"Ye Qi?"
The young man asked directly when he noticed Ye Qi walk towards him. Different from the reluctance to communicate that Ye Qi had committed to on the train ride, this young man before Ye Qi was naturally reticent. He could be said to be abrasively uncommunicative.
"Yes, and I'm sorry but you are?"
Before leaving Tarlin, John had reminded Ye Qi to go the extra mile to be nice to the pick-up the headquarters sent, this was because one would have no way of telling who the other person was, he or she might be one of the top officials of the Demon Hunter headquarters—once, there was an Apostle-to-be who was exceptionally rude to his pick-up who turned out to be one of the big-wigs. The result of that needn't to be laid out, the person had not only lost his right to try out for the title of Apostle but also had lost his life as a consequence.
"My name is Noah, in this coming year, I will be one of your instructors, so address me as Sir from now on!" The young man by the name of Noah glanced icily at Ye Qi before adding, "And now Student Ye Qi, get into the car!"
"Yes, sir!"
Ye Qi immediately followed his orders since John did remind him plenty of times to follow the rules. However, the thought of having to spend one whole year with such an unfeeling instructor did rub Ye Qi the wrong way. In comparison, Ye Qi preferred to deal with shady characters like Old Walter and John because at least they were interesting.
The Apostle trial was more than a simple test where you only needed to pass the trial to get the official verification. That was merely the first step! After passing the test, every new Apostle had to spend one whole year at the headquarters to hone his or her craft, by attending classes and lectures by famed Apostle Instructors—it was no different from an academy. In other words, the Demon Hunter headquarters was also a school for Apostles to learn to control their unbridled power, which was why most Apostles couldn't wait to register at the headquarters right after they received their Awakenings. If not for the opportunity to greatly improve one's skill, the normally unruly bunch of Demon Hunters wouldn't have bothered to submit themselves to something as pedestrian and as rules-heavy like a test and classes!
The "car" Noah mentioned was in actuality a horse carriage. Other than its perfect weather and picturesque scenery, the main reason Summer Wrinkle was so popular among holiday-goers was because of its time capsule nature—it was a place where time seemed to have stopped.
One would not chance upon an automobile here. Even though there were street lights, they had the appearance of classical architecture, there was no colourful billboards but traditional wooden signs. The citizens of Summer Crinkle wore traditional, medieval clothing to accentuate the city's unique atmosphere, furthermore, most citizens of Summer Crinkle were government workers whose day job was to entertain the visitors by going on with their daily life as if they were indeed in the medieval era. It was their occupation to keep up the appearances.
The young Demon Hunter who had not been to Summer Crinkle before was entranced by the exhibition and atmosphere. Looking at the stone carved path, the horse-drawn carriages that filled the streets and the patrols in steel armours making their rounds, the young Demon Hunter had the feeling that he had transmigrated once more. However, he did not let his guard down completely, after all, this was a C+ quest.
The carriage left the city centre and headed towards the city's countryside and the people on the street noticeably decreased.
"Get down!"
Noah who had been silent for so long suddenly said when the carriage reached an empty field. The young Demon Hunter looked out the window and frowned when he saw the quiet surrounding. Regardless, he got out of the carriage obediently, but with his hand over his revolver.
"Good! The fact that you have not let your guard down means that you are qualified to live!" Noah nodded approvingly noticing Ye Qi's hand on his weapon. He continued in his icy demeanour, "Now, attack me!"
"What?"
Even though Ye Qi knew something was up, he was still shocked when he heard Noah's orders.
Danger already crept towards Ye Qi while he was still in shock. A cold glint flashed in Noah's palm and something shot towards Ye Qi's head. Instantly, Ye Qi leaped out of the way and instinctively pulled out his Revolver 500 and started to shoot.
Three rounds of gunfire made the animals in the nearby forest scurry for cover.
However, to Ye Qi's surprise, the bullets seemed to phase through Noah's body. The carriage behind the young man was shattered into pieces but Noah just stood there with a shrug.
"Surprised? You shouldn't be, you're an Apostle, I'm also an Apostle, but I'm simply more powerful than you! Now let me have a taste of your fire control…" Without even turning around to examine the carnage behind him, Noah glanced at Ye Qi and continued tonelessly, "If I'm satisfied with what I see then you can move on to the headquarters to take the test! But, if I'm not satisfied… even though the headquarters told me to turn the unqualified away but that's simply too troublesome, you can just stay here if that happens!"
Ye Qi knew he meant his body was going to stay there forever…
From the murderous intent that glowed in Noah's eyes, Ye Qi knew the other party was serious. If he didn't live up to the expectation, he would be killed.
So this is the true meaning of the Safe Arrival quest? No wonder it is a C+ Quest, the opponent is a freaking Apostle!
Even though he was shocked, Ye Qi was not afraid, if anything, he was excited—Apostle had always been hailed as the true power within Demon Hunters. Even though he was only an Apostle by name, he knew how powerful one was! A battle between Apostles was a battle of spells and magic, and Ye Qi couldn't help but wonder, who would come up on top?
Ye Qi was antsy for an answer!
This didn't mean that Ye Qi acted recklessly though, the memory of his bullets passing through his opponent's body was fresh in his mind—the might of an Apostle was 90 percent dependent on their magic power. Therefore, without knowing the actual extent and even type of Noah's magic power, acting without planning was a suicide move.
Ye Qi fired another shot but this time not to attack but to probe. Just like before, the bullet passed through Noah's body without causing any harm to Noah.
Physical Blur or just an Illusion?
Ye Qi thought to himself.
"That's all? Laughable indeed!"
Noah didn't give Ye Qi any opportunity to take it slow. The rapier in his arm shot out at Ye Qi's throat like the lunge of a viper.