[Narrator's POV]The awaited test has finally come. All the orphans were gathered around the training area with their weapons hidden in their armor. Their guardians are all gathered away from their direction. They were all standing next to each other, eagerly waiting for Alasdair's announcement, but then Arphen showed up in front of them instead of him. Their hearts are all filled with excitement, especially the little lady who seems excited about a big fight.Cordelia can't help but jump in joy as they wait for the announcement, while her guardian, a nine-tailed fox, remains calm. Despite her childish personality, she has an unexplainable urge to fight strong opponents.Maison acts like a child as well, but far from Cordelia, he mostly can't stop himself from changing his emotions. Whenever he feels very happy, he tends to express it by crying instead of laughing. That makes him look weak, though he has a strong aura hidden inside him.The rest of the defenders, including Frisia, Lun

[Nowo's POV]What is much harder than a simple labyrinth? It is the mind's labyrinth. You're walking on an unknown path while your mind is also solving a puzzle, thinking about the right direction to go. You are surrounded by huge walls, unable to see what is waiting for you every time you turn left or right.The thought of 'maybe there are some kinds of monsters here' continuously bothers me as I look for a possible way that will guide me to the sixth tree. I was walking really fast without even noticing the man in front of me."S-sorry," I uttered in pain as I touched my head. His brown leather boots are kind of familiar. The moment I raised my head to see the person I bumped into. "Moha?" I uttered while creasing my eyes. The vision is kind of blurry, but I'm sure that he's the one that I'm seeing right now.He flashed a sneer smile right before he revealed his right hand that was hidden from his back. His sudden movement caught my attention, and as I began to look down at his hand

[Frisia's POV]After the headmaster left the training ground, I sat on the wooden glossy floor and started cleaning my lovely companion, which is my axe."I miss you, my love," I said to myself and chuckled.Having quality time with my baby is my favorite thing to do. Especially at times like this. I wanted this moment to last longer, but then I saw the tall guy coming near me again."What's up, Raiden?" I asked him. He was just staring at me with a blank expression. I knew that he's going to babble about a nonsense thing again only to make our conversation long enough. "Are you going to talk or not? Just go straight to the point; I don't have much time to talk," I calmly told him and then I smiled."Nothing. I just want to sit here," he responded.Though I knew that he wanted to say something, I just shrugged my shoulders and decided not to mind him. I want to give my full attention to my lovely axe until I no longer feel exhausted.I'm not very sure about the reason why I keep on re

[Narrator's POV]The map given to the orphans was composed of different destinations they needed to pass safely. The hunters' mountain is the most dangerous and secured part of the land of Astria, and the only path they can take to reach the Lake of Aria. The monstrous creatures living in the mountain include wild beasts, elves with strong black magic, half-human half-animal creatures like centaurs, and more.Surviving on that mountain is indeed hard. A single person without abilities would end up dying without even reaching half of it.Alasdair is both worried and excited about what is going to happen after the defenders face their death.He smiled at them and said, "I hope you all have a nice journey.""A question: what's the point of separating us into five different teams when we are all heading to the same destination?" Maison wondered."By the use of my powers, I will send you to different starting points before you begin your journey," Arphen explained. "As you already know, th

[Nowo's POV] This land never fails to surprise me. I thought monsters only existed in books and that there was nothing to worry about since those were all a bunch of letters written on pages. But then, they kept showing in front of me, and this made me feel terrified. Lane and Talaa were captured by an unknown flying beast. Their appearances were somewhat blurry due to the thick dark smoke conquering the whole forest, but then the moment they started flapping their wings, the smoke began to disperse. The two little fairies were both trapped inside the long claws of a half-bird, half-woman creature. "H-help," Lane uttered as they gave us a grimace of pain. As the flying creature came near us, another two appeared behind her. Their eyes were wide-opened, which made me think that they do have a clear sight in this wide and gloomy area. Their faces were wrinkled, and they do have the creepiest smile I've ever seen here in this land. "Moha," I called him and was about to spill a few mo