A shuffling sound rang out from the bushes.

With the coconuts still on our lips, I and Zachy Bird stood on guard while facing the thickets covered by the sea of trees. I clenched the club and closed my eyes, but there was nothing like the chaotic mana of monsters around.

-Shwaa

Zachy glanced at me and I gave him a nod. He lowered the coconut and took out his sword as he slowly walked towards the bushes. He went closer and was about to push the short sword's blade in when a figure jumped up from the bushes.

"Hup!" the figure looked at the blade and screamed.

It was a brunette girl with a scratch on her face. Twigs and leaves stuck out from her hair while her clothes were muddled by the dirt that stuck everywhere thanks to the humidity.

Without any hesitation, Zachy put the sword against her neck.

"Who are you, why are you sneaking up on us?"

The girl raised her hand in submission and shook her head from side to side as if asking the sword to not kill her. "No fighting! No fighting!"

"I asked you a question."

"Right, that! Please help! My friend is dying!"

Hm? I tilted my head at the girl's innocent plea.

"Dying?" Zachy said. "Don't worry about it, this is the Dream Gate. Even if she dies here, nothing will happen in the real world."

"Did you guys encounter a powerful monster or something?" I intervened while taking another sip of the coconut. It seemed she had not noticed me before since the girl's eyes widened when she looked at me.

"No... We're just dehydrated..."

The girl was staring intensely at the coconut in my hands. I smiled and gazed up to see the sun was going away. Hm, almost an entire day had passed since the beginning of the exam. They would have definitely fought some monsters, we ourselves had encountered a few more hordes of Gnolls and Goblins and even a Tsuchinoko snake.

"Well, so what?" Zachy said.

"P-please, help us. You guys managed to get the coconuts, right? We'll help you back! At this rate we'll fail the exams..." the girl desperately threw reason after reason to convince us to help her.

"What? No way—"

"Ok, sure." I interrupted Zachy before he could turn the girl away. He looked at me with another frown.

It was definitely tough to get the coconuts from the tall trees that easily stretched over 6-7 meters high in the sky. We managed to break ours off only with Zachy Bird's wings.

Sighing, Zachary came over to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. The two of us bent down and talked in whispers.

"What the hell, man? What if they are tricking us?"

"What if they are not? If we help some people they'll stick around, you know?" I reasoned.

"So you want to take up the responsibility of more brats? I won't protect you if they are gonna act out, I swear. Think it through, Ralph."

Oh my.

Zachy Bird was talking about protecting me with a scowl on his face.

{Isn't he a textbook tsundere? He's thinking of you guys as friends!}

Even the system agreed!

"Zachy, if they do act out we just have to throw them at the monsters, right? 'Your benefactors have made a plan! Follow it through!' and bam, they're all gone. We get pawns to sacrifice and our problem goes away."

I explained it that way to Zachy, but there was also the fact that letting people fail from dehydration didn't sit that well with me.

"..."

{...}

Zachy Bird and the System blinked a few times at my words.

"What?"

"What an evil fucker." Zach shook his head and stood back up. He gave me a quick nod and closed his eyes. Wings sprouted out from his back.

"W-whoah!" the girl exclaimed. I slowly walked over next to her.

Apparently, Zachy Bird could only open his wings for 5 minutes every one hour. So for a whole hour, he could only fly for five minutes. It was actually a very convenient ability, especially in battles.

"Cool, isn't it?" I asked the girl.

"Definitely. I'm Anna, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Anna! I'm Ralph, that bird is Zachy."

"It's Zachary! Zachary Ainsworth!" Zachy shouted from above while plucking out a few coconuts.

Anna seemed to have found the quip funny, as she giggled lightly. Now close to her, I could hear her voice crack with each word. She must've been thirsty too.

I smiled and handed her my own coconut.

She nervously looked between me and the coconut. When I nodded in affirmation, she smiled and drank the water from the coconut. Zachy soon floated back down with around five more coconuts in his hands. He saw the coconut I had given Anna and clicked his tongue.

"Well then," I said. "Shall we get a move on?"

"Yes! I'll guide you there!" Anna said and took the lead. Zachy formed a file right behind her and walked behind her on full alert. I took the end of the line, keeping an eye on our back.

As we moved a bit further ahead, Anna stopped in between and raised her hands. Zachy looked at her in suspicion but did not do anything.

"[Scout Skill: Locate (D-)]"

A spark of light fluttered around in front of her palm before stopping right in front of her. The spark of light elongated into a pointer on her hands and pointed at the path ahead from the woods.

"I know many scouting skills. I left a tracer on my friend so I can reach her at any time."

Now, now, wasn't that interesting?

"See, we can use a scout in many ways," I whispered into Zachy's ears.

"Hey, since you are a scout you better tell us if any monsters are sneaking around, ok?" Zachy ordered the girl. "This is over if you don't."

Anna gave a determined nod and continued onward. "Leave it to me."

It didn't take long before we got deeper into the rainforest. The sun was almost gone too, but the rainforest's temperature didn't seem ready to drop at all. Soon, we came across a meek blue-haired girl sitting against a tree. She was panting as her lips seemed to have cracked a little.

"Reina!" Anna shouted and rushed up to her friend. She immediately crouched down next to the girl and lifted her off the tree. "Are you ok? Hey!"

Zachy and I shared another glance before going to her ourselves. I took a coconut from Zachy's hands while he stood a bit further from us. Though she truly seemed to be in trouble, we couldn't put off the possibility of it being a trap, so Zachy stood ready to fight and cover for me.

I smashed the husk of the coconut and sat next to the girl. Despite the humidity, she was barely sweating any. I pushed Anna away slightly and opened the girl's mouth. Her tongue was dry too.

"She's really dehydrated, Zachy."

"What? You guys didn't...?"

I ignored Anna and poured the water from the coconut into the girl's mouth. The coconut water drizzled down her neck and she drank it all.

After a while, the girl's eyes fluttered open. She looked at me with a hazy gaze. "Who..."

Just then, Anna embraced the girl. "Reina! Are you ok?!"

"Anna...?"

I smiled and stepped back. With the surplus of mana in the environment, people healed a bit faster in dungeons and gates, so her condition made sense.

Guess we had got a few more people to use.

***

"Sera, are you ok?!" A loud voice asked.

Fiery red hair fluttered in the air as a young girl in a black battle suit stood in front with a spear in her hands. Streams of hot lava tore through the black rocks, giving a bright reddish hue to the night sky.

Against the girl and her party of four was a four-legged monster made of rocks and lava. Breaths of hot fire left the monster each second as it rushed around the terrain, ready to jump on them any second.

Don Brocious' eyes were fixed on this projection while everyone else in the room was too stunned to speak.

"That kid, he really defeated the Pine King... didn't he?"

"Single-handedly. A (C-) rank skill..."

"Hey, professor Artie, wasn't there another girl who registered with him?"

"Y-yeah... she's been going around clearing the rest of the blizzard mountains in the south..."

"Just where did such kids come from...?"

The professors and teachers of Agriche couldn't hold back their surprise at the performance of these two children. The girl was still fairly high up in their list, but Luke Reese had nothing to his name except a recommendation letter. His performance was jaw-dropping even after accounting for the most unexpected situations. To defeat one of the zone bosses... they were sure the kids would need at least four people. But not only did he win, but he also won in the cleanest way they could imagine.

"Now, now." Professor Brocious clapped his hands and got the attention of the other examiners. "Another battle is beginning. I'm rather interested in the Exise lady's skills."

With those words, everyone turned toward the projection Don Brocious was intently staring at. Seraphina Exise going against the Boss of the Volcanic Zone, Magmata.