The contestants landed on an island filled with trees and after walking for a while, they arrived at a cave as Gildart told them the rules and announced the beginning of the exam, as Kazuko dashed towards the entrance of it.
"Wow, she's fast" Damian said as Dr Mayumi replied, "Yeah, why was she in a rush"
"Who knows, I just hope she doesn't ruin the exams" Gildart said, but before he could say anything more, Damian felt like he had to tell the contestants something, so he said, "Just to point out something, when Gildart said your major focus should be making it out of there alive, he literally meant it, be one hundred percent vigilant, they're deadly traps and beasts waiting for you in there, so be really careful and extra cautious.
"What!!!" The contestants screamed as Gildart said, "Yeah, why do you have to ruin the fun, I already told them to try and make it out of there alive, so why did you have to destroy everything by giving them the details?"
"Come on Gildart, they're still young, plus, you don't expect them to act like professionals when they haven't gone through training" Damian said as Gildart replied, "That ain't my business, they should be prepared for anything in this exam"
Both began quarreling as the contestants all thought, "Thank goodness Mister Damian came with us, we would have been toast if not for him"
"Okay guys, you can start moving already, but since you guys don't know where the traps are placed, make sure you're careful cause if anything happens to you, you can't get immediate treatment which can lead to your death, so take your time with this exam, okay" Dr Mayumi said as they answered "Yes ma'am"
"Hold up, did I just hear take your time!!!" Gildart shouted as Dr Mayumi replied, "Yes, is there something wrong?"
"Yes there is, there is something very wrong with that. The exam is meant to take two hours and the clock has already started ticking, but since they're newbies, they were given an extra hour making it a total of three hours for the exam, so anyone who isn't done once the time elapses is automatically disqualified, got it" Gildart said as tension spread around the area.
"Okay everyone, you heard what he said, so be really careful and manage your time wisely" Dr Mayumi said.
"It looks like Kazuko has a head start, we better start moving if we want to catch up with her and pass this exam" a contestant said as everyone looked at each other and began running towards the cave.
"Wait, this exam doesn't really have a particular time range, but considering the fact they're newbies plus the time it might take to defeat the beast, they were given about four to six hours before the reconnaissance team goes in to find the rest, so why did he saying three hours" Damian thought.
Gildart blocked the entrance and said, "I remember saying one at a time, so that's how we're going to do it"
"But sir, if it's like that, won't the last person get cheated" someone asked.
"Not really, I'm putting in the time you entered on this sheet of paper so basically all of you have a different time" Gildart said as the young man from the adventurers exam raised his hands.
"What's the question" Gildart asked as the man said, "After someone enters, how long would it take for someone else to go in?"
"That would be up to me to decide" Gildart said as he thought, "I've observed every contestant and the people they move around, which means I can shuffle them in a way that non of them can wait for each other"
A smile appeared on Gildart face as he begins sending them one after another into the cave.
While all that was going on, Yami finally woke Natsu up as Natsu felt a sharp pain when he moved his body and thought, "My whole body hurts but it's better than before, at least I can still manage to move"
Natsu sat up and took a deep breath as he asked Yami what happened which made him explain while still staying knelt down close to him.
"I see, guessed they combined the hunters and adventurers exam to create this one for us" Natsu said as Yami asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"Well from what you said our job is to try and survive, plus, we're meant to dodge traps and defeat beasts"
"Yeah"
"So this just means that we're doing more of the hunters role than the adventurers, right"
"No Natsu, your overthinking things. This test is basically teaching us about dungeons and it doesn't really matter if you're an adventurer or hunter, you need to know how it works and how to survive in this kind of places because some quests and rare and valuable items are in dungeons, which means both parties need to know how to survive in this kind of places"
"Really, but from what you said, how does that affect hunters?"
"Well, some beast might try to hide there, plus, it's most times the home of dangerous or mystical creatures"
"I see, since hunters slay beasts, they need to know how to survive in places like this for them to kill the beast, same goes for adventurers since they're trying to find valuable items"
"Yeah that's right, you finally understand" Yami said as he got up.
Yami dusted his body and said, "Come on Natsu, it's time to head out, let's go to where the others are and try getting in" as he stretched out his hands towards Natsu.
Natsu took his hands and stood up as they began moving towards the cave.
"Hey do you have any plans for this exam?" Yami asked as Natsu replied, "Not really but I'm getting there"
Gildart was almost done with everyone when he saw Natsu and Yami talking as they were heading towards him.
This pissed him off as he shouted, "Aren't you two going to write this exam, if you are, why are you over there?"
The both hurried up and reached him as he thought, "I knew I was forgetting something but since I didn't see there faces, I thought they must have gone in. These boys always look for ways to work together, it's going to be hard to separate them in this exam, especially now."
"Hey kid, I'm surprised you made it, it's been long since I saw you" the young man said as he waved and walked towards Natsu.
"Oh it's you, how's the water girl doing?" Natsu asked as he replied, "She was taking care of so she's fine. It looks like you managed to pass both the hunters and the adventurers test, that must have been tough"
"Yeah, but still I had no other choice" Natsu said while smiling and scratching his hair as Gildart thought, "The boy knows more people, guess he made friends in the adventurers exams. This isn't what I was planning, how would he now move on his own without anyone's help"
"Hey kid, I'm here to say thanks for coming to rescue us again even after abandoning you in the spiders nest, you saved us twice so I'm seriously indebted to you. If you need anything just let me know, I'll try to help out as much as I can" the young man said as he bowed his head.
This made Natsu uncomfortable as he said, "No its nothing, I'm just happy everyone is safe"
The young man raised his head and smiled as he thought, "The boy has a good heart"
"I see, so they abandoned him in the spiders nest, but to think he defeated that much on his own, this is really surprising" Damian thought as Gildart sighed and screamed in his head, "Why is this kid so nice, he's making friends easily and ruining my plans the more" as Gildart lowered his head.
Gildart then came back to his senses and split them up as he took a deep breath and said after the last person went in, "Okay guys, let's head back to the cruise ship, we need to wait for them on the other side right"
"Yeah" Damian said as they began heading towards it.
"Hey Gildart, I have a question for you, why did you say they had only three hours to finish the exams when it wasn't really timed?" Damian asked as Gildart replied, "It would make them hurry, we don't have all day you know, unlike you, some of us are busy and are trying to manage our time."
"They pay you handsomely for the job but yet you still complain and make students suffer, how heartless can one man be" Damian thought.
"Damian, you don't need to worry about them, I've seen what they can do. Plus, I'm sure they're trying to be fast while still being careful since they have seen what I can do" Gildart said as he smiled while stroking his finger between his nose and lips.
Meanwhile, Natsu just arrived at a place with five passage tunnels as he thought, "Which way do I go, is this why mister Gildart tried to separate us"
"You've finally arrived, it took you long enough" Yami said as Natsu replied, "Sorry about that, I was the last person to enter so he made me take my time"
"Alright, I still got two hours and forty five minutes left, so let's make it count" Yami said as Natsu replied, "Yeah" and nodded his head.
"So what now, where do we go?" Yami asked as Natsu replied, "I don't know, but I think we should go through the middle"
"Why?" Yami asked as Natsu replied, "Nothing really, just a random guess"
"Oh okay, I guess we can start moving out" Yami said as both began moving into the tunnel at middle.