While the boy was heckled by his peers, utterly opposite to how she had previously acted when infiltrating the crowd, Nyx marched past the small clusters of people with powerful, purposeful strides.

As she moved, Nyx kept her head down, the shadow of her hood masking her face making it so none of those who took notice of her could see her bitter, somewhat regretful expression. Her staff was no longer used as an aid, thumping the ground in time with her left foot as her other hand snaked its way into a small gap at the front of her cloak, grasping the hilt of one of her concealed daggers.

The confidence in her eyes that had become commonplace, still covered by her blindfold, as well as the masked arrogance that she had moved with earlier was nowhere to be seen.

It had only been for a split second, so quick that she could almost convince herself that it had never happened, but Nyx had felt a cold, terrifying pressure, like that of a predator swooping down upon its prey, land upon her when the aunt and nephew had been talking.

This feeling, one that felt eerily similar to that of her master's yet nowhere near as powerful, caused Nyx's survival instincts to erupt as the hair's on the back of her arms stood on end.

The fleeting sensation, one which had caused her forehead to be drenched in sweat, had left Nyx without any doubt that, even if her identity hadn't been revealed, she had not only attracted the attention of a mighty expert that could completely mask their presence from her acute senses, but that she had become their target.

Even though her rapid, forceful movements drew a lot of curious gazes from those she passed, some revealing thoughtful expressions on where they had seen such a figure before, Nyx no longer cared about blending in.

Carefully watching for any sudden or suspicious movements, Nyx headed to towards the edge of the crowd nearest the river and forest.

Yet, just as she was a few meters away from breaking through, Nyx's footsteps came to a halt before she swiftly turned to the left and started moving towards the town.

However, she soon stopped again as the feeling of danger, for the third time, caused her skin to crawl as the feeling of being trapped started to ripple in her core-like heart.

Releasing a nearly silent, aggrieved hiss as her lips curled into a snarl, Nyx immediately turned and started moving deeper into the crowd, her intuition telling her that either her foe was playing around or, more likely with what she knew, they couldn't act while she was amongst the potential disciples of the Twilight sect.

As she walked to the centre front of the crowd, mixing with those that were waiting to take the test, Nyx's features slackened as they fell into a familiar, emotionless state as her mind and soul prepared for battle.

Carefully analysing her surroundings, noting the silver and grey robed disciples, with their Twilight sect's sigil on their chest, processing those taking, what looked like, a verbal test.

Nyx's features compressed into a frown.

She had purposefully stayed away from this area earlier, mainly because she believed that the sect would have a powerful individual standing guard, so she had only just discovered that there seemed to be something stopping her from listening into the conversations of those taking the exam.

Pushing the seemingly irrelevant discovery to the back of her mind, Nyx's gaze focused on the large, white tent behind the desks and disciples.

Moments later, the flap opened, allowing a young girl with blond hair to skip out merrily. While it had only been a split second, Nyx barely noticed that despite being white, the materials used to make the tent were quite thick and the inside was relatively gloomy compared to outside.

-"If I have to fight, that tent will be the best place to do it." Nyx tilted her head upwards, cursing the bright sun and clear sky, imagining that she was feeling a similar sort of helplessness as those that had faced her in darkness.

After shaking her head wearily, suddenly feeling tired, Nyx stood at the same place for a few minutes as her mind frantically searched for viable options while her eyes continued to scan the crowd, examiners and the forest in the distance in a seemingly endless loop.

However, even though she appeared calm and collected on the outside, the sensation that she was losing control and being toyed with slowly caused the desire to commit indiscriminate slaughter to grow as her essence circulated madly through her body.

Taking a deep, calming breath, knowing that it was those urges and impulses that had caused her so many troubles, and near death experiences, in the past, Nyx's foot moved towards the side as she had decided to try and escape the crowd nearest the Twilight sect members, forcing her opponent out into the open and giving her a better indication of what she was dealing with.

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However, just as her foot moved, Nyx's blood seemed to run cold as her body shivered violently as if she had been dropped into the depths of a river covered in ice.

Turning so fast that those around her only saw a flicker of black, her cloak billowing outwards and revealing the mismatched, leather armour and weapons underneath, Nyx's blindfolded eyes locked onto a tall, slender woman, wearing an unadorned white robe.

Initially, as she had been turning, Nyx had tried to display a look of confusion or innocence. Yet, the moment she locked eyes with her foe, even though she was wearing a blindfold, her face became emotionless as all thoughts excluding her desire to survive fled.

As if arranged beforehand, the pair froze in place as they watched the other intently.

While a few noticed Nyx's rapid movement and the strange stillness that occurred after, they didn't think much of it until a growing sense of unease emerged in their hearts.

Slowly, though it only took a minute or so, this feeling intensified and spread outwards, resulting in ample space being created around Nyx and the white-robed woman as people retreated from the unnerving, mysterious pressure that had suddenly descended upon them.

In Nyx's mind, the surrounding world had dimmed to a quiet, unnoticeable grey as she focused solely on the curvy woman, who had her arms folded across her chest as she stared back with her haunting, orangey brown eyes.

After what felt like an eternity for Nyx, her body slightly tilted to one side, her muscles, enhanced by the dark essence coursing through her body, ready to explode with power, only to hesitate as the white-robed woman easily matched the movements, a twitch of a smile on her seemingly smug face.

Instinct and intuition screamed at Nyx that not only wouldn't she be able to beat the woman in an even fight, that she would be run down before reaching the town or forest if she tried to escape.

Not only that, Nyx had the unnerving feeling that, if she were to attempt either, that she would be falling into the woman's palm.

The pair froze again, the warm summer's breeze now carrying a strange chill as more and more spectators turned and took notice of the strange event.

During the tense standoff, Nyx's aura, though she still tried to repress it as much as possible, wanting to use its sudden appearance as a trump card, started to seep from her body as her attention flickered to the crowd watching nearby.

A predatory glint flashed in Nyx's eyes, behind the blindfold, as she started searching for someone that looked weak and could elicit sympathy from others.

However, not even a few seconds after her thoughts turned towards taking a hostage, a ball of metal, no bigger than two centimetres, screamed through the air before smashing into the dirt a few feet in front of her.

The metal ball had been so fast and powerful, and due to the majority of Nyx's attention having been locked onto the woman in front of her, that she didn't even startle at the sudden development. Yet, while it appeared that she was unfazed, Nyx's heart was beating furiously and her eyes had become as big as saucers as she inhaled a sharp breath.

Nearby, the crowd had jumped back and released surprised shouts or screams as the impact. Yet, Nyx noticed out of the corner of her eye, still unwilling to remove her gaze from the woman, that the Twilight disciples were smiling, some even having proud, somewhat arrogant expressions on their faces.

After seeing this, Nyx's mind jumped to the conclusion that the projectile originated from someone in the Twilight sect.

The move, seemingly a warning as if they had realised her intent, caused Nyx's heart to lurch.

While she believed that the action indicated that they would not act unless the bystanders were in danger, it also hinted that they might not come to Nyx's aid if she were attacked as the woman had clearly released bloodlust and killing intent towards Nyx earlier.

Taking a deep breath, Nyx forced her body, which instinctively wanted to remain frozen in front of the predatory gaze of the woman, to relax as she straightened her posture. She had come to the conclusion that she could not escape, beat the woman in a fight with the current conditions, nor use those around her to her advantage.

Spinning the staff in her hand a few rotations before clasping it under her arm, which had been slightly angled towards the woman in an aggressive stance, Nyx's head tilted to the side in a seemingly cute manner as she thought about her options once more.

This neutral, uncaring stance, while far from how Nyx was currently feeling, unsettled the woman as she lowered her arms and slightly leant forward as she squinted her eyes, trying to work out what Nyx was up to.

While there was still a large part of Nyx that wanted to fight her way out, causing as much damage as possible while using the people around her as meatshields, after eight years she was easily able to suppress it.

Releasing an audible, troubled sigh that seemed to dissipate the surrounding tension, Nyx face revealed a taunting smile, before gracefully turning and walking towards one of the nearby desks.

The young woman who had been about to move towards the desk and start her exam, before Nyx had caused the considerable commotion, took a few nervous steps back as Nyx approached, letting her pass.

Just a few feet before the desk, Nyx felt as if she had walked through a thin, transparent film as the sounds of the outside world instantly vanished. Realising that this is why she hadn't been able to listen in to the conversations, yet not able to see any reason or cause of the mysterious barrier, Nyx's steps only faltered for a heartbeat before she continued forward.

Coming to a stop in front of the desk, only now did Nyx glance back towards the woman who had forced her into this course of action.

Locking eyes once again, Nyx was delighted to see that the woman was displaying a disgruntled, somewhat irritated frown on her pretty face, her arms on her hips as if she was about to start throwing a tantrum like a child who had a toy taken away from it.

Reflexively, in a slightly childish manner, Nyx stuck out her tongue before turning to the man who sat on the other side of the desk and revealed a somewhat defeated smile.

She had never intended to join a group or sec, yet couldn't think of any other ways without risk to her life or exposing her identity.

There were also a few benefits, like being able to approach her newly found target easier and maybe find a way to resolve her cultivation issues, but Nyx would honestly have prefered to have made her own way there, where everything was in her control.

However, unexpectedly to Nyx, the first question asked by the man in grey robes left her stumped. Her right eye twitching as one of her greatest, self-imposed weaknesses reared its ugly head.

"Name?"