CHAPTER 73: CHAPTER 72: APOSTLES

"Excuse me, when can we start?" someone asked.

At that moment, Rhino, the masked people, Zaen, and even Ben had hopeless expressions.

One of the masked people pointed towards the man.

The next moment, the one who raised the stupid question was as if struck in the chest by an invisible giant hammer, suddenly spitting out a mouthful of blood and flying to the opposite side of the field.

A few medics rushed the boy to the infirmary, leaving the rest of the group stunned. Was it turning the ’foundation’ level strength?

Amidst the commotion, the masked man whispered a few words, but everyone heard him as if he were right next to them.

"Wasn’t what the instructor just said clear enough? It has already begun."

As soon as those words left, dozens of recruits charged the stage. Those who had weapons or independent abilities led the charge, shooting fire, ice shards and whatnot.

Zaen was proven wrong in that instant. Perhaps they weren’t as useless as he thought.

"Decent."

"See, I told you! You were underestimating them—" Ben started, but Zaen cut him off.

"Decent as cannonfodder."

Just as he said that, pain filled cries erupted from the stage. A small tornado, barely the size of an adult, struck the ones charging towards the stage.

All of their attacks were swallowed by the tornado, along with the ones who had used the said abilities.

At the same time, a massive hammer appeared over them and hit the tornado, sending it flying towards the rest of the recruits. But that wasn’t all.

One masked guy kept spawning more tornadoes, while the little one kept hammering away.

"This is their power after being restricted?"

"How does this make any sense!?"

"Run away!"

Most recruits understood that fighting head-on was the worst decision they could’ve made and broke away from the large groups as the one with the hammer was targeting them.

Strangely, the strategy worked as fewer people were getting trapped by the tornadoes. Not to mention, each tornado only lasted for three minutes before disappearing.

The masked individual with the hammer stomped the ground in frustration.

"Storm! Can’t you make them bigger?" A little girl’s voice squeaked underneath her mask.

"Lolita, we have to hold back," Storm replied, patting the little girl’s head. "Did you forget?"

"Ugh... why though? Let’s just squash the bugs and have some ice cream! Brother Johann must be waiting for me!"

Zaen’s face froze at Johann’s mention. The little girl must have been his sister or maybe someone he took under his wing for a while. He turned towards Rhino, who brought a finger to his lips while looking at him.

The masked people... didn’t know about the tragedy that unfolded at the forward base.

Maybe that’s why they are here... to pay their respects.

Zaen was lost in his thoughts when Ben pulled his sleeve.

"Oi! What are you spacing out for?" he yelled. "Tell me what to do?"

Zaen’s mouth twitched as he fought the thought of hitting the brat before him. The piggy had been pampered to the point that his mind had lost its natural fight-or-flight response.

Well, Ben wasn’t the only one. Most of the crowd was scattered, running around aimlessly. As much as he didn’t want to, someone had to take charge of the situation.

"Head to the dorms!" Zaen yelled.

He didn’t care to know if everyone heard him or not. As long as a few people ran towards the dorms, the remaining sheep would follow.

Zaen had no intention of acting like a hero, especially after Rhino indirectly told him not to. He ’helped’ the rest to ensure a few meat shields would survive and perhaps even tire the masked people out a bit.

That way, he could fight them and get a feel for the difference in their strengths.

As they ran away, the masked group just watched them. If they wanted, they could have outrun them, but they didn’t because... Rhino had told them to give the juniors a chance if they wanted to be surprised.

"The one with the blindfold," the apparent leader in the black ornamental mask spoke. "He’s Master Erina’s son?"

"What gave it away?" Rhino smirked, crossing his arms.

"I’d have said his eyes, if he had any."

Just like that, the man disappeared. The rest of his squad gave Rhino a quick bow before disappearing as well.

He turned towards the few students who got knocked by the air. In reality, it was the squad knocking out those who didn’t catch their attention.

"He’ll never give up, will he, Director?" Rhino asked, ignoring the sudden chill behind him.

"I’d expect nothing less from her prized student," Eira replied before looking at the unconscious recruits. "And here I thought half of them would survive the test."

Eira and Rhino weren’t the only ones watching the test in action. The remaining instructors had huddled up in a meeting room.

They were eager to see what the newbies in the batch had to offer after their introductory lessons. Only to end up disappointed by it because out of 358 recruits, only 129 got out of the training field, and even fewer would make it to the dorms.

"Over two hundred of them got wiped out in less than five minutes..."

"It seems we overestimated them."

"More like we underestimated the seniors. I didn’t expect Storm and Lolita to cause so much trouble."

Although no one mentioned it, Ann, who was one of the staff members now, knew exactly what the masked ones were doing. They were merely thinning the crowd. In the end, they’d select one opponent each to ’check’ the newbie’s strengths.

Ann knew it because she was once a student at the academy as well. The only difference was that she was one of those sprawled on the ground.

Meanwhile, a few of the instructors began leaving the room since nothing special was going to happen... just like every other batch before them.

"Aren’t you all giving up too soon?" someone whispered.

"Come on, Instructor Rudra, don’t tell me you expect the newbies to win over veterans?"

"Against Apostles? No chance," Rudra agreed, fixing his raven man bun. "But I wouldn’t say it is going to be as one-sided as you expect it to be."