The next few days went by in a flash. Jin and Angela hunted like normal, gathered resources to survive for a week out in the wild. When they would hunt animals, they each took turns, allowing both of them to get points toward their grade.
And at night, Angela and Jin become physical with each other. They didn't make love to each other, though, since the environment wasn't the best for that.
They had run into many other initiates, some taking pity on Jin as they assumed she was forcing him to work with her, while others thought that Jin was leeching off her.
It didn't matter what they thought of him, and he just kept doing his thing. The two of them helped other initiates when they could, against Angela's wishes, but if they were attacked, they completely decimated their opponents.
The monsters they ran into kept getting stronger and stronger the more they explored the forest, but Jin took this as a chance to help Angela evolve her power, which she was excited for.
Eventually, on the sixth day, their peaceful morning came to an end when many injured student fell into their traps.
"Looks like we have stragglers." Jin got up from Angela's lap to check out who decided to make his traps their home.
"Help! Help us! Please!"
"Get us out!"
"Hey, hey, quiet down! Do you want monsters to come and eat you lot while you're stuck in that hole?" Jin looked down, spotting three boys in his trap. There was a sticky substance at the bottom that prevented people from getting out.
"C-Can you get us out of here?" One of the boys asked
Jin looked at him like he was crazy. "Why? Did you come to steal our stuff?"
"N-No! We promise! We were running away from a monster! The girls we were working with told us to get to safety."
"Hmmm." Jin wanted to believe them, but in this environment, desperation makes people into liars and killers. Now, he knew they wouldn't kill him, but they could still lie to him.
"Let me talk to them." Angela pushed Jin to the side.
"You could have just asked me to move out of the way, you fucking ape."
"Quite, princess. Hey, you three tiny dicks! If you came here to steal my shit, I swear I'll fuck all of you up!"
"No!"
"We swear!"
"We're telling the truth!"
"Hmmmm." She mimicked Jin just to get on his nerves. "Fine, we'll let you out."
Angela froze the sticky substance, then shattered it, allowing the boys to climb out of the pit.
Jin, sitting on a boulder, started speaking. "Now, tell us what happened?"
"I-It was a deviant!"
"A big one!"
"It was scary! They've been fighting it for hours!"
"Heh, we faced a deviant before. I bet this is nothing special." Angela wanted a crack at the beast, but Jin stopped her from doing something stupid.
"Not all deviants are the same. We need more information. Do you have recordings of the monster on your power kits?" Jin asked
None of them responded.
"Why aren't you answering?"
"O-Our power kits were destroyed. That's part of the reason why we had to run away." The three of them looked ashamed.
A power kit was a lifeline for men in this world. To lose one was like losing the ability to walk or see in a place this dangerous. This didn't apply to Jin, but then again, he wasn't like other men.
"You three are pathetic." Angela spat
'Damn. No need to put them down like that, Angela.' Jin didn't say anything, though. He did agree that the three of them were pathetic.
"W-We're sorry."
"Jin, we're going to face this deviant."
"Sure. Let's just lose points on this test because we didn't do what we're supposed to do."
She turned back to the boys. "What type of monster was it?"
They all gulped before answering. "A dragon."
---
"Are you kidding me? A fucking dragon? This is the best day of my life!" Angela has always wanted to take on a deviant that was classified as a mythical creature.
Deviants were classified into ranks ranging from normal, mutated, prehistoric, and mythical. While these ranks did not strictly determine power, they could usually be used as a reliable measure of a creature's strength.
"I don't know? Comodo dragons are already dangerous animals, and the ones that become monsters are that much more dangerous. So a deviant will be a pain to deal with."
"Jin, stop being a buzz kill. This is a great opportunity for us to fight a freaking mythical creature!"
'I never wanted to be here in the first place.' But he held his tongue.
They headed toward the dragon's last known location. Though the beast was no longer there, its trail of destruction was easy to follow, and it wasn't long before they found the colossal creature.
"Whoa!" They gasped simultaneously. The dragon wasn't just big, it was massive. Many initiates were fighting the creature, but they looked like birds compared to it.
"Hold the line! Don't let it get past us!" A girl with white hair said, giving out commands.
The dragon's tail slammed into a line of women positioned as the defensive wall. Each possessed a form of super-strength or durability that allowed them to absorb the devastating swipe.
"Grab it!" Every woman on that defensive line grabbed the tail to hold the dragon in place.
"Pin it down!" the white-haired girl shouted
Women with the ability to pin the dragon acted immediately. Some wielded earth or ice, others created energy restraints, while some used telekinesis, forcing their will onto the creature. One woman even had the power to manipulate gravity.
"They're doing really good without us." Jin thought everything was handled and wanted to leave. There was no need to fight a monster that he wouldn't even get points for. This wasn't a group effort test like the previous one.
"We're going in!" She slid down to the group of women.
"No! Angela! Wait! Dammit!" Jin tried to fly away, but Angela dragged him down with her.
"Now, attack this beast!" The white haired girl shouted.
All available women and the remaining boys attacked the dragon. Most strikes bounced off its scales, but the continuous assault allowed some hits to breach the hide, ensuring damage over time.
"Is that Angela?" The white haired girl asked, looking at a bridge of ice coming her way.
Angela landed in front of her. "Hey, Addison. How are things going?"