Time was running out, mages from each squad were fighting fiercely to ensure they passed as academy students. That made the competition even more intense.
Aiden and Helen turned their heads, seeing the red wall shrinking and worrying. They had no choice but to go to the center of the artificial dimension.
Helen had heard from her friend that there was a circle altar at the center of the artificial dimension. The woman guessed that it was used as a teleportation medium from this place to the academy.
[Main Test Countdown:]
[00:02:12:51]
Aiden kept his eyes on the time displayed on his white plate, there were two hours left until the main test was over. Time like this was a crucial moment for him.
If he wasn't careful, he could lose the gold plate. If his team lost, he could fail to become an academy student.
The two continued to walk in the forest until they heard fight after fight taking place. Aiden had no intention of interfering in their fight, preferring to hide and watch the scene.
However, those who were fighting had to end the fight quickly, especially since the red wall was approaching fast.
In the other direction, Aiden saw members of the 71st squad near his area. This further increased the tension in the place, as there were three squads fighting each other.
Aiden asked Helen to keep her head down and hide, not making any sound but only breathing. Luckily for them, none of the mages in the three squads could use detection magic.
'This is insane, they're fighting like mad!' Aiden said.
Ronald led the 71st squad to defeat the other squads. True to his talent, Ronald seemed to dominate in the three-squad battle, Clarissa and Melinda helping where they could.
As Helen looked on, she didn't expect the battle in the final hour of the main test to be so frightening and terrifying. They were not only aiming for the enemy's gold plate, but also for their lives.
"What do we do?" asked Helen, quietly and in a whisper.
"We'll look at the situation ahead. If we can, we'll sneak away and find a safe place from the fight," Aiden explained.
Helen cast her eyes around, then spotted a path in the forest. She tugged on Aiden's hand and urged him to go that way. Aiden agreed with cautious steps.
In the end, they were able to escape the dangerous area. Still, Helen wasn't sure if they were safe or not.
To make sure, Aiden used his crow again to do some scouting.
[Eye of Beast King Talent active]
[Initiate magic to possess the beast's eye]
[Symbiotic vision active]
[Skill duration:]
[00:00:59:59]
Aiden had planted his vision in the crow's eye. Slowly, the bird flew up into the sky and began to map the territory carefully.
From the bird's eyes, Aiden saw the altar Helen had been referring to, quite deserted from any squads. He thought it was the best place to take temporary shelter.
[Skill: Symbiotic Eye of the Beast]
"There's no one at the altar. We'd better get there soon," Aiden explained, Helen nodded.
She returned her vision, stepping out of the forest to the north. There, there was a large circular altar that could hold many people.
Occasionally, the two crossed paths with C-level monsters that blocked the way. Aiden brought up fire arrow magic and aimed the arrow forward, piercing right through the coyote monster's body.
[EXP +30]
"Let's go," Aiden commanded, holding Helen's hand and inviting her to run.
Unexpectedly, a horde of C-level monsters seemed to be chasing them from behind. Aiden, who still had his fire arrows activated, immediately aimed them backwards, shooting from the side and piercing the heads of the coyote monsters in one shot.
[EXP +70]
'Damn, I can't keep this fire arrow going,' Aiden explained.
After passing through some trees, they finally saw the altar in question. Aiden and Helen jumped from inside the forest, both of them managed to enter the altar circle which emitted a protective blue wall.
Luckily for them, the altar's protective blue wall was able to withstand the attacks of the C-level monsters. The monsters' bodies bounced off the blue wall, sending them scurrying away.
"Finally," Helen said, breathing a sigh of relief.
Aiden looked at the area around them, squads were starting to arrive and enter the same circular altar.
They chose to avoid the fight because they were safe —the number of gold plates surpassed the threshold.
One of the squads approached Aiden and Helen, asking about their condition. Aiden responded with a nod, Helen said that both of them were fine.
Another thing occurred to Aiden, the circle altar apparently had a mechanism to speed up MP regen. In his body, Aiden felt his fatigue fade away dramatically.
With a few minutes left until the closing of the main test, the red wall was shrinking and the squads were rushing into the altar.
From outside the Altar, Aiden saw the 71st squad struggling to enter the altar.
Behind them, there were dozens of C-level coyote monsters chasing after them. Clarissa looked forward, seeing Aiden inside the altar with Helen.
"Aiden! Help us!" Clarissa shouted.
"Tsk! Pathetic."
[Magic Element: Fire Arrow]
Aiden brought out his five fire arrows, he released them forward and targeted the coyote monsters.
One by one, the coyote monsters died from being pierced by Aiden's fire arrows. Clarissa smiled with relief, Aiden had been quite helpful to them in these final moments.
In the end, Ronald and the others made it inside. Clarissa and Melinda fell limply to the ground, their breath coming in gasps as they were forced to run fast to avoid the red wall and the coyote's pursuit.
"You're late," Aiden complained.
"There's a squad we had a hard time defeating. But you can relax, we got their gold plate," Ronald replied.
"How many did you get?" asked Aiden.
"34 gold plates, but at least with your addition, we can get into the Iris class," Ronald replied.
"Really?" asked Aiden.
Aiden took out the 42 gold plates he had gotten, and asked Helen to hold them. Ronald gasped, Clarissa and Melinda were too busy with their condition to notice.
"What are these, Aiden?" asked Helen, confused.
"Hold it for me, I can hardly hold it for myself," Aiden replied.
"Do you trust her that much? She could just snatch it and make us Silk class," Ronald said, sternly.
"That gold plate is mine, it's my right to give it to anyone. I'm not wrong, am I?" asked Aiden.
"AIDEN?!" Ronald shouted.
[The countdown to the Main Test is over]
[All participants will be teleported to Astralis Magical Academy]
One by one, the mage squads were teleported from the artificial dimension back to the Astralis Magical Academy, including the 71st Squad and Helen's Squad.
All the squads arrived at the academy's main hall, applause welcoming the presence of those who had survived a day against fellow mages like themselves.
What was surprising was that the main test seemed to be broadcast to all the participant families through the transmitter crystal stone.
Jack and Leonora saw it, and they were proud that Aiden had survived that dangerous place.
"Welcome, participants of the main test," replied Reynard, the chairman of the Main Test committee.
"Congratulations on surviving the test. You deserve a modest gift from us," Reynard added.
Each squad mentor walked over to their respective squads. They handed over a mid-level gem that matched the mages' dominant element. It was only for those who survived to the end.
Allana was upset that Aiden had managed to survive, but whether Aiden would qualify as an academy student would be determined later.
"Remember your bet, Allana!" said Aiden firmly.
"It's not over yet! You have to deliver the gold plate," Allana explained.
"I think it's all done, of course."
Aiden obtained the Garnet gem, a gem that could increase the user's magic attributes. Aiden put it away and looked to the side, seeing that about 342 students had survived out of the 800 who had entered at the beginning.
Among them, Helen could be seen hugging her mentor. They released their feelings for each other, her mentor happy to see Helen survive to the end, Helen happy to see her mentor again.
"Now it's time to count the gold plates for each team!" said Reynard.
"We'll call the teams one by one, and the team leaders must hand over their gold plates to the committee."
"You know the rules, right?" asked Reynard, answered in unison by all the candidates.
"Alright, let's get started!"