CHAPTER 64
While squad Kai was busy hunting the significantly larger horde of beasts, squad Berg was already rounding up their skirmish.
"Damn it! Why are there so few beasts here?"
Berg roared in pure rage as he swung his hand forward, a massive fireball erupting from his palm.
The projectile smashed into a Goatee, disintegrating the creature into fine ash in a split second.
The clearing they had claimed was almost entirely cleared, as dozens of dead beasts littered the ground in various states of ruin.
Some had been scorched to death by Berg's volatile fire attacks, while others had been sliced down by his subordinates.
In short, they were already finished clearing their designated side of the woods.
After Kai had claimed the East, Berg's group had decided to move North-west, only to encounter a meager fifty-eight beasts.
Now, they had finished dealing with every single one of them.
'I thought the instructor explicitly said that we would encounter hundreds of beasts here? So why did we only find fifty? Where are the res…' Berg's inner monologue trailed off as his eyes widened in a sudden, sharp realization.
Then, in the next heartbeat, his hands curled into trembling fists as invisible flames burned deep within his eyes.
'... Did Kai trick me? Did he purposefully snag the bigger horde? Damn it! He fucking deceived me just to win this competition. He will pay… I will make him pay for this humiliation.'
"Haaa…. Haaa…. Haaaa." The Aspirants could be seen panting heavily from mild exhaustion, their chests heaving now that they were done dealing with the monsters in this sector.
— What now? It seems like we got the short end of the stick.
— And the boss is nowhere to be seen.
Where has the damn thing gone?
— Could it be lurking on the other side where squad Kai went?
— Hey, Berg. What's the plan? What do we do now?
Berg's fingers squeezed even tighter at the murmurs echoing through the clearing, his ego bruised by the perceived slight.
'I think it's finally time to teach him never to cross my path again.'
"Gather around. Let's go and pay squad Kai a visit. Who knows, maybe they are struggling and need our "expert" help in hunting?" Berg grinned devilishly as he stared off into the distance, his expression twisted.
Without wasting a moment, the boots of every Aspirant in the vicinity activated with a hiss of compressed gas.
They all launched off the ground, speeding through the trees in the direction where Kai and his group were hunting.
It was evident to anyone watching that a storm of trouble was brewing.
****
"Ah… this was remarkably hard."
"Agreed. My entire body is aching."
"Wait. Does our class even have a healer in our ranks to patch this up?"
"I highly doubt so."
"Damn. Maybe we truly do deserve our title as the weakest link."
"Shut up, you fool."
It had been several minutes since the chaotic hunt began, and within that window of time—thanks largely to the overwhelming efforts of Trisha and Kai they had managed to eliminate the beasts in the area.
It wasn't an easy feat by any stretch, as the majority of the Aspirants had sustained various injuries during the frantic melee.
However, none of the wounds were major; otherwise, the teens wouldn't be cracking jokes and smiling amongst themselves as they caught their breath.
Kai, on the other hand, could be seen sliding his bandana back up toward his forehead, a wide, triumphant grin plastered on his face.
He looked energized by the carnage.
Trisha, however, had not emerged entirely unscathed.
She had several shallow scratches that oozed crimson blood on her arms and across her chest, though she wore the wounds with a cold indifference.
Meanwhile, Ray was strangely… not injured?
What the others didn't realize was that Ray had been subtly healing himself away from the watchful gaze of his peers.
That was the sole reason he looked to be in such pristine condition compared to the battered students around him.
Regardless of their physical states, they were all profoundly tired as they huddled together in the center of the clearing.
Van had also sheepishly walked over after noticing that the last of the beasts were officially dead.
After a few moments of silence, Kai finally spoke up, his voice ringing out with pride;
"Good job, everyone. Today, we proved that we are far better than those blasted so-called elite class members. So rejoice!"
— Yayyyyy!
A small, genuine smile flashed across Kai's face as he listened to the cheers of his comrades.
He waited for the noise to subside before adding;
"So now, let's go look for the boss class."
Ray's expression suddenly shifted into a frown.
His ears twitched, picking up a rhythmic, mechanical whistling in the distance.
He turned his head sharply back toward the shadowed entrance of the forest.
"Hey Kai, we got company," he warned.
The gravity in his tone caused the tall Aspirant to tilt his head toward the dark treeline, his eyes narrowing.
Hearing the sudden warning, the rest of the group tensed up instantly.
They stood on guard, wondering whether there were more stray beasts lurking in the brush… or perhaps the boss itself had finally decided to show its face?
Nobody knew for certain yet.
But Ray did, hence he didn't tense up like the others; he simply watched the canopy.
Soon enough, several figures flew out from the foliage and into the clearing.
Landing heavily on the ground was Berg, followed immediately by his own group as they descended from the forest behind him in a display of organized force.
"Berg?" Kai called out, his voice neutral.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What exactly did you do, Kai?" Berg demanded.
He did not wear the friendliest of faces as he began calmly walking forward, his eyes burning with accusation.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Kai lifted an eyebrow.
He also stepped forward, a silent gesture that signaled his group to step back and give him space.
"What do I mean?" Berg repeated the question, scoffing as if it were the most absurd thing he had ever heard in his life.
"You tricked me! That is exactly what I mean! I was heading toward this sector with my group earlier.
But then you swindled me and seized this clearing, knowing full well that there was a massive horde of beasts here, right? Right?!"
"...."
Kai didn't rush to offer a reply.
Instead, he folded his arms across his broad chest, a small, thoughtful frown settling on his face.
"I honestly don't know what you're talking about."
Berg blinked a few times in disbelief.
His mouth hung open for a few seconds before his brows began to twitch with rising irritation.
"You know, you have always been stepping on my nerves and constantly disobeying me…"
"Eh? Why wouldn't I disobey you? Are you my father or something?" Kai shot back, uncrossing his hands and letting them hang loosely at his sides, ready for anything.
Berg nodded slowly as he continued stepping forward.
Each stride was more confident and predatory than the last.
Ray, observing from the sidelines, felt his frown deepen.
'This is about to take a very ugly turn. Can Kai actually handle him if things go south?'
"Good point. I'm certainly not your father. Or am I?" Berg asked rhetorically.
He turned back toward his group, and a chorus of loud, mocking laughter erupted from their ranks.
— You sure are his daddy, Berg! I mean, he can't even dream of standing face to face with a powerhouse like you!
"Good point," Berg agreed, nodding while turning away from Kai to join in the laughter.
"....."
Nobody on Kai's side said a single word.
The laughter eventually died down as Berg stopped, his mirth vanishing instantly.
The temperature in the air suddenly dropped several degrees, yet paradoxically, small tongues of orange flames began licking at Berg's hands.
"... I had warned you not to cross my path that day. I told you what would happen otherwise," Berg stated.
He lifted his head and turned to face Kai fully.
Every trace of amusement was wiped clean from his face, replaced by a cold, murderous intent that caused even the confident Kai to tense up.
Crystals began rapidly manifesting and surrounding Kai's hands; he knew exactly what was coming next.
"I would be the one attacking instead."
Fwiiiiiish—!
Two concentrated fireballs immediately shot out of Berg's palms, rocketting toward Kai at a blazing, inescapable speed.
___
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So for hitting the comments challenge, I will be uploading one extra chapter as promised. Enjoy fam ✋🙂↕️✋