The next was Bor being matched up with yet another unknown man. When the match started, that man did not move. Maybe Bor looked intimidating, or maybe he was too cautious. Although appearances got nothing to do with fighting, the man might still be a little wary of that tanned, muscular and stern person in front of him.

Whatever the case, one look at the reaction and behavior of that opponent told Bor that his opponent did not have faith in himself. Even that woman in the previous match got more courage and faith in herself compared to him.

He tried to let Bor make a move first. He did not dare to make the first move, because he thought Bor would figure out his weakness at that moment and counter-attack. He would instead let Bor go first, so he would be able to find his openings.

There was silence, where neither party moved. Both stared at each other. Bor was lazy at first and wanted his opponent to come to him. But it looked like the other person definitely did not want to go first. He decided to give him a little encouragement.

‘Hey, I would let you attack me first. I promise I won’t counter-attack during your first strike.’

His opponent looked at him, and did not believe him.

‘Never mind. You make a move first.’

Even with the assurance that he would have the first attack and the upper-hand, the man was still scared. At the rate he was going, even if he managed to win the first prize and had the best skill, he would not be able to go far in the military. He was simply a coward.

Bor, unable to convince him to come forwards and attack first, got a little disappointed and feeling even more lazy now that he had to move first. Of course, he did not show his laziness and disappointment. That would be unprofessional.

So he said, 'Don't regret it.’

There would be no need to play with him for a little while to test his skills and see if he was suitable for the life of a soldier. He was definitely not cut out to be one. Since that was the case, it would be best to finish this match fast to avoid wasting any more time.

The Commander would have agreed with him. Bor ran towards him. His opponent had wanted to look for openings and counter-attack, but discovered he could not. Even if Bor had openings, which most probably he had since he was not even bothering to take that person seriously, he could not see it, let alone make use of it.

Bor surprised him too much. First his speed was too fast for him to catch up, second, while running Bor changed appearance into a werewolf suddenly and that totally shocked him. The transformation speed was so fast the eye could almost not catch it.

First a vampire, now a werewolf. He found himself to be unable to move. Not that Bor did anything to him. Just that he was too stunned to move. Another major weakness. Even though he managed to get himself into the top 16 people, he could not even handle a surprise turn in situations. Just standing there, not moving.

In real battles, he would just get killed if he got lucky. If things turned bad, he would get himself caught by the enemy and tortured to reveal secrets, or worse, become a burden to his teammates. A moment later after Bor made his move, or maybe it should be called an instant later, he appeared right in front of his opponent.

With one smack of his hand Bor threw him up into the air. If you got ready and was in the air, you might be able to control your movements a little bit. But this man, he was thrown up unexpectedly. He lost his bearings and before he could make sense of his situation, Bor jumped up and caught him. Then he descended very fast, but he did not get smashed into the ground.

When they both were at the ground, Bor’s claws were at his neck. It was declared as Bor’s win. That was obvious. In that span of less than 3 seconds, which was the time of the battle, Bor had shown himself capable of killing him 2 times.

First, he could have slammed the person to the ground and kill him. Second, his claws were already at his neck. The man did not even get a chance to use his powers or to fight back.

Maybe in that span of 3 seconds, it would be more than enough chance for any other people. But he wasted it with his hesitation and his fear. Even though it was like this, the spectators were still amazed by the fact that Bor finished off a person in 3 seconds.

That was by far the fastest and most decisive match. Appearances aside, he really had the skill. His appearance was not just an empty image to show the public. A hooded kid was explaining to another hooded kid that the concept of werewolves and vampires were similar, with only minor differences.

‘The difference is the form in which they take. They still prefer night for the same reasons and they still get strong the same ways vampires do. If you would have to say it, you could say a vampire is a superhuman, even without all the abilities he took from others. Werewolves would be advanced half-beasts with human intelligence. Vampires are able to control the end of their victim by the amount of mana they injected, such as being dead, vampires, become a zombie or simply nothing.

But for werewolves, one bite from them and you will change. Although no one could scientifically explain why, it was proven that it was the saliva on the teeth of the werewolves which caused the victim to transform. Meaning, his saliva on any wound you have would convert you, of course unless you are being torn to pieces before you could allow the effect to take place. Another thing, because they are half-beast, they have no problem at all eating their victims or prey raw.’

‘If you get matched up with him, would you be able to defeat him?’ the hooded kid asked the other who just finished explaining the concept of werewolves.

‘Going by what he showed just now, it should not be a problem. I have not seen his real powers yet though, and him fighting seriously. His fight just now was full of openings, and he did not even bother to do anything about it. That was how easy he took that match.’

The next match was Tor and a woman. Initially he was somewhat pissed by the fact that he had to come all the way down to filter out those unworthy of the elite squad. But now he was fine with it. Afterall, there would be no point to keep grumbling.

He would just treat this as another job. He was not very interested in it, yet also not very reluctant to do it. All he needed to do was to finish off his opponent fast so he could go back to his seat.

Before the match started, he apologized to the woman, ‘Sorry. This match would be your loss. You just have to count yourself unlucky.’

He said it bluntly, not caring if he had hurt her feelings. He knew he was blunt, but he did not care.

To him, in fights there were no differences between man and woman, old man or a young girl. There were only winners or losers. It certainly sounded like those beginners who did not really have any fighting experiences trying to act tough and cool, saying things that they did not understand, but this was what he really thought.

He did not say it out, all he did was to follow his own principles and thinking. He never told anyone that thinking of his, but all who knew him could tell.

The woman did not say anything and looked serious. She knew the man in front was not over-confident, not too arrogant, but simply knew like a fact that he would win. Just like how a man would win an ant in a fight, there was no doubt in his eyes that he would win. There was no need to be arrogant, no reason to lie to boost his own confidence. He would simply defeat her.

But she did not like the fact that their powers were so much of a difference. She could sense it. Winning him would require more than a miracle. But she did not like the fact that she would lose to him. He was so strong it was unfair. This was a competition for beginners. What was he doing in here?

When the match started, she immediately attacked. Maybe she knew it was futile, but at least she must try. Even if she lost, she had to put up a fight. What would her friends who came all the way down to support her think and say when they saw her getting thrashed about like a kid?

Her power is her ability to use plants to fight. The trees outside the field started to forcibly pluck themselves from the ground and attacked while the leaves and grass from the field were gathered to form a shield around her. The grass and the leaves which had by now detached from the trees were spinning at high speeds around her, making anything which touched the shield she created suffer damage. Because the shield was spinning, it was very difficult to break it. She was like a human in the center of a mini-hurricane.

The trees moved forwards toward Tor and attacked violently, smashing here and there and creating destruction on the ground as well as preventing Tor from getting nearer. That way, her first line of offence was also her defence. In the event he got through her trees, she would still have the shield which although defending, could at the same time deal out damage. The offence side had a defence capability, and the defence component had an offensive side to it.

People were saying the woman was very powerful and that Tor was overly confident. How was he able to get through the double line of offence and defence? Tor, without much of an expression, looked at the trees coming towards him. One hit from that would mean it was the end of the fight, for most people. Suddenly Tor disappeared and appeared behind the back of the grass and leaves shield. The trees were all the way in front now. He had bypassed the first line of defence.

The woman was shocked. Despite being wrapped up and surrounded by her shield, she could still know what was happening outside, as she was able to see and hear what was going on outside with the trees. Just inject a little mana, and she could see and hear from any part of the plant.

Although she was shocked, she had not yet admitted defeat. The shield seemed to be strong and impenetrable. This was because one of the offensive trees which created destruction in their range had accidentally smashed into the shield but the shield did not suffer any effect. The impact of the collision was very big, and the sound very loud. The surroundings were affected, yet the shield suffered no apparent damage.

When Tor appeared behind her, although she did not know how he managed to move that fast and was taken aback, she told herself she still got her shield and started ordering the other trees to attack. But before she could finish giving instructions, Tor with his bare hands and fingers extended and with a huge force rammed into the shield and created a hole. He did not curl his fingers into a fist, with his fingers extended he rammed through the leaves and the grass as if they were water. His hand went inside and dragged his stunned opponent out.

Then with one hand grabbing her shoulder and the other her head, he revealed the side of her neck, and showing 2 long canine teeth, bit into her neck. The crowd gasped. Tor let go of the woman, and she hurriedly jump away, looking at him and feeling the bite. Of course you would not like it if a man just grabbed you and bit your neck all of a sudden. There was also another thing.

Tor, knowing what she was thinking, reassured her, 'Don't worry. I didn't inject any mana.'

The woman breathed a sigh of relief and went back.

‘I admit defeat.’

At the moment the referee announced Tor’s win.

Xue asked Xel, ‘Is he a vampire? If so how can he appear during the day? If he bit the woman, won’t she become a vampire too?’

‘You are asking too many questions at one go. Be patient,’ Xel said.

He continued, ‘Vampires are stronger at night because the moonlight gives more power to their mana, that’s why it is natural to walk around when you are strong. The sunlight makes vampires weaker and thus they do not like the day, but it does not mean they cannot go out in the day. It only means they are not in their best form.’

He also said that when vampires bit humans, the reason why they became zombies or other vampires was because of the mana they transferred to the victims.

‘If more mana is given, they would become vampires with enough power. If little mana is given, they would just be zombies. But if no mana is given, they would not be affected.’

Kelf was then telling Lin, ‘He is strong, being able to win like that in the day without any effort, especially when he is weakened by the sun.’

He also warned Lin to be careful, ‘Because vampires become strong by biting people and extracting part of the physical attributes of human beings, such as agility or strength or intelligence, to make up for the lack of full-moon nights and for fights during the day. They depended on the moon to be able to be at their best, but full moons do not appear every night. To make up for that, they are able to take the physical attributes of people, so that during moonless nights and the day time they are able to fight properly.

With the gradual change from moonless nights to full moon, they get stronger, and vice versa when the full moon slowly disappears. Of course, although they can, they don’t just grab any human like that and take away their strength or other abilities, because there is a limit to how much they can take in, in proportion to their mana capacity. That is the reason why we do not see vampires going around in a rampage and biting every human they can see.’

Xel continued to say, ‘That man seems to be no ordinary vampire. So far he only used the attributes he got from others, and still not used a single of his vampire powers yet. Although in a way, those physical attributes were similar to secondary powers and their vampire powers were similar to primary powers.’

Xel stepped on to the field looking very confused, as if he had no idea where he was. He scratched his head and looked around as if he was lost in a maze.

His opponent also stepped into the fighting area. Although he looked quite full of himself, he was much better looking than the first guy. He might be the type where he used to be quite popular with girls during his teenage years due to his relative superior powers. Always enjoying popularity and being in the center of attraction, it would be no wonder he was a bit proud and might be over-confident of himself. Perhaps he had not faced any defeat yet.

Facing each other, he told Xel, ‘I won’t be an idiot like the previous guy allowing himself stupid mistakes. I will make it short. Come at me with your best.’

Such confidence. After seeing the match Xue had, the spectators had no doubt this confident guy below at the field would be very good. Afterall, if he could not match Xue’s skills in the previous match, he would not dare to show off like that.

With the combination of Xue’s results and his confidence, the crowd had effectively been brought to believe the match was Xel’s loss. He might be Xue’s partner, but from the looks of it the reason why he made it to this stage was only because of his partner.

In addition to that, Xel gave that idiotic face he always showed to others and said, ‘But I only know simple skills. Please don’t scare me so much with your brimming confidence and your undeniable skill.’

His opponent spitted on the ground and asked, ‘Then how did you manage to get past the first 2 rounds?’

‘I think I got lucky.’

The officer informed Narf again, ‘This man was the partner of the girl who fought just now. Despite the way he looked, he might be a potential winner. I believe him to be better than the girl.’

The referee announced the fight. Immediately Xel’s opponent released his powers and transformed. He had wings. That would make it hard for him to get hit, because he had the choice of moving on the ground or up in the air, but the opponent had only the choice of moving on the ground. He could attack from above, and as long as he chose to stay in the air, his opponent would not have that much of a chance to bring him down.

He flew up and rushed towards Xel. The moment the referee announced the fight he went for Xel, not leaving any chance for Xel to make use of any openings he might had. He would not allow himself to talk trash and in the end get defeated.

Xel hurriedly formed a bow and arrow and shot it out at random, but from the way it looked he really was lousy with his weapon. It looked so ridiculous that even a kid could hold better than him. At least the arrow would be pointed in the general direction of the target. But his arrow totally missed, it went in the opposite direction and away from the target instead of towards it.

There was laughter from the crowd. Of course the arrow missed and Xel had to jump away and rolled on the ground just as his flying opponent hit the spot which he was standing on a moment ago. The impact was quite great, and a hole of a significant size had appeared on the once flat ground.

On the seats above the field, Kelf noted to Lin, ‘Be aware of that guy below. He is not what he made himself to look like. He is much more than an idiot rolling on the floor who got so much luck he got past all the other competitors to be the last 16 players. Although I am not very good, I am confident that an idiot who shoot arrows in the wrong direction would not be able to steal the ice from me. Also, the flying man, he had already lost the moment he got matched up with Xel.’

‘Aren’t you quite good yourself? Why did you say you are not that good? No matter how I looked, it did not seem like he got our ice through skill.’

‘You are letting appearances deceive you again. In a way, you are similar to the guy below, getting played like how Xel wanted it. Look at the way he holds his bow. An amateur does not hold a bow like he did, which fingers’ positions allow him to shoot the most powerful arrow with the least strength, therefore giving higher accuracy as less concentration is to be put on strength.

You need a lot of practice to hold the bow in that manner and still move about in ease, and more practice to even use it rather than just holding it. The way his fingers are placed, it is as if he usually shoots more than one arrow at a time, all at different directions. Can’t you see it? The way he places his 5 fingers, each of them is able to shoot out an arrow in a different direction, all at one time. To put it simply, he can at least take down 5 targets with one shot. That arrow which he ‘missed’ - that, was an accurate arrow. He did not shoot off-target, he simply did not aim at his opponent.

A professional, no matter how hard he tries to hide, will always be found out through the little actions he did that had already been memorized by his body. Some habits can be corrected, but habits such as these which the person needs and often used will be kept. He can try to act like an idiot, but he cannot hold the bow any other way from what his body had learnt, otherwise it would seem very unnatural.’

Every time Xel fell he hurriedly got up from lying down to on fours to standing. It was almost he was escaping from that man instead of fighting. The hits usually almost landed on him, but could never get to him. Xel’s opponent was getting more and more frustrated.

'Don’t you know how to fight instead of running around?’

Just as he asked that, Xel hurriedly formed another arrow to his bow, with his face full of concentration he aimed but at the last moment he lost the grip on the arrow and this time although it went in the general direction of the target, it still missed horribly.

There was laughter. He was becoming a joke. Xue was covering her face with one hand, and through the gaps between her fingers she looked at the fight, yet at the same time was feeling so embarrassed that she felt like digging a hole and hide herself.

This was the man who everyone knew was her partner, and he was right below making a fool of himself. All the coolness she had just now was effectively being wiped away and replaced by a feeling of such embarrassment she could almost not take it any longer.

Lin, who was always keeping an eye on her, saw the girl hugging her doll tightly and with one hand on her very red face. Lin did not know whether to feel amused at her childish actions or be annoyed. That girl just caught her attention so much she could not help but keep noticing her.

The man laughed and said, ‘You are an insult to those who join the competition. I cannot imagine what the others who could not make it to this last round would think when they know that you, a useless person had managed to get past to this last round. You depended on your female partner, didn’t you? You are just useless and a disgrace to all the men!’

He flew at a very fast speed towards Xel, from the air to the ground. Xel stood on the ground as if frozen and unable to do anything, just looking at him with a shocked face. Then the arrow from the sky which Xel had misfired came flying down and hit him hard, crashing him onto the ground such that he couldn’t move anymore.

Narf narrowed his eyes. The arrow did not pierce through the body, but instead hit the man and pinned him to the ground. That would mean that he had concentrated a wide area of mana at the tip of the arrowhead, and therefore the area of impact was a large surface area instead of a point.

Not only that, Narf felt a sense of familiarity when he saw Xel. It was as if memory was calling him to dig out whatever he knew about him. But that piece of information remained elusive to him.

Xel let out a sigh of relief as the referee declared his win. His opponent was already knocked out cold. As Xel went back, the stunned spectators looked at him with their mouth wide-opened.

‘Amazing luck.’

Some were disgusted by his luck, some were just in awe of that awesome co-incidence. At their seat, Xue asked him if he really needed to act like an idiot.

Xel answered, ‘Of course!’

Xue stood opposite her opponent, facing him. The place where they were standing on was just an empty field. A few meters in front of her, the man who was Xue's opponent was on the brink of laughter. He could not contain his joy of having matched up against a girl. What good luck he had.

From his appearance, he looked tall, taller than an average man, and his body was muscular. But he was not very good-looking. He just looked like some criminal on the streets who preyed on the weak. Xue did not like him the moment she saw him.

He stared at her, and from the looks of his face it was almost as if he was fantasizing about Xue. No, he definitely was thinking dirty thoughts about Xue in his own mind. Xue glared at him with an expression of disgust.

'Dear girl, you are not supposed to do that. You are a girl. Act like one,' Xel said from his seat.

Of course, no one could hear him. The whole stadium was watching. They were interested to see how this young girl could fight against this man. His pair of eyes was looking up and down her body, capturing every single detail he could, and maybe adding a bit more in his mind.

Xue was not the prettiest girl around, but she certainly was sweet, and maybe a bit cute. Of course, not being the prettiest girl around did not mean she was not pretty. She did have some good looks.

The referee noticed it and decided he better start the match fast, because the girl was getting more and more angry. She did not even bother to hide it. Her glare at the man clearly showed that she wanted to beat the man half to death the moment the match started. If he did not start the match soon enough, if given the chance, she might do more than just beat him half to death. Not only him, everyone on the stadium saw how both of them acted. That man was just a pest.

The referee started the match. But both did not jump at each other.

Her opponent laughed and asked, 'Do you want to give up? I don't want people to say I bully a helpless girl.'

That voice of his made her even more pissed. Right there, in front of everyone, he had insulted her. Just a bit more. Just bear with it a bit more. That was what Xue thought.

When the fight began she would make sure he was the one humiliated with no mercy in front of everyone. For some reason, Xue was really pretty good at insulting and humiliating people. So good Xel sometimes had to remind her to correct her habit now that she was a teacher.

Although she had toned down and was mindful of her actions in front of her students, she had no problem going back to her old self. That man was finished. Xue already made up her mind that that man would suffer his worst humiliation and insult in all of his life.

Xue forced herself a smile which was not very compatible with her very fierce glare and said, 'No thanks. Giving up my fight when I am lucky enough to fight a brainless worm like you would make me worse than a retard.'

The crowd for a moment was stunned.

'What did she say?' someone asked.

They had not expected that sweet girl down at the arena to say such a thing. It was unexpected, but understandable. Which girl would like to be treated that way she was treated below?

The man, upon being slightly verbally insulted, narrowed his eyes, and said, 'Then I won't go easy on you. Don't regret it.'

He changed form. He became even bigger, and more muscular. He towered over Xue and was at least 3 times her height now. Even among girls, Xue was still on the shorter side. Xue looked up at him without a change in expression.

She pointed up at his face, 'Your face will be under my feet.'

The crowd really did not know how to react this time. They just stared at her, speechless. The man, who just now was still humiliating Xue, now was furious with anger because Xue simply did not view him as a threat. She had treated him as rubbish.

‘You are worse than rubbish.’

That was the limit for him. Just when he thought the girl who did not know any better treated him as rubbish, she told him he was worse than rubbish. He did not stand there anymore. He charged at her. But Xue did not panic. With her finger on her mouth and looking down, she looked like she was thinking about something.

She was deciding on whether to take out her weapon. Just as the man threw a punch at her face, Xue had decided to not use her weapon for now. She would test the guy first and determine if there was a need.

Confident of herself, Xue did not really jump away. All she did was side-stepped when the punch came down, her finger still on her mouth and still looking down. Then she brushed her hand at the side of her head as if there was a fly flying around.

‘Hey hey, Xue, I did not remember teaching you to make a fool out of others you don’t like. Can’t you remain lower profile for just a bit more?’ Xel was thinking to himself.

Lin was looking intently at Xue. Below was the childish teenage girl who played dolls, making a fool out of the man. Although she hated so admit it, Xue was good at putting down people and hurting their ego and pride.

Kelf asked, ‘Why are you so mindful about her?’

‘Who says I am?’

Lin, for a reason she did not know, was very mindful about how Xue acted. Maybe they were of the same age, or maybe they were too alike each other. A teenage girl following a man running around all over the place, and both of them had gotten their powers and used it quite well at a young age.

The punch had missed Xue and had hit the ground. The moment the fist touched the ground, Xue rushed towards him bare-handed. Colors of blue started forming around her fist. She jumped up to his hand and ran the length of his arm all the way to his shoulders.

Once she reached the shoulders she jumped up and with her fist of blue mana, slammed it down on his head. Then she stepped on the top of his head and jumped down, doing a somersault on the way.

They were now back-facing each other. Purposely acting cool after hitting the man, she guessed by now the man’s ego was more or less shattered. She, a girl, even stepped on his head. She had already knew the man was somewhat a sexist. So, according to him, a teenage girl stepping on his head would not be very healthy to his pride.

Everything came to a stop.

The officer at the station told Narf, ‘That girl, she was with another man. They were the last to set off, yet they came back at a seemingly leisure pace after getting through all the opponents. Although their timing for the second round was not very outstanding, they certainly looked as if they could do much better.’

Narf heard the words, but said nothing. He continued to watch the girl. Certainly, the girl still did not use all of her powers. But even if she did use, how good was she?

Now Xue and her opponent faced each other but had taken each other’s place at the start of the fight. The man was stunned and looked at her. Xue looked at him with a bored expression. She yawned so hard until tears came out of her eyes. After she wiped away the tears she pointed at him again, with another hand on her hips, and indicated with her index finger to come at her again.

In his mind, he thought, 'Damn girl, you think you got lucky? I will make you pay for the humiliation later.’

He charged at her again, saying, ‘I won’t lose to a small girl like you!’

But Xue was looking up at the sky admiring the clouds. The spectators were having different opinions about the girl. Some thought she was overestimating herself, others thought she was too arrogant. There were also those who were amused and the rest might thought she was simply daring.

To the women and girls watching, she was almost like an idol. She was the one who was showing to the others that girls were not to be treated with contempt or as objects for men’s own pleasure.

The man ran, but never reached her. Just as he was about to reach her, he suddenly collapsed and fell flat to the ground. The hit on his head was damaging to him. With his head near her feet, Xue went to him and stepped on his face.

Repeatedly stepping on his face for every word she said, she insulted him, ‘Who. Do. You. Think. You. Are? Don’t. Fantasize. And. Insult. A. Person. Way. Above. Your. Level! You piece of shit!’

As she said out her last sentence she gave the man a hard kick on his face. It was surprising that his teeth did not even drop out. With that, she turned around and walked away, with the shocked audience looking at her.

Really, her appearance and her character really did not match. There was no need to announce who won the match. It was obvious. She went back to Xel, who passed the doll back to her.

‘I thought I told you countless times not to be such a high profile person?’

Xel was not really angry. He was rather amused. The spectators were now staring at the 2 of them.

Kelf said, ‘Lin, now you know they did not get through the first 2 rounds by luck.’

Lin had nothing to say. She had grossly underestimated Xue. But she refused to believe for now that man was skilled. His appearance was simply, not the look of the strong.

‘Lin, you are going to regret it later if you think that way. You better hope you don’t get matched up with him.’

The next match was Xel with also another unknown person.

All 16 people who made it gathered around at the stadium. The noise level was high, because the excitement was nearing its climax. However, that did not come from the competitors, because they were resting. The excitement and the noise came from the spectators.

Why would a competition to recruit people for the military have spectators? It was a show to let the public know that the military was still strong and to boost their confidence in the abilities of their defence force. Well, from the way it looked, the military certainly did a good job of educating the public.

From when they were young, the military had been educating the people in the might and strength of the army, and that education became part of the people’s belief. Of course, the fact that no country dared to attack them anymore was a concrete proof to support that belief.

The younger generations, those who did not go through the war, had a rather good impression on the current state of military affairs. Even those who went through the war and thought badly of the defence force last time now had a better impression of the organization.

Why? After the change in the Commander and in the higher levels of the military, which occurred literally through brute force and terror, the country had been at peace and prospering. Even crime rates were at an all time low. Nobody argued with the harsh punishments given to criminals. The people had enough of chaos, and if harsh punishments would bring them peace, they would gladly accept it. All they have to do was to not break the law nor try to play around with the law.

The Commander Narf went to speak to the competitors. The moment he stepped up to address the crowd, there was silence again. The silence was in such a stark contrast compared to that deafening noise a few moments ago. So silent that if one was a blind man and he walked into the area, he might not have sensed even a sign of life in that area. It was as if the sound of breathing was something that cannot even be heard of in the presence of the head of the military. Just as he commanded absolute power, as he stood on the stage he commanded absolute silence.

First he congratulated the people for making it to the final stage.

‘Congratulations to all 16 finalists. All of you are the best of all the competitors and has an equal chance to win the top 3 positions. To the top 3 winners, a life of job opportunities and stability awaits you. If any of you made it, I would gladly welcome you into our force. Without saying anything more, I shall let the officer in charge tell you about the rules and we can continue the competition.’

With that he stepped back and went back to his spectator seat. Short speech, unlike the first one. Maybe he had said everything he wanted to say the first time. And as he went away, a sense of relief overcame everyone, although they made no sound. Even from that distance, the man certainly knew how to give out pressure to others.

The officer in charge of the event stepped up again, confirmed with them again the purpose of this competition and explained the rules of the last event.

‘As you all know, the purpose of this competition is to look out for talents who have the potential to go far in the elite squad of the military. Our organization welcomes all people who have talents. The fact you are all here, I assume all of you come not only for the money, but to use your talents and contribute to the security and peace of the nation.’

‘What a flowery speech,’ that was what the officer thought to himself.

He knew that the people joined for the money and job security and not for the noble goal of doing their part for the country. How could those who lived in peace understand the concept of contributing to the stability of the nation? But, image again. Image was important. People judge based on what they see, and if a good impression was carved into the minds of the people, it would be beneficial to the military.

He continued to explain, ‘The rules of this last round is simple. The 16 of you would be grouped into pairs, by the method of drawing lots. And in pairs, you would all have to fight each other using a knockout system until the top 3 people emerge. The rules are the same. You can use any method you want, but not killing or severely injuring your opponents to the extent they cannot recover. If the referee determines the match to be over, there is to be no argument. Is there any question?’

Of course, everyone knew the system of a knockout match was very unfair. What if the potential number 1 and the potential number 2 got put together in the first round? Then the potential number 2 would lose and get knocked out. The number 2 who appeared in the final round would not be the true number 2. That was the unfairness of the game. What everyone hoped now was that they would not get matched up with someone who was of a much higher level than them, so they could improve their chances and the higher level people could eliminate potential threats for them.

The lots were drawn, and the pairings confirmed. Only 2 people stayed behind while the rest went up to the spectator seat. One of the 2 people who were to fight in that first round, she took her doll and gave it to her partner. With a smiling face, he took the doll and went away. Then she turned back to look at the unknown guy whom she never met before.