Dr. Nana finished making warm porridge for Kira. Kira accepted the porridge and ate it with gusto. Noah was happy to see her eating the porridge happily.
"So, you're in the same group for the Final Exam?" Dr. Nana pulled out one of the chairs and sat to the right of the bed where Kira was still lying. Kira was still busy with her food, Noah had to answer Nana's question.
"Right, with another girl named Susan," Noah said.
"I always remember those Final Exams, full of suspense and pain," Nana replied.
Noah squinted when he heard Nana's statement. None of the three in the group knew exactly what the final exams looked like, especially the suspense and pain Nana had described.
The young man only knew that he and his group members
***Two days later.London Cadet Academy."Hey, you already lost against us. You have to keep your word!" Kira sternly spoke to Susan while the class was on lunch break. Noah just watched and didn't help Kira force Susan.Noah was confused. What exactly made her hate him and Kira? Noah didn't feel like he had done anything wrong, intentional or not, to Susan. Kira didn't seem to either —considering Kira's quiet nature."What a noise! Can't you see I'm busy?" Susan asked, showing Kira a book."What's the need to learn that book if you're not training to be strong?!" snapped Kira, trying to snatch it out of Susan's hand.The book Susan was holding was a beast encyclopedia. The 500-page volume contained hundreds of beasts with different characteristics, which had been recorded before.According to Susan, a trainee cadet needs to know the characteristics of the beasts they will fight later. Only a fool would continue to train hard without knowing the weaknesses of the beasts they would fa
***Three days later.London Cadet Academy.Since the night incident, Susan began participating in preparation exercises with Noah and Kira. Not only that, but Susan also participated in explaining about various ordinary-level beasts that she had remembered through the beast encyclopedia.According to Susan, the beasts appearing during the exam would undoubtedly be ordinary-level beasts. The Beast Slayer's higher-ups must have arranged precautions so the cadet candidates would not encounter dangerous level beasts.That day was the last day Noah and his team members practised. Since yesterday, the other teams have stopped training and are fully rested for tomorrow's Final Exam.Noah, Kira, and Susan were forced to use their rest time to practice, especially attack and defense combo exercises. Susan apologized that her attitude the other day was causing Kira and Noah trouble at the moment, Noah and Kira didn't mind at all.The three sat on the arena floor, their bodies covered in sweat.
Noah went through the forest cautiously. He tried to keep a high alert so that he wouldn't get hurt a lot while walking alone in the middle of the forest, especially lest he be attacked by beasts.Screams of pain could still be heard, echoing off every tree in the forest. However, the intensity had decreased compared to when the cadets finished parachuting.There were several possibilities as to why the screams had subsided. Either the person was dead, or they had been rescued by their team members.Noah encountered several beasts with low abilities, such as goblin beasts, insect beasts, and snake beasts. It was easy for Noah to defeat them, especially when the young man already knew the weaknesses of the three beast.He lifted his head and looked up at the sky. The sun had already slipped to the west, a sign that noon was ending."I need to find shelter before nightfall," Noah muttered.Along the way to finding shelter, Noah collected a lot of firewood that he found along the way to
"I heard you managed to defeat Talon. Is it true?" asked Freya's teammate, Noah knew him as Allen."Aren't you from A class?" asked Noah.Allen shook his head. He was from C class, where C class had never had a sparring match with A class. However, news spread quickly among the cadets in the academy, especially about the best cadet being defeated by a loser cadet who couldn't even use magic.Noah had expected the news to spread like a virus through the air so even the cadets in C class would know that Noah had defeated Talon."It seems so." Noah was still standing at the cave entrance, and it was his turn to stand guard in the rain, still falling. The intensity of the rain was not as great as before; only a small trickle remained."No wonder you were able to kill those three beasts," Allen pointed out."I managed to defeat those beasts because I put my training and knowledge of their characteristics to good use. My victory against Talon has nothing to do with my victory against the be
Kira slowly pointed to the stream that flowed right before the cave. The girl explained she had seen a glowing object from within the stream, buried not too deep.Noah, hearing the explanation, felt relieved and calm. If they had gotten the pendant, Noah and Kira needed to continue hiding until the final exam time was over."I thought it was something else, but I was surprised to find out that it was a pendant," Kira replied, releasing her hold on Noah."Now, our job is just to find Susan's whereabouts." Noah returned the precious pendant to Kira, as Kira was the only one with a large backpack behind her back. Kira nodded, accepting the pendant and storing it safely."Did you see where she was?" Noah asked Kira, to which Kira responded by shaking her head.She and Susan parachuted from different planes, also because the screams kept filling the forest, made Kira undo her intention to look for Susan. It was pretty dangerous, according to Kira, if she had searched for Susan's whereabout
***The next day.Noah woke up from his sleep, seeing the sunlight beginning to peek out and illuminate the forest. The young man glanced to the side and saw Kira fast asleep on the wooden hut floor, her tiny body wrapped in a blanket.A faint sound came from outside as Noah tried to slowly open the hut's door. The sound made Noah abandon his attempt."We need to find the rest of the cadet team immediately; perhaps they already have the pendant," says someone sternly, like a leader speaking to his men.Noah peered through the hut's window, seeing that the person in question was Caleb. Caleb's team was near the stream, with his teammates and a woman Noah was familiar with, Susan."It's Susan," Noah whispered.The young man poked Kira's leg, causing the petite girl to wake up instantly and look at Noah, who was vigilantly looking out the hut's window."What's wrong, Noah?" asked Kira."Shush!""Caleb's team is near the river," Noah replied.Kira was startled, sat up slowly, stepped clos
After getting the pendant, Caleb returned to his team with a happy feeling. With only three hours left before midnight, Caleb considered staying in the field.Susan was still slumped over, unable to do anything but cover her face with both hands. She sat with Kira beside her, but Susan didn't see any anxious expression on Kira's face."Why aren't you as anxious as I am? We're going to fail this Final Exam, you know," Susan revealed.Kira responded by shaking her head slowly. Her eyes were still forward, looking at Noah's back. Kira didn't feel worried because Noah had a plan for this."Because Noah doesn't want to fail in his ambition to become a Beast Slayer. Just to be clear, he has a plan." Kira moved her head and focused her attention on the side, looking at Susan, w
The rain stopped in the forest, and some cadet teams walked together to arrive at a large field in the middle of the forest. They already knew it was the last checkpoint before the cadets were picked up."Kira!" called Freya, arriving at the field and seeing the short girl near Noah.Kira turned her head to the side, then waved her hand to Freya. A smile spread across Kira's face when she saw Freya had survived this exam. Freya and Kira hugged each other.Allen, who was in the same group as Freya, walked towards Noah and his team members. When he arrived near Noah, Allen couldn't hide his shock at Caleb's condition."Wh-What happened to him?" asked Allen, shocked."A crowd of beasts attacked him. We couldn't help because of t