"You all arrived pretty early today..." The voice rang out through the grassy area where around a dozen boys could be seen standing.
Its source was none other than Sir Kieran, who stepped out of the dark portal behind him, holding a small dark grimoire in his hands. His eyes scanned through every genius, slightly pausing and flashing in shock at Ryuk. However, his gaze was so fast that no one was able to see his reaction, not even Ryuk himself.
"You all already know the rules, but today, they will be changing."
"You will have to complete the test in exactly 6 hours, or you will have no choice but to repeat the test again, without a Rejuvenating Bath, of course."
The man said this as the Fallen geniuses exchanged murmurs before they all turned and looked at Ryuk, shaking their heads in pity.
They had all grown used to completing the quest in 7 hours. A sudden reduction in time wasn't what they expected, but they could still manage it if they gave it their all.
But could the same be said for Ryuk, who had barely completed the quest with only a minute to spare just yesterday?
It was clear that only a single person would suffer today.
And somehow, they actually don't mind that much.
Sir Kieran immediately faded into his portal before the students could complain. The moment he disappeared, everyone tore off the ground with speed.
They all knew that Sir Kieran's disappearance signaled the beginning of the test, and the timer was already ticking.
"Tch, lowering the time!? Just how does he expect you to..." Quinn was saying when he felt a swoosh of wind as a white figure blasted forward by his side. A tumultuous wave of air slammed into Quinn's face, and his eyes widened in shock as he turned to look behind him.
Right there, close to the front of the group, was none other than Ryuk!
"Try to catch up, Quinn..." The echo of the words rang into Quinn's ears as his eyes flashed in shock, seeing Ryuk quickly disappearing into the distance.
Immediately, Quinn sprinted forth, chasing after him.
This time, it wasn't only Quinn who was shocked senseless but the entirety of the Fallen geniuses. They watched Ryuk keep pace with them, his expression calm and focused.
'How... how the hell is he so fast?'
The same thought ran through all of their minds.
They could vividly remember how they had left Ryuk far behind just the day before. Yet, right now, he was running by their side, even though they were giving it their all. How could his speed have improved so massively in just one day?
'He'll run out of power soon,' they consoled themselves as they continued at their fastest pace.
But Ryuk didn't slow down at all until they all arrived at the foot of the mountain. Their eyes flashed in shock when they saw Ryuk slam his feet heavily into the air, soaring 10 meters high. His palm crashed into the mountain's edge, and immediately, he began raising himself, quickly disappearing up the mountain.
"What the!?" they thought as they saw the human boy climbing ahead of them. Immediately, they all jumped after him, scaling the mountain with speed.
It struck the hearts of the Fallen geniuses to witness a human boy, whom they had left in the dust the previous day, matching their speed. Worse, it was utterly forbidden for him to surpass them.
This drove all the Fallen geniuses to reclaim their pride. In unison, they began scaling the mountain even faster, instead of pausing a little like they would normally do.
Quickly, the blue energy barrier loomed over the mountain, but Ryuk noticed it floating ahead of him. Just as the Fallen geniuses decided to let it have its way, Ryuk jumped high into the air before the barrier could touch him. He moved up for another two meters before his hand crashed into the mountain surface.
Immediately, he felt the barrier's effect, which made his body heavier. But for now, he was also two meters ahead of the other geniuses, who all screamed, "Fuck!" as they tried to quickly scale up.
Thirty minutes of climbing later, the blue barrier faded away, and then the blades came.
This had been one of the hardest challenges for Ryuk the day before. But this time, Ryuk didn't just stubbornly continue and try to brute-force his way.
Instead, he carefully jumped around the blades and avoided their onslaught, weaving through the mountain like a snake. He skillfully avoided getting knocked into the other students.
Soon, he successfully weaved through the multitude of blades, with only about five shallow cuts scattered across his body. His hands slammed onto the mountain's surface, pulling himself up.
Surprisingly, Ryuk was among the top three out of the ten students to arrive at the top of the mountain.
Looking to his side, he saw a silver-haired boy whose face was absolutely blank. His silver eyes radiated a dull aura.
To Ryuk's left was a golden-haired girl, an interesting golden light flashing in her gaze as she stared at him.
Julia had barely cared about the newcomer human boy who had joined them. She had felt nothing but disdain when she had witnessed his pitiful state the day before, looking one step away from failing the class.
Yet she couldn't help but be shocked when the same boy arrived right beside her the very next day.
Ryuk paused for about a minute to gather his strength at the top of the mountain. However, he gritted his teeth and continued when he saw the silver-haired Fallen boy not even resting and simply continuing toward the Infernal Rope Walk. The same was true for the golden-haired girl.
Somehow, this spurred Ryuk onward as he arrived at the foot of the rope.
Looking at both Fallen geniuses already on it, he noticed how they coated themselves in some sort of Apex Energy barrier. Ryuk could guess that it made them impervious to the rope's heat.
'No,' Ryuk thought, refusing the idea in his mind.
Instead, he latched onto the rope, clinging to it tightly, and began climbing with all his strength.
He decided to bear the brunt of the intense heat rather than protect himself with his Apex Energy.