Everyone quickly began scheming, the students of royal and noble descent, Mordred and his lackeys included, rushed into the forest that surrounded them. Those confident of their abilities headed followed suit, albeit in a different direction. Jack called over Leo and the members of their squad to discuss how they were going to ace this test.
"Alright people, how are we gonna do this?" he asked. Leo, instead of coming up with a solution, asked a question instead: "There's only one beast (or familiar) for each of us, right?" Everyone agreed. "Then shouldn't we head off our separate ways? Because we all can't take down one beast and pass." Maeve and Jack nodded in agreement. It was Olympia who brought forward a more strategic approach. "I suggest one of us walk forward, in order to attract a beast compatible with our abilities, as Professor Alaric had said. Then the rest of us head in to provide assistance should the beast prove overwhelming. It's better than just going in without a plan and hoping everything works out. Any means necessary, guys, remember that." This made a lot of sense, and nobody wanted to be left behind to try again all alone; they all proceeded to pick straws. Maeve drew the shortest and accordingly was the first one up.
They followed her, keeping their distance by dashing high above in the trees. Everything was relatively boring. The beasts they had encountered so far avoided Maeve—that was due to them being very weak, although compatible. This continued until trees ahead of Maeve began creaking and crushing down. A huge elephant-like creature with tusks and feet made of hardened stone appeared—a terraphant. They usually roam plains and deserts, using their tusks to dig for underground water sources. It squealed and snorted; through all these, Maeve did not budge. She looked at it squarely in the eyes. The terraphant began flapping his ears, but whatever stood in front did not heed its warning. It gave Maeve a last chance by trumpeting. It then did something peculiar by standing on its hind legs. It trumpeted again and hit the ground with its forelegs, causing an earthquake. Maeve covered her legs up to her waist in solid earth. It repeated again, causing cracks in Maeve's little defense. Third time's the charm, the next earthquake shattered her defense and sent her crushing into a tree. Sense her teammates moving in, she gestured for them to stop, she wanted a few rounds with this thing before she sought their help.
"Alright, game on." She covered her fists with earth, creating makeshift gauntlets. The terraphant charged towards her, kicking up dust as it approached. It swung its massive tusks at Maeve's head. She dodged and gave it two quick punches at its midsection. The terraphant bellowed as the pain registered. It turned and charged at her once more. She dodged again and went in for more punches. Her gauntlets broke upon impact. The force rattled her whole body, even causing her ears to ring. The beast had hardened its midsection, one of the few areas Maeve could reach. She forced herself up and took a stance. This thing was on a whole new level, and she needed to up her game to gain an edge. Maeve wasn't using her full strength; she held back because she wanted to gauge the beast's power. And upon seeing the little effect she had on the beast, going full strength was her only option. She took a deep breath; the rocks around her covered her entire body with the exception of her eyes. Maeve looked at the terraphant and beckoned it to come. They both rushed towards each other and clashed. BOOM! The sound of the impact nearly shook her teammates off the branches they stood, some of the students near that particular area heard the deafening sound and closed their ears. The dust settling revealed Maeve standing tall with some minor bruises and the terraphant on its side. Her teammates began cheering, and Maeve began waving like crazy and stopped. The creature wasn't defeated or dead. It shook its head like nothing had happened. Maeve, sensing danger, was now concerned and less confident. She had gone full power, and the only damage she could now see she had done was cracking one of the tusks, which the terraphant had already begun healing by absorbing the surrounding rocks. The rocks! It was the rocks that gave the beast's strength. But that also was how she partly got her strength. She backed away, signaling her friends to come to her aid. "No, don't come down, and avoid engaging it, we need a plan. As long as it's around rocks, it's going to keep regenerating and overpowering me more." Olympia, the brightest amongst as usual, chimed in, "We came across a swamp on our way; perhaps we can lead it there. It's a stone's throw away from here; let's do it."
"Lead the way, guys; I will keep the terraphant busy." She swung her arm at the terraphant, a slant pillar emerged from the ground, imitating her arm, and swung itself at the terraphant's face, severely cracking its left tusk and crushing its trunk. The creature snorted and began pursuing her. Ten minutes pass, and they still have not found the swamp they had come across earlier. Beads of sweat had formed on Maeve's forehead. Another ten, and she began slowing down, the armor of rocks she had formed earlier had started to become heavier, enabling the terraphant to gain on them. "We are getting close." Olympia alerted, catching the pungent smell of the swamp first. They heard Maeve yell and then heard the sound of a tree creaking as it fell down. The terraphant had caught up to Maeve and had clubbed her with its trunk straight out of her armor into a tree. The terraphant noticing the blood on one of its tusks trumpeted victoriously. Everyone looked in horror as Maeve struggled to get up. There was a gaping wound in between her neck and the left shoulder, bleeding profusely.
Despite her wound, Maeve managed to stand on her feet. Now it was the terraphant's turn to be shocked. Maeve screamed in anger, pillars with shaped ends like those of a spear sprouted from the ground to her side. She raised her right arm high and swung it down. The spears did just same, they fell with such force that hardened body of the terraphant shattered. It trumpeted until one of the pillars hit its trunk and nailed it to the ground. Blood spluttered everywhere. As she walked towards it, Maeve knew her opponent was not done; she could see her pillars being absorbed by the infernal creature to heal. She lifted the creature with a platform of earth, all while being heavily injured. Her teammates got down with awe on their faces. They rushed to her side and Olympia began weaving runes in the air that burnt into Maeve's wound, at which she flinched. "I'm sorry but this was the only way. This should speed up the healing process a bit. Someone should help with the terraphant." The beast, although critically wounded, was thinning the carpet Maeve was carrying it on plus her pillars to heal. Leo was basically useless here. Leo couldn't help much, as the dense trees limited his ability to create portals.
Jack could sense metallic ores beneath them. He basically created metal out of them, which he used to relieve Maeve of her burden. He made the metals erode the earth around the terraphant until it was only supported by metals. He then used some of them to remove the remaining pillars on the beast to stop it from healing. Upon arriving at the swamp, Jack threw the beast in. Maeve jumped on top of its head and broke one of the tusks and shoved it into the beast's skull, instantly killing it. She had noticed some scars—which only tusks could make—on it before she even fought it. She concluded that the beast could likely be killed by its own tusk, she had tried to get it by using her armor to break it but that had proven futile. They all sighed as they watched the creature sink. A man in a dark cloak materialized out of nowhere and asked Maeve if she wanted to leave because she had passed the test. She had the option of staying or leaving. She chose the former to help her friends and teammates also pass despite her injuries. The man said nothing and teleported away. "Alright people, I believe you have to draw straws and what not." She said cheerily. The rest groaned and drew straws as they had done again. "Who got the shortest?" Maeve said, looking at them.
"I did."