Evan was discouraged by what he had seen. Not only had there been another strange change near him that he knew nothing about, but he had also been attacked by a crazy ant. It was really crazy, considering that there couldn't have been an ant around here, much less a fire-breathing one.

"All right, I've got to get my act together. I`ve broken the second

"Barrier

" and some unknowable ** happened around me again. Just like before I don't understand anything, just fine.

"

Evan sighed and continued:

"Well, on the other hand, there's nothing to complain about, I can finally move on. In fact, I feel like I'm getting a little stronger.

"

No one saw that Evan had broken his second

"Barrier

", including the teachers. Since Evan had gone to the farthest corner of the grounds, the teachers didn't watch him. They assumed he had decided to recover his mana and prepare for the final battle while the others would dealt with the Ogres.

However, they were wrong about something, Evan wasn't going to sit there and wait for it to be over. After Evan broke through the second barrier, he began to

"Create

" until he had accumulated enough mana for several spells. Satisfied with the result Evan headed back to the center of the arena, which is where the Ogres were now.

The monsters were getting closer by the second, and because of Evan's actions, the other students had little room to maneuver. A little longer and the participants would either have to attack the Ogres themselves, or the monsters would throw them into the water.

By this point, there were only nine of the fourteen students left. On the one hand, it was a good result, since only five had dropped out, but on the other hand, they hadn't even made it to the finals yet.

Whoosh.

Evan was quickly jumping from root to root, he thought the battle against the Ogres was about to happen and he was going to take part in it. Evan was well aware that he could not handle them alone. Only together, they could defeat them, but Evan was not going to unite with anyone.

Gerda was his only, albeit temporary ally. In his opinion, it was too risky to form teams with anyone right now.

Whoosh.

Evan jumped to the outermost root and stopped in front of a small chasm that he had created by himself. He looked at the students on the other side and muttered quietly:

"Looks like I'm the only loner.

"

All the other participants had joined into teams. Two teams consisted of two people while there was one team of as many as three. Still, except for Evan, there was another loner -Enni, who was standing alone at the root.

Looking around each team, Evan quickly found Gerda. He wasn't surprised that the girl was allied with someone again. She was weaker than the others, and could not rely solely on her strength if she wanted to win.

"living fortress

" had also found a new teammate. It will be very hard to deal with them.> Evan thought to himself looking at Chloe and Lars standing next to each other.

During the entrance exam, Lars had shown his amazing abilities. They were each strong, but that wasn't what alerted Evan.

Evan was seriously concerned about Chloe and Lars' collaboration. He even considered the possibility that he might need to team up with Enni. Evan felt that only with her would he be able to compete with Chloe and Lars. They would simply crush them with their relentless attacks.

Bam. Bam. Bam.

While Evan reasoned, the Ogres were chopping down roots. With each passing second, there were fewer and fewer roots, and the moment of battle was slowly approaching.

"Well, looks like it's time for action.

" Calmly Evan said and in the next moment jumped off the root.

Whoosh.

In midair, he cast the

"Ice Veil

". The snow-white blade of 'Reverse Death

" was covered in a layer of ice.

Swing.

Evan wasn't sure if he could do it, but he had to try, because there was no other way to get to the other side. Almost reaching the water Evan swung the scythe and the next moment an icy platform formed beneath him.

He put the scythe forward, plunging the end of its blade into the water. So he was running forward and a path of ice was being created right in front of him.

Chloe watched Evan move calmly through the water, frowned and muttered:

"First he cuts us off himself, and now he's coming toward us, and moreover he's managed to find a way to move through the water. He pisses me off!

"

"Hmm? You mean Evan?

"

"Do you know his name?

" Chloe was surprised, because students hadn't given their names during the exam.

Lars nodded and said:

"Well yeah, he was the last one during the test before they took us to the underground arena.

"

"Ah, well, yes.

" Chloe said slowly.

"He's strong and capable of acting boldly and unexpectedly. I couldn't imagine that anyone would dare destroy so many roots just to be left alone for a while. And as you can see, unlike us, he's figured out a way to get back.

"

"Lars, I think we should attack him, maybe even now. I'm not sure I can beat him one-on-one, but if we attack instead, he can't do anything to us

". Suggested Chloe looking at Evan running along the water.

"Is he that strong?

" Lars asked in amazement.

Lars had fought Draven before Evan, so he hadn't seen his fight and didn't even know how many seconds Evan had lasted.

Chloe nodded:

"Yep, at this point he must be the strongest among us. That's why I'm suggesting we attack him together.

"

Lars shook his head,

"Then we shouldn't attack him. We need his strength to deal with the Ogres. What's more, where's the guarantee he won't team up with someone else and overpower us?

"

Chloe sighed in frustration and replied,

"Okay, I guess there's logic in your words. By the way, last time he was with one girl, it looks like their alliance didn't last.

"

Bam. Bam. Bam.

While Chloe and Lars were talking, the Ogres had destroyed some more roots. At the same moment, Evan got close to the roots and quickly jumped on one of them.

He looked at the monsters coming his way and calmly said:

"In a few minutes they're going to cut down all the roots, I think it's time to make a move.

"

He expected some of the participants to attack the monsters now, but no one was in a hurry to attack, so Evan decided to move things along on his own. He couldn't let the monsters get any closer.

Whoosh.

His

"Warp

" spun and the next moment a white-hot beam flew straight at the head of the Ogre with an axe.