Waking up cold and damp wasn't necessarily on Nere's bucket list when deciding to stay in the exam. She was thankful there were no lingering effects of the drug they used to knock them out. Being the first one up, she took a look around her environment to hopefully get a feel of what her task would be. Though, they were in a completely different place than Xeno and the others. Spotting Gin and Neo still unconscious beside her, she stayed where she was. It was clear Gin didn't hold the same amount of respect or even care for Nere that Xeno did. Fighting side by side with Gin might be an issue if Gin's first thought would be to leave her behind.

        "Hunters!" Jumping at the sudden exclamation from the hidden speakers, Nere began debating who to wake up first. "Welcome to your exam. Your task: capture as many monsters as you can. The rank of the monster you're able to capture will determine the number of points you get. Your eight-hour timer starts now! Good luck!" Nere sighed softly as she pulled herself to her feet.

        I knew I should've left when I had the chance, she thought grimly. In what she could only assume was a cave filled with ominous fog, she moved to the seemingly cold-hearted hunter. Kicking at his leg, she hoped he'd get up without her having to conversate. Listening to him belittle Gin to Xeno's face, she wasn't sure what thoughts he'd have on her and she didn't want to know. "Hey, wake up. We need you to do something about this fog!" Her weak kicks awoke the grumpy hunter.

        "Can't," he mumbled.

        Useless, she muttered in her head before moving on to Gin. She was more than surprised to see he'd gotten up on his own. He was already on the move. The fear of choosing the wrong companion stuck with her so she ran after him. Catching him by his shoulder, she stopped him. "Where are you going? Did you even hear about our task?" Used to not being able to see his expression, Nere stuck with his tone.

        But he just shrugged his shoulders and continued. Scoffing, Nere became aware of just how mad Gin still was at her. So, she turned to her last option. He was finally on his feet but the smug smirk on his face only added to Nere's anxieties. 

        "Sounds like somebody doesn't want to be your friend anymore," he teased before following Gin. Pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance, Nere had no choice but to follow the men to what could be their demise. Traveling in a dramatically spaced single file, Nere stayed in the back with Neo behind Gin.

        The audacity... Gin spent most of his walk with the exam nowhere on his mind. Instead, his teammate. Who is she telling me to quit, to leave Xeno behind? And what; because she doesn't have the balls to win! She can't even begin to imagine what I went through, what we've gone through. Almost losing Xeno... We swore we'd never put the other through that again! So you better be alive.

        "Woah!" Coming to an abrupt stop due to Neo, Gin snapped out of his passive-aggressive thoughts. Neo removed his hand from Gin's torso and peeked in front of them. A mere step further and Gin would've stepped right off a cliff. "That wouldn't have been pretty," the older hunter muttered. Gin stepped back to let Neo provide them with a way down.

        Crouching down and leaving his hand just barely past the edge of the cliff, Gin and Nere watched in awe as ice shot from the palms of his hands in a straight line. Slowly walking up behind him and peeking over the cliff, Nere's eyes widened at the sparkling ice made slide leading to the next floor. Looking up with his same smug smirk, Neo stepped to the side.

        "Ladies first," he said. Unimpressed with his cocky approach, Nere had no problem sliding straight down. Having a bit of a rough landing, she stumbled forward, almost landing face-first in a pond. Gin slid to a safer stop than she did while Neo simply walked down his slide.

        "Jackpot!" Gin exclaims before turning to Neo. "Can you freeze this too?" Raising an eyebrow at his teammates, Neo debated helping them.

        "Why; don't we have to capture the fish?" he asked.

        "Yeah but the fish only give us one point, we should move past this and get the bigger ones," Gin answered. While it sounded like a good plan, Nere once more tried to bring herself into the discussion.

        "But why not take the easy points now?" Neo gave a nod, agreeing with Nere.

        "She has a point," he added. Waiting for him to freeze the pond, Gin and Nere turned to him. "But since I'm the one freezing the pond, I get the points from it."

        "What?" Nere exclaimed while Gin sighed. Neo didn't wait for them to argue and simply moved on. Dipping his hands into the water, more ice formed from his palms before merging with the water. Like a cloak, the ice slowly crawled over the still water until it was just another ice path. 

        "There, captured," he said with another smirk. Nere found herself cringing and fighting off urges to smack the iced hunter every time he made a cocky comment. His confidence was overbearing, suffocating almost. It was a good attribute to have; no one wants to walk into a battle with people scared to wield their weapons. "Come on, there's probably another one." Taking the lead of the group, Neo strolled across his ice to the other side. Gin followed, bits of the ice cracking under his weight. Meanwhile, Nere walked across a lot slower. Even still, she slipped twice and almost fell once.

        "Hurry up!" Gin yelled from the distance. She was no longer able to see them through the fog that seemed to cover most, if not all, of the cave. Once she was back on solid ground, she took off in the direction she watched her teammates disappear in.

        I should've left when I had the goddamn chance! Ugh, why the hell did I stay? The ungrateful brat doesn't even want me here, not to mention our other teammate is a cocky, arrogant, egotistic-

        "Nere, we need your help!" Coming to a stop, Nere realized the mistake she already made. Being in a cave, echoes were bound to happen. In front of her were two different ways to go. "Nere!" Gin's voice was coming from both.

        "Which tunnel did you take, left or right?" she yelled back but she didn't get an answer. This was a decision she had to make herself. Neo might've used his surroundings to pick which tunnel they go through while Gin would've used the simple, 'right must be the right way to go.' So, she went left.