Cordelia’s eye twitched and looked at Chloe, who looked back at her with beaming eyes. She was unable to get the chance to ask the examiner about Chloe as he had disappeared too fast. What am I going to do…

“Big Sister, just take me with you! I promise to stay right by your side, okay?”

She pleaded and pleaded, pulling on Cordelia’s armour repeatedly with a cutesy voice as the girl in question could only turn away in contemplation. Questions arose in her head about whether or not it was a good idea, or if she should just send her back, but when she looked back at the gate they had passed through, it had been sealed. Not only that, but there was a huge magic barrier that separated them from the outside world. Advanced Domain Magic, huh? That would be troublesome for her since she couldn’t send Chloe back anymore. 

      Albeit reluctantly, Cordelia could only relent to Chloe’s constant begging, reminding her to always wear her cloak so it wasn’t discovered that she wasn’t wearing the black armour given to examinees. Initially, she was going to go alone as she would be able to move faster that way but now that she had Chloe with her, Cordelia didn’t want to take any chances. If she got hurt, she would never forgive herself. But it was also risky to travel in a group in danger of exposing Chloe’s identity and age.

      “Yo, wanna both wanna join our group? We’re missing an attacker and it looks like you’re a swordsman. I don’t know about that lover of yours but we can bring him in too.”

At some point, a trio had come up under Cordelia and the foremost boy called out to her. The two of them were in a rather suggestive position as Chloe was huddled between her legs, looking like a bold couple in the middle of making out.

“We’re both girls, and we’re not lovers.”

“Eh? I support lesbian relationships too, you know? No need to hide it.”

He chuckled, voicing out his opinion ‘benevolently’ as he scratched his hair. Chloe unintentionally poured oil into the fire. She hugged Cordelia tightly, shy of the new strangers who had walked up to them but it was taken as confirmation to their relationship.

“I knew it, I knew it… Don’t worry, okay? My friends don’t mind it either, don’t we?”

The boy and girl at his sides nodded in unison with blushing cheeks, looking away from the ‘hot’ scene.

      “For the last time, we’re not lovers. Chloe is just shy.”

Cordelia hoisted the blonde girl onto her back before jumping down with a grunt, cushioning her fall with small pillows of wind from a spell. 

“We can join your group though.”

“I see. My name’s Eldrich, this lad here is Abelard and the girl is Mareike. We’re all from the same country, the Republic of Alemann. How about you?”

“Cordelia, from the Escadan Empire. This is Chloe, from the…”

She looked towards the girl for permission, who shrunk and answered herself, though it was more like whispering.

“…Atican Dynasty…”

Mareike and Eldrich laughed humorously at the girl’s shyness and Abelard smiled slightly while Cordelia showed no reaction, keeping her face inscrutable. Instead, she looked up to the sky and puckered her lips.

      “We need to get going soon. It’s almost noon, so we should find a good camping spot before the sunsets. We also need to hunt for food.”

“Camp? How? We don’t have any equipment?”

Mareike naively questioned Cordelia’s statement, having not experienced any of this before. 

“Use magic.”

Was her perfunctory answer, before taking Chloe’s hand and walking off coldly. Eldrich whistled and patted his female companion’s shoulder, whose face was red with hurt and embarrassment.

“Don’t worry about her, ‘kay? I’m sure she’s nicer than that.”

“Mm.”

❈ ❈ ❈

22nd of March, the Year 1202
19:20
Laeon Federation, Horn Mountain Range

❈

The group of 5 trekked for around 7 hours straight with a few breaks in between, saving their mana instead of draining it on Enhancement Magic or something similar. It was determined that the mountain was approximately a few hundred kilometres away, 250 at most, which would take around 4 days to get to. That wasn’t including the time it would take to ascend the mountain which was about 4.5 kilometres tall, though they could scale it fast if they made use of magic.

      It was only the first day so progress was slow as people began to get used to the forest. Cordelia’s group often ran across other groups as well which were significantly larger than their own at dozens of people. There were also many monsters and wild animals lurking around like Wind Wolves, Ents and Giant Ants. 

      Sometimes, groups of people passed by neutrally and other times, they were invited into their group. On one rare occasion, they were threatened and forced to assimilate into their group… which was right now.

      Head Examiner Kaine’s words were too vague… he specified that you could do anything except killing other people. But that means you can do anything else, like rob, rape or even cripple. Was this intentional? Cordelia’s mind was spinning a thousand times a minute as she pressed her back against Chloe’s, with the trio around them with their weapons drawn and facing outwards. They were outnumbered 22 to 6 but Cordelia had confidence in herself. 

      Eldrich uneasily shifted his twin daggers as Mareike pulled back her crossbow and Abelard gripped his bastard sword hard. It was a tight situation, with dozens of other examinees regarding them with ill-intent. Feeling prickly all over their skin, they gulped audibly.

“Just join our group. All you need to do is give us all of your monster items, or we’ll just beat you up now and take all your stuff, including your weapons.”

A boy that seemed taller and bulkier than the others stepped forward, trying to intimidate them as he flexed his greatsword by slamming it down on the ground. He lustfully stared at Mareike and Cordelia who were beautiful compared to the ugly girls he had already picked up. How depraved. He’s only 15 at most but is already like this? The maximum age limit to take the exams was 15 so the boy couldn’t be any older. Cordelia lamented once more at how the world and its human dwellers had fallen.

      “Chloe.”

“...”

Whispering to each other, the older girl could feel the rage rolling off of her junior which she couldn’t fathom. She didn’t know Chloe had noticed how that boy was staring at her Big Sister!

“AHHHH!”

      All of a sudden, he began to scream as he clutched at his head, his eyes bloodshot and throat hoarse. Cordelia took this moment of distraction to flick the blunt end of her katana at her opponents in several flashes of movements, hard bursts of air smashing into their faces and disorientating them. Eldrich, Mareike and Abelard had no idea what was going on but they didn’t waste any time, attacking the opponents as well.

      “Argh!”

A crossbow bolt impaled one boy’s leg and he fell over in tears, blood flowing freely. Mareike clasped her palms over her mouth in shock at what she had done, allowing for another to come up behind her so he could slam the butt of his sword on her head. Luckily, Cordelia had seen this beforehand; she impulsively sliced his weapon hand right off as blood gushed from his right wrist and splashing all over Mareike’s delicate face.

      The other girl’s face paled even further at the gruesome sight, her eyes accusing Cordelia with horror and fright evident from every shiver she failed to suppress.

“Don’t hesitate on a battlefield. Who knows what these people will do with us when they knock us unconscious.”

She shook her head in disappointment at Mareike’s innocent yet idiotic actions. Cordelia herself was not a heartless killing machine though. Every time she struck, it was in non-vital areas like their arms, legs or their secret spot. It wasn’t just out of consideration for the exam rules; it was for her own humanity. Her heart winced and shook with each slice and each arc of blood yet nothing showed on her ravishing countenance. All you could see was her demonic, scarlet eyes that were lit ablaze with bloodlust like a god of death storming across the battlefield.

      But Cordelia hadn’t degenerated to such an extent yet. Or at least, she didn’t believe that she had.

❈ ❈ ❈

Chloe Atican had seen many things in her 10 years of life. The Atican Imperial Palace had shown her many things like death… deaths that were caused by her, anyways. Although she was only 10 years old, her mind was like that of an adult's already. So Chloe thought that she was already numb to death. But she wasn’t. Seeing her Big Sister like that froze her blood in their veins, just like everybody else. They stilled, not even caring about the blood that flew around the air from each swipe of her sword.

      And soon enough, all 22 examinees were felled. Many had already fallen unconscious from blood loss while others were lucky that Cordelia had thrashed them with the blunt edge of her katana, only breaking a few bones in the process. Blood soaked every inch of her black armour, barely showing itself from the similarity in colour gradient but you could see how large patches of it darkened. 

      Even now, her knuckles were pale from clutching her katana so hard.

“Big Sister! That’s enough!”

Chloe ran up and hugged Cordelia tightly, droplets forming in her eyes. She seemed to snap out of her trance suddenly, the ominous light in her eyes dispersing. Panting heavily, Cordelia fell over with Chloe still hugging her. Their new companions watched from afar with apparent fear on their faces. 

「Effect《Bloodthirst》has worn off」

      Several instructors jumped out of the trees, encircling the area in a tightly-knit formation. Shock arose from their eyes as they witnessed the aftermath of the ‘massacre’, though nobody actually died. Cordelia had potentially crippled and ruined the futures of dozens of young, promising boys with just a few swipes of her katana. Their arms, legs, fingers or even their manly pride were missing.

      Quickly springing into action, the instructors picked up each and every examinee, their bodies in a stiff position that refused to move an inch; it was the paralysis seal that Cordelia had identified before the exam. It was supposed to activate when a severe enough wound was sustained or any attack aimed at the head or heart. Combined with the barrier seal that was interwoven in, it provided great safety and security for the students. That was supposed to be how it was, yet Cordelia had bypassed it by cutting through limbs so fast that the seal was unable to activate in time.

      After all of the bodies were removed, a storm drifted in from the cloudy skies. At first, it was a small drizzle that you could barely notice. Then, it quickly developed into a full-on squall of rain, with each one feeling like punches slamming into your body. Chloe dragged Cordelia into shelter under a tree while the other three moved to the opposite side. Except one.

      Mareike courageously moved next to Cordelia with a shivering body.

“Th-thank you.”

She managed to say those words with great difficulty without running away before standing up and casting an earth spell, raising a primitive hut made of dirt and rock to which she hurriedly pulled Cordelia’s body inside. Eldrich and Abelard also mustered up all the courage and bravery they could in bringing sticks and shrubbery into the shelter and dumping it into the middle. It was lit up with a small fire spell and Mareike decided to seal off the entrance with another slab of earth, meaning that the only light source was the fire in the middle. 

      “…make small holes in the top.”

Everybody jumped when Cordelia spoke croakily and they did as commanded, realising that it was for the smoke to escape. Granted, spears of rain fell into the shelter but it was a small price to prevent suffocation.

      Silence pervaded the room, nobody able to speak a single word, let alone start a conversation after they finished dressing their wounds. The roaring of the flames allowed them to calm down and think. She had just saved them. It may have not been a danger to their lives, but Mareike’s chastity was in peril. She turned the situation around when it was most dire. But they were utterly terrified of her at the same time. How were they supposed to deal with that?

      Chloe was stuck to Cordelia for the few hours that they were resting inside the shelter, not saying a single word either. There weren’t any errant thoughts in her mind; she was just worried about her Big Sister.

      “…did I worry you?”

She lightly pinched Chloe’s pinchable, chubby cheeks with sparks of amusement in her eyes. In response, Chloe could only sniffle and suppress the sobs and wails that were raging within her to escape through her tear ducts and throat. 

      I’m so tired... Cordelia fell asleep in an anti-climatic fashion. And thus ended the first day of the exams.