Exit Exam (Part 1) Demon Beast Hunt

Sol found himself deep in the center of a vast jungle.

He looked left and right to survey his surroundings but only saw endless canopies of trees stretching on until the eye's limit.

"Jetai Forest." He immediately said, recognizing the place almost instantly.

He looked down at his hand and opened it wide before gripping it tightly.

"This doesn't seem to be a simulation. It's different from last year's final exam. This time it looks like my real body has been transported."

He walked next to a tree. There were many of various sizes and shapes. The one Sol neared was conjoined with many deformities and was the largest one around him.

"Just to confirm though..." He said under his breath, punching the tree with his fist.

The tree didn't move much, but a few birds resting on its branches flew away.

There was also a small indent left in the moss covering the tree.

Sol looked up at the scattering birds, "Everything is following the ways of nature. This definitely isn't a simulation."

He turned around, trying to identify exactly where in the Jetai Forest he was as his next step.

He knew from the past Sol's memories that Jetai, sometimes called Adventurer's Forest, had four sections.

Each section was more difficult than the other and was also known to have different ecosystems and environments.

'The thick jungle is the one on the way to Vanathril. Then... it must be the second part of Jetai, meaning the second easiest.'

As he surmised this in his head, a transparent screen suddenly appeared in front of him.

'The exam rules...' He mused inwardly.

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Welcome to the final exit exams of the Intermediate Schooling Year. The rules of this exam will now be explained:

There are three steps to this exam:

1 - You will have to battle demon beasts that are standardized amongst all examinees. This means that the difficulty of the hunt will be the same throughout. You have to reach a certain number of demon beast kills in order to pass that will not be revealed until the end of the exam.

2 - Once passing the demon-beast-killing step, you will then have to pass a knowledge test that is also standardized for all students. This means that all questions will be the exact same for every student.

3 - Finally, you will be matched with another examinee depending on your knowledge test score and demon beast kill count. Once you defeat your opponent in a duel, you will pass.

If you lose, you get one more chance to pass by entering the loser's bracket.

The passing rate of this test is 75%.

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"Half the students pass, and then half of the losers also pass huh? I guess that makes 75%. Something's off though..."

Sol was slightly confused with the rules concerning the match-making system based on the knowledge test score and demon beast kill count.

"If someone happens to know the exact passing amount of both criteria through an inside scoop, then they will get a free easy opponent by doing the bare minimum to pass, right?"

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Correct. However, there is also one more reason for you to try your best on the knowledge test and demon beast kill count.

Depending on your scores on these sections, you will get to choose a cultivation technique or weapon at the end of the exam.

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A slight grin appeared on Sol's face as he heard this. "Perfect... that's exactly what I wanted to hear."

With this, he prepared himself to fight. As he did, the screen in front of him disappeared.

*Growl*

Sol heard silent growls from inside the thick bushes in front of him that were no smaller than cars.

After a few seconds of rustling, three multi-colored wolves jumped out of the bushes one by one.

They bared their sharp fangs and crunched up their snouts as they growled at Sol with a fierce expression.

However, their aggressive faces were disrupted by the fact that their entire bodies seemed to be made out of lightly colored, transparent slime.

One was a light orange, another a light lime green, and the one in the middle was a light blue.

"Normal Slime Wolf's... three should be doable. However--" He stopped talking, as one of the wolves lunged at him.

Sol swiftly stepped to the side, avoiding the bite as he punched the wolf in the side of the face.

The wolf stumbled back slightly, as the two others pounced at him.

Sol began to run, dodging around trees and rocks as the wolves quickly followed behind him.

"As I thought... fighting them with my bare hands will be dangerous. Although their bodies are made out of slime, their fangs are still sharp and dangerous."

As he ran, he grabbed onto a rock that was the size of his palm before suddenly turning around.

He hurled the rock at the wolves behind him with full force. The rock swiftly flew toward the orange Slime Wolf at the front and slammed into its face.

The throw was hard enough to tear through the wolf's slime body. The rock flew out the other side as the wolf fell down and tumbled to a stop.

*Ding* [1 Slime Wolf Slain.]

"One down," Sol muttered under his breath, continuing to run as the wolves began to catch up to him.

His eyes scanned the floor as the wolves came feet from him, chomping their maws violently.

"Finally!" Sol said, grabbing onto a long, sharp stick he stabbed it into the ground and used the momentum to spin around in the air.

He dislodged the long stick, pulling his arms back before thrusting the spear-like stick forward into the light green wolf in front of him.

*Ding* [1 Slime Wolf Slain.]

"Two..."

The final wolf jumped on top of

 the green wolf's body, jumping into the face of Sol before he could react.

Sol's stick was still stabbed into the green wolf's body, so his hands were tied and there wasn't anywhere he could move.

As the wolf's teeth closed in on mere inches of Sol's face, he suddenly whipped his head back before thrusting it forward again with force.

The top of his head slammed into the wolf's jaw, cracking some teeth loose as it dropped to the ground.

Sol took this opportunity to jump back and unlodge his spear, before striking the dizzy light blue wolf in front of him.

*Ding* [1 Slime Wolf Slain.]

"Three."