?


    ''What!?'' Lyrian immediately thought to himself as he witnessed what happened, bewildered and shocked. His de was instantly stopped in its tracks by the barrier, as arge crack even spread through it like a spider web.


    "Divine Retribution!" Sisin suddenly said as he raised his right hand, as the barrier around him that absorbed the brunt of Lyrian''s blow minimized and traveled to his hand.


    Now, with a condensed mass of light, he unleashed his palm toward''s Lyrian.


    ''Im too close, I can''t dodge it!'' Lyrian thought to himself, pulling his de in front of him to block the attack.


    Sisin''s hand touched his sword resulting in a massive explosion of light energy, instantly blowing his sword to thousands of bits and pieces as Lyrian was thrown back with extreme force, his back mming against one of therge rocks behind him.


    Seeing this, Sisin suddenly smiled, "Haha..." before breaking out into a burst of maniacalughter, "Hahahaha! That''s what you get! Heathen! My Divine Protection ability allows me to absorb and reuse attacks used on me! You''ve been defeated by your own skil--" Just as Sisin was about to finish, he suddenly stopped speaking, as a ruthless energy of bloodlust suddenly loomed over.


    "What a stupid ability," Lyrian said, his tone slightly irritated.


    He looked down at his right hand, only to see that all that was left of his sword was the hilt.


    "You shouldn''t have done that..." He said as he slowly stood up, his body, coated with Enhance, beginning to increasingly glow more and more green.


    Sisin couldn''t speak, his body frozen with fear as Lyrian''s killing intent caused shivers to run down his back and all of his hair to stand up straight.


    "Di- divine protecti--!" He tried to say, but it was toote.


    Lyrian appeared before him in an instant, stabbing him directly in the stomach with the hilt of his sword, as he was eliminated on the spot.


    "Tsk... how annoying," Lyrian said, annoyed that his de was broken.


    Seeing the scattered pieces all around the floor, he began picking them up.


    Leon and Alten on the other hand were still fighting, as not a lot of time had passed since the start.


    "You''re not bad, squirt! But you still have a lot to learn if you want to catch up wit--" Before Ceaser could finish, Leon suddenly dashed toward him, unleashing a barrage of blows far superior in speed to what he was doing before as Ceaser was instantly eliminated.


    "Iron Blitz," Leon whispered under his breath, sheathing his sword.


    Hontas had been taking shots at Alten repeatedly, but Alten always managed to counter his arrows with arrows of his own. Frustrated and bewildered, Hontas couldn''t help but yell in exasperation, "What''s wrong with you? How can you be so incredibly urate?" As he continued to run around in circles, he loaded a distinctive arrow with a red feather, setting it apart from the rest of his arrows which had white feathers.


    "Explosion Arrow!" Hontas shouted, releasing his arrow while Alten simultaneously timed his shot and let go of his arrow. The two arrows collided in mid-air, causing a massive explosion that reverberated through the surrounding area.


    Determined to bring an end to the ongoing confrontation, Alten dered, "That''s it! It''s time to finish this!" He swiftly loaded two arrows onto his bow. Hontas was taken aback, a mix of surprise and shock evident on his face. "What are you doing?" he blurted out, quickly preparing his own arrow.


    In the world of archery, shooting more than one arrow at a time was considered taboo. The belief was that a single powerful arrow would be more effective and efficient than two weaker ones. However, Alten rejected this philosophy. As both archers released their arrows, two of the three arrows collided in mid-air, while the third arrow, shot by Alten, soared above, spinning through the air. It pierced straight through Hontas'' vest, narrowing him as he was instantly eliminated from the exam.


    Observing the oue, Alten put away his bow, feeling a sense of relief wash over him. "Phew!" he exhaled, relieved that the intense fight hade to an end.


    Leon and Alten walked to where Lyrian was after their fights ended, noting the killing intent that they felt from him during their fights. When they neared him, they noticed him collecting shards of obsidian from the floor.


    "You''re sword broke huh?" Alten said, beginning to also collect the shards without any hesitation.


    Leon also began collecting them at the same time, not saying any words.


    "Yeah... it was a gift. I shouldn''t have broken it so carelessly." Lyrian said, sounding slightly down.


    "It wasn''t your fault. You didn''t know the strength of your opponent, or what powers he had." Alten tried to console him.


    "It''s fine. If nothing else, we can get it fixed at my ceter on. My family are good swordsmiths." Leon chimed in.


    "Really? That would be great! The sooner the better." Lyrian said, his tone more optimistic.


    ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm Hearing this, Alten paused to think for a second before speaking, "Hey you know, speaking of swordsmiths. Outside of the exam, I did hear that there was a small civilization the massive cave system of the tstone Mountains, and I hear that it''s of dwarfs... master smiths of all kinds. Maybe they could also fix your sword for you."


    "A civilization of Dwarfs? Here?" Lyrian questioned.


    "Yeah! Although the Tasnan Wildends are being used as examination grounds, it is a real ce in the world you know. Inside of the even jungles and also jungles inside of the forbidden area, there are many civilizations of Lizard-men and Hobgoblins. Thesends are still wild, not conquered by humans yet, so civilizations of other species still exist."


    Hearing this, Lyrian was happily surprised, "If that''s true, then I want to get this sword fixed as soon as possible. It may dy our speed in finding the golden-tiered creature though, so if you guys want to separately search for it while I fix my sword, that ispletely understandable," He paused, "I wouldn''t want to have you guys stop simply because of my problem."


    "Not at all! It''s no problem for me! Of course, I will go with you!" Alten eximed.


    Leon also spoke, "I see no problem with visiting a Dwarf civilization for a bit."