The forest was filled with the sounds of life.
There were the typical chirping of birds and whatnot, but mingled with them, or rather, drowning them out were the desperate and hurried voices of the examinees, filling the edges of the forests with their urgency.
"There's one there! Ack, they got to it first!"
"Haha! I got it first! Wait... This is just a branch!"
"Wha—Hey! I just stepped on a green one! Neat!"
All around me, people had already started hunting down the flags. Competition was very fierce on the eastern side, where the standardized track examinees' starting lines were. With a minimum point required to have a passing grade, the examinees were rushing forward with all they had to grab any flags that they had seen.
On the western end, however, things were a lot more relaxed, at least compared to the other side. The examinees still gave it their all in searching, but it felt less of a fight for survival and more of a game. For some of them, however, they were still putting it all on the line for those flags.
And that included me and my impromptu flag hunting party.
The trumpet had sounded just moments ago, and I rushed inside as fast as I could.
I didn't waste time giving out my orders, pointing out the two green flags I spotted by the entrance, and then heading deeper inside to handle the rest.
My goals were two-fold:
1. Get enough points to pass as Feyt.
2. Get a ton of points to enter an Honors class as Carine.
And if I was going to fulfill that second objective, I needed to maximize every second efficiently.
As I sprinted forward, my eyes kept open for vines or surface roots that could trip me, all the while scanning for any other flags. I picked one white flag sitting by the base of one of the trees, one by a mossy log in a small clearing, and another one in the middle of the clearing.
The white flags were out in the open, and their white cloth made it stand out that much easier. No wonder it was only worth one point.
But to think I could find three in such close proximity to each other... Were the flags really just focused on the edges, or was there really that many flags packed tightly in the whole forest? If the latter were true, then there surely were more than enough flags for each of us.
This test might not be as hard as I initially assumed. Follow current novels on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝔫𝔢𝔱
I quickly took a look at every possible path before me, seeing if there were any flags visible from here. In a single turn, I had spotted several.
I held the three flags I had gathered. The pole was made of high-quality steel, and the cloth seemed well-made too. Even if this was just a one-time prop for a one-time test, they didn't skimp on quality. Goes to show that this academy really was "Royal".
On that note, I remembered that "cheat sheet" Prince Julient offered me that night, specifically, what I saw on it. The supplies for the practical exam were listed there, and indeed, it seemed like that cheat sheet was the truth. The sheet contained a supply list for the practical exam, things such as steel beams, dyed cloths, ropes, wooden gear, and more. The first two were definitely used to make these flags.
Even though he offered me that cheat sheet as a "test" of my character, it was still the real deal. It made me wonder if I would've had an easier time if I had actually fallen into his trap.
"Lady Carine!" A booming voice caught my ear.
I turned to see Kyro, approaching me, waving a green flag. Clarissa was following closely behind him.
I did blurt out my orders rather abruptly, so it briefly crossed my mind that it might take them a while to look for it. Thankfully, I was underestimating them.
Before long, another duo approached. It was Eveliana, sprinting elegantly to my side with a green flag in her hands, with Phil-man by her side.
"Lady Carine, I found it!"
Perfect timing. Guess they won't drag me down, after all.
I accepted their flags, trying my best to smile to show my appreciation.
I took a look at the flags I held in my hands, their steel poles clinking against each other as I held them loosely. We had two green flags and three white flags.
A grand total of nine points. All that just three minutes into the exam.
A troubling thought entered my mind.
Carine already had nine points...
So how in the world was Feyt still stuck with practically zero?
Granted, it was only three minutes into the exam. But our group had only encountered one white flag so far. We encountered it on top of one of the boulders near the edge of the riverbank.
The worst part was how confident and nonchalant everyone was about that fact! Of course, they didn't know just how much of a breeze I was having it on the other side, so they had nothing to compare themselves to.
"Let's move along! I don't think there are any more flags here!" Attila shouted, far ahead of the group.
I grunted slightly. Maybe joining this group might not be a great idea after all.
I tried to keep my mind off my other self's progress. I had no time to lose focus.
"Good work," I commended the four examinees before me. "Now, next. Our next path will be the one behind me." I kept my arms crossed as I continued. "We're already ahead by nine points, but we're still not sure how others are faring. For all we know, they are already in the dozens, so we mustn't let our guards down."
"Dozens?" Eveliana asked, almost sarcastically. She let out a smooth scoff, shaking her head. "Lady Carine, I believe you're overestimating our peers a little too much."
Her words held merit. In the gilded track, our group was probably the only one that actually decided on an "all for one" methodology in sharing points. As I mentioned before, it was a massive advantage. The chances of another examinee or group of examinees that had accrued more points than us were... slim.
"So you're saying that we can afford to relax... is that right?"
For a moment, Eveliana's smile faltered. She then dipped her head low with a practiced curtsy.
"It would seem that I have spoken too lightly. Forgive me, Lady Carine. I shall keep my eyes open, always."
I scanned my eyes across their faces, mostly to see if they had any more questions. Hopefully not, since we were wasting time just standing here.
Eveliana had already straightened herself, her confident smirk returning.
Kyro stood tall, hands on his hips, ready to charge into action.
Clarissa was listening intently, her bow held firmly in her grip.
While Phil-man... Huh?
That distant look in his eyes... Don't tell me he's daydreaming.
As soon as I met his gaze, his eyes jolted back to awareness. I shook my head. This was not a time to daydream, man.
I cleared my throat firmly. I turned to face the path that I had chosen. I bundled the flags we had gathered so far and carefully placed them in my uniform's blazer's inner pocket. It was curiously deep, so I had no worry about it slipping out unless I was flipped around or something.
I calmly gathered my breath as I prepped another sprint. Then—
Without wasting any more words, I charged forward again. Eyes peeled open for any flags, be they on the ground or in the skies.
I heard their eager footsteps following closely behind me.
As I followed the path, I focused on the other me.
And boy... things were dire.
Eastern side of the forest.
Seven minutes since we crossed the starting line.
The realization that things were going too slow was starting to set in.
A voice rose from the rushing river nearby. “Found anything there?”
“Not yet!” Attila answered, her tone sharp but steady. "Keep searching!"
A groan followed from our group. “Ughhh… how come we haven’t found anything yet?”
Everyone was sluggishly walking, looking up and down trees, peeling open every bush, but no matter how hard they tried, we still only held one white flag to our names.
"Everyone, gather up!" Attila shouted.
One by one, we drifted back to the riverbank, drawn by frustration and the faint hope of good news.
“Alright. If the edge of the forest is dry, we'll have to go deeper. But remember to keep your eyes open! The easy pickings are probably long gone by now."
No one objected. But it was mostly because we were out of options. We fell into formation, Attila at the lead, and we followed her away from the river and deeper into the center of the forest. I reluctantly followed the group, fully knowing that the deal said that I was free to leave at this point. But what was I going to do? If a group this large can't find more than a single flag... what about little ol' me?
In the end, I decided to hang around with them, at least until we get near the center or southern side of the forest. Then, and only then, will I try to make contact with myselves and then transfer at least fifteen points from Carine to Feyt. That was my original plan for this exam, before we were pulled into a group, at least.
But I severely hoped it wouldn't come to that point. I didn't want to compromise any points I had as Carine. It was just a safety net. Considering we would exit through the southern end, we'd eventually meet, right?
As we walked, I closed my eyes again, straining my ears, hoping that I could finally pinpoint the locations of the flags I kept hearing fluttering about. But all of those sounds were drowned out by the sound of the other examinees, running and arguing their way through the forest.
The forest grew thicker the further we pressed. Shafts of light slipped through the leaves. Vines dangled like ropes ready to slap our faces, and the ground swelled with roots and branches.
The light around us went dim for a moment as we passed by a rather thick set of trees and leaves on our path. And we finally broke through—