Among the 3, one stood at 5 feet tall, with larger fangs and sharper claws. There was a long black scar along the left side of its back, and another gash from the top left to the bottom right of its face. It stepped forward, letting out an ear-piercing howl.

With no warning, all 3 started advancing. They kept the front of their bodies down, wary of Brennan's unknown level of strength.

Seeing the wolves advanced, Brennan clenched his hands nervously. He could feel the cold sweat dripping down his face even after awakening the fire element. The aura the wolves gave off was extremely fierce even as a simulation. He could tell they must have been dangerous creatures whether they were still alive or not. 

The wolves continued to advance, showing their saliva drenched teeth as they let out low growls. Suddenly, the wolf on the left leaped towards Brennan, forcing him to dive to the side and into a somersault. He quickly turned around to dodge an attack from another wolf. The wolf that he dodged rammed into the wall, shaking the entire building even though they could not affect the surroundings. 

Brennan instantly understood that taking a single hit would mean game over. Controlling his mana, he started to cast as many fireballs as he could at the wolves. The wolves dodged and weaved between the fireballs, taking advantage of their thin yet buff frames. 

The goal of this test was to determine the overall level of each student in order to create a course for learning. This meant that if Brennan wanted to be able to become as powerful as he could without causing a commotion, he would need to make a performance that is possible with the amount of mana he has, but still impressive. 

He had a very limited library of spells consisting of only heat transfer and fireball, because of his previous mana limit. In addition, he was not very good at using either.

After his fight with Horone, he had gone over his weaknesses in his head. The main issue he had at the moment was that no matter how many books he read on spells and how to use them, everything would be pointless if he was unable to use them during fights. It doesn't matter how wise you are at a young age, because some things only come with experience. Master hunters refined their fighting technique and instinct through hundreds and thousands of fights. These were things that could not be obtained through any other method, and there were no shortcuts.

Brennan tried to control his mana to the best of his ability, timing his fireballs at the wolves as he tried to think of other spells. The fire element had the most versatile kinds of spells, such as fireball and heat transfer. However, that also meant that there were no spells concentrating on defense, speed, or damage. There was no good way for Brennan to block the wolves' attacks like the earth element could, and no good way to defeat the wolves easily like the lightning element could. In other words, the fire element worked best as part of a team, and worst when up against fewer enemies that are stronger.

Brennan continued to circle around, trying to build up mana for more complex spells. He was starting to get tired, not from lack of mana, but purely because his physical body was too weak. Realizing there was no spell he could easily do in his current state, especially while limiting mana, he started to get frustrated. He started trying to attack the wolves to no avail, and dodged at the last possible seconds to try to exploit weaknesses. 

When he realized he was cornered, it was already too late. This was his single biggest weakness, his lack of awareness and judgement. Had he made the right calls at the right times, he would not be stuck in the situation he was now, with 2 wolves trying to bite him in a corner, and the pack leader standing aside, ready to attack if Brennan tried to escape. 

One wolf bit at Brennan, who barely dodged. He gathered mana in his hand, compressing it on his fingertips. He formed it into a protective cover that both protected his fingertips and could deal damage to anything he touched. 

Kicking off the wall behind him, he jumped over the wolves while pushing them away using his fire-covered fingers. The fire on his fingers quickly evaporated, but it bought him enough time to run away. Unfortunately, one of the wolves bit his calf as he jumped over, disabling that part of his body for the rest of the simulation.

As Brennan turned around and let go of the breath he had been holding, he felt a gust of cold air. He turned back to feel himself get launched, headbutted by the pack leader. He quickly scrambled back to his feet, remembering the last time he had gotten launched by Horone, and the followup attack he had performed. As the wolf lept towards him at incredible speeds, just as he had predicted, he covered his arm in fire. This was similar to what he had done at the bazaar, but with less mana. He wasn't sure how the spell was performed, but that was something he could worry about later. Leaning against the wall to support his injured right leg, he attempted to fend off the incoming attack. The wolf jumped in to bite him, and Brennan swiped with his fire covered left arm. It dodged the swipe easily, twisting in a complete circle, biting at his side. 

As the simulated wolf disappeared, signifying the test was over and Brennan had 'died,' it wasn't the sadness that he hadn't done better that was bothering him, but rather the blood dripping down onto the ground, and the unfathomable burning pain that stung him with cold and heat at the same time.

And then, the ground shook.