Kane’s group was walking toward the forest in silence. The tanned girl then asked, “What should we do now?”

“Introducing ourselves would be a good idea,” said Kane.

“Right, right. I’m first. Ehem! I’m Zumi, an aspiring earth mage from Cloverpoint town, just south of Rabrond. I hope we can get along, especially with you.” She grinned while looking at the elf.

Kane also looked at the elf, waiting for her introduction. With hesitation, she finally began to speak, “M-my name is... Athera. I’m fr-from Rabrond. I only know… some wind spells. I’m sorry if-if I’m… not good enough.

“Aww, don’t be hard on yourself, Thera.” Zumi patted her back twice, and then she looked at Kane. “Now it’s your turn.”

“I’m Kane from a backwater village called Deven. Nice to meet you,” he said casually.

“What a weird way to spell your name,” Zumi chuckled until she noticed something. “Wait, wait a minute. Aren’t we missing something important, Kane?”

“Like what?” he asked.

“Your primary elemental attribute, duh. Every mage has at least one.”

Kane avoided looking at Zumi’s eyes and said, “I don’t know about that.”

“What!?” The girls said in unison.

“Look, it’s not like I wanted or expected to be a mage. I’m a half-oni after all. I also can’t afford the device to be tested earlier.” Kane shrugged.

“What does that have to do with your race?” Zumi asked, tilting her head.

“Err, I think… oni could never… use magic,” said Athera in low voice.

“That’s right. Except me, apparently.”

“Huh, I see. I hope you’re capable enough to be with us.” Zumi smirked.

“I should be the one to say that. I’m not weak even without magic,” he snorted.

“Oh, yeah? We’ll see about that. I’ll show you what I can do.” She glared at him intensely. Kane responded with the same.

“Um, you two… please don't fight…” said Athera, but her voice failed to reach them.

When the three had done talking, they ventured to the depths of the forest. The sunlight barely penetrated through the dense leaves, but it was still clear enough to see. They sloped as the ground was uneven. No creatures or fellow participants had been spotted so far.

“So, how do you learn a spell from a spellbook,” asked Kane out of the blue.

“Pfft!” Zumi held back her laughter.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kane rolled his eyes, still maintaining his calm.

“Sorry, sorry. Any decent mage should’ve known how to do that, but whatever, I’ll explain it to you. First, transfer your mana into the book. Second, let the information flow into your mind. Still, a newly learned spell doesn’t mean you have already mastered it. Do you understand, Kane?” Zumi explained in one breath.

“I get it,” said Kane. “And how do you feel about your mana?”

Hearing the question, Zumi looked at Athera and asked, “Should I tell him the truth?”

Athera gave a nod. With a heavy sigh, Zumi said, “You have to meditate for some time. The length depends on your talent. Not to brag but for me, I only needed less than a month to feel my mana before I knew that I have level 4 talent.” She grinned and puffed up her chest. “What about you, Thera?”

“I think… It took about… two weeks. I-I have level 6,” Athera replied.

“Wow, so much better than me! As expected from an elf.”

“I-it’s nothing…” She blushed.

“Which level are you, Kane? So we can deduce your meditation length,” asked Zumi.

“I’m only level 10.” Kane shrugged.

The girls halted their steps and stared at him. “Yeah, don’t tell me you’re gonna add minus seven or something like that at the end,” said Zumi with a flat tone.

“You got me. It’s at level 3.” He changed his mind regarding telling his talent. Strangers shouldn’t be trusted too quickly.

“2 months or less, if you’re diligent,” she said.

All of sudden, Kane stopped walking. The two noticed and Zumi asked him, “What’s up?”

“There’s an enemy on our left. Look.” Kane pointed at the open area. Grasses and some occasional trees grew there.

A green wobbly transparent creature dragged its body at a sluggish pace. Its body was similar to water yet it had a form. It had the size of a human head.

“An unranked slime!” Zumi gasped. “Alright team, let’s do this!” She charged ahead, leaving the other two behind.

Kane facepalmed and said, “Let’s go, Athera.” Although he was vexed by Zumi’s attitude, he was also curious about her combat ability and Athera’s.

“Um.” She gave a nod. Her face tensed a little.

As the slime ambled, Zumi was approaching fast and muttering a chant. A small light brown magic circle filled with runes slowly appeared on her right hand.

At the same time, the slime stopped and shot out a slimy ball projectile toward her face.

“Ugh!” Zumi ducked, barely dodging it. The magic circle faded because of the interruption. When she glanced at her behind, she saw the ball melted one of the tree’s branches.

The slime backed away from Zumi. Not wasting this opportunity, she chanted again and this time she was successful.

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“Unranked earth spell: [Earth Shard]!”

A small stone shaped like a needle was launched. It grazed the slime’s outer body. The wound oozed some green liquid, then began closing at a slow pace.

“This is much harder than hitting a training dummy…”

“Is that all you can do?” teased Kane from a bit far behind her.

“Sh-shut up! I’m not even serious yet!” she barked. Switching her concentration to the enemy again, Zumi cast another spell. Just when she completed the chant, the slime bounced several times, immediately closing the distance.

“Wha!” She fumbled and the shard missed the target. The monster opened its ‘mouth’, trying to bite Zumi.

Suddenly, her limbs and body were engulfed in an air current. The wind only grazed the slime as it managed to get away.

“This wind magic… Nice one, Thera!” said Zumi.

“Um!” said Athera. She was chanting another spell.

The slime stayed still and then shot a slimy ball at the sky. The ball went high before it exploded, letting out a pop sound.

Zumi tilted her head and asked, “What is that thing doing?”

“I-it’s calling for… the reinforcement…” said Athera.

“What!? I must stop it right now!” She immediately chanted the same spell once more.

The earth shard finally hit the target. In a moment, the slime dissolved into a mushy remnant.

“Yeah, I did it!” Zumi shouted in excitement, smiling wide. However, the revel was cut short by the sheer number of slimes approaching her. There were more than twenty of them.

“They’re multiplying!” warned Athera.

Seeing this, Zumi swallowed her saliva. “Let’s beat them, Thera.”

“I’ll take care of this. You two stay behind,” said Kane from behind.

“You can’t beat them all alone, Kane. There are too many! And you can’t use magic...” Zumi reached out her hand, trying to stop him.

He gave a little grin as a reply and kept walking nonchalantly. One of the slimes nearby saw him. It immediately shot a slimy ball.

“Watch out!”

Before Zumi could finish her sentence, Kane already stood in front of the slime and slammed his right foot onto the body. It burst like a popped bubble. The ball missed him.

The other slimes too started attacking Kane. However, no matter how much they threw slimy balls, or how much they swarmed, he would just dodge them with ease. The incoming slimes would receive a direct punch filled with vis, which somehow evaporated them in an instant. The rest either got stomped or kicked.

As the numbers dwindled, some were backing away, avoiding Kane. Then, an earth shard pierced one of the fleeing slimes and another one got sliced in half by a sharp wind. They both died in one hit.

In about three minutes, all the slimes were dead. Only the mana cores remained, scattered around the field. The trio then collected them up one by one and put them in the container.

“Phew, that was intense,” Zumi said as she wiped the beads of sweat running down from her forehead.

“Was that your first battle, Zumi?” asked Kane while collecting the mana cores.

“Nah, definitely not. Battles like this are like my daily meal.” She forced a laugh.

When Kane stared at her with a blank expression, she looked away and said, “Alright, alright, it is my first time. I’m still weak and you’re strong. Is that what you wanted me to say?”

“Not really. Now I understand why you had a hard time against slimes, and I think you’re doing good for your first battle.”

Zumi raised her eyebrows. “Wow, I didn’t see that coming. Thank—”

“Still, I wanted you to say: “I’m sorry for underestimating you.””

“Hmph! And here I thought you’re being nice.” Zumi took a deep breath and said with a flat tone, “I’m soorrryyy for underrrestimating youu. Are you satisfied?”

“Good enough. Now let’s hurry up and search for other monsters,” said Kane, dismissing her. This somewhat made Zumi fume in silence.

All cores were collected, and they were ready to go. As they walked, Kane took a glance at the slime remnants.

“What’s the matter?” asked Zumi.

“Do slimes can call for backup and attack in a group? Low unranked monsters shouldn’t have that much intelligence.”

“Is that so?” Zumi then looked at the person on her right. “What do you think, Thera? You seem the smartest one of three of us.”

“I-I agree. Perhaps, that slime… was special… so it was ac-actually rank 1?” said Athera with a barely audible voice.

“Really? So my first battle was against a bunch of rank 1 monsters!?” said Zumi in disbelief.

“If that’s the case, then it won’t be that easily defeated.” Kane shot down her opinion.

“Y-you’re right… sorry.” Athera looked down. Zumi’s excitement died fast.

Kane pondered the unusual slime tactics. The monsters around here wouldn’t be as simple as usual. He must be more cautious upon encountering them. Gazing at the flying eyeball creature, Kane furrowed his eyebrows. Was the academy behind this?

---

In the grass field where nothing but grasses or some river could be seen, the three walked aimlessly while still searching for monsters. They had met some people but they just gave side glances toward each other. Kane noticed the other participants had injuries or ruined clothes.

“Hah… why are there no monsters around here!? I thought any grassland would be brimming with them!” Zumi complained, shouting at the blue sky.

“It can’t be helped. They were killed by others who got here first. I think we should go to other regions,” said Kane.

“Fine, I can still walk for a bit. What about you, Athera?”

“I’m okay…” replied Athera.

“Say, how did you become so strong, Kane?” Zumi asked a sudden question.

“Well, it’s because of my racial talent which gives me more strength,” replied Kane.

“No, not that. I mean, it was surreal watching you dodge those attack barrages as if you had memorized them.”

“Oh, that. How should I put it…” Kane paused for a brief moment. Even though he had a different body, his reflexes and perception remained unchanged. Therefore, his dodging capability mainly depended on the agility of his current body. Kane couldn’t reveal all of this to her so he instead said, “Just keep training and battling.”

“Ah, so that’s the secret,” said Zumi, cupped her palm.

Kane exuded a sigh. He felt lucky because his particular teammate was dumb.

“Um, is that… a monster?” Athera pointed at the east, where the rocky mountains were.

“I can’t see anything,” said Kane, squinting his eyes.

Zumi shook her head. “Me too. Wait, how can you see far away when you wear glasses?”

“I can’t s-see close objects but… I can still see far,” Athera replied.

“That’s great! So your elven eyesight is still fine. Also, your speech is improving, Thera!” Zumi patted the elf’s shoulder.

“T-thanks…” She smiled shyly.

“Anyway, let’s go there quickly. We shouldn’t let the other team find it first,” suggested Kane.

They ran at a brisk pace towards the east. Zumi followed Kane in a close distance without any difficulties. Athera breathing’s, however, slowly became more erratic as they traveled.

“Hah… hah… hah…” The elf’s face was burning red and wet. Her distance from the other two was getting further and further.

Worried, Zumi checked behind her. Her feeling was right. Athera dragged her feet as if they were chained. Beads of sweat dripped down from her face profusely.

“Kane! Stop for a moment!” Zumi shouted. She then helped Athera to sit down properly.

He turned around and immediately approached Athera. Kane crouched down and asked, “Is she alright?”

“Can’t you see? She’s exhausted because of running!”

“But we’re almost there, let’s just continue,” said Kane, furrowing his eyebrows. He’d rather not have his prey get snatched because of this problem.

“And let Athera collapse? I’m very disappointed, Kane. You shouldn’t measure others by your standard.” Zumi glared.

Kane became silent. He hated to admit it, but he agreed with Zumi. Forcing a teammate beyond their ability would lead to a disastrous situation. Ultimately, failing to complete the exam was very likely. As he thought for a solution, Athera suddenly spoke,

“Don’t… worry… about me. The others… h-have… reached there.” She gazed at the east while trying to maintain her breathing rhythm.

“No! We won’t abandon you!” Zumi shouted.

“Geez, you sounded like Athera is in her final moment,” Kane remarked, scratching his ear.

“Oh, shut up.” Zumi rolled her eyes.

Kane stretched forward his arms, shaking his hands and his fingers. “Alright. It’s time to go.”

“Kane!” Zumi wanted to release her anger until she saw the half-oni put his arms beneath Athera’s knees and her back, carrying her.

“Kya!” Athera flailed but couldn’t resist his clutch.

“Come on, Zumi. You still have some stamina left, right?” Kane then started running.

“Wh-what the hell are you doing to Athera!? Hey!” Zumi chased him. Her face turned slightly redder.

“I’m carrying her so we’ll get there quicker,” said Kane without care.

“But…” Zumi lost her words. “If-if you do anything strange to Athera, I’ll beat you to death!” She then caught up with Kane and kept an eye on him.

“Yeah, don’t worry about that.”

Athera was covering her face since she was getting carried and kept saying “I wanna die” repeatedly. Despite that, she stopped struggling anymore after a minute. Perhaps she had accepted her fate, or she took comfort in his embrace.

As they got closer, the monster and some people gradually became clearer to see.

“Is that…”