As the test ended, Himo found a display on the walls of the room.

“Congratulations on resisting over three minutes,” the mechanical voice returned. “You’ve passed all the tests!”

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Your result: completed(max).

⠀

Average times:

⠀

Classes D-B: never took this test.

Class A: 15 seconds.

Class S: 3.4 minutes.

Teachers: 9 minutes.

Winged Freaks: infinite(never died).

Headmaster: information redacted.

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I did it! Himo snapped his fingers and smirked. I defeated you, Winged Freaks!

[One out of ten tests. Congratulations.]

For now, I’ll be proud of this “one out of ten”!

After a few seconds, the mechanical voice chimed in one last time. “The tests are over. Please get out of the room.”

I’m being kicked out?! Himo widened his eyes. He shrugged and walked to the exit. But he stopped. He glanced at the teachers on the ground and frowned. They stood motionless, staring at the ceiling.

After a moment of thought, he nodded and walked back. He’d help them calm down before heading out.

-----

Several minutes later, the students stood in an orderly fashion on the stadium’s edges. The headmaster, sullen, looked at them from afar. Only Azusa has passed the tests… While he didn’t expect much, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

He flew above the crater and stood before the students. His eyes scanned through the face of each student and he inhaled to begin his speech—he coughed. Something was missing. His eyes blinked and he scanned the crowd once more. 

Giving up the search, he flew to a group of teachers. “Where is Himo?”

They shook their heads. A teacher said, “I remember fifty teachers were getting ready to test him… Did something happen in the last test?” His expression grew serious. “What if they didn’t hold back enough, and the student is traumatized, refusing to leave the room?”

The headmaster widened his eyes. He refused that theory at first, but the words he’d exchanged with the child rang in his mind. Considering his arrogant and unruly personality, it’s possible. He panicked. How am I going to explain this to Eitha?

He darted for the room Himo had entered. The door was open—the tests were over. But no one walked out. His panic spiked up as he rushed inside. “Did something happe—” 

Fifty teachers, seated, surrounded Himo like a cult. The headmaster’s jaw dropped to the floor. The child spoke nonsense and they listened as though he were an adventurer telling a story.

“Seriously, what’s going on?!” 

While the headmaster watched in disbelief, Himo waved a hand. “…you can now see a broad, clear horizon; one filled with both enemies and opportunities! Remember that you’ve been defeated on this day, and that this defeat will become your very first step to becoming greater!”

Once his speech ended, the newfound excitement on the teachers' faces filled Himo's chest with pride.

[The user has just repeated the same speech as the last time.]

It’s multi-use!

[…Is the user planning to use it again?]

Maybe. Himo smiled. He patted his tights and stood up. He noticed the headmaster’s expression. What’s wrong with him?

[It’s amusing how the user has no self-awareness.]

Eh? Himo moved his eyes on the surrounding teachers and blinked. Oh. He didn’t want to ruin the moment, so he simply waved toward the headmaster with a chuckle. “Hi, Headmaster! I’ve completed the tests!”

The headmaster heaved a slow, long sigh. "Later, you'll explain what happened here. Meanwhile, Himo, come out to take the final test."

"Final test?" Himo's eyes lit up. He sprung up and—the teachers stood up to create a path for him—he left the room.

Cringing at that sight, the headmaster shook his head. He followed the child outside and waited for him to take a place among the crowd. Then, he spread his wings as he revealed himself once again.

“As you all know, the preliminary tests ended. Only Shu Himo and Aura Azusa cleared them, so only they will be allowed to take the real test.” He clapped his hands and pointed at the flying island.

The magma shivered and burst through bubbles as the rooms above vanished into nothingness. Angry tremors shook the stadium as a massive black portal emerged from the island’s scorched land. The students felt a shiver. A clang rang from the portal. A hand escaped. A metallic, huge hand that clenched the side of the portal as it dragged its body outside. It was a humanoid figure that couldn’t be called human.

Students froze in a silent panic for the thing screamed a danger that couldn’t be ignored.

Albeit for different reasons, even Himo stood with mouth agape and eyes wide open in shock. A mecha?!

And so it was. The portal closed, and the "mecha" stood above it. Five meters of height, a mix of gray and black, and made of metal that shone from the surrounding magma’s light. Countless transparent chains bound it to the island, but even those couldn’t keep locked its red eyes’ dreadful nature. Red eyes that looked, analyzed, and decided what to do with both students and teachers—with its targets.

But while the students dreaded it, the teachers reacted differently. Some let a hint of killing intent escape, while others hid their emotions through stiff faces. Himo glanced at them and knew something was off.

The headmaster turned to the students. “What you’re seeing is an unknown form of life that we found recently. It’s called Met-3. This test will consist of a fight against it—the only requirement for passing is resisting its attacks for thirty seconds!” As he spoke, he looked at the expressions of the students. Most were fearful of it, with only the two soon challengers not showing much fear. He did notice, however, that Himo’s surprise looked peculiar. Almost as if… the child knew what Met-3 was.

But he snapped out of it. He nodded and smiled once more. “You should treat this experience as a chance to fortify your heart. Now”—he turned to Azusa—”the first challenger will be Aura Azusa! You can leap to the island whenever you’re ready, and the countdown will begin once you enter Met-3’s territory.”

The chains around Met-3 faded.

Azusa hesitated a moment, but she soon jumped from the stands. She flew to her opponent as she mumbled some words under her breath.

She entered the area. The test started.

And she yelled, “Meteoryte!”

The air over her cracked as a massive meteor announced the opening act. 

“Threat level…” Met-3 stared at it. “Null. Proceeding spell-solving.”

The meteor flamed down and reached Met-3, who grabbed it with a hand. As if it were a piece of paper, the meteor got crushed and thrown away.

Azusa wasn’t surprised. She only aimed at dragging the fight.

While the remains of the meteors fell down the crater around the island, Met-3 turned its gaze to Azusa. “Target threat level: unknown. Rac—” A kick from Azusa stopped its words.

She, pressing its head with a foot, stared straight at its eyes. Her eyes burned with wrath. She pointed a hand to it—

Met-3 threw a punch.

It was a single, simple punch. But to the onlookers, it was the size of a building, capable of eradicating even the hardest fortress. A punch able of killing nascent soul cultivators.

“Space shift.”

Two calm words warped the space around Azusa, moving her far from the punch. Heaving a sigh, she looked at Met-3 from the other side of the island.