Chapter 84: 233450!
It wasnât long after the golden beam speared into the sky that Leoâs trial points began to surgeâviolently.
And he wasnât the only one; others also experienced abrupt rises. But compared to Leo, they looked like puddles beside a tidal wave.
KEo311 â 11000 â 11050 â 11070 ... â 11960 ... â 12700
"Hey, look! That candidateâs compartment is filling up again! Quick, empty itâfast!" one instructor barked, already rushing forward as some others began hauling beast corpses away with various magics. Steam and metallic stink wafted from the heap as mana circulated through the air.
Just as they thought theyâd get even a momentâs breath, the compartment shudderedâand began filling once more.
"Arghhh... why the hell is that candidateâs area so far away?!" one of them shouted, his voice cracking with irritation. He looked rough and rowdy, but the others made sure he was the one stuck with most of the hauling. Naturally, he was the one carrying the bulk of Leoâs kills.
Occasionally, the compartment beside Leoâs flickered as well before dumping its contentsâLilyâs.
KEo312 â 510
The same phenomenon spread through several other compartments, too. The instructors exchanged uneasy glances.
These candidates were obviously within range of the Heaven-and-Earth phenomena. They practically had to walk in one direction, and beasts would appear. Convenientâtoo convenient.
But blessings never came alone. Several numbers hovering above their respective compartments began turning greyâdead.
Some died after achieving 200 points... 400... and so on. Surrounded, cornered, they had clearly fought until their last breath before collapsing under the swarm.
Right now, second place belonged to a candidate numbered:
GHc1 â 1540
"Look! The second person is from Gardenhold!"
"OHH! It must be that rumoured heaven-favoured child! Havenât you heard? He awakened dual talentsâone of them lets him share strength with his beasts. I bet heâll be a future powerhouse. Maybe even a King-level!"
The instructor gulped audibly. "King-level..." he muttered, as if the very word carried some sacred weight.
They wouldâve loved to continue that conversation, butâ
They still couldnât comprehend how this one unknown candidateâs points were climbing with terrifying speed.
KEo311 â 13200 â 13250 ... â 14010
"It hasnât even been a full day yetâand itâs barely noon!" one instructor said, baffled.
"Maybe... the metal plate malfunctioned?" another suggested, desperate to rationalize the insanity.
"Yes! It has to be! Last year, the top student only reached this much by the end of the month!"
But moments laterâ
KEo311 â 16540 â 17540
This aligned with the moment Leo killed the Gravelback Howler.
"Heh... look. Now he even hunted a high 2-star," one instructor muttered, voice tight with nerves. Their flimsy explanation crumbled when another pointed at the massive pile of corpses being dumped into the respective compartment.
"Just how much mana does he have to spare? Is he chucking mana crystals instead of food? Doesnât he know taking too many at once can kill you?" another instructor snapped.
It was common knowledge: while mana crystals could save lives, consuming too many at once caused crystal poisoningâa gruesome death where organs slowly crystallized from within, collapsing one by one. Only a high priestâs holy magic could treat it, if the victim even reached a temple intact. Once crystallization began, the chances of survival plummeted. Some priests couldnât cure severe cases at all.
But before the debate could continue, his points began climbing again within an hourâthis time like a deranged heartbeat.
KEo311 â 17540 â 18540 â 23540 â 23940 â 23990 â 28990 â 78990 â 83990 â 133990 â 183990 â 233450
All of that happened within ten minutes.
Once again, all the instructorsâ heads slowlyâsynchronouslyâturned toward the tiny, pitifully distant compartment.
It was so stuffed that the overflow swallowed every compartment nearby, filling a total of twenty-five. Every single one was packed to the brim with beastsâsome the size of a dog, some as large as an elephant, and some nearly the size of a small truck. The air trembled with the smell of blood, earth, and mana discharge.
Then came a breathy chuckleâthe same instructor who had been stuck ferrying corpses from KEo311âs section all day.
"Haha...Heh... heh... AHHâ"
---
"Master, step aside!"
As soon as Leo sensed Niriâs intent, he shifted to step awayâonly to spot a massive stone hand crashing down from above, sealing off every route behind him. He had no choice left but to duck forward, slipping dangerously close to the golemâs body.
He didnât slow. Planting a foot against its knee joint, he kicked off hard, springing up to chest height. His boot struck the stone torso; he recoiled off it, trying to leap clearâbut another giant hand swung into place, blocking his escape mid-air.
Without hesitation, Leo dove into the danger instead of away from it. He slammed both hands around the golemâs elbow joint and yanked with everything he had. The brittle stone cracked sharplyâthen the entire forearm tore free with a grinding roar of shattering rock.
Using the severed upper limb as a temporary foothold, Leo launched himself higher, twisting his body mid-air. With a grunt, he hurled the absurdly heavy arm downward. It smashed into the golemâs head with a thunderous crack, stone splintering on impact.
He ascended rapidly the the previous momentum of jumpâten meters, twelve... nearly fifteen meters above ground, rising far higher than the golem itself.
That was when a sudden white beam tinged with gold erupted from behind himâNiriâs solar beamâfiring straight toward the cluster of exposed cores.
HummmmâCzeeerchh!
The beam slammed directly into the chest, its diameter wide enough to engulf all the cores at once. Heat rippled through the air; Leo felt the skin on his arms prickle even from above.
At first, the golemâs torso buckled under the blast, fissures crawling across the stone. Then three shimmering turtle-shell barriers flashed into existenceâpure white mana shieldsâstraining to hold back the attack.
They lasted half a second.
Not like before, where they rebounded energy and shattered slowly, taking nearly 2 seconds. This time, there was no pushback, no shockwaveâjust a brittle, effortless giving-way, as if they hadnât even been real.
The moment the barriers collapsedâ
Crack! Crush! Fhus! BOOOM!
The beam punched straight through the golemâs chest, out its back, and continued onward. A lower-ranked beast unlucky enough to be in the path was instantly incinerated, reduced to a burnt husk in the blink of an eye.
Tunnelcrusher Mole (Low 2-star) [Ordinary Bloodline] Killed â 1000 XP
Then Niri did something unexpected.
Her body turned, hands still positioned as though holding the sun-orb between them. And like a rotating laser cutter, she swept the beam sideways.
And thenâ
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
...
...
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A/N: Sorry for the late Chapters!!! Sometimes I think I did a mistake introducing such complex maths in stats, doing each one at a time and then typing it back drains some mental energy, even if itâs for the most part multiplication and addition.