Before entering the Hunter’s Academy, they had seen tless images and heard vivid tales about Abyssal creatures and dungeons. Yet, nothing could have prepared them for this moment. Ayden blinked several times, hoping his eyes were deceiving him. But the grim reality remained.

  The bright and cheerful atmosphere of the academy had vanished. In its pce were dark, oppressive surroundings. The soil beh their feet was bed, and the trees and pnts around them had withered, corrupted by the Abyss. Even the once-vivid sky had transformed into a shadowy, menag expanse.

  Before them, two massive hound-like creatures snarled and tore at peared to be a severed limb. Their guttural growls echoed in the eerie silence, sending a chill down the boys’ spines. Ayden and Julian froze, not daring to breathe. The air felt thick with malice, every sound amplified by their fear.

  Suddenly, the snap of a twig under Ayden’s foot shattered the silehe two hounds immediately turheir glowing red eyes log onto the intruders. Their bck fur was matted with blood and filth, and their snarls grew louder as they dropped the mangled limb.

  Ayden raised his hands in what he hoped was a non-threateniure, his voice barely a whisper as he tried to calm them. “Good doggies… don’t move.” His heart pounded so loudly he thought it might give them away.

  To his horror, the underbrush rustled, and two more hounds emerged, joining the first pair. The four creatures now formed a semicircle, ing closer with predatory i.

  Julian’s grip tightened on the hilt of his sword, his knuckles white. Ayden, his hands trembling slightly, mirrored his friend, gripping his on with growing desperation.

  Julian took a deep breath, steadying himself as he exhaled. His voice was calm but resolute. “Be alert... and try to stay alive.”

  One of the hounds leaped at them, and Julian stepped forward, blog its cws with his sword before shoving it away. Another hound lu him, but he narrowly avoided it by jumping back. While Julian reoccupied with two hounds, the others turheir attention to Ayden, drool dripping from their snarling mouths.

  The hounds seemed to think Ayden was easy prey, approag him slowly, sav his fear. But they didn’t expect the trembling Ayden to suddenly charge at them. His bde fshed, slig ly through the neck of one hound. Blood spttered across the darkened ground as Ayden’s speed left the other hound stunned.

  Ayden stumbled back, breathless but exhirated. “I did it,” he whispered to himself, disbelief in his voice. “I made my first kill!”

  Julian smirked and quied his movements. With one powerful ssh, his sword cut through two hounds at once. “Looks like I got my double kill,” he replied, his tone smug as the dark battlefield briefly fell silent.

  Three of the four hounds were gone, leaving oill standing. Sensing dahe st hound began to retreat cautiously, its eyes never leaving them. When it tried to turn and flee, Ayden lunged forward, slig it ly in two.

  These hounds were the lowest-level creatures of the Abyss, but even at this level, they were ferocious, hunting in packs and never hesitating to kill. Ayden and Julian exged a ghe adrenaline fading as exhaustio in.

  “We’re not do,” Julian said, his voice steady but his eyes betraying his weariness.

  With all four hounds defeated, they pressed on, their footsteps heavy. They had a growing suspi of what their trial entailed. This was a trial dungeon, and their challenge was clear: they had to fight their way to the dorm.

  Athena’s vision shifted from the tranquil, sunlit bamboo forest to a shadowy, ominous woodnd. Before her stood an overwhelming number of hounds—far more than what Ayden and Julian faced. Their sheer numbers were daunting for a first-time hunt, and she khis challenge wouldn’t be simple.

  Her oppo had strength in numbers, while she stood aloaking a deep, steadying breath, Athena exhaled slowly, grateful for her solitude. She no longer had to worry about maintaining her posed fa?ade.

  Now, she could front the madness she had long suppressed—a wild, uing force she carefully hid from her family. It had cwed at her tless times, yearning to escape. During every training session with her father, it begged to be unleashed, but she always held it back, fearing his rea.

  Here, in the depths of this dark forest, there was no oo judge her. It was finally time to let the madness withiake over.

  She uhed the twin swords strapped to her back, the steel gleaming faintly in the eerie darkness. Dozens of blood-red eyes stared at her, filled with hunger and malice. But as she met their gaze, her own bloodlust surged. The killing i radiating from her alpable, f the hounds to hesitate, a flicker of fear evident in their movements.

  Athena moved like a shadow, her twin bdes a whirlwind of gleaming steel. Before the hounds could react, their ranks were decimated, bodies colpsing into grotesque heaps. Her ughter rang through the darkness—wild, untamed, and terrifying. For a moment, the remaining hounds hesitated, their blood-red eyes flickering with fear as they faced something far more monstrous than themselves.

  “You mutts don’t even deserve to touch me,” she sneered.

  The remaining hounds, gripped by terror, tried to flee, but her cold voice stopped them. “Where do you think yoing?”

  With uing ferocity, she pursued them, cutting down eae like a monster unleashed. The forest echoed with the cries of dying hounds, and every low-level creature in her path fled in terror.

  While the trials unfolded, watchful eyes observed every move. Principal Sylvester leaned forward, his eagerness evident as he anticipated the surprises awaiting him. Around the round table, professors monitored the trial grounds with intense focus.

  The stakes were high—any student who died ihe trial would be sent back to their homend, disqualified. But the trial wasn’t just about testing strength; it was about disc who could push beyond their limits. Past trials had seen ered students break through their barriers, unleashing sealed mana in moments of desperation. Sustances were rare but thrilling spectacles, and the excitement in the room alpable.

  Alfred Leyni, who had joihem after Atheered the trial, sat with a tense grip oeleportation rune in his hand. His thoughts were singur: “Kids, you have to win.” His eyes remained glued to the ss, where his three disciples faced their respective challenges.

  A timid Aydee his initial fear, surprised everyone by cutting down his oppos. Though g in brute strength, his agility was exceptional, and every strike he made recise. Julian, oher hand, relied on raw power. His swordsmanship was strong, even if not precise, and his sheer strength allowed him to overwhelm his eogether, the two boys made an impressive duo, plementing each other perfectly.

  The Northern prince, while powerful, cked proper teique. He relied entirely on his overwhelming strength, pensating for his shortings in skill. In trast, cooperation was scar other trial rooms. Many partits resorted to using their peers as meat shields to survive, including the Northern prince. While not forbidden, such tactics were looked down upon by the professors, who believed, “Anyone willing to sacrifice others for their own safety will never save a life.”

  Wheuro monitor the Alpha trial room, the professors were stunned. Uhe other trials, what unfolded there ure age. Professor Madeleine, shocked, g Principal Sylvester. “Don’t you find it disturbing that such a young girl could be so ruthless?”

  Sylvester stroked his beard calmly. “Not at all. It’s remi of her father at her age, though she has far more oppos to face.”

  One professor muttered in disbelief, “It’s more like watg a monster hunt prey than a ten-year-old pletirial.”

  Alfred Leyni, the fear in his colleagues’ eyes, held his tongue. In his view, the child didn’t resemble a monster—she was a war goddess, ensuring not a single hound escaped her wrath.

  After Ayden and Juliaed the first wave of hounds, the wave appeared—much more dangerous. These weren’t ordinary hounds. Their bodies were covered in scale-like armor, with cracks that glowed with a fiery light. Their molten va-like eyes told them everything—they were mid-level fire hounds. Known for their ability to spit fire, these creatures were far tougher tha ones.

  While Athena sliced through her enemies like a bde through soft earth, Ayden and Julian struggled. The fire hounds' tough, heat-resistant skin made them difficult to wound, and their fiery breath came dangerously close on more than one occasion. Though they knew about mana and runes, as unsealed students, they were almost powerless. Their wounds piled up as they fought relentlessly.

  “It’s so tough… Why do they keep ing?” Ayden panted, feeling his muscles protest with every movement.

  “Don’t stop,” Julian gritted through ched teeth. “We’re almost there.” Though his voice was firm, the exhaustion weighed heavily on him, and he couldn’t help but wonder what Athena was fag. Somehow, he knew she was dealing with an eveer challenge.

  The fire hounds were no match for Athena; she dispatched the st one effortlessly, while Ayden and Julian struggled. But her challenge was far more daunting—hell hounds. These upper-level creatures seemed to step out of the deepest pits of hell, their bodies cloaked in darkness. As they moved, they draihe life force from weaker creatures, and their cws were deadly, capable of poisoning their prey.

  At first, Athena fought with ease, but the stant battle began to take a toll oen-year-old body. She felt herself slowing, exhaustion creeping in. She narrowly avoided death several times, the hell hounds’ cws grazing her more than once.

  Ayden and Julian were in the same state. Physically draihey felt on the verge of colpse, their mental resolve wavering. They wao fight, to kill these vile creatures, but their bodies were betraying them. Despair set in as the enemies closed in.

  But as the students faced their darkest moment, the professors watched with unspokeement. Principal Sylvester, a smile tugging at his lips, spoke, “Ladies alemen… we’re almost there. Keep your eyes wide open.”