On the high table, the instructors overseeing the examination were surprised and their eyebrows furrowed as they tried to guess and determine if Roran had awakened a talent.
"Could the kid have really awakened a talent?" One of the instructors suddenly said.
"He might have tapped into his latent talent. The fight might have stimulated his body." A male instructor suggested.
Demoness Selina's face was expressionless, her jeweled fingers tapping rhythmically against the table, no one knew what she was thinking.
Suddenly, her fingers stopped and she waved her hand.
"What are your commands instructor Selina?" A robotic voice echoed.
"Release the third beast." As her cold voice dropped. Exelion, the stage automaton seemed to have been expecting this.
"As you wish."
The other instructors turned to face her, their expressions looking not too good.
"That's a candidate with the ability to awaken a bloodline limit, do you want to kill him off?" A male instructor glared as he spat coldly.
It was during that moment the spectating students noticed the rumbling stage 10.
"W-what's happening?"
"Don't tell me another beast is going to be released?"
Meanwhile in the Arena 10.
Boom!
The door slid wide open and a humongous gray wolf with a sharp horn on its forehead exited out from within the void.
His next opponent stepped out of the shadows, the sight made his blood ran cold.
His opponent was a wolf, easily as tall as him when standing, its gray fur rippling with each breath. The sharp glint of its almost half-meter-long horn reflected in the harsh light of the arena. The creature's yellow eyes locked onto his, and for the first time, Roran truly felt fear grip him.
"That's a Horned gale wolf." A student exclaimed. One could clearly hear the fear in his voice.
" He's finished." When the students heard the name horned gale wolf, they all sighed all sighed in pity.
Calm... stay calm. Roran steadied his breath, trying to focus and suppress the fear. But his heart betrayed him, pounding against his ribs with a wild intensity. His hand tightened around the combat knife. The panther he had just fought now seemed like a kitten in comparison. This wolf was different, bigger, faster, stronger. He could sense it and almost feel the immense power radiating from the beast. He even guessed it was on the verge of breaking through to the next rank, and Roran was barely holding himself together after the last fight.
As if reading his hesitation, the wolf's lips curled back, revealing rows of sharp teeth. It crouched low, ready to strike.
Move, damn it!
The wolf lunged forward with blinding speed, its horn aimed straight for Roran's chest. Reflexively, he threw himself to the side. He felt the rush of air as the deadly horn sliced past him, barely missing his body by a fraction of an inch. His boots skidded on the dusty ground, his knees nearly buckling from the effort.
That was too close... He exhaled sharply, adrenaline flooding his system. The beast turned quickly, not even winded from its attack.
Roran knew he was outmatched. His reflexes couldn't keep up with the wolf's speed, and he was already exhausted. His mind raced, trying to figure out a plan, but there was nothing. The wolf charged again, faster this time, and Roran's body responded on instinct. He twisted to the side, but not fast enough. The horn came at him like a battering ram, grazed his front with a sharp sting, ripping through his clothes and skin. The pain was immediate, but worse was the feeling of the horn embedding itself just beneath his ribs missing his spine by mere inches. A searing pain went up his spine.
BANG!
The moving Horned -wolf's sharp horn collided with Roran with a loud cracking sound. Its horn impaled him with a Puchi sound as it continued moving forward with the intent of smashing him against the wall.
"Gah!" Roran grunted, the wind was knocked out of him, blood gushed out of the wound soaking his shirt. He gasped, struggling to stay conscious as he felt the force of the blow send him stumbling backward, the wolf's momentum driving him toward the arena wall.
I'm dead…
The thought flashed through his mind as he felt the wolf's horn push deeper into his side. Desperation seized him as he realized they were on a collision coarse with the steel wall. Just as the Horned- wolf had dragged the impaled Roran through the ground, his survival instincts kicked in, and Roran wrapped his arms around the wolf's neck, pressing his upper body against it's. His legs held firm on the ground, trying to slow their speed as the wall rushed up behind him. The ground beneath them tore up as he dug his heels in, raising clouds of dust and forming two long trails of dirt. His muscles screamed from the effort, his bones rattling under the strain. The crowd's shouts became muffled, drowned out by the rush of blood in his ears.
The wall loomed closer. Roran gritted his teeth, his vision narrowing and heart racing as he hugged the beast's head tighter, trying to brace for the impact. The horn hit first, slamming into the thick metal wall with a deafening crash raising a dust cloud.
BANG!
The impact reverberated through both their bodies, sending a shockwave of pain through him. Roran felt the shockwave travel through his body, his teeth rattling. The steel wall bent inward from the force, but the horn did not break. The wolf took most of the damage, its skull slamming against the metal, and it let out a pained yelp. The creature suddenly staggered, momentarily disoriented.
•••
Perhaps Roran had been lucky and gained insight at the moment of life and death. No one will know for sure since he's dead.
The instructors, apart from Dylan sent bone-chilling glares at the demoness.
But she, she was staring at the stage, slight surprise in the depth of her eyes.
•••
Blood pooled down Roran's impaled body soaking red the gray fur on the beast's head, the spectating students shook their heads in pity. It was to be expected, there was no way Roran would have survived being impaled.
That beast was just too deadly to deal with.
Although they couldn't see Roran's situation as he was hidden by the dust cloud, it was easy to guess the situation.
"Guy almost became a living legend. Pity though."
•••
Pfft!
Roran woke up in agonizing pain. He felt like almost all the bones in his body had shattered. His mind cleared. This was his chance.
Ignoring the pain screaming through his body, he locked his legs around its snout in a desperate embrace, using every ounce of strength he had left. He reversed the grip on his combat knife, his hands trembling, and stabbed the wolf's neck repeatedly, each stab fueled by desperation and pain. Blood spurted from the wounds, the warm liquid splattering across his arms as the beast's pained growls filled the air. Its wild thrashing nearly threw him off, but he held on gritting his teeth through the searing pain of the horn still lodged in him, he refused to let go, clinging on for his dear life as the knife dug deeper into its flesh.
From the stands, the students could see nothing but a thick cloud of dust, obscuring the scene inside. Only the sounds of Roran's grunts and the wolf's angry growls could be heard, echoing through the arena.