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Chapter 22: It’s Been Awhile [1] ....Sometime Earlier "Do you want to give up now, or would you prefer being eliminated on the spot." Arthur called out to the group he had ambushed. After he had dealt with the earlier group and swiftly eliminated the majority of them, he went on to hunt for more prey. But before then he had made sure to drop his Soul Weapon right in front of them, though it drained his essence it also pressured the opponents and made it harder for them to move, even if it was just by a bit. The other reason he had brought out the sword was to speed up the effects of his Origin Skill. That too and the spider monkey skill, the webbing was everywhere. "I asked a question, logically speaking would it be sensible to give up or get eliminated now?" He asked again. "We only have one ball each, we can’t give you anyone." A girl in the group said. "You could always just sacrifice someone, its not like the exams really decide whether you’re ending up or not." "...." No answer. "I’ve already killed two of your own, think wisely." Again, no answer. "We’ll have to fight now." The fear on their faces was almost comical — like prey frozen mid-thought, unable to even consider running. He sighed. "Seriously, there are like zero profits that you can get in this business." He murmured. Without a second thought, Arthur activated one of his skill. Flames materialized in his hands, slowly shaping into a bow and an arrow. He carefully aimed it at one of the applicants—a girl who he assumed to be the leader of their small group. But they didn’t just stand there. The long-rangers immediately went into action, using whatever skills they had to try and take him down. They tried. To the applicants, the attacks merely phased through him. But in reality, the attacks did not even come close to him. With his sword stuck in the ground radiating essence as passive pressure as well as helping to put them under the influence of his origin skill, and the essence webbing doing the same thing, his Origin Skill was given everything it needed to shine. He charged up the Flame Arrow with his essence for as much as he could before shooting it towards them. He also threw the bow towards the group for precaution. —Boom! The arrow hit its mark. While the arrow didn’t hit everyone, it landed close enough to send the remaining group members sprawling. Heat washed over the clearing. And when the dust finally cleared, Arthur was gone. The remaining two quickly got up and huddled close to each other. Their leader—the girl, had already been teleported out of the island after all her three orbs had been destroyed. "W-where did he—" One of them muttered. And a faint whisper brushed past his ears. "Behind you." The boy spun, swinging wildly, but his fist only hit one of the people he was standing next to. "What the fuck!?" The applicant he had punched pushed him forward. "Its that guy, I heard his voice—" But before the boy could finish Art acted. He did a low sweep, knocking the boy down before driving his knee into the boy’s face, knocking him out of commission and subsequently sending him off. "Now, you’re the only one left." Arthur said as he stood up. The boy fell onto the ground, all his remaining strength leaving his legs. "No.... Please, please." He begged, tears dropped down his eyes. "...." Arthur didn’t bother making any remarks, he only slowly walked towards the last of them matching the pace as the boy tried to escape. But the boy’s next words did surprise him. "Please, my family—we’re kinda homeless, please Kurobane, please I need this. Please, I don’t want—we can’t afford another term." The tears came relentlessly, along with the additional snot. It was a pathetic sight. Arthur stopped in his tracks. "You know who I am?" Art asked. "Yes?" He answered. "Good, I have a few tasks for you to do, fulfill them and I won’t kill you." .... "Where did you see the materials?" Arthur couldn’t but ask after seeing his raft. "Please, don’t ask, Mr. Kurobane." Arthur nodded. Somethings were better left as secrets. "For last, I’ll need your help with pedaling. But I’ll give you a little reward for your troubles." The boy nodded before going to craft the pedals. "To think that someone like him has the hope of ranking in the top ten." Arthur shook his head at the thought. "And the only good thing he had going for him is his stealth." Even then, being in a group compromised that. Arthur had only asked him to check deep into the forest and report back to him he found any monsters, and to build a small raft enough for two. After a quick pep talk to make the boy understand that he couldn’t run away, he was sent into the forest. The first was merely to satisfy a curiosity of his, and surprisingly he was right. The island was a place to contain monsters and study them, but it was also during exams such as these. When the islands were used for exams they were kept in a small barrier. The second was because he knew the amount of people on this island would soon reach an all-time low. When that happened they were asked to swim to another island. Arthur couldn’t swim. He wasn’t good with anything remotely involving water. ’I should have just bought a swimming skill.’ There were people who were so desperate for points that they would attack anything vaguely resembling human that they saw—these people were practically everybody taking the exam. It had happened even in the game, if someone saw you while swimming and happened to have a long range skill they would rain fire upon you. Now, in a raft it would be a much easier target. ’I guess what’s going to happen is going to happen.’ If he was shot down, he would have his father to blame.