Left, right, and front, surrounded by Blood Shadows from three sides, there was only one way Alnea could jump to avoid their attacks. The Blood Shadows, however, were relentless in their pursuit. And they had impeccable teamwork. No matter how he moved, they never broke their formation, and kept attacking him as a unit, not giving him the chance that he was looking for.

In the end, he could only give up on his initial plan, and move towards his right, trying to break the formation of the Blood Shadows. And for a few moments, his move did seem to work. With two of the Blood Shadows being a little distance away from him, he had to deal with only one Blood Shadow at a time. And dodging its attack did not prove to be too difficult. Tilting his head towards his left to avoid a punch to his head, pivoting on right leg to avoid a kick to his waist, and—

Optah’s beard, Alnea cursed, and jumped away, just as the Blood Shadows reassumed their formation. The three were indeed stronger, and more efficient than the Blood Shadows he had dealt with before, giving him no chance to strike them all at once. Should he take one out first, and then deal with the other two?

No, Alnea said to himself, ducking, and rolling on his back to avoid a kick, and pushing on the ground to throw himself in the air to avoid a stomp. Defeating the Blood Shadows in two moves might allow him to break a record, but only if he took them out in one move could he compensate for his performance in other areas. And to take them out in one move…

With a rough plan in his head, Alnea quickly regained his balance, and kept dodging the attacks of the Blood Shadows. At times, he would move away from them, observing their formation. And at times, he would weave his way between the Blood Shadows, trying to destroy their formation. In vain, of course. Still, from how they reacted to him, he recognised the pattern that the Blood Shadows were moving in.

A floating three point formation, with the Blood Shadows having no fixed positions. Depending on the situation, any of them could become the centre or the wings, with two of them boxing him out from both his sides, while the third shadow kept attacking him up front. If he focussed on the shadow in the centre, the wings would take him out. And if focused on any one of the wings, they would just change their formation, letting the Blood Shadow he was facing become the centre of their formation.

Such an ingenious formation… It gave him almost no chance to take them all out in one move. Since that was the case, Alnea decided to create his own chance. Once again, he rolled on the ground to avoid a punch to his chest, before jumping to his right to avoid the Blood Shadow in the centre from stomping on his head, only for the Blood Shadow in the left wing to come at him while he was still in mid air.

Thankfully, before the Blood Shadow could hit him, and destroy his chance of a perfect clearance, he managed to use his sword, still in its sheath, as a leverage, by slamming it on the ground, to twist in mid air, and avoid the attack. He knew that he did not have much time though. The Blood Shadow, which had almost stomped on his head just moments ago, had already taken its position as the right wing, while the other Blood Shadows, the one which was originally in the right wing, had almost taken its position as the left wing.

Now, Alnea said to himself, just as his feet landed back on the ground, forcing all the Oren he had accumulated to wrap around his legs, and propel himself towards his left with more than twice of his original speed, arriving before the right wing of the formation before the Blood Shadows could even react. In the end, he found himself facing the right wing’s side, while the left wing was still taking its position, and the centre was turning towards him to continue its attack. More importantly, from where he stood, all the Blood Shadows were aligned in a line.

Perfect, Alnea thought. He had already used a Martial Style though, so he could only rely on a normal attack. But that did not stop him from unsheathing his sword and thrusting it towards the Blood Shadow in front of him in one clean motion, with all of his strength. He even used the Three Legs Burst Style once again, giving no time to the Blood Shadows to react. While the Blood Shadows were still turning, preparing to resume their formation, one of them had already been stabbed in its chest.

But that was not enough. One Blood Shadow was not enough. So, Alnea kept pushing against the ground, propelling himself forward. Even when his sword slipped into the Blood Shadow all the way to its hilt, with its tip, and more than two thirds of the blade coming out of the Shadow’s back, he still did not stop, and kept pushing. And pushing. And pushing. And—

The Blood Shadow in the centre had not even completely turned yet, when the sword, sticking out of the first Blood Shadow’s back, stabbed into its chest. And in the fraction of a moment, the tip of the sword tore its way out of the Shadow’s back. Along with one tenth of the blade. But that was enough. With another push from Alnea, the entire length of the sword that was sticking out the second Blood Shadow’s back stabbed into the third Blood Shadow’s chest, right where its heart was supposed to be.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

As a construct of Mysteries, the Blood Shadows should not have a heart, or any other organs for that matter. However, stabbing the Blood Shadows where their hearts were supposed to be, should be enough to complete the trial. Probably. Thankfully, his thoughts were proven correct when the Blood Shadows disintegrated into countless tiny fragments of blood red light, which dispersed into the white world, just as the white world dispersed into the darkness.

“Congratulations, Blood Soldier N 06 08499, for passing the third level of the Initial Stage Martial Style Trial.”

“You have cleared the Trial perfectly.”

“Time taken to defeat your opponent: Two hundred and seventy seven seconds.”

“Moves made to defeat your opponent: One.”

“Martial Styles used: One.”

“Records broken: One.”

“Perfect clearance of Trials: Three.”

“Blood Soldier N 06 08499, you have been rewarded with sixty Blood Coins, and a Martial Style Token.”

“Reminder: Martial Style Tokens can be claimed at the reception of the Martial Hall.”

“Do you wish to continue with the Trials, or do you wish to leave the Trial Space?”

“Reminder: Regardless of how many Trials you challenge, you will have to pay ten Blood Coins every time you enter the Initial Stage Trial Space.”

Sheathing his sword, Alnea took deep breaths to calm his heart, racing not only because of how he had been running around the entire duration of the battle, but also because of what the words on the curtain of light represented. Suppressing his excitement, he reached out to Yuri through their bond, and said, “I did it.”

“Finally. You sure took your time. Do you know how long I have been waiting? Are you not afraid of—

“I broke the record!”

“…Why are you getting so excited? You broke a record last time too.”

“I broke the record for the entire city!”

“…You defeated the Blood Shadows in one move?”

“Yes! And I earned a Martial Style Token.”

“…It looks like you beat me once again,” Yuri said, in an indignant tone, almost as if she was blaming him for breaking the record. But the happiness and excitement in her voice revealed her true thoughts.

“What about you? How was your Trial?”

“I took thirteen seconds to complete the Trial. But that was because I restricted myself to dealing with the Blood Shadows in three moves… If I had had not restricted myself, then I might have dealt with them in under ten seconds.”

“I am not doubting you,” Alnea said, laughing at the stubbornness in Yuri’s voice. “Anyways, we both broke a record.”

“…Are you not being a little too smug?”

“Me? Smug? Don’t slander me.”

“Say that after you stop laughing.”

“What’s wrong with laughing? I am just a little happy…”

“…Laugh all you can. We will see who will laugh after the next Trial.”

“Are you finally going to take the Trials seriously?”

“…What do you think I have been doing until now?”

“…Playing?”

“…You sure have grown brave in the past few months.”

“I have always been brave.”

“Is that so? I wonder then, who was the little cry baby that Aunt Ciena was talking about. The one who used to be afraid of dark, and wet—

“Stop digging out my past!”

“Why? Are you afraid? Where did your bravery go now?”

“…Don’t forget that I have seen your memories.”

“And I have seen yours.”

“…Truce?”

“…Truce.”

“…Shall we go back to breaking records then?”

“Fine. Let me see for myself how hard breaking a city wide record is.”

Imagining Yuri’s cute face, pouting at him, and huffing in determination, Alnea could not stop smiling to himself. Silly girl… Shaking his head, he reached out to the Blood Curtain, and chose to start the fourth Trial.

“Defeat four fourth level Initial Stage Blood Shadows.”

“…Perfect clearance conditions: Defeating the Blood Shadows without getting injured.”

“Record one: Defeating the Blood Shadows in twenty three seconds.”

“Record two: Defeating the Blood Shadows in five moves.”

“Record three: Defeating the Blood Shadows without using any Martial Style.”

“Your Trial will begin at the count of sixty.”

“…Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“Zero.”