Unexpected Encounter

In an enclosed rocky valley, a group of seven were attacking a young man and a giant bull. At least, that's what it looked like. In truth, the bull wasn't on anyone's side, but the young man controlled the field so finely that it looked like the two were coordinating.

"Fucking damn it!" A short young man with a war hammer cursed loudly as a wave of flames caused the bull to duck and avoid his attack. "Hold him off! Can't any of you do anything right?"

"I'm ready to switch any time midget!" A scrawny man with a heavily bleeding torso yelled back at him. Scorch swiftly moved forward to finish the job, the man's own spear moving too slow to stop it, but then an arrow appeared next to Tai's head.

A loud pop sounded as Tai slid back just enough to dodge the arrow while still extending his spear, but the maneuver slowed him down enough for the injured man's spear to catch up.

"Shit!" The man cried out as the force of the attack still pushed him back and caused blood to spill from his wounds.

'Annoying.' Tai thought while looking at the pretty archer with murder in his eyes. That archer managed to single handedly keep the seven alive. Her shots were precise, and her timing was impeccable, but that wasn't what bothered Tai. What bothered him was that she got his hopes up!

He thought his long hunt had finally born fruit, but it turned out to be rotten. She already had a team, and her two teammates didn't meet his standards. Now it felt like her skills were being rubbed in his face.

A sigh couldn't help escaping his lips as he dodged the spearman's counterattack and blocked the dagger of the short woman sneaking up on him before kicking her away. 'This recruit drive has been a wash.' He finally admitted.

Almost twenty-four hours had passed since he split from Nico to gather teammates. He'd thought using the bounty on him to gather up a capable group was a great idea, yet he hadn't found anyone worthwhile.

That's not to say these seven were weak. They all ranked in the top four hundred, but they had weaknesses or personality defects that he'd rather avoid. They were like diamonds in the rough, and he didn't have the expertise to polish them. Sadly, this lack of polishing couldn't be helped, these individuals were just regular members of their Houses.

Not one of his would-be assassins was from a Marquess Household. Hell, even those from Earl Houses weren't important personal, excluding Akito. While this didn't diminish their strength, it was clear they had less rounded teaching than people like him, Akito, and Nico.

In the end, there were clear limits to what the one behind the scenes was willing to pay. At the levels above Earl, it's often more exchanges of favors rather than clean monetary transactions, something the mastermind would rather avoid.

'It's time to abandon this tactic.' He decided decisively while the bull roared in pain from a mighty hammer blow. 'We'll have to find teammates the conventional way.' He cast one last mixed gaze at the archer. He really wanted her to join, but there was nothing he could do.

Teams couldn't be broken once formed, and even eliminating the other two from her team would still leave her counting as three people. It was too much of a burden.

The bull roared out desperately, quickly growing overwhelmed after Tai stopped supporting it.

"Hold him down this time!" The hammer user ordered hastily. The silent sword user by his side backed him up while putting himself between Tai and the beast

"Quite telling me what to do!" The dagger woman roared angrily. Even so, her and the other three besieging Tai moved in to contain him. He could also feel the gaze of his favorite archer locked onto him.

'Geez, they're really taking the last time personally.' Tai scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He hadn't let them or any of his pursuers get a single kill. He'd claimed every Beasts life after using them, bringing his keys to two. Seven more and his team could enter the Final Gauntlet. But it also meant that he wouldn't be able to recruit anyone else after getting two more. That's why he couldn't waste anymore time hoping the perfect candidate would come to him.

"We got him, so finish it quickly shrimp." The spear user yelled out determinedly. Ultimately, this didn't matter. Their goal was eliminating Tai, it didn't matter if he killed the beasts. They also weren't all in a team with each other, so it wouldn't benefit them all if one of them got the kill. But it was frustrating. Even after an hour, they couldn't hinder their target. Instead, their efforts were aiding him in gaining keys faster. It scared them a little and gave them the illusion of dancing on his palms. They needed a win here to shatter that illusion.

Little did they know that they were still blind to reality.

Twang!

The arrow flew the moment Tai made his move. Wind burst from its back as it traveled an irregular path, looking more like an angry hornet than an arrow. Tai didn't even attempt to read its path and just carried on with his attack.

'Giant Flame Wave.' Three Flame Waves danced along his spear as he forcefully melded them into one at the tip.

Their four's eyes widened as the sweat evaporated from their skin from the heat of the oncoming giant wave. They quickly unleashed their best attacks to stop the raging flames, but they were unable to stop themselves from being pushed back,

"Kill it fast!" The archer yelled while shooting arrows at Tai who'd left the other four to struggle against the flames. Tai avoided them all using his armor's combustion and quickly approached the beast.

He launched a regular flame wave at the crippled bull while also releasing several embers into the air.

"Yaaaaa!" An Earthen spike formed from his hammer as he swung it down. The sword user blocked the Flame Wave as the archer made sure no embers interfered.

A low whine filled the room as the hammer struck home. The great beast's knees gave out, and it fell to the floor with its final breath.

"Got him!" The short hammer user bellowed proudly. However, what greeted him wasn't the joyous cries of his comrades.

"Where'd he go!?" The Archer was yelling with alarm as Tai was nowhere to be seen. She only took her eyes off Tai for a moment to target the embers. And everyone else was either dealing with flames or the bull.

Tai used the moment the bull died to leave the room. He hadn't taken advantage of his armor's ability to blur Spirit Sense for this exact moment. With all their focus on securing the bull's death, they didn't notice he was gone until too late.

Beyond the challenge room were the usual hallways with doors lining them. Originally there were only white doors, but some of them turned purple after he got his first key, then blue when he got his second. He hadn't had a chance to test the other two test types, but the beasts were certainly a lot more hardy than the earlier doors. They were all in the Enshrinement Realm, but the quality spiked.

Anyone in the top four hundred held enough power to casually one-shot the beasts in the white door, yet even Tai would take ten minutes with the beasts contained in the blue doors. Well, usually that is.

Tai quickly entered the closest blue door to himself since he was still on the clock. Scorch began transforming the moment he set foot inside. His empowered Spirit Sense spread outwards and quickly found his rushing target. Three rings glowed softly with stored heat from his day of fighting, but only one turned bright red now.

'Heat Road.' Tai thrust the glowing red spear forward. Everything between him and the beast was melted. Its last-ditch efforts to save itself did nothing to alter its own fate as it too had a massive road paved through it.

Tai wasted no time dashing down the road while Scorch reverted to normal. He finally breathed an easy sigh while working out his shoulder after passing through the exit door into another hallway.

He had some time now since his pursuers couldn't enter a cleared room without him still being in it. This place worked on weird logic, as entering trials next to each other didn't mean the exit doors would also be adjacent. They would find him though. They always did. It was the reason he could easily split with Nico as she could easily find him too.

'Hm, she should be coming to me in an hour. I'll clear this up fast.' He decided while picking another blue room to hunker down in. While he could probably win fighting head on, he'd likely get injured if they all used their trump cards. It was much easier to just prepare a seal for them to walk into.

His resource problems were now a thing of the past. He obtained any bought item from every eliminated examinee, giving him the wealth of sixty contestants. Yep, sixty. Over eighty people had come after him in the last twenty-four hours, he was honestly speechless.

The Vault Family suspected for years that someone in the academy was working against them, but it'd always stayed as suspicion because they'd never been this blatant. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry about this increased aggression, but at the very least it certainly helped him out here. He would've seriously been hindered in what seals he could make without all these extra resources.

The field inside the door was an outstretched grassland with large reeds that reached to his thighs. 'This looks like it'd be a pain to walk through normally.' He thought while walking in casually. One of the perks of full body armor. His Spirit Sense spread out so he could check out the tests. His calm demeanor froze when he came across the dead beast meant to challenge him.

Tai barely processed what his senses were telling him when all the hair on his body shot up in alarm.

BANG!

Tai skid backwards as he barely blocked the incoming blow with Scorch. No, block wasn't the right word. His muscles bulged and he knocked the heavy weapon back.

Drip, drip, drip.

Small drops of blood leaked from his arm where he'd gotten cut. His face grew serious as his armor repaired itself. His eyes glanced at the door behind him. He'd rather not fight an opponent that could casually cut through his armor on the first day. This exam wasn't a strength test, it was strategic too.

"Oh? Looks like I caught a good one this time." An excited voice sounded as a massive battle lust washed over Tai.

All thoughts of retreat vanished from his mind as he laid eyes on the known madman before him.

Rank number sixty-four, Neil Morales. But most people knew him as White Death.