They looked at each other in silence. No one seemed eager to speak first.
Yet, as Raelis was about to do it, someone beat him to it.
"Name’s Alice," the archer said, pointing to herself. "I use a bow and crossbow. I’m good at hunting large Mana Beasts, and tracking."
Raelis nodded, then went ahead and did the same. "I’m Raelis. I use daggers and Fire magic. I specialize in killing, tracking, and scouting."
"Aha, you’ll be our scout then, huh?" the boy beside Mathieu said. "I should introduce myself as well, right?"
"If you don’t want to, it’s fine," Raelis added. "Just know that the less we know about each other’s skills, the worse our chances of passing this exam."
"Tch... fine." The boy clicked his tongue. "I’m Ajax. I’m a brawler, and I’m very good at fighting."
Right... there’s always that one guy. Raelis rolled his eyes.
He turned his gaze toward Mathieu, who finally spoke up.
"I-I’m Mathieu..." he stammered. "I... I use Mind magic. I can help you interrogate people... n-not that we’ll need it here."
Although this exam seemed innocent at first, the candidates would soon find out there were no consequences for killing each other.
That left only one person: the black-haired girl who was still staring blankly into the distance.
Alice tapped the log beside her, getting the girl’s attention.
"Hey... are you going to continue acting like a brat, or will you introduce yourself?"
The girl slowly turned around, then shrugged.
"I’m Clea," she announced in a soft voice, then returned to staring into nothingness.
Two troublemakers... I’m doomed, Raelis thought and stood up.
"Let’s go into the forest. We need food, and fighting Mana Beasts in such terrain is suicide," he instructed, glancing at each one of his teammates. "Any objections?"
"Just one," Ajax said as he stood and approached Raelis, stopping right in front of him. "We’ll be taking votes on decisions moving forward."
He grinned. "Unless you think you have what it takes to lead us?"
Raelis raised a brow. "I don’t mind the voting, and I won’t try to lead you until the situation calls for it. Just use your common sense and try not to mess each other up on purpose."
From the way Mathieu is acting, he’s likely just going to be a +1 to any decision Ajax makes. Not like it matters though.
Raelis gave Ajax a pat on the shoulder before walking past him.
His team followed along silently, and after nearly an hour, they made it down the mountain.
The forest teemed with life as he could already see animals darting between the trees.
"Alice, can you catch us a couple?" Raelis pointed at the rabbits. "I’ll prepare the fire."
"Mhm..." Alice nodded and drew her bow, swiftly taking aim at the rabbits.
Meanwhile, Raelis gathered sticks and built another bonfire to make cooking easier.
A few minutes later, Alice came back with five rabbits, already skinned.
Raelis hummed in satisfaction as he cooked the food and handed it over to them.
Yet, just as they began eating, a rustling resounded in the bushes ahead.
All of a sudden, a sharp stone was launched at Mathieu, but just as it was about to connect, Raelis threw one of the rabbit bones at the rock, redirecting it and making it miss Mathieu by a hair.
Finally, the one responsible stepped out of the bushes.
It was a human-sized lizard, gripping a crude spear with both claws.
A simple Grade 10 Lizardman.
Yet it seemed like there wasn’t only one, as a monkey jumped out of the bushes, holding multiple rocks.
The monkey, on the other hand, wasn’t a Mana Beast, just a regular animal.
Raelis found it odd, but even so, he picked up one of Alice’s arrowheads and prepared to go kill the Lizardman.
That was when Ajax dashed past him, arriving in front of the Lizardman and throwing a kick straight at its face.
It raised its spear to block, but Ajax’s kick smashed straight through, cleaving the Lizardman in half.
As he was about to do the same to the monkey, Alice shot an arrow in front of his feet, stopping him.
"We don’t need to kill it," Alice said, glaring. "Just take its rocks away and it won’t do us any harm."
Ajax’s brows twitched as he held the monkey up with one hand, a smirk forming on his face.
"Let’s take a vote. Raise your hand if you want the monkey dead."
He raised his own hand, then shot a glare toward Mathieu, who immediately raised his as well.
"I see... Two." Ajax nodded with a slight frown. "Those who want to keep it alive?"
Alice raised her hand, and so did Raelis.
But Clea didn’t raise hers, as she simply continued eating.
"Aha..." Ajax held back a laugh. "A draw, huh? Should we flip a coin? I’ve got one right here—"
Raelis arrived before Ajax in the blink of an eye and snatched the monkey from his grasp.
He took its rocks away, then tossed it onto a nearby branch.
It paused, then swiftly swung off without even a second glance.
"Hey..." Ajax muttered. "Didn’t you just agree to my voting idea?"
"Moving forward, we’re only going to vote on serious matters," Raelis replied flatly, narrowing his eyes. "Because clearly, you lack the common sense I was talking about."
"Haaa?" Ajax’s grin widened as he stepped forward and pulled up his sleeve. "You think you’re special just because you performed well during the exams? Pfft... don’t make me laugh."
He raised his chin, looking down at Raelis as if he were a bug.
"Who do you think you are? Just because we’re on the same team, you think I’m going to stay quiet?" he said, stepping into a combat stance. "How about I fix that attitude of yours—"
"This rabbit tastes a bit odd," Clea mumbled as she stood up and tossed the rabbit meat into the fire.
She took a few steps forward before tripping over a log and losing consciousness.
Soon after, Mathieu fell backward as well.
And of course, so did Ajax as he fell toward Raelis, who stepped aside, letting him fall face-first on the ground.
It seemed like everyone had passed out, except for Alice, who stood there, equally confused.
...What just happened?