Chapter 147: Hardworking and Intelligent
"Girak, lead a group to draw its attention. Yurno, join the others and form two flanks for protection. Work with me to kill it in one go!"
The voice speaking belonged to Lumiere. He was at the front of a group of nine figures, who nodded, agreeing with his orders.
*ROAR!!*
A fierce roar echoed like thunder. Everyone turned toward a massive Black-Winged Wolf.
Farther behind that wolf, there was a large opening in the middle of the mist, like a door leading to another place. They couldn’t see inside, but clearly, that was the end of this first test.
Unfortunately, right in front of that finish line, there was a terribly powerful Beast blocking them from moving forward.
Lumiere had arrived not long ago and found the other nine, who couldn’t advance even together. Three of them were already heavily wounded.
So, Lumiere fought with the help of that group for almost half an hour, and he had already understood the Wolf’s attack patterns. But it was still too strong for them, so they had to try a combined attack.
Those two groups nodded to Lumiere, trusting him completely.
During those minutes, they had already realized that this young man was very skilled and strong. Besides moving perfectly from a tactical standpoint, he had devastating offensive power.
His only weak point was that, as an Arcanist Mage, his defensive power was very low.
But even with that weak point, Lumiere was physically very well trained, able to dodge and attack quickly. He could really fight this wolf one-on-one without being hit.
But alone, it was very difficult to hit its weak points. Because of that, Lumiere turned to them and asked for help.
The battle began again.
The warriors on the front line unleashed powerful attacks. Together, they actually managed to push back that terrible Beast.
*ROAR!*
Letting out a furious roar, the runes on its black wings suddenly lit up. It was preparing one of its powerful blows.
But at that exact moment, the warriors at the sides launched all-out attacks, forcing the Wolf to use its wings to protect its body.
The Wolf couldn’t unleash its powerful attack and was forced to take a defensive stance.
*GATES OF HELL*
At that exact moment, a figure appeared in one of its blind spots.
The world changed color, turning an intense red.
Lumiere was like an erupting volcano.
A wave of flames surged forward, striking precisely at an earlier wound on the Wolf, near its neck.
*BOOM!*
After a bright explosion, a huge headless body fell from the sky.
It was a perfect strike. They had won!
The nine youths were ecstatic.
Drawing its attention, forcing it to switch to defense, and then launching a sudden, decisive attack; everything happened in complete harmony.
Lumiere had indeed prepared and commanded everything perfectly.
This Wolf’s defenses were surprisingly strong. Even that sudden attack normally wouldn’t have been able to break through its tough carapace, and even if it had, it wouldn’t have caused such a serious wound.
The only reason it worked was because it already had an open wound from before, and it had also been forced to focus all its defensive energy on its wings after already moving it into the attack.
"Very good..." Lumiere said, slightly excited by that perfect cooperation.
Until...
"Watch out!!" someone suddenly shouted.
As soon as they celebrated, one of the wings of the headless body rose into the air and fell toward them. The fact that the decapitated corpse had suddenly launched such a fierce attack shocked everyone.
This attack was even more terrifying than all the previous ones. Its power distorted the space around it, and if it hit its target, they would all certainly die.
*Wooooosh*
A wave of wind burst out of nowhere above their heads. Everyone was startled as they saw a figure appear in the sky, attacking that terrifying wing.
**BANG!**
The explosion was intense. The ground trembled, and the powerful wave of wind swept all nine warriors away. They all rolled across the ground for several meters.
When they finally got up, they looked forward again...
...and saw Priam surrounded by a wild red aura. He was like an unmoving mountain.
There was a huge hole in the ground in front of Priam, and inside that hole, the corpse of the Black-Winged Wolf lay motionless. One of its wings had disappeared.
"Damn it..."
Lumiere approached Priam with a miserable expression. He was quite embarrassed.
Priam turned to him and smiled, patting him on the shoulder.
"Not bad. Your cooperation with the others was practically perfect."
"Don’t comfort me... that only makes me feel worse. If it weren’t for you, we’d all be dead," Lumiere said bitterly. That final attack had been incredibly terrifying.
The others, farther away, slowly approached and managed to hear the exchange.
"Don’t blame yourself. It was just a small accident, one that only shows you still don’t have enough battle experience. You destroyed its head and used the parameters of the common races you’ve fought your whole life. After losing the head, a Mage dies for obvious reasons. But Beasts naturally have cores in the lower part of their bodies, and that can move the entire body."
Priam slowly explained what he had learned from the system’s basic knowledge of Energies. There was no way Lumiere could have known that detail without experiencing it himself, or being born in the Divine Plane.
"This is a mechanism created by nature to frighten killers. Even if its head is cut off, it won’t die immediately. The Beast will still have one last breath to release all its energy in a sudden explosion to defeat its killer."
Lumiere took a deep breath and nodded.
"If you understand, great. Let’s go."
Priam said that, then turned around and walked toward the exit. Lumiere moved right behind him.
The other nine quickly ran over, crossing through right after them.
On the other side, there was no mist.
Everything was lit by sunlight, in an open green field.
In front of them, a mountain pierced the sky. Around that mountain, there was an immense staircase.
"Congratulations, you passed the first stage." A light voice sounded.
Turning around, Priam met the gaze of an Elder. Near him, there were already two dozen disciple candidates.
...
The hours passed slowly.
At some point, Shione and Flaris arrived at the place together, both panting and covered in blood.
The people there were stunned. Practically everyone had reached that place after fighting in groups against the entrance defender.
But... these two had teamed up and won with just the two of them?
They could never have imagined that those two beautiful women were so strong.
...
When twenty hours had passed, that was when Dandara arrived at the place, breathing heavily.
She came together with a group of more than fifty people. All of them had been blocked by another Beast at the entrance. That was a mechanism created so that, when the previous one was defeated, another would appear.
The candidates couldn’t get through, so they kept gathering there until they reached fifty. But even with that many of them, they still couldn’t pass, and half of them were already badly injured.
Fortunately, when Dandara arrived, everything magically changed.
That was because she gave a few tips to the most powerful youths there. At first, they secretly mocked her, thinking it was ridiculous that they were being helped by a half-beast.
But...
When they tested what she had casually said... they saw that she was completely right!
After that, in mere minutes, with everyone working together, they won.
Dandara arrived and saw Priam beside his entire group from the Ylisse clan. She smiled and ran over to them.
"Boss is incredible! I made a fortune using your tips!" she said excitedly, approaching Priam.
He nodded, satisfied. He didn’t know about her earlier actions, but she had made her money, then managed to reach this place on her own using her own skill.
At this point, he was already certain that Dandara didn’t have her memories from past lives. And even with her Wheel of Destiny and Anima completely sealed, she could live as if she were a normal person.
Even with her natural limitations, Dandara was hardworking and intelligent. He would definitely keep her close until he found a way to free her true power.
When that day came, he would gain the greatest and strongest ally of all.
...
The final 24 hours finally passed. At last, the first entrance test was complete.