Chapter 84: 233450! Chapter 84: 233450! It wasn’t long after the golden beam speared into the sky that Leo’s trial points began to surge—violently. And he wasn’t the only one; others also experienced abrupt rises. But compared to Leo, they looked like puddles beside a tidal wave. KEo311 – 11000 → 11050 → 11070 ... → 11960 ... → 12700 "Hey, look! That candidate’s compartment is filling up again! Quick, empty it—fast!" one instructor barked, already rushing forward as some others began hauling beast corpses away with various magics. Steam and metallic stink wafted from the heap as mana circulated through the air. Just as they thought they’d get even a moment’s breath, the compartment shuddered—and began filling once more. "Arghhh... why the hell is that candidate’s area so far away?!" one of them shouted, his voice cracking with irritation. He looked rough and rowdy, but the others made sure he was the one stuck with most of the hauling. Naturally, he was the one carrying the bulk of Leo’s kills. Occasionally, the compartment beside Leo’s flickered as well before dumping its contents—Lily’s. KEo312 – 510 The same phenomenon spread through several other compartments, too. The instructors exchanged uneasy glances. These candidates were obviously within range of the Heaven-and-Earth phenomena. They practically had to walk in one direction, and beasts would appear. Convenient—too convenient. But blessings never came alone. Several numbers hovering above their respective compartments began turning grey—dead. Some died after achieving 200 points... 400... and so on. Surrounded, cornered, they had clearly fought until their last breath before collapsing under the swarm. Right now, second place belonged to a candidate numbered: GHc1 – 1540 "Look! The second person is from Gardenhold!" "OHH! It must be that rumoured heaven-favoured child! Haven’t you heard? He awakened dual talents—one of them lets him share strength with his beasts. I bet he’ll be a future powerhouse. Maybe even a King-level!" The instructor gulped audibly. "King-level..." he muttered, as if the very word carried some sacred weight. They would’ve loved to continue that conversation, but— They still couldn’t comprehend how this one unknown candidate’s points were climbing with terrifying speed. KEo311 – 13200 → 13250 ... → 14010 "It hasn’t even been a full day yet—and it’s barely noon!" one instructor said, baffled. "Maybe... the metal plate malfunctioned?" another suggested, desperate to rationalize the insanity. "Yes! It has to be! Last year, the top student only reached this much by the end of the month!" But moments later— KEo311 – 16540 → 17540 This aligned with the moment Leo killed the Gravelback Howler. "Heh... look. Now he even hunted a high 2-star," one instructor muttered, voice tight with nerves. Their flimsy explanation crumbled when another pointed at the massive pile of corpses being dumped into the respective compartment. "Just how much mana does he have to spare? Is he chucking mana crystals instead of food? Doesn’t he know taking too many at once can kill you?" another instructor snapped. It was common knowledge: while mana crystals could save lives, consuming too many at once caused crystal poisoning—a gruesome death where organs slowly crystallized from within, collapsing one by one. Only a high priest’s holy magic could treat it, if the victim even reached a temple intact. Once crystallization began, the chances of survival plummeted. Some priests couldn’t cure severe cases at all. But before the debate could continue, his points began climbing again within an hour—this time like a deranged heartbeat. KEo311 – 17540 → 18540 → 23540 → 23940 → 23990 → 28990 → 78990 → 83990 → 133990 → 183990 → 233450 All of that happened within ten minutes. Once again, all the instructors’ heads slowly—synchronously—turned toward the tiny, pitifully distant compartment. It was so stuffed that the overflow swallowed every compartment nearby, filling a total of twenty-five. Every single one was packed to the brim with beasts—some the size of a dog, some as large as an elephant, and some nearly the size of a small truck. The air trembled with the smell of blood, earth, and mana discharge. Then came a breathy chuckle—the same instructor who had been stuck ferrying corpses from KEo311’s section all day. "Haha...Heh... heh... AHH—" --- "Master, step aside!" As soon as Leo sensed Niri’s intent, he shifted to step away—only to spot a massive stone hand crashing down from above, sealing off every route behind him. He had no choice left but to duck forward, slipping dangerously close to the golem’s body. He didn’t slow. Planting a foot against its knee joint, he kicked off hard, springing up to chest height. His boot struck the stone torso; he recoiled off it, trying to leap clear—but another giant hand swung into place, blocking his escape mid-air. Without hesitation, Leo dove into the danger instead of away from it. He slammed both hands around the golem’s elbow joint and yanked with everything he had. The brittle stone cracked sharply—then the entire forearm tore free with a grinding roar of shattering rock. Using the severed upper limb as a temporary foothold, Leo launched himself higher, twisting his body mid-air. With a grunt, he hurled the absurdly heavy arm downward. It smashed into the golem’s head with a thunderous crack, stone splintering on impact. He ascended rapidly the the previous momentum of jump—ten meters, twelve... nearly fifteen meters above ground, rising far higher than the golem itself. That was when a sudden white beam tinged with gold erupted from behind him—Niri’s solar beam—firing straight toward the cluster of exposed cores. Hummmm—Czeeerchh! The beam slammed directly into the chest, its diameter wide enough to engulf all the cores at once. Heat rippled through the air; Leo felt the skin on his arms prickle even from above. At first, the golem’s torso buckled under the blast, fissures crawling across the stone. Then three shimmering turtle-shell barriers flashed into existence—pure white mana shields—straining to hold back the attack. They lasted half a second. Not like before, where they rebounded energy and shattered slowly, taking nearly 2 seconds. This time, there was no pushback, no shockwave—just a brittle, effortless giving-way, as if they hadn’t even been real. The moment the barriers collapsed— Crack! Crush! Fhus! BOOOM! The beam punched straight through the golem’s chest, out its back, and continued onward. A lower-ranked beast unlucky enough to be in the path was instantly incinerated, reduced to a burnt husk in the blink of an eye. Tunnelcrusher Mole (Low 2-star) [Ordinary Bloodline] Killed → 1000 XP Then Niri did something unexpected. Her body turned, hands still positioned as though holding the sun-orb between them. And like a rotating laser cutter, she swept the beam sideways. And then— Ding! Ding! Ding! ... ... --- A/N: Sorry for the late Chapters!!! Sometimes I think I did a mistake introducing such complex maths in stats, doing each one at a time and then typing it back drains some mental energy, even if it’s for the most part multiplication and addition.