After relieving some of his anger, he wiped the blood from his fists and walked back to the cave where Tania was. He was still annoyed and clueless but he didn't have the luxury of wasting time doing nothing.
'Let's pass the hunter exam first.' He thought to himself.
Since he didn't have any way to deal with the crazy goddess, he just decided to stick to his initial plan and then deal with the ramifications that Livia adds to his plans. So, it was a very simple idea, either he gets out of all of these hurdles alive and even stronger than before or he will lose and ultimately die.
When he reached the cave, he found Tania waiting for him inside. She seemed to be fidgeting slightly and darting her eyes around. This was the most child-like expression she has ever made.
Acht saw that and asked her with a calm tone.
"Something wrong?"
She shook her head in denial and then sat down and looked at him. He also looked at her for a moment before coughing slightly to defuse the awkward silence between them.
Then, he pulled out his sword and took a look at it. That blade was now chipped in many areas and it was not as sharp as before. So, he decided to sharpen it since it was one of his most essential tools.
'This is only the first day of the test and it's already as hectic as it could get. This is going to be the longest month of my life.'
His hands moved agilely as he sharpened the sword on a piece of special rock he bought beforehand.
Tania looked at his back as he worked. She felt a sense of peace just looking at him sitting there beside her.
His broad back, his calm aura that oozed with confidence. Even his smallest acts that many would consider normal, Tania saw as something worthy of admiration.
Her body unconsciously started moving closer and closer to him while trying to not alert him to her approach.
Acht was in deep thought so he didn't feel like concentrating his senses on Tania so he was unable to feel her as she made her way to his side, one step at a time.
At some point, she was only a few inches away from him. Then, with a clouded look in her eyes, she tried to extend her hand and touch his back. She wasn't thinking properly at the moment so she was unable to see the consequences of her actions. The only thing that filled her mind was.
'touch him~'
As her hands kept getting closer and closer until she was now feeling his body heat from his clothes. That's when a loud sound jolted her back into her senses and made her quickly retract her hand.
Acht also heard the sound and stopped sharpening the sword. Then, they both looked at their devices. It showed (00:00) on the screen along with a message alert in the corner. Then, without even touching it, the message was automatically opened and a holographic image manifested itself in front of them.
In the holographic image, they saw a familiar mask they had seen before. Its distinct creepy smile and the unique crescent-shaped eyes made recognizing the person all the more easier.
"Yohooo~ My fine ladies and my respectable gentleman~ Your favorite Smiley is back to give you the news."
Smiley looked at the camera and danced like an idiot as he spoke up with a high-pitched voice. He looked to be in a good mood even though he is always in a good mood. That didn't save his bad jokes though.
"I missed you all so much…Boohoo~ Come back to me~ I want to hug youuuu~"
Acht watched him do his thing and sighed loudly. The last thing he needed on this fucked up night is this idiot clown facing in front of him.
"Anyway~ Guess what time is it?~ I know it's midnight of the first day~ heheheeheh~ so, it's time for our first event~ yayyyy~"
'Event?' Acht was puzzled about this event so he perked up his ears when he heard it.
Smiley then pulled out a folder from somewhere and showed it to the camera as he added.
"Now, look at this folder~ it has been chosen randomly from many events~ so let's open it together, shall we?"
Then, he opened the folder and pulled out one piece of paper with two words written on it.
"Dadadaaa~ It's the 'bounty hunter' event~ My favorite one~ Who knew I could be this lucky~" He jumped up and down like a small girl who was happy with a baby doll gift.
"Ehem~ Let me explain the rules since they are simple~ Your exam devices will choose a random number of people~ These candidates will be the 'targets'~ and the other hunters will have to hunt them down and kill them~ if they do that successfully~ they will get a triple boost to their point gain for a whole week~ So, the more people you kill the more boosts you accumulate~ but, if the targets survive the event~ they will get a 6 times boos to their point gain for a whole week~"
He then threw the paper in the air and laughed loudly.
"But, here is the twist~ the hunters could get the position of each target for a whole minute each hour~ so, no sleeping for some time my dear target~"
"You will have three days as a time for the event~ good luuuck~" he waved his hand at the camera before it ended the recording and the holographic image disappeared.
When the image vanished, Acht signed under his breath. He knew that this event was going to be annoying since if he was going to be a target, he would have to be on the move for a while. It wasn't a problem for him but for Tania, it was a whole other problem. She may be strong and talented, but she isn't accustomed to such things.
'Let's hope that we don't become targets even though the chances for that are close to zero.'
He remembered Livia's words and clicked his tongue with a cold look. He knew that she was probably the one who made such an event so obviously she would make him a target so he could suffer more.
A few moments of pure silence later, their devices made a ringing sound again and a new message appeared in front of them.
It had two words written in blood-red color.
'You are the target.'
The ominous words would make anyone shudder, but for Acht, it made him feel a small headache in his head.
'Why did I even entertain the idea?' He thought to himself as he shifted his eyes to look at Tania.
"What did you get?" He asked while already expecting the answer.
She looked at him and showed him her device. The same words were sent to her too. So, both of them were targets.
"There is no saving it now. We should work together to pass this event. Your help is essential." He said to her after some time.
When Tania heard his words, she felt her heart accelerate again. While his words may sound normal to all people, for her it was a whole different thing.
'He can't be without me? Acht needs me! He can't live without me~ Acht~ Acht~Acht~' Her mind went into a frenzy as she thought of all kinds of things she wanted to do with Acht.
But, from an outsider's point of view, she just looked like her usual self.
"Are you ok?" He asked.
"We need to start moving now. If we play our cards right, we will not have to fight hordes of people all at once. Prepare yourself." He said as he went outside to check out the area for any intruders.
Smiley didn't specify which time of the hour their position would be leaked so they had to be alerted 24/7 without any time for resting.
After getting herself ready, they left the cave and went deeper into the forest. They could already hear the sound of explosions and loud screams of pain coming from the distance. People are already fighting even though only a few minutes have passed.
The duo ignored them and navigated their way through the forest searching for any small teams they could deal with.
They wanted to hunt down the small teams or solo individuals for easy boosts while evading the areas with high numbers of people such as the areas where safe points were positioned.
Many would consider it a mindless event for the stronger to get easy points, but it's actually a tactical event that needed intelligence to get out of it with the best gains. And Acht was a master in that area.
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