Chapter 11

 Day three of the exam. 

 Bryan and Carl had successfully dispatched several beasts with little to no injuries. Little by little, they had gained practical combat experience which increased the coordination between the two of them.

 "Let's take a little break." T

 They had arrived at a waterfall and Bryan said to Carl who was trailing behind him in his enlarged state.

 Cake nodded and his body quickly deflated until he was back to the size of an ordinary lizard.

 During their hunts, Bryan mastered the skill of fusing objects together with a little bit of heat and combined with some primitive sewing, he had made a backpack out of the materials of defeated monsters.

 "There we go." He removed it from his back and dropped it on the ground and flipped it open.

 In it were lightly grilled slices of meat and he removed a handful and gave it to Carl.

 "Eat up. I want to have a quick bath before we leave." Bryan said and received a low growl from Carl.

 Bryan didn't want to bother about the specifics of how Carl was able to eat something that was greater than his body size and still be okay.

 'Supernatural abilities, I guess.' Bryan reasoned as he bit into the meat and frowned.

 'I'm running low on spices.' Rather running low, it would be more appropriate to say that he was completely out of it.

 "Luckily, this place has some things I can use." The presence of ether may have mutated the flora but most of them still retained their original attributes just, they were stronger.

 "Let's hope I don't pick up a poisonous one." Bryan laughed and was about to continue eating when he shivered and rolled out of the way.

 And his decision was correct as boulder smashed into the spot he was sitting and pulverised it.

 'Damn it. Now of all times?' Bryan looked at his backpack and food that was ruined and a vein surfaced in his forehead.

 "Carl!" Bryan called out and a loud roar replied him as a gigantic lizard appeared and looked into the distance.

 "Beast Call." Bryan muttered and ether flowers through the connection between him and Carl.

 'It's coming!' Bryan felt the vibrations from the earth and judged that whatever made that attack was coming.

 Flames surrounded Bryan's hands in a blade like shape and he held them up as he tensed up his entire body, ready to move at any moment.

 "Sorry about that." Instead of the bear they were expecting, a cold but definitely human voice said as she owner walked into view.

 "Ah." It was her, Bryan realised and relaxed a bit. One of the people he had been paying attention to before they started the exam.

 'I don't think she's an enemy.'His reason was not simply because of the fact that they were taking the exam. It was because of the fact that her walking posture was relatively normal, signifying she was not planning an attack.

 'Besides, I see no reason for her to attack me.' If there was a specific limit on the number of slots, then there would be but while they only accepted roughly 100 students, there were times they accepted more than that.

 'Plus, her aura doesn't make her seem like someone who would carry out a sneaky attack on another person without reason.' Bryan came to a conclusion within a split second and released the ether he was borrowing from Carl and the fire around him faded away.

 "Stand down." Bryan said to Carl and the latter growled a little and reduced his size.

 "I need an explanation for this." Bryan crossed his arms and spoke coldly but the girl did not flinch and gazed at him within unfeeling green eyes.

 "I was fighting a beast when it suddenly sent one of my attacks flying into the sky. After dispatching it, I hurriedly came here." The girl said and bowed her head.

 "I apologise for the inconvenience I have caused you." 

 "In that case, team up with me to pass the exam."

 "Eh?"

....

 Lucy was honestly confused. She had fought a lesser dragon with a Tier 5 Elite level strength and just as she was about to finish it off, it suddenly manipulated space and changed the direction of her attack.

 She killed it immediately after that and rushed over to where the boulder had landed, praying that it hadn't hit anybody only to find a rather handsome red haired boy there.

 And then he suddenly proposed that they be teammates out of the blue. Now, anyone would understand why she'd be confused.

 "For starters, my name is Bryan. Nice to meet you." While she stood dumbfounded, the boy, Bryan extended his hand to her.

 "Lucy." She replied and took his hand while the inside of her head was still muddled.

 "That's Carl." Bryan nodded at the lizard that was of the fire element and he gazed at her with immense pride as he puffed out his chest.

 "Stop that." Lucy let out a chuckle at their interaction. In her mind, of course.

 "His name is Ragna." Lucy gestured at her tortoise that was still lurking in the shadows of the tress, trying not to draw too much attention.

 'As considerate as always.' Ragna's form had always drawn attention, good or bad, so most of the times, he tried to stay out of sight.

 "Nice to meet you." Bryan stepped forward until he was just a couple of meters away from the beast and looked into its reptilian eyes.

 Ragna blinked in surprise and slowly nodded at the boy and Lucy smiled.

 'Thank God what they said is no longer haunting him.' Her smile disappeared at the thought of those people which was why nobody witnessed it.

 "What were you saying about teaming up?" Lucy asked.

 "Like I was saying, we should work together. The only thing they told us to do is survive but I highly doubt that is the only thing we should do. It's just a hypothesis of mine but I think our performance in this test might affect the grade we get." Bryan explained and Lucy nodded and reached to the bag she carried.

 "Before that, how about we have lunch?"