Upon their arrival, the candidates couldn't believe what they were seeing. To be honest, they had expected to be teleported into a large examination hall to take the test…
"Woah!" one of the candidates exclaimed. "How is this possible?"
Instead of a grand hall, the candidates had been separated into groups of twenty—or at least, that was what they assumed, since they had no idea about the others. The rooms they had been teleported into were like white chambers. Aside from the sounds of astonishment from the candidates, no other noise entered.
When he arrived, Aren was just as surprised as the others. This woman's spatial abilities are a little ridiculous, he thought while looking around.
A few moments after their arrival, desks appeared in front of each candidate. Then a voice echoed throughout the room.
"Ahem! Welcome to my dimension," the voice said after clearing its throat. Then it continued, "As you can see, this place is very special. This is where the written exam will take place. I can control everything here, but I cannot see everything. Therefore, unlike your future professors, I will personally supervise you for the next two hours. Do not cheat. If you finish early, simply raise your hand and you will be teleported back to the main hall. Take your seats. The exam begins… NOW!"
"Let's do this," Aren said as he turned the page on the desk in front of him. Hm… a consent form…
"Finally done," Aren muttered, slightly confused. "I expected it to be hard. But at this point, it just started getting annoying."
Aren had finished earlier than most candidates. However, being naturally cautious, he stayed in the room to review his answers until the allotted time ran out.
The same magic circle reappeared, and the candidates who had not yet finished were forcibly teleported back to the main hall. Most of them complained about not finishing, but the moment they saw Scalia's brows furrow, they swallowed their words.
Just a few hours earlier, they had experienced despair from merely a fraction of her killing intent.
Better not piss off that lunatic, they all thought.
"Ahaha! Judging by your faces, I can tell the exam was very easy," Scalia said with a laugh.
"Easy? She's mocking us, right?" Jariz muttered as he approached Aren. "My brain nearly exploded. I've got a headache," he added, complaining.
"Whose fault is that? Instead of reviewing more, you chose to meditate," Aren said while staring at him.
"Don't remind me. If I'd known, I would've studied a lot more," Jariz replied. "What about you? How did it go?"
Boring as hell, Aren thought, barely stopping his lips from moving.
"Ahem. Well… it went fine," he said instead.
"The results of the exams will be announced all at once. To put it simply, your scores will be combined into an overall grade. In short, good job everyone," Scalia said, thinking to herself, I was really nice this time.
For some reason, I'm a hundred percent sure I know exactly what this woman is thinking, Aren thought with a faint smirk.
"Now, I will reveal the second trial. Pay close attention," she began. "This time, you will be teleported into the Great Forest of Bechamine. As you probably know, the forest is filled with ferocious monsters. You must survive there for two weeks."
She paused before continuing in a serious tone.
"However, once you are teleported into the forest, you will no longer be able to withdraw. And since you all signed the consent form on the first page of the written exam of your own free will, your survival—or your death—will be entirely your responsibility."
She stared at them.
"If you wish to withdraw, now is your last chance."
After she said that, several candidates left the hall. Most of them were those who had fainted under her killing intent. They were afraid. They did not feel ready.
Better to quit than die, they thought.
Of the 634 candidates who had started, only 456 remained.
"Good. Now that the losers have withdrawn, I will continue explaining the trial," Scalia said. "You may think you can simply hide for the duration of the trial and succeed. You're wrong. To pass, you must obtain monster cores. The more you have, the more points you earn."
A female candidate standing near the podium raised her hand.
Even from a distance, Aren couldn't fail to recognize those irritating blue hairs. That color was impossible to ignore—no one else had blue hair.
She just can't help herself, can she? Always talking, Aren thought as he saw Stella raise her hand.
"Go ahead," Scalia said, curious.
"As you said, we must obtain several cores. Does that mean we're allowed to take cores from other candidates?"
"Hehe… I won't tell you everything. I'll let you think about it," Scalia replied arrogantly.
Stella merely frowned and said nothing more.
"Huh? What does she mean by that?" the candidates murmured. "Are there rules or not?"
I don't know why, but seeing them like this gives me chills, Scalia thought as she watched the troubled expressions on their faces.
The magic circle appeared once more and began to glow.
With a delighted smile, she added, "Unfortunately, I cannot reveal the rules. I believe it is important that you decide for yourselves what you will do. So, good luck!"
The moment she finished speaking, the candidates didn't even have time to react before they vanished.
"Argh… damn it. I feel a little dizzy," Aren muttered as he touched his head upon arrival.
They had all arrived in the Forest of Bechamine. The trees seemed to stretch endlessly.
"I should start moving," Aren said as he stood up, his hand pressed against damp vegetation. "Ahh… I'll try to find him," he sighed, wiping his wet hand. "And maybe I'll see her again too."
Aren had only his sword sheathed at his hip. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but he had decided that while hunting, he would search for Jariz. He also wanted to find Stella, though since he knew she could handle herself, he wouldn't rush.
While thinking about the two of them, deep down he hoped to encounter his sister.
Back in the main hall, he had turned his head several times looking for her—but he hadn't seen her.
Maybe she'll need me, he thought.
Perhaps during this trial, he would see her again.
Tell her how much our parents miss her.
Maybe he could change her mind and bring her home.
So she can live the life she always wanted. And—
BOOOM!
By reflex, he jumped backward.
"Damn it. I let my guard down," he said, regaining his focus.
He looked up at what had attacked him.
It was tall and green.
The sight brought back memories.
The orc charged again, swinging the massive club in its hands and launching another overhead strike.
It aimed to crush Aren's head.
Unlike last time, Aren dodged to the right while drawing his sword.
The orc didn't let him counter and attacked again—this time swinging upward from below as if trying to split him in two.
Instead of retreating, Aren stepped forward and sliced off the orc's leg in a single clean motion.
Deprived of its leg, the orc fell to the ground.
Aren then cut off its head.
"I can't let myself get carried away by my thoughts," he said as he sheathed his sword after retrieving the monster core.
"I knew this would happen," she exclaimed.
Upon arriving in the forest, Stella had found herself in the middle of a small monster village. The only good news was that they were goblins—relatively weak monsters.
"They get annoying when there are this many of them," she muttered, surrounded by about twenty goblins.
I need to find an opening, she thought.
For a mage, being surrounded was something to avoid at all costs when facing multiple enemies. And Stella was in exactly that shitty situation. She needed to break through first—then attack.
"Spirit of wind, hear me and materialize my thoughts—Wind Blade."
Fwoosh!
She launched her Wind Blade at four goblins on her left, then ran in that direction.
With their blades, the goblins leapt at her.
One slashed from the right. Stella dodged, but another attacked from the left. That one she blocked with her staff.
"Fourth Circle Spell—Multiple Fireballs."
Eight magic circles formed. Before the fireballs were released, Stella smashed the skull of the goblin she had blocked using her staff, then leapt back.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The fireballs rained down upon the goblins, burning them alive.
Kweek! Kweek!
Their screams echoed as they were annihilated.
"Finally done," she said, wiping sweat from her forehead.
She entered one of the houses in the small village.
"Is there something to store these cores in?" she muttered while searching for a container. "This will do."
She picked up a leather pouch.
"It must have belonged to a human," she added.
After finishing collecting the cores, she stood up to leave.
Kweeeek!
"Huh?! There's still one left?" Stella exclaimed, turning around.
A half-burned goblin leapt toward her.
Fwoosh!
An arrow pierced through the goblin's head, and it fell.
"Whew. Are you alright?" the savior asked.
"Huh? I know you… your name was… hey, what was it again?"
"Yes, Miss Stella. You helped me last time with Ben. My name is—"
"You're Jariz, right?" Stella interrupted.
"I'm honored you remember me," Jariz said, bowing his head.
"Last time I told you to stop with the formalities, didn't I?" Stella pouted.
"Alright. I'll stop," Jariz replied.
"Good. Thanks for the help," Stella said at last.
"You're welcome," Jariz answered.
"What are you doing here? I didn't know you were a candidate."
"I am. I got separated from my friend after the teleportation, so I'm looking for him," Jariz explained.
"I see. I'm also looking for an idiot. I couldn't see him in the main hall, but I know he's here," she said, frowning. "By the way, what's your friend's name?"
"His name is—"
"Hey! Jariz, what are you doing here?" a voice called out.
"Hah, there he is. Right behind you," Jariz said, pointing behind Stella.
"But I know that voice…" Stella said as she turned around.
Then she saw him approaching.