"... could be worse."
I couldn't even fathom the awkwardness that would ensue if I was grouped up with Lily or Liam.
It could have been better, though; Irene had known me since we were young, so if I were to act out of character, she would be suspicious.
The following hour seemed to pass by in a moment as I devoured some food in the cafeteria before heading back to my room to change back into a new pair of clothes.
Upon reaching the coliseum entrance, I patiently waited for the unknown teacher standing onstage to speak.
Glancing around the area, I could see cadets' expressions ranging from seriousness to disappointment with their performance earlier to even awkwardness due to having to group up with some unknown students.
After what seemed like an eternity, the teacher finally began.
"Get into your groups and begin discussing. Within 2 minutes, your target monster, alongside its location, will be sent to you. Enter the portal once you are ready to begin.
An earthquake seemed to strike at this moment, causing some other students and me to lose our balance as the ground shook temporarily.
Beside the teacher, the lifeless portal, which resembled a golden arch, powered up, causing its color to change to silver.
After the portal's initial shock died down, the area around me quickly descended into pandemonium as students rushed to find their groups so they could have more time to plan for their upcoming tasks.
However, I remained completely calm under these circumstances. That was because, unlike the other groups, my group had a brain.
Taking out my phone, I checked the group assignment email, and under that, I could see a reply from Irene.
[If you see this, meet at the front, to the right of the portal]
I wasn't sure if my other teammates would notice the reply, but I sure as hell wouldn't be late. Calmly walking through the crowd of students, I recalled the possibilities of the monster my group would face.
The school wouldn't assign anything more dangerous than an E-rank monster, and in addition, this monster's habitat would have to be somewhat close to the academy, as the portal in front of me didn't seem like a powerful one.
There was a forest, a small lake, a mountain, and a plain near the school.
However, before I could continue thinking, I realized that my destination was in sight. To the right of the portal, I could see Irene, who was clearly agitated, tapping her feet up and down, waiting for us.
"Ah, she actually cares about her rank."
Beside Irene was another student holding a bow in his hand. A party usually had two main attackers, a long-range damage dealer, and a tank that could effectively block hits.
With Irene and I being the main attackers and the boy there being an archer, I could deduce that, unsurprisingly, the class with the lowest speed or the tank was missing.
Seeing me approach them, Irene continued frantically tapping her leg up and down, awaiting the last member while the archer held out his hand to me.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Zane."
Seeing that he didn't seem scared or mad at my presence, I could tell that he was a noble, so I briefly shook his hand and said.
"Ren."
Within the next 10 seconds, the tank appeared and introduced himself as Deon.
*BZZZ*
On my school phone, a small holographic screen popped out.
[Target: Duskhound / Location: ****** / [Image] ]
I tried recalling Ren's memories to see if he had any information regarding the wolf-like creature, as he had been through at least 8 years of school, but it was to no avail. Ren was through and through a dumbass.
An E-rank creature like this was too unimportant to garner a mention in the book, so I had no clues on it. The only thing I had to go off was a small picture of it that made it resemble a wolf but with jaws that protruded from its mouth and a much bigger stature.
"... a sabertoothed tiger but a wolf?"
Turning around to face the portal and not even bothering to face us, Irene took the lead and commanded us.
"Let's go."
Irene was somewhat known for her bad temperament and arrogance, so none of us bothered to dispute her orders.
Normally, entering a portal would cause dizziness for most students, but since the distance traveled was so low, everyone was relatively fine.
"Everyone... except for me."
Holding in the urge to puke, I attempted to catch up to my teammates, but my condition was evident. Unlike everyone else, this was my first time going through a portal, and it was showing.
Ignoring the ringing sound in my head and the saliva gathering in my mouth, I increased my pace so my teammates were still in sight. At the front of the group, I could see Irene glance behind and scoff.
"... now's not that time to get mad, Ren. You'll get your revenge later. revenge..."
-*-
Panting and inhaling like there was no tomorrow, I finally reached the location, only a few seconds after the rest of my group. While I struggled to stand up straight, everyone else seemed fine as they drank some water without any problems. Of course, this led to me receiving another disapproving glance from Irene.
Holding my urge to humble her, I huddled up with the rest of the group as Irene projected the image of the Duskhound in front of us.
"Tank, you grab it's attention. I'll set the surroundings on fire to trap it as its weakness is heat, and long-range, you support me. Then us 3 will force it into a corner and take it out."
This girl is really trying to piss me off, isn't she? Not even getting a mention is insane; who the hell does she think she is?
Before I could retort or disagree, she turned her back and began running towards the Duskhound. Looking at her disappearing figure, Zane gave me a pat on the back and smiled before jumping onto a nearby tree and nocking an arrow in his bowstring.
"Does this guy think I need his sympathy?"
The Duskhound hadn't noticed our presence yet, so it rested on the ground. Standing only a few meters from the Duskhound's sleeping body, Irene surrounded herself with flames before expanding them to encircle the opening completely.
Within only a minute, Irene had already made a ring of fire that encircled the entire wolf. Looking around in confusion, the Duskhound threw its paw at the fire and immediately shot back in pain.
Looking at the 2-meter-high wall of fire surrounding an area of at least 10 meters, I realized that she had every right to look down on me. I mean, what the hell? Who can do this shit so casually?
Angered, the Duskhound dashed towards Irene, but before it could make contact, the tank, Deon, stepped in with his shield and blocked the wolf's oncoming charge.
"wait... why am I just watching? Aren't I proving her right?"
Inwardly cursing, I grabbed my two daggers, jumped onto the tree Zane was aiming from, and used the height to jump over the firewalls.
Within the ring of fire, there were no places to hide as the opening was devoid of any trees; however, why would I need to hide when I had my teammates as bait?
Snapping me out of my thoughts, an arrow, only a few meters away from me, soared above the walls of flames and flew through the sky straight at the Duskhound.
Distracted by Irene's flame-powered attacks, the Duskhound was unprepared for another attack, so the arrow lodged itself within the wolf's right paw.
*SHRIEK*
Angered by the pain in its paw, the wolf began attacking with its arms and legs indiscriminately as it attempted to hit Irene and Deon, even at the cost of burning itself with the flames.
Standing near the flame walls, I calmly observed the fight. I would probably look useless to a spectator as I was watching the fight without helping.
I mean, Irene even started yelling at me, even though she was in the middle of a stressful fight.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"
Aren't you the one who basically told me to do nothing?
In reality, I wasn't just watching but waiting for the perfect moment to strike. I knew my passive worked on monsters through my near-death experience with the mountain tyrant. But, it had taken me 10 minutes to grasp the combat style of a simple stage 1 dummy for the first time, so it would definitely take longer for a monster. And I didn't have time for that.
Since that option was useless, there was really only one other way for me: the first technique, Shadow Serpent.
Looking at the fight ensuing in front of me, I could tell Irene had severely underestimated the Duskhound by assuming its weakness of fire would limit its attack. She hadn't expected the wolf to be so angry that it wouldn't care about the fire.
Zane even had to jump down from his tree and enter the ring as the Duskhound overwhelmed Irene and Deon.
Instead of the wolf being back into a corner, Irene was now being pushed back into her own flames. On the other hand, Deon couldn't provide any support as he had to deal with the wolf's rear legs kicking him.
With the fire to her back and the wolf standing before her, Irene was only a second away from losing. The wolf threw its paw at Irene, and with nowhere to dodge, Irene's only choice was to lower her ring of fire. However, that would mean the wolf could run around, making the exam time much longer and making her rank drop significantly.
Looking at the fiery girl contemplating, I readjusted my grip on the daggers.
"it's time."
Instead of charging toward the wolf like a prince coming in to save its princess, I poked the tip of my daggers into my right and left hands.
Anyone watching would probably think I'm a masochist or maniac.
As blood dripped from the small holes in my hands, I rushed towards the Duskhound, and with its focus completely on Irene and Deon, I stabbed both my daggers right into's body while internally saying, "Soul-Serpent Slash."
If I were to scream that out loud right now, I think the teachers would send me to a mental asylum, for good reason.
Before Irene could decide to close the ring of fire, the wolf's paw abruptly stopped in front of her.
Not missing this chance, Irene immediately enveloped her hands with fire and sent a fireball right at the wolf's mouth.
Immobilized, the wolf could only quiver in fear as a ball of fire flew right at it.
Both Deon and Zane didn't miss the opening either as multiple arrows flew at the Duskhound, and the sound of a shield banging against the wolf's legs could be heard.
Hit directly by the arrows and its most dangerous weakness, fire, the Duskhound dropped to the ground, and its body remained lifeless.
The ring of fire disappeared as Irene almost fell to the ground, only regaining her balance with the help of a nearby tree. She must have used a lot of mana and energy to hold up the ring while simultaneously fighting the monster.
*BZZZ*
The sound of multiple phones vibrating could be heard, so I checked my phone.
[Your target has been eliminated. Return to the portal; your exam has been completed.]
Ignoring their phones, Deon and Zane came rushing towards me with words already flying out of their mouths.
"bro... i thought you were doing nothing, forgive me."
"Dagger boy to the rescue!"
However, I completely ignored their compliments and looked right at Irene, savoring her expression filled with anger, embarrassment, resentment, and hostility. Her uniform was partially torn, and her hair was messed up. The prodigy and epitome of talent in the magic world was reduced to such a state while I was completely fine, looking the same as I did an hour ago.
"sweet, sweet revenge."