Chapter 7

 "Come on D. Say something to the students before they die." Invigilator O did not bother to lower her voice as she spoke to the man and several students gulped as their nervousness and anxiety increased.

 "Shut up. You're making my headache worse." D complained and looked at the students and opened his mouth.

 "I was asked to do this simply because there aren't enough staff members and this idiot next to me is incapable of explaining things properly." O scowled at his words but he ignored her and continued talking.

 "Forget whatever your teachers taught you about this world. Because of the crappy educations system, things have been watered down for you to swallow. The true rulers of this world are the beasts. Humans are just barely able to eke out a place for weaklings like you to live. Right now, you all are nothing more than potential tools that will do nothing more than waste resources and only a few of you will actually complete the job of helping humanity so, don't get too cocky."

 Murmurs broke out but nobody dared to offend the Invigilator or even complain.

 As for why? They may not have been able to sensed the strength he kept hidden but their tamed beasts were sending them warning signals.

 All the tamed beasts tensed up from his aura. All except one.

 Climbing his masters head, Carl raised his head to the sky and let out a breath of flames. The flames died out before they could even reach the people above but it was enough to shock everyone present.

 "Hmm... Looks like not all of you are trash." D directed his gaze at Bryan and the latter felt as if he was soaked in a bucket of ice.

 Carl was similarly affected but he stood his ground and shot the man a look of defiance. In response, the man amped the pressure and Bryan felt like lead filled his legs while he carried a weight on his back.

 His body screamed under the virtual pressure and Bryan felt like giving up but perhaps he was infected by emotions showed by his companion, he stood his ground.

 "D, stop it." And with those words, the pressure vanished so fast Bryan almost collapsed on the floor.

 "It's rare for me to be the voice of reasoning but I don't want to get scolded by that old man so let's hurry this up." Invigilator O said and D remained silence and only gave a parting look at Bryan.

 And it wasn't just limited to the Invigilator. The other students had also taken an interest in him and most of them were shooting curious glances at him.

 'Looks like I'm quite popular.' Under normal circumstances, he would have thought of it as a demerit but it did help with his plans to look for teammates.

 "Well, we've wasted a bit of time so, let's get to it. Firstly, this exam is a survival. Survive three weeks and you'll meet the minimum requirements for passing." O said and the area became quiet as a pin as everyone paid attention to her.

 "Second, for every beast you hunt, you will get a set amount of merit points and ordinary points. Merit points determine the benefits you get when you are in the school and ordinary points are the currency to be used there. The rate will be sent to the terminals that will be handed to you."

 "Third, no maiming or killing of any other participants or their beasts. That is all. I wish you a safe and happy exam." O abruptly finished but before any of them could say anything, a black void opened under them and sucked them in.

 Bryan did not panic. Not as much as the other participants, he hoped. But the fear of falling through a void with nothing in sight does loosen your lungs a bit.

 Carl was definitely not in a similar state with his master. The mouth that he had open? You must be imagining it.

 After what seemed like an eternity, Bryan and Carl dropped into a cold liquid that they desperately hoped was water.

 Bryan's body felt awfully light but he did not pay much attention to it and grabbed his partner and started swimming up.

 "Puah!" Bryan spat out air and looked around. 

 He was right in the middle of an emerald green pool of water and he heaved a sigh of relief.

 Bryan took a look around, scanning for any signs of activity before he started swimming towards the shore.

 Luckily, the pool was not that big so he was easily able to reach it in a matter of seconds.

 "Aw, shucks." Bryan said as he noticed that the bag he had carried had fallen off at one point and he carried his body out of the pool and stood on the banks.

 "Carl, please some fire." Bryan shook the lizard by his tail and he responded by flicking a tongue of fire at Bryan's face.

 The fire curled around his face and spanked around his body. Every where the flame touched, steam rose into the air with a small noise and in mere moments, Bryan was dry.

 "Thanks." Bryan said and emitted a small flame from his hand and extended it towards the lizard and dried it gently.

 "Ah." It was then Bryan realised that he had lost all his food,camping gear and everything else. The only thing he has was his primary combat tools, a knife and a notebook and pen.

 "Well, not that it's that much of a disadvantage. Mother did train me for this." He was referring to Miss Agnes. After the time he had spend with her, he has grown more comfortable calling her by that name. Only in private for now though.

 "Looks like we'll have to find our own food." Bryan said as he sensed the approaching monsters that were attracted by the sounds.

 "Carl, enter combat mode." Bryan said as a streak of red flashes in his eyes.

 The next moment, that small part of the forest erupted in flames.