The moment their feet touched solid ground, chaos erupted.
A sharp wind howled across an endless expanse of cracked, gray stone and dying grass. In the distance, mountains clawed at a bruised sky. Jagged monoliths littered the landscape like the remains of a broken god.
Noah and his classmates had arrived in the Trial Plains.
There was no time to recover. A guttural roar echoed across the field as monstrous figures emerged from the haze—beasts made of bone, shadow, and fury. Dozens of them.
"Get into formation!" Celina barked, already conjuring shimmering blue armor from her [Soul Forge] ability. "Everyone with offensive skills, to the front! Support types, stay back!"
Panic surged. Some students froze. Others ran. But a core group, the stronger ones, stood their ground. Jason grinned, cracking his knuckles as his arms turned to stone and flame. "Let's hunt."
Noah didn't move at first.
Instead, he stared down the wave of monsters, watching—analyzing. They were slow, disorganized, all B- and C-tier monsters. But deadly for those who hesitated.
He flicked his fingers.
"Ghoststep."
His form vanished in a blink, reappearing ten meters closer to a beast. It turned, confused, and that's when Noah struck.
"Command Word: Fall."
The creature's legs buckled instantly, slamming into the ground as if gravity had doubled. Noah didn't waste time—he reached out and touched its skull.
"Chainbreaker Touch."
The magic binding the creature's reinforced bones flickered and snapped. Its defense dropped—and Noah drove a conjured spear of light straight through its head.
The beast dissolved into dust.
> +15 EXP Gained.
+1 Stat Point Earned.
He grinned.
His classmates watched with wide eyes as Noah vanished again, reappearing near two more beasts. His fighting style was clean, controlled, surgical. No wasted movement.
By the time they regrouped an hour later, ten of the thirty students had fallen—injured or unconscious. None dead, yet.
Jason wiped blood from his mouth. "That was insane. These things just keep coming. What kind of intro test is this?"
"It's not a test," Noah muttered, kneeling by a wounded classmate to stabilize them. "It's a filter."
Celina stood nearby, her clothes torn but her eyes sharp. "He's right. They're not testing us. They're thinning us."
The sky overhead darkened, and the sound of hooves echoed in the distance.
Noah turned.
Riding toward them was a knight of obsidian armor, its body emitting steam and embers. Its horse was made of molten rock and shadow.
> Name: Trial Champion: Dread Knight
Race: Abyssal Construct
Level: 22
Threat Rank: A
Everyone's status window flickered with red warning text.
Celina's face paled. Jason's hands trembled.
But Noah?
Noah smiled.
"Time to test how far I can push these 'B-rank' abilities."
He stepped forward.
The Trial had only just begun.