Challenge (3)

"...Maroon, Wendy, Liliath and Noel. Go change to your P.E. clothes and gather at the school field."

Entering class, Teacher Glib read out the list of names for those part of the combat and stealth category.

Taking my P.E. clothes with me, I exited the class to the changing room-- not before i snuck a glance at Kai who looked nonchalant.

What's the link between him and this situation?

By the way, Liliath helped me fix up the cut on my face so all is well and fine-- except for the chilly air I got when I saw her serious frown.

After having my clothes change, I gathered together with the rest of the class members at the school field.

The school field was a flat piece of ground, the place where Liliath nearly killed me playing dodgeball. The large flat dry dirt field was encapsulated by a 400 meter running track, which was further surrounded by patches of grass except the one part that extends towards the indoor training hall.

The morning sky was clear and blue. Barely any clouds present, perfect weather.

Those who were called her numbered at least 3 digits. There are a lot of students. I could see a good few summoners here, some with odd creatures-- I think one of them was a cerberus. There's also a very familiar slime and a very familiar person who had once been caught up inside the slime.

For those who didn't have any summoned creatures, I saw one of them demonstrating tentacle earth magic, another using something like telekinesis to detonate rocks. The odd one being this one student that laid hovering in the air as if she was floating in the sea with a floaty ring.

Luckily the teachers told all students to wear P.E. clothes. I wouldn't know how many nose bleeds this student could cause.

Then again-- Liliath was standing out quite a bit. I could sense a lot of people sneaking glances. Quite uncomfortable.

At the same time, I didn't expect Wendy's TALENT to be part of the combat category-- though thinking about it, her TALENT didn't really fit any other category-- actually.

"Wendy, can Qui fight?" I asked, looking at the oh-so innocent rabbit plushie, Qui being held in her arms.

"QUI can beat you to a pulp. Qui!"

"My TALENT isn't suited for combat," Wendy shot down Qui's figh..

"What if you utilize your TALENT on objects such as guns? There could be potential in that," Liliath said.

"Thank you, but I wouldn't want it." Wendy shook her head. "I prefer my plushie not killing."

Killer plushies. That thought came to mind. Just imagine the scare that could bring. Huh, doesn't this mean her TALENT was useful?

"Excuse me, Noel and Liliath. It's you two correct?" A tardy guy came up to us and asked. Showing us a kind smile, he wore a white-blue military uniform emblazoned with fabulous badges, in his hand was a file.

"Yup. I'm Noel and she's Liliath. Excuse me but you are?" I asked.

"Third grade warrant officer Riel, a pleasure to meet you two. Today, I will be in charge of scouting your abilities," A confident and amiable voice that reminded me of those underdog strategists seen in mangas. He just has that air to him.

"Is it not divided into groups?"

"Hm? Though I don't get what you're implying, each officer is assigned to take care of 4 people maximum. In this case, the three in my list are, Bryan, Jay, Milli, and the two of you. You pair count as one."

I glanced at Liliath, surprised to find that she blushed at his statement. Really now?

Cough.

"I'll be explaining the itinerary for today but before that. Also, Wendy, was it? The officer in charge of your scouting is that female officer with a fake angel halo above her, right there," Riel pointed at an 'angel-like-but-not-an-angel' officer afar. Wow, he sure is honest alright.

"Okay."

"Thank you! Qui!"

"See you," Liliath said.

"Can you two come with me? I prefer to have everyone group together. It would be better to explain to everyone in one go."

Liliath and I nodded.

We were brought to the edge of the running track where the other three were. It seems Riel is in charge of 4 summoners.

And closing in, I saw a familiar face-- or creature.

The human-sized slime.

The owner of the slime who noticed us could be seen inching himself away from his summon while the slime, in reciprocation, moved closer to him. It was a zero sum net.

"Don't come closer!" the guy shuddered as he spoke in a meek manner.

"I.." Liliath, who was about to raise a hand to gesture, paused midway-- her fingers twitching.

This was because the moment she spoke, the slime hurled itself at its own master. He quickly twisted his body to dodge but-- half his arm was swallowed in the process.

"NO!! BELGA!? GET OFF! GET OFF!?" He flailed his arms around, trying to pull his hands away from the slime.

""Oh shit--""

This feels familiar.

My voice overlapped with the guy with a dragon made up of oranges.

When I say orange, I literally mean the fruit 'orange' type of orange. The orange fruit dragon, standing on two of its limbs like a raptor, stepped in front of it's master to protect him. Let's see-- there were even some see-through parts in certain places of its body.

"Hey? Hey? What's going on?!" Of the three, the female student with a 1 meter long flying chinese dragon summoner exclaimed. The chinese dragon, unlike the fruit dragon, rushed towards the slime, and spurted a breath of controlled amounts of fire. The slime pulled away, noticing the danger to itself and it's master if it brought itself any closer.

Jiggle, jiggle. The shrunken slime seemed to wiggle in a tepid, shaken manner. All because of the existence known as Liliath.

Yep. Liliath is still on top of the food chain. She's a demon lord after all.

"What's with that?" Riel looked at us with a difficult expression.

"I apologize. It seems my presence has scared the slime," Liliath hung her head dejectedly.

"I guess we have to keep our distance huh?" I said, glancing at the summoner who gave the slime warily furtive glances.

"What's up with you two? Isn't it 4 people in a group?" the female summoner said. The chinese dragon coiled around her, baring its fangs at Liliath. "Hey Dravis, what's up?"

"Don't tell me you're the rumoured harem summoner!" The guy with the orange fruit dragon pointed his finger at us-- and the dragon mimicked it's master. Quite a cute pose if I do say so myself-- but Liliath is cuter.

"Harem summoner? You two nearly killed me last time!" The summoner of the slime shouted.

"What? Harem summoner-- he summoned that girl?!" The summoner of the orange dragon yelled in disbelief. A few students from the surroundings shot their heads over.

"Yeah. From the rumors."

"But I've never seen them before?"

"Um.." Riel, who couldn't control the situation, was stuck in a pitiful predicament.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Bryan, this orange dragon here is Orion," the guy with the fruit-- orange dragon said.

"Hey! Me too. My name is Milli. My summon is chinese dragon named Draviz, say hi,' the chinese dragon, at her friendly words, waved it's tiny front claws at us.

"I'm Noel."

"In continuation, you may call Liliath."

"Hey, Jay, introduce yourself already."

"Fine. I'm Jay. The guy who was hospitalized for a week after my slime met your summon-- your girl, Liliath," the owner of the slime siad with a sigh.

"Um.." Riel raised his finger.

"Liliath, just to confirm. You actually got summoned?"

Liliath nodded.

"Did Noel give you that name?"

"It was given by my parents."

"What? I thought there was some hidden meaning to the naming sense. Liliath is a good girl name-- I think. Combining the words: Orange and Hyperion I get, taa-daa-- Orion. That's the origin of my dragon's name," Bryan shrugged.

"Um.." Riel's voice continued to echo..

"Naming sense? That's just weird. A normal naming sense in Gilgamesh was rare to begin with-- exception being Liliath and Jay."

Was Riel not a normal name? I don't really understand this.

Cough.

Everyone finally turned to Riel.

"Have I gotten your attention? Okay, I'll be explaining the activities for today so please listen-- please come closer together?"

I looked at Jay and he looked back at me-- then shifted his gaze to the slime that had shrunk to the size of a basketball.

"Haahh.. why do these sorts of things always happen to me," Riel pressed his temples.

In short, today's activities will begin with a speech given by the Lieutenant and a specially invited guest Riel told us to anticipate. After that, each person would demonstrate and explain their TALENTS to their assigned officers. Those the officer deems have potential in a specific department would be then called out to be further scouted by the officer above.

Another thing to note is that those who have been selected by the officers would then be presented with a contract from the government to work for them. Allowances and support schemes would be received by the students who accept the contract, the allowances would last until the school years finish and that person would also, at the end of the school year, if his or her results meet the minimum requirements, will attain a position in the government force instantly.

There are two kinds of contracts. One being a 'you-can-opt-to-not-take' contract, and the other being an obligatory contract.

The latter would usually be presented to those who have TALENTS that could shake the balance of the world or bring severe trouble to oneself if the government doesn't give assistance. It's more commonly given to those in the medical category. The school authorities would then have to contact the individual's parent's to undergo further discussions.

"Liliath, do you hope to work in the government or.."

"I still lack knowledge of this world. I can't quite come to a conclusion. However, from my knowledge, such a role is similar to serving royalty, correct?"

"I wouldn't say royalty but.. I guess it's something like that?"

"I would leave the decision to you, I should be fine as long as we remain toge..ther," LIliath self-destructed again.

Millli rolled her eyes, Bryan and Jay shook their heads while Riel's eyes turned round like saucers.

"Now, any question?" Finishing the explanation, Riel asked.

"No."

"Then we'll proceed to zone 3."

Zone 3 was the top right qudrat of the field standing when standing from the inner training court. Quite a number of students glanced at our direction-- a lot took interest in Bryan's orange dragon and Milli's chinese dragon. Some bobbed their heads as they tried to keep their line of sight set on the bouncing slime-- that fortunately was familiar enough to reduce the distance from 10 meters to 5 meters from Liliath's position.

Because of this, Liliath didn't attract much attention. Well, I guess not many people realize that Liliath is a summoned person-- which saved us quite a bit of trouble.

"ATTENTION!"