Chapter 165 - 164 - Combat Exam(Part 2)

"Anyone injured? No? Alright, then, let's keep going," I remarked, as the Mutant lay lifelessly on the ground. 

"Hey, when will we take a break?" Inquired Kiran, as we began moving forward. 

"We'll take ten minute breaks after every eighty minutes...so for the first six hours, that's a total of four breaks. It'll probably be the same on the way back, maybe less, but almost definitely not more," I informed him.

"Normally, I'd say that's a bit unreasonable, but after all those nightmare training sessions you forced us into, it doesn't sound that bad," Sighed Bytra in response. 

"I agree, and that's actually the scariest part of this," Added Kiran in agreement. 

Great, they're ganging up on me. I haven't seen them interact much, but I do know that they both firmly agree on one thing...they hated my training sessions. 

"Complain all you want, but thanks to my training, you've both got greater stamina and became stronger too," I pointed out objectively. 

"Hmph, that just makes it worse," Huffed Bytra. 

"Yeah, well, fuck you, bitch."

"Fuck you right back, you dick."

Unbelievable...right now, I was actually hoping to run into a Mutant so that this could cease for a moment. Ugh, she gives me a headache, I want to strangle her... 

... 

... 

"Alright, let's take a break here!" I suggested, after glancing at the time. 

Four hours and twenty minutes had passed since we left from the base, it was around 12:50 PM in the afternoon right now, and this was going to be our third break. The other two were doing better than I expected, my training had definitely paid off. 

"It's almost creepy...the way I'm not as tired as I'd expect to be at this point, it's pretty unsettling," Muttered Kiran with a frown. 

"Yeah, well, you're welcome," I responded dryly. 

"I don't know about him, but I'm definitely not thanking you," Chimed in Bytra. 

"Okay, and...? You should've just shut up then, wouldn't have made a difference. What, did you want some attention or something? And besides, I only trained you two because I wanted to pass this exam, I definitely wouldn't have done it otherwise," I replied bluntly. 

"Yeah, that's true. I wouldn't have voluntarily opted for such training in the first pace," Responded Kiran, as he pulled down his face mask and wiped off some sweat above his upper lip. 

"That's for sure," Grumbled Bytra in agreement. 

Man, talk about ungrateful. But, then, I don't particularly want their gratitude, so it doesn't really matter. 

"Well, one thing's for sure, I hope I never team up with you two again. No offense, Kiran, I enjoy your company and all, but when it comes to this, we're not very compatible," I remarked sheepishly. 

"The feeling's mutual...you're a good guy and all, but as a teammate, you're way too serious," He replied wryly. 

"As for you, b-...," I began.

"Oh, shut it, I already know the gist of what you're going to say, just save your breath," She interrupted with a frown. 

"I know I'm not supposed to interact, but I have to say...it's not often you see a team with such incompatible personalities work together so efficiently," Chimed in Johan, looking a bit amused. 

"Yeah, well, we put in a lot of training to get to this point, so it's no coincidence," I responded, before glancing at the time, "Just a couple of minutes to go, get warmed back up, break's almost over."

"Already? Ugh, whatever, we're almost halfway done...fine, let's get it over with," Declared Kiran unenthusiastically, seemingly a half-hearted attempt to motivate himself. 

As the break ended, we continued heading forward, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread...it almost feels like things have gone too smoothly so far, am I just being paranoid? 

After that encounter with the Kong, we encountered mostly J-Ranked Mutants, with a few lone Q-Ranked in between, but nothing that I'd even remotely consider a real threat. Have I just gotten so used to things going wrong that I'm feeling this way? 

Even though I'd hoped that nothing would go wrong, I think a part of me was expecting things to go wrong, and since nothing's gone wrong so far-...okay, I need to stop, I'm overthinking and wasting time on a completely pointless line of thought. 

I need to double back down and focus, both on my surroundings and the live feeds from my drones up ahead. Should I use my Jetback to give myself a higher vantage point? 

No, that would almost defeat the purpose of my drones, even if it would give me a better look at the areas to the right and left...I have pretty good peripheral vision though, so it's not necessary. 

Im definitely overthinking this, I just need to continue operating normally as I have been till this point. Yeah, just play this normally...I can't afford to screw up, I won't give Bytra the satisfaction. And also because I don't want to lose any points in the exam, of course. 

Oh, I see something up ahead...looks like a group of Doggos, six of them...

"There are six Doggos up ahead. Widen the gap between you two in order to make them split up, take out any that come your way, I'll cover you," I informed and instructed them. 

"Alright, got it," Responded Kiran affirmatively, before activating his manifestation, as the Mutants came into view, snarling viciously as they spotted us, drooling heavily. 

"Ugh, they're so revolting...I'm a dog person, but-," Began Bytra. 

"Oh, well, that certainly explains why you're such a bitch," I quipped immediately, unable to resist the opening. 

"Grr, you're such a-...tch, it was my fault for giving you the opportunity," She relented with a sigh, before putting her guard up as the Doggos began charging. 

Two of them were rushing towards Kiran, while the other four were targeting Bytra. I already just made a bitch joke, so I'll spare her this time...it was pretty tempting though. 

Kiran expanded his swatter as one of the Doggos opened its jaws, the edge of the swatter hitting the middle of its open mouth and tearing off the top of its head. He then flicked his wrist across, batting away the other and sending it flying off several meters to the left, skidding violently along the ground. 

Bytra struck down one of the ones targeting her with a vicious crack of her whip, striking it square on the top of its head and caving its skull in, before flicking her wrist across to the right as one sprang up to her right, hitting the side of its head with immense force and breaking its neck. 

The last two then pounced on her simultaneously, one had circled around to behind her and the other was to her left...she isn't fast enough to take on both, and she's in a bad position to take out the one behind her. Well, as much as I hate to do this, it's what I'm here for, so guess I'll save her. 

Ugh...I took aim and fired at the Doggo behind her, piercing it through the back of its head and killing it. Okay, I'm done-...suddenly, as she began to whip across to the left, she lost her balance, a look of alarm appearing in her eyes as she began to fall. 

Sweet, she screwed up. And to rub salt in the wound, now I'll save her...heh, I can't wait to see the look of her face after I do. I aimed and fired, my energy bullet going through the eye of the Mutant, killing it right as it pounced at her, its corpse falling onto her as she fell down on one knee, letting our a cry of alarm, before a groan of disgust... 

"Ughhh, oh God, its drool is all over my face! Ahhh, some got in my mouth, th-this is...this is-...!" She wailed in disgust, before suddenly cutting off as she gagged, sounding like she was about to puke. 

"Oh, this is the best thing ever," I sighed contentedly. 

"D-damn it, fuck you, Kilzachs!" 

Music to my ears... 

"Quit overreacting already, we've still got a ways to go. Get off your ass and get moving," I remarked dryly, struggling not to laugh. 

She muttered incoherently and angrily as she pushed the Mutant corpse off of her, before the sound of intense spitting echoed over the comms, as she tried desperately to get the Doggo drool out of her mouth. 

She then stormed forward, continuing to mutter to herself in irritation. Okay, yeah, this is way better than how she was before, all quiet and timid. These reactions are way more satisfying than the passive misery she displayed before. 

"Hey, you're breaking formation, calm down-," I began to advise her. 

"I AM CALM!" She snapped in response, before slowing down a bit...sounds like she's taking a deep breath to compose herself. 

If I say something, we'll probably get into a long argument...I should avoid that, at least for a little while. If she gets any more worked up, it might negatively affect our overall performance. So, I'll bite my tongue for now. 

Fortunately, nothing happened for the next while, we didn't encounter any more Mutants, and as we carried on forward, it wasn't long before we reached the six hour mark, taking a ten minute break to rest up a bit before heading back. 

"Okay, so...on the bright side, we're halfway done. But on the other hand...we're only halfway done," Groaned Kiran, rubbing his calves tentatively. 

"Yeah, I can't wait to get this over with too, I need a shower," Complained Bytra, a look of disgust on her face. 

The fact that they're complaining means they have plenty of energy left, though I'm guessing they might be feeling some soreness in their muscles. Now, then, as Kiran said, we're halfway done...but there's still a long way to go before this exam is over, we gotta stay vigilant right up until the end... 

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