The flight ended up taking a long time. By the time Hinata and Lev had arrived at the testing location, the sky was dark with the first few slivers of nightfall. As they got off the bus, securing their bags and observing the landscape, they noticed many strange things. They were parked in a small grassy clearing, along with two other busses. It seemed that there were going to be three groups participating in this particular event. Surrounding the clearing were numerous tall trees, together comprising Ishigimi Forest. The trees were unusual, having strangely shaped pale blue leaves. On top of this, there were numerous large mushrooms of varying colors. Lev in particular looked enthralled at the prospect of investigating previously unknown flora. Crowds of applicants began to form as the busses were cleared of their inhabitants. Suddenly, Mr. Ittetsu spoke up.

"Alright applicants, you have 15 minutes to assemble a team of 3 people before the test begins." he shouted.

Suddenly, the aura changed to that of rigor and desperation. The crowd immediately began dispersing, organizing into groups as people tried to find teams of their own. Hinata and Lev stuck together, scanning the crowds for a potential 3rd teammate. Lev was shocked by a light tapping on his back.

"Um… excuse me…" he heard a girl ask behind him, voice small and delicate. Hinata and Lev turned around to look at the person addressing them. "Do you boys have a third member?" she asked. She was petite, with golden blonde hair worn in a side-ponytail, and had brown eyes. Her features were delicate, and she had a flighty look in her eyes. Lev was unsure of how to proceed, so Hinata spoke up first.

"We actually don't!" Hinata said, smiling.

"Oh, that's a relief! You guys seem the least intimidating!" a look of relief flooded her face as she spoke. "I'm a medic," she said. "Do you think I could be helpful on your team?" she looked insecure as she asked, as if she didn't want to hear the answer.

Lev finally spoke.

"I don't see why not! It would be helpful to have someone to treat us if we get injured." he said.

Relief poured out of her in droves.

"Ah thank god. I'm pretty fast too so I won't hold you guys back. My name's Hitoka Yachi. You can call me either or, I don't care. What're your names?" he asked, looking to Lev first.

"I'm Hinata, Shoyo Hinata!" Hinata interrupted before Lev could answer.

"Oh, nice to meet you!" she said, looking at him for a moment. "And you?" she asked Lev once again.

"I'm Lev Haiba. I'm from Sukov." he said.

"Wow! Is that why you're so tall? You must be a really good fighter, I hear they have some cool fighting styles there!" she beamed.

"Well, actually, I'm not much of a fighter, that's more Hinata. I like to use poisons, really." Lev looked a little embarrassed as he spoke.

"Woah, Hinata's a fighter? I thought for sure he was, like, recon! He's so small too. That's so cool!" she turned to Hinata. "So do you use like knives or..?"

"I like fighting fist to fist!" Hinata declared. He tried to puff out his chest to seem bigger and more epic as he said it, but he ended up just making himself cough.

Yachi laughed.

"You're kinda cute!" she said to HInata. Hinata blushed.

"Anyways," Hinata said, trying to change the subject. "We should use the rest of the time to come up with a strategy. I know I said I'm a fighter, but truth is, I probably can't do that much yet. I have to have a good strategy-" Hinata paused for a moment. "Sorry, we, we have to have a good strategy."

"I think we should try to sprint through it. If we avoid combat, we can get through the forest pretty quickly. I can use my poison to take care of anything we might come across." Lev proposed.

"I can take care of any injuries you guys get," Yachi said, shifting her backpack and lightly slapping on it to illustrate its contents. "I have a lot of strong painkillers and antibiotics and stuff like that in here, plus gauze and bandages and stuff like that."

"I guess we have a plan, then!" Hinata said. Shortly after that, a siren wailed, and Mr. Ittetsu yelled out once again.

"The first stage of the Magnolia Entrance Exam starts… Now!" He bellowed.

The various groups immediately began dashing into the woods, headed towards the direction of the Ishigimi Research Facility. Dozens of groups ran at varying speeds. It appeared most had forgotten about the maps that would be available to the first 100 applicants. They took some time to procure one, and studied it for a moment. After determining which route they would take, they began running toward the forest, taking a path slightly away from where the other applicants had charged in. As they began running in the forest, they noticed all sorts of oddities. For one, they noticed large isopod-like creatures fleeing from them as they ran. Lev resisted the urge to try and pick plants and mushrooms as they ran, it would slow them down. He began taking out his paper, and preparing some planes in case he had to use them.

"Can you guys slow down for a moment?" he asked, pulling his bag to get his poisons from it. They slowed down a bit, puzzled. He finished coating the planes with poison soon after. "Sorry, I forgot to get them ready before we started running."

The group resumed running. Yachi was slightly ahead of the two, but she occasionally slowed down to meet the two of them.

"So you use paper airplanes to deliver your poison?" Yachi asked, breath hard from exertion.

"Yeah." Lev shouted.

"Isn't that kinda hard?" She asked.

"It's not that difficult, it took a lot of practice, though," Lev said, pausing to get a breath in. "The paper is sharp enough that even a light graze can break skin."

"Oh, that's cool." She said. The group continued to run through the woods, nimbly evading trees and following the path of least resistance. They were making good progress, Hinata thought.

"How far do you th-" Hinata was cut off by a roar. The group suddenly stopped, trying to figure out where the roar was coming from. The roar continued to echo around them.

"Where is it coming from?" Hinata asked, eyes darting around trying to discern the source.

"We should just continue ahead." Lev reasoned.

"I don't think it'll let us!" Yachi said, concern in her voice, pointing in a certain direction ahead. As the two boys looked her way, their eyes widened with horror as a horrific creature emerged from the darkness, roaring territorially at them. It had terrible musculature, bulging and pulsating with every move, It vaguely resembled some sort of cat, but it's face was horribly mangled, full of scars and missing features. Its nose was completely missing, just slits on its face, and its sockets were completely smooth over where its eyes should be. The creature roared as it bore its fangs, needle-sharp and evidently designed to shred flesh. Yachi screamed as it came closer to her. She quickly evaded backwards, in a blur of speed.

"Lev, see if you can poison it." Hinata called.

"Already on it." Lev replied, producing a few planes from his pockets. He took a moment to aim, and then he threw. The paper airplanes drifted delicately yet quickly toward the ferocious cat. There were three in total making their way towards it. The creature roared, lunging at the planes with terrifying speed. It swiped at them with its paw, crushing them on the ground.

"Well that didn't work," Hinata said, nervously. "What now?" They continued backing away from the cat as it slowly approached. Suddenly, the cat let out a cry of pain. Lev smiled.

"What's happening?" Yachi asked. Lev kept on smiling. The cat continued to roar, not in aggression, but in severe pain. Suddenly the creature began crumbling downward in agony, before it went unconscious.

"Was that you, Lev?" Hinata asked, bewildered.

"Let's keep going ahead." Lev grinned. The group rushed past the unconscious heap that was previously a terrifying creature. Yachi and Hinata both wondered in their heads: Were the planes really sharp enough to nick it as it crumbled them?

The two had no further time to ponder, however, as their spines tingled with fear as they heard the distant sounds of screaming teenagers. A hollow sound, not unlike bamboo wind chimes, rang throughout the forest as more screams filled the air. The group was still, paralyzed by fear, breathing heavily as they desperately tried to move their bodies, to instinctually flee from the direction the sounds were coming from. Lev was the first to say anything.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" He screamed, voice drenched in fear. The sound was not human, but it also was unlike anything they had ever heard. It sounded… non-living… like no living creature could possibly be capable of making that sound.

Hinata was still paralyzed, his memories of the festival flooding back to him. He was going to fail. He was going to fail. If that was what he was up against, he knew it.

He was going to fail.