Chapter 66 Straight From The Ogre’s Mouth

Zack Truesdale karate-chopped the ogre-looking applicant, named Banjo, in the neck, T.K. the referee witnessed the attack, then he spun, kicking the large man in the face.

The great impact of the attack forced Banjo to fall headfirst, his ugly mug colliding with the ground below. Zack had forced the ugly man into a very compromising position, everyone observed, he was now ass up, his rear end standing at full attention.

But Zack wasn't done just yet. No, he was far from embarrassing the ogre. While standing behind him, aka while facing Banjo's butt, Zack readied his foot, stretching it back as far as it would go, he did it as if he was imitating an ace kicker. Then, with all of his leg strength and as fast as he could, Zack kicked Banjo in the butt as if it was a soccer ball.

This brutal, yet embarrassing attack forced Banjo out of the ring completely, T.K. noted, this then shook his head, Banjo was forced out hitting the ground outside of said ring with a hard thud. T.K. did his best to hold back a chuckle as he stepped forward. "Alright, that's it," he exclaimed, "the third round has been decided. The winner is applicant 0707. He wins by ring out."

Even after being announced as the winner, Zack was far from happy. "This was it," he thought. "The exam had started off so interesting. The first round had its surprise. The second phase turned out to be more fun and eventful than he thought it would be. But this phase… this phase was boring as hell. Being pitted up against the weakest guy around."

Zack rolled his eyes as he exhaled. "Whatever," he muttered under his breath as he made his way out of the ring. If Zack had fought the giant or anyone else, his fourth time taking the exam would have ended with a victorious roar. Then a sad pathetic whimper.

As Zack exited the ring, he walked towards Jake, mumbling and grumbling to himself. Jake smiled and put his hand up to give the spiky-haired young man a high five, but Zack didn't reciprocate the action. He simply walked past Jake then plopped down on the ground, sitting cris-crossed with his arms folded.

At first, Jake was offended, but after a moment, he understood what Zack was probably feeling. "I guess Banjo wasn't much of a fun opponent," he thought as he watched Zack pout like a child that didn't get their way.

Then, in an instant, it hit Jake. "Banjo," he thought. "I have to talk to Banjo." He turned away from facing Zack to the direction of the loser of the third round, Banjo. The troll-looking man was getting to his feet as a few assistants were helping him. Jake, without hesitating, made his way towards him.

As Jake walked away, Zack's eyes couldn't help but focus on the young man. And when he spoke to the ugly, troll-faced man, Zack's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

As Jake was walking towards Banjo, he walked past the female assistant that was holding the small box. When he passed her, not even giving thought that he himself could be called for the next round, the woman was instructed to proceed as before. She reached into the box to pull out the two pieces of paper that would decide who would fight it out in the fourth round.

As the female assistant was reaching into the box, Jake had made his way towards Banjo. He was cursing under his breath as he was swatting the assistants trying to assist him away. "I'm fine, you stupid maggots! Leave me alone!" he yelled at them as they dispersed.

Jake spoke to the man. "Hey," he said, getting Banjo's attention. The ogre turned in the direction of the voice and saw a young man with curly dark brown hair standing in front of him. After he sized Jake up, he squinted his eyes. "Who the hell are you and what the fuck do you want?" the barbaric ogre said, not even realizing or remembering that Jake was the guy he was about to kill for his black armband before Zack intervened. But it was ok because Zack didn't realize that Banjo was the guy who was about to kill him in the second phase because his mind was too focused on his question, one that he needed answers to.

As Jake opened his mouth to speak, the female assistant pulled out two more strips of paper and read them aloud. "The fourth round will be against applicant 4178 Lex vs applicant 7980 Biscuit."

"Oh, 7980," a voice said, all chipper. "That's me!"

That voice came from the mysterious applicant that fought Angus and saved Zack in the second round. Hearing the number being called made them perk up as they grabbed their sword and quickly jogged to the ring. Watching them was Zack. He had broken his focus off of Jake and now narrowed it on the mysterious applicant. "The hell kinda name is Biscuit," he thought, but he shrugged, not giving it much thought. "Who cares what their name is? All that matters now is their skill. Let's see what you can actually do in a real fight," Zack thought.

This thought that Zack had was shared equally with the beastmen Angus who was watching from the viewing room.

He was disappointed in the last round. The ogre wasn't an opponent that garnered even 5% of Zack's true skills. But now things were looking slightly up. He also wanted to know what this mysterious applicant could do. As Biscuit was quickly making their way to the ring, their opponent was finally lifting their own head up. The applicant, Lex, had been holding his head down with his eyes closed since he was unamused by the last match. But hearing his name, he knew it was time for action. He grabbed his sword and started to walk slowly to the ring.

As this was happening, Jake began to speak to the ogre himself. "Hey, so you're Banjo Jimboaree, right?" he asked, waiting expectantly. The ogre's eyes squinted even more. "Who's asking?" "Um, me. I'm asking," replied Jake. "Well then, who the heck are you?" Banjo snapped back. Jake couldn't help but scrunch up his nose, catching a strong whiff of the troll's breath as he yelled. "Damn it," Jake thought, getting sidetracked. "How's his breath? Worst than the roaches?" Jake had to compose himself quickly, then continued speaking. "On my name, Jake Green. I'm a… friend of your brother, Cockroach."

Hearing this, Banjo's demeanor immediately softened. "Oh, you're one of Roach's friends? Yea, I am," Jake responded. The ugly troll then flashed Jake a familiar, yellow-toothed smile. "Damn small world. So, what are you doing here?" Jake shrugged, trying his best to give the man in front of him his own smile. "You know, just trying to make it out of the slums and into the military." At this, Banjo chuckled as if Jake had told the funniest joke. "I hear that, man. I was trying to do the same thing before the porcupine bastard ruined it. I was trying to make fat stacks of cash to attract some beautiful honeys," he leaned in closer to Jake, giving him a flirtatious smile. "You know what they say, women love a man in uniform. They simply can't resist them."

Jake had to fight his instinct to start gagging when he and Banjo were face-to-face. He had to swallow his disgust. "If I become a high-ranking military guy, I can smooch down all the fine honeys I want," Banjo cracked an even bigger smile, then broke out laughing once again. Jake gave a forced chuckle himself. "Yea, yea, I hear you, man. All the woman you could want sounds like the dream." "You feel me?" Banjo responded, laughing some more. Eventually, Banjo settled himself down then asked Jake a question. "So, kid, what do you want?"

Hearing this, Jake finally had his opening. "Oh, I just wanted to know if you've seen or spoken to Roach recently. I got to talk to him about… a class project we have coming up." Banjo cocked his head to the side, eyeing Jake. The young man thought, "Shit, did he suspect that was bullshit? Damn it." "Sorry, kid, I can't help you," Banjo said. "I haven't seen Roach in a while. It's got to be a few days since I saw him last, really," Jake said, confused. "Yea, last time I saw him, the little idiot was going on and on about some huge score he was about to get. When I asked him what it was, the little prick wouldn't tell me."

Jake felt defeated. What he thought was a lead only led him to a dead end. Banjo rubbed his head as he continued. "I'm pretty sure Roach is fine. He's probably doing something stupid with that dumbass Tone." Interrupting Jake and Banjo's conversation was an assistant. "Excuse me, sir," the two men looked at the assistant. "But since you've lost your round, you'll have to make your way out. Sorry, but loitering isn't allowed." Banjo's face scrunched up in annoyance. "Fine, fine, I'm leaving, jackass," Banjo turned to leave then glanced back at Jake. "See ya around, kid," he said, then was escorted out of the auditorium.

Jake didn't say anything. He only stood there lost in thought as Banjo left. Both Biscuit and Lex made their way into the ring, standing across from one another. T.K. loudly announced, "Ok, the fourth round of phase three will now begin."