Endure the Ice Desert

"Come on tell me! What is it? Teleportation or power to achieve your dream?" Luna asked once again.

"Neither of the two. The thorny path to my dream is what I want. Knowing that I will achieve it no matter what takes the whole fun out of it." I answered, inwardly hoping that she would leave me alone.

"Really? You are the first person who has ever answered that way. You are interesting Noah." She commented.

"Hey, you know I just thought of a great idea. How about we burn this whole place down? I can't really do fun stuff like this with my boring brother over there." Luna suggested.

Roy didn't react to anything she said but remained silent as usual.

"What? No." I quickly replied, to not give her any idiotic ideas.

"Oh come on, it would be so much fun! Just think about it; The thrill of running away from the staff, the blood pumping through our veins as we try our best to survive while the flames spread around us... Ahhh~ This is something worth dying for." Luna continued enthusiastically.

...

I'm speechless. She is truly a menace to society.

Seeing me completely unconvinced of her plan, Luna started to pout in hopes of me changing my mind. However, her antics were cut short when Roy suddenly spoke up. "leave him be, Luna."

"...Fine." Luna sulked as she walked off. "Noah, if you ever change your mind don't hesitate to visit me. Maybe we can even do something more than burning this place down together if you know what I mean."

Phrasing it in a sexual manner makes it sound even worse.

Roy gave me a look of sympathy as he guided her away from me, letting Luna harass someone else instead of bothering me further. They have one weird relationship.

With them both gone, I decided to pass the time by counting all the tiles on the floor. As I was in the thousands, my focus slipped as a loud, ear-deafening voice resounded through the hall.

"Welcome new prospects! It is of great pleasure to welcome you to the royal academy Elite haven. Today marks the beginning of an exciting journey ahead as you are all one of the few qualified enough to enter it." A male voice echoed throughout the hall.

A man appeared from behind a podium, standing tall and proud before us. His face had a stern yet pleasant smile on it.

His long ashy hair flowed behind him elegantly and his deep green eyes glistened under the sunlight.

However, what stood out the most were the countless scars and charred wounds covering his body. He looked like a walking corpse covered in burns. Yet despite this, he managed to stand upright without a hint of pain.

Cheers erupted within the crowd as they looked at the man with admiration. Understandably so since he a quite famous figure among the common folk.

Dubbed "The Mana Vanquisher", this man is the only human that ever fell into a mana rift and made it out alive.

Although this didn't come without a cost as his natural mana flow was completely demolished, hindering him from ever using mana again.

Stuck at B-Rank he is unable to further gain strength or increase his mana capacity. However, his knowledge and experience are invaluable to humanity thus he was given the position of a teacher in Elite haven.

"As most of you should already know, my name is Professor Erosius. I will oversee the entrance test which will determine whether you are worthy to enter the elite school. Now, allow me to explain what you need to prepare yourselves for." He began to speak.

"First, you must understand that these tests aren't meant to kill anyone. The harsh conditions you are about to face and the threats lurking will not be lethal to you. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful as our interference for your sake will immediately disqualify you from entering the academy."

"The test will be very simple. You only have one objective; survive. If too many people are still left at the end, we will determine if you pass by your actions so give it your best."

"Do not worry though. Even if you fail, there are still countless more opportunities to grow and you can always just join another academy. I'm sure they will greet you warmly." Professor Erosius smiled reassuringly as he finished speaking.

"Now, let's start shall we?" Professor Erosius raised his hand high above his head before lowering it slowly until it rested upon the ground.

At this moment, the ground beneath us suddenly got ripped open and we found ourselves falling into a snowy biome. Abruptly, the whole academy vanished as we were practically skydiving without a parachute.

Screams engulfed the silent air as students flailed their arms and legs in panic. Some even tried to grab onto each other for support but failed miserably.

The snow was thick and heavy, cushioning our fall as we landed softly.

We were now surrounded by a white wasteland, filled with nothing but mountains, trees and a small frozen lake in front of us. A blizzard shrouded everything in a layer of ice, impairing our vision greatly.

"Good luck." Resounded through the air as we were left completely on our own.

Confusion quickly turned into panic as no one knew what to do. The chilly weather was too cold to move around freely and the dense snow hindered movement significantly.

Not helping either was how the wind picked up speed rapidly, blowing hard against us and making matters worse.

"Help me! Does someone possess something warm?"

"Has anybody seen my little sister? She was just here."

"Im freezing! Can someone please hug me? Preferably a girl."

Chaotic shouts rang out across the vast land as everyone tried to preserve their temperature. If things persist in this manner, frostbite will be the least of their concerns.

I sighed as I watched people bicker over trivialities while trying to keep themselves warm. This wasn't going well... for them atleast. I'm not that worried since this exact scenario also happened in the novel.

The herd mentality won't be helpful here since this is a survival of the fittest kind of situation. Everyone needs to think on their feet and act fast. Otherwise, they'll turn into an ice cube soon enough.

Howls echoed throughout the area as the noise attracted wild beasts. They came running towards us, hungry and eager to devour whatever tasty meat they could find.

It became a bloodshed as wild spells and weapons aimlessly flew around, harming the wild beasts as well as the other students.

If you watch closely, you could spot for a split second teachers jumping in and dragging someone out of the battlefield.

The number of students dwindled rapidly as one after another got disqualified.

Meanwhile, I watched it unfold from on top of a tree branch. I don't really have the need to save them as that will only increase my odds of entering the academy.

The main cast should be fine regardless as their strength is nothing to scoff at. I could even spot a few of them in the crowd, the protagonist included.

Kayn slaughtered several monsters singlehandedly while the others barely managed to survive thanks to the help of their fellow classmates.

Wolves, bears, mammoths, lynxes, dire wolves, foxes, panthers, jackals, leopards, hawks or eagles. It didn't matter as his claymore cut through them like butter.

His fighting style was quite something. He went straight for the kill, with no fancy movement whatsoever.

His movements were so fluid that he seemed to float effortlessly as he swung down his blade, cleaving every monster in two.

"Watching others suffer. That's some kinky stuff you are into Noah." A voice called out from behind me.

"What do you want?" I asked annoyed.

"Oh don't mind me. I just noticed that you behaved way too calmly for all of this so I got curious." Replied none other than Luna Emberwing.

She came closer, sitting right next to me as she continued talking. "You know, I've been watching you ever since I entered the school grounds. You're such a strange character. Most people would get nervous and freak out when faced with a bunch of dangerous animals attacking them."

"I've seen worse." I shrugged.

Luna chuckled lightly as she leaned back, stretching her arm along the branch. We silently sat there, observing the chaos below us.

I couldn't help but be constantly distracted as Luna shivered slightly due to the frigid temperatures. Her body was covered in thin layers of clothing which did very little to protect her from the harsh winds.

Not wanting to see her getting disqualified because of hypothermia, I wrapped my jacket around her shoulders. I don't need it anyways for what I'm about to do next,

Her eyes widened at the gesture, clearly surprised. After a short while, she whispered almost inaudible "Thank you." before turning away.