The deans and the director, gathered inside Suga Tin's office, watched as their new stufon underwent the trial. Some had already managed to disappoint them, while others had pleasantly surprised them.
What drew their attention the most were the actions of Trey, Nreu, and Heya. Working together, the brother and sister had managed to defeat several wolf packs, escaping with only a handful of wounds. On the screen, both of them looked utterly exhausted and appeared to be preparing to make camp.
However, for some reason, Nreu suddenly paused on the leaderboard. His gaze carefully scanned through the rankings, but after failing to find whoever he was searching for, he clicked his tongue in irritation, closed the list, and returned to his sister.
Trey, on the other hand, was acting alone. During all this time, he had encountered wolves several times, yet each battle had ended in his victory. What especially puzzled the observers was that he had not used magic even once.
That concerned the deans no less than it intrigued them.
On top of that, Trey had brought nothing with him to sleep on or even use as shelter for the night. Watching this, the director gradually began to worry about him. Turning his gaze toward the deans, he finally spoke.
— What do you think he's planning? — Suga Tin asked, pointing at the screen where a lone figure was heading toward the mountain.
— I can only assume he's going there hoping to find weaker monsters he can handle on his own, — Shego`Lo replied thoughtfully, her eyes never leaving the screen.
— I think he has some sort of plan. As you may have noticed, in every battle so far, he has relied solely on his sword, — AmaLeyn said, pointing out the obvious flaw in both the director's and Shego`Lo's reasoning.
Suga Tin continued rubbing his chin thoughtfully, his eyes fixed on the screen.
— What monsters inhabit the area near the mountain?
— Golems, wyverns, and a couple of crocalak packs. All of them are C-rank, — Shego`Lo answered, recalling the latest reports from the inspection hunters.
After her words, silence filled the office for several seconds.
— If he goes there without magic, he's finished. Inform the professors to make sure at least one of them stays near him, — Suga Tin ordered.
They could not allow such talent to perish, even if the cause turned out to be his own overconfidence.
Shego`Lo nodded. Taking out a ritual stone, she contacted one of the professors. After relaying all the necessary information, she deactivated the artifact.
— Which upperclassman is assigned to monitor him? — Suga Tin suddenly asked.
— Cassandra, princess of the dark elves. Specialization — fighter support, — Shego`Lo answered.
— Good. Then let's observe him a little longer. He should be meeting his first C-rank opponent soon. Let's see how he manages to surprise us, — the director said.
The deans nodded in agreement, awaiting Trey's first battle against a C-rank monster.
Watching Trey's actions, Cassandra could only shake her head. She still did not understand what kind of talent Samantha had been talking about.
He had barely managed to defeat the spider — an opponent that should not have posed a serious threat to a capable swordsman and mage combined.
The thought that it was not actually him who had purchased the Harbinger armor was beginning to take root more and more firmly in Cassandra's mind.
As she watched Trey head toward the golem, the girl was already preparing to be completely disappointed in him, but in the next moment, he suddenly stopped and, for some reason, wounded his own hand.
Cassandra frowned.
From the outside, it looked as though he had finally gone completely insane.
As I moved through the forest, gradually approaching the foot of the mountain, I found myself anticipating the appearance of monsters more and more.
Along the way, I decided that if I encountered a C-rank monster, I would immediately summon three tormentors. I had no confidence in defeating one with this sword alone, so I had no intention of tempting fate unnecessarily.
Stepping out of the forest and noticing movement ahead, I stopped and narrowed my eyes into the darkness.
Thanks to my enhanced vision, I managed to make out a golem slowly moving in my direction. Its massive stone arms dragged heavily across the ground, leaving deep grooves behind it.
It was shorter than the spider I had fought earlier, but significantly wider and longer.
Because of the darkness, I still couldn't determine which element it belonged to.
Fortunately, the monster had not noticed me yet.
Without wasting time, I decided to summon three tormentors and infuse their weapons with my blood.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and sank into my own consciousness.
I still wasn't able to locate them quickly, so the search took several seconds. Finally finding the silhouettes I needed, I released my magic, allowing them to emerge.
When I opened my eyes, three shadows were already standing before me.
The blood energy I had used to sustain them earlier had already run dry, so I had to repeat the ritual.
Stepping closer, I touched each shadow one by one, leaving several drops of my own blood on them.
The reaction came almost instantly.
One of the figures began changing rapidly, becoming taller and more massive. In one hand, an enormous shield materialized, large enough to cover nearly its entire body, while in the other appeared a long two-handed sword. The metal flared with a dim crimson glow, and scarlet lines slowly spread across the creature's dark body, as if molten blood flowed beneath its surface.
Before me stood an orc — heavy and imposing, as though forged to withstand any attack.
On either side of him stood two elves. One wielded a long curved blade, his silhouette light and swift, as if built for rapid assaults. The second gripped a staff tightly, remaining motionless and nearly emotionless, as though already focused on the coming battle.
Despite their silence, a strange pressure radiated from the trio, making the surrounding forest seem even quieter.
I silently pointed toward the golem.
Understanding the command without words, all three turned their heads simultaneously toward the slowly approaching monster. In the next second, their figures subtly tensed, preparing for battle.
— Show me what you can do. Attack it, — I ordered, pointing at the golem.
I wanted to observe their actions. Once I identified the tormentors' weaknesses, I could later figure out how to conceal their flaws—or eliminate them entirely.
The orc and one of the elves slowly advanced toward the golem, gradually accelerating. The orc raised his massive shield in front of him while gripping his sword tightly in his other hand.
Drawn by their approach, the golem came to a halt.
Noticing that his opponents were still at a distance, it began gathering streams of air around itself. With each passing second, they condensed until they took the shape of a massive spear.
Without hesitating for even a moment, the golem hurled it toward the orc.
When the spear of wind collided with the shield, its surface flashed with dim light, and the golem's spell instantly dissipated as if it had never existed.
I couldn't help but feel surprised.
Not expecting my blood to trigger such drastic changes, I began observing even more carefully.
Apparently, the golem experienced similar surprise. It clearly had not expected its attack to be rendered completely useless.
That moment of hesitation was enough.
A few seconds later, the orc was already upon the monster, slamming his shield into its torso with tremendous force.
The golem staggered back several steps but remained standing.
Raising its massive arms, it brought them crashing down upon the orc, intending to crush him through sheer brute force.
While all my attention was fixed on their clash, the other two tormentors wasted no time.
The elf with the blade attacked from the side.
He moved so quickly that I could barely follow his silhouette, let alone the strikes themselves. Only the ringing of metal and the scattering stone fragments revealed his presence.
Meanwhile, the third elf, armed with a staff, began drawing in the surrounding mana.
After striking the ground several times with the staff, he raised it and pointed it toward the golem.
In the next moment, scarlet chains burst forth from the earth.
They instantly wrapped around the golem's body, restricting its movements. The harder the monster struggled, the tighter the chains constricted its form.
The orc immediately seized the opportunity.
Realizing the blows against his shield had ceased, he shoved it aside and swung his sword with full force at the raised arm of the golem.
A cracking sound echoed through the air.
The enormous stone limb fractured and hung limply, held together only by the scarlet chains. Soon, the chains fully wrapped around the arm and dragged it somewhere below, pulling it out of sight.
At the same time, the sword-wielding elf delivered a powerful strike to one of the golem's legs.
The monster staggered and leaned heavily onto its remaining stable side.
It tried to fling the elf away, but the chains tightened once more, completely robbing it of the ability to move.
But it did not end there.
The chains continued digging deeper and deeper into the stone body until cracks began spreading across its surface.
First one.
Then another.
And soon, a web of fractures covered nearly the golem's entire body.
Meanwhile, the orc continued methodically hacking away at the monster until he eventually severed the second arm as well.
Now, the golem had completely lost all threat.
Freed from the arms, the chains slithered upward, wrapping around the monster's shoulders and neck. They pulsed harder and harder, and the pulsation became so intense that even from a distance, I could see scarlet light coursing through the entire bound figure.
The golem resisted until the very end.
But it no longer mattered.
The orc stepped forward and delivered the final blow.
The sword split the golem's head in two, then continued downward, cleaving the monster's entire body in half.
For a moment, I simply stood frozen, trying to process what I had just witnessed.
All three fought like seasoned warriors and a mage, as though years of real combat lay behind them.
Perhaps this technique held far more depth than I had originally assumed.
After the trial, I would definitely need to study Call of Blood and the Seven Tormentors far more deeply if I wanted to unlock their full potential.
Stepping closer, I noticed that the orc had not once removed my backpack from his back the entire time — the same one I had handed him back in my room.
My mana reserves were only enough to sustain their existence for a little while longer.
Ordering the orc to return the backpack, I took it back.
After that, we continued onward, leaving behind only the traces of the ruined battle and the deep grooves the golem had carved into the earth.