"ROAR!"
The sound tore through the evening air, shaking leaves from branches and sending birds fleeing into the darkening sky. Just a few kilometers away from where Ralth sat in meditation, a strange-looking monster was chasing a group of Magus apprentices through the dense forest.
"What the hell is this thing?!" a Magus apprentice shouted in panic, his voice cracking with fear. His brown hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat, and his once-neat clothes were now torn and dirty.
He had been resting peacefully in the woods after a long day of the entrance examination when he suddenly saw a group of people running towards him, followed by something straight out of a nightmare.
"Are you an idiot? This is the monster that the academy placed in the examination room!" another apprentice answered with a roar of his own.
This boy was taller, with muscles gained from years of farm work before coming to the academy. His face was red from running, and his breath came in short gasps as he glanced back at the creature gaining on them.
Fleshforged. This word was just a legendary term before they became apprentices. Something from old stories told around campfires or written in dusty books.
According to the legends that every child in the region grew up hearing, monsters of various shapes and sizes committed numerous evil deeds and killed countless innocent people across the land.
But the stories always ended the same way – brave knights would slay the beasts and claim their remains as the spoils of heroes. Children would clap and cheer, parents would smile, and everyone would sleep soundly knowing monsters were just stories.
But when these monsters really emerged from the pages of legend and into the flesh, people discovered how ridiculous those old tales truly were.
This flesh-and-blood monstrosity now chasing the apprentices stood over two meters tall at the shoulder and stretched more than four meters from nose to tail. It had seven heads of different animals and eight legs arranged in an unnatural pattern around its misshapen body.
Its hide was a patchwork of fur, scales, and bare skin that seemed to have been stitched together by an insane craftsman. It could kill a team of trained knights with just the force of its weight and speed alone.
What was even more terrifying, and made some apprentices vomit when they first saw it, was that among the seven heads of this monster, only the sheep head in the center appeared natural.
The other six – a wolf, a bear, a snake, a hawk, a boar, and what might have been a lion – were clearly sewn together with thick black stitches that oozed a yellow fluid.
It wasn't a normal monster – it was a man-made abomination.
Those stitched heads roared wildly as they moved, each with its own voice creating a horrible chorus of growls, hisses, and screeches. Some spat acid that melted through tree trunks, others breathed flames that set the undergrowth ablaze.
Occasionally, one would lower its head with surprising speed to swallow an apprentice who got too close, teeth crunching through bone with sickening snaps.
"Cast together on three!" shouted a girl with short black hair, her academy robe billowing behind her as she ran. "One, two—"
"I can't wait!" screamed a boy beside her, turning and frantically waving his hands wildly.
From time to time, some apprentices like him would attempt spells, but many of these lost their accuracy due to panic and fear, shooting harmlessly into the trees or ground.
Others managed better aim but found that even their most powerful magic could only leave fleeting wounds on the monster's tough hide before it healed itself.
Limbs, blood, screams, and roars filled the forest. The scent of burning wood mixed with the coppery smell of fresh blood. Fallen apprentices lay scattered on the forest floor, some still moving, others terribly still. The whole forest seemed transformed into a vision of hell itself.
---
In the central Great Tower of the Great Tower Magus Academy, two Magi were staring intently at a crystal ball placed on an ornate wooden table between them.
The room was circular, with shelves of books and magical instruments lining the walls, and a large window that looked out over the academy grounds and the forest beyond.
The crystal ball glowed with an eerie blue light, broadcasting live the scene of the seven-headed beast – what they called the "seven demonic sheep" – wreaking havoc among the examination participants.
"Vice-dean, the magic beasts we released this time are quite effective, right?" A Magus with a thin face and oily black hair said complacently, running his fingers over his pointed beard. "These were all made by me personally, and the quality is absolutely guaranteed. Just look at how well they're performing!"
At the side of the crystal ball, Yousef, the entrance exam examiner and Vice-dean of the academy, raised his head and adjusted the small round glasses perched on the bridge of his long nose. His gray robes were immaculate, and his posture remained perfectly straight despite having been seated for hours.
"Tom, did you make this thing yourself? How can a lazy guy like you make such a complex creature?" Yousef's tone was light but his eyes were sharp behind his glasses. "Your laboratory has been collecting dust for months, according to the cleaning staff."
The Magus known as Tom Prince froze when he heard this, his smug smile faltering for a moment.
"Why are you suddenly silent?" Yousef looked at Tom with a knowing smile, his fingers lightly tapping the table beside the crystal ball. "As long as you can provide evidence to prove that this is not the work of one of your apprentices, I will be your pawn in the next plane war."
Yousef leaned forward, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "I'll be your pawn as a three-ring Magus. I guarantee you'll make a lot of money in the next war. The Eltes Kingdom is willing to pay triple for three-ring Magi support."
"Ahem, Dean, let's focus on watching the Fleshforged test, shall we?" Tom coughed twice and changed the subject casually, his eyes darting back to the crystal ball where another apprentice had just been caught by the monster. "Such a shame about that one. I thought she showed promise."
After a moment of awkward silence, he spoke again. "By the way, why did the dean suddenly decide to revise the exam this year? Even though we suffered a loss in reputation last time, we also gained enough qualified Magi. We don't need to be so anxious to recruit new blood, especially with such... extreme methods."
Vice Dean Yousef shook his head slowly, his expression troubled. "I don't know either, to be honest."
Although he was the dean's deputy and second-in-command of the entire academy, he disagreed with the dean on this particular matter.
The Great Tower Magus Academy's traditional graduation standard was to have fewer but exceptional Magi, and producing Magus elites was the fundamental strategy for the Great Tower Magus Academy, a new academy that had only been established for less than an era, to gain a foothold among older institutions and develop rapidly.
"But since the dean implemented this change, he must have his reasons," Yousef continued with a sigh. "He is a fourth-ring great Magus and can directly receive information from the Heaven Council. We little Magi just need to quietly obey his will and trust in his vision."
His eyes returned to the crystal ball, where the monster was now charging through a small clearing, pursuing a new group of terrified applicants.
---
As the roar of the beast got closer, Ralth's meditation plan was completely ruined. He had found a quiet spot in the forest, away from the main examination routes, hoping to gather his thoughts and prepare his mind for whatever challenges lay ahead.
He climbed up a tall oak tree, its rough bark scraping his palms, hoping to see what was happening in the distance by the silvery moonlight that filtered through the canopy. But before he could reach a high enough branch, a dazzling fire burst out from the forest not far away, illuminating the night sky with an orange glow.
BOOM!
The sound was almost like thunder, and even Ralth, who was hundreds of meters away, felt deafened by the explosion. The tree he was climbing shook beneath him, nearly causing him to lose his grip.
"It seems that someone has used a powerful magic item," Ralth muttered to himself, watching as smoke rose from the distant treeline. "The monster should be defeated now."
Ralth jumped down from the tree, landing with a soft thud on the moss-covered ground, and tried to return to his meditation spot. He brushed leaves and dirt from his simple gray apprentice robes and sat cross-legged on a flat stone.
But it seemed that fate was against him today. Shortly after he settled back into position, the roar of what sounded like a hungry ghost from the deepest hell echoed through the forest again. And this time, it sounded like it was getting closer to him.
"It's really impossible to have any peace and quiet during this exam," Ralth said with a frown, rising to his feet.