The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Planet Eleron)

(Training Field No.12- Special Arena)

Sophie leaned forward and stared at the holographic screen floating silently in the air above the arena.

Several hours had passed since the beginning of the exam and it was only now that the second stage had finally ended.

The lines of text on the holographic screen briefly disappeared and were replaced by the results of the second round.

[Remaining Students- 25]

[Calculating Score… calculating score… calculating score…]

[Leaderboard: Astrid Lockhart – 97 points, Ben Davies- 93 points, Vinnie Rose- 85 points…]

Astrid's performance had been quite impressive.

She may not have had a massive gap between herself and the second-place student, but her intelligence and cunning were on full display.

Actually, this was the first time that Sophie had seen her friend fight like that since Astrid usually rushed headfirst into battle.

Scattered applause broke out from the crowd watching in the stands as the students who passed walked off the field.

Sophie stood up and clapped as well as she waved at Astrid cheerfully.

The Mendolesa girl spotted her appearance in the crowd and gave her a beaming smile.

"Ohh… I got some nice clips!" a melodic voice suddenly spoke.

Celestia flew from somewhere behind Sophie and landed on her head as the hybrid girl sat back down.

The Servie girl was fiddling with her wrist communicator and uploading clips of the second round to the University's Open Forum.

The clips were already going viral especially the shots of the fearsome monsters that lurked inside the Tundra biome.

"Hey Celestia… what arena did you pick?" Sophie asked curiously as she tilted her head to give the Servie girl a better place to sit.

"I didn't bother to pick. I just figured that I'll take whatever arena they randomly assign me," Celestia explained nonchalantly.

Sophie laughed and focused her attention back on the arena while Celestia kept chatting away with the students nearby.

The arena was suddenly covered by a thick bubble that was completely solid. The metalloid barrier was a dark grey colour, and it was impossible to see what was happening inside.

Principal Malik stepped up to the mic and opened his mouth,

"I would like to congratulate all the students who passed the first arena of the second round and now we will be moving on to the next biome."

"It will take around thirty minutes to set up the new environment so please be patient during this time."

"The next biome will be the desert."

The Mendolesa warrior finished his explanation and returned to the raised platform. Sophie furrowed her brows and stared eagerly at the arena.

She was up next!

Celestia yawned sleepily and jumped off Sophie's head to gossip with some of the other students in the poison cultivation class

Speaking of poison…

Sophie was still undecided if to use her poison skills this time or not…

She was definitely going to save Moon for the final round but whether or not to use poison in the middle of the battle ranking exam was a question that she had to ponder.

Ring! Ring!

Sophie's wrist communicator buzzed twice, and she saw an incoming message from Cleo in her private chat.

Cleo: [Want to take a walk before the next round begins?]

Sophie: [Sure babe! I'll meet you by the northeastern stand.]

The hybrid girl powered off her device and got up from her seat. She made her way through the crowd and headed for the stairs at the back of the stand.

Fortunately, Sophie's intimidating aura and her actions in the previous round made the students in her way automatically move aside and make space for her.

Sophie nodded politely and thanked them which brought a look of surprise to their faces.

While it was unlikely that she would ever become popular, it was always important to leave a good impression on people and maintain the polite dignity of a high noble.

It took around five minutes for Sophie to walk down the flight of stairs and head towards the northeastern stand.

Cleo was standing in the distance with an expectant look on her face. The princess wore a simple black battlesuit with two metalloid devices attached to her temples.

She saw Sophie approaching her and rushed forward eagerly. Cleo threw herself in Sophie's arms and gave her girlfriend a light kiss on the cheek.

"How are you feeling?" Cleo warmly asked as she stroked the side of Sophie's face.

"Pretty good… I'm glad that my arena is up next. I really didn't expect the second round to last for so long…" Sophie replied with a gentle smile.

"If each biome takes as long as the Tundra then the second round will probably end a few days from now…"

"Don't worry… I'll head to our mansion later and pick up some supplies," Cleo softly whispered as she finally left Sophie's embrace.

"Shall we go on our walk?"

The princess held out her hand which Sophie took gladly. Cleo led Sophie in the direction of the central square on campus.

Magnificently tall trees were spread along the sides of the path and the warm evening rays lit up the world in a dull orange glow.

Students could be seen walking in groups of two or three and Sophie spotted a few students from the first-year ordinary class who didn't pass the first stage.

Cultivation was a competition.

The reality was that resources were finite, so it was impossible for everyone to get an equal cut.

It was important to become an elite student in first or second year because the gap would be almost insurmountable once third year arrived.

Sophie spotted a small weed growing under the shade of a much larger tree and gently tugged on Cleo's hand.

She walked over to the weed and picked up the pretty white flower that had been growing on the tip of its stem.

Sophie plucked the flower carefully and placed it in Cleo's hair to make the princess become a beautiful flower maiden.

"Thank you," Cleo smiled sweetly as she stared at her girlfriend with love in her eyes. The atmosphere was calm and peaceful between the pair.

The battle ranking exam was quite intense, so Sophie welcomed these quiet moments of relaxation amidst the storm.