"Hm, we can compete to see who gathers a hundred points first," Helena joked.
Kristina waved her hand again and again, "Who would be so out of their mind to compete against you and Noah? We'd definitely lose terribly. As long as we can pass the exam within the given time, that's good enough."
Helena squinted and smiled, "Alright then, you guys continue. Noah and I will go first."
"Mm, mm, be careful."
"Okay."
Helena waved her hand, said goodbye to Kristina, and then continued with Noah toward the red-marked area on the map.
"They actually gave us the clue...", Kristina's teammate was a bit surprised.
"Mm... Helena and Noah-chan usually take care of me too. Alright, let's hurry and chase the barefoot mole."
"Okay~"
Though the exam was also a kind of competition, it was more about competing against time.
Besides, all those taking the exam were classmates who had spent years together, not enemies.
Since Noah and Helena had already set their sights directly on an A-class dangerous species, casually telling close friends about the C-class dangerous species they happened to find was nothing more than lending a hand.
After nearly half an hour's journey, the best-friend duo finally arrived at the red area where A-class dangerous species appeared.
"Oh, there are no classmates here anymore."
Helena looked around, "It's just us now, Noah-chan."
Noah was also on guard, "Mm, only us, eh~ what are you doing, Helena?"
Before Noah could even finish, Helena hugged her from behind.
Because of their height difference, Helena gently rested her chin on top of Noah's head, "Since no one's here, let's take the chance to go on a date, Noah-chan~"
Noah didn't resist, just kept her little face cold.
It looked like she was already used to her best friend sneaking a bear hug on her from behind anytime, anywhere.
"If we're going on a date, it has to wait until we collect a full hundred points."
"Then~ fine~ mwah~"
Helena pretended to let go reluctantly.
After that brief, warm bit of closeness, the two best friends also began carefully searching for traces of the A-class dangerous species.
The entire Nightmare Moon Forest was divided into "outer ring, middle ring, inner ring, core" four areas, and the one they were in now should be the inner ring.
Very close to the core.
The academy's map given to them had also given a reminder: Please be cautious when approaching the core area.
Even Noah didn't recklessly barge into the core right away.
After all, whether inner ring or core, an A-class dangerous species gave the same +50 points, so there was no need to take the bigger risk of entering the core.
Noah, this 'sword,' wasn't completely reckless like her dad. When the situation called for caution, she still used conservative tactics.
"Let's begin," Noah said.
"Mm-hm."
As soon as she finished speaking, Helena sat down cross-legged, closed her eyes, and stirred the magic within her body.
Soon, invisible ripples of magical energy stirred, gently lifting Helena's blue hair, spreading outward, and flowing into the puddles and pools of the forest.
Through this method, Helena could feel the slight vibrations on the water's surface, and from the strength and frequency of the tremors, deduce which direction might hold a dangerous species.
Meanwhile, Noah stood guard beside her best friend, carefully observing the footprints on the ground.
Stronger dangerous species often had larger builds. Although not an absolute rule, it helped the duo find their target faster.
Huge bodies left clear traces, both vibrations in water and marks on the ground.
Soon, both Noah and Helena had made a discovery.
"Over there, let's go take a look."
"Mm, I just found a trail of footprints too, and there are scratch marks on the tree trunk."
Finding the general direction, they followed the tracks all the way.
After about ten minutes, a faint stench gradually drifted into the air.
Helena frowned, "Why is there this smell?"
Noah also smelled it, "Not sure, but following the smell will make the search more efficient."
"Mm-hm."
With the smell as a clue, the two quickly found a massive black shadow not far away.
But because fog suddenly rose inside Nightmare Moon Forest, they could only barely make out an outline.
Noah rushed forward first, "Come on, Helena."
"Alright~"
Helena hurried after her.
But the stinky smell grew sharper and sharper.
What kind of large dangerous species would give off such a foul stench?
Helena racked her memory of what she had studied, but no suitable match came to mind.
Thinking as she ran, Helena finally caught up to Noah.
"Noah-chan, we—"
"Don't look!"
"W-what?"
Noah stood on tiptoe, lifted her arm, and covered Helena's eyes with her hand.
Losing sight only made her sense of smell sharper.
That rotten stench in the air made Helena feel queasy.
"Noah... what is it really?"
After two seconds of silence, Noah's cool voice came, "A corpse."
"A very cruel way of dying. You'd better not look."
As she spoke, Noah pressed Helena's shoulder, leading her away.
Only after they had gone some distance did Noah finally relax and remove her hand.
Helena, unable to wait, asked eagerly, "Just now, was that the corpse of a dangerous species?"
"Mm...", Noah frowned, clearly still processing that gruesome scene herself.
"An A-class dangerous species, a mutated Red-Eyed Hound, more aggressive than the normal kind. But it was killed. Its chest looked like it was blasted open by something, heart destroyed, ribs all broken, and—"
Noah trailed off, unable to continue.
Helena quickly moved in to hug her shoulder, "It's fine, it's fine, don't talk about it."
Scenes like that really were too gory for children.
It was normal for the two best friends to react with unease.
"Such high-risk dangerous species rarely fight each other. For us to run into this... guess we're just unlucky."
Helena sighed, "Let's rest a bit, then go look for another."
"Okay."
After a brief adjustment, the two little dragon girls set off again.
They couldn't waste too much time. After all, the exam only lasted three hours.
Using the same method as before, they quickly locked onto another direction.
Being able to encounter two A-class dangerous species in the same area seemed like their luck was showing itself in another way.
However, when Noah and Helena followed the trail to this one, just like before, the air was filled with a rotting stench.
It was the smell of a corpse.
Not far ahead, a massive figure lay there, breathing faintly, as if about to lose its last breath.
"How could this be... could it be that this dangerous species and the Red-Eyed Hound from before killed each other?", Helena asked in surprise.
Noah bit her lip tightly, staring at the giant corpse ahead, voice heavy, "Helena."
"What?"
"We have to leave here."
"Leave... but the map only has two red areas. If we go to the other one now, there might not be enough time—"
Thud!
Before she could finish, a dull footstep cut her off.
Thud!
It came again, closer this time.
"What's going on... i-is it a dangerous species?", The sudden change threw Helena into a panic.
Noah stared ahead, swallowing hard.
A larger shadow slowly stepped out from behind the corpse.
Black ripples of energy flowed around it, its figure towering, like a small mountain.
Scarlet eyes pierced through the thick fog, hideous and terrifying.
And in its hand, was a cold-gleaming... warhammer.
The being radiated overwhelming pressure, far beyond any dangerous species.
Helena unconsciously stepped back half a step, ice-blue eyes flickering with panic and fear.
This fear seemed to come from deep within her bloodline itself. No matter how much she told herself to calm down, her lips still trembled slightly.
"Just what... what kind of dangerous species is that...", Helena's voice trembled too.
The situation had turned sharply worse.
Just a moment ago, she was searching for A-class dangerous species traces with Noah.
But in the next, that monstrous black shadow appeared before them, leaving them no time to react.
Fear slowly crept into Noah's heart as well.
She rarely felt fear. No matter how extreme the situation, she could quickly adjust her mindset.
Whether it was ambushing the Star-Traveling Dragon King, helping her parents break out of the spatial barrier, or stopping Constantine in the Far North Ruins, she had always forced herself to overcome fear and face difficulties.
But this time was different.
The pressure was like a towering mountain, blocking Noah's way, making it hard to even breathe.
Noah clenched her fists tightly, soft pink nails digging into her palms, using the pain to force herself to stay calm.
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