"Round 1: Goblin."

  Instructor Reina's pre-recorded voice hit my ears, and I saw a small green creature that was about half of my proud 5'9" height materialize in front of me. It had flabby, wrinkly skin but it was as thin as bones. The goblin wore nothing more than rags on its body to cover the important bits, and it sported a crudely made knife.

  'It looks easy to defeat, but this is my first time fighting monsters. I can't overestimate myself or underestimate the enemy.'

  For the first time since coming to Evergreen Academy, I activated my ability. A dagger made out of dark energy appeared in front of me, and I grasped the hilt of it. I charged towards the goblin and swung at its neck like it was instinct.

  The goblin reacted quickly, and it blocked my strike with the knife it was holding. However, it's crude design made it clear that it was weakening. I didn't let the goblin go on the offensive, and I instead sweeped my leg while the goblin was focused on the clash of our knives. It lost its balance for a moment, and I used that opening to send a direct stab towards its head. The goblin blocked once more, but its weak balance caused the already weak knife to break into pieces. It didn't even get to register what had happened as I used my previous momentum to plunge my dagger straight into its head, killing it instantly.

  "Press the green button whenever you're ready for the next round."

  The goblin corpse disappeared as I decided to do some light stretches. The first round was most likely just a warm-up round for the students. Those who'd never seen a monster before in person would have time to adjust, and it was easy enough for anyone with offense oriented abilities to defeat.

  Relaxed and ready for the next round, I pressed the green button.

  "Round 2: Orc."

  Another green creature materialized in front of me, but this time it was about half a foot larger than me. The orc seemed to have tough skin, with well built muscles and a large snout. It also carried a medieval shield and axe, making it much more formidable than the goblin earlier.

  'It's impossible for me to kill it in one hit in a direct battle. I'll have to weaken it and wear it down through multiple strikes.'

  I charged at the orc with my dagger like before with the goblin, but it confidently blocked me with its shield before swinging its axe. Unable to dodge in time, I chose to block the axe with my dagger, but that left my side exposed. The orc shield bashed me, and I stumbled backwards, losing my posture. I gritted my teeth as the orc relentlessly attacked me with its axe and shield, keeping me on the defensive.

  'I've got to change my weapon!'

  At the cost of a small gash on my torso, I created some space between me and the orc and changed my dark energy dagger to a dark energy spear. Considering my lack of dark energy and control, it was more like a thin and shaky rod, but I couldn't get any attacks to reach the orc otherwise.

  I ran forwards once more and thrusted the spear towards the orc. It blocked it with the shield, but unlike before, the axe couldn't reach me. I sideswiped my spear past the shield before it could react and pushed it forward as fast as possible. I struck the orc straight in its lower abdomen, causing it to let out a bellowing roar that nearly sent shivers down my spine.

  I twisted my spear before pulling it out, causing as much damage to the orc as possible. The orc entered an aggravated state, becoming even more relentless than before. It lost its reason and moved purely on instinct, making it much more difficult to hit the orc again with the spear.

  'I can kill it if I get close, but how do I do that? Wait... the axe! The handle's definitely something I can slice through!'

  Being a medieval axe, the handle was made out of wood and almost certainly weaker than the orc's skin. I changed my spear back into a dagger and feigned an attack on the shield. Moving on instinct, the orc blocked my feint and began to swing down its axe. But I moved first, and I directly hit the axe handle with my dagger, causing the axe head to fall off. It hit my shoulder to make it bleed before hitting the ground, but that was well worth the advantage I gained.

  The orc seemed to recognize that its weapon was now useless, and it chose to take the time to drop its weapon. I didn't miss this opening, and I lunged past its shield with my dagger and struck its wound again. The orc roared loudly in pain and made my ears bleed, but I continued to just stab and stab.

  However, I'd forgotten that the orc now had one of its hands free. It grabbed me by the neck with a crushing force, and it opted to drop its shield to grab my neck with its other hand as well. The orc lifted me up and away from its wound with its strength, and I began to suffocate from the pressure on my neck.

  'If I can't reach it with the dagger anymore, I'll just have to make the dagger reach it!'

  Both the orc and I were in a completely defenseless position now, and so I pointed my dagger at the orc's snout and directly transformed it into a spear. The spear stabbed into the orcs snout, causing it to roar even loader and somehow put more force into its hands.

  My heart began to pound furiously as I had the dark energy spear bend and twist inside the orc, desperately trying to stab a vital point. Flailing my arms that were holding the spear around, my vision began to darken just as I saw blood spurt out of the orc's head. Finally, the roaring stopped and the hands on my neck loosened, causing me to fall helplessly to the ground.

  "Press the green button whenever you're ready for the next round."

  I took huge breaths in and out and returned my heart rate to normal as I laid in the grass. All of the bruises and cuts I had sustained were healed, but my mind felt a bit shaken.

  'That might as well have been the real round 1, and I already barely survived. If I had more control over my ability, or heck, even if I just had more dark energy, things wouldn't have been this tough.'

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  I sighed.

  "...I'm really quite pathetic for an Evergreen Academy student, aren't I?"

  "No person starts out with exceptional abilities right from the get go. The top ranked hunters you see today have reached their positions through hard work and perseverance. The purpose of Evergreen Academy's ranking exam is not to belittle anybody for their abilities. Rather, it is to encourage them to keep working hard so that they may surpass their limits."

  '...Huh. So Instructor Reina pre-recorded these kinds of messages too. She really does seem like a considerate person.'

  I got up from the ground and started to do some light stretches, my head feeling much clearer than before.

  'Well anyways, she's right. It's not like I've really practiced my ability at all, so of course it's going to be pathetic. It was a miracle to get into Evergreen without any real effort, but ironically enough, it's now an opportunity for me to start putting effort in. The only thing I can do right now though is give it my all, down to my last breath.'

  With a newfound resolution, I pressed the green button to start round 3.

  "Round 3: Goblin Horde."

  Around 30 goblins appeared in front of me, and they instantly pounced on my lonesome self. I struggled to get any strikes in as the goblins surrounded and slashed at me, causing me to bleed all over the place and forcing me to be very defensive.

  'I can't waste time trying to break their weapons. It's got to be one strike, one kill. Conventional means won't work here.'

  I became completely reckless with my body as I threw a punch at one of the goblins. As I did so, I formed a fast moving and sharp spike from my hand, piercing straight through the goblin's shoddy weapon and its skull. I retracted the spike and returned to my defensive position, but I was already starting to feel a bit woozy from the increasing blood loss.

  'My defense is too weak... ah, if I time it right, I can fully utilize my ability!'

  I covered my body in a thin layer of dark energy. It wasn't much, but it forcefully suppressed the bleeding and prevented the weaker stabs and slashes from hurting me. I then threw another punch at a goblin, moving all of the dark energy from my body to my hand in a spike. Just after the spike pierced the goblin's skull, I retracted it and covered my body with the dark energy again.

  This worked for a few goblins, but then I suddenly felt a blinding pain in my left eye unlike anything else I've ever experienced, and I screamed in agony. My ability worked faster than my mind or my body, and a dark energy spike forcefully protruded from inside my left eye. A shoddy knife and a goblin corpse fell to the ground. My body was shaking and screaming in pain, but my mind was calm, and I quickly gathered my thoughts.

  'I almost died there, I was lucky just to go half blind. Was it instinct? No nevermind, that's not important right now. I need to change my attack patterns so that the goblins can't adapt.'

  I swung my fist at another goblin. The goblin, expecting a spike, didn't bother blocking with the knife and instead evaded to the side. Meanwhile, the other goblins, expecting me to be defenseless, all moved to attack me at once.

  However, I didn't make a spike, and by the time they realized, they were full of openings. Instead of a spike, I opted for a sideways blade, and I forcefully swung my hand around. Many goblins became casualties, and others were significantly injured.

  At this point, the corpses and injured goblins were somewhat becoming a hindrance to the other goblins. Not to mention, my attacks became unpredictable, and so the goblins were leaving more openings than before. However, I wasn't faring much better. My body was battered and aching, and my movements were becoming clumsy.

  'It's a game of endurance now.'

  I forcefully continued to swing my arms around and stab the goblins with spikes or a blade. My breathing became heavier, and it felt like I was choking on air. Despite my defensive dark energy around me, I was still losing blood, and I felt very lightheaded and faint. Eventually though, it was just one lone goblin standing between me and the end of round 3.

  The goblin swung its knife at me, but I couldn't physically dodge anymore. I fell to the ground at eye level with the goblin.

  'I might not have the energy to move, but I'm still able to use my ability.'

  When the goblin got close to me with the knife, it believed I had run out of strength and didn't bother guarding itself. I launched a surprise attack with a dark energy spike from my head, and the last goblin fell down.

  "Press the green button whenever you are ready for the next round."

  I completely collapsed on the grass at the sound of Instructor Reina's voice, and I felt all of my physical fatigue and pain wash away. My heart was still beating very quickly though, and so I took a few deep breaths to calm it down.

  'I wonder... my ability saved me earlier without me even thinking about it. Is it not linked to my mind, but rather something else?'

  I didn't know much about abilities in general though, and so I just let that be a passing thought as I stood up and pushed the green button again.

  "Round 4: Great Wolf."

  A large wolf my size with glowing eyes and gray fur materialized in front of me. I barely even lifted my arm when the wolf jumped forward and bit it. I let out a scream as the wolf easily chomped it clean off.

  I used some dark energy to form a thin wall around my stub of an arm to stop the bleeding, and I used the rest to form a dagger in my remaining hand. I moved to stab the wolf in its eyes, but it just opened its mouth and chomped my other arm off before ramming straight into my stomach. I lost my balance, and I fell onto the ground.

  'I might not be able to attack it head-on, but I can attack it somewhere else!'

  As the wolf rushed towards me to finish me off, I rolled to the side and shot a spike of dark energy into the side of its stomach from one of my stubby arms. It let out a pained yelp and leaped away, before running and striking at my neck with its claws.

  I blocked it with some strategic dark energy, but the force of the impact left me completely prone on the ground. The wolf simultaneously opened its mouth towards my head and swung its claws at my stomach. Only able to protect one area with the small amount of dark energy I had, I chose to protect my head.

  A louder scream of agony came from me as my inner organs became soup from the wolf's claw. I felt my strength weaken as the wolf continued to attempt to bite off my head. The wristband that had magically moved to my arm stub tried to entice me to press it, but only one real thought ran through my mind at that moment.

  '...Let's not have any regrets.'

  I channeled my dark energy through my head and used a dark energy spike to pierce through the roof of the wolf's mouth. As I did so, the wolf bit off my head, but it also howled in pain immediately afterwards.

  'I'm dying, but I feel satisfied with myself. This must be the meaning of effort.'

  In my last vestiges of consciousness, I saw the wolf brutally mauling my corpse in anger while profusely bleeding from its snout.