaction, you will scram! Is that clear?"
Kyle nodded. "Crystal clear!"
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