Chapter 22: Second Exam — Domino! (1)
Hunter and a few women around him were in a cramped circle, surrounded by a messy green land…
Calling it messy was quite an underestimation, for green vines and flowers had obscurely expanded all over the horizon, not allowing anyone to see a different color.
For the same reason, it seemed impossible to move in any direction, as the vines were sharp and deadly, writhing and slithering like snakes. Worse, from this spot, Hunter had noticed a few towering flowers whose crowns were opening like ravenous mouths, salivating for flesh…
But, with his astute eyes, Hunter had noticed a red eagle stranded and entangled in the vines, fighting back with his beak and sharp wings. This monster was the only difference in this vast land…
Well, In this zone, what were hunters even supposed to do?
Still, this question, for now, was the least of Hunter's problems.
"Oh, look who has been selected to help us with the second exam!" A familiar bestial and hoarse voice of a brawny woman had slammed into Aimee's little head, gathering everyone's attention on them both.
Lifting her eyes up, Aimee glared back at the woman she had insulted recently. This was exactly the same woman that had been keeping people off the finish line of the first exam, giving a chance only to a few.
One of those people who were strong and influential enough to join the huge coalition.
"You sure want to bother me in this second exam?" Aimee threatened back with her black blade already drawn, ready to confront the bestial woman's spiky mace.
The woman chortled, "Bother? You? With pleasure! Not just because I hate your pretty face but also because defeating you will make it easier for us to pass this exam. We need a few sacrificial lambs, you see…"
Hearing those words, Aimee narrowed her eyes, her glare deepening.
"I see you are keen enough to understand this exam," the beast woman grinned, "So, become a part of this ecosystem, noble bitch!"
After saying those words, the muscular woman rushed at Aimee with her long mace leaving a deep trail in her wake. Her hulking frame was as fast as a truck, betraying common sense!
And as Aimee put her sword diagonally before her to fight back, the enemy did a sudden turn, her presence going past her!
Turning around with her little face drawn by the wind of the beast woman's action, Aimee was bewildered to see that her enemy had chosen to deal with Hunter first, not her!
Being in the same basket, Hunter was surprised to feel the huge presence shadowing him, her strength rooting him to the ground!
Before he could raise his hands to form a guard, the beast woman baseballed him from below, sending him flying across the dangerous and alive green land.
Her speed, strength, and technique were far ahead of the hunters Hunter had fought in this yearly exam! Which resulted in him easily falling to her absurd stats…
-
'At this point, this is bullshit! I'll aim for the movement technique or check myself for origins! I surely must have an agility origin to make myself faster… anyway, what now?' Hunter complained a little during his flight before turning his head around to look at a huge green flower waiting to gobble him up.
Flying with the force of inertia and gravity carrying him to the nature monster… Hunter had no means to change trajectory or fight back.
And as the crown of the flower opened widely, the rare but strong male participant of the yearly exam disappeared like a snack in the monster's jaw, drawing many sighs from the audience watching the show.
'What is this mouth?! So many sharp spikes and sleazy tentacles! Are these supposed to be teeth and tongues? That's not what humans' mouths are made of, dude! We don't have teeth, and particularly this many tongues, going down the throat and esophagus!' Hunter narrowed his eyes to see through the darkness of the monster's mouth, whose content was already chewing on him.
Having some experience, Hunter didn't react with painful screams but kept the pain to himself and darted his eyes around in search of something to catch on. In this tunnel of death, the tentacle tongues were impossible to grasp, so Hunter did his best to grab the long teeth instead.
Fortunately, his gloves were of a different quality. Not even having a scratch to expose Hunter's fingers, the black gloves helped him latch onto the sharp teeth, leaving him perched in the middle of the flower monster's frame.
Hunter floated with his thoughts, keeping him positive, 'Well done! I don't think I would be able to scheme in the stomach of this monster! Now, I must climb up this mouth and force it to spit me outside.'
Which wasn't going to be so easy, for the monster had used its tongues to draw a slippery and tight net above him.
'It sensed and reacted to me so fast! The monsters here are really different breeds! Exciting!'
Feeling so thrilled and alive in this death situation, Hunter tightened his position to the sharp teeth and used this draw between him and the monster to think about the second exam.
'The beast woman said that we need sacrificial lambs… then threw me to the monster, meaning we need to keep those monsters busy, I guess… domino also is a key word here… where did I hear it before?'
Gleaning all information he had seen so far in the second exam and leveraging his experiences from both worlds, Hunter slowly solved the mystery of the second exam and what was needed to pass it!
When he was ready to laugh victoriously, a sudden change in the area zipped his mouth entirely.
"Ahhhhh!"
Aimee's scream… reached Hunter's ears…
The same Hunter inside the monster's body system… deep behind hideous and tough walls.
Which meant one thing — Aimee was wounded… so wounded that she couldn't have helped but scream aloud!
The cold blood dripping into the flower monster's stomach became colder… with white steam slowly filling the insides…
"Aimee… needs me. Now."