My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 34: The first special bond exam (20)

BOOM

The explosion split the air apart. Trees groaned, the earth trembled, and a violent shockwave tore through the forest, scattering debris like shrapnel.

"ARGGHHHH!" The blind mercenary tried to cover his ears as much as possible.

It felt like a thousand needles poking his eardrums.

"There, that one again!"

Jaster pointed at another melon.

Marcus nodded, and the arrow pierced through the sky again, headed towards that melon.

Alexander could slightly hear Marcus’s arrows; he observed the little sound he had

and noticed the arrow was aiming towards the melon.

And again.

BOOM

A thunderous blast tore through the forest, hurling pulp and splinters in every direction. The ground shook, leaves rained from the trees, and the force of it slammed into Alex’s chest like a hammer.

He spat out the blood in his mouth.

"It’s... the melon..."

Despite Alex’s injured leg, he groaned, forcing himself upright on trembling legs.

"I just have to get rid of them...." He coughed up the smoke inside his ribs.

He slammed his foot to the ground.

A pulse of vibration raced through the earth and returned to him, revealing shapes in the distance.

Five figures stood near the forest’s edge.

"There it is..." He rushed to grab one of the melons.

"Okay, next, let’s do that one." Jaster pointed towards a melon that was pulsing violently.

"Ay, ay, captain!" Marcus said while smiling.

He formed the arrow again, reusing the little light he had,

and focused on that one melon. With precise precision, he let go of the arrow. The arrow shot through the sky.

Just then, Marcus noticed Alex near the melon.

Alex could still hear loud buzzing from the explosion, but the slight sound of the arrow piercing the wind came through.

He picked up the exploding melon and threw it directly at the arrow.

Marcus and Jaster’s eyes shot up.

"KID, GET DOWN!"

BOOM

The arrow pierced the melon directly, and it exploded mid-air, creating a huge wind current.

Marcus turned his bow into a shield. He grabbed Jaster by the collar and dragged the kid behind him.

The huge force of the wind crashed into both of them, and they fell out of the tree.

Marcus quickly grabbed Jaster mid-air and hugged him.

They both landed on the ground, with Marcus taking the hit for Jaster.

"Ughh... Are you okay, kid?"

Marcus rubbed his head while looking at Jaster.

"I’m fine.. But, what just happened?"

Both of them got up and rubbed the dust off their uniforms.

"It’s the blind mercenary. He figured out our plan and threw the destruction melon at us!"

Just before Jaster could say anything,

Marcus saw Alexander throwing the melon at them again.

"WATCH OUT!"

Marcus quickly pushed Jaster behind him. With the little light he had, Marcus created a shield.

Just before the melon hit the shield, Jaster reached his hands towards Marcus while screaming.

"MARCUS, THAT WON’T WITHSTAND—"

BOOM

A loud bang scattered the nearby trees and shook the entire forest.

Jaster flew through the air and hit his back against a tree trunk.

His ears were buzzing, and his leg felt numb.

He tried to get up but saw his leg had been stabbed by a huge branch.

Jaster didn’t feel the pain at first, probably due to adrenaline. But after he realized, the pain struck immediately in his brain.

"AAAAAAAAAA!"

He let out a scream that echoed across the burning battlefield.

The branch’s tip was covered in Jaster’s blood, as his leg dangled from the branch.

This was more painful than when Adam tried to kill himself.

"AAAA..... someone.. Please help." He cried out, sobbing.

He saw Marcus laying on the ground; he looked unconscious.

Jaster extended his arm, trying to reach out to Marcus.

He noticed a shadow coming out from the flames.

There stood the blind mercenary. He came out of the fire and explosion like it was nothing.

The only thing that looked visibly injured was a part of his clothing,

where the fabric on his upper arm had burned and revealed his huge biceps.

Jaster coughed out a clump of blood. He couldn’t believe that Alex didn’t look hurt at all.

He still had that stoic expression.

The blind man slowly walked towards Marcus. He looked down at the unconscious blonde man.

"How pitiful....." The man said mockingly.

"You illuminate your own grave.... President." Alexander raised his katana, the blade pointed directly at Marcus’s chest.

"No... no.. NOOOO!" Jaster screamed. He tried to budge from the branch, but it pierced his leg even more.

"Stop! STOP IT!"

Alexander took a deep breath. Then the blade plunged downward toward Marcus’s chest and—

THUNK

---

(Karina POV)

Karina peeked from the rock they were hiding behind.

She looked outside the cave and saw almost all the forest had been engulfed in smoke.

"This is.... terrifying!"

She noticed Ivy and Jay hiding behind another huge rock.

Ivy was covering her mouth while trying to contain a sob.

"Karina..." Reza whispered while gently tapping her shoulder.

"What exactly is happening?"

"I... don’t know." Karina remembered what Jaster had told them.

He had left the cave because he was curious about what was causing the smoke. And he also gave Purple to Karina for her to protect.

Karina looked at her shoulder, where Purple looked visibly worried.

"Krrk!" It tilted its head, wondering where its owner was.

"I don’t know, but I’m sure he’s safe..." She rubbed Purple’s head.

Just then, all of them heard a grunting noise from under the mountain.

All of them tensed up and hid behind the giant rock.

Ivy was visibly shaken, sobbing her eyes out. Meanwhile, Jay rolled his eyes.

Reza tapped Karina’s shoulder; he leaned in to whisper directly at her.

"What should we do?" Karina shrugged her shoulders.

The grunting noise of a person became louder and louder.

At this point, Karina felt grateful for Jaster. She could see now that he had really carried this team on his back.

Jaster was the only one giving commands, while the others just followed.

And now, with no Jaster around, the Red Team had no idea what to do.

Karina took a peek and saw a hand reaching towards the edge of the mountain.

Karina saw a huge rock. She was gonna pull the same move as what she did to Jay, until she heard a girl’s voice.

"Come on! We’re almost there. We can hide here for now."

Karina immediately thought about the other students. If they were in danger, they should help each other too.

She got up from her hiding spot and walked towards the hand.

"KARINA.... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Reza whispered loudly at her.

"Dude, what’s your bestie doing?" Jay glared at Reza.

But just to be safe, she grabbed the huge rock and slowly walked towards them.

They kept speaking; there was even a male voice.

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"Yes, I’m sure. I saw a cave up here!"

Karina slowly looked to see who it was and was shocked to find two students trying to climb up.

One was a blonde-haired girl with messy hair, and the other was a brown-haired boy with his uniform all messed up.

The blonde-haired girl’s eyes lit up.

"Oh, you! Mind giving us a hand?"

Karina was in a daze until the student purposely coughed to get her attention.

"Oh... Yeah, totally!" She pulled up the girl and then the boy, and they plopped onto the ground.

The girl rubbed her face while smiling.

"Thank you so much, kind girl. Me and Benjamin thought we were deadmeats!"

Benjamin sighed out of relief; he then took out an inhaler.

He raised the inhaler to his mouth and pressed down, drawing in a shaky breath.

"You okay there, Benny?" The girl tapped Ben’s back. With a concerned looked.

"Yeah...." He said with a satisfied sigh.

Karina was so lost; she tapped the girl’s shoulder.

"Excuse me... But who are you?"

The girl’s eyes widened; she smiled awkwardly.

"Ah, yes. I forgot to introduce myself... Hello." Her orange eyes brightened.

"My name is Anastasia!"