Krista was watching Armin's team trying to finish off the Ossiboros. While Eren and Blake were goofing around or dozing off, she was studying. Their movements, their thought pattern, their roles and their fighting styles. Although she didn't have any paper or her phone to make written notes, she started making mental notes of these things. However, with the number of people who had taken the tests, she probably would have forgotten a couple of teams.
Krista stretched for a bit. She has been sitting for so long that it felt that her chair and her would meld into one being. She sat back down, grabbed a water bottle and shook her head, seeing Armin's current condition.
'For a person who I will admit is very intelligent, he made a stupid mistake. He could've made the tan one get up close and drench the beast in grease, then he could have made an attempt to light it on fire by simply lighting and throwing the lighter and lastly, Floch could've drenched it in water and created a bigger explosion.'
But she didn't care. After all, if he failed, that was one less opponent to be wary of, not that he was much of a threat to her anyway. She was really itching to do her attempt at the test right now, but she knew that her chance would not come anytime soon.
"Bored?" Eren said, laying down and lifting his jacket over his face. He fell asleep in the middle of Armin's match.
'What a friend.'
"I do admit, I am quite filled with ennui at the moment," Krista admitted. "But if I was you, I would be perturbed about your friend."
Eren looked at the screen for approximately 4 seconds, turned back his head and placed the jacket back over his face. "Fuck… Blake, what happened?"
"The monster's tail hit him point blank," Blake explained. "Luckily, he's a metahuman or else-"
"He would've been splat! Like a blood balloon." Eren said, even chuckling a bit before Blake nodded in agreement.
"I don't think that's amusing…laughing at your friend's expense?" Krista said, pretending to a bit snarled. "Aren't you supposed to be worried about him?"
"What do you want to me do? Cry and yell? Maybe I should interfere with the match and try to save him? I believe in him and his team, even if your stupid white knight is on his team," Eren said.
"So you don't have a single ounce of worry for him?" Krista asked.
"I never said that," Eren countered. "As much I want to do something about that, it could risk my chances and maybe your guys' chances too."
Krista rolled her eyes. She knew that two of the remaining teams had an extra person, so if he was too injured to continue, they'd replace him with one of them if they were to do another team-based test. She smiled at that thought. However, Krista was aware of her reluctant teammates' capabilities and removing him with someone she doens't know might ruin her chances of passing, so she didn't press on it any further.
She looked at Annie, who was also watching Armin's team while she was slightly jittering in her seat. Krista moved to the other side to sit next to the female blonde. Annie gave her a side glance before her focus returned to the television.
"Worried?" Krista asked, pointing at the screen.
"A bit," Annie replied, not even bothering to look at her. "Why are you talking to me?"
"Do you have an issue with me?" Krista questioned. "I hold no resentment to you."
"Whatever."
"I mean, we're the only females on the team. It's very crucial that us females stick together, right?"
Krista lifted her right hand for a fist bump, with a fake bright smile.
"Sure…" Annie shrugged, her eyes still watching the television.
'Reciprocate my kind gesture, you ungrateful, hook-nosed swine!' Krista sat there, still waiting for some reception.
"Aren't you gonna fist-bump me back?"
"I think you know the answer."
'Bitch,' Krista cursed as she dropped her fist.
"Anyways…" Krista crossed her arms. "Do you think that they can pass?"
"Probably. The monster looks tired."
Krista looked at the screen. She witnessed the tan man trying to drench the Ossiboros in grease, creating tendrils to swing from tree to tree as he shot balls of grease in a variety of different angles. Reiner was attempting to break off its bone armour by punching its legs, and Floch was doing aerial attacks.
The Ossiboros swung its tail at Reiner. He stood his ground and braced for the hit, barely moving a couple feet from the impact. He leaped to grab its tail, digging his feet into the ground.
"Hit it!" Reiner shouted before Clyde jumped and began a barrage of grease at the ossiboros. He threw a silver-coloured object at Reiner.
Reiner caught it and quickly threw it, setting the beast ablaze. The ossiboros roared as it rolled around, trying to remove the flame, but Floch flew above and dumped some water on the beast.
An explosion occurred, causing the television to emit only a quick orange light, then a large grey smoke to cover the area.
"What the hell happened?! I can't see anything now!" Krista stood up from her seat.
"A grease fire. Classic," Blake said with a massive smile.
"A what?"
"A grease fire," Eren said, lifting his jacket over his mouth. "When a grease fire happens, putting water on it makes it worse."
"Yup. Take that from me," Blake chuckled. "Almost burned my house down because of that."
"How the fuck does that happen?" Eren chuckled.
"I was trying boil my fries in oil and when I put fries in there, a fire came out. So, when I dumped a cup of water on it, a bigger fire came out. Almost burned my kitchen down," Blake explained, scratching his head, probably because of his stupidity, embarrassment or a mixture of both.
"We're the fries frozen?" Krista asked, a bit curious of his blunder.
"Yeah…"
"You fool, that's why it caused a fire. Because the fries were covered in ice," Krista sighed.
"Says the person that didn't know what a grease fire is," Eren retorted.
"I didn't know that about grease fires." Annie turned herself to look at him.
Eren cleared his throat. "Anyways, I'm glad that Floch and Armin passed the test."
Krista scoffed. "Like you even cared."
"Well, what about you? Aren't you glad that Reiner passed?" Eren lifted the jacket a bit more, revealing one of his silver eyes.
"Hmph. I expected him to pass," Krista answered the question. "I know that he's more capable than Floch and Armin combined."
Krista turned her head to see the television. The smoke was clearing up, revealing the Ossiboros, seemingly dead. It was lying on the ground with pillars of smoke coming from its body, surrounded by an area of ash and fire. Reiner was in a pile of dirt, unconscious a half a kilometer away from the explosion.
The tan man looked fine as he walked into the area. He looked at the now-dead monster and started to jump around in excitement. Floch was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he died in the explosion?
'I won't be surprised if he at least didn't suffer burns from that.'
"Where's the bird, dude?" Blake asked, a bit worried. "I saw him a moment ago, but now, he's gone."
The door opened to see another instructor coming into the room. He was tall, six and a half feet to be precise, with deep tan skin and brown eyes to match. He had a lean but wrinkled face with deep lines in his brow and a notable case of crow's feet. He appeared to be lacking in sleep, based on the dark circles around his eyes. He lacked hair on the top of his head but compensated by having hair on his chin.
His uniform was quite similar to the other instructors, a grey color with the official symbol of the association on the left side of his chest and back, with a pair of black boots.
"Team 12! Your time is now!" The old man shouted.
The members of team 12 got up from their seats and headed towards the old instructor. One of the females had long, black wavy hair, nearly reaching to her tailbone, with dark brown colored eyes to match, holding a big spiky morning star, while the other one had blonde hair with a tint of red with freckles holding a sword on her hip and a crossbow on her back.
One of the males had dark blue hair with a slim build, with two pistols placed in black leather holsters with a name threaded in a cursive style using some gold thread: "Lavria". The other was tall with a muscular build. He was not carrying a weapon, and his skin was as dark as Hyperion Stone.
Due to the amount of people doing the test, Krista thought it was best to narrow them down by only certain parts of their appearances and weapon of choice for the benefit of her brain and its efficiency.
"Ugh, I'm bored…" Blake groaned.
"Tell me about it…" Eren agreed.
'I must admit. It is quite tiresome, sitting here doing nothing in this room at the moment besides filling my stomach with snacks and water, then emptying it out in the bathroom.'
Krista stood up and approached the old man. The old man gave her a menacing glance, but she was unfazed. She knew royal guards that were on par with some high-ranked Adventurers.
"Are you a member of Team 12?" The tall man questioned.
Krista gave the old man a pleasing smile."No, but-"
"Sit down."
Krista flared her nostrils, but she kept her smile on. "You didn't hear my question."
"I don't care about it. If you're not on team 12, then sit down." The old instructor said, bitterly.
Krista glared at the man as she killed her smile. This punk had not realized who he was talking to, and she would make sure that he recognized, but she didn't want to insult his intelligence…not just yet.
"I don't think you are aware of who you are speaking to, but I know people amongst the elite class who can put you in your place. I would suggest you correct your tone," Krista advised.
Krista glanced back to witness the numerous pairs of eyes that were starting to focus their attention on the scene that was forming. She grew a small, confident smile. She wanted the other examinees to witness her excellence. The old, miserable-looking man stepped closer, forcing her to look up to him.
"Say that again," The man threatened, his small, fierce brown eyes trying to pierce her assertiveness, but she cleared her throat.
"Correct.Your.Tone." She repeated in a stern tone.
"You arrogant little-"
"Don't!" A more gentle voice shouted.
Krista tilted her head to see another instructor. This one had more fair skin with medium-length, straight brown hair with a part down the middle. Unlike the old miserable man in front of her, this one was much younger and clean shaven, with a long face and gentle light brown eyes.
He was wearing the same uniform as the old disgruntled colleague as he approached the much, much, much older man.
"Keith, relax. We can't hurt our examinees!" The younger man said.
"I can make an exception," the old man called Keith said, cracking his knuckles. "Stay out of it, Moblit."
"What's even the problem, anyways?"
"I was merely going to ask him a question, but he would not let me do so," Krista said as she pointed at the old man.
"Come on, Keith. Let the girl ask her question." Moblit placed his hands on his hips and calmly sighed. "What was your question, miss?"
"I wanted to know if you guys have a training room available. As much as I appreciate the effort of this room. Unfortunately, I'm getting quite fatigued just sitting here."
Moblit shook his head. "Sorry, we don't and even if we did, it wouldn't be fair for the other examinees."
"Perhaps you should invest in a training room; it could help our muscles be better prepared for our tests," Krista advised.
"Who do you think you are?" Keith said bitterly. "Telling us advice as if you're more experienced than us."
"It's not about experience. It's possessing a concept called common sense, Keith," Krista said his name in a demeaning tone.
"You pampered prick!" Keith grabbed her shirt, but Moblit gripped the old man's wrist.
"Calm down, Keith! Just bring the team down to the arena. I'll speak to her!"
"Hmph!" Keith loosened his grip and walked away before he told the team to follow him.
"What's his problem?! That bastard dared to put his hands on me?!" Krista shouted, irate. "I can have his head on a pike for that!"
"Please don't do that!" Moblit pleaded. "I apologise on his behalf. For as grouchy as he is, he's one of our most experienced adventurers in the association."
"What's his rank?"
Moblit scratched the back of his head. "He's a B-Rank if I remember."
"Pathetic. All these years, and he only achieved B-Rank?" Krista chucked as she folded her arms and shook her head.
"I wouldn't call it pathetic. It's not easy going up the ranks. I only hit C-Rank recently, and I have been an Adventurer for almost six years now."
"Is rising the ranks truly that difficult?" Krista asked.
"Yes, especially if you only go the traditional ranking method," Moblit said.
"Traditional method? There is more than one turning method?"
"There is but…"
A knock on the door echoed in the room. Moblit turned to see Petra giving an uneasy smile, causing him to shriek before turning back to Krista and apologised again and made his way for the door.
Moblit left the room with Petra closing the door shortly after. Krista cussed under her breath before she sighed.
'Well, at least I know that there is more than one method. However, if that old man is only a B-Rank, it's either that being an Adventurer is more difficult than I anticipated, or that man wasn't given a strong ability.
Krista groaned as she looked at her shirt. She tucked in her shirt, flattening it with her hands and running them down her torso.
"That stupid old fool."
"Are you okay?" Blake asked, seemingly worried. " The fact that you stood your ground against that big guy. Sheesh, you got some guts."
"I'm fine. That old fool should retire if he cannot control his anger. Plus I've dealt with monsters and people who are bigger and possibly even stronger than him. His height means nothing to me."
"But you couldn't tell off Reiner when he swung at me? " Eren asked, a bit irritated. "Wow, what a teammate."
"Because you deserved it, you disrespectful dimwit," Krista said beneath her tee th.
"And you deserved to get grabbed like that. Props to the old man. Matter of fact, I wish I will see him again, because if I do, I'm giving him a fist bump," Eren lightly chuckled.
"If you keep talking like that, you won't be able to have the opportunity to fist bump the old man," Krista threatened.