Outskirts of Medullan Forest.

A shadow wolf ran over the trees. It was 3 meters long and 2 meters high. Its fur was pure black and its red eyes made it look terrifying. Its claws were very sharp, and a swipe from it could lead to severe injuries if one was not careful.

Its speed was fast. Whenever it leaped, it produced very a faint sound.

A flash of thin sword light appeared, and the shadow wolf was suddenly cleaved into two horizontally. A large volume of blood splattered over the trees.

Another lower elite-level shadow wolf immediately appeared and swiped at the rear of the cleaved shadow wolf where the human was. It wanted to kill the human that killed one of its own kind.

The human had long wavy pale golden hair fluttering with the wind. His blue hooded eyes exuded a calm expression. He was wearing a deep-blue gambeson, with golden outlines. His breech was grey with the covering as black.

He held his sword in reverse.

The sword was 75cm long, and 5cm wide. The cross-guard was colored golden, and the grip was deep-blue.

He was indifferent to the elite shadow wolf that appeared.

He stepped with his right leg and faced the attacking shadow wolf. Then, he reversed his grip on the sword in his right hand and lifted it to block the attack.

He gathered his mana and forced the elite shadow wolf back. The shadow wolf was thrown into the air. Its eyes were in disbelief, confused as to how the human was able to catch up to its speed and determined its location. The human remained in his position without taking a step back once.

The human disappeared from his spot, and several flashes of sword light shone.

`Slice and Dice`

The shadow wolf was sliced into pieces. Its organs blew out of its body. It was a disgusting scene. All of this took less than 2 seconds.

He appeared behind the shadow wolf. "Hmph". He let out a short snort. His sword and outfit were drenched in blood.

He was Rainald Hearst, titled Quicksilver Swordsman. He is a Weapon Master Prospect. His power level is currently at the middle gold-level.

Additional shadow wolves appeared to attack him. He dodged and appeared a few meters forward, then used his sword to block additional attacks and dodged at other times.

He then leaped to his right, and the clash continued for 50 meters straight.

Their clashes destroyed the rocks and trees. The residual force shook the earth and the leaves.

Afterimages were formed due to their speed.

The wolves changed their tactics and decided to unleash their attacks together. Three of them stopped and charged their darkness beam together, while the rest kept the human at bay. They displayed their intelligence and sense of teamwork.

`Mana Force Outburst!`

Rainald gathered his mana and released a strong force that knocked back the shadow wolves surrounding him.

`Slashing Wave!`

He charged his sword with mana and released a horizontal strike to block the incoming charged attack.

While he retaliated, an elite shadow wolf appeared behind him several meters away and attacked with its darkness beam. Rainald noticed the attack a bit too late. However, he remained composed and did not panic.

`Earth Shield Projection`. A woman mage cast in her mind with her left arm fully stretched and pointed at the back of Rainald. She was 80 meters east of Rainald.

A shield projection of the earth essence appeared behind Rainald and blocked the attack. The impact generated violent winds, and the ground behind him formed a crater.

Rainald was unperturbed about what had happened.

`Growth! Constriction!`. The woman mage casted two spells simultaneously, pointing her two hands at the shadow wolves attacking Rainald.

The elite shadow wolf was punched first before it could destroy the vines constricting it.

`Breaking Punch!`. The shadow wolf's organs received a shock and were slightly injured. The elite shadow wolf howled in pain.

`Flurry Punches!`

Another series of punches were thrown before it could take a break. Each punch carried the essence of earth, making them heavy.

`Concussive Palm Thrust!` The warrior opened his palms then thrust both of them into the shadow wolf's skin. Its body vibrated and was in greater pain than before.

The warrior leaped away from the shadow wolf.

`Immolation: Hellfire!`. The woman mage waved her hands in a circular motion and gathered mana from her mana core before casting.

Fire engulfed the shadow wolf. It was a mix of red and black. The surrounding environment became hot and the trees burned to ashes.

The shadow wolf struggled to fight, but it slowly burned to ashes.

At the same time, Rainald retaliated at the shadow wolves that were attacking him.

`Propulsion`. He gathered wind essence in his feet and instantly appeared beside the group of shadow wolves.

`Multiple Slashing Wave`, his sword released blade wind waves upon the shadow wolves.

The group of shadow wolves was unable to move and cut into pieces.

The remaining shadow wolves were frightened. However, the three fighters did not let them escape.

After a while, the remaining shadow wolves were dead. The three humans harvested the claws of the shadow wolves for proof of killing them.

They left the forest and returned to the forward camp. It was south of where they recently battled.

Rainald Hearst, Edgar Weiss, and Cassia Farella. They were the three fighters who recently battled the shadow wolves. All of them were titled Prospects.

Edgar Weiss, titled Pounding Hammer is a Mana Force warrior who excelled at punching and pummeling enemies to death.

Cassia Farella, titled as Duality Mage is an elemental and support mage.

They all had the same power level and age.

"What a tiresome mission. To think that there were actually more shadow wolves than what was reported. Tsk, tsk. We even encountered a peak-level elite shadow wolf. Luckily, it departed somewhere far away and we never saw it again. I'm going to beat those scouts that provided this report.", Edgar complained loudly.

The mission they took was to clear a nearby gathering of shadow wolves which were estimated to be at least 1,500. It was also indicated that their power level was at most middle elite-level, so the three were very sure that they could handle it.

"You're such a wimp. So, what if that peak elite-level shadow wolf fought us? It's not like the three of us are weak." Cassia retorted Edgar's grumbling. They had the pride and strength of a Prospect. What was the point of complaining?

"Tsk, with that attitude of yours, I doubt you'll ever find yourself a boyfriend!" Edgar talked back to her.

`Immolate: Firestorm!` Edgar was immediately covered in flames. He wailed in pain and asked for forgiveness.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"Stop! I'm sorry! This handsome young brother here did not mean it-!"

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"Stop it you two. You're acting like kids arguing over such a matter.", Rainald said maturely.

These teammates of his were always arguing about every subject that they talked about. They even debated their own philosophies in life and almost became lifelong rivals. After all, one was from the Great Martial Arts School while the other was in the Great Magic School.

The two did not listen to him and kept on arguing. They soon reached the forward camp. Cassia and Edgar immediately behaved themselves. They were afraid of being punished by disturbing the peace inside the camp.

The forward camp was huge. It was at least 1.5 km long and 3.5 km wide. Stone walls were set up by the earth mages for protection. Magic array formations were also installed for further security. There were Imperium soldiers dressed in golden armor that covered their whole bodies. They patrolled atop those stone walls.

It was more of a town fortress than a forward camp.

The fighters and the Imperium soldiers stayed at the northern side of the camp. It stretched for 1.25 kilometers. On the eastern side were the apartments for the fighters. They were three stories high, and the whole north camp could house at least 200,000 people. The western side was for the Imperium soldiers.

The east-center of the camp were taverns, bars, and other buildings.

Opposite it was where the medical, blacksmiths, enchantments, and other establishments were found.

The three of them took a few minutes walking before reaching the Exchange Area, where they would submit the shadow wolf claws and exchange them for points.

The Exchange Area was composed of different buildings and sub-areas where fighters could submit or request missions, exchange materials, and other forms of transaction.

The forward camp had a leaderboard system. It displayed the names of the top 1,000 individuals.

Sadly, Rainald and the other two's names were not there.

"Damn, Senior Edward's position has increased by one rank while we were away. I wonder what mission did he finished for his points and rank to increase that much.", Edgar was a fan of the person named Edward.

Apart from the leaderboard, there were also other magic screens displaying the recent news on the left, and highlight videos that the examiner bugs recorded and sent back when famous fighters of the forward camp went out to hunt. The battle being displayed right now was a fight between a diamond-level fighter and a peak commander-level demon beast.

Their fight was deep inside the outskirts of Medullan Forest, and the aftermath of their clashes was very destructive.

After glancing over the magic screens, the three of them went to the Student Warrior Exchange Building.

They took out their student emblems and gave them to the personnel. The personnel scanned it. After confirming their identity and completion of the mission, the personnel inputted data onto the magic screen. Points were then added to their student emblems.

They were happy since they received a good amount of points and distributed the points within themselves.

"Oh, isn't that Senior Edward and Senior Cody?", Cassia noticed Edward Ellison and Cody McKenzie seated 20 meters away from them.

"Wanna go meet them?", Edgar teasingly asked. He knew that Cassia had a crush on Cody. After all, they were both Mages and Prospects.

"Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem, right?", Cassia said.

"Alright, let's go".

The three of them approached the two. However, it looked like these two Prospects were about to start another round of debate and insults.

"Hey, Jockey McCorny. To think that you're this weak. You can't even be part of the top 50, and you dare to declare me as your rival? I didn't know you were such an egotistical and shameless person.", Edward said to Cody in a rather arrogant tone. He was mocking the other's incompetence.

His scarlet mohawk hair stood out. His oval head had a scar on his left cheek that was 5cm long. He was dressed in a punk rock manner. He had an overbearing and arrogant aura.

"Shut up, Egg-head Perverton. You're calling others shameless when you're the shameless one! You keep on stealing the missions I was bound to accept and complete. That's why you have higher points than me!

If I were you, I would stop calling myself a Prospect for having such a behavior that is nothing short of a scumbag." Cody McKenzie retorted. His voice was silvery and pleasant to the ears.

He has a round head. His navy blue mohawk hair was the complete opposite of Edward's. He wore a deep blue-colored vest and a white undershirt.

This Egg-head kept on stalking him, waiting for the chance to grab ahold first of any missions that he laid his eyes upon.

He tried deceiving him many times, but Edward was as cunning as a fox and never fell for his schemes. He was greatly infuriated about it.

On another table near them were two girls having a peaceful conversation.

"Hey Lina, say, let's attend the upcoming school selection event, shall we?", Luna asked her sister Luna.

"I don't know, Sister Luna. I get nervous when there's a crowd and they look at me.", Lina answered.

"Well, aren't you in that situation yourself right now?", She teased Lina while drawing close to her. Some fighters were staring in their direction at times.

"No, it's not like that. It's just that- ", Lina said in a blushing manner. She clasped her hands.

"Just-what?", Luna kept on teasing her.

"Ah! Never mind! I'll go, okay? I'll go! I'll go!", Lina surrendered in the end. She can't handle her sister teasing her especially in a crowded place like the Exchange Building.

"Alright! That's the Lina I know!" Luna said excitedly while placing her arms around Lina's shoulders with her other hand pointed at Lina's cheeks. Lina blushed.

They were having a good time when a bottle of wine was thrown and the wine inside the bottle fell on Lina and Luna.

"You bastard! I have enough of your empty talks, let's go settle this outside. I'm going to show you what a real Prospect is." Cody shouted at Edward.

"Oh, you gonna 'settle' me with those lumps of clowns that you gonna summon?", Edward did not back down.

"You- ".

Chains suddenly sprang out of nowhere and tied them up.

The result was a sexual bondage exhibition. The two of them were tied up similarly to shibari gyaku ebi.

"You two. It looks like you're having a fun time, eh?!", Luna was bounded by her chains. She was feeling excited since she invited her sister Lina to attend the school selection event with her, but these bastards had ruined her celebration party.

"This big sister here would like to join in the fun. You wouldn't mind, would you?", she was livid with rage, as shown by her dark complexion and glowing red eyes.

"Luna, don't! Just let them go, okay?" Lina was worried. She could feel her sister's rage.

"Lina, step back. I'm going to teach these dickheads what a real Prospect is."

She brandished her chains. The two Prospects started shivering in fear.

They did not expect that this woman would be here, or maybe they forgot she was there since they were heated on lashing out verbal abuses against one another.

"Beig Seyster Luwuna, weym sheyori-"

They were beaten and was thrown outside of the building using Luna's chains.

"Uhm", Rainald, Edgar, and Cassia gulped at the same time.

"What, you also need guidance on how to be a Prospect?", Luna turned her eyes to the three.

"N-no Big Sister Luna. Hehe." Edgar stuttered.

"Then SCRAM!"

`Eek!`, they felt chills in their spines and immediately ran for their lives. They were not in the mood to receive her "lesson".

The guards did not stop her. She was the perfect mediator to all troubles that would happen. After all, a woman in her bad mood was something nobody dared to mess with.

Edward and Cody laid on the ground 50 meters outside the building.

"It's your fault Jockey McCorny. I'm gonna remember this."

"I'm not gonna let you go either, Egg-head Perverton".

Their bones were broken, and their faces were full of swelling and other injuries. That Chained Maiden was ruthless. They did not dare lash out at her, however.

The surroundings became quiet. The two wondered what happened when suddenly…

"Oh my, what a lucky day. Finding two injured men within the camp, what a change of fortune." A sweet and alluring voice resounded nearby.

`Wait, that voice!`

`What the f*ck?! Why is my luck so bad today?!`

The two felt despair when they heard this voice.

"Hehe. Come and let mama heal you two. Seeing my little children being hurt makes my heartbreak." She continued talking and walked to them.

`No! If this continues, something other than our hearts will break too!`, they both exclaimed in their minds.

"Suzie, my darling. Take them to my hospital tent. I'll 'heal' them later". The woman walked away while searching for something in the square.

"Yes, Madam Anabella." A young girl with mint-colored hair said in a monotonous voice. She carried them on her back then went to where the medical tent was.

`I will die! I will definitely die instead of being healed!`, Cody and Edward lamented in their minds.

`Please, anyone but her!`

`The Sadist Healer!`