Elijah sank into the worn-out couch, his body heavy with fatigue. For the past week, he'd been rigorously practicing Sword Aura, pushing himself for hours every day. Despite his exhaustion, he noted that using Sword Aura wasn't as taxing as channeling his innate ability. It made sense; magic-type abilities, especially those in the special-type category like his, consumed far more mana than physical or elemental skills.
The week passed quickly, and the day of the monthly test arrived. Everyone was gathered in the main building, buzzing with nervous anticipation. The officer with the loud, grating voice returned, his energy unmatched as usual.
"MIC TEST! MIC TEST! ONE, TWO, THREE! ONE, TWO, THREE!" the officer bellowed into the microphone, making several students wince.
"TODAY IS YOUR MONTHLY TEST!" he continued. "THE MONTHLY TEST IS A TEAM GAME. YOUR FIRST TEST WILL BE IN A FOREST. EVERYONE WILL BE GIVEN A RUBY, SO EACH TEAM STARTS WITH THREE. THE TEAM THAT COLLECTS THE MOST RUBIES WINS. THERE WILL BE NO PUNISHMENT FOR THE LOSING TEAM, BUT THE WINNING TEAM GETS PERMISSION TO ENTER THE CORPS ARMORY AND CHOOSE A WEAPON. THAT'S ALL."
The announcement sparked excitement among the students.
"Ohhh, doesn't this mean we'll get to fight?" Kieran asked, practically bouncing on his feet.
As the students were led to a bus, Elijah noticed a new officer overseeing them—a Level 7 officer.
The bus ride felt endless. Elijah lost track of time as they sat in silence, blindfolded. One minute blurred into ten, then thirty. The motion of the bus finally stopped, and someone patted Elijah's shoulder, signaling him to stand.
Carefully, the students were led off the bus and guided into what felt like dense vegetation. The officer's gruff voice broke the silence.
"Wait a minute before removing your blindfolds," he ordered.
When the minute passed, Elijah pulled his blindfold off, blinking as sunlight filtered through the canopy of towering trees.
"We're really in the middle of a forest," Visconti observed, his sharp eyes scanning their surroundings.
As they walked, Visconti's gaze locked onto something high in the trees. "There's an observer," he said.
"Observer?" Kieran asked, tilting his head.
"Yes," Visconti replied, pointing to a small, mechanical device perched 20 meters above them. "It's controlled by scouts, acting as their eyes and ears. It probably belongs to an officer to monitor our progress."
Visconti picked up a rock from the ground and handed it to Kieran with a mischievous grin. "Destroy it."
"What?" Kieran and Elijah said in unison.
"Didn't you say it belongs to an officer?" Elijah asked, incredulous.
"Yeah. So what?" Visconti replied nonchalantly.
Kieran sighed, clearly used to Visconti's antics. With a shrug, he stretched out his arm and hurled the rock. It sailed through the air and struck the observer dead center, shattering it.
"Nice throw," Visconti said, handing him another rock. "There's another one over there."
On the far side of the forest, a scout monitored the destruction of their observers.
"Sir, half of our observers have been destroyed," a female scout reported.
The supervising officer sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We expected this, but…" He trailed off, shaking his head.
Back in the forest, Visconti smirked proudly, earning a skeptical glance from Kieran. Before Elijah could say anything, he felt a cold, wet sensation on his forehead. He looked up just as the rain began to pour, the heavy droplets soaking the forest floor.
"Let's find shelter until the rain stops," Kieran suggested, wiping his face.
But then Elijah noticed something odd. The rain wasn't touching them. A faint blue, transparent shield surrounded the three of them, keeping them completely dry.
"Is this your gift?" Elijah asked, turning to Visconti.
Visconti nodded, his smirk widening. "Yeah. My gift is Hydrofreezing. I can control water," To demonstrate, he raised his hand. Droplets of rain gathered in his palm, swirling together in a miniature vortex.
"And I can freeze it too," he added, the sphere solidifying into a block of ice.
"Whoa," Elijah and Kieran said in unison, both clearly impressed.
Kieran's expression shifted, a frown tugging at his lips. Despite his admiration, envy simmered beneath the surface. "Even Visconti has a special-type ability. Am I the only one stuck with a basic ability?" he thought bitterly.
Their moment of awe was interrupted by the sound of the shield cracking. Before they could react, the shield shattered, and a sword came hurtling toward Elijah.
Elijah moved instinctively, drawing his own sword to block the strike. The clash of metal echoed through the forest.
"Not bad," a voice said.
The attacker was a tall boy with sharp features and piercing green eyes. His ruby dangling from a chain around his neck.
Visconti wasted no time after the initial clash. His hand darted under his shirt, pulling out a hidden dagger with practiced ease. With a fluid motion, he threw it toward the boy who had attacked them. The boy reacted quickly, sidestepping, but not fast enough. The blade grazed his neck, leaving a thin, crimson line.
"Not bad," Visconti said, a smirk spreading across his face. "Too bad I was aiming for your neck."
The boy glared at him, his green eyes burning with anger. "You—"
"How cowardly," the boy spat, gripping his injured neck.
Visconti raised an eyebrow, his expression laced with mockery. "That's rich, coming from someone who ambushed us in the middle of the forest."
Elijah and Kieran exchanged glances, both impressed and slightly amused.
"Wow," Kieran whispered. "He's really good at making people angry."
"Sharp tongue," Elijah agreed, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Before the boy could retort, Visconti pulled another dagger from his belt and hurled it with even more force. This time, however, the blade didn't reach its mark.
With a loud snap, a whip shot out of nowhere, intercepting the dagger mid-flight. The metallic clang echoed through the forest as the dagger fell harmlessly to the ground.
The three of them turned toward the source of the whip. A girl stepped out from behind the trees and beside her a was a man with a buzz cut. The girl's expression was calm yet deadly. Her tan skin gleamed faintly in the light filtering through the canopy, and her shoulder-length black hair framed a strikingly beautiful face. But it wasn't her looks that caught Elijah's attention.
In her hand was a whip, its surface shimmering unnaturally. A shard weapon.
"A shard user," Elijah muttered under his breath.
The girl's eyes swept over them, assessing the situation. Without a word, she snapped her whip again, aiming it directly at them.
"Brace yourselves!" Kieran shouted, raising his sword in a defensive stance.
Visconti acted quickly, summoning a shield of water that enveloped the three of them. This shield was denser than the previous one, the swirling liquid glowing faintly blue as it hardened into a protective barrier
The tense standoff was interrupted as both teams turned their attention to the man in the black cape. He stood at the edge of the clearing, his presence unsettling.
"Wow. I can't believe you called for backup," Visconti sneered, breaking the silence. His voice was mocking, but his grip on his remaining dagger tightened. "You really crossed the line."
The boy, still nursing the scratch on his neck, glared back. "What are you talking about? We didn't call for backup! Your team was the first team we saw when we entered the forest."
Visconti frowned, his sharp eyes narrowing. He prided himself on being able to read people, and this boy wasn't lying.
"Then who is that?" Elijah asked, his voice low as his eyes stayed fixed on the mysterious figure.
The man in the black cape made no move to approach. Instead, he stood completely still, his face hidden behind an eerie, intricately designed mouse mask. The mask was unlike anything Elijah had seen before—its blank, hollow eyes seemed to pierce right through him.
Elijah shivered involuntarily, a chill creeping down his spine. He couldn't shake the sense of dread that the man exuded.
The girl with the whip, still partially encased in ice, glanced toward the man. "He's not with us," she said cautiously. "I've never seen him before."
"Neither have I," her teammate added, his tone more defensive now than confrontational.
Visconti's smirk vanished as he studied the man. "He's not moving. What do you want?"
The man didn't answer. Instead, he raised his hand slightly, and a faint, dark aura began to swirl around him.
The girl with the whip asked
"That aura… he's not a student, is he?"
The boy beside her gritted his teeth. "We need to leave. Now."
Before anyone could move, the man in the mask took a single step forward. The air seemed to grow heavier with each movement, as if the forest itself recoiled from his presence.
Elijah raised his sword instinctively, his purple Sword Aura flickering to life. "Stay back!" he warned.
The man stopped, his gaze shifting to Elijah. "Interesting," he murmured. "Purple aura… rare."
The compliment, if it was one, did little to calm Elijah. His grip on the sword tightened as he tried to steady his breathing.