On his very neck, the black serpent tattoo changed its gaze into that of a ruby, similar to Leo's red eyes, turning in a dark shade of red.
The tattooed semi-pure then swung his hand to his pocket, and when he turned, changed his grip into that of a claw, summoning an orange blazing fire that rested atop his palm.
He swung his hand once more—and this time pointed towards Haruo and Tatiana.
As the fire shot towards them, Tatiana quickly retreated to a safe distance between herself and the fire.
Conversely, Haruo didn't budge an inch. Instead, a cold aura wrapped around his body, coating him in a layer of frost that protected him from the flames.
"How unfair, Tia's got a great teammate."
Leo laughed, his curling as he saw witnessed his ability.
Haruo quickly glanced at his palm, compressing it into a fist, then back flat. Unbeknownst to him, Leo charged forward at Haruo, his silver saber closing in on Haruo's neck.
Their eyes momentarily met before Haruo calmly raised his sword to deflect the incoming attack.
As it made contact, Leo's silhouette burst into scattered dust that filled his front view. Gritting his teeth, Haruo turned his head around to see Leo, his green eyes darting to Tatiana with his blade following.
Blue ice gathered on Haruo's feet, shooting towards Leo, until it reached his leather shoes.
But again, it was an illusion, disappearing into the air.
"Come on, I'm not that obvious," Leo whispered.
As he looked in front of him, his eyes flared open when a gun's muzzle met him instead of an opening.
While he had tried to stop his illusion, he had secretly opened his mana storage to arm himself with the M-13. And when he realized it was an illusion, he had spotted his own opening and predicted where Leo was going to strike; that was when he slid the gun under his armpit and faced Leo.
Haruo's eyes looked at Leo with quiet indifference. Underneath his curled lips was his jaw clenching, as he immediately repositioned his body away from the muzzle.
However, it was already too late for Leo.
Click!
An enormous amount of energy enveloped the room, causing all eyes to be averted to the fight between Leo and Haruo. Leo stayed flat against the wall, his hand burning with mana, as he puffed at his enemy.
Despite being in a simulation where death was meaningless, pain still lingered. At this very moment, the tattooed semi-pure should have been screaming in pain and whimpering in agony.
Despite all that, the only reaction he gave was a quiet smile—holding onto his poker face.
As before, Leo's pupils had changed their hue, becoming brighter. It was oceanic blue eyes, a color that resembled Tatiana's but in a higher contrast.
Along with it, blue liquid water appeared to Leo's side, spiraling itself onto his injured arm like a snake hunting its prey. It was healing his burns at a terrifying speed. Haruo wasn't in a hurry to kill Leo; he'd rather be patient and study the semi-pure first.
For all he knew, he might die from something unknown.
He thought of firing the M-13 once again, but because of his cautious nature, he held the idea for now, knowing full well that repeating the same trick might backfire on him.
Instead, he retreated to Tatiana's side and silently watched Leo's figure in the distance.
"You two seem close, by the way he describes it. Give me details about his abilities."
If there was a single thing he could rely on, it would always be information. Having heard the conversation between Tatiana and Leo earlier, he concluded that the two of them were in close relations.
However, there was a slight problem.
If they proved to be really close, there would have been no point in asking. In this world, abilities were the only confidential thing one could keep without being judged. The reason was the strengths and weaknesses of each person.
That was a fact, especially for semi-pures.
If one figured out the weaknesses and strengths of an ability, it would be easy not only to counter but to take advantage of.
Revealing all their cards will subject a person to many dangers and make them vulnerable to many; the worst-case scenario is death itself.
From Haruo's perspective, Tatiana exposing Leo's ability wasn't worth it, and she would probably keep her mouth shut. After all, this was only a test, where death was only a part of the system.
But it was better to try anyway.
"Leo's ability is a bit complex," Tatiana said.
"…!"
Tatiana was actually willing to tell Haruo Leo's ability! This was extremely shocking to Haruo.
Tatiana wasn't dumb, Haruo knew that, but she was still willing to give key information to a total stranger? That was unheard of! Because of this, Haruo couldn't help but ask.
"You do know the consequences of telling a stranger information like abilities, right?"
Haruo wasn't the type who liked exposing himself; whether she was actually messed up in the head or not, it would be to his own disadvantage.
"Don't worry about it. You'll forget about it after the test is over, anyway."
Haruo only nodded at her remark. He was quite lucky; he could receive two pieces of information.
This interaction gave him more benefits than he had expected. This practically allowed him to use his ability without restriction, so if he ever makes enemies, it would be hard to gain information about him.
'They really are efficient, aren't they?'
"Leo has more than one ability—four in total. One is illusions, the second is fire, and the third is water—which can be used for healing—then finally, enhancement."
Both sensing danger, they both retreated away from each other and redirected their attention to Leo, who looked to have a vein popping out of his forehead, but despite that, the smirk remained.
"If you two chat and ignore me, it makes me quite jealous, you know?"
A wall of fire separated them, and both only nodded at each other before they split. Haruo was prepared to point his gun once again, but was interrupted by the fire Leo originally launched at them.
He controlled the fire with just a flick of his wrist, making Haruo constantly reposition himself.
Clicking his tongue, Haruo covered himself in a shield of ice, protecting himself from the burning fire thrown at him. Some scars remained despite being protected by the layer of ice. It was visible when looking at his once-pale hand.
Leo dove into the harsh fire and ambushed Haruo to his side; this time, he could gain a proper advantage rather than last.
Haruo was surprised by his sudden appearance, and without a chance to escape, he received a cut to his right abdomen. Fortunately for him, he was able to barely back away, tearing only a thin cut that didn't cause him any major injury.
But the price of stepping away was his back getting burned by the fire.
A glint sparkled in Leo's eyes, sending his arm back to send another slash. Haruo's eyes glowed a crystal blue color before he kicked his hand away, disarming Leo and sending his blade flying perfectly vertical in the air.
Haruo hastened his hands, extinguishing the flames that caged him.
Hastening his movements, Haruo sent a clean slash at Leo.
Leo bit his lips lightly before dragging the blade to the ground, lodging it in place, and instantly sending a kick to Haruo's jaw. As it made contact, Haruo quickly brushed it off and touched Leo forward.
Shaken by the push, Leo steadily regained his center of gravity, but looking up, he saw his silver saber falling to his spot. The saber brushed past Leo just barely as he tilted back.
There, he saw the reflection of his eyes and the attack of the white-haired boy behind him.
Witnessing this, Leo grabbed his falling saber and spun a complete 180 to deflect the blade away from him.
Yet despite having his blade recoiled, Haruo was already prepared and had his gun pointed at his head. With a slight pull, another burst of energy shot forward at the semi-pure.
"Don't think that'll work against me this time!"
Leo revealed himself, his green eyes focused on cutting Haruo's arm.
[Rapid fire mode successfully activated!]
The large laser-like energy slowly transitioned into multiple tiny energy balls. Because of this, it made it easier to turn and move around when using the Monarch-13, and with it, he hastily dragged the gun in Leo's direction.
Left with no choice but to abandon the idea of severing Haruo's arm, he quickly retreated to a safe distance, carefully dodging the excessive amount of bullets flying his way.
Nearly 25 seconds had passed, and Haruo had yet to run out of bullets. Usually, that didn't mean much, but the amount of projectiles exiting the muzzle was so astonishing that even managing ten seconds was surprising.
'What is with that gun?! Not only can it shoot high-density bullets, but it can also fire a barrage in the blink of an eye?!!'
Leo thought, his once sly smirk disappearing from his face and now into something more focused. Thankfully, the barrage of bullets finally came to a halt, and glancing at Haruo, he saw a tired look beneath his solemn face.
Taking a deep breath, the tattoo on his neck spun rapidly before it crawled its way to his shoulder, down to his wrist, and into his saber.
A black-like substance enveloped the blade. Opening his eyes, his pupils turned to void-black, filled with nothing but darkness. Sweat poured down his cheek before storming his way to the white-haired boy.
After images of the void-like saber trailed his movements like the waves of the ocean.
Haruo gritted his teeth as the space around Leo distorted into something similar to a spiral. His center of balance swayed as the semi-pure got closer.
In a slight panic, Haruo swung his hand upward, creating a spike of crystal ice. Leo quickened his pace and sliced the giant ice in half like it was butter.
More spikes of ice spawned from the ground one after the other, but Leo made quick work of them. Just like a flash, the semi-pure had made his way to Haruo, and then he swung.
He swung, but the motion and force were drastically reduced.
Haruo had evaded his blade, his eyes as sharp as a blade as he straightened his posture. As he exhaled, a thick fog of air exited as if he were in a cold biome.
'Why am I slower? I don't feel any ice in my body, nor do I feel cold in the slightest,' Leo thought with a complex expression.
"The more I stay here, the more this place doesn't make any sense," Haruo muttered to himself.
Just as when Leo was about to move, his arm refused to move an inch. That's when he realized that it's not that he was frozen, but his right arm was completely severed at the shoulder.
Leo felt a sharp pain in the joint of his legs, making him crash to his knees as he gazed upwards to Haruo.
"Ah, right. I forgot you were here as well, Tia," Leo said, turning his head to view Tatiana's towering presence.
"While you focused on fighting him, I prioritized helping the team and avoiding their deaths. Did you forget this was a team battle?"
Leo laughed as he saw the four figures standing around him. Tatiana was the only one uninjured from the fight. While Leo and Haruo were playing duels, Tatiana took on the role of support, fighting the remaining enemies until it was only Leo left.
"You win this time, Tia. I admit, I was so focused on that guy over there, I forgot the main premise."
With a single cut, Tatiana killed Leo without hesitation, his head severed from his main body.
'That guy is quite scary. I knew he froze my movements, but my ability too? Never thought I'd meet someone as unpredictable as Theo,' Leo muttered inwardly. 'I hope we meet again, it's hard to find someone as interesting as this.'
His corpse disappeared into dust. They had won.
[Second test complete! Please make your way to the next door to continue.]
Juliette jumped excitedly as a declaration of their victory. She cheered until her legs gave out and she plopped to the ground, unable to support herself from tiredness.
Liang Chen picked her up and rested her hand on his shoulder.
"We won!! I'm so lucky I got good teammates!"
Haruo sighed inwardly before walking towards the door that emitted a golden aura. Tatiana watched his retreating figure in the distance before wiping the blood from her sword.
As he entered the next test, he was met with a new window on his face.
Just like the first time, all his injuries and damages were quickly washed away as if he had just entered the test. Looking up, he viewed the status window in front of him.
[Current status: First stage — ??? — 2/6 tests complete.]