New Recruits (A WangXian ff) ✔

5

Wei Ying sighed in relief and made his way over to the next task. Some of his worry was lessened as he discovered he was just past halfway. His jog became a slow walk as he massaged his temples and sides to ease the pain that was constantly creeping back. He glanced again up at Lan Zhan and Lan Xichen and saw they were both impressed and concerned at the same time.

He brushed off their concerns as he focused on his arrival at the next task. It was a rather simple task: climb the rope and ring the bell. His eyes wandered up the rope that was thick and rough, and the bell was around forty feet into the air. His shook his head as his vision wavered from looking up at the bell which began to sway. He looked around for the powder to grip his hands but they hadn't provided any. Brilliant. He placed his bare hands on the rope and got a feel for its grip and size. It was rather thick rope but luckily he could wrap both hands around it; it was coarse and there were many stray threads which would give him rope burn if he wasn't careful.

He took a few deep breaths to calm his body then began to climb. His legs wrapped easily around the rope and he pulled himself up swiftly, one hand at a time. He went at a decent pace knowing that if he slowed down his body wouldn't reach the top. He was halfway up the rope when a piercing pain shot through his calf; he involuntarily let out a groan and one of his hands gripped onto his calf. He was now holding himself up, over twenty feet into the air, with only one one hand and leg, his other half dangling into the air.

Wei Ying scrunched his eyes shut and waited for the pain to subside. But it wasn't. His mind raced with ideas at what could be causing the sudden pain when an idea came to him. Everybody present stared at him with confusion as he began to remove the holster on his calf that was holding a dagger. He couldn't undo it with one hand so he wrapped his right leg tighter around the rope then let go with his hand. He leaned his body back and flipped dangerously upside down to remove the holster and throw it onto the floor. The dagger fell slightly out of the holster on the way down and clanged to the floor.

Immediately, relief came to Wei Ying as the pain began to slow down. He smiled as his leg regained some feeling then pulled himself upright again.

Xichen's face became one of understanding and a small smile was visible as he wrote on his clipboard. Wei Ying returned to the task and continued pulling himself up the rope. He only rang the bell once, so that everyone could hear it but it wasn't too severe for his head. He pulled his sleeves over his hand as he slid down the rope to avoid burns. He leaned his hands on his knees for a moment to recover before moving to the next and final task.

It was a chamber with an assortment of weapons on the walls, some weapons only Wei Ying had used so far. This one was the task designed for him. He entered the four-walled court and explored. There weren't any obstacles or people so he assumed it was a virtual task. He went over to the wall of weapons and chose his range. Everyone was intrigued as to the weapons Wei Ying picked.

He chose a bow and arrows, katana, handgun, an array of knives and a hand grenade. Then, with his body aching and head banging from the concussion, he made his way to the centre of the chamber. As he reached the white cross, the lights turned on and he shielded his eyes from their penetrating rays. The bright colour seeped into the chamber and almost burned the air. Wei Ying tried to think of a way to lessen the lights and an idea came to him. He quickly pulled of his top, careful to not stretch his torso too much, and shredded the clothing to pieces. He walked to all four corners- where the lights were- and covered them with a piece of cloth. Now the lights were a dull orange rather than luminescent yellow.

He prepared himself once more in the centre of the room- with his bandaged and bruised body on show- and the task began. Six figures came at him head on so he pulled out his gun and shot them all down from a distance. As they fell and disappeared he felt something move behind his back so he ducked and pulled out his sword. The katana's blade glowed as if it was on fire and he swiped it across the figure's legs. But the figure jumped to avoid it and Wei Ying rolled backwards to a standing position. The world titled momentarily but righted itself just in time for the figure to attack with his own sword.

Wei Ying hadn't fought with a katana, he only practiced simple movements by himself. As his view recovered his body reacted and swung out again before swiping downwards and slicing the figure's arms. The figure stumbled and Wei Ying drove the katana through its chest, watching it fade and disappear. Several more figures appeared in the rafters above so Wei Ying put his sword back into its shieth and began throwing the variety of knives he had in his belt. They all hit vital organs such as stomach, chest, throat and Wei Ying watched them fall to the ground.

But it wasn't a faceless figure that hit the floor, it was a middle aged woman with jet black hair and fading eyes. She looked sorrowful as she stared right at Wei Ying as the blood seeped from her stomach and onto the floor, creating a pool of sickening crimson. Wei Ying's mind screamed in anger but his body remained stiff and silent. Why was this happening?

A gust of wind rushed past his ear and he swung around to chuck his last knife right in the eye of the advancing figure. He blinked several times as the vision faded and returned to the task at hand. He peered into the dark corner and saw a whole group of figures aiming guns right at him. He held his hands up in fake surrender, causing their weapons to lower, before chucking the hand grenade and diving behind a pillar. The explosion echoed throughout the entire room and even the recruits upstairs covered their ears as the sound vibrated through the air.

At this point Wei Ying couldn't hear anything but the blood rushing through his body. He moved round to the other side of the pillar as he notched an arrow in the steel bow. He scanned the chamber for figures but found none. He knew this was a test for him: whether he would come out if he thought the cost was clear. He remained in his crouching position and knew he had done the right thing as figures slowly emerged from the fake smoke. He pulled the chord- which now held three arrows- right back, and lifted the point right in line with his eye. His hair had fallen into his eyes blocking some of his vision, but he still focused on his targets. A moment of tense silence fell over the room as they waited with bated breaths for him to release the arrows.

He waited until their bodies were facing and open to him before letting his arrows fly. Each one embedded deeply into the figures' chests and they crumbled to the floor dead. The lights went out and the room returned to normal. It was over...

All energy seemed to seep out of his body and he collapsed against the pillar. He was forcing himself to keep his eyes open and tried to ignore the large round of applause the came from upstairs. He took in a breath before pulling himself up. His right arm dropped the bow and it clanged onto the floor. The clanging seemed a hundred times more piercing as it bounced around in Wei Ying's ears. He began to move towards the exit door, limping from his numb calf, but before he could get halfway the world spun violently and his body fell to the floor. The last thing he saw was the discarded bow on the floor and a pair of boots.

Then, the world went black.