Wrapped around Ren's hand was a whip, stretching from a man standing close to a tree.
Hand frozen mid-strike.
He looked up slowly, a sharp grin spreading across his face.
"You finally have the guts to show your face, huh?"
"Nothing personal, bro. Just a test, which you passed spectacularly."
Clearing his throat, he continued, "I'm Ling from the Rex Academy."
"Hey Lin! How's your test coming along?" Ling asked Lin in a cool voice.
"Not that great, though. Just thought it'd be easier, but who would have known that he would turn out to be this strong."
"Are you going to cut this crap, or should I?" Ren said, his hand still pressed on Lin's neck.
Silence.
Inhaling deeply, Ren said, "Fine!" If you don't—loosening his grip—he threw a punch at Lin's face, but it did not land.
With a flash, Lin appeared close to Ling.
"Easy there, bro. No hard feelings," Lin said.
Clearing his throat, he continued from where Ling stopped. "The Rex Academy is a place for those with talent to shine, and it would be a great leap for our future youths, especially a late bloomer as yourself. Why do the great clans always do that shit? Just because someone didn't go their way, they—"
"Stay on track, Lin! Just go straight to the point," Ling said, interrupting him.
"My bad, my bad," Lin said, clearing his throat. He continued, "So you are one of the specially invited participants this year, and we would like to see you there." And puff.
They disappeared under the cover of a smoke screen, with a lingering, fading message filtering through.
"Last test: survive and use the card to contact us."
Final test? And card? Which card? Ren thought.
Feeling something inside his pocket, he dipped his hand inside and retrieved it—a white envelope stamped with an emblem of seven white stars surrounding a golden crown.
Huh? The Rex seal? Ren thought as he tore the envelope open. Inside lay a black card and a letter. Before he could fully examine the contents of the envelope, the sky darkened.
He turned.
And froze.
A massive shape moved toward him—not a cloud, but a swarm. An enormous cluster of black wings.
Frenzy Bees.
And mixed in the swarm were some bigger bees too.
A smirk formed on Ren's face. "Perfect. At least something to let out some steam."
Ren activated the two classes he had copied and braced for battle.
...…
Somewhere else in the First Realm, standing tall over the corpse of a huge lion with a slight smirk on his face, was an African-looking guy with a black afro hairstyle.
Huh? No notification kill? Someone dares to steal my kill?
"Wow, that's amazing. So care to give a reason before you go down?" Jonas said playfully, with his hands on his waist.
A figure materialized from thin air in front of Jonas.
"The name's Milan," he said.
"A strong one, huh?" Milan said. "But that won't last long, because you are gonna go down today, one way or the other."
"Let's see," Jonas said as a screen flashed in front of his face.
[Class Activated]
Class: Transformer
Name: Super Human
Ability: Super Body
Jonas fully activated his ability, but there was no visible change.
"Now let's get this started," Jonas said as he began a countdown. "Three, two, one—GO."
Before the figure could fully process what happened, Jonas was already in front of him, with a fist swinging toward his face.
Bang!
The figure crashed onto a nearby boulder. While trying to extricate himself, a fist came down on him, smashing him deeper into the boulder.
Crack! Crash!
The boulder cracked and shattered into pieces, and in the midst of the debris lay Milan, with blood spilling from his mouth.
"Mister Milan, please don't die on me now. I am just starting," Jonas said, cracking his fists.
"Not happening," Milan said as he stood up, and in a blur, he vanished from his location, appearing at Jonas's side and throwing a punch. But his punch was stopped as Jonas's hand clenched his fist.
"How?" Milan muttered under his breath in a surprised tone.
Jonas folded his other fist and threw a punch at Milan's face.
Bang!
Milan blocked it with his other hand and was sent flying again, but this time he didn't crash land disgracefully. Flying through the air, he twisted and landed on his feet while sliding back.
"Good, you pass," Milan said as he slowly lowered his hand, trying to hide his shaking arms. Retrieving an envelope from his pocket, without any explanation, he threw it at Jonas. Quickly turning back, he headed into the jungle while slowly fading from view.
"Read the letter, and you will understand," Milan's voice echoed as he disappeared.
...
Somewhere in the Poisoned Valley, a figure was seen running as if the world was ending. And that wasn't wrong, because the figure—Ren—was being chased by a swarm of bees. Bees ranging from the size of an adult fist to the size of a football, and at the forefront leading the chase was the biggest bee, an aberrant beast.
Foolish me, Ren thought as he kept running while evading random strikes from behind. Who told me to go ahead and kill so many bees?
Some hours back, after the Lin and Ling duo had left Ren, more Frenzy Bees came, and Ren kept slaughtering them. Thanks to the two classes he had copied, his fight with the bees was much easier. The more he slaughtered, the more bees came rushing toward his location. At first, Ren thought it was a great opportunity—but not until his energy was close to finishing.
Shit, Ren cursed as it now made sense. Now he knew why hunters were advised against killing too many Frenzy Bees.
I need to get as far as possible from these bees, or else—Ren's thought was interrupted by an attack from the aberrant bee that successfully landed on his shoulder. Ren swiped his hand across his shoulder, wiping the poisonous acid from his armor to avoid it eating through.
Behind him, the swarm roared as he ran.
Faster.
The buzzing grew louder, closer. Cold sweat collected beneath his armor. His lungs burned. His heart hammered.
Not like this.
They were too fast. Too relentless.
"I have to do something… or I'm dead," Ren thought.
The bees fired their detachable stingers, each one whistling past him like a thrown spear. The ground shook with every impact.
Ren dodged left and right—barely—until the plains abruptly gave way.
A deep rumble echoed beneath his feet.
The earth split open.
Before he could react—
CRRRRK—!
The ground collapsed, and Ren plummeted into darkness. Dirt and stones showered around him as he tumbled through a narrow chute and crashed into a cramped underground tunnel.
He groaned, forcing himself upright.
A narrow choke point.
A perfect battlefield.
Above, the swarm raged, forcing their bodies through the cracks.
Only one or two could enter at a time.
Sparks danced around Ren's hands as he summoned two daggers, weapons he had obtained from his earlier slaughter. Steadying his breathing, the Phoenix Carapace gleamed in the dim light as he deactivated the stone transformation to save energy.
He planted his feet.
"Alright," he murmured. "Come then."
The first Frenzy Bee forced its head through the opening—
And Ren's eyes sharpened. As he prepared for battle.