After swaying in the hammock for a while longer, Jaid’s idle musings were eventually disturbed by someone coming up the cliff. Unsurprisingly, it was Roque. He only needed to forage for something which probably didn’t take him long. There were berries along with the familiar meat on a plate formed from a polished rock. She had no idea where he’d found one so smooth or polished it so perfectly, but it was better not to doubt him at this point.
There was no water. Instead, some of the berries had been juiced into a cup from his cottage. “Pleasure doing business with you,” Roque smiled after Jaid explained things and sampled the berries and juice. She didn’t bother with the meat since she knew the result and still had her own if she got hungry.
Roque took two steps beyond her and then paused. She wondered why the hesitation but then clued in on the same thing that was puzzling him. How were they supposed to get back? There was no bus and no one to drive them. Was making it back to the compound part of the test? If so, there’d been no mention whatsoever.
“It’s fine, I have a vehicle and can take a few back with me once a few more arrive,” Roque offered. “When we make it back home, I’ll explain the issue to someone or come back myself.” Jaid really struggled to decide if Roque was actually a nice genuine guy at times like these, but then she’d remember the horror stories she found when researching him.
“In the meantime, I’ll be in my cottage,” Roque resummoned the thing which took up most of the cliff. “I haven’t stolen swathes of money from the rich in several days, and I'm getting antsy. If you need me, I’ll be ruining lives. Feel free to invite the others inside.”
◆◆◆
“This… doesn’t count. I’m sorry,” Jaid was surprised how quickly she had to fail someone. “If you go back and do it properly, I won’t mention this to anyone.”
“How dare you deny my victory over some morose prejudice towards fast-food!” Gatrim clearly wasn’t going to accept her judgment easily.
Jaid sighed, regretting ever agreeing to this. “Listen, this test is about survival. You have to find the food yourself.”
“I did find it!” Gatrim argued. “I kept walking until I was out of the woods and reached a restaurant. I then purchased it and brought it back. I’d call that surviving!” His reasoning wasn’t wrong, but it undeniably wasn’t in the spirit of the test. Jaid didn’t know if she’d get in any trouble for passing him but wasn’t going to risk it. “Who put you in charge anyways?!”
Jaid did her best to calmly explain things, but that didn’t soothe Gatrim’s ire. “I see, you won’t let me pass because of our unfinished rivalry. I’ll be happy to settle the score right now!” He unsheathed his rapier and took his stance. Jaid wasn’t about to entertain him this time and prepared for his attack. When he went to strike, she merely dodged but then immediately regretted her action.
Apparently, she’d been the only solid object that could stop his stride. Gatrim went soaring past her and right off this cliff. To his credit, he didn’t scream. Jaid had to assume he landed fine since there wasn’t a splat or yell of pain. He also didn’t come back right away either, so she hoped that meant he was going to try the test properly.
Tize was next, and Jaid was annoyed that she enjoyed his offering so much. It was a kebab made of snake and mushrooms. He quickly explained that he’d found a cave and then joined Roque in the cottage.
It was obvious how Chorus’ hunt went when they arrived wearing antlers of a Freer now attached to their head. Rezin wasn’t too far behind them, and he’d made a bowl of cooked potato and mutton. It seemed he’d gotten used to digging if he’d managed to find some potatoes. Jaid had to yell at her heart again when she felt some happiness and pride for seeing him succeed.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
After another Fiend arrived and passed, Roque had reached the comfortable limit he could take in his car and made the trip to the compound. Jaid almost fell over in awe when the car popped into existence. She expected it to be fancy, but not the undoubtedly-most-expensive car she’d ever seen. Yet somehow, Roque didn’t appear to have a single hesitation about letting unwashed, dirty people who’d been out in the woods all night hop in for a ride.
The day got boring when no one else showed up for a while. Jaid munched on the fast-food she confiscated from Gatrim. While it was cold and a bit stale now, it was still nice to have food with seasoning and salt. She flopped out of the hammock in a panic when something crashed down next to her. It was Itsy’s monster truck along with an SUV. This must have been the group’s answer to the transportation issue.
Speaking of, Itsy was the next arrival. Though Jaid panicked again initially, thinking it was a Platybear climbing up since she’d been wearing its pelt. Itsy volunteered to hang out for a while as Roque had done, and she’d take a few people back with her.
The surprises kept coming when Kaizu arrived. She had a roasted bird impaled on one of her daggers and several edible leaves stabbed onto the other. Neither of those were the surprise since she had a man wrapped up in the chain between them. She claimed he was a poacher and that she wanted to take him to Drim for a morality check. After a bit of back and forth, Jaid forced Kaizu to let him go. Itsy decided to go ahead and take Kaizu and two other Lessers back to prevent further rising tensions.
The day continued on and Jaid failed a Lesser who clearly tried to pass off rations as hunted food. They decided to take the loss for now rather than go back into the wilds at this point. It was getting close to being dark again, and Jaid had to admit she was starting to get worried. There was no time limit for this test, and there was nothing preventing someone from taking days to complete it. However, if they took too long, it really would become a test of survival.
Gatrim finally returned with a plate of food clearly from a restaurant in hand. It was some kind of meat coated in roasted nuts. Jaid was immediately about to fail him again, but he insisted that she listen. “Yes, I had this food prepared at a restaurant.” He blatantly admitted his own wrongdoing. “However, as instructed, I hunted the meat and picked these nuts myself. Not wanting to poison you with my subpar cooking skills, I sought the help of a professional.”
This was beyond Jaid’s ability to judge at this point, so she called Nachi. After an earful of laughter, Nachi decided to pass him—from creativity and stubbornness if nothing else. The only one left now was Niloy and she trudged up the cliff as the last bit of sunlight faded in the distance.
“Dun du du dun! Here you go!” Niloy proudly presented her meal with a beaming smile. But a meal it wasn’t, or at least not that simple. There was cooked fish cut elegantly in a spiral pattern over a bed of edible algae. While a lot of work on its own in the preparation, the delivery was the bewildering part.
The meal was served in a basket, one Niloy had gathered the material for and weaved herself. But that wasn’t all. The basket was decorated all over with an uncountable amount of flowers, no two the same. It would have taken forever to pick and arrange so elegantly. No wonder she had taken so long.
“Like, I had the food done forever ago,” Niloy began to explain. “I just boiled a pond and then bloop bloop out plopped some fishies. I also got the algae there. I didn’t try any, cus it looks super icky. Enjoy though. But then I had all this meat and mush, and was like, no way this is super unappealing, gotta glam it up. So, I went on a cuteifying adventure. Totally worth it, cus now it’s super adorbs. You can keep the basket too since I kept you waiting.”
Jaid was at a loss for words, unable to keep up with Nini’s pace. She merely took a bite and nodded in acceptance. Niloy cheered and joined the rest. After confirming that she was the last of them and reporting to Nachi, Jaid drove the rest back in the remaining car. They met up with the others at the gym, or what was left of them. It seemed the straggler group had it easy since most of the other members were near death on the floor.
[Rank 4 Results]
Passed: Gatrim, Niloy, Tize, Chorus, Kaizu, Roque, Itsy, Jaid, Rezin
Failed: