The forest trees were shaking as birds flew out of it, on the night of a full moon.
The instructor and the contestants moved toward the gigantic tree in the middle of the night, which wasn't too dark, thanks to the moonlight.
"We're almost there!" the instructor said as they were moving.
Kazuko went close to the instructor and asked, "What of those two, where are they?"
"I don't know, but I hope they're alright" the instructor replied.
"As for now, let's first get to the refugee camp. Then, I'll know what to do next" the instructor said.
Kazuko nodded her head and replied, "Okay sir"
A bright yellow light started reflecting in the forest in front of them.
The instructor smiled as they all came out of the forest.
"We made it!" everyone said as they started rejoicing.
The instructor started walking towards the gigantic tree, as two people who were standing beside each other, in front of the tree, said.
"Congratulations, you have finally completed Stage 1 of the exams"
All the contestants were so happy as the two guards said that.
One of the guards then said, "You all should follow me, I'll take you to a place where you can rest and recover"
The contestants followed him and entered into the tree.
The other one said, "Greetings sir and welcome..."
The instructor interrupted him as he sat on a log saying, "Yeah yeah, so give me an update already"
The guard replied, "Well, no one attacked us, although before you arrived, they were two boys who came here looking all beat up. We wanted to take action, but one of them said, they meant no harm, that we should attend to his friend at least. What was his name again, oh yeah, he said we should attend to Yami, that's what he called the boy he was carrying"
The instructor immediately stood up from the log and asked, "Where are they now?"
The guard continued, "Well, one of them is in the medical center, and the other one, well! He went to shower, although he looked like he needed more medical attention than the Yami guy"
"Interesting, from the way things are, I don't have to go look for them" the instructor said as he then continued, "Well, take me to them!"
"Okay sir, but a question sir, are those two contestants" the guard asked.
"Yes they are, reckless one's at that" the instructor said as he let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, what are you waiting for already? Take me to them!" the instructor said.
"Oh, yes sir" the guard said as he started going towards the medical centre.
The other contestants just arrived at a place with so many doors, it was big and looked really cool, the best part was that the rooms were floor by floor.
The guard who carried them then said, "Okay everyone, this is where you all will be staying for now, until the second stage of the exams begin"
"Each person is allowed to stay in a room, which means that it's one person per room, so you all can go rest up. Oh, and one more thing. The boys room are by the right and girls by the left, you will see some change of clothes in the room, and, there's a convenience room were you can wash up and do other things. Hope that explains everything, that's all for now, if anything you can call me, see you later" the guard concluded as he took his leave.
"Wow, this place is really big and it looks like a mansion" one of the female contestants said.
"Well, we're talking about the Hunters association and the Adventurers guild, so definitely it's like this" one of the male contestants replied.
As they were lamenting on and on, Kazuko began climbing the stairs to go to a room.
One of the the female contestants saw her and then told the others, "Oh well, I'm going to wash up and rest, I'll be leaving now"
The rest of them agreed and went to their rooms to wash up and rest.
Kazuko has just finished bathing as she tied a towel on her body while using another towel to clean her hair, as she came out of the bathroom and sat on her bed.
"Is he okay? Well he's strong right, besides, he took Tetsuya's punch and was still alive. Plus, what he did for me back there, was he standing up for me or mocking me" Kazuko thought as she had some flashbacks.
Sighs!!!
"Why can't I stop thinking of that incident, plus, looking at the way he acts during the exams, there's no doubt that he's strong, but he doesn't have any magic, or is he just hiding his powers"
"Ahhhhhh, why can't I stop thinking of him" Kazuko said as she used a pillow to cover her face as it was turning red while sitting and folding her body.
Meanwhile, the instructor just arrived at the medical center.
"How's he?" The instructor asked.
"Well, his stable for now, but we are waiting for the doctors to arrive and give a diagnosis, so that we can start treatment" the nurses attending to Yami said.
"Okay, so what of the other kid?" the instructor asked.
"Well, he took a first aid kit and went to the wash room" another of the nurse replied.
"Wait, what!!! You mean you didn't attend to him" the instructor said angrily.
"Sir you have to understand, he didn't let us assist him in any way, plus, he just asked for the first aid kit and where he could wash up. We tried to help him out, but he refused and just went into the washroom" the head nurse replied.
"Hmmm, so how long has he been in there" the instructor asked.
"For half an hour sir" the head nurse replied as she looked at her watch to check the time.
"Okay, hope you have been checking on him, to know if he has lost consciousness" the instructor said.
"Yes sir, but he needs serious medical attention, and from the way he's been acting in the wash room, it shows he's in serious pain" the head nurse said as she continued, "If we had known he was a contestant, we would have made him unconscious and attended to him"
"I know, I'm sure you people didn't want to treat the enemy, that's why you stabled one and kept watch on the other, but I hope you have called a doctor" the instructor said.
"Yes sir, I'm sure my co-workers must have called the head office after hearing he's a contestant" the head nurse said.
"That's reassuring" the instructor replied.
"Sir, if I may ask, what really happened out there? Because, I don't see how a contestant can be as injured as him and still make it here" the nurse said.
"It's a long story, but you should know that the boy is resilient" the instructor said as he took his leave.
"Oh, and when the boy is out let me know, plus, I should also be told when the doctor arrives, okay" the instructor said.
"Yes sir, I'll do that" the head nurse replied.
Natsu was busy bandaging his body, as he had bloody white bandages on the ground, and kept the shower on.
"Damn, this hurts a lot, but I'm almost done with removing the old bandages and putting the new one's" Natsu thought.
"I hope these injuries don't turn into scars" Natsu said as he let out a breath of relief while treating himself.
"I'm done, I should come out now" Natsu said as he stood up.
He then saw his clothes all torn up and full of blood, so he decides to wash it and use some bandages to close the holes, and then tried to pash up the clothes.
Surprisingly his clothes came out well.
"Wow, it's not that bad, if I do say so myself" Natsu said as he began laughing.
"Anyways, I'm done and it's time to come out of here" Natsu said as he put on his clothes.
Natsu was really worn out but after bathing, bandaging himself and fixing his clothes, Natsu had a little bit of energy which made he look fine.
He took a deep breath as he then came out of the washroom while smiling, trying to cover the pain, as he closed the door behind him.
The nurses were surprised to see him smiling and feeling recovered.
"Aren't you meant to be in pain?" one of the nurses asked.
"Oh, I've recovered already. It's nothing, and thanks for letting me use your washroom, I really appreciate it" Natsu said as he bowed his head showing his gratitude.
"Oh, that's no problem" the nurse replied.
"What about Yami, how's he doing?" Natsu asked.
"Well, he's doing great, he's stable for now. The doctors will soon arrive to check up on him" the nurse replied.
"Okay, thanks once again for your help, and I'm really sorry for the inconvenience" Natsu said.
The nurse replied, "Not a problem but if I may ask, what really happened out there?"
Natsu looked at her and said, "Well for helping us, I think you deserve to know"
He then explained what happened, as he began having a flashback, "As we were riding on an eagle, Yami accidentally fell off, so I jumped to save him. The eagle hit us on the air, since it was already moving fast. So me and Yami flew really far and crashed on the ground"
"But you should know, Yami took the fall. As we were about to hit the ground, he activated his magical ability and covered me, taking all the force as we the hit the ground"
"The earth was destroyed but I was saved, so I carried him all the way from there to here, since he became unconscious"
"Plus, the reason it took time was because we stumbled upon a monster bee nest, which I had to fight, run and protect the both of us from dying"
"And after a few runs, I ended up here, so I'm really happy you guys really helped us, thank you" Natsu said as he concluded.
"Since there is no problem with him, if you don't mind, can I carry him away. You see, we're currently in an exam, and we must get to the biggest tree in the forest. I'm really happy for your help, but I'll have to go now" Natsu said.
"Haven't you already arrived there?" the head nurses asked.
"Well not really, at first I thought this was the tree, but after coming closer, I saw there was a larger tree behind it, although I don't know how far it is" Natsu said.
The head nurse, decided to play with Natsu's head a little so she asked, "Then why didn't you just head straight for the other tree"
Natsu looked at her and said, "I had no option"
"What do you mean by that?" the head nurse replied.
"Well, let me be sincere, the examiners are cruel so I don't think they'll keep any medical care there. Instead once you arrive, they'll tell you to go to the next stage of the exams, and I'm sure my instructor is already there waiting for us. So since I wasn't sure if he would last till the end of the exams, I decided to come here and ask for help" Natsu said.
"Wow, that's reasonable" the nurse said as she thought, "How cruel does he think they are?"
"Well yes, and I'm really sorry for the inconvenience. And once again, thanks for everything, but it's time I take my leave" Natsu said as he turned towards Yami.
The head nurse then replied him, "If that's so, aren't you missing something?"
"Oh shit, I forgot, I was meant to pay you guys. But if I may ask, can you add that to my debt list, because, I don't have any money for now" Natsu said.
"You're really stupid" the head nurse replied.
"Yeah, I get that a lot" Natsu said as he started laughing awkwardly and scratching his head.
"You have arrived dumb ass, congratulations, you have passed the first stage of the exams" she said as Natsu screamed, "Wait, what!!!!!"