177 I'll Kill You First Then Fail, Okay?

"Cherell, have you ever hunted before? Even once?" He tried to confirm.

"That is Ms. Ashtree to you. And to answer you question: No, why would I ever do something like that? My parents raised me to be a proper lady. Any talent in magic I have is just something to boost my family's reputation and my ability to marry well in the future." Cherell scoffed while answering honestly.

"Surely, you, personally, would have more ambitions in life than that?" He felt doubtful. After all, she had to have some talent to be part of the representatives now.

"What do you know? I'm the third child of my father. My eldest sister is the most talented at magic, while my second brother has always been intelligent since young. My father was already comfortable leaving the household to them in the future and did not actually plan to have more children. I came late in his life and knew from the moment I was young that I was not special. My talent did not match up to my sister's and my intelligence was not near my older brother's, either. The only thing I had going for me was my beauty and family background. I just need to marry well and bring benefits to my family in that way. That is how I was raised. And I'm not particularly complaining. Who would want to go around fighting and working hard when I could just stay indoors and be pampered for the rest of my life?" Cherell faced looked fairly expressionless and unfazed.

"You might not be the most talented, but you should at least have some talent to be a magister level stage five magician under 40. There is so many other things you could do rather than just look forward to marrying someone. "

"You would not be able to understand me. For that matter, why am I even telling you about any of this? I'm not here to discuss my life philosophies with you. Let's just try to get this stupid team exercise this over with." Cherell sighed with frustration and stomped on the ground a bit. She just felt the need to vent her anger somewhere.

Greyson shrugged in response. He really was not that interested in knowing more about Cherell, so he quickly changed gears. Since she had never been hunting before, he knew that she would mostly ignorant about all the basics and what to look out for. So instead of moving to look for Jegers, he told her to sit down and began to teach her his insights into hunting. Just the little things that would make her a better look out and ways to describe the positioning of the Jeger if she saw one. 

Greyson continued to lecture her and came up with new ideas along the way. Cherell fought a lot of them, especially any suggestions that had her touching him since she felt that they should keep their appropriate distance.

"Ms. Ashtree," Greyson emphasized, "I hope you realize that we are not in the middle of some public ball or gathering. Who in the world is going to go back and gossip about something so inane. The Duke's supervisors? Have they nothing better to do? If something can make our lives easier, then we should just do it. Plus, if you really think about it, I've already carried you such a long way, would they not already have enough scandalous material? I really do not see the point in worrying." It took all his energy not run over and shake some reality into her. She was so bad at giving directions and has no experience, yet they were going to hunt Jegers from her verbal commands? He might as well just throw in the towel now and forget about the challenge, because there is no way he would hit anything unless through sheer dumb luck. 

His words successfully shut her up and she no longer made any protests. Seeing she calmed down and was listening to him, Greyson felt like there was finally hope in his situation. If they could just work out the kinks of their teamwork today, then maybe they could succeed the next day. With this in mind, he went into more detail and tried to dumb things down for her before he decided that practical experience was still the best. Before they even went looking for mobile targets, he decided to get her to point out some branches and see if they could hit them accurately together. In the beginning, it was still a mess and he missed more than 90% of the time. But as time continued to tick on, he started getting more and more accurate and needed less time to take aim. Their connection was becoming a bit more tacit.

By sunset, Cherell was already sweating just from moving and directing Greyson. But she noticed that even though he had to shoot and recover so many arrows, Greyson had not broken a sweat yet.

"Just what are you made out of, anyway? Are you not tired? You also had ca... carried me that entire time." She started the question rather annoyed but blushed near the end. Of course, the currently blind-folded Greyson did not pick up the subtleties in her tone and just plainly shook his head.

"I'm fine. I'm used to much more hard work than this." Greyson felt he was definitely still far from his limits. Part of it was that he truly normally lived a harder life than this before, while the other part was just natural physical strength and endurance. With the dragon blood in him, how could this minor exercise truly drain him?

"Oh right, you were a peasant, were you not? Did you have to farm? Or did you starve without parents?" Suddenly, Cherell's tone filled with pity. 

Greyson turned his head over in her direction. He truly was in wonder of how her mind worked. Everything he said seemed to somehow make its way back to this topic of social status. Too exhausted to correct her, he just shook his head and silently prayed for whatever man would be unfortunate enough to be scammed into marrying her in the future. That man would surely not be prepared for the tiring life ahead of him.

"What?" She seemed to sense something but could not put her finger on it.

"Nothing... Let's just take a rest now so we can get up at the break of dawn. We need to have as much time as possible so we can have a higher chance of spotting more Jegers."

...

While the Greyson-Cherell combo were still suffering, the other groups were showing more success. However, their success was still relative. Trevion and Aphina managed to catch 2 by the time sunset arrived. Most of it was luck, as Trevion's aim was still a work in progress. The two of them truly were not the ideal partners for hunting as neither of them were really the type of fighter who would excel at something like catching animals from long distances. Actually, Trevion did have a spell that would help him sense animals from far away through the earth and plants even without his sight. However, he knew that the Duke was not testing what spells he could use. Therefore, he was stuck using a more trial and error approach where Aphina would give directions and he would send rock projectiles in that direction. He made sure they were small so they would not make a lot of noise and also so that their could be many of them creating a greater chance of hitting the target.

He was just glad that this fiery princess only looked immature on the outside. Once she calmed down, she was more serious than anyone. He did not have any issues with her complaining about hard work or losing focus. She continued to seriously survey their surroundings from the moment they arrived until it was dark. By the end, he was already impressed. Just this amount of goodwill made him realize that the Duke's idea might not have been so bad after all. While it was too soon to call them friends, he could at least claim to be cordial with her. He could also feel her prejudice towards himself decrease as the day continued. 

"Aphina, it's already dark now and our chances of spotting a Jeger now are slim to none. You have also been boosting your sight and body for a while now, I'm sure your mana is almost exhausted. We should rest now and recharge for tomorrow." Trevion advised.

"As much as I would like to claim that I still have tons of fighting energy left, I'm really about to be drained. We should quickly find a place." Aphina could not help but inwardly let out a relieved sigh. Really, her pride was what was keeping her from bringing it up first. Without his sight, Trevion could not see the beads of sweat dripping down her face from exertion. 

"That much is actually simple for me." Trevion gave her a rare smile. He placed his hands on the ground, said a long chant in a low murmuring voice, and soon the ground began to light up. Cracks appeared as parts of the rocks from the ground rose up while the trees and bushes twisted to form a nice sized hut. He then took a twig and etched a symbol into the ground that allowed an invisible shield to border around. Aphina's jaw dropped a little as she quickly went into the hut to check out the inside. 

Although the construction was obviously rough, there were still two separate spaces that looked like rooms. Trevion followed behind her and used two shorter spells to have to blocks of dirt and stone rise from the ground to form a makeshift bed. 

"Can I bring you on every trip I take?" Aphina suddenly looked at him with eyes glowing. "Earth magic is so convenient. It's like having a crew of builders and workers with just one person." 

"..." Was he just a glorified worker in her eyes now?

"We should rest." Trevion just decided to ignored her statement and walked into his area. "The shield should block most things. If it breaks, then there will be a loud screeching noise that can warn us." 

"Really, I'll pay for your services if you join me." Further impressed with how easy this made her life, Aphina felt that giving her this partner was her uncle's way of doting on her.

Trevion snorted and plopped down on the hard block. He was already used to harsh conditions, so he was able to quickly find a comfortable position and fall asleep. Aphina struggled a bit more, but thankfully she always kept a blanket on her in case of an emergency. As part of the royal family, she would, of course, have a spatial tool. Her's was in the form of a bracelet. She tossed and turned a little while wrapped in the blanket before a wave of exhaustion washed over her. Following after Trevion, she also fell into a deep sleep. 

...

All the team members made similar decisions to give up once night fell in order to wake up at the break of dawn. Braiden, Tatyana, and Colin's team managed to finally get four Jegers but it was a definite struggle for them to find ones due to their supervising team's hard work. The team which found the most success was actually Eris and Efren. After Eris practiced for a while, she managed to quickly catch on and improve in accuracy. After all, she had enough weapons and combat practice to have decent coordination and muscle memory. With Efren's experience hunting and his accurate directions, the pair was able to already catch five and were halfway to their goal. 

The Duke continued to keep tabs and pay attention to the reports. Seeing the pairs do about as he expected, he smiled knowingly. He could always make the test a little harder again, but his goal was already being met. They were working hard together and slowly grinding down the enmity between each other. In fact, other than Keaton, the rest did not have any real bad blood between each other. While the noble faction and the imperial faction butt heads, it is always under the surface and gives way in front of national issues. This competition was one such event where they would have to let go of prejudice and learn to work together. The pride of the country was on the line based on their performance. Coming in last all the time was quite ugly and shameful. Most citizens of Snow Country do not even realize how much other countries disdain to associate with theirs and privately laugh at their weakness. Especially the strong outer countries with ties to the inner region. Zaire had gone as both a participant and as a teacher and each time he returned with a feeling of disgrace that he could only swallow and endure. The petty infighting from before must stop early so they can show a united front. Plus, the better they know each other, the better they will fight together later in the team battles. Since they have now endured the short hardships together, he will let the groups experience the sweetness of success accomplished together. Well, at least some of the groups...

Greyson could not sleep very soundly as he knew that Cherell would not stay alert, so he decided to meditate instead. When he felt the light from the sun rise, he shouted out to alert Cherell. He was not sure where her body was so he could only call her name repeatedly. Eventually, he heard the sounds of leaves rustling and a disgruntled groan in response. 

"Are you up? Let's hurry and start." Greyson quickly organized his clothes and slung the quiver over his shoulders. Holding his bow, he was already bursting with energy and enthusiasm. They needed to quickly catch at least their first Jeger. At the rate they were going, he could only see them failing. 

"-ust, -ait a e-ond." He could hear her slightly slur a respond through a yawn.

"What?"

"I said to wait a second. Just let me wake up." Cherell snapped back clearly in a bad mood.

"Well, hurry up." Greyson shrugged in respond and stood tapping his foot impatiently.

After some more clothes rustling, he finally felt a hand on his elbow start to lead him. Knowing she was now ready, he followed her quietly and waited for her signal if she spotted something.

"Should we practice? Or should I only look out for Jegers?" 

"We can practice if there is a chance and you spot something. Otherwise, we should aim to get our first Jeger."

"Okay." Surprisingly obedient, Cherell listened to his suggestions without complaint. Hearing no sharp remarks back, Greyson felt that the sun must have risen from the west this morning. Not that he was complaining, though, he could not be more relieved that she seemed to calm down and be more eager to take the initiative today. It was already worlds away from her earlier behavior. 

The two continued their walk deeper into the forest. Cherell was not really sure of the direction, so she walked closer and closer in towards the center. Greyson was not too clear on which direction they were heading, so he ignorantly followed along.

Without a word, Cherell grabbed Greyson's arm and started to turn his body. She tapped his right elbow signifying the angle that they agreed upon and also tapped his ankle with her foot to tell him the height. Earlier, when they were practicing, he had shot at certain angles with the similar amount of strength so Cherell would understand about where they would land. Seeing that she found a target on the ground, it probably was not a Jeger and they normally hid and travelled up on trees. However, he did say to practice, so he followed her directions. Knowing that he would mostly likely not be able to hit the target if he only shot one, he did not grab an arrow and instead let his mana flow through the bow. This bow was a gift from his teacher and he had made it from dark element materials. Soon, multiple black arrows appeared on the bow. When he released, they shot forth silently. The target could not hear the impending attack at all. 

"Awooooo!" He heard a weak cry that sounded vaguely familiar.

"You hit it! I think you killed it." Cherell finally spoke once again.

Still bothered by the call, Greyson had to ask for more information.

"Wait, Cherell, what does the target look like?"

"Appearance? Why does it matter?" Back to her talking back, Cherell did not answer him right away.

"Can you just answer without asking back?"

"Hmph... it's white with semi-faded looking black stripes. It kind of looks like a tiger cub?" She tried her best to describe what she was seeing.

Greyson's expression finally changed and suddenly grew the urge to strangle his partner once again.

"Where are we? What part of the forest were you leading me into?"

"Huh, I just kept walking in the direction you were running to get us here?"

"...Are you not from this area? How could you possibly know less about this forest area than me?! The deeper you go into the forest, the more dangerous the magic beasts we will come across are. Jegers are near the bottom of the food chain so while they like the denser forest because it is darker, they stay further out. Do you not recognize that call just now combined with the tiger cub appearance? Did you not take any classes on Magic Beast identification?"

"What are you trying to say? Just spit it out clearly." Cherell sounded a mix of worried and annoyed.

"I'm saying we need to leave right now. Turn me in the direction we came from. I will run us back." 

Without asking more questions, she turned him around to retrace their footsteps. Greyson picked her up once again and began to run as fast as he could. He only took a couple steps before hearing a deep roar from behind. He grimaced and activated the wind element to heighten his speed more.

"What was that?" Cherell was almost too scared to ask.

"Oh, now you are curious? It's a Kiryn! They are famous in this area. They do not have their offspring until they are at the peak of the magister level and meet a mate of similar strength. Their young start white furred but eventually grow darker black stripes on their body. They only have one offspring every 50 years and are thus very protective. They had to be nearby."

"Oh, you made it sound scary. Isn't it just a magic beast at the same level as us?"

"Well, I'm sorry, if you want to fight the pair by yourself you are more than welcome. I will standby and watch."

"Who are you trying to fool? Like you can't take of magic beasts of that level!"

"I'm blindfolded! My fighting strength has severely dropped at the moment because I can't see. Even if my senses are heightened, it's not to the point that I don't need eyesight to help me fight. Why do you think the Duke made lower level beasts like Jegers our target? In terms of strength, we could probably massacre them, but they are wily and fast so they make for difficult beasts to hunt when your senses are blocked. It builds teamwork but is not a dangerous magic beast. Kiryns are ferocious and talented magic beasts. They use the dark element and the water element. You are weak against water element magicians and magic beasts. You are a long distance fighter while Kiryns move quickly and are strong in close quarters. Actually, you are not even allowed to use magic or both of us are eliminated from this test and fail! Of all the magic beasts to choose from, you just had to pick this one. Are you some god of bad luck? Or are you secretly trying to make me fail for Keaton? Or maybe you are just really that ignorant? You know, suddenly I don't want to know."

"You-!"

"What?"

"Just keep running!" She huffed. It took all Greyson's will not to drop her right then.

"Wait, stop!"

"Would you make up your mind?"

"No... it- it's in front of us!"

"Huh?" Coming to an abrupt halt, Greyson could not help trying to listen harder. However, there was no crunch of snow or breathing sounds around him.

"Where is it?" He could only depend on Cherell's eyes. 

"In front of us! Are you blind?!"

"..." He was going to die, wasn't he? Maybe he would just have to accept the fail for this exam. Punishment or whatever, he will take it. As long as he can beat Cherell first and then fail.