In the forest of monsters, trees stretched in every direction.

It was unclear how big the forest was, but the growth of plant life was abundant.

The trees reached several meters in height, having thick trunks with green leaves.

Vines fell from some of these leaves, connecting the trees like bridges.

The blue sky above the forest gave it quite the tropical view.

The forest resembled a vast rainforest — dense, humid, and alive with sound.

The seemingly peaceful state of the forest was disturbed by several bright flashes of light.

These lights appeared spaced out all around the perimeter of the forest.

In these spots the lights had started to die down.

In their place however, were people.

Or to be more specific; the Generic Magic Academy entrance exam candidates.

All of them were teleported to the outskirts of the forest.

A boy with brown hair and brown eyes had a traditional longsword strapped to his back and was scanning his surroundings.

He had a vigilant expression on his face, but the tension in his body couldn't hide his bright eyes.

He pushed away leaves as he walked, clearing a path towards the center of the forest.

'By my reasoning, it wouldn't make sense that they'd transport us all randomly to get sneak attacked by a second-degree beast.'

'If they want to see our true potential, they'd let us pick the obstacle.'

He jumped over a thick root as he pondered.

He walked forward for a while then came back, deciding to stay in a clearing for a while.

'If my competition knows this as well then I'll have to be extremely careful.'

He closed his eyes to ponder. This was the defining moment of his youth after all.

'Come to think of it the number of rules seem small compared to the scale of this event.'

The boy sat under a large tree and placed his sword by his side, just close enough that he'd be able to grab it if he was ambushed.

He grabbed his chin in contemplation.

'I was transported to a place fairly far from the center of the forest.' He said looking at the horizon. He could see plant life for miles.

'Assuming this is the same for everyone, that means we'd have to move into the forest in order to find any monsters.'

The boy grabbed a stick and drew a circle on the ground to represent the forest.

'Going by that same logic, the weaker monsters should be closer to the edges...'

'While the stronger ones like the third-degree monsters should be at the center.'

'Meaning as I go deeper into the forest, the stronger the beast you'd face there.'

He put the stick down and let out a deep sigh, 'Us commoners have it so hard.'

He glanced at his sword. It had chips in its sides. It was clearly used.

The handle of the sword was made of wood. The craftsmanship was of high quality.

That was because it was a family heirloom. His father apparently worked for a noble back in the day.

The chips in the steel didn't come from his father though.

He had pushed himself in training. The blisters on his hand were proof enough of that.

He had battled bandits and crooks in order to sharpen his skills, often using their bounties to provide for his family.

He had rented himself out as a mercenary in small wars against neighboring countries.

The battle experience he gained was something he valued immensely.

Death had been close enough to kiss him several times.

He had repaired his sword on numerous occasions. He would even call it a valued partner of his.

He wasn't like some of the pampered nobles who learnt their fighting skills in the comfort of their homes.

He had made himself a fighter through his sweat and blood.

The boy picked up his sword and walked deeper into the forest.

But the real thing that made him stand out was something special. Particularly among people his age.

He was a killer.

People often didn't recognize the difference between fighting with and without the intent to kill.

'Well, they'll find out soon enough.’

***

A silver haired girl was walking through the forest with a calm gait. She had calm blue eyes that reflected the sky back on itself.

She brushed the leaves in front of her away. Stepping over some thick roots.

She scowled and dusted some dirt off her long legs. She was wearing a red blazer with a white shirt inside it.

Her black skirt reached her middle thigh and her black boots were covered in dirt from the forest floor.

"Tch, why does the school insist on making their tests as realistic as possible."

She tried cleaning her shoes but was failing. Badly.

She groaned, then pointed her hand towards her shoes, [Water Flow].

A stream of water came out of her hand and doused her shoes, cleaning them.

She smiled a bit. "That's better."

As she walked her expression slowly went cold. Her face turning into an impassive mask of indifference.

'As I walk deeper into the forest, I will undoubtedly encounter other people. I must not tarnish the good name of the Nordia family.'

She continued on her way until she heard a rustling of leaves.

Her eyes sharpened as she dropped into a battle stance.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, 'Time to perform.'

Her eyes darted around looking for the source of the noise. She slowly inched forward.

She slowed her breathing in order to hear her surroundings clearer and she heard it again.

RUSTLE!

Her head turned and locked on to her target; what seemed to be a large boar.

It was munching on some plants, unaware of the human looking at it from a few meters away.

'That's a first-degree Strong Boar.' She raised her hand and pointed her palm towards it.

She cast [Water Slash]!

She threw her hand out in an arc. A crescent line of water flew forward aimed at the boar.

It looked up, its eyes widening in shock. Alas it was too late. The arc of water hit its body.

The slash tore into its shoulder, ripping a wound from its fore leg to its belly.

The boar cried out in pain before slumping down.

She walked to it and examined the corpse. "This was a first-degree beast. If I remained in this section of the forest..."

She shook her head and started walking deeper into the forest.

"First degree beasts are worth 5 points. I'd need a hundred of those to reach the quota."

She then started jogging lightly to cover more ground, "I need stronger monsters before I can even think about eliminating the competition."

'I have two options: I either avoid the other students and hunt as many monsters as possible...'

"Or I reach the bare minimum 500 and take out all the other students."

After jogging for a few more minutes, she saw a brown monkey swinging on the trees a good distance in front of her.

It noticed her too, stopping on a tree and swinging towards her in the next moment.

'Just great. It seems I'm a chimp magnet.'

When it got close enough, it grabbed a vine from a nearby tree and swung it in a whipping motion.

She stopped abruptly and dove to the side.

[Water Slash]!

The arc of water hit the monkey in the neck, slicing its head clean off.

'Yes!' She rejoiced inwardly. Though it didn't show on her face.

'I knew practicing my aim was worth it.'

The monkey's corpse fell to the ground, its blood splattering all over the floor in front of her.

She didn’t show any outward reaction, but she was inwardly screaming in disgust.

She was about to start walking again...

Until she looked up at the trees.

Her face didn't change from the indifferent look she had. But inside her head...

'Oh... I don't like where this is going...'

In the treetops, surrounding her in a wide circle were a troop of monkeys all holding vines and stones.

'I... I meant the chimp magnet thing as a joke!!'