The original plan remained unchanged.
Shortly after they crossed the border of the middle layer, the group encountered the first inhabitants of this zone.
These were beasts that, after being exposed to the energy of madness for a long time, became more powerful and ferocious.
The first wave consisted of five beasts, most of which, according to the couple's estimates, belonged to the "bronze" and "silver" ranks.
And that was exactly what Idan and Arabel needed at the moment.
During the training, they could not adequately assess their progress.
Nemo showed superhuman strength in sparring, and Eulalia was head and shoulders above them when it came to magic. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't match them. And all this was before they passed the ascension test.
They didn't have much time after the ascension trial. They mostly spent it studying and mastering their bloodlines, and they didn't have many opportunities to test and hone their new skills and abilities.
If it wasn't for the time limit, they wouldn't have come to this place without fully mastering their abilities.
And now they finally have the opportunity to evaluate their progress.
"Let us check out what we have achieved in these months," Idan said, stepping forward. Arabel followed him.
The others didn't stop them. These beasts were too weak for them.
Nemo decided to go with them to distract the attention of some of the beasts and ensure safety in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Although he and Eulalia were aware that if both of them acted with full force, they could easily defeat them, they were in no hurry to reveal all their cards in this battle.
They decided to keep their trump cards up their sleeve for as long as possible.
Idan and Arabel anxiously came face to face with their chosen targets. Both of them chose the bronze-ranked beasts first.
After learning from Milisa, they finally learned how to evaluate the strength of other creatures and correlate it with the generally accepted ranks in the world of Junonia.
They could accurately determine the strength, starting from the "bronze" and ending with the "gold" rank. However, they themselves could not determine the strength above the "platinum" rank.
But their System was capable of it.
Compared to them, their System was much more accurate in estimating the strength and rank of all creatures.
Idan encountered a beast he knew well, a spiked wolf. Knowing the habits of the wolf, he felt no fear and boldly attacked.
The wolf shot at Idan with its spikes, but he deftly dodged and quickly approached the enemy. Noticing that he had missed, the wolf rushed at Idan, trying to bite him on the head.
However, now, two months later, the speed of the wolf's movements no longer seemed as lightning-fast as before. Idan easily dodged and cut off the wolf's head in one smooth motion, ending his life.
At that moment, Idan's heart began to beat faster. He barely used his other abilities and skills. With just one sword slash, he easily dealt with a bronze—ranked beast. Idan clearly realized the difference between a "bronze" and a "silver" rank.
Arabel, for her part, encountered a creature that resembled a fox from their world. However, compared to the fox they knew, this fox was much larger and had dark fur and two tails.
The beast was of the same "bronze" rank as Idan's spiked wolf. Arabel, with a slight excitement, was the first to meet the beast. Compared to the spiked wolf, this beast was faster and more flexible. However, Arabel herself was superior to Idan: she was faster and more experienced with a sword.
The dark fox possessing two tails swung them towards Arabel, sending out two dark crescent-shaped blades.
Arabel, like Idan, easily evaded them.
Unlike the wolf, the fox was more cunning and did not seek to engage in a fight, preferring to keep its distance.
And here the difference between the "bronze" and "silver" ranks played a role.
Although the fox, as a beast, was faster than a human, it could not overcome the difference in ranks, and Arabel quickly caught up with her.
The fox tried to fight back by swinging its paws and tail, which contained dark energy, turning into sharp blades. However, this did not help her against Arabel, who easily dodged most of the attacks, and fended off some with her sword.
When Arabel got close enough, she prevented the fox from escaping again and ended her life with a precise blow of her sword.
While Idan and Arabel were fighting their opponents, Nemo took the lead. He quickly dealt with one of the remaining bronze-ranked beasts, leaving two silver-ranked beasts.
He kept the two silver-ranked beasts away from Idan and Arabel, distracting and restraining them.
When each of them dealt with his opponent, the pair turned their gazes on Nemo. After understanding his action, they were sincerely grateful to him.
Meanwhile, the beasts, realizing that their companions had fallen and that they would not be able to defeat the enemy in front of them, turned around and prepared to retreat. However, at that moment, Idan and Arabel appeared in front of them.
The remaining two beasts were also a dark fox and a spiked wolf. This time, Idan focused on the fox, while Arabel focused on the wolf.
This time, Idan decided to use the "Sun Sword Style" against the dark fox of the "silver" rank.
This fox was much stronger than its younger cousin. She immediately attacked Idan, trying to keep him at some distance.
Idan quickly realized that the fox did not want to engage in close combat and was probably looking for an opportunity to escape. He didn't have time to play with her. He dodged the first attack, and parried the second with his sword.
Then, for the first time in battle, he used the simplest and most effective spell he currently possessed, «flash». This spell belongs to the element of light and can be especially useful against creatures with the opposite element, darkness.
Idan quickly cast a spell, and a small ball of light appeared in his hand. He threw it towards the fox.
Even during the day, under the bright sunlight, the "flash" spell did not reach the fox, exploding with bright light and blinding her. The blinding effect worked especially effectively, as the fox possessed the element of darkness, which counteracted the light.
Without wasting any time, Idan immediately activated his "Sun Sword Style" aura, which he had only recently learned how to use, just like Arabel uses hers. He put all his strength into the sword and slashed downwards, aiming at the fox.
This was the very first and basic skill of "Sun Sword Style" — "Sun Sword Slash". It could be used to strike from a distance using the aura of a sword.
The blinded dark fox did not immediately realize what had happened. Idan's cutting blow easily cut her in two.