"That could be the entrance. We can be done." Maria pulled a little at Clark's hand. She thought that she was seeing the lights of the main entrance to the academy. The goal that all of the participants had.
"No. That's not it." Clark wasn't sure why he had unconsciously reached out to grab Maria's hand. He didn't like her. He wasn't attached, yet he still had. It was infuriating. But he couldn't worry about the why right now.
"Those are beasts. Weak ones, but still beasts." Clark sent Devi ahead of him. These small things were easy for Devi to crush in a single chilling bite.
'Spiney lantern fly
These are very weak insect type beasts that glow in any ambient light. They use the glow to confuse and attract prey. They will use a singular spine to stab at their prey and cause blood to flow until their prey perishes. From that point, they will slowly gather and drain their prey leaving a husk of what it had been. The beast is weak when alone but tough to handle when gathered in a group. They are extremely valuable due to the fact that they carry small fire crystals within their body. They have absolutely zero growth potential unless they have a unique bloodline passed down by their mother.'
"Those are lantern flies. They are waiting to trap you and suck your blood. Just wait a few minutes then we can go and gather up the fire crystals in their bodies." Maria was confused as she saw the lights in the distance blink out.
The system had shown Clark all he needed to at the exact moment that he had even started to think about what the lights might be. The update that the system had made Clark fully realize that he had to achieve whatever quest appeared. If another update was available then he should put everything he had in to getting it.
"I- thank you again." Maria was back to being shy. She thanked Clark but received no response. Clark was too intent on checking the surroundings. Now that it was dark he felt very on edge. He could face any number of beasts left here to challenge the participants.
"Come on. I will let you have one or two." Clark felt that if he gave Maria one or two of the small fire crystals then he would be able to get her off his back. She could get over him and have whatever money to start off in Nova academy without issue.
"But I didn't do any-" Clark tossed two at her and she was forced to catch them. Before Maria had spoken again, Clark continued on his journey….
"Hmm, that boy is pretty cold. But he has an interesting way of doing things. I can't even see his spirit beast. Another chameleon spirit beast?" An older man's voice echoed in a small room while facing a series of crystal balls.
"No. I would be able to see the warmth of its body. It's cold and round shaped. Whatever it is. But even my serpent can't see it properly." The female voice sounded annoyed that her spirit beast could not see what the Clark had.
"How about the girl. Younger sister-"
"How many times do I need to say it? Family does not matter here. You are an instructor and I expect you to act like it." The heavy voice made all of the instructors watching shift slightly before returning to their conversation.
"I may want him if he makes it past the last little test. He might even set a record with that girl. Two records in one year." The cackling laughter seemed to make everyone uncomfortable in the room. But none said anything more. Their features were too hidden in the odd glow of the crystal balls to know….
"If you won't leave me alone then make your jellyfish stop glowing. It is giving us away. We need to be careful. There has to be some sort of trap at the top. The trail became way too easy." Clark knew that the area they had moved in to was too perfect.
The trees had become further spaced out. The path was larger. And they could see stones above the trees signaling that they were near the entrance to the academy and the completion of the test as a whole.
"What's wrong? There's nothing here for us to worry about. We can even see the steps to the front door." Maria had learned her lesson from earlier. She had nearly run in to the spinney lantern flies. She could have died right there and left all her dreams in a broken pile. She would not do that again. She held herself back and looked Carefully in Clark's eyes.
Grudgingly, Clark spoke, "It's too easy. There should be something more. A trap. Something guarding the door. We barely faced any challenge. Yes, many fools fell to whatever was here in the night. But there should be more."
The system was giving Clark nothing. That meant he was not asking the right questions or seeing anything that was a beast. What that left Clark with was a trap. But where was the trap? The ground looked normal. The stones were normal. The trees were…"The trees."
Taking Maria's hand, Clark looked down at the roots of the trees. The spaces between trees were misleading. The trees had grown out radically on the forest floor. Even the path that the pair walked was not simple. Ther small darker spots that Clark had thought were spots on the stones were actually holes.
"We are walking on roots. The trees grew over a massive hole in the ground." As if prompted, the system gave Clark information he wished he didn't have. He could see through the little hole. Even though he couldn't make out what he saw, the system could.
'Corpse worm
Poisonous beasts that has zero intelligence. Easily killed but massively annoying to face in extreme numbers. They often feed on rotting bodies growing to the largest ever recorded size of ten feet long. They are normally killed to prevent potential spread of illness but will be forgotten in deep dark crevices. They have zero potential for growth and are considered a pest to every living being.'
"We might fall." Maria's breathing increased drastically. She knew that her spirit beast was safe but she was not. She and Clark could fall at any moment to their deaths. For all she knew, the pit was endless darkness.
"Follow." Clark started to move. With his careful sight, he could tell where the roots were weak and broken. The tough roots had wrapped around each other becoming a strange webbing that they could step on.
Those who watched from a distance would say that the pair was doing a very slow and strange dance. Their movements were twisting here and there to make it to the entrance. But even more, Clark could now feel the roots giving as he put weight on them. He and Maria were too heavy.
"Let go of me. We need to walk separately. Just follow." Maria was terrified by this but slowly released when Clark stayed still. There was a soft breeze when Clark let go. It was enough for him to begin moving again. This time more confident in his footing. Maria just needed to stay with his pace. Or else… she would fall to her end.