Despite the massive plot of land that was used for the Academy Final exams, if you listened hard enough, you could the different sounds of destruction caused by the different monsters scattered in the forest as well as the evenly monstrous mage recruits.
But there was an area which made a sound that was at least twice as loud as the others…
In this area, the densely packed trees were now scattered, forced apart by the battle. The once 13 Gorbacks, each standing over 15 feet tall and weighing over 1000 pounds, were now reduced to 5 by two young mages.
A Gorback riddled with bleeding wounds growls weakly as it stumbles to its knees before glaring at Dae who calmly walks away from a Gorback he just killed. It stares at its fallen specie and lets out an angered growl.
Dae looks up once his body gets shrouded in a massive shadow to find the injured Gorback throwing its fist at him. With the beast moving slowly compared to him, Dae takes a low stance with his two swords crossed over each other.
"Dual Sword Style. Form 4. Static Shear." Dae mumbled as his body flickers before fading away.
The Gorback stops its charge in confusion before flinching as several deep cuts instantly appeared around its entire upper body. Now momentarily suspended in the air behind the beast, Dae sighs as he flicks the blood off his swords… just as the Gorback's entire upper body scatters into large, sliced portions with its blood sprayed everywhere.
"Hell yeah!" Dom shouted in excitement from watching Dae work from a tree branch before jumping to avoid the attack from a Gorback that completely decimates the large tree.
Dom soars through the air before planting his feet against a tree behind him. He then grunts as he instantly kicks off the tree, snapping it in half as he zooms forward. The Gorback turns and barely growls as Dom's fist smashes into the side of its head.
The impact instantly spreads through its head, causing its skull to explode on the opposite side with its brain and blood smashed against the nearby tree. Dom grins as he watches the dead Gorback fall to the ground just as a large hand suddenly grabs him mid-air.
The next Gorback growls happily as it stares at its closed fist… just as Dom forcibly pushed its fist open with its fingers now bent and broken. The beast howls in pain just as Dom bounces off a nearby tree, grabs the beast by its arm and grunts as he swings the massive beast down on the last Gorback watching from below.
The two beasts collide with the ground with an impact that rattles the ground but before they could get back up, Dom smirks as he kicks off a tree trunk, moving him upwards before planting his feet under another branch.
He grunts as he bounces off the tree branch, breaking it as he surges down towards the Gorbacks. Mid-air, he spins, bringing both of his feet down which promptly collide with the two beasts.
The impact of the drop-kick breaks their bodies while creating an explosion of blood and debris that were carried in every direction by the massive gust of wind simultaneously created. Dae jumps back to avoid the ground cracking under his feet while he stares at the sheer destruction Dom just created.
He lands some feet away as the debris slowly settle before looking up as Dom suddenly crashes down in front of him. Dae shields against the dust with an arm before glaring at Dom who smirks at him before noticing some blood on his shirt.
"Oh, come on." Dom said as he tries to wipe off the blood but only makes it worse.
"We've already wasted enough time. Let's go." Dae said as he sheathes his blades before running forward.
"Okay, Mr. Grumpy." Dom grumbled as he follows him.
About 10 minutes later, the two mages were still running through the forest with Dom leading while Dae follows behind. As they move, Dae continues to stare intensely at Dom… before finally speaking. "I'm impressed."
"What?" Dom asked, still moving forward.
"I said I'm impressed. Even though I've seen you use it many times these past few years, your strength continues to surprise me." Dae said as they leap over a dead boar-like beast, most likely killed by another recruit.
Dom smiles. "Thanks. And I could say the same about you. Every time I think I catch up; you somehow get even faster. Not to mention your sword attack names are so cool. All I do is punch and kick."
"They're more than just names." Dae grumbled, slightly agitated.
"I know, I know. They are different disciplines passed down to you by your master. They represent focus, determination and bla, bla, bla." Dae glares at him before scoffing which makes Dom laugh.
A couple more minutes later…
"Why are you doing this?" Dae asked and Dom turns to give him a confused look. "Joining the Academy, doing those intense training and becoming a Knight? What's your goal?"
Dom suddenly grins as he slows down to be able to run beside Dae. "What's with you today? You're not usually this chatty. Don't tell me you're already missing me before we even graduate?"
Dae fumes at Dom's comment and clicks his tongue. "Forget it." He suddenly speeds up, leaving Dom behind.
"Come on. Don't be like that." Dom chuckled as he quickly catches up. "My goal is becoming the greatest knight in history."
Dae turns to Dom expecting his teasing smile but is surprised to find him giving a genuine smile. "You're serious? I thought you kept saying that as a joke."
Dom shakes his head. "No joke there."
They arrive at a large stream where two large monster fishes emerge with their jaws at the mages… but within seconds, they were left slashed to pieces and blown apart by the mages who quickly move on without breaking so much of a sweat.
"Is there a reason?" Dae asked.
"Not really." Dom said with a somewhat serious expression which makes Dae genuinely interested. "At first, it was just some childish dream I had…" As he recalls his past, Dae notices Dom touch his scarred cheek. "… but then a really bad guy showed up when I was 10."
Dom pauses to jump, evading the bite from a massive snake beast which Dae instantly slices into pieces before jumping up to join Dom on the trees.
"He killed some boys I used to play with and tried to kill me too… then a knight saved me. From then, it wasn't just a childhood dream anymore."
Dae looks away from Dom to face forward with a sympathetic look on his face as the image of a fair-skinned old man crossed his mind.
"So… you're doing this more out of admiration than aspiration." Dae said as he drops back to the ground while Dom swings on a tree branch, putting him in a momentarily upside-down position while he thinks about it with arms folded.
"I guess." Dom grumbled before becoming upright as he follows Dae back on the ground.
"Then it's a respectable goal. I wish you good luck." Dae said with a smile on his face which makes Dom smile.
"What about you?" Dom asked.
Dae narrows his eyes "My… goal?" He mumbled to himself, his smile slowly fading.
"Yeah. You're working as hard as I am, so it has to be something good, right?" Dom asked with a grin which fades once he sees Dae's frown.
"My goal is…" Dae trails off, leaving Dom in suspense before suddenly shaking his head. "It's none of your business." He added with a cold tone as he speeds up even more.
Dom stares in disbelief before glaring at him. "Oh, come on! I told you mine!" He grunts as he moves to catch up. "This is why we're not really friends, you need to let me in, bro!"
Dae clicks his tongue in annoyance as he goes even faster while Dom grits his teeth. "What's his problem?" Dom grumbled to himself as he increases his own speed, following Dae who now had a conflicted look on his face.
4 hours after the exam began, Dae and Dom continue to move through the forest.
"Seriously. It sucks that I still barely know you after sleeping in the same room for three years." Dom grumbled.
Dae sighs. "Just give up already. I'm not here to make friends."
Dom rolls his eyes. "None of us came here for that. That doesn't mean we can't be though. I mean what happens if we end up on the same knight division, huh?"
Dae suddenly lets out an exaggerated laugh. "Very unlikely."
Dom's brow twitches. "You're a real killjoy. You know that, right?" He grumbled and Dae smirks.
"And you're-" Dae cuts himself off with a sudden serious look on his face and stops running.
"Huh? I'm a what?" Dom asked angrily as he stops too before noticing Dae's concerned face. It was then that Dom felt a strange sensation in his body.
"Something's wrong" Dae asked.
"Yeah." Dom said as he turns around, noticing the now chilly and quiet environment around them. He then leaps into the trees to get a better view.
Dae calmly moves forward, his eyes scanning the trees around him until he finds a large claw mark on one of the tree's hard barks. He runs his hand over it, trying to decipher the animal itself from the claw mark.
"Dae!"
Dae looks up to find Dom jumping forward and runs forward to catch up to him. A couple seconds later, Dae walks past a broken tree and narrows his eyes at the large forest clearing which was forcibly created from a brutal looking battle.
As he moved into the clearing, he notices the different variants of beasts lying dead on the ground. Dae then stops beside Dom who has been staring at something on the ground with angry eyes.
Dae moves closer and his eyes widen when he sees the severed head of a mage recruit, he'd seen Dom interacting with throughout the Academy training.
"David." Dom mumbled with a frown, his fists tightly clenched at his sides and Dae frowns before looking around.
"They're more." Dae said, noticing other dead recruits lying around. "Were they working together?"
Dom takes in a deep breath to calm himself. "Probably." Dom then notices the different beast corpses. "With these many monsters, I don't blame them."
"But I remember David's team being the third strongest in our set. I doubt they would lose so easily." Dae said and Dom nods as he looks around.
The amount of destruction both to the recruits and beasts were too much for either side. And with they were they looked; it was almost as if most of them were taken down by the same attacks. But before Dom could question it more, his eyes widen when he sees a human figure move on the ground across the clearing.
He runs to the figure with Dae right behind him. Dom gasps as he raises the recruits' body, realizing him to be David's partner.
"Sam. Sam!" Dom said as he gently shakes the severely injured recruit who opens his non-swollen eye, his vision still blurry but enough to recognize the person holding him.
"D-Dom?" He mumbled weakly.
"Yeah." Dom smiles a little while Dae continues to cautiously look around. "What happened?"
Sam's brow furrows as he tries to recall his memories. "Dave and I… we found a group… they were cornered so we helped… then…" Sam's mouth suddenly hangs open with his eye widened in fear once he remembers something. "You need to go. Now."
"What?' Dom asked just as Sam grabs his shirt, his hand trembling.
"It might still be here. It'll kill you!" Sam suddenly shouted out, drawing Dae's attention too.
"Calm down. What are you talking about?" Dom asked and Sam opens his mouth to respond but his words were instantly swallowed once he sees something behind Dom and Dae.
A split second later, both Dom and Dae flinch as they finally sense the beast behind them. They slowly turn their heads to find two large glowing red eyes fixed on them.