Chapter 112 - Magical Realm
Chapter 112 - Magical Realm
The bear man brought the fifty that passed to a large building. The building itself had no windows and seemed to be about six stories tall. The whole building seemed to be made out of some kind of solid black stone. When the group entered the building, they were met with a large room with multiple water like circles floating in the air. Kana could count at least twenty altogether.
"This is the portal room. Each of these portals leads to a magical realm that was discovered over the years by the academy elders. Each one is a danger zone with many monsters of different levels. Some even have their own inhabitants that are highly advanced. For those portals with inhabitants, only students of year three are allowed to enter. The portal you all will be going to today is a small magic realm with nothing but low level monsters on it. But this magic realm also has a precious resource that is found throughout the realm. They are called magi stones and are used for helping you nourish your stats and even adding a few extra points to them.
"These stones come in different colors, and each color represents a stat. The color red is [Strength]. The color blue is [Intelligence]. The color yellow is [Vitality]. The color white is [Mind], and lastly, orange is [Agility].
"You must collect ten or more of these magi stones in order to pass and be accepted into the academy. Let me make one thing clear. You only need to turn in ten of these magi stones to the academy. The rest can be kept for your own personal use.
"Now, do not get too excited. These magi stones are not easily found. The record for the number of magi stones ever found by one person is fifteen. And the areas where you will find these magi stones are normally overrun by monsters. This means you will also need to fight monsters. But fret not! If you come across any danger and feel like you are about to die, smash the token you will be given, and it will teleport you back here.
"Also…" The bear man suddenly gave a sly grin as he continued: "If you do not wish to fight monsters. You can always fight amongst yourselves."
The bear man's words caused everyone to look at each other. This was the real purpose of this test. It was to allow everyone to experience the harshness of life and that greed can overwhelm people. They had to enter an unknown place with no weapons and nothing to survive on. They had to completely rely on their own skills to survive for seven days. Not only did they need to survive but also search dangerous areas for these magi stones. One could say this was the true test of the academy.
"Alright, let's not waste time. Everyone, come up and leave behind any weapons or other supplies you might have." The bear man yelled out.
Everyone quickly formed a line. Kana and Kiliffia stayed at the back of the line. When it was Kana's turn to hand over her sword, she gazed at the old man with a turtle shell on his back and smiled as she said: "Make sure my sword does not end up disappearing within the seven days."
The old man felt a wave of pressure overwhelming him to cause him to become instantly drenched in sweat. The bear man quickly ran over to diffuse the situation. "Actually, let her keep her sword. Miss Kana, I will ask you to go to the portal over there. In order to be fair to the other students, I must ask you to take on a portal that is much harder. I promise it will also be highly beneficial to you."
"I want to go with her!" Kiliffia suddenly yelled out from behind Kana. Kiliffia had decided to follow her goddess into the pits of hell. If her goddess had to take on a harder magic realm, she would join as well!
The bear man was taken aback by Kiliffia's outburst and wanted to persuade her, but when he saw the determination in the little girl's eyes, he really could not force his words out. But he also felt this was good as well since this little girl was able to fight so well against an instructor, she had what it took to survive in the other magic realm.
"Alright, so be it. The two of you will not need to give up your weapons. But I must remind the two of you to be very careful. This portal world has fourth evolution monsters on it as well. Although not many, they are still very strong." The bear man warned.
Fourth evolution monsters were much stronger than third evolution monsters and had a higher intellect. Some even had a humanoid form depending on their species. Kana didn't say a word as she hooked her sword back to her belt. She grabbed hold of Kiliffia's hand and brought her towards the other portal that was being lowered to the floor.
The bear man hurried after them after giving the other instructors a few orders. "Miss Kana, you and Miss Kiliffia here only need to collect ten magi stones altogether. I will see the two of you as a single team."
"No need. Kiliffia is not that weak, and neither am I." Kana said indifferently. She was really not happy with how she was being treated so differently from the other new hopefuls. Without even a second glance, she took the token that the Bear Man had for her and Kiliffia, handed one to Kiliffia, and pocketed the other before dragging Kiliffia with her into the portal.
The bear man stood there in silence for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh. He looked at the swirling pool of water and furrowed his brow as he muttered: "Miss Kana if I let you go with the others, you would never get any decent training. Hopefully, you can forgive me for my wilfulness… "