Chapter 55 Phantom Crystal Beast

On the other side of Iris Garden Academy.

"The fourth stage of the preliminary re-examinations now begins," the staff member announced, standing upon the high platform.

"In this fourth stage, you will face the challenge alongside your 'companion'. The stage is divided into three substages, with increasingly formidable opponents appearing in each. The elimination of either yourself or your companion during the challenge results in failure."

"Scoring for this stage will be based on the number of substages successfully cleared, with each substage worth a maximum of 10 points. A full clearance of all substages is not strictly required."

"Now, step forward in order and commence the challenge."

Following the announcement, the crowd began to murmur amongst themselves. This time, no one eagerly stepped forward; everyone preferred to observe how others cleared the stage first to gather experience.

The staff member on the platform showed no surprise at this hesitation. Instead, they posted a schedule indicating the examination hours: [2:00 PM - 7:00 PM].

This meant that registering too late might result in the examination concluding before one's turn arrived.

"Hmph, what a bunch of cowards." The girl in the flowing golden dress from earlier stepped forward once more, becoming the first student to enter the examination.

"Student Paula is the first to participate, awarded 2 bonus points," the staff member announced, initiating the assessment.

"Oh, if I'd known being first granted bonus points, I would've gone earlier," someone in the crowd whispered.

"Still, going first puts you at an intelligence disadvantage; it's not necessarily a good thing."

"Quiet down and just watch."

Paula and her golden scorpion entered the arena. Across from them, a white crystal core emerged from the base, upon which two beams of blue light from above converged.

Soon, the crystal core heated up intensely and vibrated, before suddenly bursting apart. A mist of crystals dispersed, then re-gathered and condensed to form a fanged beast resembling a tiger.

Prime Sequence 3 - Phantom Crystal Fang Beast (Standard Dark Silver Rank)
A puppet organism temporarily formed from a magic crystal core, controlled from behind by other Transcendents or an AI, commonly used as a training subject.

Although it was a consumable training item, the creation cost of such a phantom crystal beast was by no means low. It was likely only a school as financially robust as Iris Garden Academy that would use them on such a large scale.

"Let the challenge begin!"

At the command, the phantom crystal beast, which simulated a genuine exotic beast, charged fiercely, hurtling like a fierce tiger toward the frail golden scorpion.

"Tch." The brown-haired girl in the golden dress frowned, then raised her hand. A series of rotating golden flying discs materialized beside her, shooting toward the phantom crystal beast in an attempt to intercept the rampaging puppet.

These golden discs possessed five leaves and, after a brief acceleration in mid-air, collided directly with the oncoming path of the phantom crystal beast.

The high-speed spinning leaves shaved off flakes of blue debris. The discs themselves shattered upon impact, scattering across the ground. Such an attack merely slowed the beast slightly; the phantom crystal beast still crashed head-on into the golden scorpion, sending it flying.

Facing the airborne golden scorpion, the phantom crystal beast showed no intention of stopping. It leaped fiercely, waving its sharp claws to swat the creature straight down. The impact carved a small crater into the ground, leaving the scorpion limp and immobile.

Subsequently, the phantom crystal beast landed, using its massive paw to pin the golden scorpion directly to the earth, causing it to struggle in vain.

"Roar—" The phantom crystal beast emitted a low growl, turning its beastly pupils toward the charging Paula, seemingly warning and threatening her simultaneously.

Should she continue her attack, or consider her 'companion' and temporarily abandon the offensive? The first girl to take the challenge was faced with a difficult choice.

"Truly despicable..." she muttered, lowering her arms before slowly stepping back, her eyes fixed on the phantom crystal beast.

"Roar—"

Seeing this, the phantom crystal beast appeared somewhat satisfied. It released the golden scorpion from beneath its paw, spat a mouthful of crystal sand that rendered the scorpion's body heavy and sluggish, and then swept its paw to bat the creature back to Paula's side.

Such crystal sand was not fatal, but it posed severe side effects for the ensuing challenge: it hampered the golden scorpion's mobility, made absorbing atmospheric Aheca particles difficult, and could not be easily cleansed in a short time.

This was only the first mouthful; should it be hit by two more, the golden scorpion would completely lose its mobility and be declared defeated and disqualified.

The challenge entered a grueling phase, and the spectators off-stage broke into murmurs.

"This feels terribly difficult."

"If I went up there, I doubt I'd do much better."

"I'm only Sequence 2 myself. Even with a Sequence 2 partner, defeating a Sequence 3 phantom crystal beast is simply too hard."

Within the arena, Paula first attempted to clear the crystal sand adhering to the golden scorpion, but she quickly realized that such an action consumed a vast amount of magical power. If she finished cleansing it, she would have virtually no strength left for the subsequent battle.

Sequence 2 was merely the starting stage for a Transcendent; many individuals possessed incomplete abilities and limited magical reserves, making such extravagant waste impossible.

"I have no choice but to keep going." Paula lowered her brows, set the golden scorpion down, and charged forward herself.

Seeing this, the tiger-like phantom crystal beast launched another ferocious charge.

"Golden Radiance Art: Thousand Needle Sky-Piercing."

Dots of golden light fluttered in the air, orbiting Paula's form. She then clenched her fist tightly, causing the floating points of light to instantly aggregate into exceptionally fine, long needles.

A humming sound cut through the atmosphere as the long needles pierced straight toward the charging phantom crystal beast, embedding themselves deeply into its flesh.

"Shatter!" she shouted once more. The golden needles within the phantom crystal beast's body blossomed instantly, flashing with brilliant spots of gold within its azure torso.

The internally shattered golden needles did not cause the phantom crystal beast to disintegrate, but they did abruptly stiffen its body. It missed its intended target, tumbling sideways onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt before crashing into a distant wall.

Executing this technique nearly exhausted Paula. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and her body swayed unsteadily. After all, she was only Sequence 2; even with her family's secret arts, she had reached her limit.

"Clark, go!" she weakly commanded her 'companion' to attack, and the small creature quickly dashed forward.

The sideways-tumbling phantom crystal beast was still struggling. The golden needles flickering inside its body hindered its movement, but as time passed, those golden light spots slowly dimmed, and the moment of their dissipation would inevitably arrive.

"Ah, that golden scorpion is rushing in."

"Look, it jumped right onto the phantom crystal beast's head."

"That's its stinger, isn't it? The bright red flashing on its tail represents almost all of its remaining magical power."

"It's stabbed! It pierced right into the phantom crystal beast's ear. Now it's just a matter of whether it works."

Inside the arena, the phantom crystal beast thrashed violently, finally shaking the golden scorpion off its head before managing to stand up with difficulty. Just as it attempted to charge the golden scorpion once more, its body grew unsteady, and it finally collapsed to the ground with a resounding crash.

"Paula, cleared!"

"Whoa, the first substage is cleared. That was truly not easy."

"Congratulations, Student Paula. Would you like to continue the challenge?" the staff member above inquired.

"May I try? Although winning is highly unlikely, I still want to witness the scenario of the second substage."

"Certainly, Student Paula." The staff member on the platform nodded and waved a hand.

Three white crystal cores surfaced simultaneously, and the blue light above converged upon them. Following a round of vibration and intense heating, the three crystal cores transformed into three phantom crystal beasts, taking the forms of a tiger, an eagle, and a swift wolf respectively.

"I concede." Having witnessed the lineup, Paula decisively admitted defeat; she certainly could not defeat such a formation.

"No problem. As the first student to reach the second substage, Student Paula is awarded 2 bonus points, bringing her final score to 14 points."

"Now, may the next student please step forward."