Chapter 193 - 191
Chapter 191
Before Ray had managed to put two and two together, one other person in the crowd of Aspirants was already scanning the area and putting his sensitive senses to the test.
He refused to look at the surface level just like the others and decided to delve deeper to uncover the reality, and that was when he noticed something amiss.
’Why are there tons of jagged boulders rising from the ground? They are placed so meticulously around the place as if trying to trap someone or something. There shouldn’t even be this many on a normal day,’ he mused inwardly as his eyes scanned the landscape.
That was when he spotted the Aspirant trying to rest on a boulder.
The moment the student’s hands touched the stony surface, the boy’s ears twitched.
He could feel it.
It was faint at first—too faint that he would have missed it under normal circumstances.
But due to the fact he was paying extra attention, he was able to pick up the growing tremor.
It was as if something massive was starting to rise from the depths of the earth.
It almost felt like the precursor tremors of an earthquake of some sorts.
The moment he felt it, his eyes widened as the vibrations grew and the ground began rumbling tremendously.
"Shoot! The stones are alive! They are the beasts!" Felix shouted at the top of his lungs.
All eyes turned his way in an instant.
But the next second, stones went flying into the air as huge creatures began bursting out of the ground one by one.
The terrain buckled from the force of the jump out of the earth.
The Aspirant who had been sitting on one of these boulders was sent flying high into the air.
Before he could go too far, something lashed through the atmosphere and turned his body into a bloody pulp, with his innards raining down from the sky.
All eyes widened in grim horror as the rumbling stopped.
Dust slowly settled, but with it came screams from all around as Aspirants were now dying in the chaos.
’What is it? What threat are we facing now?’ Ray wondered inwardly as his body was tensed up to the limits while he stood beside Van, eyes darting across the terrain trying to pierce into the thick risen dust.
Finally, the dust settled enough for the Aspirants to see what they were dealing with.
The creatures rose from the earth like monuments given life.
Their bodies were carved from layers of dark, compact rock, as though entire cliffs had been molded into towering humanoid forms.
Cracks ran across their massive frames, glowing faintly from within, thin lines of dim amber light pulsing like veins beneath solid stone.
These creatures looked to absorb light, their surfaces rough, weathered, and jagged.
Each golem possessed a single eye set in the center of its face.
The eye burned like a molten core trapped behind a circular socket of carved granite.
It did not blink. It did not move unnecessarily.
It simply stared, glowing brighter whenever something entered its awareness.
Their arms were massive, thick as ancient tree trunks and heavy enough to shatter the ground with a single swing.
The fingers were blunt but enormous, shaped more like crushing pillars than hands, capable of wrapping around a human body with terrifying ease.
When they moved, their joints grated like boulders grinding together, producing a deep, rumbling sound that echoed across the land.
Their legs were shorter but dense, built for stability rather than speed.
Every step left shallow craters in the ground.
Dust and pebbles slid off their shoulders as they advanced, small stones constantly breaking and reforming along their surface as if the earth itself were repairing them.
They looked like stone golems made entirely out of earth, and all around them, some unlucky Aspirants lay dead in the wake of their sudden emergence.
Those who were alive took involuntary steps back as dread clawed at their hearts, realizing they were effectively trapped within a stony perimeter.
About a hundred of these towering entities had risen out of the earth, having already eliminated five Aspirants as if they were mere nuisances.
"Beasts?" the bulky instructor muttered, shock written across his features.
Everyone shared that same gnawing worry.
They did not yet know what rank these creatures occupied, and depending on that classification, their current predicament could shift from dire to catastrophic.
The one closest to these giants decided to take the initiative.
With inhuman agility, Felix dashed toward one of the stone golems.
While closing the distance, he tapped his bracelet to ignite the ’scan’ feature.
Instantly, a holographic display flickered to life, sweeping over the beast from top to bottom.
Simultaneously, upon detecting the rushing human, the golem swung its massive leg toward him with startling velocity.
Felix was forced to skid low beneath the monster to avoid the limb, which crashed into the earth with the combined force of two elephants.
Violent cracks spider-webbed across the ground where the strike landed.
Springing back to his feet, Felix heard a small chime from his bracelet, drawing his immediate attention to the readout.
’Oh fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! This is bad!’
The young werewolf’s eyes widened in profound horror.
Despite his lineage, he was well-versed in the beast rankings of the universe.
One of the rites for specific werewolf families to prove their mettle involved hunting such creatures, though it was a task reserved for the truly elite.
Dread seeped into his marrow as he stared at the data displayed before him.
"It’s—it’s an Advanced ranked beast! They are all Advanced rank!" he shouted the warning just as the hairs on his neck stood on end.
He leaped to the side in the nick of time, narrowly avoiding being pulverized by the thick knuckles of the towering beast.
Across the clearing, a grim expression settled on the faces of the others as the rank was announced.
A single Advanced ranked beast wouldn’t have been too difficult for them to manage collectively, but a hundred of them simultaneously?
This would be an incredibly grueling battle, and if they weren’t careful, many more lives would be extinguished.
’Hang on. Don’t Advanced ranked beasts contain beast cores? So currently, I’m staring at a hundred potential cores? I could massively increase my meta-force with these.’
Ray’s eyes gleamed with a dark hunger the more he observed the golems.
Before he could even take a moment to strategize, a figure darted toward the enemies.
"Wait! We haven’t even—" the bulky instructor tried shouting out, but his words were ignored.
Trish kicked the ground hard, launching herself into the air.
Frost crept down her hands with increasing intensity, and a frigid, determined look settled on her face as she locked eyes with the nearest titan.
"I don’t care. I will take that number one spot no matter what happens."