The acidic stench of the sea serpent became stronger as Gin and Neo approached the end of the tunnel. The slime only seemed to get thicker the further they went. For reasons unknown to Neo, Gin kept looking above them. It worried Neo every time he did, the fear of the slime dripping into one of his eyes becoming overwhelming. "What are you looking at?" The question finally got blurted out, causing the duo to pause at the final step of the tunnel.

        One final time, Gin looked up and pointed. "Glow bugs." Neo's neck snapped back, his eyes scanning over the slime in search of the tiny creatures. He waited for a second, giving the critters a chance to show themselves. Much to his surprise, he caught a glimpse of a gentle and quick glow through the goopy slime.

        "Oh wow- SHIT!" Within seconds of the glow fading back into darkness, a chunk of slime broke from the ceiling and landed directly on Neo's right eye. A string of vulgar phrases left his mouth as he paced back and forth in agony. Frantically, he used every clean surface on his clothes to wipe the slime from his eye. The sensation of the Slima sizzling around his eyeball and burning his eyelashes off made Neo bellow out in pain, another round of curses following. "Water, Gin! Give me some water!" Neo screamed at his partner. Paralyzed by the sound of desperation fueling Neo's demands, it took him a moment to realize they only came into the exam with weapons. Support items weren't a thought in their mind. There was nothing Gin could do to help.

        "I don't have any. Just make some ice!" It wasn't a thought that crossed Neo's mind but he didn't hesitate to act on it. Holding out his left hand, he tried to steady his breath and focus himself. Gin watched, a sense of curiosity overflowing the fear of his friend going blind. Getting the slime in your mouth was guaranteed death. Gin had no clue what could happen if someone got it in their eyes. The possibilities were endless but all equally terrifying.

        "H-Here, rub these between your hands until they're melting and-and dripping." Neo slammed at least four ice cubes into Gin's palm before continuing to try and clear his eye as best as he could.

        "Okay." Gin watched Neo pace up and down the tunnel, using the hand covering his injured eye as a frost cloth. A light blue vapor slipped through the cracks of Neo's fingers against his face, small ice pieces forming on the back of his hand. 

        Should I ask him if he's okay? He doesn't look okay, Gin thought to himself while watching Neo try and keep his breathing steady. A portion of the teen felt guilty. If it weren't for him, Neo never would've looked directly at the dripping Slima. He knew better. Eventually, the tunnel fell silent again, Neo's pacing coming to an end. He sat as comfortable as he could on one knee with his cold hand hovering over his no longer crackling eye socket. "Are you okay?" The words finally slipped out of Gin. A heavy sigh was the response he got, followed by a very passive-aggressive head turn and a blank stare. Nodding his head gently, Gin turned away from him and let the embarrassment settle in. Yeah, I was right, stupid question.

        "We-" A quick grunt left Neo as he picked himself up to his feet. "Need to get moving. Nere can't be left alone." Neo hurried out of the tunnel, leaving a confused and concerned Gin behind. Doubt was turning out to be the one sick feeling he couldn't kick. The teen didn't move for a moment, contemplating whether he should try to participate in the upcoming battle or leave it to Neo. He'd heard terrifying stories of sea serpents. Survivors have told stories of how they escaped from the bellies of the snakes and never lost hope. An injured man came into their village one day claiming to have sighted a sea serpent under the bridge connecting their village to the next. Rumors spread like wildfire. No one else had seen the beast, yet the wounded man insisted he'd been attacked by it. The villagers grew tired of his words since that was all they were. Without proof, he was shunned to recover on his own. Far away was the day the hunter representatives declared the river safe to return to; weeks passed before they deemed the man was a liar. That was one week before Nere's mother died.

        Gin forced his legs into action and sprinted after Neo. At the end of the tunnel, the duo knew they found Nere but not in the way they hoped. Seated in the center of the cavity was a snake no smaller than a megalodon. Its skin shimmered an emerald light beneath its coat of Slima. Paralyzed by the size of the monster, Gin stayed by the entrance and analyzed the creature. The beast stayed in the same spot but thrashed its upper body all around. Its belly slammed onto the ground numerous times, shaking the hunters where they stood. Neo and Gin noticed the strangest thing. It wasn't hissing or screaming in any way to match its seemingly painful battle with itself. Instead, a low, almost inaudible gag sounded from the beast.

        She's in its throat! The thought struck Gin long before he moved to help rescue Nere. Walking in absent-minded would be foolish; Gin needed to think of a plan before trying to save her. Turning to face his partner, he'd realized he was left alone at the entrance of the tunnel. Not too far ahead of Gin, Neo was dashing towards the serpent. As a result of the beasts' violent attempts to get the girl out of its system, the walls surrounding them cracked and tumbled to the ground.

        Neo jerked himself to an abrupt stop at the sound of the rocks. Going into a battle half blind was not on his list of experiences. He wouldn't be able to play offense as much as he'd like. Adrenaline pushed him a bit further, the only thought on his mind being to get Nere out of the snake. She was alone for a while, he told himself. Please let us be on time.

        "Gin, I need you to help me!" Still unable to see his companion, Neo was left to trust Gin instead. Getting closer to the snake but remaining out of its line of fire, Neo took the chance and looked over his shoulder at Gin. Relief flooded the hunter after spotting Gin on his way towards the belly of the beast. Mapping the teen's path in his head, Neo raised his hands and created a mirrored version of the ice slide that got them down there. Starting a couple of feet away from Gin's last step, the ice slide extended to the middle of the snake's belly. "Use your scythe to climb it!" 

        He expects me to run up ICE? Missing his teammates' last order and tried to run up the ice wall. Just as he expected, he face-planted before getting his second foot down.

        "Your scythe, idiot!"

        Gin heard him that time. Picking himself up at the bottom of Neo's ice slide, Gin took a running start before swinging his scythe into the hill. As his body started falling, he clutched tighter onto his scythe, trying to hold himself up. Gin didn't think his scythe was the best option for ice climbing since it looked to be doing more damage than good. Just when he thought his hands would slip off his scythe for good, there was a platform of ice under his feet.

        "Drop and then do it again! Jump a little to get some height; that ice wall won't stay up forever!" A harsh tug ripped Gin's scythe clean out of the ice slide. Each swing was only going to get harder; he'd never used a scythe before. Taking a deep breath, Gin gave himself a moment to catch his breath. He leaped up and dug his scythe back into the ice, the cracks from both holes connecting. The split replicated a paper cut, a mere stepping stone. But the longer Gin held onto his scythe, the deeper the crack went and the more unstable he got.

        "Step!" Just as Gin lost his momentum and started back towards the ground, a thick but small layer of ice formed below him. He swore his heart skipped a beat when he felt the ice slam against his body. He mentally prepared himself for the pain that would follow his trip back to the ground. But it never came. Instead, His left side hit the platform, a cold pain echoing through his ribs. Slowly, the young hunter picked himself up from the melting ice and glared at Neo. "That's not a step; that's a bed!"

        "Maybe focus on the task at hand!" Neo roared back at Gin, annoyance, and anger projecting his voice to the other side of the cave. He was fuming that this was the exam he got but his determination to make it out alive trumped his anger. As Gin ripped his scythe from the hill, water and ice sprayed in every direction. "Ready?" Repeating the process only two more times, Gin had to stop where he was. It became clear to Gin that Nere was moving around in the beast's throat when it started to move more. "Gin, you need to hurry!"

        "I can't go that fast. You expect me to be able to walk on water?"

        "No, I expect you to move with some damn urgency or maybe like your life depends on it - because it does!" Gin didn't need to look at Neo to hear how livid he was. There was a chance he could go blind. Gin had no one to blame but himself. Getting two steps higher, Gin stopped where he was when the snake broke a giant chunk off the slide. The boulder of ice hit the ground beside the snake, millions of ice particles spraying across the cave. As unstable as the slide was, Neo had a feeling the cave was in a worse state. If they didn't act fast, death would be imminent. "Go, no! Slice it!"

        "Wha-"

        "Kill it before it kills you, Gin!" The serpent was regaining most of its mobility.

        Move Gin. Kill it before it kills you; you heard him. The calm words didn't make slicing open the serpent any easier. Looking up at the beast that had over twenty feet on him, searching for any sign of pain, a sign it needed help instead of being slaughtered. He'd never vanquished a beast that big. The thought struck him that he'd be facing a lot more in his life since he planned on becoming a hunter. Life wasn't easy when he was a kid; he didn't expect it to get any easier. Is this why Nere backed out? She didn't want to wake up in the morning and have to look forward to cutting open snakes. I guess there is a difference between catching starfish and killing sea snakes.

        Twirling his scythe through his hands like a baton with a ribbon, Gin stopped with it comfortably in his right hand. Equipping it with both hands, he took one last calming breath before plunging his scythe deep into the snake's stomach. Not allowing it to break the slide any further as it let out its cry of anguish, Gin sliced the beast open. Its cry died out like a toy running out of batteries until the cave fell dead silent. Killing something, a monster or not, it was not as easy as he thought.

         It didn't occur to Gin what would be inside of the beast. 

        "Gin, move! He's going to pop!" There was no time. Instead of sliding down the ice, Gin dropped himself into a ball and wrapped his scythe around his head. A rush of emotions hit Neo, a mix of pride and surprise flooding him. There was something about the kid at the top of his ice slide that gave him a certain sense of hope. Their childhood looked entirely different; Neo was surprised Gin knew about it. He was only a few years older than Gin.

        But he's like me. He's got potential.

        Sounds of giant piles and blobs of Slima landing around them was the only sound after the beast was no longer weeping in pain. Its lifeless body sat upright against the cave walls, the ice slide keeping it from crashing to the ground. The battle was finally over.