First Year Midterms: A Monster Emerges

Two days passed with more blood being spilt over the forest floor. The population of the beasts within the forest had been cut down by over a quarter. A silence began to envelope the now vacant areas as no new beasts dared to stop on the stain soil.

A single man was currently engaged in a fight with six Level Two apes. If any other person was overlooking the actual battle, they would think this situation was certain death for the man. As they turned to flee, they would undoubtedly miss the nine corpses scattered around the area.

'Nine down. Six to go. I just need to kill these six and I'll go back.'

Joe's face was covered in a mix of his own and various beast's blood. His uniform had turned a deep brown from all the blood that had soaked its way into it. His body was in tatters and only his willpower and adrenaline were keeping him on his feet.

For two straight days, he had been charging around this forest with little concern for his own life. He did not sleep, and he did not eat. His body was being pushed far passed its own breaking point. Now, even when he lands a blow on his enemies, his body also suffers the backlash.

If the fight continues like this, it would be likely for Joe to die from the backlash alone. Still, he pushed ahead. His daggers had long been shattered so he raised his arms and clenched his fists. They used to say before the nuclear wars that apes, and humans had many of the same traits.

If that is true, then it serves as no shock that these beasts were well organized and meticulous. Whenever one would strike, two more were ready to defend it. It was a wonder how nine of them had already fallen.

The midterms were scheduled to end come the next sunrise. With so few hours left, Joe knew that he had to wrap this up as quickly as he could. He'd need every second if he wanted to make it back in time. If he failed to be there, it was likely he would be left behind and classed as deceased.

Even with all of the monitoring equipment that was watching his every move and eleven respected instructors overlooking his vitals, if he didn't return on time, they would have to follow procedure. As the seconds turned to minutes, Joe put everything he had into the fight.

His reserve strength was dwindling but so were the enemy numbers. The final two apes now toward over his panting body. Rising from his knee, Joe rushed the two and managed to land a kick to the face of one while the other sent him flying with the swing of its arm.

Joe crashed and rolled before his managed to rebalance himself. Despite how it started, Joe found himself on his feet and was ready to rush again when he noticed the final ape was falling towards him. It was prepared to bury him with its sheer weight in this final blow.

With every shred of power, he could muster, Joe's fist shot towards the thousand-pound beast and managed to knock it off course. Without letting it recover, Joe drove the heel of his foot into the side of the beast's face. Seeing it collapse, Joe had a momentary thought to join it on the forest floor.

Not wanting to delay himself any further, Joe hastily gathered the fifteen cores from the cooling corpses and turned to head back the way he had come. With pained steps, he managed to get into a run. Opening his strides, every step pushed him further and further towards his goal.

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Every person within the staging area was anxiously watching the time. The nervous students had positioned themselves along the edge nearest the forest and were meticulously scanning the horizon for any signs of their missing classmate.

Once Clara had recovered, she left the shelter and was looking around for Joe. She'd already heard that he was the one who managed to save her from the beast. What she didn't expect was what she learned after.

After hearing that Joe had returned to the forest and what he'd intended to do, she attempted to chase after him. It took six of her classmates to stop her. After hearing the warning that Joe had left with his peers, all she could do was await his return.

The ten assigned instructors were joined by Alexander for the entirety of the last two days. Where they took shifts in monitoring Joe's condition and progress, neither Alexander nor Shianne left the monitoring area. Neither one of them spoke to the other instructors. Food was brought to them but was mostly left untouched.

A sigh of relief filled the area when the blue dot on the screen began heading back towards them. Shianne held her breath as she stared at the screen displaying Joe's vitals. His adrenaline was still elevated but it was slowly dropping. His blood pressure had been in a slightly decline for the last day but now it was dropping more rapidly.

The monitor couldn't display the actual condition of the participant but from the displayed data and slowed pace of the blue dot, anybody could gauge the severity of his injuries. It was taking every shred of her sanity for Shianne not to rush to his rescue.

Not only would that automatically fail him, but it could expose the relationship between the two. After all, what instructor would risk their career for an otherwise suicidal student? Certain questions would be raised and the likelihood that their secret wouldn't be exposed was too high to take a risk.

All the instructors rushed out of the monitoring area and stood at the edge staring at the forest in the distance. The blue dot indicated that Joe was about to enter the clearing. Although none of them were permitted to assist him before he crossed into the staging area, they all were anticipating the return of the man who had done something seen as impossible.