Charles, Bob, Grint, and Jorven quickly understood the situation and rushed to Dim Dim’s aid, glaring at the bastards who must’ve thought they could take advantage of other people’s hard-earned victory.
"Scram before I punch you!" Renard roared in anger.
The trial taker who had attempted to rob their group under their noses sprinted to his party members, fearing Renard might really punch him the way he had punched that Boss Monster.
However, his unwilling eyes didn’t escape the notice of Alex and his team. With that, they understood the former might cause trouble for them at a later time.
There were other teams greedily eyeing them from afar, so Renard glanced at them and raised his fist, threatening them.
"Come if you want to die!" Renard’s voice was filled with arrogance, intimidating the trial takers who also wished to get the sigil.
After a tense face-off that lasted for a few minutes, the other candidates backed away and left Alex’s team alone.
Nessia had also just finished her magic formation and was only waiting for their enemies to strike before she sent them all to hell. Honestly, she really wanted them to attack, so she was a little disappointed that they didn’t have any backbone. It would have been interesting to watch them fall to their demise.
"All of you, well done," Alex said as he approached his team members with Lavinia supporting his right arm. "If you guys hadn’t arrived, I’d probably be dead by now."
"... I should have waited a bit," Renard commented regretfully. "I should have waited until that monster killed you before I broke its leg."
The corner of Alex’s lips twitched. He knew that Renard was saying what he truly felt inside.
Clearly, the teenage boy was still holding a grudge against Alex for everything that he had experienced in the past.
"Nessia, have you used up the cores?" Alex decided to ignore Renard for the time being and turned his attention the young lady, who was also just as powerful as Renard, though in a different way.
"Not yet," Nessia replied with a smile. "Good job staying alive. But what do you plan to do with the sigil and the core?"
"We can use the core to strengthen our magic formation and increase our chances of surviving the trial’s final day," Alex replied. "As for the Sigil, I will let Dim Dim hold onto it for now. We need everyone in the team to survive, so staying together is the best option for now."
Alex then crouched down to pat Dim Dim, the true MVP of this battle.
"You did well, Dim Dim," Alex said. "Thanks!"
"Ahem~" Dim Dim puffed up proudly, clearly happy from Alex’s praise.
Now that the adrenaline had worn off, exhaustion hit Alex like a truck. He started becoming aware of every ache and injury he had received from the battle.
Fortunately, he had brought several healing potions, which he consecutively chugged to recover.
"Let’s head back to our campsite for the rest of the trial," Alex said in a volume that only his teammates could hear. "I’m pretty sure that they will stalk us, but there is nothing we can do right now. If they cross the line, we’ll deal with them."
His team nodded in agreement, knowing there wasn’t much they could do about being followed.
As the teenagers headed toward the spot they had chosen as their base, Rowan and the other Professors of the Academy discussed the battle against the Boss Monster.
They were genuinely impressed by the skill Alex’s team had shown.
They unanimously agreed Alex’s team was the strongest on the island and hoped all of them would survive the last day of the trial.
However, most of the Professors were now paying close attention to Renard, especially the Martial Arts Professor, who was itching to train the boy himself.
"His name is Renard Vale, right?" The Martial Arts Professor looked at Renard’s registration document with a smile. "This boy is very promising. I like him!"
"I’m sure you do, Professor." Rowan smirked. "It has been a while since I saw you this excited."
Ramza and Cairo glanced at each other before shaking their heads helplessly.
Although Alex and Lavinia had performed very well, they were still overshadowed by Renard’s display of raw strength and power.
"That kid is going places," Ramza said to Cairo. "What do you think?"
"My sister and disciple are still better," Cairo replied. "Did you see how Alex toyed with him earlier? That’s how you use brains and brawn in battle."
"Cairo is right." Elaine nodded. "Alex and Lavinia did well."
"Hmph!" Efa pouted. "If only Alex could use his other arm, he would have definitely shown them a better performance."
Ramza chuckled, clearly aware that the three were annoyed that the academy professors didn’t praise Alex and Lavinia, who had both contributed a lot in the battle earlier.
"Don’t worry. The trial’s not over yet," Ramza stated. "As long as they pass this trial, they will take the academy by storm."
Cairo, Elaine, and Efa all nodded because they believed that Ramza spoke the truth.
Alex’s master had even decided to teach him a demon-slaying sword skill before continuing his journey. Cairo was just waiting for his sister and Alex to pass the second trial. For him, it was already a sure thing.
Two hours later, the trial taker who’d tried to steal the sigil and monster core gathered the other party leaders who had watched the battle against the Boss Monster.
"All of you have seen the battle, so you already know that their team is very strong," the teenage boy said. "So we have to eliminate them at all costs, or our chances of making the top 20 are in jeopardy."
"You just want to use us as borrowed knives to do the dirty work," a leader of the party replied in disdain. "If you really think they are a threat, then why don’t you eliminate them on your own? Why are you dragging us into this mess?"
"That’s right." Another team leader nodded. "We don’t want to be dragged into this. There are eight of them, but since they already have a sigil, that means only seven of them will remain.
"There are still thirteen slots for the top 20 survivors, so if we play our cards right, we will be able to pass this trial. Why should we take a risk and eliminate them?"
"You say that now, but I’m sure you won’t be singing the same tune once the last hours of the trial are upon us," the trial taker, who went by the name Theron, sneered. "Do you think that I’m only saying this because of what happened earlier?
"Have you forgotten? Every hour, the mist spreads, shrinking the safe zones. There are still three more Boss Monsters remaining.
"They’re all roaming the island, so it’s only a matter of time before they head to the center, where all trial takers will congregate. I’m not saying we fight them head-on. I’m saying we lure the Boss Monsters toward them.
"Because if we don’t, won’t we be the next to get eliminated? Of course, we can all forget this discussion and stay in our own hiding places until the trial ends.
"We can do that, but do you really think the Headmaster hasn’t considered that already? I believe something big will happen in the final hours. Something that’ll wipe out most of our competition.
"There are exactly twenty of us here, so wouldn’t it be nice if we all joined forces and passed this trial together?"
The three leaders glanced at each other, thinking this suggestion wasn’t bad.
But none of them liked Theron’s personality, so they backed out of the alliance he proposed.
"All of them are fools." Theron clicked his tongue in annoyance as he watched the other group leave. "I hope the Boss Monsters find them."
After venting his frustration, the young man led his team off to find a hiding spot that could keep them safe until the trial ended.
Once Theron’s group left, the boulder he’d been sitting on suddenly moved.
It then revealed its true form, an Ape-Type Stone Monster, one of the four Boss Monsters on the island.
A wicked grin spread across its face. Unlike the other Boss Monsters that slaughtered trial takers on sight, this one preferred to toy with its prey.
After hearing such a juicy piece of news, the Stonehide Tyrant decided to observe for now.
However, on the last day of the trial, it would join its comrades to eliminate the trial takers and make them feel true despair.