It had been three full days since the exam had begun, and in this ti, most of the bottom feeder students had already been eliminated. Those that were still standing had mostly spent their ti hiding all day and picking up points whenever they could.
Still for the Myth-Class students, they continued Hunting. Most Hunted during the day, but so Hunted at night and for the Silver Star of the Human Empire, she hunted at night.
While others struggled, bled, and clawed their way toward victory, Miranda Starwind glided effortlessly through the chaos.
Miranda was in a bio filled with Radiant Peaks, all of which shimred beneath the moonlight, displaying a breathtaking landscape of trees and mana-lillies, alongside floating marble terraces suspended midair by gravitational fields.
Currently, she was looking around her, standing in the center of a ring of destruction whilst seven beasts surrounded her, looking at her like their new night-ti snack.
Sky-Crest Manticores, elegant and deadly, with wings of bladed feathers and venomous tails that dripped with anti-magic toxin.
The leader snarled, its four crimson eyes locked onto her slender figure, not seeing a threat, only prey.
Miranda sighed softly, raising a single hand and the leading Manticore imdiately lumched forward with a screech, its wings launching it like a cannon ball.
But the mont it neared Miranda, ti itself fractured.
[ Stasis Fracture ]
The beast froze mid-air, its body stuck in a loop of movent, a vibration suspended in space like a glitched fra of reality.
She tilted her head, "Such impatience."
Miranda stepped sideways and reached into the air, her fingers sliding through a transparent fold in space, drawing forth a blade made of pure, condensed starlight. It sang with harmonic resonance, responding to her pulse.
She didn't lunge. She just moved each step perfectly calculated as she weaved through the beasts that tried to lunge at her.
[ Celestial Bloom ]
She casted the spell, and starlight ruptured behind her in a silent, radiant detonation. The frozen Manticore disintegrated in a rain of silver light and mist. The others roared, charging all at once, but Miranda didn't flinch.
She snapped her fingers.
[ Fold Step ]
The world twisted, and Miranda blinked thirty ters backward in a single instant, reappearing atop a floating terrace. Below, her enemies crashed into each other.
She raised her arms again, drawing circular runes in the air. Her voice, calm and cold, whispered the next spell.
[ Constellation Cage ]
Lines of celestial magic wove into the air above, forming a perfect star chart. Each star pulsed and beams of gravitational force slamd downward like spears, pinning the remaining Manticores in place.
"ROAR, ROAR, ROAR!" All of them imdiately writhed, shrieked and roared angrily, their pride shattered at how effortlessly she handled them.
Miranda didn't bother reacting to their roars however, just slowly descending using a ribbon of spatial folds.
With a gentle twirl, she unsheathed a second blade, a fractal crescent blade forged of translucent aethersteel—and crossed both weapons.
[ Stellar Ruin - Twin Eclipse ]
Two arcs of temporal light crossed in an X-shape, severing the beasts at the soul-level. No blood. No screams. Just annihilation.
Her token glowed.
[ 950 Points Earned. ]
[ Current Score: 19,000 pts. ]
She exhaled softly, gaze scanning the horizon. Her destination was close. Beyond the glass adows and floating structures, beyond the glowing canyons and mana-thick winds, lood a curtain of mist.
The Rainforest Bio, which was also the bio in the center of the Monster Sphere, the place where all of the Myth-Class students would eventually gather. It was also the bio with the strongest monsters.
Miranda continued forward, her pace graceful and composed. Despite the carnage left behind, not a single crease marred her outfit, and her silver boots remained perfectly clean.
But as she walked, the sound of footsteps behind her broke the silence.
A group of students, Elite Class. Five of them. She recognized their emblems that was on their clothing. All of them were Nobles, working in a team to clear out others.
"Miranda Starwind," one of them called, voice filled with forced confidence. "You're heading to the Rainforest too?"
Miranda didn't bother to respond, just raising her hand.
[ Chrono Spiral ]
The air twisted and all of them froze as they stared at her. She approached the one with the sword and plucked the blade from his grip, examining it briefly.
"Pretty. But slow."
With a snap of her fingers, the spell ended. They staggered, confused.
The boy looked at his now-empty hands, "What the?!"
Miranda shattered the broadsword between her palms, the fragnts vanishing into glowing dust.
The five of them surged forward, magic flaring.
[ Radiant Divide ]
Miranda flicked her wrist.
A crescent slash of pure space tore through the battlefield. It sliced the very fabric of the bio itself, severing the connection between the students and their spells.
They collapsed mid-cast, their mana destabilized.
In less than ten seconds, the field was cleared. All five were gone, imdiately teleported out.
Her token flashed.
[ 1,100 Points Earned. ]
[ Current Score: 20,100 pts. ]
She didn't react. She only kept walking. Toward the jungle, towards them. Albedo, William, Lucian, she was excited to face them, she wanted to see just how they'd match up in an all out brawl.
She smiled faintly as she thought of it,
"Let's see which of you reaches first."
***
anwhile, far from the battlefields of sand, fire, and frost, the sky above Zephyr Academy was clear.
The three moons illuminating the surrounding area. In the very heart of the Central Spire, within the Observation Hall, a group of Professors stood before a massive circular projection.
A three-dinsional rendering of the Monster Sphere hovered midair, rotating slowly. The various Bios pulsed in different colors, desert, tundra, volcano, peaks, rainforest, each lit with clusters of colored dots representing students.
Scores floated beside nas, constantly shifting in real-ti. Above all others, two nas blinked at the very top of the board:
#1: Albedo Neverwinter - 27,800 pts
#2: Lucian - 26,150 pts
"Unbelievable," Professor Kayle murmured, arms folded, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. Her golden hair shimred with the soft light of her Radiant Sigil, the relic glowing faintly on her chest in its dormant state.
"Three days in, and they're already far beyond the rest. Even Miranda, as consistent as she is, hasn't closed the gap," she added, gesturing to the board.
#3: Miranda Starwind - 20,100 pts
From the far end of the room, a sharp scoff echoed.
"Oh, please."
Professor Skye leaned back in her chair, her long silver nails tapping against the crystal desk. Her robes, encrusted with the crest of her Noble House shimred like moonlight reflected on steel.
"Points are one thing, Kayle. But the test isn't over until they make it out. There's still multiple days left,"
Kayle turned calmly, "And?"
"And," Skye said with a sly smile, "Albedo and Lucian will falter once William Frost makes his move. I've seen that boy train in silence for hours,cold, focused, ruthless. Unlike the rest of your little pets, he knows how to finish fights."
The display pulsed again. Frost-blue letters now outlined the fourth rank.
#4: William Frost - 20,000 pts
"And rising quickly," Skye added with smug satisfaction. "He has Kaden Nightstone and the rest of his crew with him. Fighting together as Nobles should. Together they've been carving through other students like wheat before the scythe."
"And yet Albedo is still ahead," Kayle replied smoothly. "And I recall you said the sa thing about Vexre last year. Now he's been expelled for Academic Dishonesty."
A few chuckles scattered through the room.
Professor Malloran, a lean and elder man with a mana monocle covering one eye, chuckled softly as he adjusted a dial on the side of the projection, zooming in on the Rainforest Bio.
"They're all converging," he said, voice hoarse but rich with experience. "The Rainforest will beco a bloodbath within the next 24 hours. Most of the stronger monsters have retreated deeper into the wilds."
"Even the monsters can feel it," another added.
"Of course they can," said Professor Darnis, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "They feel the density of mana rising. Those four, Albedo, Lucian, William, and Miranda, they've bent their respective bios around their presence."
"Power like that shifts ecosystems," Malloran nodded, "Like small gods walking across mortal land."
Professor Kayle stepped closer to the projection, narrowing her eyes at Albedo's marker.
"What intrigues most," she said, "is how much control he's demonstrated. Most students his age would lash out with power. But Albedo uses his like a needle, incredibly precise and detailed.
"And Lucian?" Darnis asked.
Kayle smiled, "Like a storm caged in glass."
Skye rolled her eyes, "All of you are fools for thinking so highly of them. You're praising sparks while ignoring the torch. William is colder than any of them. He doesn't hesitate. He doesn't sympathize. That's what makes him dangerous."
"And yet," Malloran mused, "he's never fought Albedo before. Nor Lucian. And Miranda is no easy opponent either. Her control over Space is unlike anything I've seen for soone of her rank and age."
The professors went silent for a mont, watching the projections.
The screen shimred.
Four golden arrows pulsed toward the Rainforest Bio. One from the molten south. One from the searing desert. One from the frozen tundra. And one from the luminous peaks.
"They're on a collision course," Darnis whispered.
"Who reaches the center first may determine the battle," Kayle said. "But... who leaves last will determine the winner."
A secondary list appeared on the board, showing a variety of the other Myth-Class students and how they were performing in this exam.
#5: Morgana Blackstone - 19,300 pts
#6: Zeus Duskbane - 18,000 pts
#7: Veronica Silverstone - 17,800 pts
#10: Lira Voss - 15,900 pts
#12: Dorian Lewis - 15,500 pts
#13: Kaden Nightstone - 15, 250 pts
"I'm impressed by how well Veronica and Lira have adapted to working together," Professor Elwin remarked, "Did you see that synchronized chain spell they used on those Gold-Rank Beasts yesterday?"
"Brilliant synergy," another agreed, "But they'll be outclassed if they don't evolve further. Miranda is on another level."
"And Zeus?" Darnis asked. "He's reckless but creative."
"He's raw," Kayle nodded. "But promising. And Dorian, he's too playful, that idiot is just coasting off of his talent."
"Still," Malloran added. "These aren't just students anymore. This is the future of the World's elite. Every one of them is watching each other, and learning."
The screen zood once again on the Rainforest Bio. Faintly glowing markers danced through the misty jungle, unknowingly growing closer and closer.
"Make your bets now," soone said, half-joking.
No one answered.
Because deep down, every professor watching knew the truth.
This wasn't a ga anymore.
It was the first war of legends.
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