Everything was covered in the thick snow, Luke and his teammates just started to walk, but suddenly they heard a roaring sound from far away It was a horrifying sound because everything started to vibrate more and more as it was reaching close to them.
Luke gives quick orders to his teammates, to prepare for the upcoming battle and all of them take a fighting position, showing their sharp battle senses.
: ok Arcus, Sasha is our ace here because of her support magic, I think it would be stupid to use her in offensive battles, both of us will handle that thing, Sasha hides behind that rock and gives us buff from time to time if you feel like we are getting tired;
: Hu we don't wanna call you useless or anything you understand but you can be plenty helpful as a backup; Arcus comments cautiously.
: Don't take me as a stupid girl who doesn't know what is best for her, I will do as Mr. Luke has said; Fairy mentions to Arcus with a confident look and gives a little peak to Luke nervously.
: Hu hu wait what? why would you listen to him, wait are girls really like serious type, or is it your fairy have one or two screws loose in your head;
Arcus gave a surprised look at Sasha after giving a doubting comment at her choice of man since he had a different memory of one such event so he continued: Wait I do remember you rejecting my idea of staying behind me and letting me handle the small foxie monsters that we were handling the other day, when we were hunting down their group in our mission as an adventure, what gives now?;
: Done makes me sound like the type of person who doesn't understand what is wrong and right, I did not listen to you that day because that was your order, and those monsters were weak not like this new guest that is coming to kill us for real now;
Luke listened to all of their talking, he was amazed by the fact how relaxed they were when they are going to faced a strong looking being: Hu guys that thing is just a few more meters now;
Without wasting a single moment Sasha hides behind the rock and Luke and Arcus take a fighting stance.
The bull came at them at full speed, his physical strength was one thing but he was also attacking with a magic attack that could cover anything into ice, that can lead to death by cold, or can pause his prey momentarily making it easy for him to kill it.
The fight started as soon as the big guy came to them, with the intent to kill, but even after his direct assault on them they did not move an inch from their place, they decided to deal with the monster like a man.
Let us go, give me your best you tiny monster, heavenly slash; Arcus chants incarnation to cut that thing in half and Luke takes a deep breath to concentrate his magic.
Just in an instant before the bull touches them, a light appears from Arcus's side, indicating the use of a magic spell but Luke remains the same, from the look of the outsider it looked as if he did not use magic, however, the result was the same for them.
Both of the horns that the monster intended to use for killing them had been cut in a flash but something was not right with the bull, It backed up a little due to the instinct of danger he felt from this guy after losing his horns.
Before it could back up to safety, Luke used his sword to pierce through the thick muscle of the bull, the attack was so fast that Arcus did not even notice all of that happening, even though he was just beside Luke.
Monster stood there for a second, Arcus tried to attack again to end it permanently but the damage was done already, it started to bleed from the neck and fell: hu how when did you do that Luke? And that cut is deep, what kind of attack that was?
: Nothing I just cut him down in an instant it tried to run;
But still, Luke that kind of thing can not be done in a fraction of a time, dude you are weird and strong, I am not gonna mess with you from now on; says a guy with brown hair while he shows his surprise.
Hey hey, you are strong Mr. Luke, You guys did not even need me, no fair I wanted to show my powers too; Sasha came back from behind the rock and kept talking: but seriously what was that attack Did you even use magic? all I saw was that you cut that thing in a second and felt no magic from your attacks.
: Oh it is not like that, Even if I have a strong body it is impossible to cut down the monsters with a tough body that easily, obviously I used magic I used a small fraction of it, it is my way of fighting; Luke explains to the confused fairy and young boy.
Yet their confusion started to incline more and more, luckily a sudden announcement saved Luke from a bombardment of questions.
A lazy-sounding guy from god knows started to speak to them, hu I am audible to my new subjects, say something if you do; listening to the guy, the group of three responded with a nod.
: Okay good then, I am your instructor here and today I will be with you guys until you reach the last level and complete it, I am dam sure though you will not even reach the second stage but still all the best<..>
''Oh yeah'' says the instructor as if something important has pope out in his mind, a group of these bulls will be reaching soon and those groups will keep pooping out to you so please run to this straight path, quicker you guys are on your feet best will be for you, it is all about stamina, you have to run few miles, that is it bye.
: Hey hey, what do you mean miles while fighting those monsters, Are you serious these guys have increased the difficulty this year, How is anyone gonna pass it, dam I don't wanna fail again today my father will make me handle his boring clothing shop, I can not tolerate those super demanding ladies asking for discount; arcus speaks loudly as if he is letting out his frustration.
Both Luke and Sasha gave him a petty face like they had felt something like that before, hu sir arcus Your shouting has done a miracle, A group of ice bulls, Thank you for telling them we are here; Sasha punched Arcus in the face as she cries.
Luke uses his calm mind and fighting experience that he learnt from his previous squad and purpose idea to his team: Guys listen not all of these ice bulls are as big as that previous one, so here is the plan, just run and try to avoid as many as you can but if you have no choice then, try to injure them because killing takes a time and Sasha you will stay behind us and support us from the air and use buff magic on us.
: Good finally I will be useful:
Well I am, not sure, but I am hoping to get good support magic, Sasha doesn't disappoint us; Arcus utters this line shyly.
Fairy started to feel shy too after hearing words like hope from Arcus's mouth, and both of them looked away from each other.
: Ok are you ready, Run towards them, keeping running straight no matter what; Luke and Arcus run at full speed and Sasha uses her wings to follow them.
In cold weather, their body was burning like a heater as if they were in a hot summer, firstly Arcus avoided one of the ice bull with his speed but the second one was a little faster than him and he changed his direction in mid-air with him, arcus got hit in first three seconds of running; dam it is harder then I thought I would be;
Still, his determination to become a soldier is not that little to be defeated by the few bulls, he uses his sword and cuts down the leg joint of the big guy; Sasha time to get a little boost:
: Yeah sure here; Sasha chants and a golden light starts to gather around Arcus, making him more durable and fast, he then does most of the monsters easily.
But on the other hand, Luke was doing those bills even without ant buff magic and even cut a few of them with a clean killing hit.
Arcus could not control himself and said while running: dude what happened about not killing and taking a lot of effort, you make it so easy;
: Well, guys I have been in the military before so I have fought many of these kinds of monsters, They are quite easy to defeat;
: Wait what's easy? dude what kind of fight have you fought to call this thing easy to kill, Never mind it, tell me later when we get out of here; arcus breathes heavily as he runs towards the end.
Sasha was looking at all of the action, from above them as she flew with the help of her beautiful wings, they were shining and giving white sparkle things,
: Great going guys, you are getting used to it, count on me for support magic;
Everything was going well and good but soon after Sasha cheers them, one big bull from earlier sawed up out of nowhere.
Both of the other teammates and Luke look annoyance and Arcus says Dam not again, How are we gonna dodge that thing while avoiding all others.
But Luke seemed unfazed and he looked at Arcus: Give it to me;
: give you what?;
: your spear on your back;
: here but what are you gonna do with that while running, It is not used for that kind of fight if you don't know;
: I know but please don't mind because you might not get it back;
Arcus was getting confused but he neither had the strength to argue nor time: Here make its proper use;
At once Luke gets a well-maintained spear in his hands, it is clear that it is not used much, and then he gives a proper scanning to it as if he is understanding it.
Then for a sec, he took advantage of the free time he got, because of big opponents no more minions were coming to them and he said to the creature; come at me, and I will give you one of my best attacks;
Taking a deep breath he calmed down and concentrated a fraction of magic on the muscles and joints of his right hand, normally Soldiers use it to fight body strengthening by adding magic to muscles making them strong for a bit.
However Luke is a different case, all of his experience and his talent make him unable to use every bit of his magic to the full extent, he applies magic to every muscle and joint so that his body can handle the huge burden it is going to face.
He takes back his hand and gets ready to attack while he is running, soon after he releases his attack on that monster, the sharp sound of the spear can be heard as it flies towards the monster.
The ''doom'' spear passed through the head of the monster, making it almost detached from the body.
After that attack, silence fell in the snowy land, and even other monsters started to run away from the guy who had brutally killed their boss with one hit, their animal detected the danger.
Both of the teammates looked at each other, they had no more words to use because it was unusual for them to witness the attack with such intensity.
Finally, Sasha spoke while she was flying, her white dress and hair had been turned a little messy from all of the action: Sir Luke I don't think you even need us, or the other team to pass this exam, right Arcus?
Yeah, you are right, that attack had the intensity and power level of a well-trained soldier, The dude taught me how you did it, I am sure it was not all magic, like other knights, I barely even sensed anything.
No monster appeared in front of them after that, As all of them were talking they saw a light appear in front of them, it was a gate to the next stage, Yes we did it, says Fairy losing her focus on Luke.
All three of them enters the shiny gate that gives them a bubbly feeling as they enter it, The brightness from the gate makes them temporarily blind, and their eyes adjust according to the light of the surrounding.
They were wordless this time, unable to believe what they were seeing, it was out of this world in the beauty.