The air was extremely dry here.
So much so that it burned in our throats and chests every time we inhaled. It felt like breathing in sandpaper, scratching at our lungs.
This made running or doing any heavy exercise in these harsh surroundings even more difficult.
We couldn’t perform anywhere near our optimum physical condition.
My squad suspected the cause of this was these black trees with crimson leaves all around us.
And they were right.
These trees were not ordinary.
It wasn’t just the dryness — they seemed to be releasing something subtle yet oppressive into the atmosphere.
A toxin.
Yes, the dry air was filled with toxins, carrying a faint metallic tang like that of rusted blood.
In the game, this toxin was discovered to be a substance called Aethylorine.
Aethylorine was a naturally occurring alchemical compound that was produced by various plants in the Spirit Realm.
Normally, it wasn’t dangerous to humans in light doses.
In fact, under typical conditions, it could even induce a euphoric sensation when inhaled, similar to opium.
However, this forest was saturated with Aethylorine to an unusually high degree. These black trees were producing too much of it.
In these concentrations, the overabundance of Aethylorine created a toxic and arid environment.
It inflamed our respiratory systems and made it almost impossible for us to function at our full capacity.
Combined with the heat from the black sun above, it stripped the air of humidity, leaving it bone-dry and harsh to breathe.
Our endurance was naturally high since we were all Awakened. Any normal human would have fainted by now.
After all, this forest wasn’t made to support life — it was designed to extinguish it.
And the deeper we ventured into the forest, the harsher the conditions became.
All of us struggled to maintain our pace.
Especially me, since I had injured my leg while fighting that Bladewraith and it still throbbed with pain.
But guess which one of us wasn’t affected by these conditions at all?
Michael!
Of course, it was Michael!
Since he could circulate Spirit Essence through his body, not only was his endurance unimaginably superior to ours, but Xaldreth had also taught him a technique to resist any kind of poison or toxin.
In simple terms, he could use the Essence circulation to isolate harmful substances within his body, at least to some extent.
He hadn’t perfected that technique yet, so the toxins in the air still slowed him down. But even then, he was in far better shape than us.
So, on top of being overpowered, he was also completely unaffected. In fact, he was treating this test like it was a casual walk in the park.
And earlier, he had the audacity to criticize me for not using my own strength to win the Evaluation Exam.
Hypocrite!
He was such a hypocrite!
But that wasn’t even the worst part!
The worst part was how smug he was about it!
“Feeling winded already?” he called over his shoulder, his voice annoyingly chipper, without a hint of strain.
I bit back a sharp retort.
It wasn’t worth wasting what little breath I had left on him.
Alexia, on the other hand, wasn’t as patient as I was. “If you’ve got the energy to gloat, Michael, maybe use it to keep an eye out ahead instead of rubbing it in the faces of us mortals.”
Michael grinned and opened his mouth to say something that would’ve surely made my blood boil even more — when Kang’s sharp voice reached us from ahead.
“Incoming!”
It was a signal.
Out of all of us, Kang’s senses were supposed to be the sharpest.
That’s why he was running in the lead — to scout for any potential threats.
If he spotted something, we’d adjust our course.
But if the danger was unavoidable, he’d signal us, and we’d prepare for a fight. Just like he did now.
Michael was the first to react. He brandished his sword and rushed toward Kang, who was alone up front.
Alexia followed next.
She summoned a pair of armored gauntlets and shot forward with such speed that a shallow crater appeared in the ashen soil where she’d just been.
By the time Alexia reached Michael and Kang, a giant creature had emerged from the shadows of the woods.
It was monstrous — a grotesque amalgamation of arachnid and humanoid horrors, its glossy black carapace gleaming under the oppressive black sun.
Its bulbous abdomen was dotted with circular red spots which pulsed faintly like a heartbeat.
Long, segmented legs ended in sharp, obsidian-like tips that resembled chitinous spears.
But the worst part, by far, was its faces.
Dozens of twisted, humanoid faces covered its torso, their mouths opening and closing silently, as if caught mid-scream.
It was horror given form.
I had never seen anything so disturbingly hideous.
At that moment, the creature lunged toward Kang.
Since Michael was the closest to him, he didn’t hesitate to act. He launched himself at the beast, his sword whistling through the air.
The blade bit into the creature’s foreleg, slicing cleanly through the joint before it could even react to Michael’s unnatural speed.
A spray of thick black ichor erupted from the wound, and the giant spider let out a deafening screech that sounded like a chorus of agonized voices.
The abomination staggered back, and Alexia seized the opportunity.
Flanking it from the right, she drove her gauntleted fist into another leg, shattering a good chunk of the chitin and the soft flesh beneath.
The ground trembled as the beast toppled to one side.
But it wasn’t going to be that easy.
The spider twisted with unnatural agility and lashed out with its remaining foreleg.
Now, Alexia was a prodigy of close-quarters combat.
She was a once-in-a-generation martial talent.
Under normal circumstances, she could have dodged that blow with ease and countered like it was nothing.
But the toxins in her system dulled her reflexes.
She was just a second too slow to take a step back.
The spider’s leg struck her with bone-crushing force, and though she managed to block with her gauntlets, the sheer impact of the attack was like a battering ram.
The force of it sent her flying backward until she slammed into a nearby tree.
Before she could recover, one of the humanoid faces on the creature’s torso stretched its maw unnaturally wide and spat out a sticky white substance.
The sticky glob hit Alexia and hardened instantly, gluing the blind girl to the tree.
