"What happened?" Petra shivered slightly as she felt the gaze of Han Jiwon fall on her.
After they failed to get Ellie to come along with them, they reluctantly returned to Han Jiwon, and as soon as he saw them return without their target, his displeasure was immediately made clear as his beast let its Aura blare out powerfully, effectively suppressing them.
"W-We were trying to convince her to ... but she disagreed. We... we prepared to use force and get her to anyway... however..." She trailed off and averted her gaze as Hand Jiwon frowned.
"But what?" He pressed, his tone deep and gruff.
"T-Then... this person came..." She explained the situation with Osho and how Gale had utterly suppressed all of them with nothing but a look.
When she finished, she risked a glance at Jiwon and quickly looked down. A dark shadow could be seen over his expression, veins bulging across his skin. He looked pissed.
’I see. So it’s like that, huh?’ He thought as his thoughts entered a very dark area.
’I was going to ignore you. You’re just a fly, not worthy of attention after all. But if you’re so insistent on getting in the way, then I will just have to swat you, then.’ Han Jiwon thought with gritted teeth.
In truth, he didn’t care much for the entrance examination. He was already guaranteed to enter the Vermillion College. No, this entire ordeal was just a way for him to finally stake his claim over Eleanor.
’You keep avoiding my grasp, but that just makes me want you more and more. The defiant ones, the ones that think they have the same strength as men, those are the ones I want, and I want her the most. But you’ve evaded me for too long, and I will not allow that distraction to come between us. You are mine.’ He thought darkly before saying.
"Signal the others. Find and separate them. If they decide to hide, resort to any means necessary. Once that is done, I will deal with this Osho person myself." He said and stood up.
Besides him, his beast, a deer-type beast, which was more of a fawn as it was visibly quite young, made a sound and stood up as well, its milky white antlers glinting in the sunlight.
"I get the feeling that i just pissed of someone." Osho said as he and Ellie continued to move through the forest. They’d gotten past the swamp area and were now making their way to the fifth entrance.
On the way, they had killed a few more beasts, bringing their points to 210 and 190 respectively.
Ellie glanced at him.
"You’ve always had good instincts, so I’m inclined to agree with you." She shrugged. The two of them went silent for a moment before Osho asked.
"So... can I ask why those people wanted to ’invite’ you?" Osho asked, and Ellie sighed as she had been anticipating the question.
She lingered for a few seconds before answering.
"You should already know about that Han Jiwon guy, right?" She enquired and Osho nodded. He was vaguely aware that the two of them knew each other, but Ellie never shared any details, and she didn’t seem inclined to talk about it, so he never bothered. He didn’t imagine it’d even become relevant, but here they were.
"Well, he’s the son of another large businessman, but our realities differ widely," She shook her head. "We’re both spoiled to an extent, but mine was a but more healthy. As for him? Well, he’s probably the closest thing you’ll get to a bratty young master in real life. Or within our Citadel at least." Osho’s eyes widened with some understanding.
"Oh, so he’s like that, huh?" He asked and she nodded.
"Self-centered, arrogant, selfish, unruly, self-assured, lecherous, the list goes on," She scoffed. "I don’t particularly care about how other people live their lives. The issue is that he is obsessed with me to an unhealthy degree. He has the mentality that women are below men. Not in the healthy ’man is the protector while woman is the builder’ type of way. No, he sees women as tools and objects for pleasure and procreation, not as people. He is also pretty sadistic, and to him, any woman who doesn’t immediately bow to his will is just a challenge, a prize to be won. The more they resist him, the more he chases after them and eventually makes them his. It’s gross and just... weird. Sadly, I happen to be on his list of ’defiant women’ and he’s been doing everything in his power to get close to me. That invite was just a guise to approach me once more. Heck, I doubt he even cares about this exam as a whole. He most likely has guaranteed entry into Vermillion College, he just sees this as a way to achieve his goals." Despite the unsavory words, she seemed quite calm about it, even though her words were more than enough to warrant a crash out.
"Hm." Osho hummed and rubbed his chin. Ellie glanced at him.
"Oh? I thought you were gonna turn into a rabid, rage-filled monster that’d stop at nothing to destroy this guy that is trying to lay claim on your girlfriend." She said with an impish smile, but Osho just shrugged.
"I mean, even if that’s the case, it’s not like I’ll do ut right away." Ellie blinked. He hadn’t actually denied her words...
She looked into his eyes and paused slightly. He seemed calm. Too calm. Yet his eyes... there was a faint darkness there, it was a bit unnerving. Yet...
"Well, that’s reassuring. And here I was, thinking that you didn’t care." Osho scoffed at her words which made her smile even more.
She practically threw herself on him and said dramatically.
"My hero~. I trust that you will protect me from all the big bad guys and keep me safe." Osho looked at the girl who was almost an adult and shook his head.
"You’re impossible." He said and she chuckled before poking his cheek.
"Gotta keep you on your toes."
’Osho. I see Sam. But she’s in trouble.’ Gale’s voice suddenly broke Osho out of his stupor and his eyes narrowed.
’Explain.’ He requested immediately.
Ellie noticed the change in his demeanor almost instantly and quickly righted herself as she waited for him to explain.
After a second, he said.
"Found Sam, but she’s in a bit of a pickle." He said and Ellie’s eyes narrowed.
Nothing else needed to be said as their light jog changed into a full-on sprint.
’Gale, go ahead. We’ll catch up later.’ He instructed.
’Right!’ The bird affirmed before moving forward faster than most eyes could track.
Sam rolled out of the way and avoided a torrent of green liquid which fizzled and melted the ground and trees it came in contact with.
She couldn’t relax, though, as she jumped as soon as she completed her roll, and a large tail smashed into the ground, sending dirt and rocks flying everywhere.
She allowed the force of the attack wash over her as she was sent flying back, but she flipped to cancel the momentum and landed semi-gracefully.
She was finally able to get a look at her opponent, sweat creasing her brow.
A several-meter-long course beast faced her with an enraged look in its eyes. Its hood was fully extended as it slithered towards her with alarming speed.
’Blackie!’ She yelled through their bond. As soon as she did, several deep cuts appeared on the back of the cobra, making it hiss and twist in pain as it was attacked by some unseen foe.
With it distracted, Sam grabbed a needle from he belt and poured mana into it. Without hesitation, she threw it at the head of the snake, aiming for its eye.
However, it moved its head out of the way at the last moment, causing the needle to get stuck in its hood. The damage virtually nonexistent.
However, there was a string attached to the needle, and as soon as it entered the cobra, she poured Mana through the string.
The cobra suddenly staggered as it suddenly seemed to have trouble raising that part of its body, like the needle weighed a ton.
Students were allowed to bring weapons into the exam with them as long as a certain threshold was reached. After all, Beast Tamers were still expected to be able to defend themselves.
Sam’s choice of weapon was a collection of needles that, once inside an enemy, could have their weight increased massively. Through this, she could inhibit the speed a beast had and allow Blackie to attack it more effectively.
Something that was apparent as Blackie immediately capitalized on the staggering creature by moving through its shadow and running across its body, leaving a long gash in its scales.
It hissed again, but Sam didn’t give it a chance to do anything and sent more needles at it.
It dodged a few, but some still managed to pierce it, and the weight increase started to stack.
Blackie continued to land cut after cut, the wounds on its body starting to accumulate. But just as things were starting to tip in their favor, the cobra suddenly raised its head and an impossible amount of acid was spewed from its fangs and started to rain on the area.
’I can’t block that!’ Sam realized as she immediately tried to retreat, but she was too close to avoid the rain of acid.
However, just as she was about to get hit, a powerful gust of wind suddenly blew all the droplets away, and an instant later, a creature landed in front of her.
As soon as she saw it, Sam let out a relieved sigh.