In another part of the forest of monsters, in the middle of the second-degree beast territory...

A duo of kids was walking through the forest, sorting out a disagreement they'd had since they met earlier that day.

"So let me get this straight, Ifrit told you to get to know me and you just... went along with it?"

The question was being asked by a girl with green hair and green eyes. The green hair was long, reaching down her hips.

She had soft skin, giving her an ethereal beauty. Her tall frame with her full body would attract many gazes.

Walking by her side was a lean and tall boy, his skin slightly on the darker side and his hair a flaming red.

His eyes were locked onto her with an intensity that could be seen in his blazing red eyes.

"Yeah, I mean don't you trust Sylphie the same way? " He asked as if it was obvious.

The girl with green hair shook her head, "Not outside of official business, no."

The boy with red hair recoiled in disbelief, "What?! No way!"

He ran ahead of her, then turned to face the girl, "I feel like you should be more trusting of your partner."

"I don't think it's any of your business." She replied curtly.

Their conversation had been more or less the same since the start of the exam.

The red-haired boy, Dero had approached her in the auditorium asking to be acquaintances.

She was skeptical at first, but when Sylphie had asked her to at least hear him out, she decided to humor him.

While defeating monsters, navigating the terrain and taking in the sights, they had constantly bickered over how much he could trust Ifrit.

"Well, you seem like a nice person, so doesn't that mean Ifrit was right?" Dero said with a sigh.

The girl turned her head to the side, "Is that your attempt at flirting??"

"Psh, no, it's your imagination." Dero said.

"So, won't you tell me your name?" He asked. "I've told you mine."

The girl giggled, finding talking to Dero amusing, "You're going to have to try harder than that to get my name."

"Don't worry, I have a feeling we'll have a lot of time on our hands."

Dero and the green haired girl reached the dark barrier stopping them from reaching the next section of the forest.

Dero walked closer to it, making sure it wouldn’t attack him, he walked back to his new friend.

"What should we do? I don't feel safe going near that thing." Dero said with a sigh.

The green haired girl was quiet. She walked to the barrier and examined it as well.

There was only so much to infer from this obstacle.

The girl sighed, "I'll ask Sylphie."

Dero smiled "That's more like it."

"You really want me to talk with her more, don't you?" The girl sat at a nearby tree, brushing the wrinkles on her flowing white and green dress.

Dero also sat down at a nearby tree, though his eyes never left the green haired girl.

"Aren't you going to meditate too?" The girl asked Dero. Her breathing was already starting to slow, her body becoming more relaxed.

Dero scoffed in a playful manner, his voice was tinted with amusement as he pointed at her.

"See! That's why I say you need to connect more deeply with Sylphie! You wouldn't need any dumb meditation."

Dero puffed out his chest proudly, "I can talk to Ifrit without any restrictions. Any time, any place, even while dreaming."

The girl stared at him with an annoyed expression on her face. "Please shut up."

Dero raised his arms in a mock surrender, "Fine. But don't say I didn't tell you."

So, the girl closed her eyes with Dero watching over her. If a monster or another candidate were to try to attack them, Dero would be wide awake.

He kept his eyes peeled for any suspicious movements. Now that it was just him, he needed to be at his best.

The forest was fairly quiet, as quiet as the forest of monsters would be. The sound of fighting could be heard in the distance.

There didn't seem to be any danger in the immediate surroundings. Beasts seemed to avoid the dark barrier as much as any human who noticed it.

To be honest. just standing near that thing was giving him the creeps.

He felt his skin crawl when he stared at it. He wondered who would have the gall to actually venture inside it.

'It's much smarter to stay in the second-degree region. We can easily get the number of points anyway.'

It would be ludicrous to risk potential danger, it was better to stay in a better area and hunt for points.

Dero looked up as the girl he was protecting opened her eyes. "Have a nice dream?"

She stood up then started walking away from the dark barrier.

"We should hunt second degree beasts and reach the quota before anything else." She spoke, her voice quiet.

Dero got up and went after her, "Well I could have told you that."

She kept her eyes straight ahead as she asked, "Has anyone ever told you you're annoying?"

Dero laughed, "Not particularly, no. Why? Did someone tell you that?"

She shook her head, "No. It's just a rumor I heard."

Dero had a happy smile as he and the girl walked towards their next target.

***

Back in the academy meeting room, Hebus, Grimm and Ada were still sitting down with their wine and enjoying the show.

"Those two... I wasn't expecting someone to actually glean some insight into the true nature of the exam." Grimm said.

Ada waved her hand, looking at the screen displaying some of the different candidates going through the test.

"It doesn't seem like they're the only ones either. They don't say it out loud but from the way some of them are slacking off, they know something."

Grimm frowned, “How could they know? And so many of them at that!” 

"Do you think someone from the staff is a mole?" Hebus asked.

…

Ada and Grimm stared at Hebus who had just made an outrageous claim. Hebus looked forward refusing to meet their gazes.

He sighed “Grimm is right. These rules are pretty hard to reason with. There shouldn’t be as many as half of them that are able to notice.”

Grimm frowned, "Why would a faculty member do something like that."

Hebus shrugged, "Who knows. There could be a plethora of reasons. No point trying to play detective."

"Well even if they are aware of the test..." Ada said taking a sip of her wine.

Hebus nodded, "Yeah, it won't help them much. Especially if they needed information about the exam to pass in the first place."

Grimm smiled, showing his rows of strong teeth, "I can't wait until the show actually starts."

"There you go again, " Ada shook her head. "Always eager to see a fight."

Grimm looked at her oddly, "Why wouldn't I be. They're always a thrill to watch."

Hebus stood up, "Ok, I'm going for another food run. What do you guys want this time."

"More meat for me." Grimm said.

"I'll have some of that delicious soup." Ada said smiling.

Hebus nodded, "Good. I'll be back in a few." He walked out the door with quiet steps.

***

Back in the forest of monsters, there was a girl walking groggily like someone who was drunk after drinking too much alcohol.

Her silver hair was matted with red blood, so was her skin and her clothes...

It was better to just say that she was covered in blood from head to toe.

The blood belonged to both her and those ravenous beasts that had unfairly attacked her.

'All I did was kill one monkey?!' She complained to herself.

The monkeys had been unrelenting. Surrounding her without leaving any room to dodge their vine whips and stone projectiles.

The worst part was whenever she actually managed to escape their encirclement, they would chase her down and surround her again?!

She had no choice but to annihilate the whole group of monkey monsters. Their blood had flowed enough for her to take a bloodbath... literally.

Her outfit was ruined, and she could still feel the pulsing pain of the gashes on her skin.

Her clothes were ripped in places that would definitely be termed inappropriate had she been seen by another person.

Though her skin couldn't be seen beneath all the blood. Her visage would be horrifying, to any observers.

She was also mildly traumatized.

"Why did this have to happen to me?" She mumbled under her breath.

She trudged along, dragging her feet on the grass. Her shoulders slumped due to how tired she felt.

It took a significant amount of her mana to defeat her opponents, not to mention close her wounds.

Her bones were most likely still fractured. Each step she took was getting more and more difficult.

Worse, she was destroying her reputation with this pitiful performance. The professors at the academy were most likely watching this test closely.

She felt like crying. All her effort of maintaining a demeanor of a respectable member of the Nordia family.

She paused at a tree to rest from her arduous walk. She hadn't even reached the second-degree region mark.

'At this rate, I'll never pass this stupid exam.'

She fell to her knees, gasping for air. The pain was slowly dulling. She wasn't sure if it was because the wound was getting better or if her body was going numb.

Her head leaned against the trunk of the tree. The surrounding was starting to blur, red tinting her vision.

It was probably the blood finally getting into her eyes. She had been wiping it away for a while but she didn't have the energy anymore.

"Haah, Haah..." She was losing consciousness. She couldn't feel her legs anymore so she couldn't walk if she wanted to.

If anyone came across her now, she'd be at their mercy. Her life was in grave danger.

'How disgraceful.' She could hear her father's voice now.

"Lucy, you've never been one to succeed. I have no great expectations for you."

"Just stay in our territory and do as you are told." He would say.

Perhaps that's why her mother couldn't bear to stay with him any longer. She succumbed to her illness way too easily for her liking.

She would wonder why her loving mother left her with her uptight father. Sometimes she wished she could follow her.

She couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer and fell into darkness.