Having had no sleep, Damien stood in front of a wall of light among a crowd that consisted of all the Climbers ready to take the test today.

The Mercenary Guild had escorted them to the center of the Level, where a gigantic black stone pillar rose from the ground and reached into the blue sky. In front of said structure was an arched opening, like a giant entrance, where the wall of light was located. If you looked closely you could see the light swirl and twist upward, it flowed like a tranquil river.

Everyone stood anxiously around it, they were waiting for the test to begin to take in participants. Like the Mercenary Guild had explained, not all tests were the same. The test you took on Level 3 might not be the same that another person took on the same Level, although some tests never changed. There were also several ways to know what kind of test you would be having. For instance, on this test, if you were unable to enter the testing area, that meant the test would be Climber versus Climber. This stemmed from the fact that tests which involved Climber versus anything else would allow you to enter at any point, tests versus other players would have to wait for the necessary number of Climbers to gather. Level 1 was infamous for sending half of each starter class up in its Climber versus Climber tests, which is why he had been attacked last night.

"Hey, have you seen the rogues?"

"Now that you mention it..."

"I think I saw them drinking last night."

"They better not be hungover."

All the rogues except Damien had wiggled their way into teams, it was only normal for them to notice their absence. What he did find peculiar was the fact that he had not been accused of killing them, after all, he had let one escape, why didn't he out him?

A loud hum began to vibrate through the air, it ringed in his ears. Everyone looked on as the light, which had been content previously to simply flow through the pillar, started to spill out in the ground and air like tendrils.

"It's open! Go ahead!" one of the Guild organizers shouted from behind the crowd. It was easy for them to say this, but to the people who had never willingly entered a test, it was a daunting task. Luckily the collective courage that came from being in a massive crowd was enough to make those in the front begin to march forward. The tendrils of light reached out and captured those that walked into their range and pulled them into the wall, it was a terrifying sight for many, but many more simply walked through the wall from their own volition.

As the Climbers quickly began to disappear into the pillar, soon Damien himself stood in front of the wall, his hand reached out and sunk into the light. It was hard to describe the feeling in his hand, it almost felt like his arm was no longer attached to it, but he pushed ahead anyway.

Going through the boundary fully was not exactly what he was expecting, instead of entering a new space he was instead inside a void, he floated amongst all the other people who had entered.

it felt nice to simply float in the darkness, going up and up in a soothing wave of nothing was making him get sleepy, it didn't help he had not gotten any rest last night.

He was too paranoid about the rogues he'd killed, would the Guild apprehend him? Or would he get attacked in his sleep? Those thoughts kept his eyes open and his blade in hand through the night.

But that tranquility didn't last much longer, a System window opened up in front of him, the electric buzz that sounded off in his head as the screen materialized in front of himself was enough for him to break his relaxation.

Welcome to Test 1!

Phase one will begin shortly, for this challenge your objective is monster hunting! Kill as many monsters as possible in the allotted 10 minute time frame. Certain monsters will be worth more points than others, please seek out the strongest ones to gain the most points possible. As a bonus, the person with the most points accumulated in the end will receive a special boon from the System itself. You will be able to see everyone's score in the center of the arena, use this to make sure you know how many points are needed for the number one spot. Monsters will display their name and point worth above their heads, so keep an eye out.

Monster hunting? A boon?

The void that he had been swimming in slowly began to fade away to light, it was blinding.

Then his vision was filled with green, unlike the summer forests that were in Level 1, the trees that surrounded him here had elongated leaves and denser vegetation. Not to mention the air was filled with moisture, it was almost to the point where it could be called uncomfortable. Bird-like chirps were heard in the distance, it was a tropical jungle or an approximation of one.

He saw no monsters anywhere near him, but that was no reason not to draw his sword, he needed to be ready.

A glance at the sky revealed a System window, in it was over a hundred names, and next to them, numbers. For the most part, the number was zero, but for the ones at the top, it was 3 or 4. And it was increasing.

That was quick, I can't get left behind.

The first step he took in the jungle was enough to raise his suspicion, despite there being sounds in the distance, not even a single bug could be heard in his immediate surroundings. The scraping of wood brought his attention to a tree in front of himself, in the dense foliage, something was staring at him.

Noticing that it had been spotted and it would not be able to use the element of surprise in its favor, the beast jumped off the tree and landed on the jungle floor with a slam. It was a large cat, over ten feet in height, covered by a red thick hide and two large horns on its head. The black claws on its paws looked incredibly sharp and as it opened its mouth, the display of jagged teeth was all he needed to know this thing was an apex predator. The long thin tail behind it swayed as flames burned on its end, it was ready to pounce on him.

The display on top of its head read:

Inferno Felis (F+), 125 Points

125 points for this thing? Those better be a lot of points.

Steeling himself for the incoming attack, the large cat began to slowly circle around him. It was prodding at his defenses, seeking a spot where he was weak, he made sure to never give the beast his back. His life would be forfeit if he did.

Two more laps and the cat looked a little annoyed at not finding a place to strike, but it was not deterred in the slightest. It faced the sky and unleashed the loudest roar he had ever heard, it was a chill that coursed through his body strangely. Something was happening to him.

Afflicted with Fear (F+): -10% AGI! Bold activated: +20% to all stats

A status effect!? Thank God for Bold, I would probably be so screwed right now if not for it.

The beast launched itself at him like a sprung coil, it was amazing how something so large could be so quick. Its open jaw was primed to cleave his body into two, but thanks to the stat boost he had received, he was quick enough to bring up his sword and stop its teeth from tearing him apart. Unsurprisingly the teeth were just as hard as the metal of his blade and neither gave away to each other. However, the cat had much more momentum and greater strength which was enough to send Damien back into the foliage.

Making sure not to lose his balance as he was thrown back was harder than what he had anticipated, but thanks to the training he had received from Eira, he somehow managed.

The force of the attack lingered in his arms, they felt heavy from the impact, Should I run? No... I doubt I can outrun it in its own territory, I need to get close.

Damien's train of thought originated from the fact that his speed was more or less even with the cat, the same could be said about its strength, but when there was distance between them, the cat was able to use that to create momentum. His chances of victory were in fighting close quarters, still not ideal judging by how flexible the monster looked, but it was his only chance to win.

The cat had not attacked since the first attempt, it was likely surprised that he had managed to react to its attack when he had been debuffed. Those seconds worked in Damien's favor, he was able to recuperate the feeling in his arms and cut the distance between himself and the large cat.

Small embers drifted from its nostrils as it breathed, Damien had already gotten the fire theme that was going on here but he was starting to realize that it might be more than what he figured.

Shadow Step.

Concluding that he needed all the speed he could gather for this fight, he activated Shadow Step and increased his AGI and PER, if only he was in the shadows he might have a better chance. The increase in his perception came right in time to see the cat hop lightly into the air, it rotated its body with immense speed. The result was a tail-like whip that aimed and latched on to his sword.

The flaming thin tail was tough, Damien tried to pry his weapon free but it was no use. The leathery hide would not be cut without more space to gain speed, all he could do is hold on to the grip of his sword. The monster was not only fast and strong, but it was also smart too. It realized all too quickly that his weapon was trouble and was trying to disarm him. The beast pivoted its body to generate a greater pull on the blade and Damien felt his feet dig into the ground as he pulled back with all his strength.

With each second he spent fighting the tail, the tighter the hold became, it didn't help that the cat got the sword by the tip, away from the center of his strength.

Right before the pressure built to a level he would lose his sword, an idea popped into his head.

If it's getting harder to fight it from pulling back, then all I gotta do is go with the direction of the force.

Instead of fighting back, Damien jumped off the ground and ran in the direction of the cat, immediately the grip the tail had on his weapon loosened to the point it was free. Thanks to the force of the cat pulling him plus his own, he had arrived to the cat in the blink of an eye, what's more due to the pivoting the cat was using to pull with more strength, he was giving Damien its back.

This is my chance! Assassinate!

The sharp metal came down on the tail that had held it prisoner just prior and with newfound power, hacked the appendage clean off the cat.

The useless piece of flesh thumbed on the ground and flailed a little before it twitched slightly on the jungle floor. A loud howl of pain followed soon after.

Damien prepared to attack once again but was kicked back by the hind leg of the enraged cat. Damien tried to roll with the kick to stop himself from going too far and getting hurt.

He quickly spared a glance at the System window in the sky and noticed that some names already had high numbers and four minutes had already passed.

Monster Hunting Leaderboard!

1. Jane: 56 Points

2. Donovan: 52 Points

3. Zen: 45 Points

[...]

Time: 5:47

People were already racking up points, and Damien felt frustrated he was stuck dealing with this monstrosity. A rising heat brought his lapsed attention back to the battle at hand.

The anger was visible in the Inferno Felis' eyes, it had never in its life as an apex predator been hurt by something it considered prey, and now its tail was gone. The more notable thing, however, was the flames leaking from its mouth, it was readying an attack.

With a roar, a large fireball was summoned from its mouth and sped to Damien. Even when it was so far away, he could still feel the heat as it quickly grew closer.

He ditched all thoughts of defense and offense and focused only on running to the side and avoiding the blast of the fire. A side glance and he became aware that the flames were mere feet away from him, he focused all his strength into his legs and made a leap to reach the edge of the area of effect. He was barely successful and the attack went on passed him and into the trees.

Upon impact, the flames expanded from its already large form and exploded in a fury of ashes, heat, and fire.

He looked in awe at the power of the attack, the wind created from the explosion was heat and as it ran through his air, he was certain he'd be ashes if he had failed to escape the blast.

Standing up, he faced the cat with a new solid respect for its power. Flames once again leaked from its mouth and Damien prepared for another attack.