Chapter 47: The Enemy’s First Move
The shadow figure launched toward him with incredible speed, bringing its giant claws forward to strike him once again.
Suddenly, a giant ball of dark red fire exploded toward the beast before it could even touch him.
Syrene stood there calmly. Her intense emerald eyes stared with a dangerous look. She did not speak. She did not have to. The monster writhed on the ground as the flames continued to intensify more and more. Its thick fur and dark skin started to burn. The beast’s cold eyes caught hers, and it launched toward her with all of its remaining speed.
Syrene stood there calmly, letting the panther dive toward them.
Just before it could reach her, a wave of frost started to move forward. The ground seemed to turn into a frozen ice field, and the monster’s feet suddenly froze securely to the earth.
Before the beast could even do anything to break free, large shards made of solid ice were shot toward it with incredible speed. The sharp ice thrust into its body, and dark blood leaked from the deep wounds as its internal organs were pierced.
*ROAR!*
The monster’s agonizing scream echoed through the surrounding forest. It tried to break through the trap, and the ice beneath its feet started to shatter from its violent movements.
Before it could launch at her again, another attack was already waiting for it. Thick vines covered in sharp thorns shot out from the ground, wrapping around its large legs and arms, binding the creature tightly. The thorns dug deep into its flesh, drawing more of the spilled blood down to the forest ground.
The monster began to roar in immense pain, realizing that it had taken the wrong route by hunting this group. But as the inevitable end fell upon it, the beast sensed a rapid temperature increase just behind its back. It turned its head to look at the target. A giant fireball, which was at least several meters large, was already shot toward it by the red-haired girl who still stood there calmly.
The giant fireball hit the panther, burning its thick skin. The ice shards lodged inside its body started to melt away along with its flesh. Dark blood spilled down as its entire body started to melt away by the intense fire.
A few minutes later, what was left of the fierce monster was just a pile of charred bones and a lingering smell of burnt flesh.
*Thud!*
The monster’s charred remains fell down, kicking up dust into the surrounding air.
Syrene watched impassively as the last wisps of dark smoke flew away from the monster’s body. She then looked over at Ronan without saying a word.
Ronan stood up from the ground, taking support from the thick tree beside him.
"Hey, are you alright?" Syrene walked toward him and asked quietly, gazing at the fresh blood leaking from his chest wound.
Ronan gave her a small smile, trying to reassure her.
"Yeah, I will be fine. It is just a few scratches," he said as he placed his palm over the deep wound. A bright green glow started to emit from his hands.
[Nature’s Magic: Calm Healing!]
His injuries began to stitch themselves up, healing rapidly. Within just a minute, the deep wounds completely healed. What was left was just a patch of lingering pinkish skin, the only remaining proof of the earlier attack.
Alden looked at the healing magic Ronan performed. The spell was filled with pure Nature Magic. His mana was also pure to the brim, which helped the wound heal in the fastest time possible.
’It seems ’Nature Magic’ is a unique kind of magic. It is the combination of many natural elements together, like earth, water, wind, and fire. Not only that, but it is cast by taking nature’s mana instead of using the internal mana stored in the core. That makes such rapid healing possible.’
Ultimately, if a person had the power to use nature’s mana, they would gain many advantages. For instance, they would rarely exhaust their own mana reserves, even though the process of forming a complex spell might take a longer period of time. They would also get to cast different kinds of spells related to other basic elements, without actually needing a affinity for that particular element.
That is what makes Nature Magic so useful. But as the saying goes, every power comes with a cost. The same rule applies to nature. A being with a high affinity for this magic will constantly attract the unwanted attention of beasts and monsters. Since wild monsters are very sensitive to nature’s mana, they will instinctively hate the caster and likely try to kill them first. That was the exact reason the shadow panther attacked Ronan right away, ignoring every other person in the group.
But how did a dangerous C-rank monster suddenly appear in this forest out of nowhere? Was it just because the beast felt hungry? Or was it because someone’s bad luck—or more accurately, good luck—had taken effect, calling such a massive beast to their exact location? No one knew the answer to that question, at least not yet.
Once the surrounding area was secured and everyone confirmed they were okay, the team started to lead the way again. They moved with much faster steps than before, knowing they were already too late for reaching the second designated spot.
As everyone walked at a fast pace, Alden just followed quietly in the back.
’Sigh. Well, it seems that even if I were not in this group, they would still conquer this test with ease. Sometimes I think it would be better for me to do everything alone rather than making them work so hard because of my presence, even if the danger is not in my control. If I had not stood beside them, maybe they would have already reached spot two or even spot three by now. It is all because of my bad—ah, I mean, good luck...’
’Anyways... It seems the next spot is not too far away from our current location. I can see there are more students trapped in different kinds of nasty traps ahead.’
As they walked continuously, nearing the area of the second spot, they saw many students who had fallen into various traps. One trap was a massive hole in the ground, as big and deep as a water well. Specialized runes were applied all around the walls of the hole so that no magic could work inside. The trapped students had to climb out using their strength alone, or just stay down there until the trial was officially completed.
The team walked forward to take their designated flag. However, what they saw in front of them made them halt their steps in shock. All of the remaining flags on the table were already burned and charred to a crisp. The lingering signs of fire magic could easily be seen on the wood.
"Wait—what did they just do? All of the flags here are burnt! Damn it! What shall we do now? We only have one flag. How can we possibly win the trial now?!"
Ronan looked distressed as his shoulders slumped in a defeated posture. Alicia remained calm, acting as if she did not even care about the test happening right now. Her sole focus was fixed entirely on Alden the whole time. Alden did not seem to notice her gaze, or at least he was trying his hardest not to notice it.
’Just as I expected,’ Alden thought.
’It is a simple schemer’s trick. Rather than playing fairly, the leading team chose to play dirty. It seems playing by the rules will not make us win anyway, so do we have to choose a different path now? Whatever works...’
Syrene stepped forward. She carefully examined the surrounding area and the black ashes on the table. She spoke softly.
"It seems not too much time has passed since this happened. The temperature of the burnt wood is still quite high."
"I think we should hurry to the next spot before it gets too late and we lose another flag to this trick."
Everyone’s expression turned a little serious at her practical words. They all knew that if they could not get another flag, the chances of their team coming in the top one hundred would be much lower. They would fall in the overall rankings quite a bit, and their academic grades would also drop. For the other talented students in the team, that might not be a massive concern. However, for Alden, who was already at the very back of the academy’s ranking list, this grade would decide his continued presence or sudden expulsion from the academy.
"But the third spot is too far away from here. I think we will definitely arrive late at this rate," Syrene added with a frown.
Alden closed his eyes in deep thought. Ronan looked at the group, his face turning serious, and spoke up.
"I actually have a method to reach the next location in a very fast way. If you guys do not mind taking a risk, do you want to hear my plan?"