The inner ring was a dark shade of silver, while the outer ring had a light silver hue. The formation of two overlapping rings showed that I was at the second ring. And the location of the ring showed which grimoire I possessed.
Weapon grimoires formed rings behind the palm, Integration grimoires formed rings behind the back, and summon grimoires formed rings above the head of a person.
My eyes then went to the mantis.
"You are both ugly and impatient," I muttered while rolling my sore shoulder.
With a screech, he swung at me. His one scythe-like arm sliced the air so close I felt the breeze brush past my face.
Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!
I ducked under it with my heart pounding, and sent Enkidu whipping around his side.
The chain struck the mantis, but instead of flinching, the creature twisted and let its chitin take the blow. Sparks flew as the chains coiled with it, but it barely even staggered.
’That armor is thicker than it looks,’ I thought.
Before I could react further, the mantis spun once again, and its second blade came crashing into my ribs.
Pain flared hot and sharp in my body as I stumbled back.
I tried to steady myself while forcing a strained laugh. "I’ve had worse,"
Then the mantis stuck again. One of its blades aimed for my neck. I ducked under it, but the other slammed into my side, sending me sprawling across the forest floor. Leaves and dirt scattered around me.
Gritting my teeth, I rolled aside just before his scythe stabbed into the spot where my chest had been. The blade sank into the earth with a thud.
"Enkidu!" I snarled, sending my chains surging upward. It looped around his wrist joint and yanked hard.
For a moment, I felt resistance, but then with a violent jerk, he tore free. His chitin was cracked in places but still holding. His faceted eyes locked on me, full of cold malice.
My chest burned with every breath. I ran up to him, and the gap between us closed instantly.
He slashed twice more at me. First left and then right. I barely twisted out of range, but the third swing clipped my shoulder as warm blood trickled down my arm.
I ignored the pain and spun mid-air, giving him a back kick. The bones of my leg cracked on impact, but the mantis barely took any damage.
’I can’t win head-on. I need to draw him in...’
I realized with my chest heaving. My breath came ragged. Every inhale scraped fire through my ribs. But my mind stayed cold.
My breath came ragged. Every inhale scraped fire through my ribs. But my mind stayed cold.
I let the mantis come closer, its scythes dripping with my blood, its mandibles clacking in anticipation. It lunged, and I didn’t dodge this time—not fully. One blade grazed my side, tearing fabric and skin alike.
With a snap, the living chain split apart, its links writhing mid-air like a serpent, looping behind the mantis. The creature’s attention flickered, its posture shifting just slightly—enough.
I pushed mana into my legs, feeling the bones protest, and sprang forward. My left hand grabbed hold of one scythe arm, stopping it halfway. The force nearly dislocated my shoulder, but I held on.
Then, with my right hand, I slammed Enkidu’s main length around its neck joint.
The mantis reared back, screeching, trying to tear itself free. But Enkidu was made to bind, and I’d fed it enough of my will that it felt like an extension of my own rage.
"Break," I whispered.
Mana surged, veins under my skin flaring painfully bright. Enkidu tightened.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the mantis’s chitin. It jerked and thrashed, but the angle was wrong. Its own momentum became its doom.
With a final convulsive snap, the creature’s neck almost shattered before it was teleported back to the academy.
"Well, where he goes."
His orb fell on the floor. I stepped on it and, with a thud, points were added to my total.
’Phew, I can’t believe I had trouble with a single ring while being on second.’
But then again, Enkidu wasn’t a weapon meant for short-range battle. It had no specialized attack moves as of right now.
TIll now, my tactic had been to bind and hit. But now, against an arcanist with a strong defense, I almost lost.
’I need to go search for an attack-type spirit card later.’
The thought came to my mind as my eyes went to the two examinees left. They were shivering in their feet.
Watching me come closer to them, they activated their grimoires. A yellow card floated in front of the girl, and a bee the size of an eagle appeared from it.
The short boy, on the other hand, summoned a beetle of almost the same size. A single ring formed on the head of both of the examinees.
But there was a difference. Their ring glowed a balanced hue. They were at the late stage of the first ring. Whereas the mantis was at the peak stage of the first ring.
They looked terrified. And rightly so.
Their beasts buzzed, trying to look menacing—but the tremor in their stance betrayed them.
I exhaled, tasting iron on my tongue. "Let’s make this quick."
Mana surged from my core, and Enkidu slithered back into my hand.
The girl’s eagle-sized bee shot toward me first with its wings droning hard enough to stir the leaves around my boots. I sidestepped, letting the gust wash over me, and flicked Enkidu out like a whip.
The chain wrapped around the bee’s thorax mid-flight, twisting it off balance. Before it could recover, I yanked downward, slamming it into the forest floor with a heavy crunch.
The summoner gasped, her face paling, as her beast shattered into motes of fading mana. I moved towards the girl and snatched her orb and broke it on the spot.
I didn’t pause to watch the number tick upward. The boy had already sent his beetle rushing at me. His horn lowered, glinting like polished obsidian.
Its defense was good—but its mind was simple.
Enkidu split into two separate lengths mid-air, writhing like a serpent with two heads. One wrapped around the beetle’s horn, the other curled under its belly.
Then, with a sharp twist of my wrist, I flipped the beast onto its back. Its legs scrabbled uselessly at the air.
I stepped forward, and my eyes locked on the boy, who was frozen in place.
"Sorry," I murmured, more to myself than to him.
Enkidu lashed down, slamming the beetle into the ground hard enough to leave a shallow crater. The beast burst into light and vanished.
I walked up to the boy. He tried to run away, but with a single flick of my finger chains bind him down.
He gasped while clawing at the dirt, trying to get himself free..
I tilted my head, watching him struggle, and then I took the orb from his trembling hand and crushed it in my palm.