Anakin shattered the crystal using her mana and reached inside.
The artifact, shaped like an old dagger, flashed the moment Anakin’s hand touched it and began to glow on its own.
It didn’t even need to be carried; it floated serenely in the air.
“It must have a levitation spell on it. Luckily, we won’t have to carry it around.”
While it was good to lighten the load, it also meant it was in a state where someone else could easily snatch it.
Or perhaps the levitation spell was placed there specifically to make it easier to grab.
It seemed to follow the person who touched it first.
“We’ll have to be careful when touching artifacts.”
If one person carried too many, they would become an easy target.
Anakin touched the ground again and closed her eyes.
There was no time to rest; they had to collect the artifacts as quickly as possible.
‘Rustle.’
Using her Ether to spread her sensory perception as wide as possible, she felt another trap not too far away.
“Wait……”
As Anakin furrowed one brow, Lucien looked at her as if asking what was wrong.
“I think two teams are facing off.”
“Really?”
Lucien’s eyes sparkled at those words.
Anakin calmly considered how to handle the situation.
In a scenario where they didn’t even know the total number of artifacts, was there a need to fight them?
It was a matter that required deep thought, as they might end up losing more time.
“What’s there to think about? Let’s go right now.”
“But……”
“It was made for fighting anyway. Do you think there are places without other teams?”
“…….”
Lucien certainly had a point. Anakin didn’t deliberate long before nodding.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
If the number of artifacts was smaller than expected, a scramble for them would eventually break out among the students anyway.
It might not be a bad idea to wear out the others early.
Anakin and Lucien moved deeper into the forest.
Soon, a massive wolf-like monster radiating a savage aura charged at them as if to greet them.
“Gah.”
Anakin quickly cast a fireball. Her shield collided with the lunging wolf.
Sizzle.
While Anakin was casting, Lucien used thread-like blue mana to bind the wolf’s torso and yank it back.
Whine.
As the wolf let out a pained cry, Anakin launched her fireball at it.
KABOOM.
The monster was reduced to nothing but charred bone fragments.
Anakin thought to herself: This level is manageable.
Though more diverse and powerful monsters would appear the further they went, she felt they could handle it.
It was around the time Lucien and Anakin had dealt with three such monsters.
Finally, the sound of a violent explosion erupted from directly ahead.
Anakin stabbed a dagger into the nape of a monster and said:
“I think that’s the place.”
‘They’re certainly fighting quite flashily.’
Lucien increased his speed and dashed through the thicket.
Anakin followed him at a rapid pace.
The place they arrived at was an open field showing clear traces of battle.
If there was one strange thing, it was the four bewildered faces gathered there…….
Hilde and Mantis’s team, and Roque and Hess’s team were all looking around with expressions that said they had no idea what was going on.
“……What’s this?”
Lucien approached them first and asked.
Anakin stayed back, not stepping forward since she was the one with the artifact.
“What happened?”
At Lucien’s question, Mantis shrugged as if he didn’t know either.
“The artifact is right there, but we don’t know how to get it out. And there aren’t even any traps flying at us.”
Behind Hilde, an artifact surrounded by a crystal shield—similar to the one Anakin had seen before—was visible.
“No matter how much we hit it, there’s no reaction,” Mantis said with a frown.
“I see your side has already found one.”
Roque and Hess’s gazes turned toward Anakin, who was standing behind Lucien.
They licked their lips and moved their eyes back to the artifact.
“Did Lucien get that one?”
It was a logical deduction, seeing as Lucien’s clothes were in tatters while Anakin looked relatively unscathed.
Anakin smirked and said:
“That’s right. Lucien got it all by himself.”
Instantly, everyone’s eyes fixed on the artifact Anakin possessed.
“How about we pull this artifact out first before we start fighting? Let’s not waste our energy for nothing,” Lucien said, looking at the bRoqued artifact. The other children looked at each other with tense faces.
It was a touch-and-go situation.
The moment Anakin stepped into the “Artifact Zone” to help—
Vrrrrom.
The sound of a massive mechanism activating echoed, and suddenly, the ground beneath them gave way.
“Wait, what?!”
Lucien was startled by the suddenly darkened floor.
“What the—!”
Starting with that shout, screams began to erupt from all sides.
“Aaaaah!”
Their bodies plummeted downward.
‘What kind of trap is this?’
Anakin panicked and covered her head.
In her vision, she saw a blue circular barrier enveloping her body.
She saw the other children falling with her as well.
After falling for a while, her body landed safely thanks to the blue sphere protecting her.
Thud.
Anakin was quite taken aback as her body floated slightly.
The solid circular barrier was protecting the children from direct contact with the ground.
“……Is it over?”
As soon as they touched the ground, the barriers popped and vanished.
Once she regained her senses and looked around, a vast space enclosed by walls on all sides was revealed.
“Anakin. Are you okay?” Lucien approached Anakin, who was holding her head.
“Yeah…… but where are we?”
“I think it’s a trap for the artifact. It seems the condition for activation was having six or more people gathered.”
“What……”
Anakin let out a hollow laugh as she watched the other children slowly picking themselves up.
The artifact was still shining loftily on a pedestal, all by itself.
Opposite it sat a single chair.
“Is it a fight until only one remains?”
Seeing that, Lucien began to warm up his body with an excited face.
“Aren’t you out of mana?”
“It’s already recharged.”
Consumed mana returns over time, but…… this fast?
Anakin bit her lip as she stared at a scene that bore a striking resemblance to a labyrinth.
On the grotesque murals painted on the walls, a single person sat alone atop a mountain of corpses.
Beneath it, words were written in an unknown script.
“What is this?”
Anakin narrowed her eyes at the ancient language and decoded it bit by bit.
‘Life stands upon sacrifice.’
‘……Studying hard was worth it after all.’
“In the end, it’s telling us to fight.”
However, it wasn’t clear how many had to be sacrificed or what the criteria for sacrifice were.
Surely it didn’t mean to kill.
Did the last person standing after everyone else lost consciousness win?
Moreover, looking at the fact that there was only one chair, it wasn’t a team-based battle……
While Anakin was lost in thought, voices were heard from behind.
“It obviously looks like we’re supposed to fight, so why don’t we just end this quickly?” Roque shouted from the center.
Hilde responded to him.
“Fine. It would be best to end this quickly.”
Hilde’s voice sounded subtly excited, much like it did during the first exam.
At that moment, Lucien laughed and launched a sphere of condensed blue mana at Hilde and Roque.
KABOOM.
“Are you crazy?!”
Hilde and Roque, who had quickly dodged, glared at Lucien.
“A surprise attack……”
“Let’s fight, you morons.”
At Lucien’s provocation, Roque also frowned and cast a spell.
Bang. Boom. Crash.
As the attacks continued like fireworks, Anakin narrowed her eyes and looked at the remaining students.
‘Since we have to fight anyway, is it better to just fight it out properly?’
Anakin lightly cast mana arrows with two fingers and fired them into the chaotic scene.
In the midst of the confusion, someone launched a pillar of fire at her.
Whoosh.
She hastily deployed a shield, but a stray spark caused her clothes to start singeing.
“Haha.”
The situation was already a mess, so she couldn’t see exactly who had fired it.
The exchange of magic within the dust cloud was fierce.
Hilde, Lucien, and Roque seemed to be fighting to the death.
“Wait, I can’t see a thing!”
The sounds of explosions that threatened to destroy the labyrinth echoed, but the dust and ash made it difficult to tell who was who.
‘They aren’t just attacking blindly without even distinguishing their own teams, are they?’
In this kind of chaotic situation, she thought it was possible.
Besides, weren’t there three battle-hungry demons over there?
The other children, who had no room to join their fierce exchange, began to find their own opponents to fight.
“But why is no one coming after me?”
While the other children were dedicated to the battle, Anakin, standing alone and dazed, muttered to herself.
She felt as though she had suddenly become an outcast.
“Hahaha……”
Anakin let out a hollow laugh and summoned wind magic.
The dust cloud cleared instantly, revealing everyone’s positions.
“Kill that guy!”
An excited Roque, looking thoroughly enraged, charged at Lucien.
He was in a terrible state from whatever had happened in the interim.
Not only was there no unscathed part on his body, but a deep wound was also found on his shoulder.
“You son of a……”
Lucien, who had lightly bRoqued all the attacks, smirked and taunted Roque.
“How did you pass with magic that slow?”
It seemed their ill-fated relationship was being settled here.
Judging by his aura alone, Roque would have torn Lucien to pieces hundreds of times by now.
“I will make sure I kill you, at the very least.”
Roque glared at Lucien with burning eyes.
Then, another area-of-effect spell flew in.
Spear of Lightning.
The tingling current was enough to be felt even where Anakin was standing.
“You’re fighting so pointlessly. It’s a waste of time.”
Hilde, with a furrowed brow, was looking down from the air with a cold face.
