Luna, Kyle, and Reo charged at the flaming boar monster, their weapons glowing with mana.
The air crackled with tension as the massive beast roared, its fiery body blazing like a living inferno.
The trio knew this fight wouldn't be easy, but they were determined to take it down.
"Can you hold it in place for a minute?" Reo shouted, his eyes locked on the boar as he began gathering wind mana at the tip of his spear.
Luna raised an eyebrow, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
"What do you mean, 'hold it'? Do you think this monster is some little piglet we can just tie up?" She gestured dramatically at the flaming boar, which was easily the size of a small house.
Reo smirked, his confidence unwavering.
"Just trust me, guys. I've got a plan."
Kyle nodded without hesitation.
"Okay."
He trusted Reo completely.
After all, he knew how talented Reo really was.
Luna, however, wasn't as convinced.
She crossed her arms, her twin swords covered in frost.
"Your plan better work, or if I get eliminated because of you, I'm gonna kick your—" She paused, then pointed her sword at Reo.
"You hear me?"
Reo chuckled, though his focus remained on the boar.
"Loud and clear. Now, can we focus on the giant flaming monster trying to kill us?"
Luna sighed but didn't argue further.
She pointed her sword at the boar, and four thick walls of ice erupted from the ground, trapping the monster on all sides.
The boar let out a guttural roar, its flames flaring as it slammed into the ice.
For a moment, it seemed like the walls would hold—but then the ground beneath the boar erupted in flames, melting the ice almost instantly.
"Well, that didn't last long," Luna muttered, her tone dry.
Kyle and Luna quickly circled around the boar, keeping it distracted while Reo prepared his spell.
The wind around Reo's spear began to swirl violently, forming a glowing green drill at the tip.
He was pouring all his mana into this attack, and it showed. The air around him hummed with energy.
Meanwhile, Luna tried again.
She thrust her swords into the ground, and thick chains of ice erupted, wrapping around the boar's legs.
The monster roared, struggling against the chains, but it's flames were too intense. The ice began to melt almost immediately.
"This thing's a walking furnace!" Luna shouted, frustration evident in her voice.
But Kyle wasn't idle. While Luna and Reo had been working, he had been preparing his own spell.
He gripped his Jian tightly, the blade humming with lightning mana.
The air around him crackled as he channeled his energy, the ground beneath his feet glowing faintly with blue electricity.
He thrust his Jian into the ground, the blade sinking deep into the earth.
The ground around him erupted with arcs of lightning, the energy surging through the soil like a living current.
Multiple blue lightning whips burst from the earth, their forms writhing and snapping like serpents as they shot toward the boar.
The lightning whips wrapped around the boar's massive body, coiling tightly around its flaming hide.
The monster roared in pain as the electricity coursed through it, the blue arcs of lightning clashing violently with its fiery aura.
Kyle raised his hand and snapped his finger.
The whips exploded in a brilliant flash of blue light, the shockwave rippling through the air.
The boar staggered, its massive frame trembled as the electricity paralyzed its muscles.
The monster's fiery defenses wavered, its molten hide now marred with scorch marks and cracks where the lightning had struck.
The flames on its body flickered and died, and arcs of blue lightning danced across its hide.
For the first time, the trio had managed to do some real damage.
Kyle panted, his body trembling from the effort.
He had used almost all of his mana in that spell.
Despite his blessing giving him incredible control over lightning, his lack of experience with mana control meant he had wasted a lot of mana and that spell didn't reach its full potential.
Still, the attack had worked, and that was what mattered.
Reo, seeing his chance, didn't waste a second.
His spear was fully charged, the wind drill at its tip glowing brighter than ever.
With a fierce cry, he hurled the spear at the boar's head.
The spear tore through the air, the ground beneath it cracking from the sheer force of the wind mana.
It collided with the boar's head in a massive explosion, sending dust and debris flying everywhere.
When the dust cleared.
The trio's eyes widened in disbelief.
The spear had not pierced deeply enough into the boar's head to reach its brain and deliver a fatal blow.
The monster was still standing, its eyes glowing with fury.
"Oi, oi, are you kidding me?!" Reo shouted, his face a mix of shock and frustration.
"That was my best shot!"
The boar let out a deafening roar. It opened its maw, gathering a massive amount of fire mana.
The air around it shimmered with heat, and the trio knew they were in trouble.
But Luna wasn't done yet.
While the boar was distracted, she had climbed onto its back like a phantom.
Her twin swords were coated in frost mana, and she raised them high above her head.
With a swift, decisive motion, she plunged both blades into the boar's eyes, releasing a burst of frost mana that instantly froze its brain.
The boar's roar died in its throat, its body stiffening as the frost spread.
The flames it had gathered near its maw flickered and died, and with a final, shuddering breath, the massive beast collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
The ground shook as its massive body hit the earth, sending a cloud of dust and ash into the air.
Luna leaped off the boar's back, flipping midair and landing gracefully beside Kyle and Reo.
She brushed her hair out of her face with a dramatic flourish, her twin swords still glowing faintly with frost mana.
She placed one hand on her hip and pointed at the fallen monster with her other sword, her smirk wide and playful.
"And that, gentlemen, is how you take down a flaming pig. Looks like I saved the day. Again."
Reo groaned, leaning heavily on his spear for support.
His wind spell had drained him, and he looked thoroughly exhausted. "Yeah, yeah, we get it. You're amazing. Don't rub it in."
Luna's smirk turned into a full-blown grin as she twirled one of her swords before sheathing it.
"Oh, come on. Admit it. You'd be toast without me. Literally. That thing was about to roast you like a marshmallow."
Reo rolled his eyes but couldn't hide the small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Kyle chuckled weakly, still catching his breath.
His body trembled from the effort of his lightning spell, but he managed a tired smile.
"Good job, Luna. That was amazing. You really pulled through."
Luna turned to Kyle, her bubbly energy undiminished despite the fight.
She gave him a playful punch on the shoulder, though she made sure to keep it light.
"Aw, thanks, Kyle! You're sweet. But hey, your lightning spell were pretty cool too. You almost fried that boar to a crisp! Almost." She winked, her tone teasing but good-natured.
Kyle laughed softly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, I'm still working on my mana control."
"Okay, so, next time, let's try not to almost get roasted alive, yeah? I mean, I look great in red, but I don't think 'charred' is my color. What do you think, Kyle?"
Kyle laughed, shaking his head. "Yeah, let's avoid that."
Reo muttered under his breath, "I'll second that."
As the trio caught their breath, the sound of the exam's end chime echoed.
And their bodies glowed and vanished from the rift.
*****
A/N: Hello, readers! Newbie author here.
Some of you might be wondering how Cedric managed to defeat a Grade 2 Silver-rank monster alone, while Luna, Kyle, and Reo struggled to take one down together. Let me explain.
While both monsters were the same rank, not all monsters are equal in power. Some have unique traits that make them far more dangerous. For example, the flaming boar monster had incredibly high defense and its body was covered in fire magic, making close combat nearly impossible. This made it much harder to defeat compared to other monsters of the same rank.
To put it simply, Cedric is strong, but even he would have struggled if he had faced the flaming boar alone. Just like humans, monsters of the same rank can vary greatly in power and abilities.
Hope that clears things up! Thanks for reading!