The day of selection arrived and there were more candidates than the council expected, of course the pillars were all present and other notable figures like Gira Bren and Quillen were also there. Lan was sitting among the crowd being a witness to the event, there were only two spots left since one was given to Lan. Whether or not the student council had announced this or not was not known. Lan was contemplating on who will be selected, Dan Vonter is a magic-fighter class, he has more advantage than Ellena and Zenora, however Zenora didn't participate in the selection. There were also some familiar faces that Lan had seen in the first test of hunting Red hounds. A girl quickly approached Lan and sat beside Lan and started talking.
" Hey, are you not participating?, " she said with a friendly smile.
Lan recognised the face, she was the short girl from Quillen's group. She seemed to grown taller than Lan last remembered.
" Pera?, " Lan replied.
" Yes," she answered.
" I already did, " Lan said with discomfort.
" What do you mean? they scouted you personally?, " she said with a surprise.
" ummmm- something like that, " Lan said, being skeptical about revealing everything.
" Wow! Impressive!, " she said.
" Fortunately, yes haha " Lan replied.
" Who do you think will get the remaining spots?, " she asked.
" There is Dan, Ellena, Quillen and Gira, they are all good but Dan has the most advantage being a Magic-fighter Class. " Lan said.
" There is also another person from magic class, over there. " She pointed out an average looking guy with a rather over friendly face, short hair but blonde.
Lan quickly glanced at the direction and commented, " The blonde hair?, "
" Yes, his name is Anon Fredar. He is an exceptional magic user although in terms of strength he isn't as strong as the others. I once sparred with him and he uses spells in the most unpredictable ways, he could be a genius. " She said.
" Interesting, he is like me then. What about your friend Quillen?, " Lan said, still looking over the contestants warming up and waiting for the council leader to arrive.
" He has improved a lot, we spar everyday and I can tell his swordsmanship has become more refined and sharp, " she said proudly.
" I would love to spar with him someday. " Lan replied.
" He is good and I hope he gets one of the spots but since there are your pillar friends, it's not guaranteed. " she said with a sigh.
" What about you? you are not participating?, " Lan asked.
" I would love to but I'm still far behind Quillen. " she replied with a heavy heart.
" Hey, at least you are not like me, " Lan said, trying to cheer her up.
" You?! Haha- yes I'm glad that I have at least Ren affinity with magic but to be honest, I'm not very fond of these spells stuff, I like fighting head on. So I feel like this talent is wasted on me. '' She said.
" But you! even without magic, you are far ahead than any of us, I feel like that I don't know why. Maybe that's why the student council recruited you personally. " she added.
" Why do you think so ? Yes, in terms of fighting I have some confidence and experience with it, but you guys have magic which can easily make up the difference. " Lan replied.
" That is true but it is the application of spells in real life battle that makes it harder. If someone lunged at me with a sword I would not be thinking of using spells to defend myself but rather using my sword to deflect it. " she said.
" I see so, basically this magic stuff feels strange and new to you. " Lan simplified.
" Exactly, a petty excuse for someone who is aspiring to be a slayer but this is what I'm struggling with, " she clapped her hands gently.
" Hmmm, " Lan was looking at Dan who was also waving at him. He waved back.
" Here comes the student council leader, " Pera announced.
On the platform, there were members of student council, four chairs laid out with a long table in front, Escrald Lejes approached from rear of the platform and stood there with his hands folded behind, everyone was looking at him waiting for the commencement of the selection exam.
" Ahmm! I have something important to announce." Escrald gathered his voice and fearlessly declared. " The selection exam is entirely based on student council evaluation and observation. Over the past few weeks we have been closely observing everyone and found some promising talents to represent the outer circle in the upcoming tournament. There are a total of six spots but the three of them are reserved for hunter class students and rest to us. However, today's selection exam will only be for two spots because one of the spots is filled. That's all. "
There were murmurs and whispers of discontent and objection among the crowd but no one dared to question the student council leader's decision. Lan had already told Dan and Ellena about his bet so they were not surprised but the rest of the people were surprised and shocked to hear the announcement.
" Haha- it's really true, you were not lying!, " Pera commented with a chuckle.
" I was just lucky, " Lan replied with a humble smile.
" Hah! , " Pera exclaimed.
" How many do you count?, " Lan asked.
" Maybe around fifteen?, " She replied, looking over the contestants.
" That's pretty low in number, " Lan said.
" Well yes, maybe they are afraid of pillars?, " Pera answered back.
" Maybe, " Lan said.
" The first match is between Dan Vonter and Saul Igthar, " declared Norli.
Dan and Saul Igthar proceeded to the stage and stood facing each other.
" The rule is simple: Knock the sword out of your opponent's hand or force them to admit defeat. Only low tier boost spells are allowed and no offensive spells. " said Norli and returned to her seat. " You can start "
" This is going to be interesting, " said Pera.
" Yes- " Lan was interrupted.
Zenora came in time and sat beside Lan quietly as usual without a word.
" Has it started?, " Zenora said.
" You are just on time, " Pera replied instead.
" Pera, good to see you here " said Zenora.
Lan was surprised because Zenora would never start a conversation with him.
" It's just about to start, " Lan said.
" Who is the other guy?, " asked Zenora.
" Saul Igthar, " replied Lan.
" Does anyone know him?, " added Lan.
" Never talked to him, seen him a few times in fighter class. I believe he must have Qen affinity. " replied Pera.
Dan and Saul were in their battle stance and in a few seconds they started exchanging blows, they were quite evenly matched in terms of physical strength. However Dan was not using any spells while Saul was using a boost spell to enhance his speed. Dan looked confident in not using it. Using the speed of the boost spell, Saul charged at Dan Vonter but to his surprise, Dan also charged at him and started attacking him first. Getting off guard, Saul lost his foot balance for a fraction of second which led to his downfall, Dan quickly retaliated, He started barraging a series of blows, not giving him a chance to recover his breath. In between, seeing that Saul has lost his foot balance, Dan quickly cast a strength boost spell and continued his barrage of attacks, the sudden increase in strength was plenty enough to throw Saul completely off balance. Dan swung hard on his last attack, strong enough to fly Saul's sword out of his hand. The first match was easily won by Dan but the fighting style reminded Lan of his own style. It was cunning and ruthless.