Chapter 42 Tall Forest: Field Test (1)

"Welcome to the Tall Forest." Elizabeth motioned and the wall behind them projected a video of a huge forest. The shots showed different areas of the forest. "You'll be transported to the third event, aptly named, 'Tall Forest'. You will be dropped in randomly all across the huge forest and have to secure as many points as possible!"

"The Tall Forest is one of many destinations that the Academy uses for training. These different areas hold different types of low level monsters that students and examinees such as yourselves will be fighting against today." Victor said. "For each monster slain, you'll be given a watch to count your kills. Most of the forest holds E and D monsters. There are a couple hard ones. Do not put yourself into danger. If you are injured, the watch will use its teleportation mechanism and bring you directly to a hospital."

"You are not allowed to harm and injure other examinees. If you are caught, you will be failed and held accountable for harming examinees." Elizabeth looked around the crowd. "Other than that, you can do whatever you want to. Your main mission is to get as many points as possible within the three hour timeframe."

"Oh, there's some special things waiting for you in the forest if you do happen to come across them. Pick them up and it's up to you on whether or not you use them or keep them as extra points in the end. Good luck and we'll start the transportation soon." Sara chimed.

"Please line up on both sides of the stage. You'll be transported to the Tall Forest. At the end of your three hours there, you'll be transported back via watch. Good luck!" Manny said as the four students waved at everyone. People began to line up quickly. Lee Seng watched the long lines snake and decided to wait. The line quickly started to shorten and Lee Seng decided to hop into the line. People watched him as he stepped in. He bit his lip and nervously started to ruffle his hair.

"Oh, we meet again!" Olivia tapped Lee Seng. Lee Seng's ears perked up as he turned to see the young woman who talked to him while he was staring at the mural. Lee Seng smiled and waved at her.

"Hey," Lee Seng said trying all his might to hold back his nervousness. His tail was starting to sway as she smiled at him.

"I didn't think I'd meet the Creator's son at the mural. It was cool watching you fight Poseidon, though. How was the experience?"

"The experience...?" Lee Seng pondered. "He almost knocked me out the first time with the tidal wave. I don't know how I managed to stay awake but I did."

"I think the coolest part was when the white wisp energies started to come off you. You seemed to be more serious by the end of it."

"Ah, yeah. Thanks."

Olivia nodded. The lined moved and Lee Seng kept looking at her. She pointed straight ahead and Lee Seng looked over.

"Oh, sorry." He apologized. He moved up, trying to not swing his tail into her as Olivia decided to stand next to him.

"I'll stand next to you so we can chat while we walk." Olivia said.

"Oh, al-alright. By the way... Aren't you a bit nervous about the field test?" Lee Seng asked. Olivia shrugged.

"A little bit. I've done a lot of training to get here, so I guess I'm not too nervous." Olivia answered. She turned to look at Lee Seng. "Are you nervous?" Lee Seng gulped and nodded.

"Yeah... I, uh, haven't done anything like this before. It's my first time so... I'm kinda nervous." Lee Seng rubbed his hands together and Olivia patted him which made him jump a bit.

"Oh, sorry. I was trying to... Don't be too nervous, Lee Seng. It'll be fine. You seem like your well-versed at close combat, so you shouldn't have a difficult time fighting the E and D's." Olivia said. "Run away from anything that is too much to handle. It's only a field exercise to see where we are experience-wise. Let's just try our best!"

Olivia's smile felt bright to Lee Seng. He smiled and nodded. What she was saying was correct. They just needed to do their best and secure as much as they could. If it got too much, they could flee. In the case they got hurt, they would be transported to the Academy's hospital center.

"Thanks. I tend to overthink these situations." Lee Seng and Olivia moved towards the stairs. Olivia started to climb the stairs and nodded.

"You must got a lot on this, huh?" Olivia asked.

"Y-yeah, you could say that." Lee Seng nodded.

'If you could even call it that...'

The two climbed up to the top of the stage and Victor and Sara were directing people towards the teleporter pads in the back.

"Ah, please head to the middle pad, please." Sara directed. Olivia nodded and looked at Lee Seng.

"Well, good luck, Lee Seng!" Olivia waved.

"Ah, good luck, Olivia." Lee Seng waved back.

"Head to the farthest right pad and good luck, Chang." Victor smiled.

"Ah, thanks." Lee Seng nodded. He moved over towards the farthest right pad and took a deep breath before stepping onto the pad.

"Get ready for teleportation." A staff member said. The staff member handed a wristwatch to Lee Seng. Lee Seng grabbed it and put it on his right wrist. "Keep the watch on you at all times while in the field. Teleportation starts in... 3, 2, 1, go!"

Lee Seng felt his body turn into nothingness. The flash of white light shot him upwards and the next thing he knew, he could feel his own body weight and the fresh air around him. Huge trees reached the sky. The leaves seemed to create a roofed forest effect and Lee Seng gasped in awe. It was a nice day to be outside.

He stood on top of a hill and glanced around. He wondered if he could see the teleportation from here. He looked around but saw nothing but tall trees. He started making his way down when he heard his watch beep.

[EXAMINEE LEE SENG CHANG: REGISTERED]

[TAP HERE FOR MONSTER POINT INFO]

Lee Seng tapped his watch.

[E-RANK = 1 POINT

D- RANK = 4 POINTS

C- RANK = 25 POINTS

B- RANK = 80 POINTS]

[NOTICE: IF YOU ARE IN A 10-FOOT RANGE, THE WATCH WILL SCAN THE MONSTER AND GIVE YOU LIMITED INFO ON IT.]

'So there's up to B-rank monsters here? I guess I should be careful.' Lee Seng thought. Lee Seng made his way down the hill and reached the base of the huge tree. It reminded him of those redwood trees. They were dark colored wood with a umbrellas-of-sort canopy. The canopies seemed to shade what was below so visibility seemed limited. Lee Seng heard movement to his right and he immediately froze in place.

'What's that?' He thought. He leaned against the canopy roof tree and peeked out. He could hear something moving and it seemed to be moving at a slow pace. He watched the darkened forest and out stepped a blue bi-pedal creature. It seemed to be wearing a blue wolf fur coat and held a wooden staff. Lee Seng lifted his watch and it didn't say anything to him.

'I need to get closer.' Lee Seng looked around for the nearest tree. He saw one about really close to the blue bi-pedal creature. The ground around here was scarce. There wasn't a lot of bushes or tall plants to cover him. The blue bi-pedal creature seemed to be making its way over to him, so he would have to bet on it coming.

Lee Seng watched the creature come closer. He held his watch up close and waited.

'C'mon... C'mon... C'mon!' Lee Seng thought. The blue bi-pedal creature finally came close enough that Lee Seng's watch glowed.

[BLUE GOBLIN -- D-RANK -- MAGICAL]

Lee Seng sighed and nodded. It was a different archetype of goblin, but it was a goblin. Lee Seng felt the familiar force vibrating and he stepped out quickly and shot at the blue goblin. A huge wave shot at the goblin and shoved it backwards into the tree. It slammed against it and screeched. Lee Seng quickly dashed forwards, closing in on the distance between them. The blue goblin quickly lifted the staff and blue particles began to form.

'Shit.'

Icicles began to shoot at Lee Seng. Lee Seng quickly dodged the icicles and rolled. The blue goblin began screeching and Lee Seng's ears twitched. He could hear screeching in the distance.

"Dammit, why did you have to scream." Lee Seng jumped into the cover of another tree as icicles pierced the tree. He whipped himself out and an icicle shot out, barely hitting him. He quickly shot out a blast and the blue goblin slammed into the tree, squishing itself into blue blood.

Ping!

[4-points]

'Ahh, a soul!' Keng happily spoke. 'Good, good! Get more!' Lee Seng whipped his head as he heard the screaming growing louder.

"I don't want to be anywhere near a horde." Lee Seng backed up and quickly turned to run away.