*Two weeks before the battle with the Archmage
"Attention! You worthless pieces of shit!" General Lupin, a yellow stickman, roared with a deep, booming voice. All the soldiers present snapped to attention and saluted. In the snow-covered, frigid land, steam oozed from their nostrils and mouths.
"Many of you pathetic lots have heard the rumors of the Archmage, that he is coming for us, and that his powers are said to rival the gods."
"Good! Fear it. Let it claw at your guts. Because I'm going to grind you pathetic worms until you break past your limits. Your pitiful, crooked lives will be torn down and rebuilt. I'll hammer your useless hides into weapons sharp enough to stab a god in the eye!" Lupin's face furrowed, his voice cracking like thunder.
"You walking carcasses will march into that den and drag out the egg of the beast that lives there, or die proving you weren't worth the shit that spawned you." He jabbed his sword toward a cave beneath a jagged mountain, eerie mist seeping from its snowy surface.
Without hesitation, about a hundred and fifty soldiers marched toward the cave, their boots trampling the snow beneath their feet.
Inside, they were met by a sleeping giant, a wyvern whose body was made entirely of ice shards. Sensing the trespassers, its vertical blue pupils snapped open, glaring at the soldiers with murderous intent.
The wyvern roared ferociously, the mountain quaking with its cry. Jagged icicles fell from the cave's ceiling, impaling hesitant soldiers who froze in fear.
Amid the chaos, a black stickman stood out. His red-glowing sword shot arcs of energy toward the beast's face, though the strikes left no scratches.
Seeing him act, the others shed their fear and joined the fray. The wyvern responded by unleashing a breath of frost, freezing anyone it touched.
Raven, the black stickman, slipped past the assault. His frantic eyes scanned the cavern until he spotted it: a nest holding a blue-spotted egg the size of an ostrich's.
Without hesitation, he seized the egg and moved stealthily along the wyvern's flank. Some of his comrades noticed and exchanged nods, they would buy him time. Soldiers rushed to distract the beast while others shielded Raven's escape.
But just as he reached the mouth of the cave, the wyvern spotted him. Its pupils widened with fury, and it roared, shaking the cavern.
Raven sprinted with the egg clutched in his arms, joined by the others as they fled toward General Lupin. Behind them, the wyvern barreled forward, its roar promising death.
General Lupin stood waiting. He smirked, unsheathing his sword.
"Your pathetic, wretched lives have grown some backbone. I'll help you idiots with your pursuer, because I'm rich in benevolence, after all."
He leapt between the fleeing soldiers and the wyvern, his sword glowing with golden radiance as he raised it above his head. The wyvern roared…
***
Raven now stood in the arena. At last, it was his turn after the other applicants had finished their trials. Hovering before his eyes was a holographic screen:
[Ding!
New Quest Available: Get Grade A or above.
Reward: Instant level-up to Level 5.
Penalty:
A new challenge, this time from the System. Raven was no stranger to slim chances, after all, he and a few others had survived General Lupin's trial.
'In my past life, my first adventurer's test only got me Grade D. That's why I aimed for Grade C double-star this time. But the System clearly has bigger plans'.
'Still, to lose my most useful ability for a week? That's a nasty little threat'.
Unsheathing the blue sword, Raven readied himself as the holographic beast materialized.
Before him appeared a monster with the head of a bat, large ears, snout, nose, and sharp teeth, crowned by a mane like a lion's. Its muscular body, complete with a tail, stood five feet tall at the shoulder.
The Bat-Lion. A Great Normal.
Like all Great Normals, it lacked unique Mana or special abilities, yet it could draw upon ambient Mana in its environment. They were not to be underestimated.
Great Normals like other categories of Beasts, were ranked from weakest to strongest: Class 8 to Class 1: Lesser, Wildling, Savage, Grunt, Striker, Brute, Elite, and Primal.
This Bat-Lion was Class 6: A Savage.
It roared, but before it could move, Raven blurred forward. In a blink, he was at its rear.
The beast froze. Seconds later, it dissipated into blue dust.
Wolfton jolted where he stood, staring wide-eyed.
"Wait, I didn't even see him swing his sword! What did he do?!" he stammered, stunned. He wasn't the only one. The other applicants, including the taunting blue stickman, gawked in disbelief. Even the examiners were taken aback.
***
Far away, inside a large cottage, a human-like figure sat on an intricately engraved wooden chair. From the window, he gazed at the horizon.
"Molgaron, we've been blessed. What we couldn't achieve last time, we can now do faster, more efficiently," Iode said with a smug smile.
Behind him stood a flaming hellhound, eight feet tall, its dripping lava scorching the ground.
"Aren't you going to look for him, the one who sent us five years into the past?" Molgaron asked in his hoarse voice.
"Yeah, I will. It's a side quest I'll tackle while handling the Supernaturals. But I still wonder, why didn't your flames stop his ability?" Iode asked.
"I held back, okay," Molgaron snapped.
"Hmm." Iode rose from his chair. "Then our plans will move faster than before. We'll find him, and stop him from doing anything stupid. Especially with Supernaturals roaming around."