After exiting the rocky area, he paused for a moment.
"Hold on. How many points do I have now?"
He tried to calculate his points.
Luna had said that the Giant Ant itself was the strongest monster that could be encountered in this gate.
That meant Hastora had gained a considerable number of points, considering he had already killed many Giant Ants.
The most likely scenario was that killing a single Giant Ant would grant 8 points.
He had killed 4 Giant Ants. Now, his points must total 32.
He only needed to collect 8 more points to enter Class A.
There were only 4 Giant Ants in the rocky area earlier, which was a bit rare.
Usually, such rocky areas would be teeming with Giant Ants.
Something must have happened in that rocky area.
Hastora looked around, hoping to find monsters nearby.
Empty.
There wasn't a single monster there. Only a vast expanse of desert stretched out before him.
Hastora sighed, "Looks like I'll have to find them myself."
He stepped away from that place, heading west.
His instincts told him there were many monsters there.
Hastora walked at a decent pace. His steps were steady and strong.
...
He climbed the large sand dunes in the middle of the desert.
His legs started to ache.
It was only natural. Hastora had traversed many sand dunes throughout his journey.
He sat down for a moment, then took the water he had stored in his shadow to drink.
His fatigue vanished after he finished drinking.
He got up and continued his journey.
Soon, he saw a pack of Cinderfang Jackals running in the scorching heat of the desert.
This was a stroke of luck.
Hastora created twenty shadow spears.
Then he fired them towards the pack of Cinderfang Jackals.
Chkk-thrrump—sskkrr!
The dark spears shot out like lightning.
Then, they pierced and shredded the pack of Cinderfang Jackals until flesh and sand blended into a bloody chaos.
Hastora raised his eyebrows.
"Right on target. I thought one of them would survive, but apparently not."
Hastora walked towards the corpses of the Cinderfang Jackals lying there.
Upon reaching them, he dissected and took their hearts one by one—then he stored them in his shadow.
"These will sell for a good price."
After finishing taking their hearts, he resumed his journey.
...
[On a large sand dune in the desert]
Geriya ran, her steps steady and swift.
"Take this!"
Shlakk!—Splurt!
With one swing, her sword flashed—monster blood splattered wildly.
Geriya sighed.
"Finally... It's over."
She turned around and walked towards Renia.
"How many Glasswing Vultures have we defeated?" she asked.
Renia held her chin, calculating the total number of monsters they had defeated.
"I think 10, I counted them before we fought."
Geriya frowned.
"Really? What if there were some other Glasswing Vultures that came while we were fighting?"
"You're right... That could have happened."
Renia continued, "Earlier, I saw some Glasswing Vultures flying towards me while I was fighting.
"They also didn't seem to be from the first group of Glasswing Vultures we encountered.
"They might have joined the attack because they saw their pack fighting with us."
Renia counted all the corpses of Glasswing Vultures lying before them.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven... Huh? Why only eleven? There were many more earlier."
Renia walked towards Valeska who was stretching her body, and asked.
"Valeska... Do you know how many Glasswing Vultures we defeated earlier?"
Hearing Renia's voice, Valeska turned around.
"Hmmm... Maybe twenty-one."
"How did you know that?" Renia asked.
Valeska replied, "I counted them earlier."
Renia's eyes widened, surprised and amazed by Valeska's ability.
"You're really amazing, Valeska."
"Not really. You're great too," she replied.
"By the way... Where's Gisella now?"
Valeska walked around the hill, looking for Gisella who had disappeared from her sight.
After 30 seconds of searching, she found Gisella sitting on the edge of the sand dune.
Valeska stepped down, approaching Gisella who was sitting alone.
"What are you doing... Gisella..."
Gisella turned her head slightly, her face covered in sweat.
"It's so hot up there. I can't stand it, so I'm just sitting here."
Valeska raised her right eyebrow slightly—then sat down next to Gisella.
"You're right... The sunlight is very intense."
"Right?, It's really hot here. I feel like my skin will get black from being exposed to sunlight for too long."
Valeska touched Gisella's cheek with her index finger.
"Huh?... I didn't expect you to think about things like that."
Valeska continued, "You've never even thought about skin health before. Why are you starting to think about things like that now?"
Gisella replied, "Don't get me wrong, Valeska. I've always been very concerned about my skin. I just didn't tell you guys."
Gisella continued, "As a beautiful girl, I must always pay attention to my skin health. If I don't, I'll become an ugly girl."
Valeska laughed, "I didn't know that. It sounds a little funny."
Since she was a child, Gisella had dreamed of becoming a beautiful, strong, and popular girl.
It all started seven years ago—when her mother told her to stay beautiful and cute.
Curious about it, she started asking her mother why she had to look beautiful and cute.
Her mother told her that paying attention to appearance was mandatory for high-class nobles like her.
It was so that they would appear more dignified, beautiful, and to be liked by many people.
If she was liked by many people, automatically her name would be known by many people.
It would make it easier for them to negotiate and do business.
It would benefit them, people would not refuse business offers from them.
It was because they were famous people, it was guaranteed that doing business with them would be very profitable.
Since then, Gisella has started to maintain her appearance at all times.
Her efforts paid off, Gisella's name became very famous among high-class nobles.
She is known for her gentle personality and charming appearance.
The proof is that her family's business has now reached areas outside the Empire.
Soon, Geriya and Renia came down from the sand dune and walked towards them.
Valeska turned around, "So... How many points did we get after defeating the pack of Glasswing Vultures?"
"I think eighty."
Valeska's eyes widened upon hearing that, surprised by the results.
"That's a lot. How come?" she asked.
Renia replied, "One Glasswing Vulture itself is worth 4 points. And we killed 20 Glasswing Vultures—four times twenty equals eighty."
"How did you know that one Glasswing Vulture was worth 4 points?" Valeska asked curiously.
"I just guessed. I judged it based on their strength."
Renia continued, "Based on the difficulty level, defeating them wasn't actually easy."
"Huh? Didn't we defeat them easily earlier?" Geriya asked curiously.
Renia replied, "True... They looked very weak because they were facing us. If they were facing another group, defeating them wouldn't be easy.
"I also believe our group will rank first in this entrance exam."
Geriya walked towards Renia, "Huh? So that bastard will be in Class A too? He's in the same group as us, which means he'll also be ranked first."
Renia replied, "Relax. That guy has left our group."
"Why is that?", Gisella asked curiously, she got up from her seat.
"That guy decided to go solo. His actions are not counted as teamwork, plus he also separated himself from us.
"So, automatically he has left our group—considering he doesn't have teamwork points," Renia replied, explaining at length.
Gisella nodded, understanding Renia's explanation.
Feeling like there was nothing else to talk about, Geriya stepped away.
"Come on... It's time to go."
"You're right. We shouldn't waste time here," said Valeska, following Geriya from behind.
Seeing Valeska and Geriya leave, Renia and Gisella also left with them.
...
[Near a cactus tree]
"Damn... I'm thirsty again."
Hastora took the water stored in his shadow and drank it.
His energy recovered. However, there is one problem right now; namely his dwindling water supply.
He had drunk a lot of water throughout his journey earlier.
His throat was dry, he had to drink the water he had stored, whether he liked it or not.
His body was also very easily fatigued. It was all caused by the extremely hot temperature.
Hastora continued his journey, walking across the vast, scorching desert.
This time there were no sand dunes, but a very wide plain of sand.
It was empty there, no monsters or humans.
Hastora quickened his pace, crossing the extremely hot desert.
He intended to find a sand dune to take shelter under.
In the middle of his journey, he saw a large sand dune in front of him.
Hastora ran towards the sand dune. As he was about to reach it, he heard the sound of someone talking behind the sand dune.
"I'm tired."
"Don't complain, we have to finish this test as soon as possible."
"How do we get out of this dimension?"
"That's right. We've been here for a long time, but why hasn't the test ended yet?"
Hastora walked towards the source of the sound, his curiosity piqued.
He stepped over the hill. There, he saw four girls walking.
They were Valeska, Gisella, Geriya, and Renia.
They also realized the presence of Hastora, who was walking calmly past a hill.
Their eyes met, looking at each other.
Valeska's eyes widened, surprised by Hastora's presence.
"You... Why are you here?"
To be continued in the next chapter…