Vlad didn’t expect the first trial to be this difficult. Considering that he was supposed to be in a simulation and also a Trial, he figured that he'd be able to get through them with ease so he could get back to Earth. Perhaps that along with his killing the first hunting maiden made him cocky, making him believe that the rest of the hunters would be easy to defeat. That was clearly false considering that he was currently at the mercy of the remaining four as they surrounded him with their weapons out and ready to fight.

His wrist was still bound by the whip of one of the hunting maidens, and his side was in excruciating pain from the dagger. Every time he slightly moved; a sharp stinging sensation came over him. Even when he was taking deep breaths to calm down, his breathing was shaky and shallow, as his body twitched in pain with each breath he took.

Despite his body being in agony, Vlad was more alert than ever. His senses were overclocking as he looked at the remaining four hunting maidens to see what they would do. Surprisingly enough, none of them moved for a little while. They simply stood there and watched Vlad struggle in his current situation. It was then that he realized that these four were looking at him like he was some injured animal, moments away from getting slaughtered.

Vlad clicked his tongue before glaring at the maidens. His furious gaze was so intense, that if looks could kill, the quartet would’ve been slain ten times over by now. It seemed like the maidens took notice of Vlad’s glare because all of them flinched in response as if sensing his killing intent.

However, their demeanor changed as one of them started to approach Vlad. It was the maiden with the sword. It slowly walked over to Vlad while brandishing its sword, prepared to cut him down at a moment’s notice. The sword, much like the bow from before, was also made of the ethereal light, giving it a divine yet menacing appearance. Vlad simply stayed in place and watched as the maiden reached him. While on his knees due to the pain in his side, he looked up at the white sword maiden with a glare, not showing an ounce of fear toward it.

Although faceless, Vlad watched as the maiden tilted its head, appearing almost confused by his actions. But, that confusion disappeared instantly as it raised its sword over his head. It was clear that this thing was planning on decapitating Vlad, but he didn’t plan on making that easy for them.

The sword maiden soon swung its weapon down, determined to sever Vlad’s neck from his shoulders. But, as soon as this happened, he took action and rolled backward, avoiding the sword as it dug into the soft grassy ground. When he rolled away, he moved toward the maiden with the whip, attempting to lessen the tension on the cord so it wasn’t constantly tugging and straining on his wrist.

Holding the whipcord tightly, Vlad used his other hand and reached for the dagger. The moment he grabbed the handle, the same searing pain washed over his wound, making him pause while wincing. But, through sheer willpower, he gripped the handle of the dagger and pulled it out in one go.

“Gah!” Vlad grunted, feeling every bit of pain from pulling out the dagger. But this didn’t stop him as he quickly made use of the dagger.

Vlad pulled the whip closer to him before he brought the dagger to it and easily cut off the whip, instantly freeing his wrist from the rope-burn lashes. Rubbing his wrist, he noticed a red mark that used to be where the cord was wrapped. Clicking his tongue, he glared at the whip maiden but got interrupted as the one with the sword appeared while swinging the blade down on Vlad’s head.

Instead of dodging, Vlad used the dagger and deflected the blade. He then directed the weapon away from him, causing the maiden to get caught up in its momentum. With this opening, he rushed at his enemy before driving the dagger into the maiden’s chest. It staggered backward, but before Vlad could pull his dagger out to continue using it, another one was hurled at him.

He jumped back to avoid the dagger while watching the other maiden collapse on the floor. After a few moments, much like the previous one, the sword maiden dispersed into particles and floated into the air before vanishing completely.

[Hunting Maiden has been defeated! Error! Due to Player being in a Trial/Simulation no EXP can be obtained!]

[Maidens Defeated: 2/5]

Once again, Vlad was prevented from admiring the scene as the spear maiden charged at him, prepared to thrust its spear at his head.

He quickly shifted his head to the side as the spear zips past him before getting pulled back. But, before the spear maiden could do so, Vlad grabbed the handle near the spear-head. Despite its faceless feature, the maiden somehow expressed shock on its face as it struggled to get its weapon back. With a single strong tug, Vlad pulled the ethereal being close to him before raising his foot and driving it into its stomach.

The maiden instantly released its weapon as it got thrown backward from the kick. Vlad didn’t even bother to watch it fall on its back as he shifted his attention to the other two hunters. He made the right call because as soon as he spun around, the whip user quickly took hold of Vlad’s new spear. The cord was snugly wrapped around the handle of the weapon as the whip hunter attempted to pull the weapon out of his hand.

Before Vlad could get the whip off the spear, the maiden with the daggers soon came in and thrust its blades at him. Vlad took notice of its presence and blocked one of the dagger attacks by blocking it with his arm. He couldn’t do anything about the second dagger as it pierced his leg in an instant. The blade dug deep into his leg while bleeding profusely.

“A-agh!” A sharp pain shot up his body as he grunted, gripping his spear tighter. “F-fuck off!”

Using the spear, he pulled against the whip and hit the dagger maiden in the head with the butt of the weapon. It staggered and backed away from him, but unfortunately left the dagger in his leg. The wound slowly bleed and dripped off, staining the beautiful green grass with its crimson color. Instead of letting the dagger stay there, Vlad grabbed it before forcefully pulling it out. With a contained grunt of pain and some blood spurting out, he then launched the dagger at the maiden.

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Due to his injury and the pain, Vlad’s vision was a bit hazy, making him nearly miss his target. He only managed to hit its shoulder, making it stumble backward. Clicking his tongue irritably, he accidentally loosened his grip on his spear and it was immediately ripped from his grasp, leaving him defenseless He glanced at his hand in surprise, but turned back to see another maiden lunge at him and kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying back from the force.

Vlad briefly tumbled across the grassy ground before righting himself and getting back on his feet. But, before he could continue fighting, the wounds from his side and leg started acting up. A searing pain coursed through both wounds, causing him to lose focus and keeping him on his knees. With a raspy sigh, he looked up and watched the three remaining maidens approach him.

The maiden that kicked him raised its hand as the whip maiden tossed the spear into its hand without even looking. Ah, so that was the spear maiden. No wonder its kick felt a bit personal. Regardless, it was clear that Vlad was in a bit of a pickle now. Aside from his two stab wounds, his muscles were slowly at their limit.

Every time he moved, they screamed at him to stop so they could rest. It was to the point where his muscle pain was as bad as the deep cuts on his body. Between the two, he couldn’t tell which was worse, since they were both equally painful. But, he couldn’t take a breather now. If he did, those maidens would make short work of him, causing him to lose the first trial and also die in the process.

Vlad didn’t have the option of dying. His friends and sister were likely back on Earth, probably still running from monsters. He can’t afford to lose here, especially at the very beginning.

Feeling a wave of energy surge through him, Vlad gritted his teeth while shakily pulling himself up. While looking up, he saw that the maidens stopped moving and once again watched him struggle. Vlad couldn’t help but feel annoyed and furious at what he was witnessing. Despite killing two of their people, they had the damn luxury to stand there and do nothing? Did he look that much like easy pickings for them to act like this?

Vlad grew furious at the maidens’ nonchalant attitude and quickly got back on his feet, doing his best to ignore the pain coursing through his body. He took a few shaky breaths while keeping his eyes trained on the maidens, making sure they didn’t try anything. Irritatingly enough, they didn’t move at all. They were like statues, staring at him motionlessly.

This only angered Vlad more as he glared at them. This time, the maidens weren’t fazed by his glare as they blankly stared at him. Then, the whip maiden took out another weapon. A familiar one.

Vlad looked in surprise as he saw the whip maiden pull out his spear. At first, he had no idea what it was planning to do, only to watch it toss his weapon in his direction. He managed to catch it, although clumsily, before firmly gripping onto the spear. Staring at the spear, he couldn’t understand why they gave him his weapon back. However, after pondering for a moment, he came to a realization.

These hunters…wanted him to fight till the end. They wanted him to keep fighting until one of them killed him with their own hands. Killing him while he was down wasn’t what they desired.

Realizing this, Vlad couldn’t help but laugh, though that only made the pain worse with each chuckle. Despite that, he continued before stumbling to get up with the help of his spear. Standing on his two, shaking, feet, he stared down at the maidens with a newfound look of determination.

“Alright, then,” He rested his spear on his shoulder. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

At his declaration, the dagger maiden was the first to act as it rushed forward with both daggers in hand. Where exactly was that maiden keeping its daggers? Did it just materialize them or did it pick them up from the ground?

Vlad didn’t stop to ask as he brought up his spear and blocked its daggers. The maiden tried to thrust its blades at him, but he swatted them away. He then swung his spear at its neck, aiming to cut its throat. The maiden quickly backed away as the spearhead glided past its head.

Then, the whip maiden latched onto his spear, pulling him away from the other one. The spear maiden jumped in and thrust its weapon at Vlad’s torso. He narrowly evaded it before grabbing the spear and pushing the butt of it against the maiden, putting some distance between them.

The dagger maiden came back and slashed at Vlad’s face and upper body. He quickly freed his hand that held the enemy’s spear and deflected the daggers, striking its wrist to loosen its grip on the blade. Just as the dagger maiden tried to attack once more, Vlad pulled his spear which at the same time, pulled the whip maiden with it. The dagger wielder got blocked by his spear before its friend crashed into it, causing both of them to tumble on the ground.

The spear maiden came back in to pick up the slack and performed a multi-thrust attack on Vlad. With his spear, he either blocked or dodged them. However, a couple of the maiden’s attacks made contact as his cheek got cut and his left shoulder pierced.

“U-ugh…!” He winced as the tip of the spear dug into his skin. However, instead of pulling it out just yet, Vlad grabbed the handle of the spear and using his elbow, he broke it. The white ethereal material easily shattered like glass, pieces scattering all over the floor.

The spear maiden stumbled back before glancing at its spear, bewilderment surprisingly plastered all over its face. Vlad was slowly believing that these white figures actually did have faces, but he just couldn’t make them out unless they made some kind of bizarre expression. While the maiden shockingly stared at its broken spear, Vlad took the opportunity to pull out the other half.

He tightly gripped the handle, instantly pulling it out. He recoiled in pain once more but hastily regained his composure to stay focused on the fight. With the spearhead in hand, Vlad then hurled it at the maiden like an arrow. Sadly, the ethereal being, still using its broken spear, spun it around and deflected it with ease, sending it flying into a tree before dissolving into particles of light.

“Tch…” Vlad clicked his tongue, but before he could do anything, his eyes widened when he witnessed something absurd occurred.

The broken white ethereal spear slowly regenerated, reforming back into its original form. The tip that was no different than a stump regrew a new spearhead like it was nothing. The moment the weapon was fully repaired, the maiden pointed it at Vlad, declaring the fight to continue.

“Now that’s just not fair…” Vlad grimaced while clutching onto his wounded shoulder.

He was slowly stacking more and more injuries. His leg and side were killing him already, and now, just moving his left arm was agitating the shoulder wound. He feared that he wasn’t going to last long in this fight. His fatigue was slowly catching up to him as well. He could tell from his raspy breathing and how his lungs ached with each gasp. Every minute he continued this battle was a minute closer to his defeat and demise.

There was no other option. He needed to end this fight fast or else…

Prepared to initiate another assault against the spear maiden, the other two ethereal beings emerged next to it, none of them looking tired at all. And here Vlad was huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf. Could they even get tired in the first place? They were beings composed of light, so the chances of them experiencing fatigue were…very slim.

“Why is it that the first test is this shit…?” Vlad grumbled before readying his spear at the three remaining maidens.