The forest had grown quiet.

  Too quiet.

  Oscar and Aster were no longer dashing through the trees. Instead, they moved carefully through the undergrowth.

  Neither of them had spoken since the roar.

  “I’m gonna guess you’re thinking about that roar like I am, aren’t you?” Aster finally said.

  Oscar didn’t look at him.

  “That roar.”

  “Yeah.”

  “That sounded nothing like what we’ve fought so far.”

  Dead Man’s Intuition wasn’t screaming at him.

  That alone made Oscar uneasy.

  “Well, whatever it was,” Oscar said, “it wasn’t nearby.”

  “Well, that’s comforting at least,” Aster replied.

  They continued moving toward the designated area.

  Oscar noticed several trees were blackened.

  Burn marks.

  Burnt trees… was it that hothead?

  “So there are people ahead of us,” Aster said.

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  “Not surprising,” Oscar replied with a shrug. “We had to stop and protect someone.”

  “You think everyone’s okay?”

  “Probably not.”

  Aster laughed.

  “Fair enough.”

  The bushes ahead suddenly rattled.

  A corrupted giant ant burst from the brush and lunged toward them.

  Dead Man’s Intuition instantly sensed the killing intent.

  Oscar clenched his fist.

  “Dead Man’s Intuition: Coffin Crusher.”

  His punch landed cleanly.

  The ant’s head shattered from the impact.

  “You know,” Aster said, “you make that look way too easy.”

  Oscar shrugged.

  “I guess you could say I’m a natural.”

  He knelt down and pulled the jewel from the corpse.

  “That’s four jewels,” Oscar said. “You’re falling behind, Aster.”

  “Maybe if you weren’t such a show-off I could get some,” Aster replied sarcastically.

  “Cry me a river.”

  Aster grinned.

  “The next few are mine.”

  They continued through the forest.

  The further they went…

  The more damage they saw.

  Broken trees.

  Fresh claw marks.

  And streaks of blood across the ground.

  It suddenly hit Oscar.

  Some applicants might already be dead.

  “We’re getting closer,” Oscar said.

  “Can you sense it?” Aster asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Oscar’s expression hardened.

  “But I think it’s fighting someone.”

  The roar echoed again.

  This time it was much louder.

  The ground trembled slightly beneath their feet.

  Aster slowly turned toward the sound.

  “…Okay.”

  He paused.

  “Whoever is fighting that thing is a psycho.”

  Oscar’s gaze moved deeper into the forest.

  Something massive was out there.

  And whatever it was…

  It wasn’t supposed to be part of the exam.