Moose Dempsey was glad that the wary dog was dead even if it wasn't him that killed it. Moose stopped preparing his smell and the blue electric sparks on his body faded away. Moose walked towards Nick and signaled Mary to do the same. Moose spoke while Nick was looking at the wary dog's corpse:
"So, hey man. Thanks for the help in killing this wary dog. Since you were the one that killed it, we naturally won't ask for the carcass. My name is Moose Dempsey and this is my classmate, Mary Watkins. What is your name, if you don't mind me asking?"
Nick, still focusing on the wary dog's body absentmindedly replied:
"Nick Capitol."
(Oh right, those two are still here.)
After answering their question, Nick remembered that there were two other Apprentice Magicians on the scene. He turned around to have a good look at both of them. They were both wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans pants and were white. The man seemed to be in his mid twenties, had black, messy hair and a smile on his face. Nick noticed that the woman, Mary, was probably closer to his age, fairly pretty, looked somewhat athletic and she had a stern expression on her face. Nick spoke to them both:
"Right, I'll keep the carcass since I killed the wary dog. Now, since we know each others names, like good old friends, mind telling me what your experience has been since being transported into this realm?"
Mary and Moose looked at each other with uncertain eyes which changed in a few moments to eyes filled with determination. Mary looked at Nick and spoke in a matter of fact tone:
"When I arrived in this realm, I found myself in a woodland surrounded by trees and I wandered around for a while, trying to find other people or at least a few magical beasts like the wary dogs. Along the way, I saw a magical beast that looked like a giant bear, a menacing looking deer and a fast moving boar. I avoided all of them because fighting them didn't seem worth it since only killing the wary dogs contribute to our overall score. I wandered around for most of the day until I found Moose. We're actually classmates of the same introduction to magical tools class so we decided to team up for the time being. Things were going fine, that is, until that wary dog found us while we were eating some of the food we got from our space bands."
Moose nodded in repose to Mary's narration of events and then spoke about his own experience:
"I found myself near a cliff overlooking this woodland when I came to this realm and so I used one of my earth related spells to climb down to the woodland below and explored for a while until I found Mary. I actually didn't see any magical beast before meeting that wary dog so I don't have anything useful to say about the fauna in this place."
Nick nodded his head in understanding and said:
"Okay, since that's all I wanted to ask you about, I'll take the carcass and go back to minding my own business. Be careful while traveling around this place. I've met three wary dogs including this one and a fire breathing lizard since I came to this realm. I killed the wary dogs but the lizard ran away before I could do anything to it. Good luck."
Nick tapped the carcass of the wary dog, storing it within his space band and was going to climb up his tree again when Moose stopped him, saying:
"Wait Nick, we should stick together and help each other during the exam. I'm a rank 2 Apprentice Magician and I know quite a few spells. Mary doesn't know as many spells as I do but she is also a rank 2 Apprentice Magician. Judging by the magic energy that you're exuding, you are a rank 1 Apprentice Magician, you can follow us as we try to find other students and kill some more wary dogs along the way."
Nick stopped in his tracks, his back facing both Mary and Moose, feeling annoyed beyond belief.
(Why the hell would I need to 'follow' you. I saved you, not the other way around. Sigh, why do I keep attracting the attention of egotistical, ignorant people?)
Still with his back turned to them, Nick spoke clearly:
"No thank you, I'm not interested in being in a team so you should continue your search for the other students and wary dogs without me."
Moose was surprised at Nick's refusal.
(Who would want to be alone in a place like this. Is this Nick stupid or crazy? Well either way, he has some useful strength just looking at how skillfully he killed that wary dog while still being a rank 1 Apprentice Magician. Hmph, he's probably just worried that we might slow him down. I'll just have to make a show of power to make him respect me.)
Moose activated one of his spells.
(Basic Thunder Bolt.)
Moose made a fist pump motion towards the sky and a bolt of lightning dropped at Nick's feet charring the space in front of him black. Mary looked at Moose with incredulity.
(Why would you do that to someone we just met? Do you really think that a difference of 1 rank at our level means much, you idiot.)
Nick was pissed...very pissed. This moron returned his kindness with enmity because he felt a little rejection. Nick wouldn't show any mercy to this fool going forward. Nick took out one of his throwing knives from his vest and swung around his body with the muscles within his right arm holding his knife contracted.
(Big.)
The blade of Nick's knife broadened by a few centimeters and its length extended by several meters. By the time Nick was facing the other two students again, the blade of his knife was resting on Moose's shoulder, being dangerously close to his carotid artery.
"Huh?"
Moose was shocked by the sudden turn of events as Nick took out another knife from his vest with his left hand, pointing it at him.
(Oh fuck, what spell did he use? Never mind that, I should say something before he decides to break the exam rules.)
"Hold on, I was just making a point. C'mon, see how I could have injured you if I wanted. That is the disadvantage in having no companions as you have no one to watch your back."
Nick scoffed at Moose's words.
"With a companion like you, why the fuck would I even need enemies; I would already have someone willing to attack me while my back is turned."
Moose was at a loss for words because what Nick said was justified considering that he just attacked him while Nick wasn't even looking. At this moment Mary stepped in before things went too far.
"Mr. Nick, I apologize for my friend's stupidity in attacking you, he's just a little immature, that's all. How about this, we promise to leave right after you put your weapons down, we'll even give you some of our food as an apology."
Nick looked at the two with blatant disgust.
"You two should just get the fuck up out of here, I don't want your food. I swear, this kind of shit is the reason that I don't want other Apprentice Magicians around me."
Nick took his knife from Moose's shoulder and eyed the two with displeasure. Mary took Moose by the hand and dragged him away as fast as he could. Moose looked back at Nick with the same displeasure but held his tongue since he knew that he was in the wrong and Nick was not defenseless. In a few moments, both Mary and Moose disappeared behind some trees and Nick watched that area for about a minute to see if there would be any more movements from that direction. After a minute, Nick let out a sigh, feeling troubled.
(With those two within such close proximity to me, I can't stay here anymore. I know better than anyone that compared to wild beasts, humans are far more terrifying. I should get my backpack and keep moving.)
Nick climbed up into the tree again and retrieved his backpack and then climbed down. He ran into the forest opposite the direction that Moose and Mary went and kept on moving.
....
Back at the tree where Nick had met Mary and Moose, there was movement within the tall grass opposite the tree and in a few moments, two people emerged from the grass.
"See Moose, I told you that he wouldn't stay here after your little threat. What you did was really stupid and it probably cost us a valuable ally. Next time, use your words instead of launching meaningless attacks."
Moose silently clenched his fist while Mary scolded him. He knew that he had acted rashly but it was too late for him to regret his decision. Moose looked at Mary and spoke:
"Since he left so decisively, we should not chase after him. Instead, we should try to find other students willing to be our teammates and we should actively look for wary dogs to kill along the way. When we were fighting the last wary dog, none of our basic spells worked very well against it because of its healing ability but that Nick's spell killed the wary dog in almost an instant. That was fairly impressive. Sigh, let's find a place to rest our heads before it becomes dark and continue our search tomorrow."
Both Moose and Mary moved in tandem towards a random direction and just kept walking.
......
(Oh shit, It's almost sundown and I haven't found a suitable place to camp for the night. I really don't want to remain in the open during the night time in this place, that seems like asking to die.)
Nick rushed forward as he tried to find a resting spot but no where seemed suitable for him. As he entered a region where the trees were now spaced father apart, he suddenly heard the sound of wailing.
"Huh, what is that sound? Is something crying out?"
Nick looked around but found nothing but trees and grass within his immediate vicinity. He remembered a trick that he saw on the History channel once, used to hear subtle sounds in the wild. Nick put his ear to the ground and listened intently.
(Hold on, this trick was for hearing enemies tunneling into your camp, does the same principle apply in this situation?)
Nick now felt kind of stupid having the side of his face in the dirt while trying to listen out for some indistinct cry.
When Nick was about do give up, a sound penetrated the ground which he could hear more clearly than before:
"Rawwwwwwwr Rawwwwwwwr Rawwwwwwwwr"
It sounded like the growling of something that was in pain. Nick moved his head and body along the ground, trying to get a better understanding of where the sound was originating from. Nick crawled over a dozen meters in the direction where the sound seemed to penetrate the ground the loudest.
(Why am I doing this. If something's roar is strong enough to penetrate the ground like this and be heard for meters all around, it must be fairly strong, right? Am I looking for trouble? Sigh, to be a Magician is to be curious about the world around you. If I'm not even willing to go through this much trouble then I can forget about becoming anything special.)
Nick continued to move towards the epicenter of the sound, passing trees, boulders and all kinds of shrubs and grass. By the time Nick raised his head for a break, he was in a completely different area than before. The area that he was now in was more of a savanna than a woodland and the grass had become noticeably thicker and lighter in color.
(How comes I haven't encountered any magical creatures so far? That's strange isn't it, there are far less trees to cover my position now so I should be more visible to wary dogs at this point. Well...whatever.)
Nick continued to crawl along the savanna, listening to the cry of the creature.
(The beauty about what I'm doing is that I should be able to hear enemies approaching from the ground as I crawl like this.)
Nick continued searching for the source of the sound until suddenly, the ground around him became soft and collapsed and Nick slid along a sloping pathway toward the bottom of an underground chamber.
PPPPFFFFTTTTTT
Nick fell to the ground and under a heavy wind he picked himself up from his position. Nick looked in front of him and realized that the air pressure he was feeling was not the wind. A large, burly creature was actually breathing on him at this very moment, its abyss like black eyes staring at him. Nick was visibly shocked at the size of the creature and then internally sighed.
(Sigh, I really messed up this time.)