The woman's lips curled into a faint smile. "You there, you brought something interesting. Help my apprentices with their exam, and I might let you live."
After speaking, she turned her gaze back to the Alpha Eyndeer and took another sip of tea. Her voice had been soft, almost a whisper, yet somehow Fratley heard it clearly, like she had said it directly into his ear.
The order caught him off guard. But it wasn't just him. The mages who had been battling the Alpha froze mid-cast.
They were exhausted, low on psychic energy, barely holding it together, and now their teacher expected them to babysit some random bloodied newcomer?
They all wanted to protest. But they knew better. Their master wasn't just any mage, she held the title of Highmage, one of the strongest in the region.
But her attitude was another story. She often made decisions on whims, guided by instinct or boredom.
Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come. Not long after Fratley's arrival, the ground began to tremble.
The herd had arrived. The Alpha spotted one of its kin, bleeding on the forest floor. Its eyes narrowed.
Then it roared, and its crystalline horns began to glow. The air cracked around it, rippling with surging psychic energy.
"No! Not this cursed roar again!" one of the apprentices shouted in panic.
The others quickly followed, each throwing up defensive spells in a hurry, expressions pale with fear.
Fratley didn't understand what was happening, but instinct took over. He sprinted toward the group of mages, raising his makeshift spear and bracing himself.
Then it came, a roar he would never forget. "Hraaahhnk!!!!!!!!!"
The entire forest shook. The very air crackled with power.
One of the apprentices raised a wall of dirt around himself. The soil cracked apart instantly.
Another had an invisible magical barrier, but it shattered like glass, scattering into thin air.
As for Fratley? His body froze. Blood trickled from his ears as the roar tore through him, damaging everything inside. If not for his fast-healing gene, he'd have dropped dead on the spot. He could feel the roar shake his very soul.
The Alpha's glowing red gaze locked onto the apprentice behind the cracked earth wall.
"NOOO!!! MARKUS, RUN!!!" one of the apprentices screamed in panic.
But it was too late. The Alpha come forward and clamped its jaws around the poor mage.
CRUNCH!!!
A sickening sound echoed through the clearing. All color drained from the apprentices' faces. Two of them vomited on the spot.
The Highmage frowned as she watched, her gaze cold with disappointment.
"What do you think you're all doing?" she said sharply. "You want to be next? MOVE! Split up and handle both the herd and the Alpha!"
She snapped her fingers. In an instant, a wave of calm, suppressing energy spread out, canceling the lingering effects of the roar.
Fratley stood there, drenched in cold sweat. His body was wounded, his head pounding, but he could still move.
He gritted his teeth and locked eyes on the Alpha. Fighting it was more dangerous than facing the rest of the herd, but something in his gut told him it was the better option.
Something told him that if he went for the Alpha, the woman with the amber eyes, the Highmage, would interfere before he died.
She was watching expecting something. As for Why? He didn't care.
The other mages were also regaining their footing. If this had been an exam before, it wasn't anymore. This was survival.
But not all of them were ready to face it.
"Why are we still doing this? That monster is LITERALLY EATING MARCUS!" one of the mages cried out, sobbing.
The Highmage clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Bunch of sissies," she muttered.
"They say raising mages in safe little academies will boost our numbers, but what's the point if they piss themselves at a roar? Might as well season them first before feeding them to the beast."
"Hraaahhnk!" The herd's roar shook the forest as they charged, horns lowered like battering rams, tails swinging like whips.
The mages scrambled to meet them. One threw up a shimmering barrier, deflecting the first attack, while another shaped sharp earth spikes mid-air and sent them flying toward the Eyndeer's eyes.
But the beasts were no simple prey. Just like before, one Eyndeer slashed through the stone with its antlers, shattering the spike into dust. Yet that brief moment left its hoof exposed, and the next mage struck. A magic activated beneath it, locking the leg in a sheath of ice.
Meanwhile, Fratley stood alone, staring down the Alpha. Somehow, all the mages were handling the herd, leaving the biggest one for him.
He quickly check is body condition, 'Left arm barely moving, I cannot use it to grasp but punch should still be doable.'
In his mind, his bone was strong enough to give damage to the creature from inside just like last time. 'Right arm works just fine, leg also good, but I cannot do much maneuver as my insides are still healing.'
He drew in a deep breath. The air tasted like blood and burning leaves. Then he sprinted forward. "You're dinner today, beast!"
This time, Fratley used a different strategy. If before he avoided attacking the Eyndeer from the ground, now he preferred doing just that.
But in his mind, this was the best option. Before, he had been facing many Eyndeer, trying to dodge all their stomps at his current level was just impossible. But against the Alpha, even if the creature was faster, there were only four hooves to deal with.
The Alpha responded with a grunt of contempt. It reared, raised one massive hoof…
SLAM!!
The earth buckled. Fratley twisted his torso at the last second and rolled beneath the blow, dirt clinging to his sweat-drenched skin.
The hoof missed him by inches. Then, he drove the broken, blood-stained spear upward with all his weight.
STAB!
He felt it bite in. The Alpha let out a sharp breath. Its white coat bloomed with streaks of red.
Fratley grinned. "It works!!! If I poke enough holes, you'll bleed out."
And that was all he needed.