The church clock strikes two o'clock in the afternoon. Iruka and now his two companions are waiting outside the forest for further instructions. What will the next test consist of?

  "Tss... We're kind of short here. I don't like it." Muttered Kenji to himself.

  "Maybe we're supposed to be so few." Shika replied.

  "Nope. There were more people at lunch than there are here."

  Kenji was right. Lunch was interrupted and there's barely a quarter of them here. And on top of that, there's that black-haired boy from class among them. I gave him a quick glance. He was staring at me, not trying to be conspicuous at all. My inner self was really screaming. I had to turn around to calm myself down.

  There was a group of people heading straight towards us from the forest. The group consisted of some young men in uniforms, and an old friend was leading the way. Probably something like our class teacher, I thought, as I couldn't guess his role. They finally reached us and the man rubbed his long white beard. He cleared his throat and started:

  "Welcome to the third, and final, exam. This test lies in working with the other mages. There are six crystals hidden in this deep forest. The team, however, is 8. So I guess you know what that means, my clever children. The next thing you should know is that the crystals move. That means they can move outside the forest and you lose another stone. So it's not even guaranteed that 6 teams will pass you. Besides, along the way groups can clash and be trapped in an arena that only one team will come out of. Also, there is a lot of wild and aggressive fauna. If you can't fight it off, you're automatically finished. You have a time limit to find the crystals. It lasts until tomorrow morning. 8:00 a.m. sharp. That's it for the test. We will now release you after 8 minutes. At 3:00 p.m., when all the teams are in the woods. We'll start the clock. These guys will be there to make sure you're playing fair. So good luck." He curtsied and disappeared.

  "Okay team one step up." One of the young men ordered.

  "So, team eight. You are the last. Good luck."

  Yes, we were last, but it's not about how many times you go.

  "Yes. Thank you." I said thank you and walked into the spooky looking forest. After a few hours of wandering and trying to figure out the fastest tactic to not go crystal, we decided to just keep going and find water first.

  "This forest is beautiful." Shika sighed.

  "Heh. I have a different idea of a beautiful forest." Kenji replied scornfully.

  "It's beautiful, but sad. People are afraid of it. The trees are crying. So loud. They scream. I... I... I can hear... Stop... stop... ouch... it hurts sooo much."

  Shika suddenly slumped to the ground.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "Shika!" I shouted and ran towards her.

  "What's wrong with you? What's wrong with her?" I confusedly asked Kenji, but he was just as confused as I was. I ran my eyes all over her body. She was squirming. Her eyelids were tightly together and she was whimpering. She was in pain and we didn't know what to do.

  "Shiko! Shiko! Where's your pain? Talk to us!" Kenji was trying to talk to her now.

  Nothing.

  "Tsss. You fools. You can't help her like that. She's under the spell of my illusion."

  I raised my head to the treetop where the voice was coming from. There stood a girl with brown hair and blonde highlights.

  "You!" Kenji growled.

  Suddenly, the light blinded us. A sort of blue translucent barrier formed around us. I hoped we wouldn't run into anyone. I guess we weren't meant to pay tribute.

  "Looks like we're supposed to fight you."

  Another voice joined in. It was a boy. He was black haired and had freckles. Next to him was a boy who looked quite similar. Only he had red hair and wasn't freckled.

  "Team 8 against us, Gaji, Erik and Nana, Team 3." Said the redhead. Erik, that is.

  "When we're done with you two. We'll come get you and show you the magic of reality." I motioned to the girl upstairs and pierced Gaji with my gaze.

  Gaji will be my opponent, it seemed. He switched places with his companion. Though his angry grimace looked frightening, I wasn't worried. I must not be afraid.

  "Then show yourself." Erik said scornfully, stabbing Kenji next to me.

  "Fireball!"

  Gaji didn't take too kindly to that and sent a spell against me.

  I swung my arms and after casting the spell, a wall of water formed in front of me. I also didn't wait and launched a counterattack.

  "Water Sphere Spin!"

  He couldn't avoid them. In fact, he didn't move. Wait, what?! He stopped them? I stared frantically at the orbs levitating in the air in front of him. What now? Oh, yeah. I have an idea!

  I slammed my hand into the ground and cast a spell:

  "Roots rise."

  Before he could react, the thick tendrils of roots were wrapping around his limbs. Gradually, they began to wrap around his entire body, until finally he was trapped in the ground.

  Kenji, meanwhile, was battling with Erik on the other side of the field. I didn't even notice when he left. He finally succeeded by getting into his head. He's worse than a worm. I thought to myself.

  "So where are you, Nano?" I swung into the void. She's not where she was anymore and neither is Shika, which worries me a lot.

  However, my question was answered by Shika's terrible scream.

  "Dooost!" I yelled and tried to run, but where to?

  I was left standing. I turned my head in all directions. I was getting dizzy. Where the hell is that bitch? I panicked. The world was spinning around me and I was standing still. Shika's scream echoed again, but it didn't stop. It just kept screaming and getting louder. It was unbearable. I plugged my ears, but it didn't help. She kept raising her screaming an octave. It had stopped belonging to Shika. It was a different wail. I knew that wail, but whose was it? What the fuck is going on? Help! Help! Stop screaming. Grrr.

  "Aaaaaaaaaaa Mooooooom!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

  Black. And quiet. A beautiful and delicious silence. Any more and I'd have gone crazy.

  "Iruka? Iruka, are you okay?"

  I know that voice. It's Kenji. I cracked my eyelids hard. The harsh light and the hazy outline of blonde hair. I'm back.

  "What happened?" I rasped.

  "She got you. While I was dealing with Eric, you were about to go over to Shika and then you broke down. I quickly took her down from the tree, and when she was upset, I climbed into her head and gave her a taste of her own medicine as administered by my embedded thoughts. Then the barrier broke down and you stopped shaking. Her spells probably worked, just up to a point."

  "A-ah... And Shika? Is she okay?"

  "Yeah. I just need to wake her up. So get up. We can't stay here. It's too open and dangerous."

  I just nodded my head. Kenji smiled and walked over to Shika. That was a close call then.