“Iris! Are you okay?! Can you hear me?!” Erin shouted with tears in her eyes as she tried to wake the unconscious Iris who had passed out due to exhaustion on the battlefield.

Both Iris and Bill couldn’t hold on anymore as by the time Mako reached the shelter to inform Leon and Erin, both of them had passed out due to a lack of energy.

The two of them quickly picked up their unconscious bodies and sprinted back to the shelter to make sure that they were out of any danger.

************

“I am amazed these kids were able to kill that thing! Nobody has been able to move past stage three of the beast wave attack in the last five years.” A patrolling officer said to another patrolling officer.

Both of them were stationed on the very top of two trees about half a kilometer away from the shelter and were tasked with observing this group and making sure that they remain alive through the different beast encounters.

There had been many times during the fight when the officers were on the urge of jumping out and saving the cadets from immediate death but every time they watched as they were able to save themselves in the last second and counter back beautifully against the beast.

“Make sure to add every bit of detail in the report. The commander must be very pleased knowing that there are a lot of geniuses in the recruitment test this year.” The other patrolling officer said.

They were both still so shocked to see how much each individual member of this group had managed to improve and grow.

“Three of them had awakened their mutant genes and three of them could use resonated abilities as well. The boy who seems to be their leader had managed to resonate Fire and Lightning together and now was able to unlock a new variant to his Fire ability just like that other kid who he fought in the duel.” The first patrolling officer narrated.

“They have been quite innovative as two of the cadets have been able to create brand new skills using their abilities all on their own, without any prior training, and have executed them perfectly while two of them possess unique abilities which they have utilized to the maximum.” The officer continued.

“First is that troubled kid whose father is a guild master and even though he had quite a rocky start, he was lucky that he didn’t encounter many beasts and lost as he ran crazily all over the island, but I think he has gotten his senses back now. Nonetheless, his abilities are quite remarkable too as he achieved speeds using a combination of different things that even average level 5 Speed ability users wouldn’t be able to achieve.” The other officer chimed in.

“Second is that girl with light brown hair who has a remarkable healing ability. I heard from another officer that she was able to fully heal herself after being stabbed all the way through with a sword. Not only that but she also possesses great physical strength and has now even unlocked her Water Mutant Gene which has enhanced her power even more.” The first officer said as he added more information.

“They are definitely not an ordinary bunch and will prove to be a great asset to the military. I only hope that they have the energy left to take on another wave before they decide to call off the beast wave attack and continue the remainder of the test.” The first officer said as he finished his report for the third wave on the summit of the west mountain. .

***********

Minutes Later

Erin had done her job and cooled down the ash crater enough so that she could comfortably touch it without getting burned. She spent some time digging through the ash and collected as many crystals as she could find with her total coming out to being 164 crystals.

She placed all of the crystals in her own backpack which was actually just a spare that she borrowed from Mako since she and Iris had lost theirs when they got split from their original group.

She hurried back to the shelter and joined Mako and Leon who were discussing what to do next as the 4th wave would be soon upon them.

“How about we retreat? If we start now, we can almost make it out of the range of the wave attack by the time the 4th wave starts.” Leon suggested just as Erin returned back inside the shelter.

“What are you thinking?! Are we going to leave these two defenseless while we make a run for it just to avoid the 4th wave?!” Erin criticized Leon’s judgment as she walked inside and closed the door behind her.

“No! No one is abandoning anybody.” Mako said in a powerful tone bringing reassurance to Erin who placed her backpack full of crystals next to the pile of High tier Dogleo crystals.

“We have no choice but to fight. We can’t leave these two behind and I am also too injured to walk making us three injured and two healthy. Even if you both carry one, we all won’t be able to make it together.” Mako said as began explaining all the possibilities if they were to run.

“Even if tried to run away we wouldn’t know when the 4th wave will start or from which direction it will come, leaving us wise open and vulnerable and we might just run straight into the starting point of the 4th wave,” Mako continued.

“And even if we were to somehow we all were able to retreat and also be lucky enough to not interact with the 4th wave, we would be out in the open at night time with no shelter and would be the prime target for any roaming beast which I have a feeling will be many tonight,” Mako added another point as he made clear why running wasn’t a feasible option.

“But Mako…, I haven’t even recovered all of my energy yet and neither has Erin. It took every ounce of power all three of you had to finish that 3rd wave beast. What makes you think we can take on the next beast all by ourselves when it is bound to be stronger than the previous one?” Leon asked while starting to tear up and quiver a little with fear.

‘Leon… *Sigh!* Sometimes I forget that he hasn’t been conditioned to the same amount of harshness as the rest of us. Even if he acted very tough and menacing, Paul still made sure of his protection and he was still getting pampered by all the staff in the headquarters. He hasn’t been in many stressful situations and now that he is in one, he cracking under its pressure.’ Mako thought as he analyzed Leon’s behavior.

*SLAP!*

Without any warning, Erin walked up toward Leon who was complaining in front of Mako, and proceeded to deliver a strong slap directly on Leon’s cheek making him tumble and fall to his side.

A sharp pain arose in his cheek area as it began to turn red from Erin’s slap. Leon had never been slapped in his entire life so this was definitely a new experience for him. He just laid there on the ground with his eyes widened, his hand on his throbbing red cheek, and his breathing heavy.

‘What is this feeling? Normally, nobody wouldn’t even dare to do something like this to me! Why am I not feeling anger like I usually do? What is this feeling?’ Leon thought to himself as he lay there on the floor in fear and embarrassment.

“What kind of a person are you? Don’t you have any shame!? Why did you even want to take the recruitment test if you were too afraid to man up when the time called for it? You are just a crybaby who has no confidence in himself. Even if I was completely void of energy, I would still fight to protect my friends and so will everyone else in this room. So let me ask you this! What is your resolve!? Why do you fight!? What will you get if you pass this test?!” Erin shouted at Leon while on the verge of tears herself.

Leon didn’t move from his position as he still lay down on the floor, processing what was being said to him.

Erin didn’t want Mako to see her tears as she wanted to show herself as a strong and capable individual and so after giving Leon a piece of her mind she turned towards Mako stating that she will defend the shelter all on her own if she had to and that she didn’t need Leon’s help and with that, she ran out of the shelter, slamming the door behind her.

Leon continued to stare at the ground unsure of what to do as he had neve received such treatment before, his emotions were running wild and his breathing was becoming rapid; however, before he could lose all control over his emotions and go into a complete panic attack, he felt a tug on the back of his shirt.

He looked up and saw Mako tugging on his shirt. He had moved from resting against the wall and even when his body didn’t allow him to move he moved forward and made Leon acknowledge him.

Leon stared at Mako who held tightly onto his shirt. His muscles were visibly shaking and it looked like he was in a great deal of pain but despite all that, Mako crawled his way forward until he was face to face with Leon on the ground.

Fighting against the huge amount of pain that his body was giving him, Mako gave a huge smile to Leon as he said,” Calm down, Leon! Now is not the time for you to lose your nerve.”

*Ding!*

Body scan 75% complete

Estimated time of completion: 5 minutes