Eviliana's POV
We avoided all the traps—like the poison smoke that could make anyone who inhaled it fall asleep for 5 to 10 days depending on their strength, the iron threads that, once they catch you, won't let go and will shred you to pieces in five minutes, and the teleportation soil that would transport you elsewhere if you stepped on it.
Only a few seconds had passed, and we were already in the difficult round. The monsters here were flying and breathing fire like dragons. It was definitely difficult. Even worse, some of them had armor that ordinary attacks couldn't penetrate.
"Avy, do you see or sense any traps?" I asked as several artificial monsters charged at us. I immediately engaged them in battle.
"Umm, yeah. But they're still at the end," she answered quickly.
I didn't waste a second. I drew Ōrukattosōdo, jumped high into the air, and spun my body midair.
A powerful energy wave struck three monsters and blew them up in the air.
But it wasn't over. Even bigger ones were coming—heavily-armored flying beasts. Three of them flew straight toward me.
"Avy, cover me!" I shouted.
She quickly shifted form and released hundreds of insects that charged at the enemies. While the monsters were distracted, dodging the insects, I jumped onto one of them and struck its neck with my arm.
But—"Aaarghhh!" I cried out in pain.
One of the monsters had slipped through and hit me from behind. I fell to the ground, rolled, and felt blood running down my arm.
I was careless. I didn't even notice there was an enemy behind me. I should've watched my back.
"Lia!" I heard Avy yell. I saw her transform and summon even larger insects—beetle-like ones with spikes—and sent them charging at the monsters heading my way.
"Are you okay?" she asked, worried, helping me to my feet.
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," I answered with a smile even though my back still hurt.
She transformed back into her fox form. I climbed onto her again and we resumed fighting the artificial monsters charging at us.
I saw one of the monsters had a glowing core in its chest. "Avy, go straight! I'll jump!"
I leaped, ran along the back of a dragon-like beast, and climbed to its head. I plunged my sword into its core.
BOOM!
It exploded, taking two other monsters nearby with it. Finally, we were close to the finish line—but there was still one last trap that Avy had mentioned.
"Avy, what kind of trap is it?" I asked.
"Paper," she replied.
"Huh? Paper?" I asked in confusion.
"Yeah. Explosive paper," she said.
Ah...
"Can you avoid them?" I asked worriedly. She looked exhausted.
"I'm not sure," she said, panting. "I'm tired from all the traps and the monsters earlier," she added. "But don't worry, I'll manage so we can pass."
No… I knew she was completely worn out. What if she couldn't avoid those explosive papers? She could get hurt. What should we do now?
"...Liana, use one of your equipment."
"Yes, of course!"
I grabbed my bracelet. "I know how we can avoid that trap."
This tool is called *Fūpupōtaru*. It's an emergency teleportation bracelet.
I threw the bracelet ahead of us, and it grew into a portal.
"Avy, jump!"
We finally reached the finish line. Both Avy and I were completely out of breath.
"Wow! I can't believe this! 53 seconds! Not even a full minute and someone's already reached the finish line! This is the first time in history that someone has completed the race exam in just 53 seconds! Amazing!" we heard from the speaker.
"Sigh… we made it," Avy said with a deep breath. She changed back to her human form and leaned against me.
Third Person's POV
Eviliana and Aviel had reached the finish line. Both were overjoyed to have passed the exam.
Meanwhile, many of their fellow examinees struggled. Some were unconscious, some injured by traps, and others had been teleported far away after stepping on teleportation soil.
Now, the mysterious fairy approached the finish line. Her final obstacle was the explosive paper trap. Strangely, she didn't make any effort to dodge it, yet she passed through unharmed and reached the finish line in 1 minute and 2 seconds.
Next was the wolf girl, who used wind to defeat the monsters. When she reached the explosive paper trap, she pulled a small fan from her pocket, which instantly grew larger. With one strong swing, she blew all the explosive papers away and safely reached the finish line in 1 minute and 9 seconds.
Eviliana's POV
Five minutes passed, and only a few managed to complete the race. Many gave up, unable to endure it.
The healing team had begun treating the injured. There were quite a number of them.
"Out of 368 examinees, only 24 passed," the fairy male announcer said. What was his name again? "The top 10 scorers will be awarded tomorrow during the opening ceremony," he added. "All those who passed the entrance exam may now go to the headmaster's office to receive your dormitory assignments and find out who your roommates will be. That is all. Thank you."
"I hope we're in the same dorm," Avy said, smiling as she held my hand.
"Me too," I smiled back.
"Shall we go?" She grabbed her things, and I did the same. Together, we walked toward the headmaster's building.
When we arrived, we knocked on the office door.
A female fairy opened it and silently gestured for us to come in.
"Good morning!" Avy and I greeted in unison.
"Good morning to you both," the headmaster replied. "What are your names?"
"My name is Aviel Alvarez," Avy said.
"I'm Eviliana Villaina Alfena."
"Oh, Alfena? Are you the princess of the Fox Kingdom?" the headmaster asked.
I nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
She examined me curiously from head to toe.
"Is something wrong?" I asked, though I already knew why she looked at me like that.
"Oh, nothing, nothing," she smiled. "By the way, you two will share the same dormitory. Room 301." She handed us the key and a card.
"What's the card for?" I asked.
"To access the girls' dormitory," she replied. I nodded in understanding.
"Thank you so much!" Avy and I said together before leaving the office.
Once outside, we shouted together, "Yes!"
We made our way to the dormitory. It was a long walk from the main campus—this school was enormous.
When we reached the girls' dorm, a fairy greeted us. We showed her our card, and she let us in.
We began searching for room 301. It was on the 4th floor. Inside, we saw three rooms—which meant we had one more roommate.
As I looked around, I spotted the second finisher from the race sitting on the couch.
So she's our roommate?
"Good morning!" I greeted. She glanced at me briefly, then silently stood up and entered the first room.
"Huh?! Doesn't she know how to greet back? So rude!" Avy huffed, clearly annoyed.
"Let it go, Avy," I said, trying to calm her.
She sighed. "Okay."
I smiled. "Let's get some rest in our own rooms. I know you're tired."
"Alright," she replied. "I'm taking the second room, okay? I don't want you to be next to that girl." Her ears twitched. Cute.
"As you wish," I agreed.
We each went into our own rooms. The rooms were complete—with a closet, a bed of course, a bathroom, and other furnishings.
I put my clothes in the closet first, and after that, I lay down on the bed. I was exhausted.
While I was lying there, someone knocked on my door. Then I suddenly felt the door open. When I looked to see who it was, it turned out to be Avy.
"Lia?" she called out to me.
"Hmm? What is it?" I asked.
"Hehe! Let's chat for a bit," she said cheerfully and closed my door behind her.
"Sure," I said, sitting up from where I was lying down. She sat beside me.
"Wait, before we start chatting, I want to ask you something first."
"Me?" She nodded. "What is it?"
"That move. The one you did earlier? Where did you learn that?" she asked seriously.
-_-