Passing through the academy, orange and yellow streetlights elongated their shadows, casting silhouettes on the brick avenue.
Gradually, the square bricks underfoot no longer connected together, becoming dilapidated and sparse, submerged by weeds.
Orange light fell behind him, and blue flames illuminated the surroundings, illuminating a dark ancient tree. They form a long string, like ghosts returning home at night.
It was autumn, and the cold wind carried the yellow dead leaves, hitting everyone's faces and spinning around them. A sense of desolation and solemnity arose as they entered the dense forest.
The original rustling chatter also stopped.There was silence, except for the crunch of shoe soles on dead leaves and soil and the howling wind.
Three hours later,
"Huh...huh..."
Astr gasped softly, his back soaked with sweat, and when the cold wind blew, it became sticky and uncomfortable.
He took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead, only to feel that his steps had become heavier. They were already halfway there.
The team also changed from the original compactness to sparse and scattered, and the faint blue firelight swayed around.
"Plop."
In front of Astr, another examinee couldn't hold on anymore; he fell forward to the ground, curled up and trembling, whimpering intermittently.
Dark night, silence, cold, exhaustion... Huge pressure comes from all directions, oppressing these rich children, who have been pampered since childhood. The spirit is always tense, and the string may break at any time. This is a practical exam.
[HP is being decreased]
A bright red warning appeared in front of Astr's eyes, and Astr turned a blind eye to it, or, in other words, he was used to it.
With firm and steady steps, he walked past the fallen candidates one after another, his eyes always looking straight ahead without paying the slightest attention.
The blue flame of the lantern in Astr's hand is being reflected in Astr's eyes, shining brightly in the darkness.
Slowly, more time passed, and a little bit of darkness started to fade away, but the cold was increasing more and more.
After 5 hours of walking, the number of candidates has dropped by nearly half.
"Hoo, ho, ho..."
Astr was sweating profusely, and the sweat flowed into his eyes. He raised his hand to wipe it away.
The cold air invaded his bones and muscles. Now he felt that his legs were already as heavy as lead. The joints are aching, the vision is shaky and blurred, and only the will is holding on.
Looking at the towering ancient oak tree on the top of the mountain, Astr calmed down and continued to move forward.
"Hey, give up; you can't do it." A contemptuous voice came in.
"..."
Astr turned his eyes sideways and glanced at Rafeal, who had retreated to him from the front at some point.
"How come the genius who ranked first in the written examination fell to the bottom when it came to actual physical combat?"
Rafeal raised his lips proudly and sarcastically. "So, I told you a long time ago that even if you can successfully enter the academy, you will not succeed as a wizard."
"From the moment you were born, you were destined to fail. You can only be a useless person who fights against the disease from birth to death."
Astr stopped and looked straight with his icy-blue eyes at Rafeal.
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with what I said?" At this moment, Rafeal was actually a little flustered, and then he became even more angry. "What do you mean? Do you want to fight me? You are just a dying waste."
Rafeal didn't know why, but his hand subconsciously held the sword, and his instinct gave him an early warning.
Astr's eyes suddenly trembled, as if he had discovered something. Then, on that delicate and beautiful little face, the corners of the mouth lifted up into a smile of great joy.
Against the backdrop of the night and the faint blue lantern, it looks like a ghost, which is extremely terrifying.
"..."
Rafeal's eyes widened, and his whole body froze for a moment, unable to move.
Just then, he heard Astr's soft voice crawling into his ears.
"Look, it's snowing."
'Snow? It's only early autumn; where's the snow?'
Just when Rafeal was about to laugh, he saw a white snowflake falling in front of him.
"..."
Rafeal's smile suddenly stopped, and he looked up in disbelief.
He saw snowflakes descending from the sky to blanket the ground.
At this point, the other candidates, the examiners, and even the faint blue lantern that could be seen from a long distance all disappeared.
Between sky and ground, there were only two of them, standing in a snowy, oily painting.
The twisted trees showcase a dark brown, uneven surface, resembling marks from a scraper. Snowflakes fall onto the shoulders, blending into a coat of white paint.
In the dark night, a full moon with a human face casts a pale yellow light. It illuminated Rafeal's frightened face.
"Pfft, haha...hahahaha!"
Astr seemed to be amused and burst out laughing. He bent over with laughter, burst into tears, and had the most cheerful smile on her face. Happy and cheerful laughter echoed in the silent, snow-capped mountains.
'How could he laugh...?
Where is this...?
Why am I here...?'
With these thoughts running, Rafeal looked down at Astr, who fell to the ground laughing, and a huge sense of absurdity swept up from the soles of his feet, making him dizzy and almost unable to stand.
{Stop bullying him like that; you are so good~} An unfamiliar, hoarse voice belonging to a third person came from Astr directed towards to Rafeal.
Frightened, Rafeal stumbled backward and fell to the ground. The fear of the unknown rendered him speechless as he stared fixedly at Astr.
Next to Astr, who fell to the ground laughing, a piece was suddenly torn apart, like a hole in the canvas, and the three-dimensional space turned up to both sides.
A thin and pale hand stretched out from the hole.
In Rafeal's eyes, which gradually widened, he saw an oil painting of a woman in white gauze, leaning out her upper body.
The lower body is embedded in a heavy picture frame.
"Boom."
The picture frame fell to the ground, and the woman crawled on it. The rising snow dyed her long black hair white.It was extremely weird.
"achoo"
{A sneeze——! Fuck, it's so cold outside to the point where I shouldn't be feeling cold}
The black-haired woman wiped her nose in an imageless manner.
Astr's smile faded looking at her. He lay on his back in the snow and whispered, "If you dare to spread this cold on me, you are dead."
{Oops! This is a joke. How can I be sick? I still have to work hard for you, my master~}
A flattering smile suddenly appeared on the woman's oil-painted face.
"..."
Rafeal stared at this scene blankly for a while, then suddenly grinned and murmured.
"Haha, am I dreaming... What did I see? A nightmare monster trying to please a weak loser... Well, I must be dreaming, haha... hahaha!"
Rafeal put his hands on his hands, gradually laughed maniacally, and his shoulders twitched.
'Damn, he's on the verge of madness. Oops~ It is fast. What can we do to make it a little bit slower?' Both Astr and Canvasbane pondered.
A crazy companion is much more troublesome than a dead companion.
The Canvasbane looked sideways at Astr, thinking about what he was going to do next.
Then, Astr stood up. He raised his foot and kicked Rafeal in the face with a bang, knocking him to the ground! It was crisp and neat.
"I'll bring you out of your dream," Astr said, and he looked like a crazy maniac now with his smile and icy-blue eyes.
Canvasbane: {...}
It shuddered, and when Astr glanced sideways, it subconsciously used its arms to wipe off the snow on Astr's shoes.
'Hey, Lord, who is the nightmare creature among us?