The Spider Queen

(Entrance Exam - Site 013 - Final Day)

[ Attention candidates!]

Sophie snapped to attention as the booming mechanical voice sounded out from an unknown location.

[ We are now entering the final 24 hours of the exam]

[ The zone will be heavily restricted in 5…. 4….3….]

"Are you guys ready?" Sophie turned to her companions and shot them a fiery gaze of determination.

"Let's kick some ass!" Astrid growled as magical runes lit up her arms in a frighteningly glow.

Qiana just looked at the two of them before sighing heavily and giving a short nod of acknowledgement.

Astrid had fully healed thanks to the combined efforts of her regenerative spell and Qiana's medicine.

When she woke up and found out about Qiana's assistance….

…. well… poor Qiana became covered in happy licks shortly after.

Sophie was confident in the trio's abilities but now was not the time to get arrogant. All those students who survived to this stage were by no means easy opponents.

The final stage of the entrance exam had the least number of participants, but the fighting would be the most brutal.

No one would be holding back.

The trio's barrier devices bleeped, and the holographic map showed that the mechanical barriers were advancing slowly towards their location.

There was the vague sounds of fighting up ahead and their team passed by several squads engaged in deadly combat.

Qiana's special technique proved to be a godsend as none of the students noticed them as they walked by.

The only weakness of this move was that Qiana could only maintain this ability in short bursts of time when covering people other than herself.

"Archangel Descent!" came a cry from the distance.

Sophie's ears perked up as she stared ahead at the familiar glow of holy light that was surrounding the figure of Rachel.

Rachel was fighting alone against two groups of students and one of her opponents was also covered in holy light not weaker than her own.

Clang!!

Rachel was fighting evenly with the mysterious student when an unexpected sneak attack hit her from the left side causing her to sustain a heavy blow.

She was flung in the opposite direction of the attack and crashed into the ground with a heavy thud.

Quafes did not have a circulatory system so Rachel did not spit out any blood but the small grimace of pain on her face indicated that her injuries were not light.

"We need to help her!" Astrid sniffed the air twice before darting forward.

Sophie activated her movement speed ability as her eyes started to flicker between gold and red.

No one.

NO ONE TOUCHED HER FRIENDS.

Sophie's expression of bloodlust was noticed by Qiana who said nothing, but a trace of concern surfaced in her eyes.

(Transport Ship 013 - Surveillance Room)

Tense expressions were shown on the faces of the exam administrators as they carefully reviewed the real time footage to look for an unexpected issues that could crop up.

A mistake had already been made with one of the treasure areas indicated on the parchments found in the loot crates.

The triple-headed elemental snake was supposed to have been in the initial stage qi spirit but somehow a higher-level creature was placed instead.

It was fortunate that none of the important candidates had died during the fight or their lives could have been forfeit.

Five thousand students remained from the initial one million and the zone had now made access to ninety two percent of the exoplanet's surface impossible to enter due to the mechanical barriers activated.

Private betting and gambling among the staff was commonplace as each administrator had a couple students that were their favourite.

Of course, their opinions did not matter as the final offer would be in the hands of the recruiters.

Each of the final one thousand students would be given an offer but noteworthy individuals who were eliminated early could still gain the attention of the universities.

Darren scowled as he cross referenced the list of noble candidates with the students remaining in the competition.

This year was full of impressive geniuses and several children of noble houses had been eliminated early.

Having a high cultivation was not always the predictor of success in a fight and students not used to real combat could lose to those with more experience.

Atlas University would still give those noble houses some face and offer their children places in the side branches, but those spots were limited.

Commoners who deserved a place would be left out to accommodate.

The other two recruiters from Tantibus and Mer University were also pulling up holographic video feeds to analysis the battle reports of certain students.

Adriana Greenhorn from Mer University kept replaying a battle where several students she had her eye on were decimated by an unknown hybrid girl.

Darren had glanced at her feed and the image of Sophie caused his slight headache to only worsen.

Atlas University was biased towards noble children but hybrid offsprings who were always illegitimate were the exception to the rule.

The daughter of Duke Peterlor was a special case as she was the actual heir to his titles and thus considered a high noble.

Arguments erupted between the higher ups at the university over whether or not to include her on the shortlist for entry and neither side could reach a conclusion.

Unfortunately, this meant that this hot potato had fallen in Darren's lap and he had to make a decision that could offend one group of higher ups.

Darren spent a few days agonising over the matter before putting it aside and praying that the girl would just get eliminated early.

…. his wish did not come true.

Instead the hybrid girl seemed more and more likely to make the final cut which meant that a decision had to be made.

He was almost jealous of the Mendolesa recruiter who was just leaning back on his chair casually with his eyes seemingly closed.

Zrudread University was by far the most relaxed when it came to a student's background as all that mattered to those brutes was strength.

This attitude was reflected amongst the wider Mendolesa society where there was no concept of nobles or commoners.

Instead the great divide was between the strong and the weak.

What Darren did not realise was that the Mendolesa recruiter had his eyes narrowed into slits and was gazing at the hologram feed of one particular student with great interest.