Eren was jumping up and down. His blood was pumping for his test coming up any minute as team 16 completed their test, killing a rathian. But half of the team got poisoned by its tail, so those white jumpsuit guys quickly ran to get them to the infirmary.
"Finally," Annie got up from her seat and stretched a bit.
"Hell yeah, it's our turn now." Blake grabbed his baton and practiced his swings.
Krista stood up and sighed. "Wait, let's not get too eager now."
"What?" Eren said as Annie and Blake turned their attention to her.
"We need to strategize this. We can't go in there without some sort of plan in mind," Krista placed a hand over her mouth.
Eren and Annie looked at each other before they looked back at the thinking Krista. Eren noticed that whenever Krista needed to think, she would put her hand over her mouth while placing her left hand on her right elbow.
"What do you have in mind?" Blake asked as he twirled his metal stick.
"Well, I can't come up with a proper strategy since we don't know what monster we'll be facing. However, we can at least learn more about each other's abilities and fighting styles," Krista explained.
"Well, you already know about me and Annie's, so the main focus should be on Blake here," Eren placed his hands on the back of his head.
"Well, this baton right here is what I use to fight, if that isn't obvious," Blake chuckled. "I'm a close-range fighter, but I can fight in the mid range as well."
'So the only person who can fight in the far range is Krista.'
Krista hummed in thought. "It seems that I'm the only person who is viable in the far range."
She grew a confident smile. "Oh well, it seems that you three must rely on me for ranged support. Don't worry, I was top 2 in accuracy after all, as well as top 7 in speed. You three are in quite good hands, I must say."
Eren rolled his eyes as Blake smiled at her assurance.
Petra entered the room and clapped her hands. "Team 17, how are you guys feeling?"
"Bored. Sitting here doing nothing made me fall asleep a few times," Eren said. "Honestly, you guys should've added some kind of entertainment in here."
Petra scratched her head. "Yeah, we know. Sorry about that. There's much I can do about it."
Eren, his team and the instructor left the room and made their way to the elevator. They entered inside before Petra pressed a button that said '-1' on it, but noticed that there was a -2 button.
"What's below the first basement floor?" Blake asked.
"It's where we keep the monsters," Petra answered. "We put them in a cage before we put them in the elevator and send them out in the wild."
"But what about the carcasses?" Krista asked. "What did you do with them?"
"Simple. We carved them up and used their skin and bones for armour and weapons, and their meat for…well, eating," Petra shrugged.
The elevator doors opened, showing them the big forest. Eren and his team walked out of the elevator before Petra waved goodbye and said Good luck before the metal doors closed.
"So…" Blake drawled. "Where do we start?"
"Well, as the leader of this team and the most knowledgeable one, I suggest we divide and conquer," Krista said.
"Uh…are you sure?" Blake asked, worried.
"Is there a flaw in splitting up?"
"Yeah, we have no form of communicating with each other," Blake argued. "I mean, what if one of us encounters the monster? We can't use our powers like a SOS flare besides me and maybe Eren? Still, I don't think it's a good idea."
"Why not split in pairs?" Annie asked. "Eren goes with me, and Blake goes with Krista. If you guys see it first, Blake can shoot up a smoke flare, and if we see it, Eren will burn a tree-"
"And black smoke would rise," Krista added. "Excellent idea, Annie."
Krista smiled at Annie, but she just rolled her eyes as the team decided to split, with Krista and Blake going right while Eren and Annie went left.
The two walked in the forest with big trees giving Eren shade. It was quiet, with the only noise they were making being them walking underneath the grass.
"So, what's up?" Eren began the convo.
"Hmm?"
"I mean, you know…how are you doing?" Eren asked.
"I'm fine. Didn't get a lot of sleep last night, but besides that, I'm okay," Annie said. "What about you?"
"Oh, same old, same old . Nothing exciting to really talk about, " Eren shrugged. " But what do you think of Blake?"
Annie placed her hands in her jean jacket pockets. " He's a nice guy. A bit of a blabbermouth with the whole girlfriend stuff, but he seems like a cool guy."
"You know I've been practising some of your techniques at home a few days ago," Eren said, doing a lazy low kick. "Low kicks are very effective."
Eren remembered his latest fight in the Vice, where he had to fight a woman who could turn into a crane. Although she was skinny like a lamp post, she was quick and agile. He found an opportunity and used a low kick to break one of her legs for the win. It was only 5,000 Elds, but it was worth it.
"They are. Because it can damage the longest nerve in the human body," Annie said. "And what do you mean by 'a few days ago'?"
"What?"
"You're supposed to be practicing every day or at least every other day," Annie looked at him with a disappointed glare. "I guess teaching you more techniques would be a waste."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! Life got in the way, and I was too busy to train. You know, with all the prep before the tests and stuff."
"Fine. I'll give you another chance if you still want to learn more. Especially if you're actually that desperate," Annie said.
Eren sighed in relief as they continued to make their way through the forest, seeing if the monster was around, but there was nothing in sight so far. It was quiet again, but before he broke the ice again, he looked at Annie.
She was so calm in a situation like this, as if she had done things similar to this for all her life. Even her heartbeat was barely beating quicker than usual, while his heart was beating a little bit faster than normal, too.
He was supposed to be used to situations like these, if not even worse. Adding to the experience that he got from the combat school, he fought a bunch of monsters. But… the monsters that he had to fight had homes…friends…families…dreams and goals... Eren shook his head before he started another convo to get his mind off of it.
"Can I ask you a question?" Eren asked.
"Throw it."
"Why are you here, doing the test? I mean… if you don't want to tell me, that's fine, but I'm just curious."
"It's because I need the money," Annie said in a monotone. "Being an Adventurer is a high-risk, high-paying job. But I'm willing to take the risk for the money."
Eren nodded and softly smiled. "I'm here for the money, too. When I found out that 15 is the minimum age requirement, I decided to become an Adventurer to get money asap."
He chuckled and jumped over a rock. "I guess we're like two peas in a pod, huh?"
"More like two peas in a garden," Annie joked. "I assume almost all of us are here for money."
"What about Krista?"
"That's why I said almost," Annie said. "Krista is rich, yet she's doing the test."
Eren was a bit curious about why Krista was here; if it's not for the money, then why? Especially if she got all pissed off at him for asking for her reasons.
He listened carefully to hear anything suspicious. He sighed, nothing notable popped up besides the beating of his heart, the chirping birds, the crawling bugs and the crushing of grass every time they took a step.
He jumped on a branch for a better test, but nothing came up. He sniffed around the area, but all he smelled was the earthy scent of the trees.
'Maybe…' Eren looked up and jumped to see above the trees.
He did a quick look before he noticed a cloud of white smoke, and before he landed back on the ground.
"They found it!"
"Let's go," Annie bent down before white lightning sparks began to form around her.
Eren followed suit as they leaped up in the air, the wind brushing through his face and pushing back his hair. They were about to land before they leaped to the sky once more. He noticed that Annie was a few feet higher than he was.
"Hey! You're using your energy!"
Annie shrugged. "It's not my fault that I'm better."
"Oh yeah? Well, guess what?" Eren took off his shoes. "I got rockets."
Eren shot a quick burst of flames from his feet, pushing him past Annie. He smiled at his lead before he looked back and saw Annie was not behind him.
'What the-?'
Annie was in front of him again. Eren tucked his shoes closely to his chest and burst his way to catch up with her.
"You're using your fire," Annie pointed out. "That's not fair."
"It's not my fault, I'm better."
A roar came from the ground level as Eren put back on his shoes and slid on the ground. He dug his feet to quickly slow himself down, with Annie landing on the ground soon after.
Eren tied his shoes as Annie pulled some leaves off her jacket. He heard a knocking sound coming nearby and looked up to see Blake and Krista standing on a thick branch.
"Get up here!" Krista demanded in a whisper.
Eren and Annie hopped on the branch before he leaned on the tree.
"Why are you two up here?" Eren asked.
"Because Blake and I saw the monster. So, I decided that we should regroup and think of a plan before we strike," Krista explained.
"We found out that the monster is a Tigrex," Blake said. "Are you guys familiar with them?"
Eren shook his head in response. "I heard of it, but I don't know what it is."
Krista rolled her eyes with her arms crossed.
"Of course you don't," Krista muttered. "A tigrex is a very aggressive flying wyvern with an ear-piercing roar. They'll attack anything that they perceive as prey."
"Well, where is it?"
Krista pointed in his direction. "Over there."
Eren turned to see the monster sniffing the ground, standing on four legs with wings on its front legs. Its colour was a yellowish-orange with messy blue stripes all over its body. It had sharp teeth and a spike sticking out at the end of its tail.
"So, how do we deal with that?" Blake said, a bit worried.
"Luckily, I have a plan," Krista said confidently. "Eren and Annie will distract the wyvern while I shoot from afar, and Blake can cover the area in smoke, blinding the beast, and then we can ambush it."
"But we can't ambush it if the whole area is covered in smoke," Eren countered.
"Isn't your hearing more proficient than average?" Krista asked. "Can't you hear the monster if it's coming to you nearby?"
"Yeah, but Blake and Annie's hearing isn't as good as mine," Eren touched his left earlobe. "What about that?"
Krista grinned as she placed a hand on Blake's shoulder and the other on Annie's. "I have trust in their capabilities, don't you?"
Blake gave him a real smile as Annie looked at him with a neutral expression. Eren kissed his teeth in defeat.
"Whatever."
"Not like you can come up with anything," Krista whispered under her breath before she cleared her throat.
Eren growled as the cocky fucker started to tie her hair in a ponytail.
"Alright, now that everybody has come into an agreement," Krista summoned her bow. "Time to execute the plan."
Blake's face blanked. "Why do you want to kill the plan already? We haven't even tried it yet."
"Excuse me?"
"You said to execute the plan, so I thought you wanted to get rid of it."
Eren started to snicker at Blake's confusion.
"Shut up, Eren!" Krista groaned aggressively. "What I mean by 'execute', I mean to carry out the plan, to do it."
Blake slowly nodded. "Ooohhhh, okay. I understand now."
Eren and Annie dropped to the ground. They were approaching the Tigrex as Eren began to mutter his complaints.
"So fucking stupid. Why can't she become wyvern fodder? She could take my place and prove how good her agility is."
'Hopefully, she could lose an arm in the process,' Eren chuckled at the thought of a crying Krista.
Annie sprinted and sneak-kicked the beast into a bunch of trees before leaping back.
"Get ready," Annie said, getting her Muay Thai fighting position.
The Tigrex got up and roared so strongly that the nearby trees started to shake and crack. It slightly opened its jaw before it ran to them. Annie sidestepped, but the monster dug its nails in the ground and turned towards her.
Eren took the opportunity to drop-kick the Tigrex into more trees. He landed on his feet as Annie jumped to be next to him.
The Tigrex slammed one of its forelegs into the ground before it swiped its leg, throwing a barrage of boulders. Eren and Annie hopped on one of the trees behind them. The wyvern slammed its other foreleg and swiped it, creating another barrage.
The range was too wide, rocks were heading their way and below. So Eren leaped back, hoping that the rocks would hit the other nearby trees, but a few of the boulders managed to evade the other trees. Eren jumped over the speeding boulder. When he looked at Annie, she had caught a boulder and stabbed her fingers into it, creating a homemade gauntlet.
The Tigrex chased after them with its jaw open, but a ball of smoke crashed into its face, sending it rolling into the dirt. Eren looked to see Blake with a thin object that looked like a long metal straw in his right hand while holding his baton in the other.
He gave Eren a thumbs-up before the Tigrex roared again, making them cover their ears. The trees started to shake again. Eren nearly fell off the tree but caught himself by grabbing the branch he was standing on.
After the Tigrex finished its roar, Annie jumped off the tree and leaped towards the wyvern. The Tigrex opened its mouth before it ran towards her.
Annie threw the boulder, but the Tigrex caught the rock and crushed it with its mouth before immediately spinning.
Annie tried to jump back to dodge it, but its sharp tail slashed the front of Annie's thighs, causing her to grunt in pain as she landed. She stood for a couple of seconds before she had to kneel.
Eren quickly ran to his injured friend as the Tigrex targeted Annie again. The monster opened its mouth before Eren ignited his left fist in flames and punched the side of its head.
"Annie!" Eren yelled, kneeling to look at her leg wound.
"Arghh, Fuck..." Annie grunted as she tried to stand up, but fell back down. The cut was deep, as her pale thighs were now a bloody red, and blood continued to flow from her thighs.
The Tigrex shook its head before it pulled back its head.
'It's about to roar again!' Eren thought.
He looked at Annie, who started to try to put pressure on her legs to stop the bleeding.
He quickly hugged her, covering her ears with his body before it roared again. He felt a strong and sharp pain in his eardrums as they burst. The strength of the roar made him and Annie crash into some trees, with some of them falling.
Eren continued to hug her tightly as he opened his eyes to see himself and Annie surrounded by broken trees. He carefully let go of her to see her slightly shocked face with her ice blue eyes widening and her mouth slightly open as drops of his blood hit her cheeks.
"Are you okay?!" Eren accidentally shouted.
He touched his left ear, noticing the blood dripping on his friend. When he looked at his hand, he saw a streak of blood on the tips of his fingers. Annie tried to get up again as Blake created a wall of smoke before running towards the injured pair.
Blake panically looked back and forth between Eren and Annie. Krista suddenly dropped from a tree and looked at them before she shook her head. Eren assumed that she started to complain, with an angry look and pointing at Blake.
Eren felt the ground shake before a barrage of boulders broke through the wall of smoke and headed their way.