The first day slowly came to an end, with everyone gathering more and more points. Some returned to their cabin because they needed to rest, but some like Riven knew that this was a bad move.
Nothing was stated about them hunting at night, which meant they could gather even more points at night and get far ahead. To waste such time would be criminal.
Sleep was essential, but not when it came to something exam. So Riven and Sofia kept walking through the night. Their only source of light was the moon.
Suddenly, Riven spotted something reflecting the moon, so he rushed in that direction, and when the both of them got there, they saw a beautiful pond.
The moonlight reflected off it and created a beautiful, soft light scenery around it. The chirping of crickets and other insects created a soft yet somehow pleasing sound.
The air felt cool, and the breeze brushed their skin. A surreal environment that called their hearts.
"This is nice," she muttered.
"Yeah, it’s calm and beautiful," Riven said. He walked toward the water and got on one knee. He dipped his hand into the pond; the cool water washed over his hands.
Sofia followed behind and did the same thing. She put her hand into the water—she felt its coolness, her body relaxed, and before she knew it, the both of them were sitting on the floor with their legs dipped into the water.
Riven stared at the stars. It reminded him of the stars that he saw with that lady in that realm. Remembering that, he started thinking of ways to get back inside the sword.
While his mind drifted off, something woke up underneath the pond. Its glowing red eyes shined, and with one breath, bubbles floated to the top.
Sofia spotted the bubbles and immediately pulled her leg out, got on her feet, and pulled Riven.
"Get out!" she yelled, snapping Riven out of his daze. The moment he was back, he felt the presence of something coming. He jumped out of the water as fast as humanly possible, and the moment he did, a massive crocodile mouth blasted out of the pond. The mouth alone looked to be several feet long.
Riven and Sofia retreated quickly. The crocodile slammed back into the water, then it rushed out—fifteen feet long, scales that looked hard as steel, and eyes that glowed red like a demon. And above its head was an A rank, but not just that—there was also a plus sign next to it.
"They didn’t say anything about an A-plus beast," Riven said.
"It would be a stretch to believe that the academy wouldn’t pull something off," Sofia responded.
"Where do they even get all these creatures from? Come on, be for real," Riven said. He took out his sword and glanced at Sofia. "Cover me," he said and dashed forward. He leaped into the air and slashed down, but the crocodile made a twist and used its tail. Tail and sword collided, and Riven was thrown back.
The crocodile followed up, opening its mouth to attack him mid-air, but a fireball slammed into its face and knocked it back, allowing Riven to land on the ground and retreat a few steps.
The crocodile shook its head before lunging forward again.
"Flame Blast!" Riven called out and shot a powerful blast of flames. It slammed into the head and exploded, pushing the crocodile back and breaking through the thick scales.
When Riven saw that, he smiled. He was ready to attack again, but what happened next he didn’t expect. The crocodile opened its mouth and fired a breath of flames at Riven.
He leaped out of the way and rolled to his feet, but the crocodile followed him with the flames, so he ran. Sofia used water magic to blast the crocodile in the head, forcing the flames to go down.
"Seems it is from the dragon bloodline," she said.
"Yeah, the flames told me that," Riven said. He almost had his rump roasted. But for some reason, despite the fact that he was almost burnt, he felt his adrenaline pumping, and a smile crept up his face.
He lunged forward again, running faster this time. The crocodile attacked with another flame breath. He stomped the ground and jumped into the air, flipping as the flames passed from below.
He gripped his sword with both hands, gathering strength from his feet all the way to his arms, and using his momentum to add force, he slashed downward.
The crocodile saw the attack coming and tried to dodge it, but before it could, an arm-thick bolt of lightning slammed into it. The pain was not immense, but it distracted it from Riven, who was already in the swing, and it was too late for the crocodile to dodge.
The sword hit the crocodile on the head. It cracked the scales and cut into the head, digging deep and cracking the skull. But right before it went through, the crocodile started thrashing around and threw Riven back.
Regardless, the attack was deep, and it was very effective. The pain was immense, and the crocodile kept thrashing around, trying to numb the pain, but nothing worked.
All of a sudden, the air around the crocodile changed—it went from simple bloodlust to rage, killing intent, bloodlust, and more. Its red eyes turned blood red.
It let out a roar that resounded around the entire forest. It launched at Riven, filled with pain, rage, and everything in between.
Riven immediately made a flame wall to hold back the crocodile, but it slammed through the flame wall like it was nothing and rushed at Riven.
"Oh shit, I really pissed it off," Riven said, but he didn’t back down. The fight felt like it had only just begun.
"Don’t just stand there, Riven, you’ll get hurt!" Sofia yelled as she finished casting a spell. A magical circle appeared in the air above the crocodile.