As Tim walked north, his prospects of finding a partner both increased and decreased. It would increase assuming that anyone who didn’t have a partner walked north regardless and decreased if they didn’t. Also, the amount of people who have formed pairs and were heading north as well increased, decreasing the amount of individuals there could be. That said, it was too late to turn back and Timothy wasn’t exactly the first person to dive into social interaction. He was content to let his partner find him, really. That’s what he keeps telling himself every time. Every time he turned a corner or saw behind a tree to find that there was no one there. Tim really didn’t want to be the first one to talk, but he also didn’t want to fail. His conflicting wants created a half-hearted mindset of trying to find a partner resulting in walking north in a potentially pointless attempt to find a random person who just so happens to not have a partner.

Tim’s loner time was interrupted as a boarbatusk burst out of the undergrowth, jumping straight at Tim. Tim rolled under the flying mass of grimm on reflex, rolling into a standing position, hand on sword hilt. The boarbatusk landed and turned to face Tim, its intentions clear. Tim stood and drew carnage, keeping low as the boarbatusk pawed the ground, ready to charge. The boarbatusk launched itself forwards, horns ready to impale Timothy. Tim set carnage at a 45 degree angle from the ground and prepared himself. As the boarbatusk reached Tim, his left eye flashed and he flicked upwards. The sword crashed into the boarbatusk’s stomach so hard that it flew, the force from the blow sending it flying above Tim’s head. The boarbatusk flew backwards and was struck again by Tim in the midsection, still in the air, cutting the boarbatusk in half.

The boarbatusk’s halves fell to the ground. Tim flicked the blood off of Carnage and sheathed it, the glow in his left eye dying down again. [i]If there’s one grimm here, then there might be one nearby…[/i] Tim thought. Sure enough, he found different boarbatusk’s tracks and began to follow it, hoping to kill it.

Tim wove through the underbrush, seemingly still heading north, but stopped as he hard sounds of fighting. Creeping forward, he found a female student fighting the boarbatusk he was tracking. Instead of jumping in, he sat back to watch. 

The student was quite skilled, handling the boarbatusk with precision. It was clear that she had experience, as she didn’t freeze up in combat, and she knew exactly how to fight it. She’d managed to impale the boarbatusk by planting her spear into the ground where it would land and finished it with a swift chop to the back of the neck. The moves showed skill and efficiency, though there was a strange blast that had come out of the tip of her spear, which threw the pig into the air. Was it her semblance, or just her weapon? Regardless, she was the first student he had met since the start of this test and it seemed that she was his partner.

Resigned to the prospect of opening conversation, Tim emerged from the bush, brushing off stray leaves and trying to appear non-threatening.
“Um, Hi.” He tried awkwardly. “My name’s Tim. Seems like we’ll be partners from now on?”