22 Recovery

Alexandre finally had to admit it to himself: He was tired. Of course, his body had been profoundly modified by Virus Z, so he could endure far more fatigue and trauma than ordinary people. He'd still been feeling perfectly fine while most of the other candidates had been exhausted. In fact, under normal circumstances, Alexandre only needed about two or three hours of sleep a night.

But he'd recently received heavy wounds from the Hunter-crafted wires that had cut him down to the bone all over his chest and arms. Those wounds had healed very well over the last day, but he'd lost a lot of blood and the healing process had taken a lot out of him. Alexandre wished he could do like the other candidates were doing: find a hotel and get some rest.

But he also knew that would be foolish.

Alexandre had learned enough about the Hunter Exam to know that the final test would be tricky and dangerous, even for him. If someone like Omega was truly willing to give the candidates a full day to rest, then the final exam would be rigid and merciless indeed. Alexandre would need to exert the same military discipline as the Hunters themselves.

Before arriving, Alexandre had already memorized all the publicly available information about Hunter Island—its general geography, mostly. The island was about 1,000 square kilometers in area, the size of a small island nation. It gave the Hunters all the room to carry out whatever experiments and exercises they wanted.

Then, earlier that day when he'd entered the town of Hunter's Paradise, Alexandre had noticed an enormous brick building looming in the north. It had looked somewhat like a school building even from a distance, so Alexandre assumed it was the Hunters' university campus. After eating lunch by himself and taking a very short rest, Alexandre set off toward this building.

***

It turned out that the building wasn't actually part of Hunter's Paradise itself, but was a bit farther to the north, along a paved road that passed through the town. Alexandre's plan required him to go unnoticed, so he stepped off the road once he was out of the sight of anyone in town, then continued his journey through the woods parallel to the road. Because of the season, darkness began to fall in late afternoon, and it was very dark by the time Alexandre had nearly reached the building.

It was at this point that Alexandre's enhanced eyesight caught a glimpse of another figure strolling down the road in the direction of town. It was a young, dark-haired man about Alexandre's own age, wearing a military uniform and a badge with the insignia of the Hunter school.

Alexandre stopped and stared at this young man, planning his next move carefully. He couldn't see or hear anyone else on the road, and the young man's face was illuminated by the glow of a phone that he was staring intently into. It seemed that this student was simply out for an evening stroll by himself.

As the student passed by him, Alexandre simply stepped out onto the road and dealt the student a powerful blow to the head.

The young man crumpled to the ground instantly without making a sound, his phone falling and sliding across the ground for a few moments. Alexandre glanced at the display and was relieved to see that the young man hadn't been calling anyone at the time, so there were no witnesses of any kind.

Alexandre had been considering different ways to infiltrate the Hunter Academy building during his approach. He'd been hoping for an opportunity like this, though it hadn't seemed likely, but it seemed he wouldn't have to bother with any more complicated plans after all. Alexandre dragged the unconscious student into the forest, stripped him, and then pulled on the Hunter uniform. He left the student propped up against a tree, then stepped out into the road again and turned northward again.

***

It wasn't long before the Hunter Academy building came into focus—but what caught Alexandre's immediate attention was a party or event of some kind which seemed to be taking place outside its walls. A crowd of students were talking loudly among themselves and drinking around a crackling bonfire. 'Excellent,' Alexandre thought to himself, and turned toward the crowd.

Suddenly, a hand gripped Alexandre's shoulder and a woman's voice called out, "What were you doing on the road? Students outside the Order Militia are forbidden to leave campus!"