"Look at my Storm Wolf!" a kid in silk robes shouted, petting a wolf the size of a pony. The beast howled, crackling with electricity.
"That's nothing! My Magma Turtle has higher defense than a fortress wall!" another guy bragged, leaning against a shell that was literally smoking.
Everywhere Sunny looked, there were monsters. Giant snakes, falcons with steel feathers, bears with crystal armor.
And then there was Sunny.
Hovering buzzing above his head was his Armored Black Beetle.
It looked ridiculous. Compared to the Dire Wolves and Flame Tigers, it looked like... well, a bug. A shiny, metallic bug, but a bug nonetheless.
"Hey, look at that trash!" A guy with a green mohawk pointed at Sunny and laughed. He had a poison toad sitting on his shoulder.
"Did you tame a cockroach? Did your mommy help you catch it in the kitchen?"
The crowd around them erupted in laughter.
"Go home, peasant! You're gonna get eaten!"
Sunny didn't even look at them.
[Scan Result: Storm Wolf (Tier 1 - High)]
[Scan Result: Magma Turtle (Tier 1 - Mid)]
[Scan Result: Poison Toad (Tier 1 - Low)]
"Weak," Sunny muttered.
He looked up at his beetle. The little guy was hovering faithfully, its obsidian shell glinting. It was strong for its size, an Uncommon rank monster created from trash.
But against a Storm Wolf? It would get crushed.
"I need an upgrade," Sunny whispered. "Now."
He ignored the taunts and focused on the ground.
Where there was dirt, there were bugs.
Come on, give me something nasty.
Suddenly, a booming voice echoed through the arena, amplified by magic.
"SILENCE, MAGGOTS!"
The laughter died instantly.
High up on the VIP balcony, a man stepped forward. He was huge, shirtless, with scars crisscrossing his chest like a road map of violence.
This was the Head Instructor, General Korg.
"Welcome to the Starfall Academy Entrance Exam!" Korg roared. "You think you're special because you have a beast? You think you're hot shit because your daddy bought you a rare egg?"
Korg spat over the railing.
"Wrong! Out there in the Wildlands, monsters don't care about your family name. They care about how you taste!"
The crowd of teenagers shifted uncomfortably.
"The rules are simple!" Korg grinned, a savage expression. "This is not a duel. This is a Culling."
The massive iron gates at the far ends of the arena began to rattle.
"Behind these gates are one hundred Starved Hyenas," Korg announced. "They haven't eaten in three days. When the bell rings, the gates open."
Panic rippled through the examinees.
"Hyenas? A hundred of them?"
"Are they crazy? Someone could die!"
"I want to go home!"
Korg laughed. "Your objective is to survive for ten minutes. If your beast falls, you fail. If you run away, you fail. If you die... well, try not to die. It's too much paperwork for me."
Sunny tuned him out.
Hyenas. Pack hunters. Fast. Vicious.
His beetle had high defense, but it was small. If a hyena swallowed it whole, the defense wouldn't matter. He needed offense. He needed something that could kill fast.
His eyes darted to a crack in the arena wall near his feet.
There. Movement.
Sunny crouched down, pretending to tie his boot.
"What is the trash doing? Praying?" Mohawk Guy sneered.
Sunny ignored him. He saw it.
A Corpse-Eater Centipede.
It was about the length of his forearm, with reddish-brown armor and countless twitching yellow legs.
[Monster: Corpse-Eater Centipede (Common)]
Ability: Paralytic Venom.
Traits: Fast, Aggressive.
"Gotcha," Sunny whispered.
He reached out. His Agility was 8 now—almost double a normal human. His hand was a blur.
Snatch!
He grabbed the centipede right behind its head before it could bite him.
The thing hissed and thrashed, its legs wrapping around his wrist.
"Disgusting," Sunny grimaced. "But useful."
He stood up, hiding the centipede in the folds of his cloak. He looked up at his hovering beetle.
"Come here," he commanded mentally.
The beetle buzzed down, landing in his other palm.
Sunny pressed his hands together, hiding the action under his cloak.
"System, Fusion."
[Target: Armored Black Beetle (Uncommon) + Corpse-Eater Centipede (Common)]
[Compatibility: 85%]
[Note: Insect + Insect fusion has high success rate.]
[Fusion Initiated...]
A soft vibration ran through Sunny's arms.
Under the cloak, a white light pulsed briefly. No one noticed. They were all too busy staring at the shaking iron gates.
"Please be good," Sunny prayed. "Don't give me a centipede with wings. Give me a tank."
The sounds of biological restructuring happened instantly.
[Ding!]
[Fusion Successful!]
[Congratulations! You have created a Rare Monster!]
Sunny's heart skipped a beat. Rare? That was Tier 2. That was the level of a Captain's beast!
[Monster: Obsidian Spike-Stag (Rare)]
Type: Insectoid
Description: A fusion of defense and venom.
Abilities:
[Iron Carapace]: Immune to physical attacks below Tier 2.
[Venomous Lance]: The horn contains a potent paralytic neurotoxin.
[Sonic Buzz]: Can fly at high speeds, creating a disorienting noise.
Sunny opened his hands.
The creature that sat there was... terrifying.
It looked like a Stag Beetle, but sleek and elongated. Its shell was pitch black and looked like polished plate armor. But the main feature was the horn. It was long, jagged, and dripped with a faint green liquid. It had six legs, each ending in a sharp hook.
"Beautiful," Sunny breathed.
The creature chittered, rubbing its mandibles against Sunny's thumb.
"Go," Sunny whispered. "Take position."
The Obsidian Spike-Stag launched into the air. It circled above Sunny's head, moving so fast it was just a black blur.
[Ding!]
[Exam Starting in 10 Seconds!]
General Korg raised his hand.
"GET READY TO BLEED, KIDDIES!"
The Mohawk Guy next to Sunny summoned his Poison Toad. "Stay behind me if you want to live, trash! Maybe my toad will protect you!"
Sunny looked at him and smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "
Worry about your own neck."
DONG!
The massive bell rang.
The iron gates slammed open.
"GRAAAH!"
A wave of fur and teeth exploded into the arena. One hundred Starved Hyenas poured out like a flood of death. They were gaunt, their eyes glowing red with hunger.
The students screamed.
"Attack! Attack!"
Fireballs, wind blades, and lightning bolts flew into the pack. The front row of hyenas was blasted apart, but the rest jumped over the corpses, snapping their jaws.
A hyena lunged at the Mohawk Guy.
"Toad! Poison Spit!" he screamed.
The toad spat a glob of purple slime. It hit the hyena, but the beast didn't stop. It just got angrier. It tackled the guy, its jaws snapping inches from his face.
"HELP! MOMMY!"
Sunny stood still. Three hyenas had locked onto him. They saw a small, skinny boy with no visible weapon. Easy meat.
They circled him, drool dripping from their jaws.
"Come on," Sunny taunted, holding his ground.
"Come get your dinner."
The largest hyena lunged. It moved fast, a blur of grey fur aiming for Sunny's throat.
Sunny just pointed a finger.
"Kill."
ZIP!
A black streak shot down from the sky.
It was faster than an arrow. Faster than the eye could follow.
The Obsidian Spike-Stag slammed into the hyena's forehead mid-air.
There was a sickening crunch of bone.
The hyena's momentum carried it forward, but it was already dead. It crashed at Sunny's feet, sliding in the dirt.
In the center of its skull was a neat, round hole. Brain matter oozed out, mixed with green venom.
[Ding!]
[Killed Starved Hyena (Level 5)]
[EXP + 20]
The other two hyenas skid to a halt. They looked at their dead pack leader. They looked at the hovering black insect that was now dripping with blood.
They whimpered.
Animals had instincts. They knew when they were outmatched.
"Next," Sunny said calmly.
The beetle buzzed.
It didn't just pierce them. It flew past their necks, its jagged legs acting like saw blades. Arteries opened. Blood sprayed into the air.
Two more bodies hit the floor.
[EXP + 20]
[EXP + 20]
Sunny stood in a pool of blood, completely untouched. Around him, students were running, screaming, and crying. Some were being bitten. Some were fleeing.
But within a five-meter radius of Sunny, there was a dead zone. Nothing entered. Nothing survived.
He looked up at the VIP balcony. General Korg was leaning forward, his eyes narrowed, staring right at Sunny.
"Interesting," Sunny muttered, wiping a speck of blood from his cheek.
"I guess I got their attention."
He checked his mana. Still full. His beetle didn't use mana to attack, only stamina. And the thing was a machine.
"System," Sunny grinned. "I think we're going to like this school."
A hyena tried to sneak up behind him.
The beetle didn't even turn around. It just flew backward and punched a hole through the beast's spine.
[Ding!]
[Level Up!]
[You are now Level 4.]
"I need more EXP!"