Hiik!
Selene Whitmore quickly burst out of the tall grass with a startled cry. Her face twisted in annoyance as she brushed aside strands of hair, her eyes darting warily toward .
"Why were you following ?" I asked flatly, my sword still leveled at her chest.
"Don’t get the wrong idea. I wasn’t following you," she muttered, scratching her cheek as if the gesture could hide her unease.
"Then what were you doing?"
"..."
"See? You can’t even answer. That ans I’m right."
Selene Whitmore glared, lips pressed into a thin line.
"Well, before that how did you pull that stunt earlier?"
I cut her short, voice sharp. "Answer my question first. Why were you following ?"
She frowned, finally exhaling through her nose before replying, "I wasn’t following you. I was tailing Lindy Crowe."
"...Huh?"
I tilted my head. That na felt misplaced. Why suddenly bring her up?
"Lindy Crowe? The sa person I know?"
"Yeah," Selene Whitmore said, her tone clipped. "And maybe you should talk about her with a little more respect."
I ignored the jab and, instead of answering, pulled up my system interface. Four drones hovered nearby, their feeds opening across my vision. I sifted through their angles until I caught sight of her Lindy Crowe her presence faint, almost blending into the environnt. Not in a tree this ti. Her reflection shimred faintly in the lake’s surface, like she was watching us through a veil of mist.
"Lindy Crowe..." I muttered.
Selene Whitmore imdiately snapped, "Can you stop addressing her so casually?"
I knew she was supposed to be here as an overseer. The first two days, her eyes would’ve been locked on prodigies like Elric Vales and Damon Reid. On days like these, she shifted her focus to potential wild cards.
Selene Whitmore, ignoring that, narrowed her eyes at . "No! I know you did it. I’m asking how."
Her demand was cut off by a hiss.
From the lake, coils unspooled like ropes snapping loose. Mana serpents slithered up from the depths, their scales shining with blue light. Their eyes glowed like embers, and arcs of mana flickered in their open maws. E-rank monsters, dangerous underwater but sluggish on land yet still a nuisance.
I gestured toward them. "Half-half?"
Selene Whitmore clicked her tongue. "First, tell how you did—ah, damn it."
One of the serpents spat a ball of condensed mana at her.
I smirked. Fortune really was on my side tonight.
Selene Whitmore moved first, her shadows unfurling like living chains. They coiled around the thrashing bodies, constricting with a force that made the serpents’ bones snap audibly. Their screeches tore through the air, high-pitched and ear-splitting, but Selene didn’t flinch. Each lash of darkness she summoned carried with it a sharp, controlled fury, as though she were trying to strangle more than just beasts.
I waded into the chaos beside her, my blade flashing with steel light. Each swing cleaved through scaled flesh, spraying the ground with hot crimson. Magic bullets burst from my hand in rapid succession, tearing through serpentine eyes and skulls with precision. The recoil bit into my arm, but I pressed on, the rhythm of violence becoming second nature.
One serpent lunged at , its gaping jaws wide enough to swallow my torso whole. I sidestepped, driving my sword upward through the roof of its mouth, the force of the strike jolting through my shoulder as it collapsed in a lifeless heap. Another tried to coil around my legs, but I blasted it apart with a bullet before it could tighten its grip.
Selene’s shadows tightened their stranglehold on the largest of the serpents, its massive body thrashing hard enough to tear the earth beneath it. She pulled her hands back sharply, and the shadows followed her command with brutal obedience, crushing the serpent until its bones cracked like dry twigs.
By the ti the last serpent’s head hit the ground with a dull, wet thud, silence fell like a hamr. The battlefield stank of iron and venom, littered with broken scales and twitching remnants. My chest rose and fell steadily, adrenaline still humming in my veins, but Selene’s shoulders heaved with sothing heavier restrained frustration. Her jaw was clenched, her expression unreadable, but her shadows still twitched faintly at her feet, like they mirrored her unrest.
"You should leave," I said casually, flicking blood from my blade. "We’re done here."
"You really don’t want to tell , huh? Is it so hard to explain how you made that light sphere?" Selene Whitmore pouted, her shadow tendrils twitching irritably around her feet.
I answered her with a faint smile. "You’ll only get hurt if you find out."
Her brow furrowed. "What nonsense is that?"
"It’s the truth." I pointed down one trail. "I ca here first. You should head that way."
Her lips pressed tight. I could hear the venom in her mutter as she turned sharply and stord off: "I should just kill him..."
---
After parting ways with Selene Whitmore, I slipped back into the forest. My drones guided toward clusters of low-rank monsters. Wolves with spiked fur, deer with faintly glowing antlers nothing I couldn’t handle. My blades cut them down, and soon, I’d gathered sixteen more points.
But the faint pressure behind didn’t fade.
"...Finally."
I stopped walking. She revealed herself deliberately this ti, no longer hiding. From the mist between the trees, Lindy Crowe descended gracefully, her figure drifting like a butterfly before she landed thirty paces in front of .
"Hello."
Her smile was disarmingly bright, almost cheerful.
"This is the first ti we’ve spoken properly since the auction, isn’t it?"
"Right. But why now?" I asked carefully.
"Ah, I know it’s sudden." She tilted her head, hands clasped behind her back. Then she stepped closer. "You see, I’ve been hosting... a little special event for the cadets. A personal test."
"...Event?"
"Yes." She tapped the natag pinned to her chest. "Would you like to participate?"
"...Co again?"
She ignored the ambiguity of her gesture and continued. "The rules are simple. I’ll draw a circle, stand within it, and I won’t leave. If you can make step out of the circle or land a clean strike, this natag is yours."
My eyes narrowed. "Natag?"
"Worth two hundred points." She smiled knowingly. "Enough to secure first place. Consider it a wager not just of points, but of reputation. My guild’s pride stands behind it."
A prize too tempting to dismiss. Two hundred points would catapult above everyone else. Recognition, guild offers, the Bloody Banquet’s attention... the rewards were obvious.
"I’ll wait here," Lindy Crowe added, as if she could read my hesitation. "Challenge , or walk away."
---
I didn’t answer. Instead, I hurled a dagger straight at her head.
Clang!
She swatted it aside effortlessly, her hand moving faster than my eyes could follow. The weapon spiraled away, embedding itself in the dirt.
"Good." Her grin widened. "Try again."
I obliged. Magic bullets burst from my hands, streaking across the air in a scattershot. She lifted her arm not even coated in mana and deflected each one in a blur, never once shifting her stance.
"I expected them to hit at the sa ti," she mused, her tone maddeningly calm.
I clicked my tongue. With that kind of handicap, maybe I had a chance.
This ti, I pulled two daggers and whispered Codex’s magic into their handles. A thin pulse of energy humd through the blades.
"Oh, that’s new," she comnted, curious.
I hurled them one toward her chest, one at her face then followed up with a barrage of magic bullets, twenty in quick succession.
Lindy Crowe parried the daggers and deflected the bullets with a lazy motion. But the mont her arm struck them aside, the daggers twisted midair and curved toward her ankles.
Her eyes glimred. "Clever."
A pulse of mana erupted from her hand, shattering both blades into shards.
"...Tch."
"Interesting," she said, genuine excitent in her tone. "Redirecting your attack midflight with hidden magic. What technique is that?"
I didn’t answer. Instead, I drew my sword and shifted my stance.
Her smile deepened, her hand flattening into a blade, mana sharpening along its edge. "Show more."
We clashed.
The forest echoed with the sound of steel and energy striking against bare flesh. Each strike I delivered was parried with ease. My drones tried to distract her, weaving in arcs of suppressive fire, but she batted down even their support as if swatting flies. The circle beneath her feet glowed faintly, unbroken.
Minutes dragged on. Sweat slicked my brow. She hadn’t budged an inch.
Finally, I sheathed my sword. "Enough."
She tilted her head, puzzled.
"You said you wouldn’t leave that circle. I don’t see a way around it," I admitted, turning my back on her.
"...?"
Then I glanced back, feigning surprise. "Wait. Did your right foot just step past the line?"
Her expression froze.
I smirked. "Kidding."
Her glare turned sharp enough to cut.
I raised my hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. I’ll withdraw. Consider it your win."
Better to leave with my pride intact than to get sucked further into her pace.
---
Back at camp, the air was calr. Clara Winslet sat across from , nibbling at her food when I spoke.
"Clara Winslet. Stay with today."
She blinked, tilting her head. "...?"
"The exam ends tomorrow," I explained. "Everyone will be desperate, and desperation makes people reckless. It’s too dangerous to be alone."
Her fork paused halfway to her mouth.
"You’ll have to protect , Clara Winslet."
She almost nodded reflexively before realizing what I’d said.
"Eh?"
"You didn’t mishear." I grinned, stretching my arms overhead. "I’m counting on you."
The real trial lay ahead the moth monster. Even with my body strengthening, I risked losing an organ if its roots touched . I needed soone at my side.
"I need you to protect ," I repeated.
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