Kal was right. Once they were near the area labeled Redwood Grove, he could feel the demonic mana in the air.

  It was much weaker than what he felt from Bougie and Wort, but the presence was the same.

  It was also undeniable that the distinction between mortals and magical creatures was more than just how they awoke their cores. The botflies were mere insectoids described as giant flies about the size of mice, and as impressive as that was, they still sounded like insects.

  Kal had read about all kinds of species found on Aeora that didn't exist on Earth, but he hadn't read anything about animals or insects using mana or casting spells. However, the fact that he could even feel their mana confirmed that these were no regular botflies.

  “So, what were you saying about zombification?” Kal asked as he walked beside Vae.

  “Huh? Oh, the botflies, right? I sometimes forget that the education of commoners isn't as good as what we nobles receive. Anyway, there are all kinds of demonic beasts within the Ruby Waste. Demonic botflies aren't anything particularly terrifying compared to some creatures I've learned about in the Ruby Waste, but they're not pleasant. You see, they search for a soft bit of flesh when they find their victim. Once found, the botfly will burrow into the body of its victim, slowly crawling beneath the skin until it reaches the brain. Once it reaches the brain, it's too late. You either kill the host or watch them turn into a botfly-controlled zombie. Thankfully, the parasites are beyond stupid. They mindlessly wander as they munch through the host's brain. Once they find a new host, they lay their larvae in the hollowed-out skull they just consumed and hop over to the next poor soul to repeat the process. If you ever go to the Ruby Waste, I'm told you should be very wary of anyone who looks bloated with a sickly pallor and is walking disorientated. There's a good chance they are filled with botfly larvae and are ready to explode. One botfly might not be that much of a hassle to deal with, but hundreds? No, thank you.”

  What? And these insane government clerks put these things in an exam for children? I don't care if their wings are clipped; that sounds unnecessarily risky.

  “Something the matter?” Vae raised a brow.

  “What do you think,” Kal replied.

  “It's not so bad,” Vae reassured. “They take hours to reach the brain and several days for larvae to mature. This bracelet they gave us is covered in all kinds of glyphs. I’m sure several government mages would turn up hastily if some kid were unlucky enough to have a botfly bury itself within them.”

  “Reassuring,” Kal said unconvincingly.

  “You found them yet, Kaaal?”

  “Is something wrong with her?” Vae asked, looking back over his shoulder at Ellie.

  “I think she’s annoyed at me for some reason,” Kal groaned.

  “Perhaps you should talk to her?” Vae offered.

  “Yeah… I wish it were that easy. Come on, we better keep moving,” Kal waved. “I doubt the other teams are going to be waiting around.”

  Gradually, the trees grew thicker and taller as they approached the Redwood Grove until breathtakingly giant redwoods surrounded them.

  “You haven't spent much time looking at that map,” Vae said as they walked between two of the behemoths.

  “I have a detection spell,” Kal lied. “If we keep going straight, we should find them soon.”

  “Hmm, if you say so,” Vae cast a suspicious gaze at Kal.

  Crawling along the forest floor, Kal spotted one of the mice-sized flies radiating demonic mana.

  Its mana signal wasn't strong—probably the equivalent of about 5 mana potential. But a shiver traced his spine regardless, thanks to Vae’s story.

  “It's just ahead,” Kal whispered, stopping the group with a raised hand.

  “You can see one?” Vae said the tone of his voice piqued curiously.

  Kal realized that he couldn't actually see the fly yet. He was so focused on its mana glowing through the underbrush that he hadn’t even realized he couldn’t physically see it.

  Is my sensitivity to demons growing even stronger? I better be careful not to do anything too suspicious.

  “Yeah, just ahead. Wait here,” Kal said, creeping forward.

  He knew exactly where it was, so relying on help seemed unnecessary and less likely to succeed since the rest of the group would just be making noise and floundering.

  Narrowing his gaze on the botfly’s mana signal, Kal quickly cast Swift Step twice in short succession, shooting himself forward and through the shrubbery.

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  The fly didn't even get a chance to react. In a blink, he was there, channeling mana into his hand and grabbing it by the back.

  The fly’s legs wiggled, but it was helpless, without anything to plant its feet down on. After a second, Kal stopped channeling his mana; there was no need to waste it on the helpless botfly.

  “You caught it with your bare hand, gross,” Ellie squirmed.

  “Quite impressive, Kal,” Vae said.

  “Twenty points already?” Arix’s face lit up. “I knew you could do it, Kal!”

  “Now what?” Kal said. “Do you think it's safe to let it just crawl around in the Astral Pouch?”

  Without a word, Vae walked up to Kal and ended the fly with a swift karate chop to the back of its neck.

  “The government clerks never said anything about keeping them alive,” Vae said, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping down his hand.

  “Point taken,” Kal said, turning to Ellie, who squeamishly opened the pouch and turned away as Kal dropped it inside.

  “Yuck, yuck, yuck!”

  “Okay, that was a lot quicker and easier than I had expected,” Vae said. “But we shouldn't let our guards down. Just because this objective was easy doesn't mean the others will be.”

  He's right. Who knows what we'll find out here?

  Kal could already sense the other botflies nearby, and catching his first was remarkably easy. The instructions were clear. If teams collected multiples of the same objective, points would only be counted for one; however, they never said anything about trading.

  He thought about it a moment. The clerks had been precise with their rules. Theft and trickery were allowed as long as the participating teams didn’t directly attack or cause harm to one another. If those were the rules, then why wouldn’t trading be allowed?

  “You’re right, Vae. The other objectives might be a lot harder. So why don't we collect more of these botflies? I'm sure it won’t be too hard to find someone to trade them with later.”

  “Hmm, but what if we can't find more of the parasites? Is it truly worth spending time searching for something we'll have to trade later? Assuming we can trade for it later.”

  “Trust me, once I've caught the scent of something, it isn't hard for me to find it,” Kal grinned.

  Vae’s brow rose curiously, but he nodded in agreement nonetheless.

  Within an hour, Kal had gathered up all ten demonic botflies and placed their corpses in the Astral Pouch.

  He wasn't sure how easy it would be to trade nine botflies, but considering how easy they were to catch, he figured they might as well take all of them. Besides, that way, their rarity increased.

  “Impressive as always, Kal. The exam has barely begun, and we've already got two hundred points worth of objectives,” Vae nodded approvingly. “I knew I was making the right decision choosing you.”

  “You and everyone else,” Ellie rolled her eyes.

  “Oh, come on, Ellie. You’re not going to be mad at me for what Kal said about your body, are you?”

  “My what!?”

  So that's what she's been mad about? Eww, yuck! You're like my little sister, Ellie!

  “You heard me,” Vae said. “Don’t play coy now, Eleanor,” he continued, crossing his arms.

  “How do you know my full name? And that's not what this is about at all!” Ellie reddened and turned away. “I’m just frustrated by all this walking.”

  “What did you expect? You can always go back to being a peasant and give up on the whole mage thing if you’re bothered by a little walking.”

  “N-no, stop twisting my words!”

  “That’s exactly what you said,” Vae sighed.

  “Hey now, you two,” Kal said, raising his hands in an attempt to defuse the two. “We’re all on the same team, remember?”

  “Well, tell him to stop sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong,” Ellie said, pointing at Vae.

  “Vae?”

  “What do you mean? I’m fine,” Vae shrugged. “I just don’t appreciate the crassness with which she has been addressing us. If she has a problem with something you said, then she should address it.”

  “I don’t need your pompous ass telling me what I should or shouldn’t be doing!” Ellie huffed.

  “Ellie, please,” Kal turned to her. “Whether you learn to get along with Vae or not, we do need to remain civil to one another. At least until we finish this exam.”

  “So, you’re taking his side?”

  “I’m not taking any sides. I’m being pragmatic. The exam comes first. You do want to be a mage, don’t you?”

  Ellie growled and let out a long breath. “Fine, forget it.”

  “Am I not owed an apology?” Vae said.

  “Vae, don’t antagonize her,” Kal glared at him.

  “Fine. I’ll let it go for you, Kal. You’re lucky your friend has so much potential,” Vae said, looking at Ellie.

  “A–aa, is now a good time?” Arix interjected, turning all three sets of eyeballs on him. “It’s just, you know,” he added, pointing to the holographic map he had projected from his bracelet.

  “He’s right,” Kal said. “We should be picking our next objective.”

  “Couldn’t agree more,” Vae smiled broadly.

  Ellie soundlessly imitated Vae behind his back but let it go.

  “What about this one?” Kal said, moving the conversation on. “Seek me at the heart of the land, between where waters stretch and shores expand. There, beneath the stones so round, buried deep, I can be found.”

  “Heart of the land?” Arix crooked his head.

  “The Aeries,” Kal explained. There were some decent-sized islands dotting the widest parts of the impressive river, and they hadn’t wandered far from it yet. “Look, there.”

  “Good eyes,” Vae said.

  “Yeah, that could be it,” Arix agreed.

  Kal pointed to the widened section of the Aeries, where several small islands were. But one bigger island in particular stole their attention.

  “The waters certainly stretch there, and the Aeries is known for its pebbly banks,” Kal added, recalling what he had read about the river.

  “As good a place to start our search as any,” Vae agreed.

  “So, are we going then?” Arix asked.

  “Looks like it,” Kal nodded.

  “Alright, alright, let’s get a move on then,” Ellie said, walking through the group as they eyed the holographic map.

  I don’t think that little argument made her mood any better. Teenagers; Kal sighed internally.

  “What are we looking for anyway, Kal?” Arix said as the group turned to follow Ellie.

  “A Siren’s Carapace, whatever that is. It is worth sixty points, though, and there's only one of them,” Kal smiled.