01.38 - The Calm Before

Luc awoke to yet another unfamiliar ceiling. He almost panicked, recalling his last memory. The mask's effect was still ongoing, passively draining a small amount of Aura to sustain its effect.

His surroundings were white, filled with a sterile smell. There was a metal-frame bed, barely cushioned. A medical curtain separated his space from the rest of the room.

“Good morning, sunshine.” The voice of his sister, modulated by her mask, echoed through the room as she opened the curtains.

“Did we fail?” asked Luc.

She just shook her head. “We lost a battle, but the war continues. Don't worry. Happens to the best of us.”

“What do you mean?” he asked as he slowly got up. His body didn't hurt; his ribcage was fine. It must have been a healer's work.

Luc stepped out of his compartment and into the room. As he saw Mirai, Gabe, Uriah, and the others, it dawned on him. “Don't tell me you all...”

“Nine nil,” said Hannah.

“Going by our examiners,” said Mirai, “I'd guess they set us up. But we are all still in the top ten.”

“They probably didn't like the way some of us toyed with the individual evaluators during round one,” said Hannah, looking at Uriah's team. “So they set an example.”

“Hey, at least we didn't almost kill our examiner,” countered Rogue, eyeing Luc.

“That wasn't on purpose,” said Luc, avoiding eye contact.

“What's done is done; let's focus on the future,” said Hannah, shrugging. “You're the last to awaken. The team evaluations are over. We have the rest of the day off. Field tests start tomorrow at nine. Make the best of the time to recover.”

---

On the morning of the next day, the remaining participants of the exam gathered in front of the Hunter's Guild's main building.

A dozen automobile transporters brought them out of town, beyond the suburbs, past the city limits, and into the nearby plains—the location of the field test. It was a badland, filled with collections of succulents, shrubs, and grasses, shielded from rain by a mountain range that diverted the clouds to the forest on the other side.

They were welcomed by a group made up of their former examiners and a few additional guild clerks, led by a man with some falcon-like features, who introduced himself as Aer, intermediary to the 'Ruler of the Plains'.

The test itself was simple. They would spend the next four days in the vicinity, hunting regular monsters and collecting their Cores, while slowly traveling towards a location deeper in the plains.

The final scores were dependent on team size and gathered Cores.

It was close enough to the city and regularly tended to by hunters to mainly feature smaller monsters, but there was still a chance of stronger ones entering the area.

They were allowed to venture deeper inside the plains to hunt for stronger prey, but the recommendation was to stay somewhere close to the final location.

Failure to reach the final location in time would invalidate all points gathered so far.

Examiners would stay close to certain positions and monitor their surroundings.

Each team was followed by an observer—a flying construct submitting their position and live footage for the broadcast during the day. They doubled as a lifeline. Should a team be overwhelmed or judged incapable of dealing with a threat themselves, an examiner would try to interfere.

At the same time, all nearby contestants would be informed and given the option to interfere.

A successful rescue operation would result in the spoils gathered by the rescued team being split among the helpers, as well as bonus points awarded after assessing the threat level.

In the very unlikely event of a stampede, or a serious threat to even the examiners, Aer, as the intermediary to the 'Ruler of the Plains', would be required to step in to clear the danger, while all participants would be evacuated, if possible.

---

The first day went without any issues.

Luc's group gathered a fair number of Cores and made it two quarters of the way to their destination.

They were on their way to reach the final meeting spot when they heard voices arguing in a small valley of a drained former riverbed.

“That is not what we agreed to!” exclaimed a male voice.

“But we could do way better,” resounded a familiar female voice, “if we'd just go further into...”

They came into view.

It was the weirdo.

Electra Pleiades stood there, holding a Core, her arms stained with the blood of a wolf, next to the corpses of two dozen more. “Oh, come on, I didn't team up with you only to fight the small fries.”

“And we only agreed since you seemed capable enough,” said Imbrius. “We just want to pass; there is no reason for us to risk it all just because you want to increase your ranking and beat those...”

Sarpedon and Glaucus were the first to notice Luc's team, then Electra, and finally Imbrius turned to them too.

“...speak of the devil.”

“If you won't help me, I'll switch teams,” said Electra, turning towards Luc's group. “You three are headed deeper into the desert, right?”

“Don't be silly,” said Imbrius. “We are already registered; you can't just switch teams mid...”

Before he could finish his sentence, their observer informed them of a nearby threat alert issued by another team.

“...really? Now of all times?” asked Imbrius.

A small map with a direction indicator was projected by the observer.

Mirai, Gabe, and Luc used the chance to escape their conversation before it had even started.

“Let's hurry, I bet we can get a lot of points and...” said Electra in the distance as her voice slowly faded away.