After a surprisingly short but still difficult battle... the defeated beast hits the ground with a heavy, lifeless thud while Dom drops down beside it.
A peaceful silence quickly fills the air... A clear indication of the finished ordeal.
A couple of seconds later, Dom groans as he pushes off the ground and gets to a knee. With his breathing still fast and heavy, he stares at the immobile body beside him for a moment... and smirks.
Several meters away... Dae remains seated on the ground, his eyes fixed on the floor as he tries to catch his own unsteady breath.
"You alright?" Dom asked as he approached with his bloodied hand on his gut.
Dae scoffs. "You should really think about yourself first." He said as Dom stopped in front of him. "I thought you were dead."
Dom laughs. "So did I. I think I blacked out for a bit back there." He reaches out to Dae.
"Understandable," Dae said as he took Dom's hand. "I'm honestly surprised that you survived."
As Dae pulls himself to his feet, he winces from the sharp pain in his chest. He then stares at the beast with narrowed eyes.
"If I didn't see it for myself, I would have never believed you could defeat a Reflezard."
Dom grins as he pats Dae's back, making him wince again.
"It was a team effort. I couldn't have done it if you didn't slow it down for me."
Dae stares at Dom for a brief moment before smiling weakly.
They both then suddenly stumble once a distant explosion goes off, causing the ground beneath them to rumble.
Dom's eyes widen. "I totally forgot about the exam." He mumbled.
He was so focused on fighting... surviving... that he forgot why they were here in the first place.
Dae looks down at his wounded leg, which twitches as he tries to put weight on it.
"I can't run anymore," Dae said with a frustrated look on his face.
"Then I'll carry you," Dom said as he walked past Dae, who gave him a confused look. "Where's Sam?" Dom asked as he looked around, only to suddenly stumble to his knees, his body visibly trembling.
"What did you expect after taking all those hits. It's a miracle you can still stand." Dae said as Dom forces himself back to his feet and wipes his blood-stained lips.
"I'm... fine. I can still run. Where's Sam?"
Dae points to the bush where he could make out Sam's body within the leaves.
"He should be fine if he stays hidden," Dae said before looking up at the sky, his eyes noting the sunlight and the weather itself. "I'd estimate that we still have about an hour and a half left to reach that goal."
"Then... we still have time," Dom grumbled as he walked towards Sam with a noticeable limp in his steps. "I'll just... have to carry... both of you."
Dae reaches out to stop Dom, but instead falls to the ground, his body now heavier than before. He looks up at Dom, who stops, a hand pressed against his wounded gut, which still drips with some blood.
"You can't do it..." Dae said, his voice now strained as the adrenaline that suppressed his pain fades away.
Dom doesn't answer as he pushes onwards towards Sam.
"Even manage to carry us... He's already failed the moment his partner died." Dae said as he pushed himself up from the floor a little, his once again serious eyes fixed on Dom.
"If he remains hidden, he can be safe until the trainers come later. There's no point in lowering our chances of passing even more by carrying him."
Dom suddenly stops. "Don't... worry." He said as he turned to give Dae a forced smirk. "We won't fail."
Dae stares at Dom's confident expression for a moment before sighing in defeat.
"Fine." He said as he lay back down on the floor. "Do what you want. It's not like I can stop you anyway."
Dom laughs as he moves over to Sam while Dae rests his tired head against the ground, a small smile on his face as he closes his eyes...
Some time later...
A team of two recruits, both tired and injured, support each other as they finally enter the large clearing in the center of the forest.
There lies a large, blue, swirling portal being projected between two tall black pillars.
They share a satisfied smile before moving into the portal... and arriving back in the Academy training ground where their trainers, along with other recruits, are waiting.
As the medics quickly rush towards the mages, Johan looks at his pocket watch.
"15 minutes left," Johan mumbled with narrowed eyes just as Sandra approached him.
"Don't you think it's strange, sir?" Sandra asked, and Johan glanced at her while she looked at the different recruits. "Despite being our best recruits, they're still not here."
Johan lowers his watch with a sigh. "I was thinking the same thing."
Sandra turns to the open portal with worried eyes. "Do you think something happened to them?"
"Who knows?" Johan said as he placed his lit cigarette in his mouth while staring at the portal. "Like I said, whatever happens out there, they're on their own. If they got killed or fail to get here on time... then so be it."
Sandra frowns at him. "Isn't that a little cruel, sir?"
"We're soldiers, Sergeant. A little cruelty runs in our blood." He said, coldly.
Sandra sighs and turns back to the portal with a hopeful look on her face.
As time ticks by, the trainers, along with the other recruits, wait with somewhat tense expressions as they wait for the star recruits.
Johan pulls out his pocket watch again and narrows his eyes at the time.
"5 more minutes." He said.
This makes the already tensed air even denser, with the silence almost physically palpable.
"Come on, guys." A female recruit said as she anxiously stares at the gate while holding her hands in prayer... just as a hand touches her shoulder. She turns to find Roger shaking his head at her.
"There's no point in hoping for them, my dear. If they've not made it here yet, then it's likely they'll fail. It's sad, but that's just how life is." Roger said with an obviously superficial, sad look that makes the girl cringe. "Don't worry. As the second strongest team, we'll be sure to-"
"Roger." His lackey said, and Roger's brow twitches.
"What?" Roger grumbled before noticing the lackey pointing at the portal. He turns to the portal, and his eyes widen when he, along with everyone else, sees the portal distort with an irregular figure appearing through it.
Once the figure is through... the recruits and trainers are both relieved and shocked... to find an exhausted-looking Dom barely standing on his feet as he bears the weight of two equally injured mages on his back.
Dae opens his eyes and quickly recognizes their surroundings. "We... made... it." He said, weakly.
Dom forces a smirk. "I told you... We won't... f-"
Before Dom could finish, his legs finally gave out, and he fell with a heavy thud, with both Dae and the already unconscious Sam dropping on top of him.
The medics, along with some recruits, immediately rush over.
"Damn." One of the medics said as he rolled Dom over, his eyes seeing the different bruises and cuts on his already feverish body.
"Dom, Dae, Sam." The female recruit said as another medic pulled Dae's burnt shirt off while another checked Sam's vitals.
"They're supposed to be the strongest..." Roger's lackey mumbled with Roger, similarly confused and concerned beside him.
"Hey..." A voice asked, and Dom turned, his eyes widening once he recognized the lady... "Where's David?" She asked, her expression barely hopeful.
Dom closes his eyes, the image of the boy's corpse still fresh in his head. He grits his teeth in frustration while Dae frowns beside him.
"Dom! What happened?! Hey!"
"Get back!" Sandra shouted, and the recruits moved away as she, along with Johan and some other trainers, arrived.
Sandra's authoritative expression melts away once she sees the extent of their injuries. "Jesus." She mumbled as she got down to get a better look.
Johan moves closer and gives them a calm stare. "What happened?" He asked.
Dom turns his tired eyes to Johan. "We... got attacked... by... Reflezard." He said between groans as the medics treated his wounds.
"That's impossible." One of the trainers said. "Reflezards are a rare and dangerous A-rank beast."
"All the beasts we used were B rank or lower." Another trainer said.
Sandra frowns at Dom. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." Dae panted, getting their attention. "It was a lizard-like beast... with a big and fast body. It also... had a very hard shell that... reflected my spells."
The trainers stiffen as they recognize Dae's words to be the textbook description of the beast.
Johan narrows his eyes in suspicion while Sandra shakes her head in disbelief.
"But that... it can't be true." She said. "I personally reviewed and cataloged every single beast we sent into the field. There's no way I would make a mistake like that."
She looks at their wounds again, her frown deepening as their words look more believable.
Before anyone else could speak, Johan dropped to a knee in front of them with an intense gaze now fixed on the two.
Johan's eyes suddenly glowed brightly, causing both Dom and Dae's pupils to dilate as they felt Johan enter their minds.
Within seconds, Johan searches through their memories, which appear as fast-moving pictures until he confirms the identity of the beast, the hard battle, and the outcome...
Once he sees this, he closes his eyes and exits their mind.
"They're telling the truth," Johan said as he stood.
"Are you sure?" Sandra asks, and Johan nods as he lets out some smoke from his mouth. She turns back to them with a guilty look on her face. "I am so sorry, you three. I thought I double-checked the catalog before approving it. I must have made a mistake."
"I doubt that, Sergeant." Johan sighed as he snuffed out his cigarette, leaving Sandra confused.
"Um..." They both turn to see the worried recruits still looking at them. "Are they going to be okay?" A recruit asked.
Johan glances at the medic, who nods, making the recruits sigh with relief.
At that moment, a familiar bell rings through the room, and they all turn to find the portal gate distorting briefly before closing.
"Time's up." A trainer said.
The recruit from earlier widens her eyes with tears already streaming down her face. "What about David? Where is he?" She asked.
Dom closes his eyes tightly with visible pain written on his face. "I'm... sorry," Dom mumbled.
The girl falls to her knees while a few other female recruits move to comfort her.
"This is a mess." A trainer said sadly, and Sandra nodded with a frown.
Johan, still maintaining a neutral expression, stares at the broken girl and sighs. "Start working on rounding up the remaining recruits and beasts," Johan said to Sandra, who, despite her still frustrated expression, nodded in understanding. "You five. Help her out."
"Sir!" The five other trainers said with a salute before following Sandra, who works on reopening the portal through the terminal.
Johan then looks at Dom and Dae. "Regardless of this mix-up, I'm honestly impressed that you both managed to kill a Reflezard. That's a beast that gives even A-class veterans a run for their money. And you did it while protecting someone else."
Dae and Dom weakly glance at Sam, who is now placed on a gurney and rushed away, passing some medics bringing two more gurneys.
"You did well, soldiers," Johan said with a proud nod.
But this doesn't lift their mood. Dom's frown deepens as he watches a certain girl sobbing bitterly while Dae just closes his eyes, silently, as the medics load them on gurneys.
In that moment, Johan sighs again... before turning to find a recruit glaring at him.
"With all due respect, sir... don't you think you're being a little inconsiderate?" The recruit asked.
Johan looks around to find some other recruits feeling the same way.
Unmoved by their threatening gaze, Johan responds just as calmly. "I do feel bad about what happened... but that won't change anything."
The recruit clenches his fists with frustration.
Johan folds his arms as he goes on; "I promise to get to the bottom of this, but... in some strange fucked up way, I still consider this a lesson."
"Lesson?" Roger asked.
Johan looks back at the medics putting the final straps on the boys who had both already lost consciousness.
"Not everything goes according to plan," Johan said as the medics lifted the boys.
"I said it when we first met, right?" Johan added as he turned back to the recruits. "What we need from you is the power to be able to complete any and every operation given to us, regardless of the risk. This is a practical example of that."
Once Johan said that, the frustrated recruit held his tongue, with the other recruits doing the same once they saw the sad logic in Johan's words.
"I apologize, but unfortunately, that's just the way things work." Johan closes his eyes as the medics carry Dom and Dae away.
"With that out of the way..." Johan turns, giving the recruits his full attention. "Out of the 40 recruits sent into the field, 29 of you were able to pass through the gate on time... but only 22 of you qualified for the passing grade."
"Damn it." One of the recruits grumbled with teary eyes once he remembered his partner getting killed by a Gorback. The other single recruits have similar expressions on their faces.
"The 7 of you, including the ones still alive in there, will have to retake a different exam in the next 2 months to continue. But for the rest, you are no longer recruits. From today, you're all fully authorized magic knights. On behalf of the Royal Council, I congratulate you."
Johan salutes, but only a few of the recruits salute back... the others remained still, either confused, conflicted, or in tears...