"Forget about it, let's be on our way." Noah took a glance at the currently moping Leonel and turned away, facing their original path forward.
The boy could only obey, muttering as he stood up. "I am so dead, mom and dad will kill me, kill me…"
The group ignored his pitiful words and focused on the path ahead. They continued their massacre as they trudged forward, killing any beast they encountered. It wasn't really an issue for them with both the genius Noah and Leonel. Of course, Damien and Mona were also geniuses capable of fighting beasts a level above them but besides the two monsters capable of rising more than 3 levels, their shine dimmed considerably.
After an hour of many turns and battles, the group of 4 finally reached their destination. Before them was a large field with walls barricading it in a circular fashion and a large gate at the other end of the field. At the center of the field, a large beast roared as it unleashed an attack on the group assaulting it.
It was an ape-like monster, standing at about 4 meters tall with large bulging muscles the size of a man's torso, its red hair moved around in the wind like a flame and its fang could match even Rank 3 equipments in sharpness. From the peak Intermediate Stage aura it was releasing, it was easy to tell that this was indeed the guardian of the gate they faced.
And this all meant it was an outright terror to the group of 10 that had dared to battle it.
"Goddamn it! Launch everything you have at this bastard!" A flustered teenager, about 14 years of age, yelled as he thrust forward with his sword, releasing a blade of ice that tried and failed to pierce through the beast's skin.
"Fall down, you damned beast!" Another one of them, seemingly the same age as the first, rose his hands to release a wave of spear-like rocks that hit the beast.
Responding to the annoying mosquito-like pain, the ape roared once more, releasing a wave of fire unto its surrounding and completely burning through one of the participants that had been too slow to run.
"Dammit! I can't die here! My parents are waiting for me, my goddamned mansion!"
The other participants also let out screams as they began fleeing for their lives. And in the next moment, an example of Noah's test displayed itself. The fear of death that gnawed upon the minds of the participants revealed itself. And, unlike Damien, they failed to suppress it.
Three of the 9 that remained jabbed at their comrades, slicing away a good chunk of their waist and proceeding to place the bleeding body over their back as protection. And in the next moment, the wave of fire reached them.
Screams echoed in the field but were abruptly cut short as the fire did its job to incinerate its victims. Only one seemed to survive from the attack, he was the teenager that was the Earth Mage type Battlesoul master. Clenched in his hand, was what looked to be left of a corpse, its face unrecognizable from the burns and missing the entire right side.
It seemed the boy had been one of the three that had used his comrade as a first layer of defense. Under it, was an armor made of earth that had been obliterated on the right side, leaving his clothes and the skin underneath burnt.
Upon surviving the attack, he took no chance and continued his desperate attempt to flee. Luckily, it seemed that the ape had no intention to continue the attacks and let him be. The boy didn't seem to notice this as he kept on running towards Noah and his group, yelling on top of his lungs. "Please! Help me! Help me!"
The silent Noah rose his hand, using his Pull Battle art to drag the teenager towards him. The boy cheered inwardly at the beginning. Yet sensing the cold murderous intent the transmigrator was emitting sent shivers down his spine. "You disgust me." His longsword appeared in his grasp as he stared down at the boy cowering at his feet. "If there's one thing I hate the most in this world…" With two swings, the boy's arms and legs detached from his body, falling limply at his side. "… It's betrayal."
He stared blankly at the limbs for a second before an overwhelming sense of pain filled him the next and his lips parted to let out a scream. "AAAARRGGGHHHH!!!"
"Noah…" Leonel stepped forward, wishing to speak but was silenced with a glare from his friend.
Damien and Mona kept silent as they watched the boy screaming inn agony, knowing well that might have been them if they had failed his earlier test.
"Please! Please, don't kill me!" Even while in pain, the teenager rose his head to plead for mercy with tears and snot clouding his face. "Anything! I'll give you anything you want!"
With an apathetic gaze, Noah looked down at the begging teen. "Don't worry, you still have some use." He then glanced at Leonel and the siblings. "Prepare for an ambush."
"Ambush?" Leonel paused for a bit then finally looked at the teenager writhing in pain on the ground. "Noah, you can't possibly think of…?"
"Leonel, scum like him would push into the mouth of a beast to live for one more second." Noah's gaze hardened as he spoke. "The best he can do is serve a purpose before he dies." With a fling of his arms, the boy was sent flying into the distance making him yell in terror as the ape seemed to take notice in him again. "Now prepare for an ambush."
***
"Honey." Aina held her husband's hands as she watched the scene showed to her.
Luke sighed and spoke lowly. "He'll reveal it to us when he's ready. We already knew his past must have been tough to be like that, but he'll definitely come around."
Far from them, a certain figure sat in a distinguished room, calmly eating as he watched the exams. He exuded the very essence of elegance and grace, his movements as he cut the meat in his plate being extremely smooth and his muscles seemed to want to burst out from his neat and elegant suit. He possessed a defined face with a rare golden colored eye and hair, a feature all high ranking members of the Norton Family possessed. "Is this him?"
A figure suddenly appeared by his side then bowed before answering. "Yes sir, he seems to have evaded the two we sent last time. And judging from their disappearance, I'm guessing they ran off after failing your task."
"Hmm." The man merely kept on eating, portraying an indifferent expression.
"Sir, are you considering trying to recruit him once more? He is indeed a one of a kind genius."
"No."
"Sir?"
Standing up, the man wiped his face with a napkin and stared at the screen. "He seems to be someone who keeps a grudge, someone like that at this young age would prove to be a nuisance."
The figure bowed once more before it spoke. "What would you have me do sir?"
The man thought for a while before finally deciding. "Tell the one in charge of the west gate to release the chained beast."
The figure appeared stunned as it asked in a stammer. "B-But sir. W-What about Leonel? He's one of the House's outstanding talents!"
The man turned to his side, releasing a glance that left the figure frozen in place and almost pissing itself. Luckily it only lasted a few seconds when the man focused back on the holographic screen. "If he's associated with this boy, he'll also become a nuisance. He must be sacrificed for the good of the family."
"Y-Yes sir." And in a blink the figure disappeared.
But what the two failed to realize was that, the two assailants that day hadn't failed because Noah evaded them. They had failed because they were dead.