"Are you sure about this?" Dukiel glanced back at Zach as they walked.
Zach got déja vu.
"About what?" Zach asked.
"...About leaving the class behind again. It seemed like the others had gotten the hang of this. It also kind of feels like we just took advantage of them." Dukiel felt a little guilty. The rest of the class had sheltered and fed them. They had also helped Julius with his leg so he could walk with nothing but a limp until he healed completely.
Even if they arrived at the camp first, Dukiel was worried that it would be harder to spend time with the class in the future.
"Eh, it's fine." Zach waved off Dukiel's worries. "Don't you want to be first? This is a competition, no more, no less. And the one who pities his competitors is the one who loses. Let's just focus on finding the camp and put everything else behind us."
Dukiel sighed but didn't continue questioning Zach's decision.
Since none of them said anything, the trio walked in silence. Dukiel had taken up all guiding efforts and carried both compass and map. He had already displayed his skills in that regard, so the other two happily let him handle it while they focused on walking and keeping watch over their surroundings, looking for edible fruits and berries.
With such a boring adventure, it didn't take long before Zach got bored. So, he looked at Julius.
"Hey, Julius, how's the leg?"
"Fine."
"...And Mannequin? How's it doing after that Underworld stuff got into its system?"
"It's okay."
"...So, is there a reason why you're this pissy? Or do you have something you want to tell us two guys?"
Julius stopped walking and glared at Zach. He looked like he wanted to say something but held himself back. After a few moments, he exhaled and continued walking.
Zach wasn't satisfied with that.
"If you've got something to say, just say it."
"...You're asking if I have something to say?" Julius slowly turned around and looked at Zach with anger filling every corner of his face.
Zach crossed his arms and raised his chin.
"What."
"Guys…" Dukiel cautiously tried to intervene, but he was too scared to step foot into the hot air between Zach and Julius.
"Is that all you have to say? 'What'?"
Zach shrugged as Julius took a step closer and got all up in Zach's face.
"What else am I supposed to say when you're acting like a brat?"
Julius took a deep breath and got even closer to Zach.
"...How about a fucking apology?"
"An apology? Me?" Zach pointed at himself as if he couldn't believe what Julius had just said.
"Yeah. You don't need to get on your knees and beg for forgiveness, but you need to take responsibility."
"For what, exactly?" Zach frowned.
"Tch. Seriously. It was your fault we ended up on that mountain. You wanted to separate from the rest of the class. You wanted to go down that tunnel. You wanted to explore. It's your fault I broke my fucking leg and Manny got corrupted by those Underworld bastards. It's your fault we almost died, you fucking psycho!" Julius shouted with suppressed anger and frustration.
Zach wiped the saliva that flew from Julius off his face with a scrunched-up nose. He held up a finger, which he used to signal Yanael not to do anything before pushing Julius away from him.
"First of all, you two willingly followed me away from the class, twice, considering you're here now. Why is that if I'm such a psycho? Don't answer. I don't care. Second, I only remember Dukiel being reluctant to enter the tunnel. You are at least as responsible as me in that regard. I didn't even lead us to the mountain in the first place. If I'd continued walking in front, we probably be back at the campus or in a lake somewhere.
"I'm not blaming you, Dukiel." Zach took a break and spoke to Dukiel to ensure there weren't any misunderstandings on that front before turning back to Julius.
"Thirdly, I saved all of our asses, including your stupid Mannequin! It was hooked to a bunch of tubes when I found and unplugged it. I also helped Yanael defeat those fighters. Didn't you see those corpses?! While you lay in your cell crying about your stupid fucking leg, I took a fucking wrecking ball to the face!" This time it was Zach's turn to step all up in Julius face and shout. Zach pushed Julius back with a finger to the scrawny guy's chest.
"And you want me to apologize?! How about you apologize for being useless? You can't do shit. Your Mannequin is more useless than you, and that's only because it can take a hit and make Underworld midgets drunk. What can you do, huh? Eat shit?" Zach pushed Julius so hard he stumbled over a root and fell on his ass.
Zach towered over Julius and looked down at him.
"You should be showering me in gratitude if you actually cared about your precious little life. But I guess that's the problem. That's the only thing you care about." Zach scoffed and turned away from Julius.
Zach glanced at Dukiel when he started walking.
"...I won't make you choose. Stay here with him. He won't make it out of the forest, otherwise."
Dukiel hesitated and reached out toward Zach's back. He even took a step after Zach. But then he felt Julius' gaze. He wanted to call out to Zach and ask him to come back so they could settle this and he and Julius could talk it out.
They were friends, for fuck's sake. Why were they acting like this in the middle of an important exam?
In the end, Dukiel didn't say or do anything. He knew it was futile. They were both too emotional to do anything other than continue building their rage. He had to let Zach go and cool off a little.
And like Zach had said, Dukiel had to stay with Julius. They had been lucky so far.
But Julius' fighting power was at the lower end of the class.
On the other hand, Zach had the strongest angel battle maid by his side. It was clear at a glance who would be fine without Dukiel.