Arthur stood where the cultists performed their ritual.
His long red hair flowed freely in the wind against his neck. Down on the dirt lay eight headless figures.
His silver sword was drenched in blood, dripping steadily onto the dead grass.
The local authorities came running up the hill a few minutes late.
By then, he had already done exactly as Principal Boros instructed.
Arthur is a highly respected member of the student council and an S-rank Awakener with terrifying potential.
He did not leave messy loose ends behind.
A man in his forties wearing a guard uniform stared at the bloody massacre.
His eyes were completely wide with shock.
He turned his pale face towards Arthur, struggling to find his voice.
"What happened here?" the guard asked, his hands shaking.
"They messed with the academy test," Arthur replied flatly.
The older man looked down at the ruined figures.
They were just normal, unawakened humans.
These people performed a desperate ritual to show their deep hatred for the awakeners who ruled this world.
It was a pathetic rebellion, but it caused enough trouble today.
"What about their leader?" the man asked, looking around the empty hilltop.
"Escaped," Arthur said.
'It's done,' Arthur thought to himself.
Pulling up his system window, he sent a quick confirmation message to the principal.
Then, he sheathed his sword and simply walked away from the crime scene.
The outside threat was officially neutralised.
But that meant there was still a corrupted boss locked inside the simulation, which needed to be defeated for the freshmen to escape.
[Inside the simulation.]
My chest heaved as breath after breath tore through my lungs.
The stone floor had completely grazed my body during the fall.
It left me with badly torn clothes and bruised skin.
Dealing with a twin-headed cyclops is hard on a good day. Fighting one inside a tight, enclosed space like this is practically a death sentence.
The giant monster opened both of its ugly mouths at the same time.
It sucked in a huge amount of air, its chest expanding like a giant balloon, and then it screamed from both heads.
SCREAAAAMMMMMM
"Guh."
A wave of noise filled the circular room. The sound pierced right through my eardrums, making them bleed instantly, which I could feel in my neck.
Before my hearing could even recover, the beast started charging directly towards me.
It swung a fist and punched me squarely in the chest.
Crack.
My boots left the floor entirely.
The brutal impact sent me flying backwards until my spine hit the hard cave wall.
The sound of my own bones cracking echoed loudly in my head.
'This is really bad,' I thought, sliding down the stone to my knees.
Cyclops opened its mouth again to deafen me a second time.
Just then, Melissa appeared right behind it.
Her bright blue hair flashed brightly in the dim light.
She swung her scythe, scratching the back of the monster's neck and forcing it to stumble forward away from my position.
"Do you need some help?" she asked, throwing a carefree smile in my direction.
For a split second, the horrifying face of the six-eyed demon from the mirror illusion overlapped perfectly with her normal, pretty face.
A chill ran straight down my spine.
But right now is not the time to worry about her hidden secrets.
Survival comes first, questions come later.
Pushing myself up from the floor, my grip tightened on the hilt of my sword.
We both moved at the same time.
The cyclops can easily track two different targets since it has two separate heads. It never has a blind spot.
But its body does not have the agility to dodge a highly coordinated assault.
Melissa focused her attacks on the top half. Her long weapon can easily reach a much greater distance without putting her in danger.
Taking the lower angle, my goal was to target its legs, hoping to slow its movements down.
Spinning the scythe in her hands, Melissa pressed a hidden trigger.
The blade extended rapidly from the shaft as the curved hook flew through the air and slashed deeply across one of the monster's red eyes.
"GOHHHHH," the beast roared, covering its bleeding face with a giant hand.
Using that window of opportunity, my sword swung hard, aiming to cut down its right leg. But the skin was just too tough this time.
The blade bounced off its shin, leaving only a very shallow cut.
The cyclops ignored the pain and raised its foot to crush me flat. Rolling desperately to the side, the leg missed my head by a mere hair's breadth.
The ground shook hard from the stomp, kicking up dust all over my face.
'My lack of skills is a severe problem,' my inner voice screamed in frustration.
Relying only on raw physical stats and past-life memories is not enough against A-rank enemies.
The very first thing on my to-do list after surviving this test is to secure better combat skills from the system.
Over in the centre of the room, the bald cultist was still secretly controlling all the other cyclopes running around the forest simulation.
His circles pulsed with dark energy. But his intense focus suddenly broke for a second.
He flinched, feeling a new, powerful presence stepping into the tight tunnel behind us.
Zephyr entered the cavern.
The golden-eyed hero was covered in monster blood from head to toe. He locked his cold stare directly onto the twin-headed monster, and then his gaze shifted to the praying cultist in the centre.
A cold smile slowly filled Zephyr's face as he walked confidently into the room.
He walked straight toward the glowing circles without any hesitation. The invisible barrier flared to life, stopping him from stepping any closer to the bald man.
Zephyr didn't even blink or slow down.
He just raised both of his hands and placed his palms flat against the invisible energy shield.
His unique core activated instantly, draining the raw power right out of the barrier. The energy started funnelling directly into his body, feeding his strength.
The cultist felt his protective spell failing rapidly.
Panic finally broke his calm, meditative facade.
He completely abandoned his control over the forest monsters and forced the twin-headed cyclops to push Melissa aggressively out of the way.
The beast turned its body and ran directly towards Zephyr to protect its master from the drain.
"Shane, catch," Melissa yelled from the ground.
She threw her scythe straight towards me. The long weapon spun rapidly through the air like a deadly boomerang.
Dropping my useless iron sword, my hands shot out and caught the metal shaft perfectly.
The balance felt completely different, but it was exactly what the situation required.
The cyclops was already mid-stride, rushing blindly at the distracted hero.
Swinging the scythe low, the curved blade hooked perfectly around the monster's ankle.'
Digging my boots deeply into the stone floor, my arms pulled backwards with every last drop of strength left in my broken ribs.
That sudden pull ripped the beast's leg right out from under it.
The giant creature crashed onto the hard ground, sending another tremor through the dark room.