Dalis would never have thought that the sound of this voice reaching his ears would ever be a godsend. 

The beast had come to a standstill, slowly revolving its body to the direction of that vulgar voice. 

And at this moment, a smirk of schadenfreude blossomed across Dalis's face.

GRRRRRR

The Monster let out an enraged growl. Its demeanour had conspicuously reformed to that of a mad beast. Its firm porcupine tail plume stood up and started to tremble and began to wave up and down. Then, one of its bandy hind legs were lifted off the floor, oscillating back and forth. The beast appeared to be gearing itself for a relentless charge.

AARROOOOO

In a moment of seconds, The Monster charged out. Unknowingly, leaving behind the two uninvited guests. 

"Looks like we are safe," Dalis said in a gratified tone. 

"I can't believe we managed to get out of this one without retiring. Dalis, was that Melvin's voice I heard?"

Dalis's smirk grew wider. 

"That's right. Who else would dare cuss out a line of swears in broad daylight? Only the surface of his depository has been revealed."

"I admit that he has a foul mouth, but . . . was it really that deplorable? It's gone way too far. Not even the Church would tolerate that much swearing."

"In any case we better get going. Let's not let this chance slip off our fingers."

"You're right, we gotta help him."

"Oh . . . yeah . . . that's our next course of action."

Sienna looked at Dalis with disbelief. Was he really not planning to aid Melvin at all?

Suddenly, their faces began to contort. They wore grieved expressions. Dalis's was layered with a paste of guilt. Sienna's hands clenched. Their heads turned marginally down. 

Jessica was no longer with them. 

Despite their fortunate strokes of luck, it was not divided evenly. Jessica had taken the low roll. It was unfortunate. If she had refrained from uttering those words a moment later, the three would have remained together.

"Dalis . . . take it with a grain of salt . . . it was not your fault."

" . . . " 

Dalis did not reply.

"If Sienna had not uttered those words, the light given off from the teleportation wouldn't have startled the beast and brought it to a standstill. She inadvertently allowed us to continue on."

Hearing these words, Dalis's face seemingly relaxed. Although he still had a shred of guilt, he was unable to refute those words. 

"Your right. I will apologise to her later."

"No we will both apologise."

"No. You have nothing to apologise for."

"But—"

"No."

Dalis was obstinate. He refused to let Sienna apologise for nothing. She had done nothing wrong.

"Alright. But let me accompany you."

"Sure."

Dalis and Sienna briskly headed towards the entrance of the cave. They had to find their “saviour”. Their legs had soon stepped foot back into the luxuriant Maizan Forest. They were first greeted by the afternoon sun that radiated upon them, causing the two to inevitably squint their eyes. Light had returned to the world.

"Though we had only been in there for a couple of minutes . . . it felt like it took much longer," Sienna commented.

"Surprisingly, thanks to the beast."

The duo surveyed the area, turning their heads left to right. Unexpectedly, there was nothing in sight. There was no sign of Melvin, nor the beast. Where could they have possibly gone?

"There's no one . . . " Sienna muttered.

Although there was neither in sight, Dalis through his observant eyes discerned recent tracks left behind the beast. Granted that the footprint marks were a little difficult to perceive, the unique tail markings were discrete in view. 

Sienna following Dalis's line of sight, had begun to notice his findings. 

"Oh, these must be trails left behind by the The Monster.

She walked towards the trail and bent down on her knee, examining the marks carefully. Dalis slowly walked towards her as well to obtain a closer sight. 

The trail was not linear. However, it showcased a general direction of where the beast had advanced.

"Let's go." Dalis was the first to speak.

"Right."

The two followed the trail. It appeared that the beast was indeed in a rush, as parts of various vegetation had been squashed along the way. The most alarming left behind evidence was the serrated, porcupine tail engravings found across particular trees. The two were unable to understand . . . why had the beast bothered to add these various hard imprints? They refused to believe it was simply markings left behind the tail grazing upon the trees. After three-quarters of a mile, their eardrums captured the voice of their familiar roommate, Melvin. Accompanying him, were barks of wolves and the howl of The Monster. 

"Hey those barks, could they be . . . "

"Yup looks like that snob had somehow not only angered a pack of wolves, in addition The Monster.

"I'm surprised that he's managed to survive that long . . . "

"Believe me, he's very tenacious. You could squash him, freeze him, crush him or burn him, but he"ll spring right back up like a human cockroach."

"Dalis . . . you really don't hold back at all when it comes to Melvin."

"Sometimes, It's hard for people to accept the truth. But one day, they will be forced to come to accept it. Just recall our three years with him."

"Why am I coming to terms with your words? I can't help but feel guilty."

"I'm glad you are coming to that understanding," Dalis sincerely approved.

"How about we stop running our mouths with garbage behind our friend's back and aid him!" 

*Sigh*

Dalis sighed deeply as if he couldn't be bothered. 

Sienna's pupils greatly expanded upwards. She was baffled. Did he really not care about Melvin at all?

After traversing a little closer, a new scene was presented before them. There were four candidates present. Dalis was able to recognise two of them, one was Melvin, and the other was in fact Stilla! They appeared to be cornered by four grey wolves that stood before them, and The Monster who stood behind the beasts. It was now out in the open—The Monster's true appearance!

There was no darkness obstructing the figure's appearance. For Dalis, it seemed as if a black and white photo had become dyed with colour. 

The physical features of the beast were not at all distinct from what Dalis had discerned back at the dark cave. It was a beast, as large as a mammoth. A grey thick furred creature: It had four legs with paws that were slightly honed with knives. Its grey fur turned shades of black, towards the back half of its abdomen. Its grey tail was a rounded plume and spiked like a porcupine. Its head was not much different from a grey wolf, rather itself was likely to be an evolved wolf. However, its physiognomy was extensively matured. Ravening sharp jaws and menacing eyes of a hunter. 

The “King” of the wolves, its epithet—The Monster.

Observing the condition of the candidates, it was not as unfortunate as it could've been. Melvin, despite being the main source of attention was only vaguely worn in clothing and shape. Truly the vitality of a cockroach. Stilla had scars and bruises here and there but nothing major. For a body consolidator, her disfigures would naturally heal without a problem. However, it was a different story for the other two. Those two were very exhausted and could only barely hold their ground. Though they seemed to be fine enough to defeat the wolves, against The Monster it was an impossible feat. 

AWOO

Two grey wolves howled, jumping towards Stilla and one of the candidates. Stilla swiftly dashed to the side and delivered a roundhouse kick to its abdomen. The beast trembled and groaned. Albeit she was not done yet, raising a leg to stomp the beast down to the cold floor, knocking it out. She may have not killed the wolf, but she didn't break a sweat either. 

However, the outcome was not as good for the other candidate. The attacked candidate was forced to block the beast with his axe. The crescent-shaped head entered a tug of war with the jaws of the wolf. Normally in such a struggle, the special artefact would overpower its opponent. After all, it was an enchanted weapon. How could a normal beast contend against cold steel hampering at its face? Nevertheless, the candidate was severely debilitated. Wielding a weighty axe and being heavily pressured by a beast was simply too much for him to handle. 

YAAAA

The candidate's companion gave a vicious jab, right in the ribs of the wolf. He continued to thrust the dagger as far as it can go, determined to kill the beast. The wolf was angered and swiftly rotated its body to whack the bastard who stabbed him. In spite of its lowered speed, the momentum was strong enough to knock the boy several meters away. He landed bedraggled into a bush. The boy consequently fainted.

"Greg!!"

Melvin was finally ready to strike. Wordlessly, he conjured a dozen of mana bolts to destroy his target. 

Bam! 

A fury of bolts sprayed onto the grey wolf, relieving the struggling candidate. The grey wolf cried in anguish, and its legs fell to the ground.

After the candidate caught his breath, he thanked Melvin and set off to tend to his fallen friend. They were likely unable to continue the battle. Somebody had to take care of the one fainted ally.

"Hmph, useless," Melvin muttered once the boy had left.

"Melvin, don't say that. They did well to take on a pack of wolves before we arrived." Stilla pouted with indignance. 

"Without us their exam would've ceased there." 

Melvin then elegantly but somewhat smugly, walked forward ahead of Stilla confronting the beasts. He stopped after a couple of meters, folded his arms, and looked reluctantly upwards with disdain. Melvin then began to speak.

"Dogs without an owner are known as wild dogs. Allow this man of gentle birth exhibit how to punish dogs, who are incompetent to adhere to their master's orders."

GRRRRRR

AWOOO [By the two remaining wolves.]

" . . . " 

" . . . " 

" . . . " 

While the group of wolves/dogs became agitated, everybody else was dumbstruck unable to say a single word.

Stilla appeared to cringe, just a little. Albeit, she had a wide smile on her face. 

Sienna had her jaws dropped after hearing this utterance from Melvin.

Dalis had many things pop in mind: why are you acting so arrogant in front of The Monster? Did my ears stop working once I heard you spam the word “fuck” while running from these very wolf beasts? Since when were you their "master"? This was but a drop of the sea from the number of questions raised by Melvin's brainless denouncement. 

Despite this, Dalis's face was mostly indifferent. Each passing day with him increased his resistance to Melvin's big-ego shenanigans. He believed that one day he will become immune to Melvin's “solemnity”.