Line Hunters

11. Grouped

As the contestants were relieved that the time was almost up, the exam would start, and they could get their Line Hunter certification and leave, two boys appeared from the portal a few feet off the ground. The contestants were surprised to see two more people enter, at the very last second at that. They observed and compared the two boys immediately, guessing their strengths and who'd be a competition. The dark-haired boy appeared stronger, but he lacked the calmness of the other.

"We made it!" Triton exclaimed. He turned to Ian, "I was surprised you were able to keep up with me just then."

"Desperate times call for drastic measures," Ian replied, confusing the boy.

"Let me go!"

Ian looked up and saw a young boy—years younger than him—being picked on by taller and older men who had snatched the boy's blue hat.

"Watch it!" one of the men said, shoving the boy when he scratched his hand.

"You should behave better!" the boy scolded.

Ian found the boy's bravery amusing considering his situation. However, the men didn't find it funny and one of them picked the boy up by his collar.

Perhaps it was because Ian was the closest and he was in their viewpoint, the boy looked at Ian and said, "Hey, help me out!"

"But I'll get beat up too, and what good will that do?" Ian replied.

The boy, "..."

Triton stared at Ian in disbelief but also couldn't hold his laughter.

"That's a good point, actually," the boy said. Then, he turned to the men and said in a threatening tone, "I told you to fix your behavior."

Completely disregarding his weak persona, the boy's eyes narrowed and he punched the one holding him in the face, smashing him against the wall behind them, then three more bodies hit the wall in the next second. The commotion drew everyone's attention and stared at the little boy in shock. They had thought nothing of him—barely even noticed him—and didn't expect him to hold so much power and single-handily defeat four men four times his size in just single punches.

"Listen up!" the boy said in a clear, loud voice that carried across the large room. He picked up his hat and placed it on his head. "It looks like there are some misunderstandings here. I don't know where you got this silly belief from or why you're here, but let me clear this up: your actions and behavior determine whether or not you'll be a Line Hunter, now and even in the future. As Line Hunters, you are supposed to inspire hope, trust, and safety in the people, not abuse your powers and do the complete opposite! You protect the weak, not attack them. If I catch you acting foolishly like these four idiots behind me, you will be kicked out of the exam, and depending on what you did, you may be forbidden from ever taking the Line Hunter Exam ever again. And there's one more thing: being a Line Hunter means you may die and you mustn't run away from death when death comes after you—you fight and overcome it and you continue protecting as long as you live. Because all of you are here, it means you're agreeing to it all."

"Are you a Line Hunter?" Ian asked.

"Huh? Yep! I have been a Line Hunter for five years now."

"Five years? You look less than ten!" Triton said.

The boy laughed haughtily. "Never underestimate or assume. If you do, you might end up dead. Now..." he turned to the rest, speaking loudly again, "Welcome to the 16th Line Hunter Exam, where you'll have to successfully complete four rounds before you can become a Line Hunter. I am Hulo. I am not the official guide for the exam, but I am in charge of the introduction and prepping you for the first round. This year, there are 748 contestants competing. Now the fun part—I will divide you into groups of four! Whether you work together or not is up to you. I will call you by group, and when I do, you'll go through this door and stay as a group for the first round."

"How are you choosing this group?" someone asked.

"As how I wish to," Hulo responded. "The first group is..." Hulo glanced at the crowd. "You with the spiky orange hair and you, you'll be with these two boys behind me."

"My name's Haven!" the girl said.

"And I'm Terry," the redhead replied, walking up to the front.

She had orange choppy bangs swept to the right while less to the left, her hair was about waist length and she had a friendly and energetic aura. The other girl, Haven, had straight, brown hair and appeared the same age as them. She didn't seem to be so happy to be partnered with them or to be here at all. The truth was, Haven wasn't so satisfied with her team. She had seen a good amount of strong contestants, but she was only so unfortunate to be stuck with this group. At a glance, the woman named Terry appeared to be the strongest, at least she was a better choice to view as strongest. The boy with dark hair could rival in terms of physical fitness. He seemed as energetic as Terry, but Haven already had a guess of what kind of person he was and saw him weaker because of that. The other boy, Haven wasn't quite sure what to make. She was convinced he was weak, every bit of him screamed 'killable' but Haven also wondered if his gentility was just a disguise and he was actually strong, like the little boy who pretended to be weak but instantly took down four men by himself. Haven snapped out of her inner dialogue and heard the three contestants getting along.

"...Ian and Triton, huh? I think you shocked everyone coming here at the last moment, but I'm also amazed you were able to come through that shifting door in a rush. How did you two do that? It even took me a couple of minutes to get through."

Someone overhearing Terry turned and looked at her with a mix of disappointment and harmless anger.

Liar! You got through it in one try after encouraging me who failed multiple times!