Gosh. You guys are really stingy! So what if Thera taught her skill to Laura? Thera’s still the most OP character there is! And she’s about to get even more OP.

Did you think that people who were not extraordinary would be able to keep up with her pace?

As it is, Laura cannot even measure up to being Thera’s disciple. If the power gap gets any wider, the friendship will be estranged.

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The gong sounded before the sun rose that morning, waking Thera and Laura up immediately. Thera was instantly alert. She straightened her clothes, combed her hair, and concealed her throwing needles up her sleeves all within five minutes.

Laura had only gotten as far as yawning loudly and tying her shoes.

Thera smiled. “If your yawn gets any wider, a fly will land in there, you know?”

“Will not.” Laura mumbled, sleepily.

Thera laughed. “Oh, I see! I’ll be leaving first, then!”

Outside the tent, Master Thales was stirring a pot of porridge over the fire. The pot was much smaller than the one Laura had brought.

Thera was about to sit down next to the cooking fire when she smelled blood coming from Master Thales.

“There’s…only porridge for breakfast, huh?” She said.

“What were you expecting? Cakes?” Master Thales responded.

“No…for some reason, I thought there would be meat.” She replied.

“I’m sorry, Miss Briar Rose. There’s only porridge here. You’ll have to make do.” Master Thales poured some porridge into a bowl and held it out towards Thera. “Unless porridge doesn’t suit your tastes?”

“No, if it’s porridge, then I’ll definitely eat it. But…Master Thales, you didn’t accidentally cut yourself anywhere, did you?” Thera asked while grabbing the bowl.

“When you get to where I am, there is not much that can cut through even my skin. And, anything that can cut it is far away from here.” Master Thales said.

“Then, I suggest you take a bath later on.” Thera blew on a spoonful of porridge. “You reek of blood.” Master Thales looked sharply at her.

Thera concentrated on her porridge. “Naturally, I won’t ask what happened, especially since it probably required the skills of a Black Class. But, it’s still not good to wear such a perfume. It makes it easy for people to find you, after all.”

Master Thales smiled, good-naturedly. “Thank you for the advice, Lady Briar Rose. I will certainly keep it in mind.”

“You’re welcome~! But, what’s up with calling me ‘Briar Rose’? You already know my first name.”

“I should say the same to you. Don’t you call me ‘Master Thales’ all the time?”

“Then, should I call you, Gerard, I wonder~?”

“…Actually, it’s fine. Please continue to call me ‘Master Thales’, Lady Thera.”

“I’m glad we could come to an understanding~!” Thera replied as she took another bite of her porridge. “It could use a bit of salt, though-the porridge, I mean.”

At that point, Laura came out of the tent, yawning. The sky was starting to get brighter, even though the sun hadn’t risen yet.

“And here comes the most important person, the one who’s going to definitely pass the test with flying colors, Lady Laura Murlough! Applause~!” Master Thales clapped his hands as he teased Laura.

“What applause! Don’t think that you can belittle me like this first thing in the morning!” Laura retorted.

“Oh, so you’re not going to pass?” He asked.

“I. AM. But there’s no need for that condescending tone! I’m almost an adult, you know! Stop treating me like I’m still a kid!” Laura sulked.

“ ‘Almost’ means that you’re not an adult yet. If you’re not an adult, then that means you’re still a kid. Therefore, it is still proper for me to treat you like one.” Master Thales replied.

Thera laughed. What adults? All I see are two kids here. She thought to herself as she smiled.

She finished her porridge and went to go wash the bowl out in the stream.

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After breakfast, Master Thales brought them into a certain part of the forest.

Even before they arrived, Thera immediately understood what the next test would be, since she saw half-hidden targets in the trees and bushes.

“So, what’s the next test? I’m ready for anything!” Laura said.

“If you were ready for anything then you’d already know by now.” Master Thales said. “As things are, I think Thera knows what the next test will be, right?”

“[Accuracy], and probably [Frequency] as well.” Thera said. By habit she used English words to describe them.

“Eh? Akyu-rashee? Furekwenshee? What are those?” Laura asked.

Thera turned to Laura, smiling. “It means he wants to test how fast and how often we can hit the targets correctly.”

“As expected of a student of Madam Rothema. You even know the ancient tongue.” Master Thales said in praise.

“No, this…er…Is it really so ancient?” Thera asked. It’s just English, after all.

“Yes. It is said that the great heroes of the legends often spoke and wrote in this language. Many of their techniques and spells were written down in this language, so it is a subject of great interest for many people. If, by chance, there would come a time when someone could completely decode the language, then the kingdom would greatly benefit.”

“Ahahahahahah, Is that so? It’s too bad, then. I didn’t really learn anything significant about this language from Madam Rothema before I left. But, given the chance, I really would like to study the language for a bit.” Thera replied. I didn’t learn any of it from her, after all. But, it would be a shame to have a hidden skill and not use it to my advantage~!

“So you are interested! I’ll recommend you to the court librarians, then, when we return. Since even a single sentence written in this language is considered important, almost all of the ancient writings are locked up in the royal library. But, since you hold a title, you’ll probably be allowed to try your luck with them.” Master Thales said.

Thera narrowed her eyes at him. Does he suspect that I know more than a few words in English? Or is he simply trying to be helpful?

“For now, I’d rather focus upon the task at hand. Are there any rules?” Thera asked.

“You are not allowed to hit your fellow test taker. You may use any weapon. That is all. The one who is fastest and hits the most targets will win! Ready?” Master Thales raised his arm in the air, watching as the two girls shifted into a vigilant stance.

“Begin!”

Laura and Thera began running through the forest in different directions. Laura was running through the treetops, smashing the clay-encased straw targets out of the trees.

Thera was running along the forest floor, sending her needles through every target within range, while reading a book.

After an hour, though, Thera ran out of needles, so she made do with a knife tied to a cord. Thera would throw the knife at the board. As soon as it struck, she would tug on the rope, and the knife would come back. She skillfully wielded the cord so that the knife didn’t hit her, or the book she was reading, when it came back.

How many she struck, she didn’t even count. Her arms grew tired, and her breath grew ragged, but she didn’t stop. She suspected the test wouldn’t be over until all of the targets had been pierced through.

The sun rose high into the air, reached its zenith, and them began to head towards the horizon before the gong rang out, ending the test.

On her way back, Thera recovered her needles from the targets, once more hiding them away up her sleeves.

None of them had bent, or were broken, so, therefore, they were still useable.

Returning to where Master Thales stood, Thera was not surprised to find Laura already there.

“Ahem! Seeing that all 1,000,000 targets have been either pierced, or destroyed, I will now announce the results of the test.”

Master Thales spoke slowly to continue teasing Laura. “The one who struck the most targets was…” He stopped.

A ripple made its way across the barrier around the cultivation treasure. Someone, or something, was trying to enter the area.

“Wait here.”

Master Thales said, before vanishing west, in the direction the ripple had spread from. More and more ripples started to flash their way across the barrier.

Thera jumped to the top of a nearby tree to see what the matter was. With her sharp eyes, she could see all the way to the barrier edge.

“What is it? What do you see?” Laura asked.

“An army of beasts. Heading for the barrier…no, running from something. The beasts are running from something that’s got them absolutely terrified!” Thera said, surprised.

“Can you see it?”

“…No. Whatever it is, it is still hidden in the forest, but I can see trees falling down in a line about ten kilometers away.” Thera said, watching the proceedings.

The beasts, when they came up against the barrier, first tried to force their way through, but quickly gave up and ran along the edges, desperate to escape the terrible beast behind them.

Many beasts died underfoot, or from the crushing pressure of the beasts behind them. Thera even saw the Thunder Cat she had raced yesterday, running as fast as its lightning pace would take it.

An existence that would scare even a Thunder Cat-what kind of powerful beast was that!? Thera felt herself holding her breath as the fearsome creature approached.

Thera kept her eyes on the moving creature as it approached even closer. It was definitely a large beast, considering how many trees toppled before it. Soon she could hear the groaning and snap of the trees that fell.

Ten kilometers became nine. Nine kilometers became eight. And still, Thera had not managed to glimpse what sort of beast was coming their way.

All of a sudden, the beast stopped. Trees fell to its left. Trees fell to its right. Finally, it turned down a different path, one that led it away from the cultivation treasure. An the groaning, snapping, clattering sound of falling trees faded once more into the distance.

Thera let out a sigh of relief, and slipped down the trunk once more.

“It’s over. Whatever it was turned away from here, thank goodness! It was almost worried that we might have another emperor-class on our hands to deal with.”

“What, didn’t you defeat a whole group of thirty emperor-class animals by yourself?” Laura asked. “They don’t sound like they’re that tough if you can take them.”

Thera was about to open her mouth to reply when Master Thales’s voice came from behind her.

“That was nothing more than a stroke of luck, considering Thera had found their weakness. Moreover, they were all severely injured through infighting, which made such a thing possible. To take on an emperor-class beast alone would be pure suicide if you’re not a Black class: especially this particular emperor-class beast.”

Master Thales sighed.

“Well, what was it?” Laura asked.

“A Ten-thousand year old Devourer Worm. Its usual diet consists of rare elixirs, about one every fifty years or so. But, if there are no elixirs in the area, it will go on a hunger rampage, devouring everything in sight: trees, earth, beasts, birds, rocks, water, and so on. If it had found this cultivation treasure…” Thera’s spine went cold as Master Thales continued.

“It would not have left until it had devoured every rock, tree, and scrap of moss. I managed to lead it away from here by baiting it with an elixir which I happened to have on hand. But I was in luck that Thera was the winner, otherwise I’d now owe you an elixir.”

It took Laura three seconds to realize what Master Thales had said. “ WHAT!?”

Master Thales stuck a finger in his ear. “You heard me. The one who was the quickest and most accurate was Thera. She accurately hit over two thirds of the targets herself, totaling at just over 650,000 destroyed targets.”

“No way…” Laura looked as if an ocean of water had been poured upon the raging fires of her motivation. She nearly slumped to the ground.

“But, it was to be expected. Thera is a red-class, after all. Naturally, she would have more stamina and speed. Moreover, every single one of them was hit through the center, as opposed to what you did with smashing them out of the trees with your fists.”

Laura looked at Thera, in surprise. What kind of self-study would make someone that accurate?

Master Thales thought about something for a minute before raising his head. “You both have passed the test, and may have the whole day tomorrow to rest.”

Thera nodded. “Thank you, Master Thales.”

“I will be leaving to check out the origin of that devourer worm…For the time being, Thera, I will release the mana shackle.”

He took out an amber-colored gem and placed it into a depression in the cuff. The shackles immediately fell off her arms.

“Thank you, Master Thales.” She understood what he meant by that gesture. If anything or anyone entered the barrier while he was gone, then Thera had been given permission to use magic to protect herself and Laura. It meant that things were probably going to get dangerous very soon.

“‘And don’t leave the barrier.’” were the last words she heard before Master Thales took off down the path of destruction which the devourer worm had created in its rampage.