Monsters

The three of them watched the beautiful woman slowly turn and it was then that they had recognized her.

"Silvia Frost…treasured daughter of the Frost Family." Julius slowly said as he too was still awed by her beauty.

Samael gazed at her and he could feel her strange attitude, as if she's detached from the world. She had a certain pride that looks down on all the creation of the world. Samael was mesmerized by her beauty but that was all he felt for now, admiration.

Silvia hopped down the dead creature, Julius and Stella immediately walked over to offer their gratitude for her saving them. Samael joined them but he saw a sharp look coming from Silvia when she stared at him but her gazed carried no animosity towards him.

After a while, they started to investigate the mysterious enemy creature that attacked them. They circled around the one Silvia killed.

"What is this, eww." Stella poked the creature's skin with a small wooden stick and there was some sticky fluid that stuck on the end of the stick.

Samael scrutinized the creature's body carefully and slowly he felt anger but also admiration. He said

"That creature is a human."

"What?!"

"This is a Human?"

"Impossible."

One by one they reacted to what Samael had said. First was Julius, then Stella, and finally Silvia, who was silent after they greeted one another.

"Well...he was one." Samael squatted near the creature and continued.

"You can see the similarity of the body to a human. Although the torso seems emaciated and the rib cage is enlarged, the overall structure is still recognizable. Another thing is the legs, they are longer but just like the torso they still are very similar to our feet. If you look at the head, it still has the Human shape it once had albeit it no longer has eyes and relied on its superb hearing instead."

"Let's say that you are right, how did a human become like this and why do these things have sickle like a mantis, instead of an arm?"

"That's why I said, they were once Humans. It is not impossible to change the form of the body but this usually involves a special technique. But the thing is, these arts are commonly used on the caster's body and not on others. There are some records of reclusive Shaman tribes that use a special technique or art that lets them fuse the body of a human with the body of an animal. This treatment is usually a form of sacrifice for them."

"So these things are created by these shamans you spoke off?" After Samael spoke, it was Julius who returned a question to him. He didn't stop feeling indignant towards Samael but because of the fear he felt earlier, he could only oppose him just a little bit.

"It could be, but I highly doubt so. Many say that hose Shamans have long vanished in the tides of time." Samael only smiled at Julius's intention.

"Then why do you speak of them." Then Silvia's melodious voice entered everyone's ear. She spoke with such graceful bearing that it would be hard for a common man to resist pouncing on her. That's if they didn't value their life.

"It could be possible that someone has found an incomplete legacy of the Shamans of history," Samael spoke with such fascination. This was a lost art, it will be valuable to learn even if it's incomplete.

"But-" Silvia was about to respond back when they heard a…

Boom!

A loud explosion echoed from afar, the force from it caused winds to stir. Samael and the others were forced to use their strength to hold their ground while covering their eyes. After the blast subsided they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"What was that?" Stella asked.

She and Julius had the same question, they wanted to discuss this with the other when they saw Samael's unusually sharp and dark look. They were alarmed, especially Julius he recognized that look since he was the receiver of such a look earlier. Even Silvia who was calm a moment ago unconsciously gripped her sword after feeling the sudden change in Samael.

"It was an aftershock…from a battle between cultivators in the Advanced Foundation Building realm." Samael coldly said. He felt the change in the surroundings.

"Advanced Foundation Building realm? Why would there be two Foundation Building realm experts fighting in the Academy testing ground?" Stella asked.

"There can only be a few possible answers," Julius said and then he continued.

"First, this must be a ploy of the Academy to pressure the participants into taking this test seriously." Julius sounded serious looks like he too finally understood the changes brought by those two experts.

"Second is that an unknown enemy has attacked the testing ground. It's also possible that they were the ones who created and unleashed these creatures." Next, Silvia answered.

There could be other answers but they couldn't just stand by and debate about it. Suddenly they felt a chilling cold as they turned to Samael and saw that cold air circled around him. The ice slowly formed around his forearms, shoulder, and his feet. They have seen earlier that his Ice can take the creature's attacks and not break.

"Whatever the case is, it doesn't bode well for any of us. Julius, Stella stay with one another, you two are partners and should protect one another." Samael seriously said.

"Hey, why should I listen to you?" Julius felt wronged being ordered by someone he looks down upon.

"Oh you are free to oppose me but you must be prepared to leave your life behind if you want to." That familiar aura rose once again from Samael and was pointed towards Julius, causing him to shut up.

Samael also didn't want to continuously use this fear tactic against Julius since he was Julian's little brother but if he continues to get in his way then…

"Can I trust you with my back?" After silently musing about what would he do if Julius really pissed him off, he turned towards Silvia and asked.

She was rather surprised and said, "Only if I can trust you with mine." A surprising smile came from her which stunned Samael for a second before smiling back.

"Alright, let's try to find other participants. See if they know something about what is happening." He said.

"I wouldn't count on it," Julius commented on the side.

"I know." Contrary to his expectation, Samael didn't scowl at him but rather agreed with him.

They began moving towards the mountain where the final test was and they were hoping to encounter other participants along the way. The reason why they didn't just use the talisman to escape to safety and notify the academy officials is that someone must've done that already and if no response team has been mobilized then it means that the academy itself was facing something much worse or that they can't send in a response team.

Silvia is the eldest daughter of the Frost family and has a strong sense of duty for the empire and the academy so it was natural for her to stay and investigate. The same goes for Julius who was a knight of the Clyde family, he is bound by a strong sense of duty to save lives and protect the empire. As for Stella, didn't have this sense of duty but she too felt the need to save lives so even when she was scared she chose to stay.

Both Silvia and Julius commended her for this. As for Samael, he was extremely fascinated by the technique or art that was used to create these abominations and wanted to learn it. But most importantly, these creatures were perfect opponents for him to fight and refine his combat arts.

As they entered deeper into the forest and closer to the mountain range, they saw a couple of dismembered bodies. It looks like they didn't have enough time to use the talisman to escape and were killed by those creatures.

Before they could even investigate the identity of these corpses they heard a scream.

"Hurry!" Julius shouted.

And they quickly moved towards the source of that screaming voice. Once they arrived they saw a group of 8 people gathered and was holding their ground against those enemy creatures using their protective talisman. The barrier that was surrounding them was quickly crumbling under the assault of the enemy.

Samael and the others quickly saw a few other corpses around the survivors. They made their way toward them. Before they could even come close, the enemy creatures had already heard them approaching and they immediately changed targets, from those survivors to Samael and his group.

One enemy creature quickly pounced towards Samael but was met with a fist. Samael's fist was covered with Black Lightning and the force it carried was immense, Samael slammed the creature to the ground, crushing its head. But there was another one in front of him.

Silvia leaped from behind him, sword in hand, and she thrust forward. She punctured the head of the creature before withdrawing it and cutting off the creature's head with fluid movements. There were a few more coming towards them.

Samael then jumped over Silvia and used the same maneuver he used to land, earlier at the start of the second test. He used his ice element to make a block of ice under his feet which he used to change his course mid-air. He pounced down towards another enemy, digging his fingers that were covered with ice, deep into its flesh.

Using the momentum of his previous move, Samael landed on the ground pulling the enemy's neck back. As he landed, he stomped his feet deep into the ground and lifted the creature up, slamming it to another enemy creature. The two creatures exploded upon impact and there was blood and flesh flying everywhere.

Samael stood his ground, he looked back and shouted towards Julius and Stella.

"Get the survivors! Julius, instruct them on how they should defend themselves. Stella, you provide cover from their rear." He said.

The two were frozen, they saw how quickly the pair of Samael and Silvia disposed of those creatures. Silvia was clean and graceful but Samael was pure savagery. All the blood that exploded earlier also got on Samael. Now he looked like a blood devil, there was blood on his face and highlighted his crimson eyes.

"What are you waiting for?!" Samael shouted once he saw their frozen reaction.

Shaken, the two quickly moved while using long-range attacks to deter the enemies that were approaching them.

Lightning coiling around him and Ice forming armor on his body, he stood his ground. A beautiful white figure then appeared behind him. Samael smiled.

"Shall we?" He said.

The white-robed Silvia didn't say anything and only smiled once she felt Samael's excitement, she was ready to coordinate with him. They would go into battle, protecting each other's back.