The heat kept pressing down on them as they walked steadily. The ground was dry now, the air was thick and sticky from the humidity, sweat rolled down their backs no matter how slow they moved.

Both Raviel and Harry, were navigating their way since half an hour.

Their faces were flushed slightly from the assault of the sun rays. Overall the climate was changing and the temperature was being changed drastically since the rain.

Harry wiped his forehead and let out a shaky laugh.

"I'm still amazed by your rank, you know? Damn". He scratched the back of his head, looking awkward but impressed.

"No wonder I couldn't see your speed back there. You rankers are really some different species".

Raviel glanced at him from the side, a bit confused. 'When did this guy get so comfortable'.

Harry kept talking anyway. "So, uh… what's the mission about? You looked like you knew exactly where are we going."

"We're supposed to retrieve something," Raviel said calmly, wiping the sweat from his mouth. "It's called the Flower of Colorless."

He raised his hand and pointed ahead. A mountain was looming in the distance now, jagged and foggy against the bright sunny sky.

"It's somewhere up there. The map showed it's location on the mountain."

Harry whistled softly, seeing the enormous structure. "This sounds tiring to be honest."

Then as if someone flipped his switch, his voice came back to life.

"So what's S-class really like? And are the clan heirs actually stronger than you guys say? Like, stronger than you for comparison?"

Listening his voice, Raviel recalled the first fifteen minutes with Harry — the guy didn't talk at all, but ever since Raviel had initiated a conversation, Harry had been talking non-stop about all the things he had done before entering the Vr.

'Haa~ you really can't stay quiet, even in the heat huh?'.

Raviel didn't answer his question right away. Instead he turned the question around.

"What about you? How many students are present in your class?".

Harry shrugged. "Well our Class-F, has fifty students..." He paused, then added, "It's loud too. Everyone's always trying to impress someone."

"I see," Raviel said.

He walked a few more steps before asking again, "When you entered the VR… were you alone? Or did you spawn near others?"

Harry's expression darkened a little bit. "Nah, I was alone, when I first spawned. I searched for three hours, just to find more participants."

Raviel glanced at him.

Harry exhaled and spoke once again. "And that pretty much...ended with me eliminating only one participant and getting wrecked by those two".

Hearing Harry's story, Raviel thought for a second. 'Does this mean that, this exam is more about group and missions than solo hunting.'

Raviel ruffled his wet hair. He felt that the exam leaned more towards the mission side. As the solo eliminations barely provided the points. He felt the difference between them.

Seeing Raviel moving quickly, Harry increased his pace.

"Wait for me bro, my lungs are really overworked right now."

They kept walking towards the mountain, with faster speed now.

....

Near a trench, two girls were looking at the calm water which was slowly drifting to their hands as they tried to look under the crystal clear water.

Isabelle crouched once more near the edge of the crystalline clear blue water and squinted down the the water body. The surface was calm, but still the calm currents made their way to the edge.

"Let me check inside the water once again," she said, rolling up her sleeves a little. "Maybe we can discover what its pattern is?".

Isabelle glanced back, and smiled sideways.

"Aww, my cute princess isn't worried about me, is she?"

Valerie who was standing behind her, didn't answer, she just continued staring at the calm water.

Isabelle, seeing this, chuckled lightly.

"Okay, okay, I get it".

The two of them had run into each other by pure luck, near the pond earlier. It wasn't really a pond either — more like a deep trench filled with clear dark water.

When they both found each other, they had decided to teamup as both of them had spotted the same checkpoint orb.

The mission given by the orb was also fairly simple: retrieve the eye of dweller resting at the bottom of the water body.

But.

The problem was obvious.

Even from where they stood, they could see the eyes which looked like an orb, glowing with a white glow intensely under the water.

And the problem was— the glowing orb was currently being circled by a grade-6 abysswalker. Both of them could see it's massive body through the clear water. It's body was built like a massive shark, with rough, dark skin and jagged fins. It flowed through the water lazily.

Isabelle clicked her tongue. "Well… someone still has to go down."

Valerie tilted her head slightly. "We don't have to."

Isabelle blinked and looked at her. "Huh?"

"We can kill it here," Valerie said calmly.

Isabelle stared at her for a second.

"Ehh...You're serious?"

"..."

Valerie didn't answer. Instead, she tapped on her finger lightly against her ring.

In an instant, a rapier materialized in her hand. The blade was long and slim, shining silver, almost mirror-like. The handle was intricate, wrapped neatly, with a faint tint of reddish gold with delicate carvings of roses on its handle.

Valerie stepped forward and walked towards a part where the sunlight was touching the ground and adjusted her stance, angling the blade just right. Sunlight hit the rapier and reflected off it, sending sharp rippling flashes across the surface of the water.

The abysswalker didn't react at first.

Isabelle frowned. " You could've told me before".

Isabelle stood and searched her surrounding, finding a fairly big rock, she hurled it into the lake with her full strength.

Splash~

The water exploded upward, and the abysswalker reacted instantly. Its massive body shifted, and it rushed toward the source of the movement — and the reflected light. The water churned violently as it surged upward, breaking the surface tension with terrifying speed.

Isabelle just watched the creature move upward.

The creature burst out of the lake, jaws wide, aiming straight for Valerie.

Valerie didn't move.

She slowly exhaled.

A pale mist escaped her lips, cold enough to be visible. Cold snow flakes formed in the air around her breath, spreading outward like a white mist.

Then she moved.

Her rapier flashed.

One clean, precise slash cut through the air— and through one of the abysswalker's massive fins. Black blood sprayed out, but before it could even drip, it froze solid midair.

At the same time, Isabelle slammed her hands onto the ground.

Vines erupted from the soil, thick and fast, wrapping around the creature's body. They coiled around its torso and jaws, tightening it hard, yanking it down and locking it in place as it thrashed violently with its remaining fin.

"Now!" Isabelle shouted.

Valerie gracefully closed the distance in three steps and then, she twisted her wrist and thrust upward, then followed with a sharp, horizontal cut.

The abysswalker's head came clean off.

The moment it got separated, black blood burst out — then instantly froze due to the drop in temperature, turning brittle and glass-like.

A second later, it shattered into fragments that scattered across the ground with a sharp crack like a broken glass.

The massive body collapsed, vines still wrapped around it, before the creature's body pixelated and faded away.

Silence returned to the lake.

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