For most of the students participating in this practical assessment, surviving seven whole days in this perilous ancient ruin was definitely a nightmare that would keep them up at night.
Every inch of this land held danger—whether it was magical beasts lurking in the grass, triggered ancient magic traps, or competitors willing to do anything to snatch points.
All of this made life hell for these nobles and young misses who were used to being pampered.
Even the commoner students from poor backgrounds couldn’t guarantee they’d make it through seven days in a place like this.
But for Helos’s group, this so-called “battle royale” was practically a relaxing vacation.
They had taken over that abandoned watchtower with a wide view and turned it into a fully equipped resort camp.
During the day, Julius was on alert and searching for ingredients, Gavi was clearing out the small fry around the area and maintaining the traps, while Helos sat at the top of the tower.
Sipping afternoon tea and using her newly awakened “mind’s eye” to watch with great interest the unlucky sods in the distance who were beating each other bloody over a few mana crystals.
At night, they could even light a campfire and enjoy a hot, hearty meal without a hint of tension.
Of course, besides enjoying life, they hadn’t forgotten their main task.
That was “tax collection.”
And the most tragic victim of this was the once-arrogant little genius, Kelaode Fulaiming.
***
Trial Ruins, border area between the middle and inner rings.
“Huff… huff…”
Kelaode lay on the muddy grass in a thicket of brambles, gasping for air.
His mage robe, once a symbol of his glory, was now a tattered mess covered in mud and grass stains, with a few dead twigs hanging off it.
His face was full of exhaustion and grime, and his once-sparkling eyes were now bloodshot.
After two full hours of lurking and tracking, he finally found a high-grade mana crystal emitting a rich purple glow hidden in a very concealed tree hollow.
“Finally…”
Kelaode stretched out a trembling hand and clutched the crystal tightly.
This was his only gain in the past two days, and his hope for a comeback.
The points for this high-grade crystal were extremely high. As long as he could bring it to the settlement point, he could at least ensure he wouldn’t be dead last.
Kelaode was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes.
“Great…”
He carefully tucked the crystal into his chest and was about to get up and leave this godforsaken place.
But just as he straightened up, a familiar voice drifted softly behind him like a ghost.
“Oh my, what a coincidence, Kelaode.”
Kelaode’s body froze.
He turned around mechanically to see the silver-haired demon sitting there with a smile, less than ten meters away by a large tree, holding a cup of red tea from who knows where.
And beside her, the black-haired knight, who was like death incarnate, and the elusive golden-haired maid were staring at him from left and right.
Their eyes were like those of someone looking at a fattened pig ready for slaughter.
“You… you guys…”
Kelaode’s voice trembled.
“Don’t be so tense.”
Helos jumped off the rock and walked over with light steps.
“We just happened to pass by and saw you picked up something nice.”
The girl held out her hand, palm up, with a benevolent smile on her face.
“So… share and share alike?”
Kelaode clutched his chest tightly.
This was the fifth day.
In these five short days, this was the fourth robbery!
“What the hell… you guys again?!”
Kelaode gritted his teeth, tears welling in his eyes.
“How do you keep running into me no matter where I go?! Did you cast some tracking magic on me?!”
“Oh, how can you call it tracking?”
Helos blinked innocently.
“It’s fate, fate, you know? It means there’s a special bond between our two teams.”
Bond my ass—!
Kelaode roared in his heart, but didn’t dare say it out loud.
He glanced at Julius, who was cracking his knuckles behind Helos, those pitch-black eyes clearly saying, “If you don’t hand it over, I’ll take it myself.”
Kelaode trembled.
This crystal was his last hope, earned with all the bruises and sweat on his body.
He didn’t want to give it up.
But if he didn’t, not only would he lose the crystal, but these shameless guys might knock him unconscious and throw him out of the arena, making him the guaranteed loser.
“Fine…”
Kelaode squeezed the word out between his teeth.
“I’ll give it…”
Shakily, he pulled out the high-grade mana crystal that still carried his body heat from his chest.
He closed his eyes and slapped the crystal heavily into Helos’s hand.
Helos accepted it with a grin, even reaching up on her tiptoes to pat Kelaode’s head like a dog.
“Good boy.”
“Well, we’ll be off now. Good luck from here on out, great genius.”
With that, the one person and two bodyguards turned and swaggered away, leaving Kelaode standing alone in the bleak wind, completely stunned.
“Bastards! Bastards! Bastards! Bastards—!”
Only after Helos and the others had completely disappeared from sight did Kelaode finally break down.
He fell to his knees, pounding the ground wildly with his fists, letting out a roar like a wounded beast.
“This is too much! Absolutely too much! Helos! I’m not done with you!”
The resentment in his eyes had now become so thick it couldn’t be dissolved.
Five days, four robberies.
Now he didn’t even have a fragment of a mana crystal on him.
His points were probably dead last, even lower than those slackers hiding in tree hollows sleeping.
If he ended the exam like this, how could he face his family?
And how could he face the mentors who had high hopes for him?
He could even imagine the mocking and contemptuous looks from the people around him the moment he walked out of the teleportation gate.
These impressions would follow him throughout his entire academy career, never letting him hold his head high.
“No… I can’t let this happen.”
Kelaode suddenly lifted his head, his bloodshot eyes gleaming with a mad light.
He suspected these guys were following him. There was no way this was just a coincidence.
How could there be such an absurd coincidence in the world?
Every time he managed to gather a few crystals, they showed up right on time.
They were obviously treating him like free labor!
This feeling of working for others was more unbearable than death itself.
“Since you’re being so merciless, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
Kelaode got up from the ground.
He wiped the mud off his mouth, a ferocious expression appearing on his face.
He couldn’t stay passive anymore.
If he didn’t do something, this exam was truly over.
He had to come up with a plan—not only to get rid of these vampire-like pests but also to take a vicious revenge and make them taste despair too.
Kelaode paced back and forth on the spot, his mind racing as he searched for any useful information.
“Fighting them directly is out of the question.”
“That black-haired knight is a monster, and that maid is no pushover either. As for Helos… her ability is even weirder. I still haven’t figured out what trick she used.”
“Going head-on seems like certain death.”
“If direct confrontation won’t work, then I’ll use someone else’s knife to kill.”
Kelaode muttered to himself.
His gaze involuntarily turned toward the deepest part of the forest.
That was the inner core area of the Trial Ruins.
Before entering the ruins, he had spent a fortune to buy a secret intelligence report about these ruins from a senior student.
According to the report, deep in the ruins, under the rubble of that ancient temple, slept an ancient beast of terrifying strength.
It was said to have been captured and sealed here a hundred years ago by Dean Finalais herself.
Although its power was mostly suppressed by a barrier, it still had destructive power equivalent to a high-rank archmage.
It was called the “Ruins Guardian.”
For freshmen who had just entered the academy less than a year ago, it was definitely an unbeatable opponent.
As long as he could lure it awake and bring it in front of those three, even that black-haired knight couldn’t escape unscathed given the beast’s terrifying strength.
Then the scene would definitely become chaotic.
And that would be his only chance.
Not only would he get rid of these three major headaches through the beast, but he might even…
It was a plan that would hurt the enemy a thousand and lose eight hundred himself. If he wasn’t careful, the beast would kill him too.
But Kelaode no longer cared.
Now he was like a gambler who had lost everything. As long as he could turn the tables, he was willing to sell his soul to the devil.
Kelaode stared in that direction, a twisted smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
“Helos.”
“Since you want to play, let’s play big.”
“Let’s see this time… who’s hunting who!”
Having made up his mind, Kelaode didn’t hesitate.
He straightened his torn mage robe and pulled out a simple potion he had made from the available materials from his tattered bag.
This was originally made to lure some low-level magical beasts, but now he was going to use it for something life-threatening.
He took a deep breath, a flicker of resolve in his eyes.
Then the red-haired youth took a step forward and marched resolutely toward the core area of the ruins, where a chilling aura emanated.
***
Meanwhile, at the abandoned watchtower.
Helos hummed a tune, cheerfully tossing the newly acquired high-grade mana crystal into the half-full sack.
She clapped her hands, a satisfied smile on her face.
“That redhead is annoying, but his skill at finding crystals is top-notch.”
“In just half a day, he found another high-grade one.”
“Indeed.”
Julius, who was sitting nearby examining a crystal, nodded.
Though he still had mixed feelings about this robbery business, he had to admit that the cost-effectiveness was much higher than running all over the mountains themselves.
Julius looked up and glanced at the sky, which was gradually darkening outside the window.
“But I have a feeling.”
He frowned, a flicker of alertness in those pitch-black eyes.
“That guy is probably about to reach his limit. Even a rabbit bites when cornered. Are we pushing him too hard?”
“Relax, relax.”
Helos waved her hand dismissively.
“What can he do now? We’ve stripped him of all his gear and scared him into losing most of his mana. Right now, he’s a toothless tiger. What can he do besides rage impotently?”
“Besides, if he really has a trick up his sleeve or tries something funny…”
Helos’s smile turned playful, her gaze landing on the crystal in Julius’s hand.
“Wouldn’t that be even more interesting?”
She looked at her own pale violet eyes reflected in the crystal in Julius’s hand, speaking leisurely.
“This exam was already boring enough. A little more excitement would make it all worthwhile.”