My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 19: The first special bond exam (5)

Jaster decided to continue on with the climb.

After finally reaching the peak. He got up and was immediately met with the shouting of a girl’s voice.

"I WAS HERE FIRST!"

The girl had long, straight purple hair with a messed-up uniform.

While the other side showed a guy crossing his arms.

He had deep black hair color and teal blue highlights, concentrated along the sides and underneath.

He let out a loud "Tsk."

"Girl, please, my foot was clearly touching the ground before you! So logically, I should be here first!"

Jaster just stared blankly at the two students fighting.

He looked to his side and saw a small white-haired girl with a green bow in her hair; she was quietly sitting, watching the two fight.

"Uhmm... What’s happening?"

He asked the stranger.

The girl flinched, thinking that no one was gonna talk to her.

She stuttered in every word she said.

"Uhh—well... They.. were both–got here first.... So they’re arguing who actually got here first...."

She looked away, blushing.

Jaster perked his eyebrows.

"Wow... thanks, I guess.."

Just then, he heard a guy grunt from below the steep surface.

He looked down and saw another student struggling to climb up.

"Ah, you there!"

He spotted Jaster poking his head.

"Would you mind helping me here, brother!"

Jaster was hesitant at first, but remembered he needed to at least look good in front of someone.

So he reluctantly reached his hand to grab the man.

Jaster used his Wall Climb skill and helped the guy get up to the peak.

They both crashed into each other as the guy fell on top of Jaster.

"Whoops, sorry there, brother!"

Instead of getting off, the man just laughed and continued to stare directly into Jaster’s eyes.

Jaster scanned his face; he felt like he’d seen this boy before in the game.

Silver hair, thick eyelashes, baby blue eyes. And every smile formed a dimple.

The man noticed Jaster staring.

"Oh! Are you perhaps interested in me?"

Jaster wasn’t prepared for what he said, so he pushed the man away.

While all of this was happening, the white-haired girl was watching the two guys; her eyes shone brightly.

"Don’t tell me....!" She whispered under her breath.

The silver-haired guy rubbed his dirty uniform and spotted the two students fighting.

"Ohhh~~~ Some drama!"

He ran to hear what they were fighting about.

Jaster pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This is chaotic..."

Jaster looked around, but he saw nothing. He was expecting to already be given a class.

But just then, a hummingbird flew up to them.

The bird kept chirping, as if telling them something.

"We don’t understand you, birdie!"

The purple-haired girl screamed at the bird.

The hummingbird shook its head, then finally opened its mouth—

"There. Can you hear me now!"

Jade’s voice came from the green bird.

Everyone’s eyes went towards the bird.

"I’LL take that as a yes. So congratulations, you guys made it to the peak. And now let’s begin the second phase of the bond exam!"

The purple-haired girl’s eyes widened; she shouted at the bird.

"The fuck do you mean by that!"

She pointed her arm towards her messy uniform.

"Can’t you see I’m a mess here? I need to take a bath!"

The bird’s eyebrows furrowed.

"You’re free to leave whenever you want. Just so you know, you’ll be considered a dropout, meaning you can’t apply for Bondspire Academy anymore. Do you still want that?"

The bird’s statement silenced the girl as she looked away.

Jaster was curious; all the special bond exams he played, none of them had ever had a two-phased situation. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"I have a question," Jaster raised his hand.

"What do you mean by second phase? So the exam isn’t done yet?"

The hummingbird smiled looking at Jaster.

"Of course it’s not over yet." The bird’s beak pointed towards the purple-haired girl that was screaming at the bird.

"You, Karina."

The bird then pointed towards the guy that was screaming back at Karina.

"Reza."

Then proceeded to point towards the quiet white-haired girl.

"Ivy."

Its eyes then shifted towards the silver-haired guy that just arrived.

"Jay..."

And last but not least, it pointed towards Jaster.

"And Jaster, are all on a team!"

Reza was shocked; he didn’t want to be teammates with Karina.

"Can I switch teams, please?"

"No... You can’t. You all will play a game of CAPTURE THE FLAG!"

Jaster was even more curious now.

"The rule of the game is simple. First, you’ll be assigned a flag. Each team has a different color flag, so you don’t get confused."

Jay raised his hand.

"Can the color... be like... pink?" He said lazily.

Karina disagreed with Jay’s color choice.

"What! Why would the color be pink! It should be—"

"SHUT UP!"

Jade’s voice echoed from the bird’s mouth; it immediately startled everyone there.

"LET me finish my sentence first!"

Jade cleared her throat.

"As I was saying. Collect the bunch of flags scattered around the forest. But the flags are guarded by an evil spirit or a dangerous obby!"

Jaster’s eyes widened; he didn’t expect to meet an evil spirit this early on.

An evil spirit is when a spirit animal’s bond with Boundara is weak, leading to their corruption and turning hostile, unlike the other domestic spirits.

"But isn’t an evil spirit like... evil!"

Ivy squeaked hearing the word that came out of her own mouth.

The bird rolled its eyes.

"Girl, no shit. But if you’re incapable of collecting flags with that method, don’t worry, there’s also another method, and it’s stealing another team’s flag and claiming it as yours!"

Reza smirked; he rubbed his chin thinking of something.

"But that also applies to you. So be careful and don’t let your original flag get stolen or—"

Jade stopped for a bit, then continued on.

"You’re gonna get expelled from the school!"

Everyone flinched hearing the word "expelled."

Being expelled from Bondspire is one of the most shameful things a student can experience.

It’s like saying, "Hey, I can’t compete with the other students; I’m a failure as a human being!"

Everyone was now on high alert. Karina and Reza stopped fighting, while Ivy looked like she wanted to cover her fear.

"Anyways, that’s all I wanna say. Here’s your original flag. Make sure you don’t lose it!"

A puff of smoke came from the bird, and it dropped a plain white flag.

Jaster went towards it and picked it up; just then, the color started changing and turned into red.

"Eugh, red, I hate that color," Karina complained, seeing the flag.

Before the hummingbird left, she said one last thing.

"Also. You guys are at the bottom of the leaderboard, since it took you quite a long time to get here. And there are about 96 teams, and 5 of them have already been expelled. You can check it on the school logo!"

After sending that cruel honesty, the hummingbird flew away into the sky.

"Great!"

Karina walked in circles and proceeded to scream out of frustration.

Reza was annoyed with her attitude.

"Can you kindly shut the fuck up?"

The two of them continued to argue again, as Jay watched the drama while laughing.

"Why do I have them as my teammates..." Jaster looked at Ivy.

"We should hide our flag. Where do you think would be a great place to put it?"

Ivy flinched, then looked at Jaster.

"Uhh... you’re talking to me?"

Jaster felt like he was gonna burst and become an evil spirit himself.

He picked up a rock and threw it at Reza.

It hit his forehead as he grunted.

"The fuck was that?!" He screamed at Jaster while rubbing his head.

"EVERYONE! We need to focus. Do you really want to be at the bottom of the board again? Everyone has already gotten a head start; we already have a goddamn disadvantage on our side!"

Jay immediately got up and locked his arm around Jaster’s neck.

"Yes, guys, I believe in my buddyy...."

He looked at Jaster, his eyes scanning him.

"Jaster?"

"Yes, my buddy Jaster. Let’s work together to not get expelled at the very least!"

Reza and Karina looked at each other, then gave a petty pout.

"Fine. What do you propose we do first?"

Karina asked.

"Oh, I have a plan on where we should hide our flag first." Jaster smirked.

He knew a brilliant place to put their flag in, and the place would be....

---

In the cave where he found the Maiden Pool, of course!

All of them climbed down and looked around the cave.

"This seems pretty secure, my bro!"

Jay, still locking his hands on Jaster’s neck, playfully punched his body.

"Ouch... But yeah, so here’s what I was thinking."

Jaster turned around and looked at his team.

"We should have two people guarding the flag, and the other three capture all the other flags!"

Karina nodded.

"Sure, I like that idea, but I’m guarding the flag."

Reza looked at her, his mouth gaping.

"I also want to guard the flag, though!"

"I called it first!"

Ivy shyly poked at Karina’s hand.

"Why don’t.... you both guard the flag?"

Both Karina and Reza were disgusted at Ivy’s suggestion.

They both said in unison.

"NO WAY!!"

The two began their third time arguing while Jay laughed profusely.

Jaster let out a huge sigh.

"Please... Release me from this hell."