Author's Note:
yoooo guys & girls What do you think of the new OCs so far? do you have a favorite already, or are you still deciding?
As for the Hunter Exam, there'll be 2–3 stages max. I'm personally not a big fan of writing long exam arcs in novel form, so I'm keeping it tight.
And as always, don't forget to drop your powerstones.
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Team Rina
Rina walked at an even pace, Mira tucked close behind her, one hand gripping the back of Rina's vest as if letting go would make the forest swallow her whole. Cael followed a step to the side, silent, his eyes drifting from the ground to the branches above, then back again.
No one spoke for several minutes.
The swamp was behind them now, but the air still carried that damp heaviness. The trees here grew closer together, their canopies overlapping and blocking out much of the light.
Rina glanced down at the compass in her hand. The needle pointed steadily—toward the east.
Toward Team Toma.
It hadn't moved much since they split up.
"Still within range," Rina said.
Mira nodded, then hesitated. "I don't think it was such a good idea to split up."
Rina continued walking. "Why not?"
Mira glanced around nervously. "This place is dangerous. Together, we'd have a better chance."
Rina shook her head. "That's exactly why we should split up. Danger isn't the problem. We found the first plant almost an hour ago—and mostly because of luck. How long do you think it'll take to find the next one? And the one after that?"She paused. "I'm more afraid of failing than of danger. Besides," she added calmly, "with me around, what could possibly hurt you?"
Mira's shoulders eased a fraction.
Cael thought, Is she flirting?He glanced at them from the corner of his eye but said nothing. The other two were too focused on each other to notice.
They kept moving.
The forest grew denser, but also louder. Insects buzzed, birds called out, and small animals rustled through the undergrowth.
Mira slowed.
Rina stopped the moment she felt it. She didn't turn fully, only angled her head slightly.
"What is it?"
Mira swallowed. "This area… the plants here are different."
"That's good," Rina said. "Means we've entered another zone."
"It also means," Mira continued, staring at the undergrowth as her eyes narrowed behind her glasses, "…that unknown dangers are more likely."
Cael's gaze sharpened. "Do you think one of our plants is here?"
Mira nodded. "I think so. The leaf pattern on my card—white flecks, like mold spots. It's usually a swamp-edge species, but…" She looked around, uncertain. "…this isn't a swamp."
"How are you so sure?" Rina asked.
"My mother is a herbalist," Mira said. "She used plants from the mountains near our town to heal the wounded." A small smile appeared on her face as she spoke.
"So you're a healer? A doctor?" Rina asked, a hint of anticipation in her voice.
Mira waved her hands frantically, her face turning red. "No, no, no! I just have some knowledge about herbs. I could never be a doctor."
Rina smiled gently. "Find it," she said. "And tell us what not to touch."
After calming herself and forcing down her embarrassment, Mira took a slow step forward and crouched beside a cluster of low leaves. Her fingers hovered above them without making contact.
"Not this," she murmured. "Too glossy."
She moved to another patch, then another. Her eyes tracked details most people wouldn't notice—veins, edges, tiny tears along the surface. Once, she leaned closer and sniffed.
She wasn't a novice.
Rina watched her the way one would watch a bomb being disarmed.
Cael drifted a few paces away, scanning the surroundings for any sign of danger.
Minutes passed.
Then Mira froze.
"There," she whispered.
Rina stepped forward immediately. Cael returned just as fast, as if he had never left.
Half-buried beneath ferns was a plant with short green leaves marked by shallow ridges. Its stem was longer than the previous one they had seen, thick at the base. There were no spots—only a single blue petal at its center.
Mira's eyes widened. "This is it."
Cael's expression didn't change, but his attention sharpened. "Or it's something pretending to be."
Mira flinched. "Plants don't pretend."
"In a controlled forest seeded by Hunters," Cael said as he crouched without touching it, "they do whatever they were designed to do."
Rina's gaze passed over the plant once, then settled on Mira. "Are you sure?"
Mira pulled out her card with trembling hands and held it beside the plant, comparing shape and form.
"It matches," she said, relief creeping into her voice. "It matches perfectly."
Cael's eyes slid past the plant and into the surrounding brush.
"Too perfect," he said.
Mira swallowed. "What do you mean?"
He pointed—not at the plant, but at the ground around it.
The soil was undisturbed.
No insect trails. No bite marks. No holes. The leaves were flawless, as if untouched by the forest.
Mira leaned closer. Her relief faded.
"Is that bad?" Rina asked calmly.
"Sometimes," Mira replied. "Some plants produce toxins that insects avoid."
Cael tilted his head. "Then why is it sitting out in the open?"
Mira's breathing quickened. "It could be… a lure."
Rina didn't move, but the air around her shifted—the same way it had before she threw Cael.
"Tell me what happens if someone touches it," she said.
Mira stared at the leaves.
"If it's the one I think it is," she whispered, "it reacts to heat and pressure. If you grab it, it releases spores. Not like pollen. Like… dust."
Cael's eyes narrowed. "Hallucinogen?"
"Worse," Mira said, her voice thin. "It doesn't just make you see things. It puts you into a coma. The only way to survive is by ingesting another plant—murbolin."
Rina looked down at her hands.
Then back at Mira. "Can we harvest it safely?"
Mira shook her head quickly. "Not like this. Not if it's activated by touch. We'd need to cut around it, isolate it, maybe cover it first—"
Cael's gaze flicked upward.
A thin beam of sunlight slid across the plant as the wind shifted the canopy overhead. The surface caught the light.
The plant didn't move.
But something else did.
The fern beside it trembled.
Cael grabbed Mira's sleeve and yanked her back.
Mira gasped.
Rina moved at the same time, stepping between them and the clearing.
A thin root—no, a vine—rose from the soil and uncoiled like a living thing, slow and deliberate. It reached toward the spot where Mira had been standing moments earlier.
Mira's face went pale. "It's—"
"A trap," Cael finished.
Rina stared at the vine, her expression unreadable. "It's not your plant."
Mira swallowed and nodded. "No."
The vine hovered for a moment, as if listening, then sank back into the earth, disappearing as smoothly as it had emerged.
Silence returned.
Mira's hands were shaking, but her eyes were steady.
"That means the real one is nearby," she said. "Lure plants don't exist without something worth protecting. If the Hunters placed a decoy here, the real specimen must be close."
Rina's mouth twitched—almost a smile.
"Good," she said. "Then we're in the right place."
She lifted the compass and checked the needle.
No spinning.
"Cael," Rina said without turning. "Stay light on your feet. Mira, don't touch anything unless you're absolutely sure."
Mira nodded, swallowing her fear like medicine.
Cael released her sleeve. "Understood."