My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 33: The first special bond exam (19)

"How come I didn’t think about this!"

Jaster watched again as Marcus covered his hands with the light, creating a makeshift glove.

He punched Alex right in the stomach.

Alex staggered backward. He then got back into his pose and slammed the ground with his bare foot again.

Jaster’s eyes lit up; he was amazed.

It’s the foot.... That’s how he’s able to see!

Similar to a certain fantasy movie, some characters were made blind, but some of them also have a special way for them to be able to see.

Like for example they’re able to see with birds, or they could sense with light and movement.

In Alexander’s case, he’s using his spirit animal to be able to see.

"But... What animal could that be?" As Soulbound’s number one fan, Jaster brainstormed for all possible animals.

"Alexander’s case is similar to a series I once watched. She called herself ’the blind bandit.’ It’s also very similar to Alexander’s blind mercenary title...."

While thinking, with Marcus and Alexander fighting in the background, an idea popped into his head.

"Moles... They’re able to detect movement underground by using their vibration sense...."

Jaster saw a sharp stick. He had a brilliant idea.

SCHHKKK

Marcus was getting tired. His uniform had thousands of scratches, while he couldn’t even get a single hit on Alex’s shirt.

"Damn it! When are you gonna give up?!"

Marcus said while out of breath.

"Never planned to give up. This was what my master bestowed upon me. I’ll never go against his wish...." Alex ran up to Marcus while pointing the katana straight at his head.

"MARCUS, RUN!" Jaster screamed at him.

Before the blade could hit Marcus, Alex’s ears felt something flying through the sky.

Jaster threw the big stick at Alexander. He quickly reacted by slicing the stick in half.

After that, he was gonna attack Marcus again, but he was nowhere to be felt.

Marcus and Jaster had run away.

The blind mercenary sighed.

He said with a deep, annoyed voice. "This is getting irritating."

He took a deep breath and—

[ Skill activated ]

Tremor Sense — Lv. 20 (MAX)

He slammed his foot on the ground once. Vibrations rippled through the ground and returned, sketching the whole forest in his mind.

The vibrations mapped the battlefield, every footstep and every shift of weight.

He could sense footsteps frantically running deeper into the forest.

He took a running stance and whispered.

"I see you."

And in the blink of an eye, he was gone, chasing after them.

---

Jaster and Marcus were running while huffing out of breath.

"Are you okay?" Jaster saw all the scratch marks on his body.

"I’m fine... Kid, please don’t do that again, okay!"

Marcus scolded Jaster, while Jaster brushed it off.

"No time. If we wanna win this fight, you gotta listen to me!" Jaster stopped walking.

Seeing him all of a sudden stop made Marcus curious.

"What do you mean?"

"I know how he’s able to see even though he’s blind!"

Marcus’s eyes widened; his ears perked.

"I’m listening...."

Jaster proceeded to tell him all that he knew. Marcus’s head felt so heavy getting all this information.

"What the... How are we supposed to beat him then—" Marcus stopped his talking; he just realized he was currently asking a first year for advice.

Jaster smirked; he already had a plan up his sleeve.

"Don’t worry. Here’s what we’re gonna do!"

---

Alex had reached the spot where the two would have been, but hearing... and sensing nothing.

He used Tremor Sense again. He tapped his foot. A tremor spread through the ground and returned.

But weirdly, he couldn’t sense them. This made Alex feel even more irritated, making his cat ears rotate sideways, creating airplane ears.

"This is so tedious..."

Amidst the quiet forest, he heard a faint burning hiss.

He turned around and felt a watermelon that looked like it was about to burst.

"Huh?"

Without Alex realizing, Jaster and Marcus had climbed up the nearest tree.

Marcus had shaped his light into a bow, and another into an arrow.

Jaster leaned in to whisper to him.

"Okay... On the count of 123, you shoot that melon, okay?"

Marcus nodded firmly.

"1...."

He said as quietly as possible.

"2...."

Alex was confused, hearing the melon sizzling. He got closer to it.

His ears perked.

Why does that melon look like it’s gonna blow up?

"3..."

Marcus shot the arrow straight towards the melon.

Alex heard the arrow piercing through the sky; he quickly dodged the arrow.

But he noticed that it wasn’t hitting towards him.

"Wait..."

Before he knew it, the arrow pierced through the melon and—

BOOOMM

The explosion ripped through the clearing. A shockwave blasted outward, rattling the trees and sending birds screaming into the sky.

This sent the blind mercenary flying and hitting a tree trunk hard.

He held his head. The loud noise of the explosion made his hearing feel dizzy.

"LET’S GO!" Jaster invited Marcus for a high five, which he playfully accepted.

"Now!" Jaster pointed towards the other melons.

"Let’s blow this guy’s mind!"

---

Before the blind mercenary reached their spot,

Jaster was currently telling Marcus about his plan.

"If my theory is correct, then he’s only able to sense stuff that’s underground. And for the ones that are airborne, he senses them with his sharp hearing!"

Marcus listened carefully while Jaster was talking.

While listening, he felt a sense of hope. He couldn’t believe someone as smart as Jaster appeared right before he was gonna graduate.

Marcus smiled at the serious student.

"Sooo... What I’m getting at is, we should climb up a tree and be quiet. But then how should we attack him?!"

As far as his battle with the blind mercenary, he had such a sharp sense of hearing that a sneak attack wouldn’t work on him.

Jaster smirked and clapped his hands.

"We’ll defeat him by using his sharp hearing, of course!"

Marcus blinked for a bit, then his eyes shot up.

"You’re saying..."

"Yes. We’ll create a huge sound that’ll crush his eardrums. And when he’s unable to focus because of the huge noise, that’s when we strike!"

"How can we create the loud noise, though? There’s barely anything in this forest!" Marcus asked.

Jaster rubbed his chin while smiling.

"How about.. that!" He pointed towards a green and red melon that was pulsating from the inside.

"Oh!" Marcus looked back at Jaster.

"The Destruction Melon! It can blow up if we trigger it!"

"Exactly." Jaster clicked his fingers.

Something stirred in Marcus’s heart.

He smiled at Jaster. He couldn’t fathom that an unknown first year with no clan background was smarter and more strategic than him.

He felt like he was seeing himself in Jaster.

Marcus said in his mind.

Finally... I found you...