Birth Of The Crafts-God

"Roar!"

Above the 'forest' the trio hid in, a desolate beast about seven metres long hovered while occasionally releasing a frightening roar.

Wally, Astar, and Klein felt their blood run cold as the aura of the beasts pervaded the area. Even though the monster was in midair, it was still able to give off such a presence from the distance, alarming the trio.

"First level Apertures Opening stage. Peak level." Klein muttered with fear visible in his eyes.

A first level Apertures Opening stage desolate beast was more than enough to tear apart any single one of them, and even if the trio were to face it head-on, they only had a slim chance of success. Against one at the peak of its level, even running away would be a challenge.

While it was said that a Body Strengthening stage practitioner could exhibit a first level Apertures Opening stage power with a Grade 1 vestige, this was on the condition that the user was at the peak of the Body Strengthening stage. Otherwise, they would have to be a true heavenly genius.

In other words, none of the students could hold their own alone against a first level Apertures Opening stage desolate beast.

There was a reason why first level Apertures Opening stage monsters were limited after all. The existence of these monsters was merely for the Heavenly Trio, who were peak Body Strengthening stage practitioners. Having them hunt Body Strengthening stage monsters was of no challenge, neither was it of any meaning, as they wouldn't have a problem against such monsters.

As such, first level Apertures Opening stage monsters were brought in. There were also two second levels isolated in a specific region, as a sort of collaboration challenge for the trio. Discover exclusive tales on empire

Apart from them, no one else was expected to face the monsters at the Apertures Opening stage.

Before the test, the academy had worked with some freelancers to carve out a region in the Bayena Plain for the test. To ensure that the students didn't face the Apertures Opening stage monsters so soon, they further separated them.

Based on the original map, it would take at least a five kilometres journey from this small forest before one would reach the zone occupied by the Aperture Opening stage monsters. On a normal occasion, the monsters couldn't leave that region. So the only explanation was that this was an abnormal occurrence.

Even though they could guess this, none among the trio were bothered about the reason. On the contrary, their focus was on how to survive this encounter.

"From the looks of things, it has yet to notice us." Astar's voice sounded on the team chat.

"Then why is it here?" Wally asked with a frown.

"It's chasing after something." Klein, who was the most familiar with the patterns of desolate beasts, disclosed his thoughts as he stared at the monster with a scrutinising gaze.

"Chasing after something?" Astar couldn't help but be surprised.

The monsters of the first level Apertures Opening stage were kept away in a different area. There were also contingencies made to ensure that they couldn't escape from the area. For a desolate beast to escape and chase after something or someone over this distance, it had to have been important.

Just then, Astar and Wally focused their hearing and glanced towards a certain direction ahead. They could both hear the slight footsteps that sounded.

"What's the matter?" Klein asked in the team chat.

"Other students." Wally answered him.

A few metres ahead, a group of four students made their way to the point where Wally and the other two were hiding. The distance between the two parties was less than twenty metres. However, as they had remained still all this while, the newcomers failed to spot them.

Wally couldn't hear what they were saying as the group was communicating on a team chat just as they did.

"Look at their energy level." Klein suddenly said.

"At least one of them is on par with Astar, and another might be too. I'm guessing they intended to try their luck with a first level Apertures Opening stage monster. But they picked the wrong target. It's possible that during their escape, they might have inevitably helped the monster escape too."

Astar and Wally nodded as they felt that the explanation was reasonable.

"However, why haven't the instructors noticed it yet?" Wally asked the question that had been on their minds.

Just then, the communicators of the three suddenly vibrated. It wasn't just theirs, but also the four students who had arrived recently had similarly received a notification on their communicators. However, the communicator of one of the four had instead released a low-pitched ding.

The trio of Astar, Wally and Klein carefully checked the notification. Almost right away, they were stunned by the contents.

{{ Warning: The Bayena Plain has been invaded by terrorists and the resident monsters have been agitated into causing a commotion. The test will be halted as a result of this unexpected occurrence. Kindly find a safe environment and wait for the rescue team to locate you. }}

While they were still processing this shocking information, the desolate beast in midair suddenly flew over and hovered exactly around where all seven students were. It glanced at the four students who it had been chasing for a while before turning its eyes at Astar, Klein and finally, Wally, as it sensed them around.

The desolate beast had located all seven of them thanks to the notification by the academy.

Most students had switched their communicators to silent mode, but one of the four newcomers made a silly mistake, which would now cost them their lives.

Having found its target as well as a new group, the desolate beast didn't hesitate any longer. It let out a roar and immediately charged down at the team of four first, swinging its claw at them.

"Help." Someone amongst the four cried out as the monster's claw reached for them.

Almost at the same time, a green light shield appeared and protected the boy. The same happened with the other three students on his team, as they were all shielded by green force fields that were projected from a bracelet worn on the wrist.

*Bang*

The beast's claw clashed against the force field but failed to cause any damage to it. The desolate beast didn't give up and continued with relentless attacks, but all it managed to do was force the group four to remain at the same spot. Seeing that it couldn't get to its targets right away but they were also unable to escape, the monster abruptly turned towards Wally and his two friends.

"Run."