Chương 81: The Third Day of Tests – Part 1/5

The magical bell was still echoing in the arena when the group finally relaxed. Astrid sat down hard on the ground, breathing heavily. Rina let her fire tails extinguish completely and sat beside her. Marina had her hands on her knees, sweaty. Sylvara looked exhausted, with the vines around the pedestal already wilting. Lirien's voice was hoarse and her face was pale. Kuroe was silent, looking at her own hands. Joker was still holding his shoulder where the creature had struck him.

Harley approached and carefully touched the spot. — Does it hurt? — she asked quietly. — A little — Joker replied with a tired smile. — But it was worth it. Harley didn't answer. She simply stayed beside him, still gripping her hammer tightly, as if she still expected more creatures to appear. Outside the arena, Master Harlan, Master Vorga, and Master Thalor were speaking quietly among themselves while observing the group. Valeria, the director, was also present, with her arms crossed and a serious expression.

Master Vorga was the first to speak, in a low tone: — This group… they fought like they already had real experience. The way they organized themselves, the way they communicated… it's not common to see that in candidates so young. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Master Harlan nodded, with a thoughtful expression: — Yes. And the most impressive part was their calm. Even when the crystal was almost broken, none of them panicked.

Other groups that went through this test before… many of them fell apart when the artifact was threatened. Master Thalor observed Joker and Harley for a few seconds before speaking: — They're… different. I can't explain it properly. But there's something about them that doesn't match the age they appear to be. Valeria didn't say anything for a few seconds. She simply watched the family recovering inside the arena. Then she spoke, her voice calm: — Take note. This group showed above-average maturity and control.

I want to see how they perform in the upcoming tests. Inside the arena, Joker looked at the others and said: — We passed… right? Harley gave a tired little smile. — I think so. No one's come to tell us we failed yet. Astrid let out a low grunt: — If there's another test like this today, I'm sleeping right here. Rina slowly wagged her tail, exhausted: — Me too. Marina sat on the ground next to Sylvara and commented quietly: — It was harder than it looked at the beginning… Sylvara nodded in silence.

Lirien had her eyes closed, trying to recover her voice. Kuroe remained quiet, but her gaze was heavier than usual. Joker looked at the cracked crystal on the pedestal and spoke, almost to himself: — If we had used everything we have… it would've been much easier. Way easier. Harley looked at him sideways, understanding exactly what he meant. — Yeah. But then it wouldn't have been fun at all — she replied with a small smile. Joker shrugged. — True.

Outside, Valeria continued observing the group for a few more seconds before walking away, followed by the other evaluators. Meanwhile, inside the arena, the group began sitting around the cracked pedestal, clearly exhausted. Harley let herself drop to the ground and spoke, her voice hoarse: — One test down… and there are still two more today. Joker sat beside her and replied: — Yeah. And I have a feeling the next one's going to be worse than this.

Harley gave a tired smile, but her eyes still had a spark of anticipation. — Good. I was starting to think everything was too easy until now. Joker laughed quietly. The two sat in silence for a few seconds, looking at the other members of the family resting around them. The third day was still far from over. And everyone could feel that the worst was still to come. End of Part 1/5 (continues in Part 1/6)