◆Rank 4◆
A bus was waiting for them at the front entrance of the compound. All the members had made it on time, though a few were cutting it close. The trip wasn’t that long, but it felt unending with Nachi at the wheel. Jaid was just happy she was near the front of the bus, since she was pretty sure those in the back went flying at one point.
Everyone clambered out when they reached their destination, only to find themselves on a cliff overlooking dark dreary woods. The last shred of helpful light disappeared past the horizon. “Woowee, that sure is a long way down,” Itsy peered over the edge.
There was a shuffling behind her as Nachi started bolting at full-sprint. When she got close, she jumped and drop-kicked both feet into Itsy’s back, clearly attempting to knock her off the ledge. But nothing happened. Itsy didn’t budge or even seem to notice really as Nachi slumped to the ground. Itsy turned around and asked, “So what, we supposed to jump down in there?”
“Something like that,” Nachi tried to play it cool as she scrambled to her feet. “Alright everyone, this test is about survival. There are two parts. First, you must survive the night down there in those woods. Not normally a hard challenge, but this spot is known to have a few monsters. I’d recommend finding a safe space to hunker down until the morning.”
“Once the sun starts to come up, that brings us to part two. This is a test to see if you could survive for several days, not just for a night. And to survive, you need food. So, the real objective for this test is to bring back something to eat—not just a scrap either. It must be a decent meal and consist of both protein and something foraged.”
“The protein can be from a monster or animal. It has to be edible for a human, so remember that monster meat has to be cut out before the rot can get to it. You could also go fishing or something, or dig up worms, I guess. We’ll also accept eggs if you can find some. The more important part is that it must be cooked, which means starting a fire.”
“For something foraged, that can be berries, mushrooms, roots, whatever. Just make sure it is actually edible. You all have phones, don’t you? We don’t expect you to know what’s fit for consumption off the top of your head, so look it up. Hope you were smart enough to charge it before coming out here. If not, well that’ll be a lesson.”
“You’ll also need to bring some drinkable water. I’d also like to see the meal presented nicely in some way. Wrap it in leaves or find something to serve it on. This is a customer service job after all, so it’s always good to go above and beyond whenever possible.”
“You can find your food whenever it suits you, so feel free to get a head start, but it’ll be hard as hell with it dark out like this. Kind of the entire point of me choosing to start this test at night. Even if you get it early, you still have to make it through the night.”
“Starting as soon as the sun rises, you can come back up to the top of the cliff and present your meal to whoever’s waiting. It won’t be me since I’ll be off training the failures from yesterday. Someone will always be here waiting though, if nothing more than to be on standby in case of an emergency. If you feel like quitting, you can do so anytime. We don’t have flares or anything, so just give someone a call. I’d also not recommend me for that if you don’t want to get chewed out. I’ll still do it in person, but not when you’re terrified for your life at least.”
“Alright, you all can go now,” Nachi jerked her neck in the direction of the cliff. Without further instruction, Itsy jumped off the edge. Seconds later, there was a series of loud cracks which had to be branches breaking below, followed by a final resounding thud.
“Uhh, do we really have to jump off?” Gatrim asked in a moment of visible weakness.
“Huh? No. There’s a trail down the cliff over there,” Nachi chuckled as she pointed. “I never mentioned anything about jumping, did I? Some people just get so ahead of themselves.”
◆◆◆
Jaid was surprised how quickly everyone split up when they reached the bottom of the cliff. It would certainly make more sense to stick together, but she guessed that wasn’t in the spirit of the test. They were also competing over resources in a sense, so that could certainly lead to dissension if there wasn’t enough to go around when something was discovered.
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The hunting side of things would have to wait. Jaid was tired, and fumbling around in the dark would accomplish nothing. She imagined most of them were in for a very rough night, unable to sleep in such uncertain, dangerous territory. It didn’t bother her in the slightest, though.
Jaid hadn’t been entirely lying in the interview. She had camped out quite often in the past, though it had never actually been for pleasure. While the motive was untrue, she really did enjoy the solitude and quiet. She quickly decided that staying near the cliff wasn’t ideal. There wouldn’t be much prey to pick from in the morning due to the increased traffic and bustling noise.
She walked for a while using her phone as a flashlight, happy that she had charged it completely before this test. Once she reached a clearing, Jaid climbed a tree near the outer edge. Hopefully when she woke up, she’d be able to spot an animal or monster in the clearing and strike from above. That’d be the simplest solution to this task, but the odds were low so she didn’t get her hopes up.
After picking out what she believed was the widest and firmest branch, Jaid spawned a clone. They both pulled out their sword and stabbed it into the trunk of the tree on either side of her. This made basic guard rails to keep her from falling out, learning from Drim’s recent blunder. She also sat back to back with her clone, linking their arms together. The two could now lean against each other, allowing for mild comfort. It still took a while, but Jaid managed to fall asleep.
When Jaid awoke, she found another clone sitting in her lap for some reason. It was one of the small ones that had a completely carefree attitude. The clone was happily humming to itself and playing games on her phone. While this wouldn’t be a problem if she was awake, the clone being conscious meant she wasn’t getting as much rest as she should. No wonder she felt so groggy even with all the other circumstances.
Her annoyance was forgotten the moment she heard rustling in the distance. “Is that a Flamingox?!” She was awestruck at the creature she saw in the clearing. One of the more rare monsters in existence—she thought it was a myth. Jaid had always believed the monster branch of the CP science department was pulling her leg when they talked about it.
The big, burly cow-like creature was standing on one leg, the other folded beneath its body as if it was meditating. It took more after an ox in size and basic build, but was covered in pink feathers and had the classic flamingo curved beak. The horns on its head might cause confusion that this was some demonic beast from religious folklore.
Well, that’d certainly be edible. The question, though, was how could she catch it. She doubted it could fly. While it seemed to have wings, it probably wasn’t very aerodynamic at that size. Maybe it could get off the ground at best, but no way was it traveling far in the air. The problem was that she didn’t know its land speed. If she spooked it, the creature would almost certainly bolt. Most monsters were aggressive, but this one didn’t really give that feeling.
It was now when Jaid wished she’d brought a rifle with her. She’d always been taught that they were terribly dishonorable weapons, and that she’d be disgracing her precepts if she ever used one. That hadn’t stopped her from practicing with them in secret, but she’d never actually used them in practice.
However, there was still something she could try; something she’d been putting off because its existence still wounded her. Jaid absorbed both of her clones. She had to squeeze the cheeks of the smaller one until it allowed itself to disappear. After repositioning herself, she summoned a new one to lay flat on its stomach and hug the branch for stability, their pairs legs interlocked.
Jaid sighed, took a deep breath, then pressed the button on her sword that she’d ignored since first testing it in Nathym’s workshop. The blade split open and static immediately started to swirl. Another clone was spawned behind her back to help her keep her balance and catch any further recoil.
Surprisingly, there was almost no recoil to speak of as a bolt of lightning flew straight towards the beast. However, the noise had been far greater than Jaid had been prepared for and wished she had her clones cover all their ears. It sounded like every branch in the area had all cracked at once, but that should probably be expected for localized lightning.
The unfortunate part was that the Flamingox had heard it too and managed to adjust itself slightly. Instead of being struck dead in the chest like Jaid had been aiming for, the lightning only hit the leg it had been balancing on. The monster scrambled and started limping away as fast as it could. “Cosdamn it!” Jaid swore as she slid down the tree and charged after the monster.
It had vanished into the treeline, but was easy enough to follow from the obvious trail its wounded leg was leaving behind. After running after it for about a minute, Jaid heard a loud mooing groan that could only be from the creature. Once she caught up to it, she was quite surprised. Surprised to find the monster already dead, caught in a trap, and more surprised to find that trap right outside a random cottage in the middle of the woods.