Entrance Examination (10): Skeleton Graveyard.

"Is this the world of Dungeon?" Charles muttered in a barely audible voice while he was observing his surroundings.

Draven and June were also stunned as they scrutinized the world they stood in. Even Kyla was shivering from the cold breeze and eerie atmosphere. She could barely keep her eyes open while leaning closely toward her twin.

They were outside the forest with the dimensional portal behind their back. It was swirling in a kaleidoscope movement.

In front of Draven's group was a bleak forest with countless tombstones placed in the soil. Due to the grim and dark atmosphere, there was only darkness ahead of them. Yet they could spot some silhouette walking amidst the darkness.

They walked unsteadily.

Most of them were also slim, as though there were only bones remaining on their physical appearance. Draven, with an enhanced sight, concluded they were a skeleton.

He even wondered how they could still walk despite having no muscles in their body.

"Let's go," said Draven sternly.

As he walked ahead of them, he perceived that some of his groupmates were scared to follow him. Helpless, he turned behind him and realized there was only June beside him.

The other members?

They were busy ordering their limbs to move while stopping them from constant shaking. The worst person who received shock the most was Kyla. She couldn't stand the frightening place and kept glancing behind her, at the gate. She wanted nothing but to run and escape from this scary place.

However, what was scariest the most was the glare coming from Draven. As though Draven seemed to belong here, causing his aura to blend into the atmosphere.

They stared at each other for dozens of seconds.

Draven then opened his mouth and speak, "There's no reason for you to feel scared. I am here."

It was supposed to be for assurance, yet his tone and face contradicted his speech. However, Kyla did not feel scared anymore. Trying her best to bring out her courage, she nodded and walked while clenching her fist.

"Kyla…" Kiara slowly walked to her twins, feeling concerned. "You don't have to force yourself."

"N-No." Kyla shook her head, and her eyes rolled upward. "Did you forget why I am here?"

Kiara looked at her twins quietly before helplessly shaking her head.

"Okay, but please, you don't have to force yourself." He hugged her twin. "You also know why I am here, to support your dreams."

Kyla leaned her head to her sister's head and said, "No, for our dreams."

"How about you?" Draven looked at Charles, who appeared about to take a step toward the Dimensional gate. "How shameful, even your courage got toppled by girls. As a man myself, I despise you."

Although his voice was still cold and emotionless, it made Charles tremble in pain. He turned behind his back and met Draven's cold and indifferent eyes as though his existence could not concern Draven. He even wondered if Draven even care if he died here or not.

He gritted his teeth and swept his eyes to the three girls looking at him with different emotions. One stare that hurt him the most came from June, looking at him with disdain and mockery.

He gritted his teeth, feeling his mind was clear, and followed the group, venturing amidst the scariest place, which was even more frightening than their cemetery at night.

…..

'This can't scare me.' Draven shook his head as he thought. 'Although, it is indeed scary seeing their reactions. The place in the trial was scarier. The sky was painted with blood, the surroundings were piled up with bones, and I would not be surprised if a devil existence appeared and annihilated my soul.'

As Draven was lost in thought, his other members placed their whole attention on their surroundings. Due to the limited vision because of darkness, they wouldn't know if someone jump-scare at them.

"Eek!" Kyla suddenly shrieked, halting their group from moving forward.

"What's wrong?" Draven asked.

Charles was immediately tensed and put his guard up, observing the direction of Kyla. He later realized it was a hand coming out from someone's grave. He recognized it from the broken tombstone beside the hand.

"A corpse hand?" June wondered when her eyes suddenly widened.

"The hand is moving!" Kiara exclaimed while protecting her twins.

She also placed her hand on Kyla's eyes, causing the latter to complain about seeing nothing.

"The soil moved. Back away!" June urged. "I'm afraid the corpse is waking up."

"It's not the only one," said Draven while turning his head left and right. "We are surrounded."

The moving silhouettes earlier they saw were now walking at them. Not only that, they suddenly became numerous, as though there was a horde of them. Charles even spotted a tombstone not far from them, which was used as a catalyst to get the dead out of their graves.

The previous indistinct silhouettes were now clear because of the close distance. Charles shakingly reached out from his pocket, taking out a sharp object. It was a knife, and it was his weapon. It was no ordinary knife either, for it was a combat knife.

Kiara also took out his archer and knocked with an arrow, firing at the closest skeleton without hesitation. This leaves a chance for Kyla to witness their situation and almost faint on the spot. She also took out a knife, but she had no experience in using them.

Hence, her attacking position faced the enemy, opposite from Charles whose knife was now in the reverse position.

"You," said Draven.

"June," replied June sternly.

"Protect Kyla. She might be useless, but we can't do anything from it because her specialization is completely useless in this dungeon."

"What do you mean?" June's eyebrows arc upward. "We did not bring any food or water. I thought you wanted to rely upon this from Kyla, but it appeared you just forgot to ask before entering the dungeon."

"I did not forget." Draven faced his back towards her. He looked at the closest skeleton, who attempted to bite him but got pulverized into pieces by his casual punch instead. "I will defeat the boss in no time. We can eat lunch in the finest restaurant by then."

Meanwhile, outside the dungeon, Kestrel, and some students were laughing excessively.

"Idiot! Due to his overconfidence, he had brought his members in jeopardy." Kestrel guffawed and continued. "Did he not know that the most important thing before entering the dungeon? Food and water! Water once their physical body got exhausted and food to replenish their energy."

"You're an idiot, but you're right." Kestrel glared at Ivy. "Looked at my nephew. She was still talking to her members. As a leader, knowing everything about your comrade is also a bridge for trust and camaraderie. Although some of them might not tell their strengths and weaknesses completely, slowly inside the dungeon, they will realize that they need to depend on her."

"Hump! We will see." Kestrel did not speak anymore and looked at the General. "Bring the laptop, and we will watch the overconfident student's performance."

***

"Does some of you are awakened?" Draven asked.

The ground he stepped on was not soil anymore as it was replaced by many skeletons he had defeated. Although he realized their weakness was from their head, concluded from seeing their glowing red eyes, but once they were completely broken by his fist. They would stop moving.

"Me," said Kiara.

Suddenly, Kiara's arrows were now fiercer and swifter than before. Her attack speed also increased, from taking a second to fire an arrow turned into half a second. Draven was astonished as he perceived Kiara must have awakened the Path of the wind.

"What about your twin?"

Kiara was distracted as she missed a shot.