Confident, Lozar remains firm in place waiting for the impact, but when it comes, it is stronger than he expected, making him lose his balance and fall to the ground.

  The boar, seeing the opportunity, takes advantage to charge once more, aiming for the leather vest on the man's belly who is still trying to get up.

  Almost about to take the impact directly, he manages to place the shield and protect himself once again. But to his misfortune, the shield falls from his arm, leaving him vulnerable. And in a new charge, the boar now tastes victory together with the saliva that runs down the side of its mouth.

  Lozar sees no other alternative but to go on the offensive pointing the sword directly at the middle of the animal's forehead. In seconds everything was decided, a savage cry of pain was the last thing it made before falling dead with the sword stuck in the middle of its forehead. Soon the blood begins to form a puddle around it among the sparse grass of the place.

  "Did you manage to see?" Miriane and the students are on the top of a hill not very far away. She uses binoculars to follow all the action from there.

  "Even a boar is that strong?" Sebastian asks to the wind. He wears a leather armor and two leather gauntlets. Small metallic claws are attached to the gauntlets. A pair of binoculars is what he uses to see the scene.

  "That is why the boar is about to be reclassified as a monster. Because, besides being strong, they represent real risks to the life of a human being." Miriane lets the words escape while observing from the corner of her eye first Sarah who is very close and holding a rifle and observing the action through the weapon's sight, the leather armor also noticeable on her body.

  Beside her, Bernardo is wearing a dark metallic armor, the visor of the helmet open while he also observes the scene with binoculars. At his waist a long sword rests ready for action.

  Iris is further behind and fully hooded with a dark green cloak. At her waist the white hilt of a rapier that belongs to her shows itself timidly. She is in a centered stance and does not use anything to observe.

  "Everything alright back there?" Miriane asks into the air without turning.

  "Yes, nothing abnormal." Miguel answers with his bow in one hand and the arrow in the other.

  "Nothing here either!" An extra guest, a boy called Lafral who is part of the same class as Bernardo, is in a corner also using a bow, but longer than Miguel's. It is black and the string silver. The arrows that rest in the quiver at his waist are decorated with white feathers. His thin hair, almost shaved, and his skin as dark as chocolate stand out among the others.

  While the man appreciates his achievement, and even smiles already expecting to be approved, another man appears coming from the middle of the cornfield.

  "And isn't it that you really managed to do it?" Draus, a young man holding a submachine gun and wearing leather armor, comes out of the cornfield with slow steps.

  "You saw that? It won't take long for me to earn a ring like yours." Lozar begins to clean the blood from the sword on the animal's own skin.

  "Not if you continue careless like that." Draus speaks while looking at the abandoned shield. "Do you know why even having modern weapons like this one in my hand, most still use swords and shields?"

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Because of affinity?" Lozar releases the words into the air while observing from the corner of his eye the weapon in his hand and the golden ring reflecting the sunlight.

  "That is a good answer, but no." Draus walks to the shield and picks it up, then returns near the boar and places it beside the dead body. "First lesson, gunpowder is a very scarce material. Therefore, producing a lot of ammunition is unfeasible. Because of that, every shot must be fired with the certainty that it will accomplish its objective." He pauses his explanation to crouch and run his hand over the skin among the animal's fur.

  "Second lesson, projectiles always go straight and are very predictable, while darts and arrows can have curved and customized trajectories, either through their construction or the skill of the archer." He is already standing and takes a few steps back. "Please step away a little."

  Then Draus presses a button on the weapon in his hand and aims first at the animal, executing a single shot right into its belly. The bullet softens, dents and falls not very far from there.

  "Third lesson, the skin of most animals and monsters is very tough, making it impossible for a simple projectile to pierce them. Because of that you must always aim at the vulnerable points, and for that it is necessary to know your prey." He turns to Lozar and continues. "Your sword is made of a very sharp and resistant metal, a weapon that must be at least grade D, certainly a blacksmith of excellence must have forged it. Not to mention that it must be very expensive."

  "Indeed, I could only buy it thanks to my family's money." Lozar even looks more carefully at his sword with a white blade adorned with a magical core at its base near the hilt which is made of black wood and the grip wrapped with leather.

  "Boars have a very hard skull too, did you know? If your sword were of a lower grade or made by a less qualified blacksmith, it would probably have broken and you would have neither weapon nor shield." Draus calls him with his hand and walks near the shield. "Your shield is another piece of the same level as the sword, they were probably bought together in the same place. Try to pierce it with your sword."

  Lozar then takes a few steps forward and strikes the shield which absorbs the impact and makes the sword vibrate a little in his hand, drawing from him a groan of pain.

  "Oroborus scales from the great forest. This shield would never be pierced by the boar's tusks. You could simply keep defending until tiring it and take advantage of openings to pierce the eye or cut one of the legs." Draus looks at the black ring on Lozar's finger. "Come back in six months for a new evaluation, until then try to improve your physical conditioning and knowledge."

  Lozar lowers his head with a vacant gaze toward the ground.

  At that moment Draus hears a very soft noise among the cornfield.

  "Last lesson, firearms were made to kill humans and not animals." He presses the button on the weapon again and assumes a posture ready to shoot while aiming at the cornfield. "Grab your shield, quickly!"

  Without understanding much of what is happening, Lozar grabs his shield while beginning to feel his heart race when he notices the serious expression of the evaluator.

  "More boars?" Miriane asks herself out loud while still observing.

  "What?" Miguel also asks, but he does it looking directly at her. Then he walks to Sarah and takes the binoculars that she is not using.

  "There was supposed to be only one boar in this mission." Miguel releases the words into the air already trying to observe what is happening. "Damn!"

  "There are at least six!" Sarah says in a neutral and concentrated tone.

  "Where?" Bernardo asks her while searching the landscape around.

  "Three in the cornfield very close to them, and another hidden in that tree on the left." Sarah answers him, making his hairs stand up when he manages to see some corn stalks moving in an artificial way.

  "And two more in the forest below us." Iris complements while looking down with a serious gaze while holding the hilt of her sword firmly.

  "Six boars? But that is practically a herd." Sebastian also feels his heart beating faster while in his mind the thoughts run at a million.

  "They are not boars! They are mercenaries!" Miriane's words cut through the air and make the hearts freeze for a brief moment.

  "And those two there have their eyes on us." Miguel has his fist clenched while looking toward the base of the hill among some trees.

  At that moment, the words spoken by Lafral make Miguel and Miriane tremble.

  "There are three more approaching from behind."