Chapter 361: The Contact

Slowly toward the center, Ned walked. There, the other candidates, or the remaining ones (the male warrior, the mage, and an archer), we're confused as to what was going.

But Ned might have some vague understanding.

"Ghostbloods?" Ned said, more like a whisper after the hooded man behind him wasn't able to hear him, but Ned was almost sure of his words.

The remaining candidates were forced to kneel while they stood behind them with something pointy, like the tip of a spear but thinner and a little bigger than an arrow that was pointed on the back of their neck.

As Ned walked toward the kneeling candidates, he was slowly digesting what was happening on the exam.

At first, Ned thought they were part of an exam, but after one of the hooded men killed the female warrior, Ned was sure that it was sabotage.

But why? Ned asked the question the confused candidates wanted an answer to.

There six of the hooded man, each of them was doing something as though confused. Three hooded men were standing behind each kneeling candidate. Two were checking the dead worm-like beast, and one was behind Ned with a knife pointed at his back.

The stinking smell of both the beasts and human blood was left suspended in the air. There were scattered pieces of rusty weapons and shields, while on both Ned's side he could make out human limbs or the remains of them after the worm-like beast left it to waste.

Each of the six hooded men was wrapped in a black leather cloth from their head to toes, and Ned could hardly saw an inch of their skin. They were professionals as they move carefully not to even show a light of their eyes. They moved slowly, yet careful that if Ned tried to do foolish things, he might be dead before he knows it.

Ned rubbed the side of his shoulder after he wiped the blood under his mouth. The tip of his sleeves was smudged with his blood. But Ned was careful not to attract more attention, he slowly slid his hand inside his leather pouch.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, kid," the hooded man behind Ned said, the voice was flat and suppressed under his hood.

After the tip of his index finger touched the surface of the orb, Ned immediately pulled his hand out of the leather pouch with a slight grin after the orb was hidden inside Kamma's ring.

Ned also assumed that if they were out in the open, they must have found a way to hide their activities against the Record Claims. If by chance, they indeed found a way to disable to Record Claims, then Ned assumed that they were an order higher, if not equal, to the Hunter's Guild Association.

The hooded man kicked Ned behind his knees after they stopped before the kneeling candidates.

Ned looked over his shoulder and threw a glare at the hooded man after he was thrown to kneel. But it was at this moment, that Ned felt nothing about the hooded man. As though it was a dead man, walking high and tall.

"This is all your fault!" The male warrior yelled at Ned.

Ned cocked an eyebrow to the warrior. Looking at his trembling eyes, near to flawless skin, and well-built physique, Ned assumed that he was too young to be a candidate. And that thought came from Ned, whose body was that of a fourteen-year-old kid. Ned held the smile after he heard the hooded man speaking in a voice so low the candidates couldn't even hear them.

The man kicked the candidate warrior behind his back throwing his head on the ground. "Is that him?" he then said. He was the man who was examining the dead worm-like beast. He seemed to be the leader of the group, but Ned couldn't find any distinct differences between them.

"It is him," the man behind Ned said.

Now, Ned was frowning. Their voices, even their voices Ned couldn't make out any differences at all.

The man, which Ned assumed to be their leader walked past the other candidate and stopped beside him. He then bent and reach Ned by the chin. His hand, wasn't soft, as though he got nothing but bones.

He leaned close to Ned, as though scrutinizing him under the dimmed hood of him. Still, Ned couldn't feel anything.

"What's all this?" Ned said calmly.

"Nothing," the hooded man said. "I'm just curious as to how a lowly candidate like you killed a Grade C evolved and enhanced beast. Your existence curious me."

As Ned was listening to the hooded man, he realized something: they moved in unison or simultaneously. They do not move in random. It felt as though they moved like someone was commanding them."

Ned had to plan. He needed to make sure that the other candidate must survive as well as him. But something was off about the hooded men. Ned couldn't gauge their strength. Like something or someone was blocking their real strength.

"I am very curious how in Morakis' tongue you killed the beasts?"

"Why not try it yourself—"

Ned caught a blur arcing him from below. Ned tilted his head to evade the attack, which he did. He then pulled the Krisalix off its scabbard. Yet a force was stopping him from pulling the sword out. Ned looked over his shoulder, the hooded man behind him simply held Ned's hand.

The man before him nodded, he muttered some words but Ned wasn't focusing much on his voice after one of the archers snapped and fought back.

She stood, held the bow then spun along with the string pulled with an arrow already nocked. She then released the bow. Unintended or not, she didn't hit the hooded man. But she took the opportunity to escape. She ran, whether she would make it or not. She ran.

The leader waved his hand freely, letting the archer escape.

The hooded men were calm, unlike the remaining pair of candidates who could barely look each other's eyes. It seemed that they knew it as well. From the calm hooded man to the dead female warrior. They knew they will soon die. They never meant to let them live in the first place.

And so the leader nodded and as soon as he does, one of the hooded men, behind Ned vanished. Ned could barely feel his presence anymore.

Seconds passed, ahead came from above, and rolled beside the pair of candidates. Her eyes were wide open, and Ned noticed tears still flowing off her eyes. Blood was gurgling on her mouth and her neck. Her body was nowhere to be found after the hooded man appeared behind Ned again. They weren't just professional, they were elites among elites. Ned could barely smell blood from the man behind him.

To quenched his confusion, Ned used the Detect skill. The moment he does, his eyes went wide. There was nothing, no life-force was coming from the hooded men. Like they were already dead, but even the dead would ooze a smell no matter how they hide it. But for them, there was nothing at all.

Ned was even more surprised after a dagger came flying and hit the ground beside him, canceling him of his Detect skill.

Then a man, taller also wrapped in black leather, appeared behind the leader, or Ned supposed to be the leader.

The moment he landed, all six of the hooded men paused, like they were dolls pulled off of their keys. They simply stopped moving.

"My, my," the man said. "You are a surprise."

Ned couldn't detect any threat from him, but he knew, that once he makes a sudden move, one of them will die.

"Who are you?" Ned said.

"Me?" the man replied.

Ned tilted his head, looking behind the tall man as though saying 'anyone else?'

The tall man's shoulders lurched as though smiling from inside his darkened hood.

"Well, I guess, since you're dying it's okay to tell you who I am," the tall man said and moved closer to the kneeling Ned. He then bent, like the leader before, and reached for his chin and pull it up. "Nice to meet you, candidate, I am the Tailor employed by the First Wing of the Seven Genesys."