The battle ended even quicker than they expected. Under Xiao Lin’s unreserved onslaught, each strike was like the sharpest sword, and slicing it at the earth dragon’s back felt like slicing through tofu. It looked like it was effortless, and the earth dragon was quite stubborn, but it had only managed to hold on for ten minutes. After ten minutes, the dragon, whose body was covered in blood, collapsed. It brought down all the trees nearby, and large amounts of blood seeped into the ground.
The others looked at Xiao Lin with a gaze filled with respect. Only Xiao Lin knew that this opponent was even more horrifying than the Arachne or the Fire-eater; it was only thanks to Gu Xiaoyue that the battle was so easy.
Xiao Lin’s breath was not even that erratic as he threw away the sword that had been tainted with blood. The earth dragon’s scales still did irreparable damage to the weapon, and it was already unusable.
“Are you alright?” Walking next to Gu Xiaoyue, Xiao Lin tried to force his tone to sound like he was just asking a fellow student, but the uncontrollable concern and anxiety still betrayed his inner feelings.
Gu Xiaoyue shook her head, wanting to apologize, but her expression darkened as she softly said with some regret, “We lost eight of us.”
Since they were pursued by the earth dragon, eight of the students with Gu Xiaoyue had died, and they were only left with five. Xiao Lin naturally consoled her, but it seemed like Gu Xiaoyue paid no heed to his words. The woman still placed the responsibility on herself. She might be outwardly cold and aloof, but they had still been classmates for half a semester. Even if they were not friends, she still cared for them.
“It was all a mistake in my judgement; if my support spells had been of a high enough rank, if I had learnt even more high-ranked recovery spells, if only my buff spells increased secondary attributes instead of base attributes... It’s my fault.”
Gu Xiaoyue’s words rendered Xiao Lin speechless. He had thought that the woman would be swayed from practicing support magic after that, but after experiencing fighting with the buffs, Xiao Lin understood that in a real battlefield, people like Gu Xiaoyue were more important than himself.
“Right, do you know who that woman is?” Xiao Lin knew it would be hard to change Gu Xiaoyue’s decision. So instead, he pointed at Anna, who was standing not far away and looking on with some curiosity and alarm.
“She’s quite a pretty woman. Who is she?” Gu Xiaoyue looked over and asked with a sour tone.
That tone did not seem like the usual Gu Xiaoyue, and Xiao Lin was stunned. He never expected Gu Xiaoyue would do something like remark that the woman was pretty. It was only when Gu Xiaoyue slightly reddened, as she looked away with some embarrassment and anger, that her tone went back to the normal coldness. “She’s not someone from our class, and this examination doesn’t involve other classes, so she should be a native. I can’t believe this examination has NPCs!”
Gu Xiaoyue once again changed the topic. Xiao Lin smiled helplessly before describing the beast tides. After that, he said, “Anna says that there is only at most thirteen days left until the beast tide. After thirteen days, the forest will be completely sealed off. At that time, the forest will be filled with unthinkable old monsters, even the kind that had been hibernating from ancient times. She suggests that we leave this place in ten days.”
“There’s still about twenty days left in the examination.” Gu Xiaoyue reminded, her hidden words asking what they would do during the last week. The examination required them to last a whole month.
“I believe that Anna isn’t lying to me, and this information is very important. In fact, these two days, there have been more beasts than when we first arrived, and they have gotten stronger.”
“You trust her quite a bit.” Gu Xiaoyue could not resist narrowing her eyes at Xiao Lin again.
Xiao Lin let out a few dry coughs.
Gu Xiaoyue immediately turned away, explaining herself, “I’m just saying that our statuses are different. Don’t forget the lesson from last time. Even if it’s just a simulation, the natives can’t be trusted.”
Xiao Lin felt that it was funny, but he did not voice it out. He then mentioned his speculation that the examination was set at a time before the colonists arrived, and it seemed that the guess had a very high possibility of being true. He told that to Gu Xiaoyue in hopes that Gu Xiaoyue’s incredible intelligence could be of help. Just as he expected, after a bit of surprise, Gu Xiaoyue quickly fell silent.
“This forest doesn’t exist in history. I’m referring to our colonist history, I’m sure of that,” Gu Xiaoyue said.
“I’ve actually considered it before. That country is within our colonized territories; if this forest really existed, and so many terrifying beasts were there, I don’t think it would be possible,” Xiao Lin said, analyzing.
“If we remove the possibility that that woman is lying, then no matter how unbelievable the remaining answer is, it is still our only answer.”
“What answer is it?”
“This forest was destroyed before Dawn Academy was established. We don’t know the reason for it, and it was not recorded in history, but I think that we will quickly know what the reason is.”
Xiao Lin seemed to have anticipated that, but he still furrowed his eyebrows. “Are you saying that this forest will quickly encounter a massive calamity that even Epic rank beasts could not survive?”
“That’s the only explanation. The academy could not possibly give us an examination without a correct answer, but when the beast tide arrives, we definitely can’t survive. Even you won’t be able to.”
Xiao Lin touched his nose. “I understand that. In truth, even with your support magic, that battle with the earth dragon was already my limit. If one or two more come, I don’t think I will be able to do anything.”
“Do you still remember the contents of the examination?” Gu Xiaoyue asked.
“To survive in this forest for a month,” Xiao Lin answered. After that he had a moment of realization. “So we had been wrong from the start. The greatest hurdle to survival isn’t those beasts, nor is it the natives we could meet. It is that disaster; the academy wants us to survive that disaster!”
Gu Xiaoyue nodded. “That’s the most logical explanation.”
Xiao Lin smiled bitterly. “That means we can’t leave this place. The answer to the question can’t be as simple as leaving the forest. I think, if we insist on leaving, we might instantly return to the classroom after leaving the place and be given a failing score.”
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