My mom used to tell me stories about Heroes.
The heavy clouds cried down mass amounts of snow, in the cold I could see my own breath, and my teeth started to chatter. And as the light slowly faded and the shattered moon rising, I only knew that it would only get even colder.
She said they always prevailed, even in the darkest of times.
The graduation exam for Signal was really not pulling any punches. They stranded us on the Island of Patch, infested with many low-level Grimm and had already been abandoned long ago, leaving only remnants of small villages and farms that had onced settled here. No civilians and a lot of Grimm walking freely - the perfect place to train Huntsmen.
The test was only to get from one side of the island to the other end. traverse the forest, and meet the instructors at the designated checkpoint, and I still somehow managed to mess up.
Unfortunately for me, I had gotten myself lost. With the cold biting at me, and the light fading, I cling to my red hood, hoping that it would give me comfort. Unaware of where I was going, I managed to end up in a forest clearing, and I was Immediatelt greeted by the ravenous growl of Grimm
Flanking me from all sides were these werewolf-like Grimm, and immediately, Crescent Rose - My scythe - was in my hands, between me and the Grimm, ready for a fight. I look to my ammunition, and found that I had ran out.
Red like roses, fills my head with dreams and finds me. I remember my mom singing that song to me, I don't know what it means - don't really remember the full song either - but it comforts me as the Grimm approach.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The scythe in my hands feels a hundred times lighter, I charge at one of them, and a single slash - taking off one's head completely. I then regained my stance, readying for the next attack.
The shadow-werewolf-demons then growl at me, ignoring all sense of caution and began taking swipes at me with their claws. I dodge the first one's attack, then the next, and the next, and then - I couldn't keep up. A lucky strike from one of the Grimm had managed to knock me a few meters into a tree, where my back was unpleasantly greeted with a hard tree trunk. I stumble to get up, a red aura surrounded my body, and it began to flicker like a bad lightbulb. There was no running away now I knew I had to kill them all. I charged at the Grimm once more.
Again my body felt lighter, the Grimm's movements looked like they've slowed. Easily, I began to attack each one of them, all the slashes I made felt as though I was cutting through air, as if my dull scythe was a hot knife, and their necks butter. I obseved the situation more, and saw that my movements had causes a trail of rose petals. I didn't know what exactly I had done, but I didn't care. One after another, my speed increased, and everytime I chopped one of their heads off, the easier it became.
Soon after, I had decapitated all the heads of the Grimm that surrounded me - a total of fifteen. Red rose petals littered the ground dotting the cold white forest floor, as well as some remains of the Grimm...some bones, and the disgusting black sludge their flesh turns into after they die - Biology class in Signal was really infomative.
Not long after, I made my way through the forest. After a good hour of the cold biting at me, carefully avoiding any paths tha will get me even more lost, and sneaking my way past the surrounding Grimm that inhabit the island, I was lucky enough to get to the test checkpoint.
Greeted with the warm bonfire in the center of the camp and the white tents that surrounded it, I began looking for any other students who got here before me, but found none.
"Ah, so you finally decided to show up," I turned my head to the voice's direction, and saw a man with dark hair, white clothes, and a greatsword strapped on his back, stand before me with a big grin on his face. "Congratulations Ruby, You passed."