Chapter 23: Chapter 22 – Trials complete

If Silver had been aware of the expectations people outside had for him, he would have been slightly moved but ultimately surprised. This surprise would be because he was all alone in the world, merely a few weeks ago, with no comrades or family. So, having that many people who wished him well was sure to bring him joy and even motivate him.

At this point, however, he was too concerned about the giant slug-like creature in front of him that he wasn't sure how to defeat. Although he hadn't come across this type of beast before, he was sure that it was at the peak of D-class beasts from the strong aura it gave off. Silver was mainly shocked by how quickly the beast moved, considering its two-meter-tall frame.

The beast was just as quick as him, which meant he couldn't use his speed to deal with it as he had with the previous beast. The Shumow had a see-through, liquid body that almost swallowed all his blows. Silver even tried cutting the beast, but he would have had better luck cutting water as the blade simply went through and was almost submerged in the beast's pool-like body.

[ This thing is really beginning to get on my nerves. ]

Silver started to get a headache as he could only retreat and think of a plan on how he would defeat this seemingly invulnerable opponent. However, the beast had other plans as it pressed the attack and spewed out acid-like projectiles from its mouth.

[ Crap! If things continue like this, I may have to activate Ice Barrier. ]

Silver was beginning to get desperate as his situation was becoming more and more dire by the second. He could only dodge the beast's attacks by a short distance due to their similar speed.

[ Think, think. How do I defeat this monstrosity!? ]

Silver raked his brain for a solution, knowing he would soon reach the end of his stamina. He scanned the beast's greenish, see-through body for clues, hoping to find some weak points while simultaneously retreating backward and dodging projectile after projectile.

However, as he studied the beast from end to end, he didn't find anything he could exploit. Instead,  he was beginning to tire as this continued for quite a while. 

[ Sigh, I guess this is as far as I go. So close, yet so far. ]

Silver reached into his pockets for the golden medallion as his stamina neared its limits. He decided it wouldn't be worth revealing his secrets just to impress the Academy. He had already completed the prerequisite wave to pass the trial, so there really was no point in doing so.

[ Wait a minute! What's that in its head? ]

Just as Silver was about to activate the medallion, he saw a small ball, which was off a slightly darker shade of green than the beast, placed in the middle of its head. It would have been easy to miss even if one was to look a thousand times, But luckily for Silver, the beast was also nearing its limits, so it accidentally exposed its core.

[ If I can just destroy that core, surely it will die. ]

He didn't know what spurred the idea or if it would work, but he decided to bet everything on this one final sliver of hope. Silver stopped retreating and held his black sword in front of him as though daring the beast to come at him. He stood there still, waiting for his opportunity to strike.

As the Shumow approached Silver, it started to get excited as it believed its prey had tired and could no longer resist. The Shumow jumped into the sky with its wide-open maw and dived at Silver to finish off the hunt that had gone on for far too long.

When the two were inches away, Silver used wind walk and watched as the beast hit the ground beside him, causing its body to deform into odd shapes. Without giving it a second to recover, he dashed forward and used progressive strike, aiming for the beast's core.

The first strike took a bit of the blob-like skin covering the core but didn't even reach it. Silver also noticed that the area was recovering at an incredible speed, visible to the naked eye.

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The second strike stopped any hope the creature had of recovering and chipped a bit of its core, causing it unimaginable pain. With a loud shriek, the creature responded by striking back and removing its opponent's left arm from the shoulder.

"ARGHHHH!" Silver screamed but managed to hold on to his last bit of consciousness. He knew this opportunity was hard-earned, so he decided to strike again regardless of the outcome.

The third and final strike caused Silver more pain than the creature had as he was already far beyond his stamina limits. However, this strike was a deciding one as it completely destroyed the beast's core.

[ Holy... I can't believe it's finally over. ]

Silver was shocked to see the beast disappear into thin air after his blow. Did this mean he had finished all the waves? Would the Academy consider him a genius now? Silver was beginning to get excited as he pondered these questions. But before he could wallow in his thoughts, everything around him disappeared, and all he saw was darkness.

As a sense of panic began to bloom in his heart, he got the sudden urge to open his eyes. When he did, he soon found himself in a familiar room.

[ Wait, this is... ]

Turning around, he noticed the door he walked through in order to begin the trial.

[ Was everything really just a simulation? ]

Silver questioned while pushing the door open. As he walked to the other side, what he saw made him pause and stand still for a second. This was because, inside the room, a dozen or so pairs of eyes were watching him as though they were looking at a monster.

"HAHAHAHA! Well done, young one. You've managed to really impress me today" Victor was the first to congratulate him as he walked forward and gave him a light pat on the shoulder.

"As promised, here is the gift you deserve for completing the entire combat trial" He tossed a ring toward Silver, who caught it and started to inspect the design.

[ Oh? It's a spatial ring. This must have cost him a fortune. ] Silver knew by the engravings on the ring that it was used for storing things. He was familiar with it due to his master having one.

Unfortunately, he could never use one as it required the user to instill a bit of their mana to activate it. Things were different now, though, so he quickly stowed it away in his pocket, noticing the greedy eyes of some of the students in the room.

[ Smart kid! ] Victor noticed the cautious nature of the youth and couldn't help but be more impressed. The ring he had given him was a gift from a colleague that easily cost over 10 million gold. He already had a similar one, so the ring was used as the first step to building a healthy relationship with the youth, who he believed would be a future magic lord.

"With that done, I would like to congratulate you all for passing the final trial and becoming this year's new students!" He said, addressing the three that had managed to pass. Deep down, he was pretty disappointed. How could it only be three? Did they make the trials too hard?

"You now have a little over a week to get your affairs in order before someone comes to bring you to the Academy. Please enter the teleportation array when you are ready to return to Blue city." Victor concluded while pointing the participants in the direction of the said array.

Zac decided to take this opportunity to congratulate his friend as they headed back to Blue city alongside Isabella and the unsuccessful participants.

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