The vegetation covering the center area of the island could be considered a forest at parts and a jungle at others. Some spacings could be used to travel in-between the trees but some areas seemed to have been thrown in a blender together.
Before he went too deep into the forest, Arthur used his Detection rune to gain a better understanding of his surroundings. Astoundingly, he would have to use a lot of his mana to cover the whole island. With how dangerous it is to do so, he settled for covering the few kilometers around him.
'Are these…' Arthur frowned as he sensed the terrain. 'Ruins?'
There was stone architecture around the island, in varying shapes and degrees of disintegration. The vegetation has resided in most of them, but some of them were intact enough to form structures.
Logically, anyone that has seen these ruins would assume they held the answer to leaving this place. Arthur looked for an intact structure nearby and noted that there were life sources of varying strengths around it.
'Students? And…' Arthur frowned as he used his stealth rune again. He then used his latest rune as a shadow creature was created in front of him. 'Be my eyes, love.' Arthur pointed toward the direction of the ruins and the shadow started running across the forest.
Arthur slipped into a tree as he kept his guard up. He then shared his senses with the shadow creature. It slipped across the forest. As it was running, it came across another creature.
With a growl, the giant twin-headed coyote glared at the shadow creature. It was almost three meters tall and each fang was as long as an adult's hand. It had a single horn protruding from each head as it crackled with electricity. The monster seemed hostile yet cautious of the unknown shadow creature.
To his dismay, Arthur realized this monster was at the peak-mid-tier. However, he wasn't Arthur's target this time around. That's why the moment the coyote threw a lighting attack toward the shadow, Arthur made the shadow slip into the darkness and escape.
The shadow reemerged a distance away and resumed running. After traveling for a while and dodging another threatening monster, the shadow finally saw the runes at the bottom of a valley.
'These are… ancient knights?' Arthur frowned as he looked at the figures that roamed the ruins. They were giant stone-armored golems holding different kinds of weapons. At the center of the ruins stood a giant golem with its hands around its spear that was lodged in the earth.
Arthur could see that some students had found the ruins, but were too cautious to approach the knights. Their judgment was sound since from their life forces, Arthur could sense the existence of high-tier monsters.
'The question is what are these ancient knights guarding?' Arthur decided to venture further into the ruins. However, his shadow would probably not make it. There was not much time left before the shadow disappears, so Arthur decided to make use of it.
With agility at the later stages of the neo-rank, the shadows began running madly across the valley. Arthur saw the students passing by as the shadow ran madly across the farmlands. They freaked out and pointed as the fully black creature passed by them.
"Ahh! What was that?!"
"A monster! It's a shadow monster!"
"The test had such a troublesome thing?"
The shadow left panic in its trail as it cut across the valley. As it approached the first ancient knight, the knight turned to face him and brandished his sword.
With a vertical slash, the knight split apart the earth. The shadow managed to slip in time with its agility and ran madly toward the center of the ruins.
Another ancient knight, much bigger than the last, appeared from behind a pillar filled with vegetation. It attacked with the base of its shield as it tried to slip the shadow in two, but the shadow dissolved and appeared from within its shadow.
The cries of the students rang louder in Arthur's ears, coming from his shadow's senses. The shadow then slipped into the ruins as it began navigating through its architecture and using it to its advantage.
The knights were alerted and they began to surround the shadow and cut its escape routes. Every time that happened, the shadow would slip into the shadow-space and slip away.
Arthur's mana was draining, but it was worth it to know how to exactly pass this test. As the shadow's time was reaching its limits, Arthur finally arrived at the central plaza where the giant ancient knight stood tall and mighty.
It was about ten meters tall and its spere was just as gigantic. Arthur knew he had no way of dealing with this monster using his shadow alone so he commanded the shadow to avoid the knight and seek what lied inside the plaza surrounded by many pillars.
The shadow did as he was commanded and began running to the side of the knight. It then dived deeper as the knight took out his spear from the ground. The knight thrust his spear in as wind stormed the ruins. The spear cut across the shadow's torso making it start disintegrating.
The shadow didn't stop until the last seconds and, while it was half torn, kept trying to get into the plaza. At the last second, before it disintegrated, Arthur managed to see three crystals floating inside the plaza.
The connection between them got cut off and Arthur felt another portion of his mana disappear. It was the mana that kept the shadow functioning and it has now lost its host.
'I guess the key is in those crystals. Are they teleportation crystals or are can they grant an immunity toward the acid?' Arthur emerged from the shadow as he considered his options.
He wasn't in a particular hurry to pass the exam since he knew the others couldn't take down those knights easily. To be frank, he would have a hard time against them if he fought them all by himself. Unless he uses his Release rune, he wouldn't be able to take down that knight.
'I guess it's time to level up.' Arthur decided that since this was a dungeon, the monsters here should be real monsters placed here by the college. If that was the case, he can level up.
In the beginning, his levels didn't give him a lot of bonuses. Now, however, each level gave him four Stats and Legacy Points. Every ten levels, his legacy gave him new functions. Arthur didn't know if that would be the same forever, but he liked the excitement of getting new functions.
Arthur crouched and jumped up and landed on a tree branch. With light steps, he began traveling toward the direction of the ruins.
Although he could use his teleport rune, he didn't know if the owner of this pocket dimension could sense the change in space. Furthermore, he didn't know the risks of teleporting in an unstable space.
His direction wasn't the ruins themselves, but the monster that his shadow met. Luckily, using his detection rune, Arthur managed to find the twin-headed coyote.
"Hello there, sir." Arthur landed in front of the coyote that was crackling with lightning. "I'm very sorry to disturb your evening, ah I mean morning." The coyotes growled at him as its salvia fell from both of its mouths, lightning gathering on its single horn.
"However, I desperately need to get stronger." Arthur grinned as adrenaline rushed through his vessels. "So let's have a good battle."
The world was dyed with light as the lightning descended on Arthur. The protective rune protected him and sustained the attack as Arthur rushed forward. The other head's attack arrived later and Arthur used Shadow Space to cut across the shadows.
He appeared from beneath the coyote as he grabbed the fur of its lower maw and pulled hard. He raised his knee and struck the coyote in the throat as it whimpered.
The other head bit on Arthur's arm before he could pull it away. His arm turned monstrous as it was covered with a metallic luster. The coyote's fangs dug into his flesh but they were superficial wounds that would heal easily.
"You won't be anemic anymore, don't worry." Arthur grinned as he punched with his fist. The coyote's head was flung away and Arthur saw it try to gather electricity with its other head.
He slapped the head away as the lightning struck a grove full of trees. From his peripheral view, Arthur saw a white light clash against the lightning as a figure appeared.
'It's her again.' Arthur frowned when he saw that it was the white-haired Rae. She had an excited grin on her face that made chills run through Arthur's spine. However, the coyote was already trying to attack him again.
Arthur used his full strength and struck one of the heads, making a dent in its skull. The other howled in pain as the head dead but Arthur gave it no time to retreat. He pushed his hand into its mouth as he used his skill.
'Bladeless Wind Storm.' The wind ripped through the coyote's body from the inside and it fell to the ground, limp and unmoving.
"You have a foul habit of following people," Arthur glared at Rae in anger. He had used his detection rune but still failed to detect her presence.
"You're the one who stole my prey, hmph." Rae pouted in anger. She then licked her lips as she glanced at the coyote. "Are you eating that?"
"Eat…" Arthur was stunned. He remembered that the students had no storage artifacts, so they had to hunt for food.