[3rd Person POV]
The test had been going on for about six hours, and the participants had covered an average distance of 13-15 kilometers by now. Some teams had even been eliminated, mostly due to the unfortunate encounter with a group of powerful monsters.
"Viera! How about we form an alliance with another team?" said a short man with brown hair. He was Piers—one of the members of the disciplinary committee. "Do you see those monsters? I don't think the two of us will last long here!"
Viera, the archer from the disciplinary committee, was resting in a tent she had set up. Sweat was pouring down her body. The heat from the sun and the earlier battle with many monsters had left her utterly exhausted.
"Ughh… You're so noisy, Piers," Viera groaned, annoyed by her companion's voice. "I don't want to form an alliance with just anyone. Who knows when they'll betray us?"
In the first stage of the test, Viera had barely made it to the second stage. This was because her team's alliance had betrayed them at the last minute. They stole some of her team's crystals and caused two of her teammates to be eliminated.
"Well… you have a point," Piers said, sitting back down in his tent. "Maybe we should form an alliance with other members of the committee?"
This time, Viera didn't immediately reject Piers' idea. "I guess that's not a bad idea, but we don't know where they are right now."
Piers then pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to Viera. "Look, Viera! I've got a map of this desert!"
Viera quickly stood up and moved closer to Piers. "Huh? Where did you get this?" she asked, examining the map drawn on the paper.
"I bought it from one of the Caravan groups in the city," Piers explained. "They said their Caravan often passes through this desert, and they use the map I bought to avoid areas with high concentrations of monsters."
"Hmmm… So, which route should we take?" Viera asked, not fully understanding how to read the map.
"This map only tells us how to avoid areas with a lot of monsters in the outer desert," Piers began explaining. "But we'll have to enter the abandoned city to reach the finish line, where there are likely to be many more monsters."
Hearing Piers' explanation, Viera paused to think. "We'd better hurry to the city area and find our fellow committee members."
"Huh? Why don't we head straight to the finish line if we're going that far already?" Piers asked, confused.
"I don't know, Piers. I have a bad feeling we'll encounter many monsters in the city area."
---
[Ariel's POV]
Heat, exhaustion, and fear.
That's what I'm feeling right now.
My teammate and I had been running for quite a distance in this dry place. Earlier, we were attacked by a terrifying group of monsters. Now, we're running away from them.
"Hey! If we don't do something, those monsters will catch up with us sooner or later!" shouted my teammate, who looked tired from running.
I felt the same way...
I didn't expect it to be this hard to survive without my friends always protecting me. But I'm different now than I was before.
I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face the monster chasing us.
Groarrr!
The two-meter-tall monster roared, showing off its sharp claws and fangs.
"Hey, what are you doing? Run! We can't beat that monster!" my teammate shouted, not stopping his pace.
No… I promised I wouldn't be a burden to my team anymore.
"Sealing Magic: Divine Chain!"
A magic circle appeared at the monster's feet. Chains emerged and bound its legs, stopping it from chasing us.
"But just restraining it won't be enough."
Yes… I have to kill it…
I know it's wrong, but if I don't do this, others will become victims, and I'll be just as guilty if I ignore them.
Activating my magic again, the chains wrapped around the monster's entire body.
"Crush…"
The chains tightened and tightened until they finally crushed the monster's body.
Blood spilled, soaking the dry, barren ground.
"Huh? Why didn't you use your magic earlier!?" my teammate asked, clearly angry. "We wouldn't have had to run until we were exhausted if you had used it from the start!"
I didn't care about his words and continued walking forward.
He was right before; I couldn't always rely on my friends to protect me. There would come a time when I had to protect myself and others, just like now.
---
[Valeria's POV]
Ughh… We've been walking for almost nine hours, but we've only managed to cover about 27 kilometers. Will I really be the first to reach the finish line?
It looked like it was getting darker. My pocket watch showed it was nearly six in the evening.
"Let's camp here for the night, Valeria."
I stopped in my tracks at his suggestion.
"Huh? Why? There's still time before nightfall."
Why stop now? With the remaining time, we could still walk at least another 2-3 kilometers.
"We're getting deeper into the desert. It's better to use the remaining time to scout the area to make sure our campsite is safe from monsters," he said, giving his reason.
"That's just your problem," I replied, continuing my steps. "I can create a barrier that will keep monsters from coming within 20 meters."
Yes… I had learned a first-level barrier spell that could repel monsters level 4 and below, preventing them from entering my tent tonight. The spell required 15 minutes to prepare and would last until morning.
"I don't want to stop now because I want to finish first in this test."
I didn't want to end up at the bottom again like in the first test. My points were low, and if this continued, my ranking at the academy would drop.
"Is that so? Alright then, I'll catch up with you tomorrow," he said, his voice growing fainter as the distance between us increased.
I had to keep walking, at least until nightfall.
Around here, all I could see was barren land as far as the eye could see. I wondered where he would camp, considering he didn't seem to have any camping gear.
But, remembering how skilled he was at using the terrain during our battle in the first test, I guessed he knew the ins and outs of this place too, somehow.
If I remember correctly, the Caravan groups from the Kuwalid state had maps for safe routes in this desert. I didn't encounter any of them when we were still in Fort Raidel.
Did he have one? If so, I wanted to see the map to choose the fastest route to the finish line.
But I was reluctant to ask for his help in this test. I wanted to show him that I was better than him at something. This was payback for breaking up my team during the first test.
After walking for a while, I turned around to look where I had left him.
All I saw was barren land and dust blowing in the wind in this desolate, quiet place.
"The sun is about to set," I muttered, looking at the horizon. "I'd better start setting up camp."
Removing the backpack I was carrying, I began setting up my tent on the barren ground. Once everything was done, I started inscribing a few runes on the ground using mana.
A greenish light began to appear on the barren ground. After creating four magical formulas around the tent, I drew a circular line to connect them.
"Four Shield Barrier…"
A semi-circular layer appeared, sealing off an area 20 meters around my tent where I would rest.
"Phew… Now I can sleep peacefully, even if a group of monsters comes here."
After finishing dinner, I tried to sleep right away to regain my strength for tomorrow's journey.
"Today was exhausting…"
Hopefully, the weather in the city area won't be as hot as it is here. It didn't take long for my mind to be overtaken by sleep, tired from the journey.
.
.
.
Ughhh… What time is it now?
I woke up and opened my eyes. Sunlight shining through the gap in the tent made me wake up from my sleep.
Stretching my arms, I noticed a small, cute scorpion walking on my left hand.
"Hello, Mr. Scorpion. How did you get in here?"
Looking closely, the cute scorpion had a tail with pink patterns. It also had a small horn, similar to a creature I had read about in a monster encyclopedia.
"…!"
I quickly threw the scorpion out after realizing it was one of the most dangerous insects for mages.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed a small red dot on my wrist.
"This can't be happening… right?"
I rushed out of the tent and immediately cast a spell.
'Fire Ball!'
'Wind Blow!'
'Earth Missile!'
I tried several spells, but none of them worked.
"That was a Pinktail scorpion! How did it get through the barrier I set up!?"
I then realized there were several small holes in the ground around my tent. The barrier I created only blocked objects on the surface.
"Oh, Goddess Diana… Why do I have such bad luck?"
The poison from a Pinktail scorpion's sting can freeze someone's mana circuits, preventing them from using magic for an entire day.
"Ughhh… How am I supposed to survive monster attacks without magic?"