Hastora and Charlotte stepped through the gate. A vast, desolate expanse of desert stretched before them, reaching to the horizon. The air was thick with oppressive heat, and in the distance, several colossal figures resembling giant ants hinted at the dangers that lay ahead. Fine dust swirled in the dry, hot wind.
"It's so hot here, Hastora," Charlotte said, feeling the heat pierce her skin despite her ice attribute. Sweat beaded on her forehead.
"Yes," Hastora replied curtly, showing no signs of discomfort. He remained calm and composed, in stark contrast to Charlotte who was clearly struggling with the heat. His black cloak seemed unaffected by the scorching sun.
"Let's get going," Hastora suggested, taking the first step across the vast expanse of sand. His stride was steady and confident, exhibiting his unwavering self-assurance.
They walked across the vast, barren desert. The situation was far from what Charlotte had envisioned. She had imagined intimate, peaceful moments with Hastora, but the oppressive heat had shattered those dreams.
Charlotte decided to set aside her personal hopes and focus on the test. Soon, a giant ant emerged from behind a sand dune, its massive form appearing menacing under the scorching sun. Without hesitation, Charlotte moved her hand, forming a giant, shimmering ice shard under the sunlight. She launched the ice shard with incredible speed towards the giant ant.
With a thunderous roar that echoed across the desert, the giant ant shattered into pieces, hit by the impact of the ice shard. Dust and fragments of the ant's body swirled in the air. Charlotte immediately looked at Hastora, her eyes filled with hope for praise.
Hastora, understanding Charlotte's intention, gave her a brief nod of approval. "Your abilities are quite impressive," he said.
Charlotte felt a surge of happiness. She smiled faintly at Hastora, expressing her gratitude.
"Thank you," she murmured, trying to conceal the rapid beating of her heart.
Her faint smile was an attempt to hide her true feelings. She feared that if Hastora realized her feelings, it would make their interactions awkward and uncomfortable. For now, she wanted to interact with him as a friend, while gathering the courage to confess her feelings later. She wanted to be a reliable friend and do everything in her power to make Hastora fall for her.
Hastora continued on his journey, walking calmly across the hot sand. Charlotte, without hesitation, followed behind, her determination to stay close to Hastora unwavering.
Zarafel, observing them from afar, asked with a curious tone, "You're not feeling the heat, Hastora?" He was intrigued because Hastora seemed completely unaffected by the desert heat, while Charlotte was clearly suffering.
"No," Hastora replied curtly, without turning to look at him.
"Why?" Zarafel pressed, his curiosity growing.
"Have you forgotten? I am Hastora, the Great Demon Lord. Trivial weather like this will never tire me," Hastora replied, his voice laced with a hint of arrogance but still calm. He continued walking, as if the scorching sun was merely a gentle breeze.
As they walked, Charlotte suddenly spotted five enormous giant ants approaching from the south. The ants appeared aggressive, their massive legs shaking the sand.
"Hastora, there are five giant ants approaching from the south," Charlotte informed Hastora, her voice calm and controlled despite her slight worry. She tried not to show her panic.
"Forming a team with her was a wise decision. Look, she's still calm in this tense situation," Zarafel said, pleased with his choice to join the team.
Hastora drew his sword from the shadows. The black blade seemed to radiate a cold, dark aura. He assumed a fighting stance, preparing to face the onslaught of giant ants. Charlotte, without waiting for orders, immediately froze the atmosphere in front of her, creating a barrage of sharp ice shards that shot towards the ants.
However, the giant ants seemed to have keen instincts. They dodged the ice shards and continued to charge towards Hastora and Charlotte.
Hastora joined the attack, launching ten giant dark spears towards the ants. The spears flew with incredible speed, leaving dark trails in their wake. Of the ten spears, only two hit their targets, piercing the leg and head of one giant ant, instantly killing it.
Charlotte was slightly awestruck by Hastora's incredible abilities. She was amazed by the speed and accuracy of his attack. But she quickly realized that this was no time to be mesmerized. She immediately launched a barrage of ice spheres towards the remaining ants. Although the ice spheres didn't directly hit the targets, the barrage froze a vast area around the ants, trapping them in a thick layer of ice.
"Ha!? It was just a simple attack, but why is the effect so wide?" Zarafel asked, shocked by the range of Charlotte's attack. He hadn't expected Charlotte's attack to have such a wide area of effect.
"Pretty good," Hastora commented briefly, showing no particular expression.
Charlotte immediately turned to Hastora, hoping for praise for the ability she had just demonstrated. However, Hastora simply gave her a thumbs-up and continued walking, calmly striding across the vast expanse of sand.
Although she didn't receive verbal praise, Charlotte still felt happy with Hastora's thumbs-up. She felt that it was a form of recognition for her abilities.
Throughout their journey, they continued to be attacked by giant ants. However, Charlotte managed to defeat them all. Hastora simply observed and occasionally offered praise, relieved that he didn't have to expend much energy defeating the weaker monsters. Charlotte felt pleased with the praise, although she realized that Hastora might have ulterior motives.
They had defeated sixty-four monsters. While technically they had both participated, Charlotte had defeated the majority of them.
"She's quite helpful, isn't she? Don't you feel a little attracted to her?" Zarafel asked, with a hint of teasing in his voice, glancing at Charlotte who was taking a brief rest.
"No," Hastora replied curtly, remaining focused on his goal.
"Why not? Doesn't your heart stir even a little when you see Charlotte? Look at her, even while she's killing all these monsters, she still looks incredibly beautiful," Zarafel said, trying to tease Hastora.
"Don't you realize? I'm simply using her for my own gain. I let her kill all the weaker ants, while I'll defeat the boss gate. Even though she's killed many monsters, the points will still be split in half. As for the boss gate, whoever defeats it will get fifty points, and the victor will get a five-point bonus," Hastora explained, honestly outlining his strategy without hesitation.
"What! You heartless bastard! She's doing all this to get your attention, and you're using her! You dare exploit a girl as beautiful as her! You demon lord, you're a damn virgin!" Zarafel shouted in anger, expressing his frustration over Hastora's seemingly heartless behavior. He felt it was unfair that Hastora was taking advantage of Charlotte who had been working hard.
Zarafel continued to rant in his mind, but Hastora ignored him, staying focused on his goal of completing the gate and achieving the top ranking. For him, achieving first place was everything.
After a long journey and tiring battles, they finally arrived at the location of the boss gate. The atmosphere there was eerily quiet and tense, in stark contrast to the previous areas filled with giant ants. A gentle wind blew, carrying fine dust that enveloped the surroundings.
"Why does it feel so quiet and empty here?" Charlotte asked, feeling slightly uneasy about the quiet and ominous atmosphere. She sensed something was wrong.
"This is where the boss gate is," Hastora replied, putting his hands in his pockets, preparing for the final battle. He appeared calm and confident, as if he had anticipated this moment.
"The boss gate is here? There's no one here," Charlotte said, confused because there was no sign of the boss gate. She felt a little hesitant.
"Who said there's no one here? It will appear in three, two, one," Hastora replied, his voice calm but filled with confidence. He had anticipated the boss gate's arrival.
Suddenly, the ground shook violently, and the boss gate emerged from the earth. Its appearance was perfectly timed, just as Hastora had predicted. The boss gate was a giant scorpion, even larger than the giant ants they had defeated earlier. Its massive and terrifying form seemed ready to attack. Its sharp claws and poisonous tail were poised to destroy anyone who stood in its path.
The monster attacked Charlotte and Hastora with its poisonous tail. They both dodged instinctively, avoiding the deadly sting. Charlotte immediately created giant ice blocks in the sky and dropped them towards the scorpion.
However, the giant scorpion easily destroyed the ice blocks with its powerful claws. Hastora also joined the attack, firing a barrage of giant dark spheres towards the scorpion. But the monster's tough outer shell made Hastora's attack ineffective.
"Destroy its outer shell, Hastora!" Zarafel shouted, offering advice on how to defeat the monster.
Without needing to be told, Hastora already knew what to do. He drew his sword from the shadows and moved with incredible speed, almost invisible to the naked eye, towards the scorpion. He tried to slash the scorpion's leg, but his attack was ineffective.
"Use your aura, Hastora!" Zarafel shouted, reminding Hastora to use his full power.
"I know," Hastora replied curtly, without turning to look at him.
Hastora then used his aura. Hastora's aura appeared as dark, shadowy particles that radiated powerful energy. He attacked the scorpion again with a different slash, and this time, his slash managed to sever one of the scorpion's legs.
"Turns out it's weaker than I thought," Hastora said, his voice laced with a hint of disdain.
Hastora continued to attack relentlessly with incredible speed, severing the scorpion's body part by part. Charlotte could only watch as the scorpion's body was dismembered, unable to see Hastora's incredible speed. She realized that Hastora was the one doing all this.
After all of the scorpion's body parts were severed, Hastora decided to finish it off.
"Dark Swordmanship level two: <𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗲>"
Hastora attacked the scorpion at high speed, instantly creating a devastating dark storm. The dark storm began to destroy the scorpion's body piece by piece until it was completely obliterated. Dust and fragments of the scorpion's body flew through the air.
"Easy," Hastora said, sheathing his sword back into the shadows. He appeared calm and unaffected by the battle he had just fought.
Charlotte was even more mesmerized and fell in love with Hastora. She stood frozen for a moment, awestruck by Hastora's power and speed. But she quickly regained her senses and ran towards Hastora.
"Hastora! You're so strong! I'm so falling—" Charlotte almost blurted out her feelings, but she quickly realized her mistake and changed her words. Her face flushed with embarrassment.
"I mean, you're so strong. So let's get out of here. The exit gate has already appeared," she said, slightly nervously, trying to hide her feelings.
"Oi oi oi! She almost confessed her feelings to you!" Zarafel exclaimed, a little excited.
"What do you mean?" Hastora asked, curious because he didn't understand what Zarafel meant.
"Come on! Be a little more perceptive, you idiot! No wonder you're still a virgin!" Zarafel shouted again, trying to tease Hastora.
Hastora ignored Zarafel's comments and hurried out of the gate, followed by Charlotte who was still feeling nervous.
After exiting the gate, they saw the other students already in the field. Apparently, they had finished the test earlier. Charlotte and Hastora were the last ones to exit the gate.
"Pathetic creatures," Hastora commented with a flat and cold expression, showing his disdain for the other students who had finished the test earlier.
All the students had exited the gate. The headmaster appeared, holding a small, shimmering crystal.
"Alright, children, this is your scoreboard. Your class will be determined based on your scores in this test," the headmaster said, activating the crystal. A holographic scoreboard then appeared, displaying the students' test results.
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1. Hastora Vallois = 150 points
2. Charlotte von Asterea = 136 points
3. Silvi von Grathars = 132 points
4. Arnold von Hasters = 130 points
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