“M-master?” Ovis who was behind me called.

“What’s the matter?” I turned around to look at her.

“A-are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m just a bit nervous, that’s all.” I smiled then patted her head.

We were at the location where the promotion exam was supposed to be held. It was in the forests south west that was managed by the guild. The location was not so far from where we encountered the Chaos Worm so I couldn’t help but be nervous.

I looked around yet no one was in the area. I rechecked the letter Reyvin gave me the day before. I confirmed that I was in the right time and place so the situation left me quite puzzled. Since I did not have any options, I just decided to wait.

After a few minutes, a red light glowed. I searched as to where it came from and what I found was a letter. I looked at it and it was strangely addressed to me so I decided to read it.

“Promotion Exam Rules: Get the tamer’s badge located inside a hut in the forest then bring it to me. I will be waiting at the guild. The number of badges is limited so be sure to be quick. You can start the moment you read this letter. Make sure to always act as per the rules of the guild.”

I read what was written in the letter aloud so Ovis would also understand. I then put the letter inside my pocket then took a deep breath.

“Let’s go find that badge!” I told Ovis and she just nodded in response.

I was about to run ahead but then it hit me. I did not know where to go. The hut was supposed to be in the forest, but I had no idea towards which direction. The forest was vast. Charging blindly would just be tiresome without a guaranteed success.

 “M-master?” Ovis got surprised the moment I started climbing the tallest tree in the vicinity.

“I’m just going to take a look from the top.” I replied without looking down.

The trunk was rough so footing was not that hard. In about a minute, I was able to climb near the peak. The branches further up looked unstable which was the reason why I decided to stay on my current position.

I surveyed the area and there was not much scenery to be found. All I saw was a sea of trees that made up the thick forest. I narrowed my eyes, hoping it would improve my vision but I was still not able to locate the hut.

I decided to look a little longer for at least a hint. I could not see the target so I decided to just search for areas where there were less trees. After analyzing the environment, I found two spots that fit the bill. One was towards the north and the other was to the east from our current location.

“H-how was it, master?” Ovis asked after I came down.

“I did not exactly find the hut but I saw some promising locations where it might be.” I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my arm. “Let’s go.”

I ran towards to the north since it looked closer than the one in the east. I glanced over my shoulder to check if Ovis was still behind me.

“I’ll run a bit faster, let me know if you cannot keep up!” I said.

“Y-yes!”

The deeper in the forest we got, the smaller the distance between the trees became which made it harder to run fast. I traversed the gaps between the crowded trees.

I could still hear someone was running behind me, it was safe to assume that Ovis was able to keep up. It was not surprising though since the Beastkins were expected to be physically better than Humans.

After a while of running, the light behind the trees ahead seemed to be brighter. That could mean that we were near the designated area. We passed a few more trees and finally, the blue sky appeared.

I stopped on my tracks when I saw a small hut in the relatively less crowded space. That could be the one that was stated in the letter.

“Hello? Anybody there?” I called out just to be sure.

It would be very embarrassing if I accidentally barged in at someone else’s home just because I thought that it was the exam location.

There was no response so I walked closer. I did not feel someone else’s presence nor do I hear the movement of another. Therefore, I decided to invite myself in.

The house was almost empty, only a table at the center of the room was present. Over the table were two bronze colored badges that looked like a tiger’s head with a letter E at the bottom.

I was relieved that I got the location right, it seemed like the exam was easier than I thought.

I did not know how many badges were there from the start so I wondered if came in first or not. But judging from the number of badges, I was sure that I did not come in last. I grabbed the one at the right before I walked out of the hut.

“I got it, let’s go back to the guild.” I showed the badge to Ovis who was waiting outside.

“Y-yes!” She smiled.

We ran back from where we came from so I could reach the examiner in order to pass the exam. I did not bother going at full speed since we already had the badge.

“What the?”

The badge that I was carrying in my hand suddenly glowed. It became brighter and brighter, as if Ovis casted Glow. If I could not stop it, it might give our location to the others.

I put it in my pocket but the light was too strong that my clothes did not stop it from getting out. Therefore I placed it in my palm again and used both of my hands to trap the light.

I was able to stop the brightness from getting out but the concentration of light caused it to accumulate heat. In the end, I just held on it with a light grip.

“Ovis! I’ll run as fast as I can! Do your best to catch up!” I was on the verge of panic.

“Y-yes!”

I just looked straight ahead and focused on my feet. The other tamers should have been aware of me because of the light coming from the badge. Sooner or later, someone might come after me to get what I claimed. All I could do was to make sure that they would not catch up to me even when they already knew where I was.

Somehow, it reminded me of the tension I had the other day. If I knew I would always be running, I would have focused more on training my legs.

The light from the badge did not show any signs of stopping. I tried to put all my attention towards my path but I could not help but be cautious of my surroundings.

It would be bad if someone suddenly attacks, especially if I got ambushed by more than one of them. It would even be worse if Lavinia herself or someone of the same calibre went after me. Running would not be an option if that happens.

 The thoughts drowned my mind. Tense situations would not give a beneficial effect to my heart.

“Found you! Give me that badge!”

A guy and his familiar appeared in front of me, blocking my path. The tamer had a tied up long black hair, and clad in blue robes. He was holding a staff and beside him was his familiar. It was a Boarkin, large guy with furry brown arms, a head of a boar with large tusks, and a spear in hand.

Despite them waiting ahead, I continued to press on. Going by another path might entangle me with other more tamers.

“Charging straight ahead? A bold move!” The guy then pointed his staff at us. “Stop them!”

The familiar stepped forward and charged me with his spear. I drew my sword and used it to hit the spearhead aside without decreasing my running pace. I was able to deflect the attack which made the familiar flinch. I took that small opening and then went through him.

“Huh?”

 The tamer was frozen in place and presented no amount of retaliation as I passed across. I decided to just let him be. When I was already able to put a distance from him, he shouted a chant.

“This is not over yet! Earth thy rise and prevent passage, Earth Wall!”

“Magic?”

Just after his chant, the ground began to shake and a piece of the land ahead of us started to elevate. I sprinted towards the rising part and jumped over it while our path was not fully blocked yet. Unfortunately, the rising structure collided with my foot which made me stumble over.

“M-master, are you alright?” Ovis who was able to keep up with me asked.

“I’m fine.”

I stood up as if nothing happened. When I was about to start dashing again, I felt pain from my ankle. It was as if an electric shock came through it. In result, I fell to my knees.

“M-master! Let me heal you.” Ovis crouched to assist me.

“We don’t have time! I’ll just bear with it.” I stood then I started running again.

I shouted to try to forget how my foot hurt. It was not effective at all. In fact, it just produced additional pain to my throat.

I looked behind me and the earth wall was starting to sink. The tamer and his familiar began chasing us.

I tried to go back to my original pace but my body was not able to move the way I wanted it to. As time passed by, the distance between us and the pursuers shortened.

I used my sword to slash the trunk of a tree while running. As expected, my strength was not enough to make it tumble. 

“Ovis! Make the tree fall down by hitting where I marked it!” I shouted.

“Haaa!” She pulled out her mace and did what I said.

She was able to take off half of the tree’s girth with a single strike. As a result, it fell down to block the path of our pursuers.

She still lacked the techniques but her strength was really above what I expected.

“Damn!” I uttered in response.

A Birdkin also known as a Harpy, a Beastkin with bird wings for arms and talons as feet suddenly appeared from my right and attacked me with its talons. I used my sword to block the attack then she readily got off from our engagement.

“Ah!” Ovis screamed as the Harpy began targeting her.

She was able to block the talons with her shield but it was evident that Ovis could not keep up with the bird’s agility. When the Harpy was about to strike her again, I jumped in to slash the enemy with my sword. The bird evaded my attack by flying away.

“M-master!” Ovis tackled me to the ground.

“What the?”

I was confused as to what Ovis was doing when an arrow flew just above us. Without her interference, it would have hit me directly. The projectile probably came from the tamer of that Harpy familiar.

“Thanks, Ovis.” I stood up and got my weapon ready again.

Ovis did the same and stood behind me, back to back. I was facing towards where the Harpy was. I ran my eyes through the area but her tamer was still hidden in the woods. On the other hand, Ovis’ attention was directed towards the other tamer and his familiar who tried to stop us a while ago.

Thanks to the quick winged familiar, we had no chance of outrunning them. The only option available was to fight. Although the chance of getting through the situation seemed slim, I did not want to give up without trying.

I decided to push on despite the odds.