'As I thought, he's strong!' Meng grinned as he looked at his lifelong rival who was effortlessly blocking his attacks.
A long time ago, Meng had met a kid. That kid had crushed Meng in everything he held pride in: academics, sports, temperament and everything else. It had frustrated Meng to no end and he declared the boy his rival.
If there was one thing that he managed to outdo the boy in was having a beast. And he didn't even consider that an accomplishment because it was the boy's father who stopped him from getting one.
Still, Meng was waiting for the day that the boy would get one so that they could finally compete on equal grounds.
Unable to contain his excitement, he screamed the boy's name and launched another attack at him.
…..
'Now!' Bryan's eyes sharpened and he raised his arm and crossed it across his chest.
"Skill – Dragon Scales." He activated his skill causing translucent scales of fire to cover his entire body. And it was just in time as the boy kicked away from Bryan as dense ice-type ether gathered around him.
"Skill – Ice World." Meng said in an unusually calm tone and for a single moment, the world turned white.
"That was hard. Well, I'd expect no less from my rival." Meng sighed, exhausted which was why he was prepared for the attack that came.
"Skill – Fire Breath." Bryan burst from the ice that encased him and opened his mouth. A second later, white searing flames erupted and hit Meng right in his chest.
"I remember now." After being encased in it, he finally remembered where he had seen this spell before.
"So, it was you… you bastard!" Bryan's eyes widened as he condensed flames in his hand and slammed it into Meng and sent the latter flying.
"Ack!" Meng coughed as he spat out blood and landed against the floor.
"Skill – Ice Fusion." That was the skill that prevented him from sustaining injuries more severe than that.
Bryan still didn't seem satisfied and continued walking when a roar split the air and he turned around.
Lucy and the snake had already broken out of the ice and continued their fight. Bryan clicked his tongue at this and decided to help with the fight.
….
"You know… I still haven't forgiven you." Bryan glared at Meng who was lying opposite him. Dola, Meng's tamed beast was using ice to heal her master's wounds.
"Come on, it was just a bit of harmless fun." Meng said and yelped when Dola increased the intensity of the treatment.
"A bit of fun? You tormented me so much I actually forgot about it in order to conceal the trauma." Bryan was exaggerating. He just forgot most of what happened then.
"I was quite hurt that you couldn't remember who I was immediately." Meng argued back.
"Says the person who changed so much. What happened to the black-haired youth who used to be more…intelligent?"
"Ha? Are you callin' me dumb?"
"You said it, not me."
Lucy looked as the two boys started arguing and she turned to Ragna. Almost like he could read her mind, the tortoise shrugged as if to say, 'Hey, I can't control what adolescent boys do.'
"You… know each other?" Lucy interrupted.
"Of course. Why else would we be talking to each other?" Meng scowled at Lucy.
"Hey… you realize she was asking us how we know each other, right? It's what ordinary people do." Bryan shot at Meng and the two of them glared at each other before breaking into laughter.
"Still, it's nice to see you." Bryan smiled softly as he said.
"Yeah. How've you been doing?"
"Great."
"How about the old man?"
"… he passed away." Bryan's smile faded as an expression of hurt flashed in his eyes for a moment.
"So, he finally kicked the bucket. I see…" Meng tried to keep up his happy appearance but it was obvious he was shocked by the news.
"How about the old hag? Is Agnes still kicking?" Meng made a face as he mentioned her name and Bryan chuckled.
"Yes, she is very much alive. And also, I'm so telling her what you just said." Bryan teased and Meng's faced paled. Resolve flashed in his eyes and he raised his hand.
"Now that it's come to this, I have no choice but to silence the two of you." One would have thought he was joking but the ether that Bryan and Lucy could sense wasn't one that was supposed to be aimed at a partner.
"I'm just kidding! Jeez, can't someone say a joke?" Bryan hurriedly waved his hands and the ether finally died down and Meng relaxed.
"Anyways, what are the two of you doing together? Before that, who is she?"
"Her name is Lucy. She's an examinee like us. She's really strong and nice and kind and great to be around. As for why we teamed up…" Bryan glanced at Lucy and she gave a slight nod and he revealed the reason to Meng.
"…I see. So, I need to whoop your ass in order to pass, right?" Meng nodded like he understood which he clearly didn't.
"How do you take away that from what I said?" Bryan felt like facepalming but he was tired.
"The exam would be ending soon. Now that we have a new member, we can increase our hunting speed even further." Bryan clapped and used fire ether to draw a map on the ground.
"Based off my analysis of the areas we have been to; this place should hold the largest concentration of monsters. We'll lure them out and take them out one-by-one. Most beasts still retain their behavior from before evolution so we'll go after the strays. Meng, you focus on control and limiting the beast's movements. Lucy, you're on defense. Carl and I would handle offence and coordination. Any questions?" Bryan asked at the end and Meng raised his hand.
"What?"
"Who died and made you leader?"
"No one. If you have a better plan, then I'll be willing to listen."
"…Tch."
"Lucy?" Bryan looked at Lucy and she shook her head.
"Then let's go. Time to rack up those points."