I was escorted to what seemed to be an arena. In the center of the arena stood a grotesque green monster with slime-like skin. It had arms on its back holding swords, and razor-sharp talons that looked like knives. When the sun shone upon its claws, they glinted a deep bronze. It lumbered across the arena floor, thumping the ground with its large feet.

As I crossed the floor to prepare for combat, it bellowed in rage at me and leaped at me, claws outstretched. I ducked to the side, holding my staffs in an uncomfortable grip, as they did not allow me to use Revanis and Kosmar. I swung one of my staffs at the creature’s back. As it howled in rage, it split into two different green monsters, each a miniature version of the original monster.

Both came rushing at me, claws extended. I blocked one successfully, but the other green creature’s claws sliced into my leg. “OW!” I yelped. Luckily, the wound wasn’t deep. With a taste for revenge, I swung my staffs at one of their backs. Then, I flipped my staff, took the sword from one of their backs, and plunged a sword into one of the monsters’ eyes. It fell to the ground, motionless. Then, the other creature jumped at me. I used my staffs to block it, but it jumped off of my staffs and landed on the body of the other monster. The body disintegrated and formed two more even smaller monsters.

I looked at the timer. I only had 35 seconds left. I charged, adrenaline running through my body. I swung one of my staffs at the singular medium monster, who easily dodged it, but then I knocked it to the ground with my second staff. Now, I was facing 4 miniature monsters with 20 seconds left on the clock.

I clobbered the one coming at me from the left. It fell to the ground, unmoving.

The remaining three monsters leaped at me from different directions. I blocked two, then dodged. 10 seconds.

I leaped up, ignoring the pain in my leg, and struck one of the monsters in the chest.

9 seconds…

I brought my staff around like a baseball bat, launching it into the stands of the arena.

8 seconds…

I turned to see a monster trying to grab me, and I knocked it away.

7 seconds…

The two monsters coordinated a push and leaped at me from behind and above.

6 seconds…

I pushed the falling monster into the one behind me, making them tumble into a pile.

5 seconds…

They jumped, and I deflected them both, but I accidentally dropped one of my staffs.

4 seconds…

With no time to grab my other staff, I brought my remaining staff down on one of the creatures, slamming it into the ground. It tried to dazedly get up but fell.

3 seconds…

The last monster leaped high, swords and claws outstretched. I moved out of the way, but my leg exploded in pain and I barely prevented myself from collapsing.

2 seconds…

With 2 seconds left and no time to waste, time seemed to slow down. I swung my staff at the remaining monster. It’s now or never! At the last second, the staff connected with the monster, launching it straight out of the arena.

“Phew that was close,” I remarked.

1 second...

“Wait what?” I exclaimed, thinking that I had killed all the monsters. Then I saw 2 monsters rise out of the body of another. I was too far away to hit it, so I desperately threw both staffs at the monsters’ eyes. Both staffs connected and the monsters slumped to the ground, lifeless.

The board displayed: YOU HAVE PASSED THE FIRST AND EASIEST TEST!

“That was the easiest?! ” I groaned.

“Yep!” responded a cheerful Rugin. I sighed and took the five-minute break in between the fights while my leg was healed by the healers.

“So, what were those monsters called?” I queried.

“Oh, they were Tokuhohe. They are a special type of goblin that can clone itself upon death after 5 seconds. To prevent cloning, you need to kill it twice. The Tokuhohe were specially bred for training. To create it, we bred goblins and Arantum, which are a type of creature that clones itself upon death with a 45-second delay, similar to the Tokuhohe.” Sona explained.

“Oh, that’s interesting! Does that mean that if I don’t kill them fast enough, they can eventually grow in numbers to something like 4,096?” I exclaimed in curiosity.

“Yes! Their limit in numbers from a single Tokuhohe is 4194304, and the limit in numbers from a single Arantum is 8388608.” Calhoun cheerfully divulged the information.

“Isn’t the threat of the Arantum… uh… a bit imminent and inevitable?”I questioned with a hint of fear in my voice.

“Fear not, young friend. There are only 3 Arantum in existence, and they are only able to make lesser versions of themselves by dying, and people are smart enough to not kill them. In addition, the cloning system is temporarily destroyed by radioactivity. Two of the Arantum belong to us, whilst the last Arantum has been spotted but has not been captured by anyone.”

“Well, that's a relief,” I sighed in relief.

“Anyway, it's time for your second test,” Rugin responded with a cheerful smile.

“Oh, great,” I groaned.