(NARRATOR)
Everyone who was going to take the test had arrived at the testing area. The examiner, Takuma Hoshigami, introduced himself and began explaining the test.
He said, "Now, this test will involve teamwork. You will be sent out in teams of three. We will assess your team skills and how you adapt to your surroundings."
He then told them they would be sent to the Forest of Nightmares, where they would be escorted by a third-year student and monitored to see how well they could fight.
After that, they began calling out names for the teams. One by one, students were randomly assigned to their groups.
Then the last team was called up.
"Team 231: Yuzuki Onikuro, Shinryu Kagemori, and Katsuro Hoshigami."
Shinryu walked up. The executioner guiding his team was Kiba. Kiba mentioned it was a coincidence, and then a girl approached them. Shinryu recognized her — she was the same girl who had waved at him back at the dorm area.
She said, "Hello, I'm Yuzuki Onikuro. It's nice to meet you two."
Shinryu introduced himself as well. Then he asked, "Where is the third person in our group?"
Kiba told him he didn't know. Takuma called again for Katsuro, but no one stepped forward.
Takuma told Kiba that his group would just have to go on without him. Kiba nodded, then informed Yuzuki and Shinryu that they would have to proceed without Katsuro.
Takuma dismissed everyone, and they headed out into the Forest of Nightmares.
(SHINRYU)
Man, it'll be a bit of a pain fighting without one more of us… but it doesn't matter. We'll pass this test.
The forest is pretty wide, though. We could get lost out here… but with Kiba, we should be fine.
(YUZUKI)
Okay, so we're missing a team member… and I don't know if my only teammate is strong or not. He doesn't look like anything special or strong, but I see he uses daggers like me.
They expect us to work as a team with people we met only a minute ago… Hopefully, my teammate can carry his own weight. If not, I might be screwed.
(NARRATOR)
They traveled through the forest for a while, with Kiba trailing from a distance. Suddenly, some shadow monsters appeared.
Yuzuki pulled out a pair of dark red daggers — each marked with a dragon crest and shaped uniquely. She leapt into the air, landing behind one of the wolf-like shadow monsters, and with a swift motion, slashed through them. The monsters vanished instantly.
Shinryu praised her, thinking she wasn't bad at all. I feel like she'll be someone strong and powerful — maybe even among the strongest in the world.
Before Yuzuki even landed, she had already sliced off the monsters' heads. Her movements were so fast that the creatures didn't disappear until her feet touched the ground. Judging by Kiba's reaction, he could easily tell what she had done.
They continued walking, encountering more of the same type of monsters. But as they ventured deeper, the enemies grew stronger.
Yuzuki had been doing all the fighting. She finally said, "Hey, um, Shinryu, can you take my place for a bit? I'm getting kind of tired. Although… if you can't, that's fine."
He replied, "No, it's alright. One person can't fight forever."
Yuzuki stepped back as Shinryu took the lead.
After a while, a new monster appeared — a massive bear, easily five times the size of a grizzly. Shinryu pulled out one dagger and charged at it.
The bear was far more resistant than the shadow monsters, so taking it down in one hit wasn't an option. As he closed the distance, the bear slashed at him, but Shinryu dashed to the side and countered, slicing its arm and drawing blood.
He was trying to keep a low profile, so he held back some of his strength. Moving swiftly, he slashed at the bear's legs, forcing it to kneel. The bear then gathered Nexus energy in its claws and unleashed a series of powerful energy slashes.
Shinryu dodged most of them, closing the gap between them. He deflected one of the slashes and got right up to the bear's face. His dagger began to glow a light blue as he charged it with Nexus energy. With a single, decisive strike, he slashed through the bear's neck.
A trail of water followed the arc of his blade. Shinryu landed beside the bear as its corpse collapsed, blood spilling from its neck while its head rolled across the ground.
He could feel his daggers grow a bit stronger from the battle.
(NARRATOR — Side Note)
In this world, when a person uses a Chronicle, Chronicle Weapon, or similar artifact in battle, Nexus Essence is generated in the surrounding area.
The more one fights using a Chronicle, the stronger it becomes over time by absorbing that essence. When a Chronicle gathers enough Nexus Essence, it can trigger an Awakening Trial — a test that, if completed successfully, allows the Chronicle to awaken and evolve into a more powerful form.
Yuzuki felt a bit of relief; she now knew she could rely on her teammate to carry his own weight if things got out of hand.
They continued walking for a while, with Shinryu taking care of the beasts. But the further they went, the harder it became for him to keep a low profile. Kiba was growing worried — he kept glancing back, and Shinryu noticed.
Shinryu sensed something moving through the forest. It made him uneasy, though he couldn't quite tell why. He also realized that the beasts in the forest carried more Nexus energy than creatures of their type usually did.
Out of nowhere, a shadowy figure appeared. It had the same dark, mist-like form as the wolves from earlier, but this one had a human shape.
Kiba stepped forward and said, "Stand back. I'll handle this."
Yuzuki quickly replied, "No, please — let us handle it."
Kiba hesitated before answering, "Fine… but if things start looking bad, I'll interfere."
She nodded, and Shinryu understood.
Why is a monster of this level in this part of the forest? he thought. They're usually found much deeper in — near dead ends. And this thing feels stronger than even those monsters… something isn't right.
Shinryu moved next to Yuzuki, preparing for the battle that was about to begin.
Shinryu blinked — in that split second, the creature was already in front of him. He reacted instantly, raising his daggers to block, but the beast's strength was overwhelming.
It slammed into him, pushing him back and dragging him through several trees at supersonic speed.
(YUZUKI)
What the hell… I have to run after him. That thing dragged Shinryu with it.
I'm still pretty tired from earlier, but I can use Blood Draw to increase my speed. I have to stab my vein… it hurts, but there's no way I'll let a simple shadow monster be the reason I give up.
Run… run with all your strength. I have to catch up.
I can see them getting closer. Holding on to Shinryu's block — something I couldn't even keep up with before I used Blood Draw — who he really is… That's not important right now. I have to help.
I'll slash it. I caught up in time to use Blood Red Slash.
(NARRATOR)
Yuzuki uses Blood Red Slash, a slash made of blood, which lands on the beast, pushing it away from Shinryu. The slash sends the shadow monster crashing through several trees.
Shinryu stabs his daggers into the ground and digs his feet in deep to slow himself down. Once he does, he looks at Yuzuki. She has bloodshot eyes, and the yellow color of her pupils begins to darken. She gives off a sense of bloodlust.
He ignores it and sets his attention back on the beast. It screeches — the sound is so loud that leaves fall from the trees and the ground shakes slightly. A red light can be seen coming from the direction of the monster.
Shinryu realizes something. He runs toward Yuzuki and pushes her out of the way. A large beam rushes toward them, evaporating the ground and trees in its path.
Shinryu gets back up and charges at the monster, jumping into the air as he builds up a current.
(SHINRYU)
This is bad. I have no attacks on this weapon since I just got it this morning, and its Nexus Essence is very low. I could call for my Chronicle, but that would expose me, so I will have to work with what I have.
(NARRATOR)
Shinryu shoots out two currents of water from his daggers, and they swirl in a spiral. They combine midair and hit the monster like a screw. Since it is just a Nexus attack and not a Chronicle attack, it has a weaker impact, so the monster simply gets back up.
Shinryu decides to fight the monster in close range. He parries and swings at it, keeping pace with its attacks. Slowly, he tires the monster, but as it slashes back, some hits start connecting as he begins to slow down.
Yuzuki appears behind the monster, stabbing it and then slashing upward. The blood and Nexus energy from her daggers slow its regeneration. Shinryu runs to her and asks if she can hold it off for a little. She nods, and they swap positions.
Shinryu begins to channel all of his Nexus energy into his daggers. He wants to make up for not having Chronicle attacks by increasing the amount of Nexus in his strikes.
Yuzuki steps in front of the monster as it gets back up. She uses Blood Draw to its maximum, and begins to lose her mind, becoming almost fully bloodlusted. She lunges at the shadow beast, fighting like a beast herself, slashing relentlessly. The monster fights back in kind.
Her vision starts to blur as her body moves and pushes itself to the limit. She does not dodge — she tanks the attacks and strikes back. Her attacks deal major damage to the monster. She dashes toward it to continue.
(NARRATOR)
The assault continued, but her body suddenly stopped moving. She began to roll until she crashed into a tree, which allowed her to regain consciousness. Although she was very weak and could barely move, her body had broken itself from fighting without care.
This gave Shinryu enough time to do what he needed. He appeared behind the monster, his daggers glowing as if they were about to explode. His veins bulged from the strain and concentration required to pour that much Nexus into his weapons.
He executed an upward double slash. The daggers, heavy and filled with condensed Nexus, created a vortex of water that dismantled the monster. The water burst outward, spreading across the area.
Shinryu fell to his knees, exhausted from the extreme strain. Kiba appeared from somewhere nearby.
"Come on, you guys… I almost wanted to go in and stop it," Kiba said.
He stopped for a second; he felt something ominous stirring. Shinryu noticed it too, then received a telepathic message from Hoshigami:
"All examinations and academy third years, return to the academy. We have been infiltrated. Return immediately."
Kiba told Shinryu to grab Yuzuki; they needed to run back fast. They ran, the air thick with an uneasy scent.
Shinryu felt a watching presence and thought to himself, Does this have to do with the monsters we faced earlier? That might be the case.
Out of nowhere, Kiba is run into by a cloaked man, and he gets dragged through the forest. A man appears in front of Shinryu and says, "I found you."
TO BE CONTINUED…