Kirana looked down at the male cadets with a sarcastic tone. "Are you all so tough that you let a girl like me work alone? Pathetic."
Kirana was still seething with anger at how incompetent these cadets were at protecting the weak ones, especially the girls who had been abducted by the goblins and used as meat shields in battle. Instead of reflecting on their shortcomings, the male cadets protested and pointed fingers at each other for being cowards, particularly those who had followed Aleister and ran away. Kirana shook her head, tired of listening to their useless chatter and their attempts to appear tough in front of the girl who had just saved their lives.
Aleister had been hiding behind a tree, unnoticed by the other cadets. He retrieved his notebook, which contained detailed information on each cadet, including their techniques. After briefly scanning through Karanzo's data, he moved on to Kirana's, where he noted her auxiliary technique, Scarlet Flame. He also observed that Kirana's data revealed her true identity to be closer to the ninja side than that of a royal dancer, witch, or courtesan who likes to seduce men (which he considered a distorted thought).
His top priority target was Fenrius, whom he had been trying to gather information on for years. So far, he had only heard rumors about the mad cadet's actions, which couldn't be attributed to normal living beings. Fenrius remained an enigma in his data, like an unidentified alien. Aleister dared not write down any data in his notebook, which he considered his holy book, other than what he could observe with his eyes of truth. He was particularly jealous when he learned about the last intellectual exam, where Fenrius had scored a perfect hundred while he himself had only scored ninety-nine.
Despite Aleister's supercomputer brain, which was capable of mastering arithmetic, geometric, harmonic, and quadratic problems, he couldn't figure out the last question: "What are the seven things needed to find Durzo Blitz in Malazen?" All of the conjectures, equations, hypotheses, and theories that Aleister used had failed, and only Fenrius could answer them. However, suddenly the mad cadet's hundred marks were reduced to ten, leaving Aleister baffled. He didn't know what was going on at this academy, but he wasn't satisfied with being named the smartest cadet without knowing the answer.
Most cadets and outsiders were unaware of Durzo Blitz's true identity, except for his face being covered with a shawl on the "Missing Cadet" posters scattered throughout the academy. He was two generations before Instructor Hyoh, or one might say, Hyoh's senior. After the Kaliyuga Explosion ten years ago, Durzo revealed himself and became an instructor at the Assassin Academy.
Apart from Durzo Blitz's location, Aleister frequently found himself bored by the deaf-mute Fenrius, who consistently ignored him, even during private classes, despite Aleister's promise to leave him alone forever once he received an answer to his last question.
Recently, rumors had circulated that the mad cadet had taken down a sand bear with just one hit, but Aleister remained skeptical, suspecting that these stories may have been fabricated by Fenrius' acquaintances or friends over the years.
Rather than recording mundane details like hobbies, favorite foods, blood types, height, and weight, Aleister compulsively recorded a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) for each cadet, matching it with his vision for the future. Hunting in the field provided an excellent opportunity for him to observe and spy on the cadets. With that thought, Aleister closed his notebook and headed toward the eastern part of the forest to investigate Fenrius' whereabouts.
"Hey, look at that!" exclaimed one of the cadets, pointing toward an enormous Goblin in the distance, twice the size of the Hobgoblin, with small goblins following it.
"That...that's the Goblin Champion!" stuttered another cadet.
The Goblin Champion is taller and more muscular than regular goblins, standing at more than nine feet tall. Its skin is a sickly green color, covered in warts, scars, and other blemishes. The creature wields a giant club and wears crude armor made of scraps of metal and leather, adorned with spikes and other sharp edges. It even wears trophies taken from defeated cadets, such as skulls or bones, as a display of its prowess in battle.
The group grew increasingly nervous as they contemplated how to defeat the powerful Goblin Champion, especially without the help of Aleister. They needed a plan as soon as possible if they didn't want to be stuck between a rock and a hard place again. They looked at each other, waiting for an idea to pop up, but not one cadet gave a straight answer.
"Hey, Kirana, do you think your technique could defeat the Goblin Champion with just one sting?" asked one of the cadets.
Kirana rolled her eyes. "Of course not! The Goblin is far too big. And weren't you the one who wanted to protect me earlier? If you're real men, you'll keep your word."
Some of the cadets who had already passed the test with the smaller goblin fled to the west before the monstrous Goblin Champion arrived. With no solid plans and limited time, it seemed like their only option was to run away. However, their thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a figure emerging from the western forest. It was Fenrius, a cadet known for frequently sleeping through class and skipping lessons. He wore many chains on his body and had the handsome face of a sad prince who showed no interest in the test.
"Hey, Fenrius! What are you doing here?" called out one of the cadets.
As usual, Fenrius walked past them, ignoring their questions. His face was as cold as eternal ice, devoid of any emotion. Everyone knew that provoking him was akin to getting a ticket to Maldrakar Hell. His hands were covered in blood, indicating that he was in a bad mood. The thick scent of blood emanating from his body gave him a ferocious aura that no one dared to provoke.
The group fled from the battlefield, except for Kirana, who was fixated on observing Fenrius' confidence in facing the hordes of Goblins. If Aleister were still present, this would have likely been his best day, as he would have been able to fill his notebook with data on all the worst-generation cadets. However, in every action of the mad cadet, there were always eyewitnesses around to recount his story.
"Kirana, why are you still there? That place is really dangerous! If you don't want to die, get out of there!" warned one of the cadets. Curious to see what Fenrius would do, the others also looked at the mad cadet.
The Goblin Champion, who was approaching Fenrius, roared so loudly that the sound echoed like a spreading wave. The monster charged toward the man, wielding a giant club, while Fenrius also accelerated to adjust since the wind was blowing from behind, giving him an advantage.
"They won't stop!" screamed one of the witnessing cadets hysterically, closing his eyes.
As Fenrius and the Goblin Champion were about to collide, the man leaped onto the monster's thighs, deftly dodging the giant club that shattered the ground and blew everything around. The cadets, fearing the worst, thought Fenrius' body was crushed under the impact, but he instead soared high into the air, delivering a hard blow to the Monster's chin with his knees and knocking the Goblin Champion down.
When Fenrius landed, he quickly followed up with many powerful blows to the Goblin Champion's face, resulting in the Monster's teeth and jaw being broken, his eyeballs popping out, and his face covered in lumps. Each blow spurted blood, frightening the little goblin. Witnessing their leader's gruesome death made their guts immediately shrink, and they fled for the second time. The cadets watched in awe from a distance, amazed by Fenrius' strength and agility, and exclaimed, "Soar like an eagle, maul like a bear!"
It was confirmed that the rumors were true: Fenrius could indeed defeat a sand bear with just one hit! He continued on his journey toward the remaining goblins, who fled like a fawn sensing imminent danger, leaving behind the lifeless body of the Goblin Champion.
"Wait!" Kirana called out to Fenrius, but the man continued to give her the cold shoulder. "Fenrius! I'm Kirana the Dancer. Are you planning to follow those goblins to their lair alone?"
Fenrius still ignored Kirana's call, unwilling to engage in conversation. Kirana seemed heartbroken, as this was the first man she had met who had walked away without even looking at her. For Fenrius, however, this was just another day at the office - violence had become his daily bread and butter, automatically programmed into him like a killing machine whenever he encountered obstacles in his path. With his brutal display just now, it served as a signal to the cadets to ‘not disturb’ or ‘go away.’
Kirana warned Fenrius about a large cave up ahead, where many cadets had ventured but none had ever returned. "The goblins and trolls here are nothing more than guards. Their leader resides within that cave," she cautioned.
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Fenrius halted his steps but continued to ignore Kirana's presence. The wind howled, breaking the silence between them and urging him to move forward, as it lifted the fallen leaves into the air. After a moment of contemplation, Fenrius finally spoke. "I know," before resuming his journey toward the cave.
It was the first time Kirana had heard Fenrius' voice sound like a strong whisper, and she was willing to bet it was the first time Fenrius had ever spoken to a cadet. Feeling special, she wanted to jump, clap, and shout with joy, but she refrained. Upon reflection, Fenrius' two-word response was too short for a reply, like cold water splashed on her face. Nevertheless, it was better than him saying nothing at all.
Kirana wanted to tell Fenrius to return to the field soon, but she knew that disrupting Fenrius' hunting was like disrupting his meal. She held back her well-intentioned caring behavior and watched as he moved further away. After all, when it got dark, nobody knew what could happen.
Thus, Kirana and the eyewitnesses were able to recount the tale of the mad cadet who defeated the Goblin Champion with a single flying knee strike, all without the aid of weapons, ropes, or chains. Kirana wants to embellish the story as Fenrius presented the creature's corpse to her as a gift, declaring that A-level monsters were of no consequence to him.
Kirana thought, ("No wonder they all stay away from him. What a crazy man...")
***
As Yuria Ashura ventured deeper into the northwest forest, she trod cautiously, scanning the surroundings that appeared chaotic and lifeless with no signs of living creatures. Her keen senses alerted her to the potential danger that lurked within the many tree trunks and branches scattered on the cracked ground, and the scorched grass only heightened her awareness. Her body was poised to react at a moment's notice, her perception extending for several kilometers, allowing her to hear even the slightest sounds such as falling leaves or a drop of water.
Yuria pondered on what could have caused the destruction of this particular area. Was it an explosion or perhaps fire magic or even a fire sword? Her mind raced with possibilities as she continued to survey the area on high alert.
The occasional gust of wind rustled through the grove of leaves, heightening Yuria's unease as she imagined unseen dangers lurking in the shadows. Her senses prickled with the feeling of a living creature peering at her from behind the thicket. Bracing herself, Yuria turned and stepped slowly into the suspicious bush. Then, a black rabbit emerged from the bushes, startled by the crunch of Yuria's footsteps, causing her to jump back and scream like a frightened child.
As the rabbit fell silent, its black pupils flickered at Yuria. ("Huh? It's just a rabbit,") she thought, heaving a sigh of relief. But as she drew nearer, the rabbit exuded an aura of darkness, like hot smoke rising from a fire. Yuria jumped back once again, instinctively drawing her sword, aware that the rabbit's behavior was far from normal.
The black rabbit, sensing a threat prepared to attack, and its aura grew increasingly dense. Yuria, aware that something was amiss, took a defensive stance. Without warning, the creature released a powerful gust of wind from its mouth, slicing through everything in its path, including the trees. Yuria dodged the lethal attack with nimble reflexes but was left bewildered. ("What kind of attack was that?") she wondered, growing increasingly agitated.
The rabbit's eyes flashed crimson for a moment before it let out a piercing screech that produced a circle of lightning waves spreading out in all directions. Within the deadly circle, the trees were reduced to tiny grains in an instant. The rabbit's mouth spouted fire, which burned the grass and trees from a distance. Though avoidable, the rabbit's immense power left Yuria surprised.
It was now clear to Yuria that the rabbit was no ordinary monster. While the fire posed no threat to the agile cadet, the wave capable of obliterating anything in its path without a trace was a completely different story. Even a single hit could prove fatal. Yuria had never encountered a monster as dangerous as the black rabbit in her monster book, which meant that she had to prepare and plan to face it head-on.
*
In the cold and dim darkness of the cave, a man piled up torn goblin corpses like a mountain that almost completely blocked the cave passage. Several goblins charged at the man with sharp weapons, seeking revenge for their slain kin. Those who were still alive had nowhere to go and were forced to fight, spilling their blood to mix with that of the cadets they had killed.
The bangs of the man's fists against the goblins were so loud and harsh that they echoed throughout the cave, calling forth all the creatures who lived there. The man, Fenrius, struck the goblins with ruthless force, slamming them to the ground and pummeling their small bodies until they could no longer move. If he saw even a single finger twitch, he wouldn't hesitate to break the goblin's body and tear it apart as an additional punishment. His violent actions spoke volumes; in his mind, a good goblin was a dead one.
Several Goblin Shamans, alerted from the darkness, cast spells of fire, ice, and electricity to attack Fenrius, but he used the surrounding goblin corpses as shields. He caught the fire arrow from the Goblin Archer and hurled it back, hitting the Goblin Shaman's head. Fenrius had a record of catching arrows from three steps away, so shooting him was like providing him with ammunition. He repeated this tactic until the goblins ran out of arrows and then used any nearby objects he could find, such as a club or even a goblin's eyeball, which he launched like a cannon shot. One by one, Fenrius shot the heads of the goblins until their soft skin was hollowed out by the gravel splash, and only a few of them remained.
One of the goblins managed to sneak up on Fenrius and hit him on the head with a rusty piece of wood. Fenrius turned to that goblin, grabbed its head, submerged it in a pool of blood, and banged it against rocks for fifteen minutes. Fenrius thought to himself that he wouldn't stop banging until the goblin began to scream for mercy in human language. In the end, Fenrius avenged the dead cadets, eradicating all the goblins, and piling their corpses together.
Fenrius's yellow eyes shone in the darkness as he continued walking deeper into the cavern until he reached a vast, dark field. Everything appeared gloomy and hazy as if covered in a gray aura that made one feel like they were about to be swallowed alive. The killer aura was palpable.
(“Thanks to the Draught of Agony, I can see clearly in the darkness.”)
As he walked toward the center of the field, a stench more pungent than goblin pee or Chthon's carcass assaulted his senses. Suddenly, his foot stepped on something strange, and he looked down to find a mixture of junk and human bones. The ground was soaked in blood, and the corpses of the cadets lay scattered about, their flesh and internal organs bathed in the crimson liquid. The sight sent a chill through Fenrius's body, igniting his killer instinct as he felt a creature lurking in the darkness.
Just then, a heavy growl erupted from behind Fenrius, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps that shook the cave with each stomp. Something big was coming his way! A giant silhouette appeared, showing an eye in the center of its head with a mouth filled with the blood of the cadets. The creature was about to devour Fenrius from behind, and the depths of the cave were once again swallowed back into silence—like a black curtain covering the battle between a human and a legendary creature that was about to begin.
*
The trees fell one by one, and endless waves of electricity were launched toward Yuria as she leaped from tree to tree. The electromagnetic shocks had almost completely paralyzed her body, but her gaze remained fixed on the movements of the black rabbit beside her as she deftly dodged each attack. To Yuria, this was a battle of unpredictable speed, but she knew that relying too much on her agility would lead to a never-ending fight. She needed to balance her defense and offense and seize the opportunity to strike when luck was on her side.
As the chase continued, the black rabbit's eyes shone like red lasers, momentarily blinding Yuria. Crimson energy flowed from its eyes, slicing through the trees that were near her. Despite Yuria's attempts to dodge the attack, she was hit by thorn splinters from the shattered tree trunk. Her left hand, which had been shielding her face, was now bleeding profusely from the shoulder to the arm. Distracted and disoriented, Yuria stumbled multiple times and nearly fell to the ground before finally collapsing.
The black rabbit transformed into a human-sized hare that stood upright. With both hands raised, it created a ball of electric energy that jolted in all directions, growing larger. Yuria realized that she had no chance of outrunning the attack and that she would die if she did not take action.
Thinking quickly, Yuria retrieved a mystical dagger from her pocket and hurled it at the black hare. The hare, aware of the dagger's power, canceled its energy attack and evaded the weapon. Yuria stood up and carefully observed the hare's movement pattern, then drew another dagger from her pocket and threw it ahead of the hare's predicted path. Blood spurted into the air as the dagger struck the monster's body.
Yuria took advantage of the hare's fall and leaped onto a tree trunk to hide from its sight. The furious hare stood up and attacked recklessly with a death cry, a surge of lightning, and a blazing red light, using all of its abilities except for the fire spurts, fearing they might interfere with its vision. The black hare searched for Yuria in confusion and detected her slight movements from the fallen tree trunks and branches.
Suddenly, a fallen tree branch snapped behind the hare, startling it and causing it to reflexively destroy the branch with a wave attack, thinking that Yuria was targeting it from behind. Meanwhile, Yuria remained on the tree trunk, cutting branches from one tree to another. The hare looked confused, its body moving frantically, and its head pointing randomly. Yuria felt proud that her intelligence had enabled her to use the surrounding arena and predicted that her winning percentage was now over seventy percent.
("That thing can withstand the poison from my dagger that can kill a mammoth in a few seconds?! What a terrifying monster!")
The hare looked up at the trees high above that led to Palandria Heaven, only to see hundreds of tree branches falling toward it; deceptive objects that could be a threat. Yuria plunged into the air while hiding behind the fallen trunk. The black hare launched a ball of electric energy that exploded into hundreds of tree branches from the sky above, most of which vanished without a trace. Despite this, the hare still couldn't find any trace of Yuria. Yuria sped up behind the trunk covering her, aiming for the black hare's blind spot. ("This is my momentum...! I will finish him off with one slash!")
A smooth slash hit the black hare's body from top to bottom, which spat out a lot of green blood. Slowly, the hare's human form shrank back into an ordinary black rabbit. Yuria swung her sword once to clean the green blood from the blade. With her body and face covered in blood, she stared coldly at the rabbit lying down helplessly. Yuria approached the creature about to give the final blow to finish it off.