At noon, beneath the blazing sun...
"Everyone, listen up! Tomorrow will be your first life-and-death test since joining Fierce Beast. If any of you want to quit, do it now. Fierce Beast has no need for cowards!"
A heavily muscled giant of a man, two meters tall, shouted at the two hundred or so boys and girls before him.
A long moment after the giant finished speaking...
The training ground remained silent.
Not one of the two hundred or so youths asked to withdraw because of the giant's threat.
The giant nodded in satisfaction. His eyes narrowed slightly as he chuckled and said,
"Heh, very good! You new recruits are quite something. Not one of you quit. You're dismissed, then. Gather here at this time tomorrow, and you'll go take your first life-and-death test! I hope all of you will still be standing here when the time comes. Heh."
After speaking, the giant gave a strange smile. He paid the recruits no further attention and walked straight away.
Seeing the strange smile the giant wore as he left, one of the recruits looked troubled. He sighed and said, "Sigh, I hope I can get through tomorrow's life-and-death test safely."
"You're being too optimistic. I heard from someone that at least half of us will die by the end of this first life-and-death test. If you're counting on getting lucky like that, you should've asked to quit just now. Otherwise, taking the test will just be sending you to your death," one of the oldest boys among them said abruptly.
The troubled boy's expression suddenly turned resolute.
"Hmph, I'm not quitting. I came here to make a name for myself. Besides, quitting is what weaklings do. I'd never do that."
As the two talked, Ages listened nearby, his heart full of excitement. A gleam flashed in his eyes, and he thought,
Heh, the first Fierce Beast life-and-death test has a death rate as high as sixty percent. I can't wait to see what kind of test it is...
If everyone had known what Ages was thinking at that moment, they would probably have called him a lunatic!
At noon the next day...
With his hands behind his head, Ages strolled over to the training camp's training ground and stood waiting for everyone to assemble.
As time slowly passed, the boys and girls arrived at the training ground one after another.
Once all the youths had gathered, the heavily muscled, two-meter-tall giant approached from a distance. He came to stand before them and spoke in his deep voice.
"Today, you'll take your first life-and-death test since joining the Ferocious Beast Training Camp. Let me make this clear beforehand! The life-and-death test is also called the death test, and its death rate is as high as sixty percent! Once you take the test, only two outcomes await you. First, you complete the test and return. Second, you die!"
"All right, I won't say much more. Let me tell you what this life-and-death test involves."
"We'll send you to an isolated island covered in dense primeval forest. There are many ferocious wild beasts on that island, but of course, those beasts aren't what you need to worry about most."
"What you need to worry about most is a group of roughly two hundred baboons called 'Human Mimics.' They're intelligent and can learn human behavior. When they're around peaceful humans, they're peaceful too. But if they're in a place of slaughter, where blood flows like a river, smoke fills the air, and corpses litter the ground..."
At this point, the giant instructor's entire bearing turned fierce and dangerous, and he said coldly,
"They'll become bloodthirsty, violent, and aggressive. The island you're going to used to belong to a tribe of cannibals. Later, those baboons learned the cannibals' habits and tore every last one of them to pieces!"
"Your task this time is to kill these 'Human Mimics.' We placed a marker around each Human Mimic's neck beforehand. You can only get a marker by killing the baboon."
"One more thing! A friendly warning before you go: don't bleed. If you do, cover up the smell of blood as quickly as you can."
With that, the giant instructor prepared to tell everyone to board the ship and head for that island of slaughter.
Everyone looked puzzled. One recruit turned to the companion beside him and said,
"Why did he tell us not to bleed? If we have to kill Human Mimics, won't getting hurt be unavoidable?"
"I don't know. Forget it, let's go. Oh, right, let's find more people to team up with when we get there. There's strength in numbers"...
Time flew, and two days later...
"Up ahead is your destination. Remember, you only have two days. If you haven't completed the task within two days, that counts as failure too," the giant instructor told the recruits.
Then everyone got ready and went ashore...
After landing, Ages headed into the forest alone.
"Um... excuse me..." one of the oldest boys among them called out to Ages.
"What is it?" Ages turned back, his expression calm.
"Well, for safety's sake, and so we can finish the task faster, I'd like to invite you to join our team," the boy said, putting on a friendly expression.
Ages shook his head. "Heh, sorry. I'm used to being on my own, so I won't join your team. All right, I'll be going now. See you in two days."
With that, Ages ignored the strange looks everyone gave him and walked straight into the forest.
The older boy frowned as he watched Ages leave, but a girl beside him was displeased. She curled her lip and said angrily,
"Tch, what's he so proud of? Going off alone in a place like this-he's asking to die."
The older boy, however, seemed somewhat more mature. He said,
"He's probably only around ten, isn't he? Sigh... another young, ignorant boy. Come on, let's go invite some more people."