A Deadly Poison Hunt for Two
A deadly poison monster hunt, as a two-person assessment!
Every student in Class A wore a stunned expression as Byeolya spoke.
"Head TA."
"A-ah, yes! Ma'am! Professor!"
The Head TA standing behind her scrambled forward and snapped to attention.
"Draw them two at a time, at random, and send them up through the teleportation circle."
"U-understood! And what about you, Professor?"
"I'm going ahead to start brewing antidotes."
Byeolya said this with a meaningful smile.
"Some of them will come stumbling back right on the verge of convulsing from the poison."
A heavy tension settled over the lecture hall. Byeolya swept her gaze across the students.
"You'd all do well to remember this too. Don't let your pride push you into reckless stunts chasing bonus points."
With that final warning, she left the room.
The Head TA pressed a hand to her chest and let out a small breath of relief, then turned to the students.
"Alright, everyone heard the Professor, right? We'll be sending you out two at a time."
Claudia raised her hand.
"U-um, TA! Can't we choose our own partners—?"
"You know that's not allowed. The Professor said random."
At this school, a Kizen professor's word was absolute.
While the students murmured anxiously among themselves about who they might end up with, the TAs began copying every name from the attendance roster onto slips of paper.
"But, in exchange—"
"?"
The Head TA placed two empty boxes on the lectern and smiled.
"One boy, one girl. Mixed pairs! Sound good?"
The Professor's order had only specified two students at random; how to arrange them was entirely the TA's discretion.
Her declaration drew an explosive reaction.
The boys felt equal parts dread and anticipation, while the girls cried out their protests — "Oh, come on!" — but between secretly smoothing their hair and sneaking glances into hand mirrors, they didn't seem entirely opposed.
"...What a pain."
Hector, chin propped on his hand, clicked his tongue loudly.
Soon the Head TA drew one boy's name, and another TA drew the girl who would go with him. For the next pair, the order reversed — the Head TA drew a girl first, then the other TA drew a boy.
The Head TA's intent had been to loosen everyone up before the assessment, but this simple lottery turned into a surprisingly entertaining event.
Before long, every student in the class was insufferably invested, shouting and reacting wildly to each and every name.
"Alright, next is a boy's turn!"
The Head TA pulled a single slip with a boy's name from the box and unfolded it. In the hush of the room, she rustled the paper open and announced:
"Rick Hayward!"
When his turn came, Rick flung both arms wide, trying to draw a cheer — and every girl in the class recoiled in visible horror.
"Landmine."
"Gross."
"Rick is... fun, I guess, but... something about him is just... icky."
Hearing this, Rick choked up and glared at the girls.
"Hey! What's wrong with you people! Do you have any idea how—"
"And the girl going with him is Catherine Terrel!"
The girl presumed to be that very Catherine dropped her head onto her desk with a resounding thunk.
The boys pounded their thighs and roared with laughter while the girls patted Catherine on the back in consolation.
"Condolences, bomb-disposal squad."
"Stay strong."
Meilin, her teammate, added her own words.
"Catherine, your sacrifice will not be forgotten."
Rick glared at the girls' side of the room, face boiling with rage.
"You're all dead to me! I mean it!"
Simon, seated behind him, pulled at Rick's arm to calm him down.
"Don't get so worked up. They're just messing around."
"Next student is... Simon Polentia!"
An abrupt, deathly silence swept the lecture hall.
The very girls who'd been teasing Rick were now staring dead ahead, all traces of mirth wiped from their faces. Meilin clutched the hem of her clothes, and Camibarez clasped her hands tightly together. From every corner of the room came the sound of gulps going down hard.
"You have got to be kidding me! Why is the reaction completely different?!"
Rick, the previous name drawn, died twice on the spot.
"Honestly, you've gotta admit the way it works out."
Cindy Vivace waved her hand up and down, confirming Rick's demise.
Meanwhile, Simon was thinking about who he'd like to go with. A complete stranger would be awkward — and tactically disadvantageous.
'I want to go with Meilin or Cami. Or at least one of the girls I actually know.'
Just then, a boy spoke up.
"TA. Next should be the girls' turn to draw first."
"Oh, you're right~"
The Head TA stuck out her tongue as if she'd made a mistake. Then she neatly folded Simon's slip, dropped it back into the box, and shuffled it. Sharp glares rained down on her from the girls.
"Alright, next girl is!"
She unfolded a slip and read it.
"Camibarez Ursula!"
WAAAAH!
The loudest eruption yet burst from the crowd — louder than any cheer so far.
The beloved youngest sister of Class A, with her adorable looks and sweet, gentle personality. Plenty of boys had hoped to go with her.
Yet Camibarez herself, apparently overcome with nerves, was trembling like a penguin.
Her face flushed crimson and her head buried low, her eyes finally lifted — and landed on Simon.
'Please let it be Simon—!'
"And the boy going with her is Simon Polentia!"
At those words, Camibarez's face drained pure white.
Really?
Genuinely?
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Group 7 hogging Cami again!"
"Is this rigged?!"
Rick and the boys, blinded by rage, grabbed Simon by the collar and shook him.
"Alright, alright, quiet! I'm drawing the next boy! Hector Moore!"
Mercifully, attention shifted to the next name at once. In that window, Camibarez came scurrying over.
"Simon~!"
She seized the hem of his clothes and beamed up at him, radiant.
"I'm so glad I get to go with you!"
Simon smiled back.
Only, the hostility-laden stares boring into his back made the back of his neck prickle.
* * *
Before long, all the pairs were set, and the entire class headed for the hill where the teleportation circle stood.
Meilin had been paired with Toto, and she looked thoroughly displeased about it. Arms crossed, twin flames of fury burning in her eyes, she radiated the kind of aura that promised death to anyone who dared speak to her.
'Poor Toto.'
Toto, a full head shorter than Meilin, was watching her nervously out of the corner of his eye, face pale with terror.
Simon walked over to Meilin and spoke to her like a scolding older brother.
"Go easy on him, alright?"
Toto looked at Simon with grateful eyes, but Meilin just huffed through her nose with a mischievous scowl.
"Must be nice, going with Cami. Guess the top marks on this assessment are as good as yours already."
Still, Meilin's sulking lasted only a moment.
True to her nature as a necromancer, she coolly accepted the situation and moved on, asking Toto about his dark magic and reviewing strategy.
"Then we'll begin preparations right away!"
This assessment was quite strict.
A subspace inspection was conducted to make sure no one was smuggling in antidotes, and students had to change out of their Kizen uniforms into different clothes, like athletic wear.
They were also required to wear a small Memorial Crystal Sphere around their necks like a pendant — a device to record the battle and ensure the assessment proceeded fairly and without cheating.
And pressing firmly on the back of the crystal sphere would signal an emergency to Kizen and call for help. The only catch: receiving the school's aid was considered automatic consent to a failing grade on the assessment.
"Teleportation will now begin! Called students, please step up promptly!"
* * *
The teleport covered a shorter distance than expected.
'Already here?'
When Simon opened his eyes, an expanse of desert dunes far more vast than the Neutral Zone he'd visited before stretched out before him.
And if he turned around, behind him lay an ordinary forest thick with trees.
Desert ahead. Forest behind.
It looked like a boundary drawn by nature itself.
"So the Dresden Kingdom has places like this, too."
"It used to be all forest, but apparently after a dungeon appeared nearby, it turned into a desert like this!"
Camibarez, who had crossed over with him, smiled brightly and waved the mission document in her hand.
"That's what it says right here!"
"...Haha."
Her wings fluttered without pause, swept up in the thrill of being out here alone with Simon. Watching her, Simon broke into a small laugh of his own.
"Shall we get going?"
"Yes!"
They were outside Roc Island, but this was only a one-day assessment. Eight hours remained.
The two walked and talked as they went, Camibarez reading through the mission document over and over.
"The deadly poison monster we have to hunt is the Desert Scorpion. It says it's Danger Rank 5!"
"Rank 5?"
Danger Rank 5 — the same tier as the 'Abyssal Hollow' they'd fought at the sea during the 3rd BMAT.
Of course, the Abyssal Hollow's rating had plummeted because it never left the undersea cavern, while the Desert Scorpion's had climbed because of its venom. They couldn't be called equally strong, but the very fact that they were classified in the same tier spoke volumes about how dangerous this was.
"Looks like we've reached scorpion territory."
Simon pointed at a sign. The two were standing at the point where the desert began, and the ground was studded with warning placards: and . Plenty bore skull markings.
Simon walked with his senses heightened — then something caught his foot. An old human skull, buried in the sand.
"It gives me chills."
Camibarez wrapped her arms around herself. The two advanced slowly, one careful step at a time.
"We can't make an antidote or do anything until a scorpion actually shows up—"
Simon cut himself off mid-sentence.
A patch of flat sand had begun to slowly rise.
'It's here!'
Simon snatched Camibarez up into his arms and threw himself sideways. The massive tail erupting from the sand slammed down hard on the ground where they'd stood.
KRAKOOM!
Sand erupted like a fountain. One glance was enough to feel the staggering destructive power.
When Simon set Camibarez down and looked back, the tail had already vanished without a trace. Mixed into the sand, he could see a glistening green liquid.
"Venom. Stay sharp, Cami!"
"Yes!"
A Rank 5 monster indeed. It was far faster than he'd imagined.
The two were scanning their surroundings, wound tight with vigilance, when sand began rising on the other side.
Camibarez spotted it first and shouted.
"Simon! On your right!"
Simon registered his left foot stuck to the ground and hardened his gaze.
'Open Gate!'
SHRRRRRIP!
Two blades surged up from the ground just as the scorpion's tail came crashing down.
BOOOM!
Two tentacles and one tail collided dead center, detonating an enormous crash.
Hit and run. Blocked in its attack, the Desert Scorpion tried to dive back into the sand.
BUBBLE-BUBBLE!
At that moment, a small pool of blood rose up around the scorpion, encircling it. Eyes closed in concentration, Camibarez swept both arms in an elegant arc.
Blood Thread
SPLASH!
SPLASH!
Threads of blood erupted from the pool and seized the scorpion's body. The scorpion strained against them, trying to burrow into the sand, and the crimson threads pulled taut.
"Ugh!"
Camibarez swayed, a strained groan escaping her lips.
"I've got you, Cami!"
Cloud
Emerald vapor streamed from all ten of Simon's fingers, flying out like ropes and coiling around the scorpion's body.
"One, two—!"
Simon and Camibarez bent their knees and heaved back on their arms at the same time. The scorpion, wrapped tight in its green and red cords, wobbled, lost its balance, and crashed to the ground.
BOOOM!
The scorpion thrashed violently. Its razor-sharp front claws swung again and again, slicing through the Cloud and several strands of Blood Thread.
'Gh—!'
Connected to the Cloud through his nerves, Simon was wracked with searing pain.
"Simon!!"
SHRAK!
The scorpion's claw grazed past Simon's shoulder. He'd jerked back a hair's breadth in time to dodge it, and he clutched his shoulder.
'Gh— the venom...!'
The Desert Scorpion, thoroughly enraged, charged straight at Simon.
KRAKOOM!
Simon and the scorpion collided head-on at the center of the battlefield. Losing the contest of strength, Simon was shoved backward, his boots carving long trenches through the sand.
'Internal Jet-Black Eruption!'
Beads of black sweat began dripping from Simon's body. With his explosively enhanced physique, he barely managed to halt the scorpion's charge.
Startled, the scorpion heaved up its massive tail to bring it down on Simon's head—
SNAP!
But Camibarez, quick-thinking as ever, had wound her Blood Threads around the tail alone, pinning it in place.
"Nice one, Cami!"
Holding the scorpion fast, Simon opened his subspace. Skeletons came pouring out and swarmed over the immobilized scorpion, jamming spears into the gaps between its carapace plates and hacking wounds open with their swords.
The scorpion squirmed with a pained shriek.
"Ready?"
"Yes! I finished preparing it beforehand!"
Simon's eyes blazed with focus.
'Open Gate — maximum number!'
KRAKOOOOOM!
All six of Overlord's blades shot up from the ground, hauling the scorpion's body into the air. Simon staggered back and shouted.
"Now!"
Camibarez, her eyes rimmed red with blood, thrust both arms high above her head.
The crowning jewel of blood magic.
Overflow — Massive Hemorrhage
SHRAAAAAAK!
Massive torrents of blood erupted from every wound the skeletons had carved into the monster.
A crimson rain fell from the sky.