Arc 1 Chapter 38 : Monster in Ruined City

[Raul's POV]

I had an extremely uncomfortable night's sleep yesterday.

I had to spend the night inside a cave located on a rocky cliff not far from where Valeria and I had parted ways.

Speaking of Valeria, she was currently running from three enormous desert lizards chasing her from behind. Apparently, the green-haired girl had abandoned the equipment she had been carrying earlier so she could run faster.

I had been watching her get chased relentlessly by those lizards for almost an hour while enjoying my breakfast from atop these rocks.

Valeria hadn't used any magic to deal with the lizards this entire time. My guess was that while she was sleeping last night, a Pinktail Scorpion had stung her, rendering her unable to use magic.

I deliberately chose not to save her immediately when I discovered that she was being chased by a group of monsters.

I wanted her to remember this lesson so she would always remain cautious whenever she was in the wilderness.

I had warned her yesterday to scout the area around her campsite and make sure there were no monsters nearby that could threaten her while she slept.

However, it was perfectly understandable that she had let her guard down when her body was already exhausted. Humans naturally tend to become less attentive to their surroundings when they are tired and simply want to rest as quickly as possible.

Sometimes, I did the same thing after coming home from work.

Back in my previous life, I once forgot to lock my front door because I was so eager to go to sleep. That mistake made it incredibly easy for a thief to enter my house.

"Well... I suppose it's time to save her."

Valeria's face was already flushed. Her breathing had become irregular, and her footsteps were growing heavier with every passing moment.

I activated Acceleration, then shot forward at tremendous speed before drawing my sword.

—Kreyaa...!

One of the desert lizards leaped toward Valeria from behind, attempting to pounce on her.

"Leaping Slash!"

One of the lizard's heads was severed cleanly and fell to the ground. Fresh blood splattered across my academy shoes.

—Kreya...!

The remaining two lizards leaped toward me.

I swiftly dodged their attacks, then drove my sword through the neck of one of them before raising my blade and splitting its head in two.

Seeing its companions killed so effortlessly, the last lizard immediately turned around and fled, leaving the two of us behind.

"Are you alright?" I asked as I sheathed my sword.

Valeria didn't answer.

She simply sat there with her head lowered, hugging both of her knees. It seemed she didn't want to show me her face at the moment.

Was she embarrassed or something because I had seen her in such a miserable state?

My guess was confirmed when I heard her crying.

"This is all your fault..."

I heard her mumble those words.

Well... To be honest, if I had stayed with her last night and watched over her, this incident probably wouldn't have happened.

However, I couldn't do that.

Valeria had to learn from her mistakes starting now, before the real disaster arrived.

It was like a parent who didn't want to see their child suffer through life, yet still had to teach them how harsh the world could be for the sake of their future.

I sat beside her without saying a word.

One thing I had learned about women when they cried was that the best thing to do was simply sit beside them and wait until they calmed down.

Talking to them at a moment like this would only make things worse.

Not long afterward, her crying finally stopped.

However, Valeria still refused to show me her face.

"Are you feeling better? Let's continue our journey," I said while crouching in front of her. "Get on my back. I'll carry you until your stamina recovers after running from those desert lizards."

Not long after I said that, my back suddenly felt heavier as Valeria climbed onto it and held onto my body.

I stood up and grabbed both of her legs to make sure she wouldn't fall when I started running.

Valeria wrapped her arms around my shoulders and rested her head against my back.

I could feel her breathing, which was still somewhat irregular.

Her stamina must have been completely drained.

"Acceleration..."

After activating the speed-enhancing spell, I began running, hoping to reach the urban area before nightfall.

I could feel her breathing gradually return to normal.

Valeria seemed to have fallen asleep on my back.

All of her equipment and food supplies had been abandoned while she fled from the three monsters.

It seemed I would have to share my food and water with her from now on.

Well... I had already predicted this would happen.

It seemed I really would have to find other participants willing to share their food and water with me later.

"I wonder what kind of participants I'll be hunting next..."

---

[Valeria's POV]

I opened my eyes...

Where am I?

I looked around.

It seemed I was inside a cave.

I finally remembered what had happened.

I had lost the ability to use magic after being stung by a scorpion. Once the barrier I had created disappeared, monsters began approaching me, forcing me to abandon my supplies and equipment so I could escape from them.

I remembered what that man had said yesterday.

"I bet you'll lose all your supplies and equipment within a single day."

How pathetic...

I had wanted to prove that what he said to me was completely wrong.

But in the end, I lost my equipment and supplies before the exam had even reached the twenty-four-hour mark.

Everything he had said to me before the exam and afterward had come true.

What's wrong with me...?

Why was I so stubborn about refusing to cooperate with him when I had been perfectly fine working together with my teammates during the first stage of the exam?

Was it because I wanted to prove something to him?

Until now, no one had ever surpassed me in knowledge or magical combat within the academy.

That was because the dueling system used by the academy relied on direct combat, which gave long-range fighters such as mages an advantage.

With my Voiceless Incantation, I had always been able to defeat other students when it came to spell activation speed.

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But this survival exam was testing our ability to fight in an actual battlefield.

Enemies would use dirty tricks.

They wouldn't attack unless they were confident they could win.

They would use everything at their disposal to achieve victory.

Just like that man had done to me and my team during the first stage.

There would be no such thing as a fair fight when your life was on the line.

That was why I had lost to him.

That was why he seemed invincible despite not possessing as many powerful spells as I did.

And that was why I desperately wanted his recognition.

It had made me behave like a child and nearly get myself eliminated from this exam.

How pathetic...

"I really am an idiot..."

Wanting to defeat him in a fair fight had been a naive way of thinking.

There was no such thing as fairness in this world if you wanted to survive.

People would do whatever it took to achieve victory.

Battle was no different.

"I need to change the way I think about combat."

I couldn't remain fixated on fighting like a conventional mage.

I had to become more flexible, more unrestricted, and stop being bound by rules during battle—just like that man.

—Tap... Tap... Tap...

I heard footsteps.

A black-haired man carrying a sack was walking toward me.

"You're awake?" the man said as he placed the sack on the ground. "Was my back really that comfortable that you fell asleep so easily while I was carrying you?"

"W-What did you say? I was just too exhausted at the time! It wasn't because your back was comfortable or warm or anything like that!"

Ugh...

Even though I had already realized my mistake this time, it was still incredibly embarrassing to remember what had happened.

"Then what's inside that? Didn't you only bring a small amount of supplies when we started the second stage of the exam?"

Hearing my question, the man sat down against the cave wall right beside me and began removing his academy uniform shirt.

"You lost all your food supplies, didn't you? Now I have no choice but to share mine with you so the two of us can survive in this desert," he answered casually. "That's why I went out to find other participants who were willing to share their food with me."

Ughhh...

I had forgotten about that too.

Why did I always become an idiot whenever I was around him?

Alright.

Think clearly, Valeria.

Forget everything that happened before and focus on the problem in front of you.

"Hee~ Sharing, huh? You mean taking it from them by force, don't you?" I teased.

The man merely shrugged, as if he didn't want to comment on the matter.

Still, none of his actions had ever been pointless.

Everything he had done during the first stage of the exam had been calculated and effective.

Because of that, I wanted to learn from him.

I wanted to know how he dealt with difficult situations like this.

But there was one thing I had to do first.

I turned to the side and looked at the black-haired man's face.

"Hey, Raul..."

The black-haired man's body suddenly stiffened.

It seemed he was surprised that I hadn't called him pervert like I usually did.

"Y-Yeah? Is something wrong?"

Hee~

It seemed this was the first time I had managed to catch him off guard.

He hadn't expected me to call him by his name directly.

I moved slightly closer to him and said,

"I'm sorry... And thank you for saving me earlier, Raul."

Raul slightly leaned backward because our bodies were almost touching.

"Of course. Don't think too much about it," he replied flatly.

I moved closer to him again.

This time, he didn't move away.

He simply turned his face away from me.

"Then where are we now? Do you have a plan for the second stage of the exam?"

"Of course I do," Raul said while resting his hand against his chin, seemingly deep in thought. "It's inevitable that there will be battles over food and water supplies once the participants enter the urban area. The commotion they create will definitely attract the attention of the monsters hiding there."

He was right.

Even some monsters had been attracted to the smell of the food I had carried for the second stage of the exam.

It would probably be wiser for the participants to bring only a small amount of food so they wouldn't attract dangerous monsters when entering the urban area.

"Chaos will break out inside the city," Raul continued, explaining his plan. "We should avoid it as much as possible and focus on getting through the area quickly."

"Do we really have to go through the urban area? What if we take a detour and go around it?" I asked.

Raul then explained that if we went around the urban area, the distance we had to travel would become much greater.

According to him, we didn't have enough food supplies or time to take such a route.

Furthermore, we wouldn't be able to obtain additional food supplies if we chose that path.

Raul predicted that most students would choose to pass through the urban area, which meant we wouldn't be able to steal the supplies they were carrying if we took the detour.

"Why is your undershirt so wet?" I asked, noticing how soaked the shirt he was wearing had become.

"Hey, I've been carrying you while running nonstop for more than two hours. Of course I'm going to sweat heavily after doing all that," Raul replied with a slightly sarcastic tone. "I think I covered roughly forty kilometers during that time."

So this was the physical ability of a Knight student?

Had Raul also been using magic while running, allowing him to cover such an incredible distance?

"That means the urban area in this desert is only about thirty kilometers away now."

Raul then took out his pocket watch.

"It's eleven in the morning. We'll rest here for two hours, then continue our journey. We'll arrive at the urban area before nightfall."

After establishing our next travel plan, we had lunch with the food Raul had previously stolen from some unfortunate participants who had crossed paths with him.

---

[3rd Person POV]

Inside the urban area, six students were currently fighting a group of monsters.

They had previously agreed to form an alliance so they could safely pass through the area.

"Adrian, deal with that giant bird that's been bothering us! Morlin, take care of the desert Hobgoblin coming this way!"

A female mage gave orders to her companions as several monsters approached them.

"You three! Take down the regular goblins around that Hobgoblin!"

The remaining three members immediately engaged the seven ordinary goblins standing near the Hobgoblin.

The group consisted of four Knight students, one Healer, and one mage.

"Earth Shatter!"

The mage activated her spell.

The ground beneath the ordinary goblins cracked before collapsing, causing the goblins to lose their balance and fall.

"Finish them now!"

The three students immediately rushed forward and began cutting down the goblins that had fallen because of the mage's attack.

After defeating the ordinary goblins, the three students then moved to assist their companion, who was fighting a Hobgoblin one-on-one.

"Hammer Blow!"

One of the students swung his hammer with tremendous force, striking the Hobgoblin and sending it flying backward.

"Earth Missile!"

The female mage fired at the giant bird that had been constantly harassing them, knocking it out of the sky.

The group of goblins watching from a distance immediately fled after seeing this.

In the end, the students won the battle against the monsters occupying this part of the urban area.

"Uoohhh! We actually defeated them!" one of the men shouted excitedly.

"Yeah... Thank goodness we formed an alliance before entering this area. Otherwise, the two of us alone wouldn't have been able to defeat the monsters living here," said the female mage.

"But why did the remaining goblins suddenly run away?" Morlin asked in confusion.

"Well... Maybe they were frightened after seeing our strength," Tristan, the group's Priest, answered.

They then resumed their journey.

By the afternoon of the second day, around thirty students had already entered the urban area.

Most of them had been lucky enough not to encounter any monsters during the first day, allowing their teams to reach this area ahead of the others.

"Hey, Balerina. Do you think we'll run into that rotten noble in this area?" Tristan asked nervously.

The moment he said this, everyone stopped walking.

"Hey, Tristan, don't talk about that man here," the female mage replied. "You'll bring bad luck to our group! What if he actually appears here?"

They had already heard and witnessed stories of how Raul had single-handedly destroyed an entire team during the first stage of the exam.

"R-Right... Sorry."

They continued walking while carefully observing the abandoned city around them.

Morlin, who was at the very back of the group, suddenly stopped.

He noticed something resembling a statue standing on top of a building.

He didn't realize that the statue-like object was actually a monster watching them from above.

"Huh? What kind of statue is that?" Morlin muttered in confusion.

He failed to notice that he had already fallen quite far behind his companions.

"Huh? Everyone's already so far ahead."

Morlin turned around and began walking again.

"I'd better hurry and catch up with th—"

*Bughhh!*

His words were cut short.

Something suddenly struck his body with tremendous force, sending him flying through the air.

—Brak!

His body slammed into the wall of a building with a deafening crash, destroying part of the structure.

A magic circle suddenly appeared and swallowed his body whole.

His elimination was confirmed as he was immediately teleported out of the desert.

The remaining five companions stopped walking after hearing the impact.

"Did you guys hear that?" one of them asked, immediately becoming alert.

"Yeah... I heard it," Balerina, the mage, replied.

"And somehow, Morlin suddenly disappeared. He should have been behind us."

They immediately formed a circular formation, with the Healer positioned in the center.

Everyone focused on searching for the enemy that seemed to be targeting their group.

However, they waited for approximately five minutes without seeing any sign of a monster preparing to attack them.

"I-I think whatever kidnapped Morlin has already left," Tristan, the Healer, said.

"Don't let your guard down! We don't kn—"

Balerina's words abruptly stopped.

She had spotted a humanoid monster standing two meters tall.

It leaped into the air before landing directly behind Tristan, the group's Healer.

"Tristan, run!"

Balerina tried to warn him.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

The monster struck the Healer from behind with tremendous force, sending him flying.

"Attack that monster!" Balerina ordered.

Her four remaining companions immediately attacked the humanoid monster with their weapons.

However, the monster skillfully dodged their attacks before launching a swift counterattack, eliminating one of them.

"Earth Missile!"

Balerina attempted to shoot the monster with an earth-based spell.

Once again, the monster effortlessly dodged it.

"Tch... This monster's speed is abnormal. Is it one of the monsters above Level 3?" Balerina muttered.

"Aghhhh!"

One of her companions screamed after the monster brutally broke his arm.

The man's body was then sent flying into a trash can after the monster struck him directly in the face.

"Don't give it any room to move!" Balerina ordered the two remaining companions.

"We're trying! But it's incredibly agile and fast!" one of them shouted.

"Get ready! It's coming again!"

The monster once again dashed toward Balerina's remaining two companions.

The two students activated *Temper*, strengthening their weapons.

"Die, bastard!"

"Take this!"

They attacked simultaneously.

However, the monster once again dodged their attacks with ease before kicking both of them, sending them crashing to the ground.

"Impossible..."

Balerina's expression became increasingly grim.

"Its speed is even greater than that of someone using *Accel*..."

Yes.

This monster was even faster than Raul when he used his spell during the first stage of the exam.

"In that case, I'll use a spell with a wider area of effect!"

Balerina began preparing another spell.

The monster once again sprinted toward her at incredible speed.

"Earth Shower!"

The ground surrounding Balerina rose before breaking apart into countless fragments.

The pieces of earth then shot toward the monster like machine-gun bullets.

The monster suddenly changed the direction of its movement, weaving through the barrage of attacks and avoiding every single projectile Balerina fired.

After evading the entire attack, the monster once again rushed toward the mage.

"No way..."

Balerina's expression turned pale.

"How can a monster this powerful be present in our exam...?"

—Bam!

The monster struck her hard in the chest.

Balerina's body was sent flying backward.

A magic circle immediately appeared and swallowed her entire body, teleporting her out of the examination area.

With ease, a single humanoid monster had eliminated the participants who had just defeated an entire group of monsters.