Exam Results Board
"What are you staring at, orphan? Want to get beat up again?" Jason glared.
"Oh, come on, you're always picking a fight. What did I even do to you, Jason?" Ray frowned in annoyance.
The purple-haired man in a suit, with a swollen and bruised face, grabbed Ray's collar and pulled him up, drawing back his fist to strike. Ray raised his own fist, ready to fight back.
Many exam candidates turned to watch, their eyes gleaming with excitement. Students began to gather around the fountain square. Aria stood with arms crossed, looking at the two of them with bored eyes.
"I don't like meddling in other people's business, so I won't stop you if you want to fight. I'll just say this: it'll be embarrassing in front of everyone, they'll all laugh at you, and you might lose your right to take the exam. That's all. Go ahead, fight if you want. I'm not stopping you."
The cool, beautiful silver-haired girl gestured with her hand. The two boys looked at her, speechless. After she spoke, Jason and Ray slowly released each other's collars.
"Tch." Jason clicked his tongue.
"And that's you not stopping us, huh, Aria?" Ray gave a nervous, uneasy look.
"Alright, let's go to the next round of the exam." She turned her back and walked ahead of them with the poise fitting of a member of the Falian family.
As soon as she was out of sight, Jason and Ray bared their teeth at each other again. Jason shoved Ray before following after Aria. Ray shoved him back in return.
Aria sighed and rubbed her temple as she walked. Without looking back, she knew the two rivals were shoving each other all the way.
…
On a large flying galleon in the skies above Temmesia Academy.
"You two still haven't stopped shoving each other…?" Aria glanced at them behind her, then turned away again.
The galleon floated through cold, white clouds, offering a stunning view below. Tiny figures of people could be seen in a city shrunken to miniature size. The ship was pulled by a flock of griffons flapping their wings, flying thanks to weight-reduction magic.
Over 300 students who passed the earlier rounds stood in line on the deck. Professor David, a long-haired man in a casual black outfit, was holding a notebook and explaining the rules of the third exam.
But two people were still shoving each other, just more lightly now, afraid of being scolded since they were in line.
Until the explanation ended.
"Alright, everyone, come and collect your maps and bags."
"Huh!? Aria, Aria! What did the professor just say?" Ray stopped shoving Jason and shook Aria's shoulder from behind. She kept a straight face, shaking her head stiffly.
"Hey, whitey, what did the professor say we have to do?" Jason gave Ray one last shove. Suddenly, everyone started lining up to get their maps. He stood there with his mouth open, not understanding a thing.
Aria turned to look at both of them with an extremely exasperated expression.
Calmly, with her usual arms-crossed stance, she explained to the two boys who had been too busy fighting. Ray kept talking back, unwilling to admit fault. As for Jason, Aria didn't even know why he had been so angry with Ray since yesterday.
She sighed.
"Professor David said the third exam is to capture monsters on Nunel Island. We'll have one full day. The map shows special monsters released by the school worth more points than normal ones. Each team must compete to catch them and store them in the small bag the school provides. If you harm another team, you'll lose points."
"Oh, I get it now. Thanks, Aria." Ray nodded with a smile.
"That's it? Hah, easy." Jason smirked.
"You two don't even have guaranteed passing scores yet, and you're skipping the professor's explanation? You'll fail if you're not careful." The white-haired girl frowned in warning.
"Well, this guy kept shoving me, Aria. I even tried to comfort him when he was crying, but he ended up punching me. And now he won't stop being mad. How am I supposed to just take that?" Ray glared at Jason.
"What? You stuck your nose into my family business, you damn orphan!" Jason shoved him again, furious.
Aria sighed, walked off to get her map, and didn't bother stopping them.
"Candidates Jason and Ray, I'll be deducting your points," came the voice of Professor David, who had been standing right beside them without them noticing. The casually dressed professor jotted something in his notebook and walked away.
The two stared at each other in shock.
Jason pointed a finger at Ray.
"You'll pay for this! After this exam, you're done for! You weakling! It's all your fault I lost points!"
"Look at yourself for once, Jason! I tried to help you, and you punched me! Fine, bring it on! You've racked up too many grudges already!" Ray yelled back.
While they were still arguing, Aria came back from the line, placed a bag and map on the ground for them, and walked off with a deadpan face.
"Uh, thanks, Aria." Ray grabbed the bag and hurried after her.
"Tch, I could've gotten it myself, whitey!" Jason grumbled, taking his own bag and map before following.
…
Three hours later.
The galleon slowly descended onto a remote island in the middle of the vast blue sea, owned by Temmesia Academy.
Ray, Aria, and Jason looked over the island's size and scenery. The sea glittered under the sun, warm air mixed with a cool breeze, seagulls wheeled overhead. It felt like a vacation.
"Whoa, the sea's so beautiful!" Ray grinned from ear to ear, letting the wind hit his face. The boy was so excited he called out Gig, Nixie, and Rogue to enjoy the breeze.
"Hah, acting impressed. A loser like you's never been to the sea, huh? I've been coming here since I was five. I swam with dolphins, played volleyball with pretty girls, ate watermelon on a luxury yacht, barbecue all day. Jealous, you common orphan?" Jason leaned on the ship's rail, taunting him.
"Ugh, annoying." Ray wanted to shove him into the sea but restrained himself out of respect for Aria, who was always stuck stopping their fights.
"Judging from the view, the island's not that big. We should start in the deep forest, that's where there'll be the most monsters. See that river? Then we circle around the beach for sea monsters. The mountain will be last since there should be fewer monsters there."
The serious tamer, Aria, pointed and explained her plan. Ray and Jason both listened carefully. She felt slightly pleased they had stopped fighting for once.
"If we get first place in this exam, we'll get the Fruit of Evolution. It's not something you can just buy, no matter how rich you are. Also, your scores aren't guaranteed for Temmesia. Ray, you're at 131 now, not 146. Jason, you're at 127, not 143. If you fight and don't gain more points, you'll fail."
Both were shocked.
"How do you know that, Aria?" Ray tilted his head.
"Yeah, whitey, how do you know how many points we have left? Don't try to scare us!"
Aria showed them the map, which marked special monsters and displayed rankings and scores.
"The professor explained it earlier. You just weren't listening."
She pointed it out, then walked off the ship, leaving the boys staring at each other in confusion.
"Alright, orphan, I'll call a truce. But that doesn't mean I'll stop hating you."
"Fine, Jason. I'll cooperate, but that doesn't mean I want to be your friend."
Ray held out his hand, Jason gripped it firmly — though both seemed to be trying to crush the other's hand.
"Hurry up, you soft-brained idiots!" Aria shouted, and the two scrambled to follow.
…
Sunlight streamed through the forest canopy. The three surveyed the area, seeing dozens of examinees around a large water source. Some teams were chasing monsters.
The once-quiet forest was now full of chaos.
"Didn't you say this was the best place to start, whitey? With all these people, the monsters will just run away. Thought you were smart." Jason kicked a stone into the river.
"Sigh. In theory, yes, but I forgot others might think the same." Aria sighed and turned to Ray, who was stroking his chin in thought.
"Hey, how about we split up and hunt separately?" Ray suggested.
"Sounds good. A cool guy like me doesn't want to be near an orphan anyway," Jason sneered.
Ray restrained himself from hitting him, not wanting Aria to get caught in their fights.
"We can't split up. Try catching that Frufir up there alone."
She pointed to a squirrel-like rabbit gnawing an apple above them. Jason sent out Vega.
"Go, Vega. Ice bite!"
The snake lunged and missed.
"Haha, step aside, Jason. I'll handle it." Ray called out Rogue.
"Shadow Blade, Rogue don't kill it."
Before he could finish, the Frufir bolted.
"Ha! You couldn't do it either, weakling." Jason laughed.
"See? It's not easy. If you miss the first strike, wild monsters run away. High-point ones especially require teamwork." Aria explained firmly enough to make Jason nod.
Ray smiled at her.
"Like surrounding them or attacking all at once?"
Aria nodded.
"Yes. Tamers like us can only command one monster at a time, except for skilled professors. So even if you summon many, you can only attack once per turn. But with three tamers attacking at once, you can capture them faster."
Both nodded seriously, not wanting to fail.
"So what's the plan now, whitey? Not much left around here. If we're slow, other teams will catch everything. I can work in a team I'm Jason, after all. Just give me the plan."
Ray suddenly had an idea.
"Hey, Jason, why not have your wolf sniff for tracks? I'll have Nixie fly and scout the island."
"Quick thinking, Ray." Aria praised.
"Pfft, I could've thought of that too." Jason summoned Fargus, who began sniffing. They followed until they found the same Frufir again.
They hid in the grass. Ray told them to wait. He summoned Gig.
"Gig may not sing well, but let's use it to lure the target closer. Then we attack together."
Gig sang.
The small creature hopped toward them.
"Now, Jason, Aria!"
"Crush it, Arnol!"
"Fargus, burst dash!"
The little thing dodged Arnol's paw but was headbutted by Fargus and knocked out.
"Success!" Ray cheered.
"Woo! Got the weakling!" Jason pumped his fists.
"Nice job." Aria smiled and shook her head at their antics. The two high-fived, then quickly wiped their hands on their clothes upon remembering they didn't like each other.
"Five points? After all that?" Jason groaned.
"So tiring for so little," Ray slumped.
"Points aren't capped this round. You could be overtaken and fail," Aria warned.
"What?!" Ray cried.
"Tch, stupid rules," Jason muttered.
Then he spotted a red mark on the map worth 100 points. A blue otter was drinking at a small pond nearby.
Name: ???
Species: Aquaotter
Level: 10
HP: 1,200 MP: 200
Element: Water
Rarity: B
Description: A small, swift otter with webbed paws and a strong tail for swimming. Extremely fast in water, capable of catching elusive fish. Can create small waves or change the flow of streams. Very difficult to catch in water.
Skills: High-speed swim, water wave, water control, charge.
The blue otter looked up at them cutely, then bolted.
"100 points! 100 points!"
"What?! 100 points?!"
The two boys shouted in shock.
Aria stood motionless, deadpan.
Then all three ran after it.