Meanwhile, back atop the spaceship, silence reigned among the instructors as they stared at the holographic displays while occasionally discussing.
"Who's that? He seems to be heading in that direction…" A female instructor with brunette hair suddenly called everyone's attention to the seventh screen.
There, it showed a boy struggling to swim while being swept by the tide.
The sight stunned the instructors.
"Sensing the danger there, it's pretty normal that everyone would swim against that place. Well, except those ten, but still… is he unable to swim?"
The instructors finally realized what was happening and didn't know whether to laugh or cry at how unlucky the youth was.
The camera focused intensely on the boy as he struggled again and again, still being carried by the water's current.
"Look!" another instructor exclaimed loudly. "Those ten are heading toward that place. Maybe one of them might save him."
All their heads shifted toward the remaining monitors.
On each screen, they saw different youths swiftly heading in Amon's direction.
"It seems they know about that place, so one of them probably wants to be the one to clear it."
Another instructor nodded.
The place they were referring to was the zone with the highest concentration of demon beasts.
Normally, while others swam away from such danger, the strongest would dive straight toward it because that was where they could easily gather the number of demon beasts needed for the exam.
Amon was, of course, unaware of all this since his parents had forgotten to tell him.
"There will definitely be a clash between the students!" an instructor said with an excited expression, eager to see who would prove to be the strongest of this year's session.
Seth rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment when he noticed Amon on the seventh screen, struggling to swim.
He had been so busy with everything else that he'd forgotten to teach the boy something as simple as swimming.
Still, he should be able to handle himself, right? Seth muttered internally, his eyes flickering with contemplation.
…
Amon continued drifting without being able to control his movements for more than thirty minutes.
He could only pour all his strength into taking deep breaths and trying not to drown.
Just then, he collided with something.
Amon's eyes lit up, and without hesitation he grabbed onto whatever it was.
SCREECH!
A loud grating noise erupted instantly as the creature began struggling fiercely.
Amon felt the water rushing against his face as the creature dragged him forward.
"Just remain still, demon!" Amon roared, gripping the creature even tighter.
Dragging it backward, he hurled a fierce punch at it.
Amon's hand moved like a blur and slapped onto the creature, stunning it.
The creature shook its head, recovered, then slowed down and stopped struggling.
It seemed Amon's attack had knocked some sense into it.
Amon pushed himself upward and flipped out of the ocean before stabilizing himself on the creature's back.
Finally, he had time to study what he'd grabbed.
It looked like a crab but was nearly a meter wide, radiating the pressure of a feral beast as it growled dazedly and swung its fins forward.
Amon realized he was standing on top of its steel-black carapace.
His clothes were drenched and his hair had shrunk slightly from the water's weight.
Raising his eyes, Amon scanned the surroundings only for them to widen in shock.
Suddenly, he understood the real reason the feral beast had stopped struggling.
The sword in Amon's sheath was unsheathed instantly.
A beast lunged at him, its carapace slamming toward his body.
Without a hint of panic, Amon calmly sidestepped and executed a downward slash.
His primordial energy poured into the strike and in one smooth motion the head of the feral beast exploded, blood and gore spraying outward.
Already used to this, Amon silently glanced at the status panel and noticed he had actually gained ten creation points from the kill.
How? Amon was stunned.
Whenever his father brought feral or awakened beasts for him to kill, he usually received points ranging from five downward.
Could it be… because I was being helped? Amon made a silent guess, but there was only one way to confirm it.
Amon noticed he had been surrounded.
Lined up around him were more than a hundred feral and awakened beasts.
The combined pressure they radiated crashed down on him.
Sweat beaded on his forehead, but Amon remained eerily calm.
Normally, he wouldn't be a match for these beasts, but Amon wasn't worried.
Because…
If one could look inside his body, they would notice twelve cores rotating violently and pulsing with primordial energy.
Amon had one core in his chest, two in his abdomen, and another in his head.
Then, within those four, he also had three inner cores layered like onions.
Over the past ten years, Amon hadn't been slacking off at all.
And besides possessing so much primordial energy, this also meant one thing.
Amon could possess eleven D-rank gifts.
A grin spread across Amon's lips as he quickly formed a creation in his mind.
His runes materialized in front of his eyes.
[Name: Amon Adam
Age: 15
Unique Aspect: Limitless Physique
Primordial Path: Mortal Vein
Celestial Gift: Primordial Genesis {Invisibility, Healing}
Creation Points: 4,017
Strength: 15
Agility: 17
Vitality: 12
Perception: 2]
Over the past ten years, Amon's strength had increased drastically, making him akin to a beast in human form.
One had to note that the basic stats for a man were ten.
And this wasn't an ordinary man, but someone comparable to professional athletes back on Earth.
Amon's stats had long surpassed that level.
Then there were his astounding four thousand plus creation points.
Amon had to admit he had only gained that many because of his father's relentless efforts.
Only he knew how much tempering his mind had undergone after killing so many feral beasts.
It was also why he had remained calm despite everything earlier.
[Creating a new gift: Sword Art Enhancement.]
[Rank is set to D by default. Do you wish to decrease it?]
Amon communicated with the runes in his mind, then finished recording the information.
Soon, a new gift was added to his arsenal, taking up one of his remaining nine cores.
Without hesitation, Amon activated the gift.
Instantly, his aura shifted into something monstrous.
The sword in his hand seemed to sharpen.
And Amon's understanding of sword arts deepened more than ever.
Sword Art Enhancement was a gift that raised everything related to his sword arts by more than thirty percent, increasing his strength by that much.
"Sword Art, Second Form: Sunrise Sword Art."
After activating the gift, Amon muttered softly, then his sword descended.
It was like the sun rising across the sky with a brilliant orange glow.
And it was the last thing the beasts saw before they were sent to the afterlife.