Thud!

  Accompanied by a low, heavy, and solid thud, under the impact of the Mage Hand’s near-physical arcane palm, a roaring Delo barbarian was struck like a bolt of lightning, spinning through the air and crashing heavily into an ancient tree covered in moss.

  Valeria didn't even have time to steady her breath, which was so frantic it caused a sharp pain in her chest. Her pale fingertips trembled in the void as she almost overdrafted the remaining mana in her consciousness, attempting to complete a difficult Rank 2 incantation before the next wave of impact arrived.

  Twenty meters away on a clearing in the primeval forest, a barbarian giant, bare-chested and smeared with pungent grease, was charging at full speed while wielding a heavy brass hammer. With every step he took, cold mud splashed into the air, and his eyes flickered with an almost crazed bloodlust. On the other side, his companion, who had previously been repelled by the arcane hand, had already spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with internal organ fragments, sinisterly drawing a short sword and charging again from the shadows.

  Valeria’s heart pounded violently against her ribs. Although these two barbarians had not yet stepped into the supernatural, their physical strength had already stabilized at the level of a Junior Knight. Had it not been for the expensive Moon-Glow robe she wore—enchanted with a "Sword Protection" force field—she would likely have been crushed into a pulp by that heavy hammer long ago.

  However, the silver runes on the surface of the robe flickered irregularly under the constant heavy strikes, signaling that the defensive matrix’s energy reserves were nearing their critical limit.

  The two barbarians clearly sensed the plight of their prey. Their lecherous and greedy gazes swept shamelessly over her graceful figure, which even the gray robe could hardly conceal, as if watching a lamb fall into a trap. Valeria’s face was cold as ice; she bit her lip and cast an Acid Splash, only for the opponent to roll away, relying on rich combat instincts. The strong acid splashed onto the soil, making a piercing sizzle.

  In the next instant, the hammer and iron sword struck the faint light force field around the girl with a sharp whistle.

  The violent shock caused Valeria’s vision to blacken. Although she had also practiced basic breathing techniques, because she had not yet condensed a Life Seed, her physique remained stuck at the threshold of a Trainee Knight. In pure close-quarters combat, the weak reflexes of an arcane initiate could not compare to such battle-hardened warriors.

  At the moment of life and death, Valeria’s right hand suddenly clenched in the void, and an exquisitely crafted oak staff, etched with microscopic arrays, appeared in her palm.

  Gazing at this alchemy-grade creation, a flash of struggle born of extreme financial pain crossed the girl's eyes. This storage-type staff was worth no less than $1500$ Gold coins. Its core circuit sealed five charges of Acid Splash and five of Daze. As long as a thread of spiritual power was injected, the staff could release a spell with a constant intensity of $5$ $Degrees$ within $0.1$ seconds, completely bypassing the need for lengthy incantations and gestures.

  In this environment, it was her final capital for survival.

  Just as Valeria prepared to overdraw this expensive trump card, a crisp sound of air being torn apart pierced through the woods without warning.

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  A black blur shot from the thicket like a bolt of lightning, moving so fast it left a hazy visual trailing in the air. The newcomer did not cast a spell; he simply pivoted slightly, and the longsword in his hand transformed into a pale green lunar glow before the hammer-wielding barbarian’s terrified gaze.

  Rip!

  A massive head soared into the sky, hot blood spraying over a meter high, staining the surrounding verdant leaves a vivid crimson.

  The sudden turn of events left Valeria frozen in place. When she recognized the silhouette, the tension in her nerves snapped, replaced by an indescribable ecstasy: "Pierce!"

  Pierce did not turn around. His toes tapped lightly on the mud, and his form surged forward again, propelled by a burst of Aura.

  The other barbarian wielding a sword was frightened out of his wits. He frantically tried to flee deeper into the jungle, only to find that an indescribable cold had already locked onto his back. A second later, a brilliant sword-tip, stained with warm blood, accurately transfixed the center of his chest.

  Thud.

  As the final corpse collapsed into the humus, the battle concluded with clinical efficiency, lasting no more than ten seconds.

  Valeria stared blankly at the scene. She didn't doubt that Pierce could handle these two barbarians, but his method of slaughter—purely relying on physical dominance and slicing through them like vegetables—left her profoundly shocked.

  This pure physical destruction, which didn't even require battle arts, meant Pierce’s Physique had undoubtedly crossed the $20$-unit threshold.

  Had he quietly pushed a high-tier Breathing Technique to its limit while everyone else was agonizing over meditation?

  It wasn't until Pierce strolled closer that Valeria snapped out of it, saying with deep gratitude, "Thank you... Pierce. I owe you one."

  "Even if I hadn't intervened, that staff in your hand was sufficient to handle the trouble," Pierce remarked indifferently, casting a glance at the oak wand.

  Such storage-type staffs were common in the Black Market, a compromise produced because enchantment initiates lacked the skill to create recording-type staffs with permanently solidified spells. Although they could only be released a limited number of times, in this low-tier trial, their instantaneous characteristic was indeed a life-saving miracle.

  Valeria shook her head with a bitter smile. "This staff can only carry $10$ charges; every use is one fewer. If I exhaust my final cards now, I’m afraid I won’t last the next seven days."

  Pierce nodded slightly. With a hook of his finger, his crystal bracelet sensed the soul energy dissipating from the remains, adding another $20$ $Points$.

  "Plans for what’s next?" Pierce inquired.

  Valeria pressed her palms together, looking at him with a pitiable expression. "Pierce, let me team up with you? Just for three days... Once I’ve gathered enough safety points, I’ll find a hidden place to hide. I promise not to cause you any trouble. And I’ll pay the $300$ Gold coins per day as Xavier agreed."

  Pierce agreed after weighing the matter for a moment. As a man who kept his word, he didn't mind providing some protection as long as it was along his way.

  As the two delved deeper, the ruthlessness of the trial became increasingly apparent.

  Two hours later, they encountered a barbarian patrol of nearly forty men. Facing a formation that would typically give an average Rank 2 Initiate a headache, Pierce did not even require Valeria to cast a single spell.

  With longsword in hand and enveloped in the agile aura of the Azure Gale Breathing Technique, he moved through the crowd like a specter. Precise strikes supported by spells turned the ambush into a one-sided harvest. By the time Pierce cleaned the blood from his blade, his points had surpassed $800$, and his ranking had steadily entered the top twenty of the academy.

  At this point, the leaderboard displayed a near-brutal polarization. The monsters at the top—Gwendolyn, Silas, and Ingram—had already crossed the $1200$-point threshold. Meanwhile, Rank 1 Initiates like Valeria, with reasonable luck, were still struggling around the $300$-point mark.

  "Since you've paid the fee, we shall quicken the pace," Pierce said calmly, looking toward the island's core zone shrouded in dark clouds. "At the edge of the forest ahead, Mistfeather has already discovered some interesting traces."