Jazz quickly stepped back, then leaped into the air and delivered his first kick, it was just a feint, followed by a powerful kick before landing back on the ground.
The giant monkey's eyes teared up and it roared in rage.
Baaah, baam, boooom.
The floor shattered beneath the terrifying blows, then the monkey stood on two feet and began pounding his chest with all his might.
Then he clasped his hands together and brought them down like an axe where Jazz stood.
Baaaaah.
Jazz would have been crushed, had he not retreated by a millimeters.
But he lost his balance under the force of the blow.
Boom.
The giant monkey swung his arm with all his might, aiming straight for Jazz's chest.
Jazz pushed with his hands, but was struck by the monkey's fist nonetheless.
"Ugh, haaa, ah, cough…"
Blood trickled from Jazz's mouth.
He fell to the ground.
'If it weren't for my arms, I would have been completely crushed.'
Jazz tried to get up quickly, but the monkey had already closed in on him.
The monkey attacked again with its fist, Jazz ducked.
For a moment, Jazz almost lost his head.
Perhaps because of the adrenaline, or the rush of blood, time seemed to slow down for Jazz.
He felt his life flash before his eyes.
True, he was momentarily numb to the pain due to his brain's mechanisms and the rush of hormones like adrenaline, but the accumulation of pain was severe.
Boom, boom, boom.
Beat by beat, Jazz felt his heart pounding.
Jazz stepped back to the right before the next attack hit him, but he held in his hand a handful of small stones from the ground that the monkey had shattered.
As soon as he regained his balance completely, he saw another attack coming.
Jazz quickly took three steps back and then threw the small stones toward the monkey's eyes.
When the monkey saw this, he quickly covered his eyes so the stones wouldn't hit him.
But Jazz seized the opportunity and attacked with a powerful kick to the monkey's arm, knocking it away forcefully, then jumped and kicked the monkey's nose again.
Aaaah.
A loud, powerful growl.
The monkey's eyes were hit, and blood gushed like a waterfall.
The monkey's vision darkened slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and tried to attack.
All he could see was Jazz, who had kicked him in the nose once more.
The monkey swung his arms violently toward where Jazz was.
But to no avail.
Jazz was already behind him and attacked, striking between the monkey's hind legs.
The eggs fell and shattered.
And the monkey fell to the ground.
After all, such pain can bring down even the toughest of men, let alone an animal?
Jazz leaped with superhuman speed onto the monkey's body, closed in on its head, then gouged out both its eyes and thrust his hand in, trying to crush its brain.
His plan failed, just as he was about to ruin everything, the monkey grabbed his arm and squeezed hard.
Crack.
Jazz's arm was broken.
But Jazz didn't make a sound, the pain was too searing.
Then Jazz tried again with his other hand, but the monkey had already pulled him away from his broken arm.
Thud.
Jazz crashed hard onto the ground.
He looked at his leg and saw it wasn't at a right angle, it had tilted to the left. It was broken, too.
"Aaahhgh."
Jazz couldn't hold back any longer.
He tried to crawl backward.
But the monkey was attacking again blindly, striking the spot closest to Jazz, just centimeters away.
Then the monkey fell.
His breathing grew fainter with every passing second, the giant gorilla chimpanzee finally died.
Jazz had suffered serious fractures, but the look in his eyes hadn't died.
From the start of the fight, his intent to kill had been at its peak.
Jazz looked at the other monkeys but found they had retreated to the gate, they were waiting for it to open so they could return the way they came.
The supervisor was shocked, and the students were shocked by this scene.
It was true that the monkeys were intelligent and capable of such malicious schemes, but witnessing it firsthand terrified them.
'They've accepted me as their leader.'
Jazz looked at them before losing consciousness completely.
The supervisor approached Jazz and called for others to carry him away for treatment as quickly as possible.
'Why didn't I intervene? What serious injuries.' the supervisor in charge thought to himself.
He felt guilty, but Jazz had displayed terrifying brutality in the fight.
The supervisor had chosen the monkeys for their cunning and because of his assessment of Jazz and his talent.
Jazz had no weapon, if he had, things would have been different.
'He's a true talent.' the supervisor thought to himself.
Then he ordered some of the other supervisors to clean up the area so the next student could begin.
…
Deebt headed for the door behind the supervisor and passed through another corridor, but this time it was a little longer.
He arrived at another small room with two doors in front of him, where a supervisor was standing.
In the center of the room was a rock carved into the shape of a table.
"Come closer, student." the supervisor said in a gentle tone.
Deebt approached further, and as soon as he reached the table, he found a white sheet of paper on it.
A line of text, a question.
[Does the end justify the means of investigation?]
These words were written on the sheet of paper.
"Student, write your answer there." said the supervisor.
He appeared to be in his thirties, but the atmosphere around him was not lighthearted.
Respect, that was what Deebt felt as he looked at him.
Deebt picked up the pen next to the paper, then wrote.
[The end justifies the means, but the means cannot be justified by the end, because they are merely a method of achieving the goal, not the goal itself.]
Then he put down the pen and handed the paper to the supervisor.
Deebt handed over the paper, the supervisor took it and read it.
"Student, go to the door on the right." A small smile appeared on the supervisor's face.
Deebt didn't care, he was tired and his body was exhausted.
He walked through the door quietly.
…
It was Group 6's turn.
Milly, Heri, and Sam entered.
They were split up, and each went through a different door.
Sam stood before the supervisor, who tossed him the small crystal ball.
All of Sam's information appeared before the supervisor. Sam felt as if he were standing naked in the snow.
[Name: Sam Lucas.]
[Age: 17.]
[Health: 99%.]
[Strength: 14.]
[Stamina: 12.]
[Agility: 11.]
[Speed: 14.]
[Intelligence: 18.]
[Number of lines: 0.]
[Talent: Solar eclipse.]
[Ability: None.]
[Ability development: 0%.]
[First weapon: Chain.]
[Second weapon: Daggers.]
'My strength has increased by one point over the past two weeks.' Sam thought about his stats.
The supervisor looked at the information with interest, it matched the effort.
'Sam Lucas, this boy has put in a lot of effort recently, but he hasn't reached the limit yet. A chain and daggers as weapons? What a unique combination…' the supervisor thought as he turned his gaze to Sam.
"Sam Lucas, you may proceed." The supervisor gestured toward the door behind him.
"Thank you."
Sam headed for the door.
After walking through a corridor for about two minutes, a battle arena appeared before Sam.
Cages were carved into the left side of the arena.
The supervisor didn't speak to Sam.
The cage doors opened, and five monsters emerged.
With eight arms covered in tentacles like an octopus and frog like legs resembling springy tendons.
'The amphibious octopus.' Sam looked at the monsters in front of him, they looked hungry.
Sam didn't hesitate for long, he had already grabbed his chain.
'Victory, and nothing but victory.'
Sam steeled his resolve.
The monsters he had fought in the last three months alone.
Jazz, with his brutal fighting style.
And Deebt, who was driven by a maddening will to survive.
Merciless, savage battles had made him realize his limits, and understand that his desire for fun during combat was real but not enough.
Now, in a real competition against five hungry monsters, Sam smiled, his eyes gleaming with passion.
Whoosh.
One of the monsters lunged toward Sam at high speed, but Sam stopped in his tracks and began spinning his tentacles with force.
The amphibious octopus was known for its flexibility and agility, it was difficult to kill unless you could grab it.
Whoosh.
One of the monsters rushed toward Sam, but Sam shifted his stance and began swinging his chain with all his might.
Two meters, one meter, half a meter.
The octopus dodged the attack and charged forward, the other octopuses weren't about to stand still, so they charged as well.
The octopus that arrived first tried to grab Sam with its tentacles.
Sam barely managed to dodge.
Crack, swish.
Sam slashed with his dagger, hidden in his sleeve, in a "/" shape from top to bottom.
It was a surprise attack that severed three of the octopus's arms.
These monsters had the ability to regenerate, but they needed time to rest.
In the heat of battle, there was no chance to regrow three arms unless they were at the "Depth" level.
The octopus was momentarily disoriented and leaped two meters backward on its shock absorbing, spring like feet.
The other octopuses closed in and attacked Sam simultaneously, from the right and left, tentacles were everywhere.
Sam grabbed his chain with both hands again and swung it with fluid, fluid motion.
He parried the attacks.
Amid the chaos of four monsters and thirty two arms attacking him at once, Sam managed to wrap his chain around some of the arms.
Klaaaag, keeeeg.
He caught two monsters off guard, then pulled hard, blood spattered and six arms fell to the ground.
'These damned monsters, I'm lucky they're hungry. If not, I'd be crushed.'
Sam thought as he dodged and attacked.
Amphibious octopuses were animals without vocal cords, but the sensation of pain was common to all living creatures.
One of these monsters' weaknesses was their complete reliance on their eight arms, but this was only at the level of the eyes and depth.
What set these monsters apart when they were at full health was their venom.
The "Colorful Ink" possessed one of the most dangerous venoms on the planet.
But to possess it, feeding was necessary, unfortunately, starving it caused it to consume itself from the inside to survive, which prevented it from producing venom.
When the octopuses saw Sam, they saw an opportunity, they saw a meal.
But Sam was actually a tough meal to digest; his meat was tough.
Sam's fight with the monsters continued.
At one point, he threw his chain with force, turned toward one of the monsters, then drew two daggers from his sleeves, attacked, and severed the limbs reaching for him.
He approached the monster that had managed to break free from the chain and elegantly severed its slimy head.
Swoosh.
Blood flew everywhere, and the battle continued.