Exam XI

-Clang!

My sword resounded when it came into contact with the boy's sword, who recoiled due to the force of the impact we generated.

Before he recovered completely, my sword rose towards his back, my sword cut a bit of the boy's flesh, who spun in the air, ending up dodging my attack completely.

-Tap.

A step echoed as I approached him from the right swinging my sword, he responded with a quick block that allowed him to save himself from my sword in exchange for balance.

The balance he delivered was not enough to save him because I conjured an ice tempest that pierced his lungs and which I covered from the sight of others with my body.

Blood gushed out of his mouth and his eyes lost the glow that clung to his pupils when I pierced his neck with a thrust of my sword.

I slowly withdrew my sword and put it back in its sheath. Meanwhile, I approached Alan, who had just rejoined Ansiel.

"Looks like more are coming. - Ansiel said as she looked towards the east gate of the camp. - At least about 5."

Five was not a lot to say, but by this time saying that number was already a reference for many people.

I still don't know how many of us were left alive, but it was most likely 20 at most.

"What are we going to do now? - Alan said as he did some stretching. - Most likely only the strongest will be left alive."

Alan was right. Even before we got to this point we had already faced several people who were bordering on or within E-Rank.

"Maybe it's best to fall back and fight in an open space. - I said as I turned toward the south gate. - How about the sunrise tree?"

***

"See anything?" - I said towards Ansiel, who answered me with a feeling of nonconformity - No, I don't see anything, but I feel like something is wrong."

Alan and I nodded as we listened to his words.

It had been about 1 hour since we left the field and to our surprise, we still didn't see any people approaching the field or the tree.

"Maybe we need to get even closer to the sunrise tree." Said Alan, who had already lost most of his patience.

I pondered for a little while in which I considered a few options, but none were viable if we thought about the time we had left and the number of people we calculated would still be alive.

With nothing else to do, I nodded, and at the same time, the three of us climbed down from the snow-covered roof where we were.

As soon as we landed Alan positioned himself in front and led us through the streets lined with houses, which thanks to the sunlight blocked our shadows.

"By the way. - Alan said as he looked through the streets, searching for any sign of life. - What was that technique you used earlier, Ansiel?"

"What business is it of yours, you blind fucker. - Ansiel said with a sly grin. - Damn you! ! I'm not blind!"

"Blind? - I said with uncertainty upon hearing the nickname. Ansiel let out a sound of surprise as she looked at me. - How come you don't know, all the wannabe DawnWinter style disciples know."

"Damn quartz-faced don't tell! - Alan said as he paused to cover Ansiel's mouth, who jumped back with a grin. - He's dumb his first light bullet got out of his hands and stuck him in the eye."

A slight smile escaped my lips as I thought of Alan watching his first Light bullet fly into his eye.

"They finally had to use a high-grade potion..."

-Clang!

Before Ansiel finished her words the sound of swords clashing echoed a few feet away from us, raising our guard to the maximum. In an instant, the three of us had unsheathed our swords.

I moved through the streets with Ansiel and Alan behind me, looking intently for the battle. In a few seconds, we found the source of the sound.

Behind the house we were hiding behind four people were fighting, who seemed to be divided into groups of two.

I carefully observed the movements of the dominant group, which consisted of a woman and a man, swinging their swords in perfect coordination.

The man moved quickly, dodging an attack and after that, with two quick movements, he approached one of his opponents.

-Zas.

An accurate blow fell on the head of his enemy, depriving him of reasoning for a few seconds, which were enough for the woman to get rid of the other boy who was attacking her and with an attack, she pierced the heart of the boy who was held by his companion.

In a few moments, she had her sword out and was blocking an attack that was approaching her neck.

By the time the boy tried to attack again the woman's companion was approaching from behind, stretching his sword towards the boy's heart, who only had time to conjure a ball of fire, which flew until it was cut by the woman's sword

The two casually watched the bodies and continued on their way through the streets, which seemed to lead toward the dawn tree.

"'Do you know them? Ansiel said towards Alan, who only shook his head in response.

"'We must go towards the tree. - I said as I stepped forward. - We also have to kill those 2."

A heavy silence fell as we ran after the two and in a matter of time we caught up with them at the start of the small flat ground where I met eyes with the woman, who had long since become aware of my presence.

"At last we meet, Alan DawnWinter, Ansiel Graham, and...."

The woman paused as she looked me in the eyes waiting for me to say introduce myself, which didn't happen as I instead responded by unsheathing my sword.

"Haha~. Well, I'm not as rude as you, so I'll give them the honor of hearing my name." Said the woman while bowing.

"My name is Skelan Lebedeva and this is my-"

-Tzzzzz

Her words stopped as a seemingly unstable and weak lightning bolt traced its way through the air towards her, forcing her to draw her sword in one swift motion.

"Take care of the man."

In my words, the three of us moved toward our targets.

I took a swing at the girl, who responded by taking a step back and a thrust to my stomach, which I blocked with the hilt of my sword.

We both looked at each other for a few seconds, during which time we brought our swords closer to meet her.

Just as they collided I retracted my sword and swung it from the bottom up, but before it could make contact with the leg of the girl named Skelan I had to jump back to dodge an attack.

I slowly moved my gaze to my foot, which was expelling small flecks of blood from a small cut.

"You're quite rude. - Skelan said as he ran his hand down his leg from which blood was emanating. - I give you the honor of talking to me and you respond like this, don't think your pretty face will save you from death."

At the sound of his words, small bullets of dirt gathered around his back and flew towards me.

I took a step forward blocking and dodging some bullets, which only stopped when she ran swiftly towards me.

Just as I entered her attack range a lunge came towards my neck, which I had to dodge with a step to the side, which repressed the attack she was about to make.

Taking the opening left by my attacks she made a quick turn, driving a kick into my side, which made me retreat a few steps.

I swung my sword perpendicularly, preventing her from advancing in my direction, and pushed her back even further by conjuring a few air bullets.

She deftly dodged the bullets and as she dodged them small rocks moved around her sword until they formed something like a shield, which clung tightly together, resulting in a hard rock that moved through the air.

By the time his shield was about to end, my sword approached his left side, towards his arm.

-Craak

The earthen shield moving through the air crackled as it came in contact with my sword, which was stopped by the hardness of the rock, out of the corner of my eye I could see the girl swing in my direction.

I quickly held my sword with my left hand and with my right hand I conjured as fast as I could a bullet of air, which forced the woman to rearrange the course of her attack.

The little opening space that was generated was enough for my hand to stretch towards the woman's wrist, who in a futile attempt to escape took a step backward but by this time a piece of ice joined our hands, limiting any movement.

I quickly dragged my foot on the ground and tensed my entire left arm exerting as much speed as I could on my sword, which rushed towards the woman's neck.

But to my surprise just before my sword pierced her neck the shield suddenly appeared.

The ice that entangled our hands disappeared and the sword in her right hand disappeared and reappeared in her left hand where she swung it at me.

-Clang!

With a vertical and quick movement, she blocked the sword, and at the same time, I kicked the girl in the pit of her stomach, who stepped back generating a little distance between us that I used to try to understand what had happened.

"Pretty amazing isn't it. - Skelan said with a smile as she ran her hand through her long green tea-colored hair. - It cost me quite a bit of money to get this ability and I hadn't had any reason to use it in the entire exam, until now."

She stretched her hand towards the shield and once again it instantly appeared next to me, forcing me to move my sword.

With my sword busy on the shield, Skelan quickly approached from my left, aiming for my ribs.

-Zas.

Just before his sword reached my body a low and clean noise resounded originating from his rib where a swift kick landed.

His body flew a couple of steps due to the force and lack of preparation.

Giving me time to conjure a water bullet that landed on the shield that had stopped moving.

I tightened my grip on my sword and tensed my legs to approach Skelan, who quickly stabilized and responded by swinging his sword.

My blades locked on the blade, which I dodged by ducking and then stretching out my foot in a kick to Skelan's heel, who fell backward to the ground.

A groan of pain escaped his mouth when he saw his foot bent in an unnatural direction.

His eyes rolled all over the place and with tears in his eyes he stretched out his hand on the ground with a desperate look, as if he was looking for something, where his hand passed hundreds of small and medium-sized rocks disappeared and flew in my direction.

I quickly raised my hand and walked towards her while I conjured air to deflect and dodge them, meanwhile an idea of what kind of ability Skelan had passed through my head.

It was clear that it was some kind of teleportation, but it seemed that this one, in particular, could only move things she touched and only at certain meters of distance.

"Shit! - Skelan said when he noticed that there were no stones left around him. - Str!-"

The scream she was about to give was stopped when I planted a kick in her esophagus, depriving her of air.

The sound of Alan or Ansiel's battle reached my ears, reminding me to hurry.

My eyes met Skelan's tear-filled ones, which were nothing like the total indifference I carried as I pointed my sword. That stopped as I heard a voice echo in the distance.

"It is reported that a casualty count of 180 has been reached. You have until the sun bet to reach the required number of survivors."

-Baaaaaaaang!

***

Pd: Just to say that these days I have seen a marathon of videos about grammar on Youtube, hopefully, it will help.

I also wanted to say that I have rewritten the first chaps, it doesn't change anything except some punctuation, but you can give it a read if you want.