Chapter 70: The Exam Begins
"And it’s not like I need to try hard to prove it too, this exam is going to prove it anyway ~~"
She added as a follow-up that faint, knowing smile on her face never faded as the two of them continued to tread the woods they found themselves in, allowing themselves to get enveloped by the mysticism of the place.
Had it not been for the dangerous monsters and beasts roaming around this island’s expanse, just the woods alone would’ve been something that is enough for the place to be branded as a tourist spot worth anyone’s visit.
The height of the trees reminds Novus of the expanse’s Verdant Forest, towering tens of meters while expanding its strong, solid branches all around it; those branches, coupled with the denseness of the trees all around, make it hard for any external light source to reach its floor.
Light is the least of anyone’s concerns, though, as the mosses clinging to the barks of the trees create a mystic around this place, producing differing gentle lighting colors ranging from warm oranges and reds all the way to cool azures and blues.
Aside from the beautiful natural lighting illuminating the woods, the sounds around them also feel quite calm and peaceful, despite the fact that it is a dangerous island.
The two of them are well aware, however, that just as peaceful as it appears on the surface, all sorts of danger are lurking around them, waiting for them to let their guards down before striking with efficient, ruthless precision.
And that moment came way earlier than they had expected.
"Senior Medea." Despite not using Sensory Expansion yet, Novus already noticed a sharp, strong, and suffocating bloodlust directly targeting the two of them; this threat prompted him to will mana towards himself and around his limbs as he prepared for a fight.
"Yeah, I know." seemingly matching the level of his normal senses, Medea replied before Novus could even clarify what made him so wary, her face turning a bit serious as she moved her other hand to her blade, gently tapping the hilt with her finger with her eyes closed as she patiently waited for the threat’s inevitable approach.
Meanwhile, Novus unfolds the range of his senses all the way until her can finally take a good look at the threat approaching them from a distance, his head once again being flooded by the overload of the information around him, blades of grass on the floor, insects crawling around, tree leaves rustling and falling, and even the flow of mana within his surroundings.
His brain, however, as it gets more and more used to such stimuli, already began adapting to the abrupt and massive amount of information flowing through it, and as crude as it may be, he had already begun selectively picking up information that he needs through straight-up ignoring the other ones flowing in his mind.
Finally, he saw them, four canine monsters approaching them from a distance, their silver fur healthy and glowing despite the place’s harsh, humid environment, covering their majestic body towering over a couple of meters tall.
At that height, it easily overshadows even himself, who stands taller than most of his peers, their powerful gait allowing them to explode in speed as they bridge the distance between themselves and their two targets.
"Silver Direwolves, four, three of them are on the F+ Tier, and the last one is an E- Tier. What’s your plan, Senior Medea?"
Passing the information to his teammate in a concise manner, Novus asked, waiting for Medea’s call as he assumed that she had way more experience than him when it came to hunting, even when he acquired the Evolution Domain.
’That short of a time? What kind of senses are those?’ she thought to herself as even she herself is just starting to pick up what their opponents are going to be; meanwhile, the freshman beside her already figured out not only what sort of monster or beast they are, but also their number, as well as their strength.
Still, amidst the surprise, she managed to keep her composure up as she realized that with the kind of senses Novus has, she might gain more student points than she had initially assumed, making her smile as she replies.
"I’ll deal with the strongest, F Tiers shouldn’t be any problem to you right, Junior Novus~?" she said in her signature playful voice as she taps the hilt of her blade one last time, her figure disappearing as a brief explosion of wind came from where she was previously standing on, making the young man smile wryly as he realized that she already made her move.
’I should move too...’ Novus thought to himself as he took a single step, enforcing his legs with mana and allowing his muscles to explode in speed, leaving a little crack on the ground as he dashed towards his first target.
Within a moment, the distance between one of the F Tier Silver Direwolves and himself was closed into nothing but a few centimeters.
The next moment, mana surges towards his fist, not even a moment, the very same fist reaches the Silver Direwolf’s body, the monster’s ribcage bearing the brunt of such brutal blunt force, causing it to cave in before it was sent away, blood flowing out of its mouth as it crashes into a nearby tree.
There was no time for Novus to rest, as while he was dealing with the first Silver Direwolf, the other two already made their moves, going on either of his sides as they prepared to pounce, intending to rip him to shreds as they both bare their fangs on him while they approached at such a fast speed.
Given his current strength, it wouldn’t be a problem for him at all, but his teammate doesn’t seem to think that such is the case, as before he can deal with both remaining monsters, another person already made a move.
He sent in a fist, rendering the other Silver Direwolf immobile as the attack not only crushes its ribs, but even its lungs and heart as well.
Before his other fist reaches the last Silver Direwolf, a clean, silver, crescent arc formed with a swift swing of a single blade, severing the Silver Direwolf’s head from its body, which just stood there for a moment more before it produced a loud thud as it collapsed on the ground.
Pool of blood formed with that single slash, while the perpetrator of the attack merely swung her blade downwards, ridding its edge of the monster’s blood that stuck, blood that now splattered in an arc on the woods’ ground.
"Hm, they’re quite organized for a direwolf bunch..." as she looked at the carcass of the monster felled by the two of them, Medea thought to herself as she took out a clean piece of cloth from somewhere around her body, wiping her blade clean before she sheathed it once again.
"Are they not like this usually?" Hearing Medea’s remarks, Novus asked with curiosity as he also took a good look at their first hunt during this surprise exam, wondering whether there was something special about this little monster group.
"Not really, direwolves move in groups, but they don’t set up attacks like the one that nearly hurt you." she pointed out with a little teasing smile on her face, seemingly aware that such an attack is no trouble to him at all, but still saying those words just to rile him up.
"You know it won’t even matter if their attacks reached me, right?" he pointed out, reminding her of his body’s absurd regeneration and recovery rate.
"True, but I still prevented you from getting hurt, right?"
"That’s true."
"Hehe~~"
The two of them should’ve continued their little playing around, had it not been for the next wave of bloodlust-filled presences locking onto them.
The exam continues.
