Chapter 1: Hands x And x Legs
Finally! After days of searching and screening tests, he had finally reached the Hunter's Exam. In all honesty, Heino was surprised he had managed to get this far. Some of the screenings were easy enough. All he had to do was just answer a couple of questions. However, being attacked by "muggers" in an alleyway was a bit extreme. Lucky for him, he was able to hold out long enough for other candidates to wander by and join the fight. "I wonder what dad would say if he knew how I got away from those muggers?", Heino nervously chuckled to himself. He felt a tug on his shirt, and immediately turned around. It took him a while to realize that it was a short man, with a surprisingly green head, who had done the tugging. "Here's your applicant badge. Please, keep it with you at all times", the green-headed man held out a round badge with number 224 written on it. After securing it on his shirt, Heino walked into the crowd of people.
Almost immediately, Heino felt like he didn't belong. The room they were standing in was located inside of a historical palace at the peak of a mountain in the Pannal Republic. It took nearly three days to walk up the mountain from the small city of Yulsa, but Heino had made it just in time. The smartest thing he had done was to follow the candidates that had gotten him out of the alley fight in Yulsa. That was the reason why he didn't belong. All the people in the room looked tough. All of them were brandishing their weapons, stretching their bodies or just sitting in place. The latter were probably the most intimidating ones. Heino took a closer look at his cane, and felt kind of silly. "What kind of person uses a walking cane as a weapon?", he thought about it a bit longer, "Well...what kind of person who can't fight uses a walking cane?" He laughed to himself a bit. "I guess that's what happens for promising my dad I'd become a Hunter."
"Watch out!" The sudden yell caught Heino's attention. He shot around, when he suddenly heard a sharp sound. Metal on metal. Next thing he saw was a knife stuck on the ceiling overhead and a sword's skinny blade stretched out in front of his face. "You should be careful, lad. It seems like tensions are high", a mustached man stood next to him. His skinny sword outstretched in front of Heino, as if blocking his way. On the other side of the blade, about ten feet or so, a woman laid on the floor. Her mouth was wide open as if screaming, and her face distorted in pain, yet no sound came out. Knives were littered around her right hand; she was probably the person who threw the one stuck on the ceiling. That's when Heino noticed a bloody stump where the woman's left leg should've been. Over her, a young man with messy hair and dark sunglasses stood. His right hand held a leg. Her leg, most likely. "You were no fun. Here I thought those knives would be more dangerous. Hell, maybe one of them would've taken my eye or something." The girl's face slowly started to contort in anger. However, before the woman's expression could set, the man grabbed her right hand and pulled it off her wrist. The crowd around them stood in silence. The woman had passed out. After looking around at the other applicants, the man grabbed the woman by her remaining ankle, "Nobody disturb me. I'll be busy with her for a while," he then proceeded to walk away, dragging the mutilated body behind him. He disappeared into the crowd.
Heino stood still for what seemed like hours. In reality, the mustached man had put away his weapon and pulled Heino away from the site of the incident. He sat Heino against the wall, and proceeded to sit next to him. "You better steer clear of that man," the man pointed to where the incident had just happened, "His name is Tsure. Tsure the Render. He's a well-known murderer; known for rendering his victims limbs from their bodies with his bare hands." Heino's mind quickly went back to the horrors that happened to that woman. The man simply stared at him and chuckled. "You might want to get used to this, lad. Plenty of bloodshed is bound to happen throughout the Exam." He proceeded to extend his hand outward. "My name is Aldego," a warm smile decorated his face, "Aldego Monti." Heino forced the prior events to the back of his mind and shook Aldego's hand, "Heino Arkright, from the Cubbo Desert." Aldego had a strong grip; Heino could feel rough calluses on his palm. "The Cubbo Desert, huh? Pannal's cold winds must be murder to you." Just as Heino was about to answer, a booming voice broke into the air. "IT'S TIME TO START!"
A large and muscular man with short red hair stood in the middle of the room. His large arms were crossed in front of him, and his face wore an angry expression. He took a deep breath and then opened his mouth wide, "THE FIRST TEST STARTS NOW!"
