The Nova Squad

As the growling grew louder, the trees around them began to shake and tremble. The air was electric with tension, and Zion and Aria could feel that something was making its way towards them.

Suddenly, a massive creature burst from the underbrush, its eyes blazing with fury. It was a towering beast, three times Zion's size, with razor-sharp claws and teeth.

"What is that?" Aria breathed, her eyes wide with fear.

"It's a beast of course," Examiner Thorne replied, his voice calm and detached. "A D-rank monster, known for its ferocity and strength. You must work together to defeat it. Good luck."

The examiner left the scene immediately, Zion and Aria exchanged a determined glance. They were now left alone and they knew they had to work together if they were going to survive this.

"No matter what, don't transform!" Zion whispered to her. "Go hide somewhere."

Aria nodded. "Okay," she said. She knew why Zion warned her about transforming and she was going go to obey him, she was not ready to land him into trouble.

The beast charged towards them, its massive body barreling forward like a freight train. Zion stood his ground, his sword ready for fight while Aria hid somewhere.

The monster's massive body barreled forward, its claws swiping wildly through the air.

Zion dodged and weaved, his sword flashing in the sunlight as he struck at the the monster's weak points. The monster roared in pain and anger, its claws swiping wildly through the air.

Zion knew that he was not supposed to fail. He had to pass the exam and be accepted into the organization, that was the beginning of his plan to avenge his father's death. If he failed now, that means he can no longer succeed.

Aria watched from a safe distance, her heart pounding with fear. She had been warned by Zion not to transform, and she knew that she couldn't join the fight. All she could do was hide and watch, her eyes fixed on Zion as he battled the monster.

The monster was a formidable opponent, its strength and ferocity pushing Zion to his limits. But Zion refused to back down, his sword danced through the air as he kept attacking the monster on its weak points.

Slowly but surely, Zion began to gain the upper hand. The monster was determined but Zion was more determined than it, he was determined to pass the exams and the only way to do it was by defeating the monster.

Finay, he succeeded after minutes of fighting the monster, it was all thanks to Elijah's training. The monster stumbled, its massive body crashing to the ground and Zion stood panting, his sword still trembling with the force of his final blow.

Examiner Thorne emerged from the trees, a nod of approval on his face. "Well done, Zion. You have passed the examination."

Zion smiled, his chest heaving with exhaustion. He had done it. He had passed the examination and taken the first step towards becoming a true beast slayer.

Aria came out from her hiding place, a look of relief on her face. "Zion, you did well. I told you, you were going to win."

Zion smiled, his eyes gleaming with pride. "Thanks, Aria. I couldn't have done it without your support." She was a big motivation to him and he was glad to have her by his side.

"Now that your test is over, we will go and meet the others," Examiner Thorne said and led them back to the examination center.

There, Zion and Aria were surprised to see other kids like them.

"There were others as well?" He surprisingly asked Examiner Thorne.

"Yes," Examiner Thorne replied and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "There were many of them but these few passed the test just like the two of you."

"Okay," Zion replied as his gaze swept around the few crowd of students like them. Majority of them seemed to be of the same age with him while the rest looked younger like Aria. As he gazed at them, he noticed that they were all holding new swords, he was the only one holding an old sword.

As if noticing his mood change, Aria went closer to him. "What is it, big brother?" She whispered.

"It is nothing," he replied and forced out a smile. 'It seems like I have to work hard to get myself a new sword but how do I even do that here?' He thought internally.

"Listen up, students!" Examiner Thorne said, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "The exam has come to the end and you are the ones that passed it, congratulations. Now then, I will take you to the rest of the squad... Those that came before you." As he finished speaking, he led them to another side. There were now many buildings there that were decorated with different forms of beasts on that side of the beast slayer organization, as well as many trees and plants that surrounded the place

Finally, they arrived at one particular building and went in. The students were met with five older kids, all of them were putting on a black and red robe.

"This is Elina, Nux, Kelvin, Allen, and Layla. They are your seniors and you will be under them," Examiner Thorne said to Zion's group. Then facing the five seniors, he said. "And you five, make sure you take care of your juniors."

"Yes, sir," Nux said, he had orange hair and eyes. He's the tallest of them five with a fair skin. "We will take very care of them."

"You don't have to tell us that," Layla, the girl with blue hair said with a shrug.

She spoke rudely to the examiner and some kids on Zion's group thought she was going to be punished but nothing happened. They thought she looked cool.

"Cat-eyed Layla, you don't have to always display your stupidity before everyone, especially these babies," Kelvin, the boy with the long black hair said.

"Tsk," Layla clicker her tongue. She swept her blue long hair backwards. "Who cares about them? See you guys later, I'm off."

With that, Layla walked away, leaving the others sighing and shaking their heads.

"Well, what can we do?" Kelvin sighed.

"I'll leave the juniors to you four then, make sure you show them to their rooms and tell them about their daily activities," Examiner Thorne said and left.

The moment he left, Allen, the shortest among the five of the seniors turned to leave as well.

"Hold on," Nux called out to him. "Where are you going to? Didn't you hear what Mr. Thorne said?"

"How is it my business?" Allen stopped and asked him. "The three of you can take care of those juniors, I am sure you don't need an extra hand," he said and walked away.

"..."

Everyone was left speechless as Allen walked away without turning around to spare them a glance. It seemed like they were already used to his character so no one tried to persuade him or force him to come back.

"Uhm, Senior Nux, Kelvin, and Elina," one of the juniors called. He had a small body and bushy hair. "Can you take us to our rooms already? We are exhausted."

"Yes!"

"We need to rest!"

"Ah, sorry about that," Nux apologized while scratching his hand. "We will share all of you into three groups and us three will take one group each."

After he was done sharing the fifteen students into three groups of five, the three of them took one group each and Zion and Aria fell into his group.

"Very well then, let us go. I'll show you to your rooms," Nux said and led them away from there.

>>>

Zion was the last person to be taken to his room. He was separated from Aria who was taken to the girls' quaters and was shown to her room. He didn't like the idea of being separated from her for many reasons but there was nothing he could do about it either way.

They passed by one room with the doors wide open and Zion caught sight of Allen who was sitting in a meditative posture.

"Senior Nux, what's he doing?" He asked Nux who was leading him.

"He's training," Nux replied. "He never stops training even when he is the strongest among us. He's already a grade four beast slayer while the rest of us are still grade two fighters."

"Grades? Are you saying that every beast slayer in a single squad are separated by grades?" Zion asked him and he nodded.

"Exactly," Nux replied. "And the highest is grade four. By now, he should have been taken to the next squad but he refuses to go."

"But why?" Zion asked. He thought everyone's dream was to surpass others and keep climbing high. If it takes someone four grades to get to the next squad, wouldn't be a happy thing for the person after they have succeeded? Why was Allen's own different.

"No one knows and we don't ask because he never speaks to us," Nux replied. "This is where you will be staying. Before night, you are to assemble at the hall for a brief information. Good luck, kid."

Zion nodded and watched as Nux left. After the senior had left, he glanced at Allen's room which was right after his own.

'Maybe I could be friends with him'.