Ignoring his uncle and the deputy commander, Liam arrived before Mary and said, "I would have won if not for their stupidity. But still, a wager is a wager. Here goes."
With that, Liam kneeled before Mary in front of everyone and apologized, "Ms. Mary Lou, I apologize for my words and behavior earlier."
Mary smiled gently, understanding that she hadn't judged Liam wrong. He was spoiled rotten, but not beyond saving. She nodded and said, "I forgive you."
"Bitch! Who wants your forgiveness, and who the heck do you think you are to forgive me?" Liam snapped, getting back on his feet. "I was just paying up what I owed. Tell your lil' knight in cum-stained armor I paid my dues. Also, next time there won't be these stupid soldiers to give him an undeserved win, so he better be prepared."
Mary was at a momentary loss for words before she sharply said to the soldier, "Take him away, or today I might kill my first human."
"As if the likes of you can kill me—" The soldiers quickly grabbed Liam and dragged him away, closing his mouth. However, he continued to glare at Mary until the latter was no longer in his sight.
Seeing that his nephew didn't embarrass him by calling out for help, Marcell felt a relief thinking his nephew had inherited his father's pride along with his arrogance. However, he didn't sigh in relief yet, because he didn't know how he would face his family when they learned that not only was their precious child the first one to be kicked out of the exam, but he was also detained by the garrisons.
Marcell considered taking up some emergency duty to go hide in the embrace of Grimmyth, but then, thinking of his crew members who had just returned to their families after a year-long expedition into the Grimmyth, he decided to book a hotel room and sleep it off for a few nights instead.
"Your nephew is quite the character. Don't worry, with the mandatory six-month garrison training, I think we can shape him into an outstanding young man," the deputy commander finally spoke.
Though he didn't like that Liam blamed his soldiers for his loss at every turn, calling them stupid, he liked the fact that the latter paid his dues and did not try to back out of it, even though he wouldn't accept that his defeat was his fault for underestimating his opponent. Besides, the soldiers would get squared within his mandatory training period. He won't interfere then, as he didn't interfere now.
Those who failed the garrison exam had to undergo mandatory six-month training in the reserve garrison base in order to retake the exam after completing their training. If they failed again, they would undergo training again. It could even last for a year or two, based on the individual. During this period, the examinees were given a meagre stipend for their daily expenses. It was enough, considering they would stay and dine in the base throughout their training period.
This was one reason why the deputy commander, Col D. Blade, had arranged Crayon's garrison reserve registration without even giving him proper 24-hour prior notice. This way, even if Crayon refused to switch to the city garrison, he would use this law to force him to reconsider his choice, successfully snatching him from the city's Grimmyth research institute. After seeing Crayon in action, Col D. Blade was even more certain about this plan.
…
"Explosive recovery!" I shouted, sprinting for my life as I blasted trees and undergrowth behind me, trying to break the formation of the many-gaze hyenas on my tail.
It didn't slow them down. If anything, it made them sharper. They were bigger than normal hyenas, built for bursts of speed but with the stamina to keep it going. And they didn't just chase—they hunted with proper coordination, like a SEAL squad. Spreading out, cutting angles, testing me, adjusting as I moved. Unlike other grimmons, they didn't just rely on their instincts, but were actually thinking.
Those damn eye-like patterns on their bodies—every time I set off an explosion behind me, the markings seemed to shift with their movement, giving them a near-panoramic awareness. They didn't see through the spots, but the distributed pattern helped them track motion and pressure changes across a wider field.
So when trees started to fall or plants burst apart, they reacted instantly—sidestepping, splitting, reforming—slipping past danger in the nick of time as if the whole pack shared a single, all-around vision.
I didn't directly use explosive recovery on them because I knew that if I did and failed to kill, they would not only understand my abilities but adapt accordingly, just like how they had adapted to the exploding trees and plants. The problem was that they were in a pack of eight with excellent coordination and had a better understanding of the forest than me.
They had almost come close to catching me four times now; I narrowly managed to escape by using the true force. I think they already analysed the limits of the invisible force keeping them from biting me, as their formation has changed. Every time it changed, they almost certainly came close to hunting me down—
My thoughts were interrupted as I saw two hyenas pounce on me from either side. I don't know when they got ahead of me and waited to pounce, but I used my true force to form a shield around me and continued to run with full force. Slamming against an invisible wall, the hyenas fell to the ground, and as I sneered, I felt a sharp pain and weight on my right arm. I lost my footing and rolled on the ground, slamming into a tree.
There was a third hyena in the ambush earlier, without me realizing it broke through my true force and bit my right arm. Its bite force was enough to tear my flesh and cut my bones clean, but it didn't. Instead, it latched on so I couldn't run away while the others caught up.
So instead of trying to free myself, I used explosive recovery on my arm. With my arm, the hyena's head exploded, while two-thirds of my body had suffered serious first-degree burns.