“Awesome!”
Sack, the frontline warrior of Team 075, raised the monster core high in his hand, holding it up to the sunlight as if inspecting goods, laughing heartily.
Not long ago, after a hard-fought battle, Team 075 had successfully defeated a Silver-level magical beast and obtained a Silver-level monster core.
“Alright, alright, monster cores are quite dangerous. Without proper handling, it’s better not to touch them directly for too long.”
Pate, the swordsman of Team 075, patted his teammate’s shoulder and took out the container for storing monster cores, placing it in front of Sack.
“Okay, I got it. With this Silver-level monster core, we don’t have to worry about our scores anymore.”
Sack smiled and placed the core into the container.
He turned back to look at the girl mage in their team.
“Want to come take a look?”
“No need, getting it is enough. I’ll… rest for a bit…”
The mage of Team 075 sat on the ground, hugging her staff, panting heavily.
In the earlier battle, she had used too much magic power and needed to recover.
This was the composition of Team 075.
A frontline warrior, a swordsman, and a mage—forgoing the sustain of clerics and nuns for a full-offense, high-output lineup.
“With a Silver-level monster core, we’re definitely passing the assessment with ease,” Pate said. “Should we head to the safe zone?”
“Retreat? Too early.”
Sack wagged his finger.
“Our supplies aren’t used up yet. After resting a bit, we can totally handle another fight.”
Pate raised an eyebrow. “So you mean—”
“When we teamed up, we agreed from the start—our goal is excellence,” Sack said confidently. “Only with excellent enough scores can we graduate from Avalon Academy and walk a broad path afterward. Are you really content just scraping by with a pass?”
“…”
Pate and the mage exchanged a glance.
The mage signaled with her eyes that she still had magic power to use.
He felt the choice was obvious.
“Alright, let’s keep pushing!”
…
…
“What’s that!”
Pate stopped Sack, who was leading the team forward, and pointed ahead.
“There’s… a package?”
Sack noticed something. Near the rocks ahead was a package, surrounded by signs of battle, as if a fierce fight had taken place.
He stopped first, then turned to the mage in the team.
“Use magic detection. What is it?”
“Huh? There’s a monster core in the package!”
After using magic detection, Team 075’s mage was quite surprised.
“A monster core? Pie from the sky?”
Hearing this, Sack also found it unbelievable.
“…This must have been left by the previous team,” Pate analyzed.
“How do you know?”
“Didn’t you read the handbook?”
“Haha, I didn’t really look. Your written test scores are always good, so I leave it to you. If there’s an issue, just remind me like now,” Sack replied carelessly.
“Fine.”
Pate sighed helplessly and began explaining.
“Using the teleport crystal to forcibly withdraw cancels your assessment score.”
“I think there was something like that.”
Pate pointed at the battle traces. “Look over there. Some team probably encountered a magical beast, had a tough fight, couldn’t win, and hastily used the teleport crystal to escape, prioritizing their lives.”
“Then isn’t this great!”
Sack was overjoyed, ran over, and crouched in front of the backpack.
“…Wait!”
Pate suddenly felt something was off and shouted loudly.
He wanted to stop Sack, but it was too late.
When Sack opened the backpack, a powerful electric current surged out, golden lightning quickly coursing through his body.
If not for his warrior physique, he would have been charred on the spot.
But paralysis was unavoidable.
“Not good, it’s a trap!”
Team 075’s mage warned.
The thunder-attribute magic power released from the backpack had immobilized Sack, leaving him temporarily unable to move.
“Then why don’t you—”
Pate was about to urge his teammate to quickly use a purification spell.
Then he remembered—the remaining teammate was a mage, not versed in holy arts.
With no choice, he planned to forcibly separate his teammate from the thunder ant’s monster core.
“Magic power—I sense magic fluctuations! This is magic!” Team 075’s mage cried out in alarm.
Pate looked down and saw a magic circle forming on the ground. He quickly drew his weapon, shielding himself in defense.
However, the magic circle did not release an offensive spell. Instead, vision-obscuring black gas gushed out.
“Ah—!!!”
Team 075’s mage tried to use magic shock, but someone approached and interrupted her casting.
In the end, only a strange wail remained.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Pate shouted.
There was no response from the mage, and with the black gas blocking sight, he couldn’t tell what had happened.
The disadvantage of lacking a cleric or nun became clear.
The enemy had attacked a teammate in the black gas, likely trying to panic him and create an opening.
He didn’t act rashly, staying in place, gripping his sword with both hands, entering high alert, focusing his mind.
It was certain the enemy was in the black gas, having attacked the teammate, probably to—
As long as the enemy showed themselves, he would immediately use his powerful swordsmanship to slay them.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
Time slowly passed.
At the same time, noises kept coming from the black gas, seemingly to disrupt his focus, but he remained unmoved.
This was a tense standoff. Once the vision-obscuring gas dissipated, he would strike.
“What are you standing there for!” Sack roared in anger. “Chase!!”
“Chase?” Pate was stunned.
“The monster cores—our monster cores!!” Sack’s voice was miserable.
“…!”
Pate quickly swung his sword, dispersing the thinning black gas, and saw a figure disappearing into the forest in the distance.
As for the monster cores in Sack’s backpack and the thunder ant core—they were all gone.
He now understood what had happened and couldn’t help but feel furious with shame.
“Damn thief!!”
…
…
“Oh my, this Silver-level monster core is really pretty. Plus the others… that should be enough.”
Under the moonlight, the pink-haired girl sat on a tree branch, gently swinging her perfectly curved legs.
She pinched the monster core, happily examining her spoils.
“Too bad I didn’t have enough magic power back then, or I would’ve stripped them of their equipment and supplies too~”
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