Splash~!

  Huge waves suddenly surged on the lake’s surface.

  Miko and Alicia quickly retreated to a safe distance.

  Moments later, a massive head emerged from the water.

  “Roar——!!!”

  A terrifying roar echoed throughout the entire underground cave.

  Following it came a powerful mana fluctuation that distorted even the air itself.

  “What?! That’s——”

  Alicia’s face contorted in utter shock.

  “The Tyrant Giant Bear!!!”

  “Hulim, run! That’s an A-rank creature!”

  “......”

  Hulim only stood with her back to them,

  her figure unyielding.

  “Hulim!”

  Alicia’s voice was filled with urgency.

  “Don’t worry,”

  Hulim’s calm voice echoed through the air.

  “You can’t! ”

  Alicia shouted desperately,

  “A-rank and B-rank are completely different concepts—you can’t——”

  Her words abruptly cut off.

  She stared dumbfounded at the petite figure ahead......

  From it, a powerful mana fluctuation, no weaker than the Tyrant Giant Bear’s, was slowly spreading.

  “A-rank......”

  ...

  Hulim glanced up at the stalactite-studded ceiling above.

  “If we fight seriously here, the entire underground passage will collapse......”

  She lowered her gaze again, fixing it on the Tyrant Giant Bear across the lake.

  The beast did not attack immediately, instead watching Hulim warily with glowing red eyes.

  The highly intelligent Tyrant Giant Bear would not foolishly dismiss a being smaller than its paw as an easy target.

  If anything, it had been hiding precisely because it had sensed the arrival of a powerful foe—and now had no choice but to face it.

  Uncertain of each other’s strength, it would not rashly start a battle until it had a better assessment.

  However,

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Hulim had no intention of giving it time to think.

  An A-rank creature that normally dwelled in the deepest parts of the Monster Great Forest should never have appeared in such an area.

  And no matter how much Manacos wanted to test its students, it would never allow a being capable of slaughtering them all to remain in the exam grounds.

  Judging by the fact that Miko and Alicia had not detected it until they reached the lake,

  this Tyrant Giant Bear must have been hiding its presence on purpose, lurking deep within this underground cave for some reason.

  The academy’s supervising teachers were all at least B-rank, but against a foe deliberately concealing itself in a location with a nearly invisible entrance—

  they would never have noticed its existence......

  “This could have turned into a disaster.”

  Thankfully, it was her who had encountered it.

  Hum......

  Orbs of light materialized around Hulim.

  Plain as they looked, the Tyrant Giant Bear sensed an immense threat from them.

  “Roar——!!!”

  Realizing battle was inevitable, the Tyrant Giant Bear roared and

  struck first.

  Boom!

  Nearly half the lake’s water was sent crashing toward Hulim with the force to shatter rocks.

  “A wide-area attack—a sensible response, but——”

  The countless light orbs floating around Hulim suddenly transformed, forming a dense Light Network.

  “——It’s useless.”

  Hulim swung her Seven Luminaries wand forward.

  The dense Light Network surged toward the incoming wave.

  The moment they collided,

  the wave—once carrying overwhelming power—was instantly sliced to pieces, reduced to scattered sprays, its menace vanished without a trace.

  After shredding the wave,

  the Light Network continued advancing, closing in on the Tyrant Giant Bear.

  “Roar!!!”

  Sensing danger, the Tyrant Giant Bear raised one massive claw

  and slammed it downward.

  Boom!

  The entire underground space shook, then fell silent again.

  The ground before the Tyrant Giant Bear bulged upward rapidly,

  a steel-hard Rock Pillar shooting into the air to strike the Light Network.

  The Tyrant Giant Bear relaxed slightly, thinking it had shattered the attack.

  But what happened next left it utterly stunned.

  The Light Network—supposedly destroyed—transformed once more,

  morphing into soft, rope-like strands. The Rock Pillar struck them, but there was no hard surface to absorb the impact.

  In the next instant, the rope-like Light Strands shot toward the Tyrant Giant Bear

  and coiled around its body.

  “Roar!!!”

  The Tyrant Giant Bear roared, raising both claws to strike.

  But before its claws could fall,

  the countless Light Ropes suddenly tightened, binding its body tightly.

  Thud!

  Fully restrained, the Tyrant Giant Bear collapsed to the ground.

  “Roar!”

  The Tyrant Giant Bear struggled violently, but could not break free.

  The Light Ropes were far stronger than they appeared.

  After a fruitless struggle, it could only glare at Hulim with blazing eyes.

  “......”

  Hulim met its gaze directly.

  There was no hint of surrender in its eyes......

  ...

  After the battle ended,

  Miko and Alicia emerged from their hiding place.

  “H-Hulim......”

  Staring at the figure ahead, Alicia spoke hesitantly.

  “We’ll talk later,”

  Hulim replied,

  “First, let’s deal with the problem in front of us.”

  Miko looked up at the massive fallen figure and

  asked in confusion:

  “Hulim, why did you only bind it instead of finishing it off?”

  “Because in this situation, binding it is better than destroying it outright,”

  Hulim explained.

  “The Tyrant Giant Bear has extremely high defense and vitality—it’s not easy to kill.”

  “Furthermore, they possess a Berserk Talent: in mortal danger, they erupt, their abilities skyrocketing for a short time.”

  “If I had threatened its life just now, it would have undoubtedly Berserked. While I could still defeat it, this underground cave would definitely collapse.”

  “Collapse? Does that mean......”

  Miko realized something.

  Hulim had avoided a fight to the death with the Tyrant Giant Bear because the two of them were here.

  Given the size of this underground cave, they could never have escaped in time if it collapsed—she and Alicia would have been in grave danger.

  “So what do you plan to do with it now, Hulim? Stalemating here forever isn’t an option.”

  “We can’t stay here. At the very least, we need to find a way to bring it back to the surface, or knock it unconscious. But......”

  Staring at the Tyrant Giant Bear ahead,

  Hulim felt a flicker of doubt.

  This Tyrant Giant Bear seemed far weaker than normal. Even now, bound and helpless, it showed no signs of Berserking.

  It should be able to tell that Berserking would let it break free—

  so why was it hesitating?

  Earlier, too,

  its attack should have caused massive damage to the underground space, yet it had held back at the last moment......

  It was almost as if it was afraid of damaging this underground cave.

  ...