After Nia explained to the others what happened, she was once again given some weird looks from her friends.
"Nia, this equipment should be a few million Power Stones, if not tens of millions. Where did Lux…?" As Maximus asked this, he couldn't help but wonder what his good friend was up to.
Nia didn't know what to say, she seemed to be contemplating something. This entire situation didn't make sense to her.
Why would Lux lie to her about the items quality and price? And more importantly, she was worried about him. What if he entered into some kind of shady deal to get her these items?
'For now, I should focus on clearing these missions to obtain as many points as possible. If Lux really did something without thinking, then I can convert all the points to Power Stones and help him.'
As Nia strengthened her conviction, she decided to go all out and hunt as many monsters as possible.
It wasn't a matter of obtaining a good place anymore, but one that can affect her brother's future.
"Let's go. I'll ask Lux about this later. For now, we should kill as many monsters as possible."
As Nia said this, she strolled forward before the others could say anything else.
Gawking at the little girl's nimble movements for a while, the trio composed of Maximus, Silvanna and Emily quickly followed after her.
It's already been close to two hours since the test began, and they already secured an SSS-Class Monster, there shouldn't be many capable of something like that amongst the students.
Maybe only Mark and his team, or Xia, but Xia was deemed to be a monster by herself.
A few minutes later, Nia and the others arrived in front of a cave that was curiously enough in the middle of the forest.
"What do you think?" Asked Emily. Her Ability was focused on healing, and so, she was usually at the back, ready to heal her companions wounds.
Just like she healed Maximus after the fight was over.
"We should take a look, this cave should hold some secrets. And there's a good chance that there are tons of small monsters waiting to be converted into points by us."
Nia was the one who spoke, but Silvanna quickly admonished her, "That's true, but we have to pay attention to our surroundings at any step, who knows what we may find inside."
"There's also the possibility that a Proto-Class Monster could be inside…" As Maximus said this, he felt three murderous gazes on his body.
"W-What?"
"Don't jinx us like that!"
"If something really happens, you'll be the first one to die."
As Silvanna and Emily roughed Maximus a little, Nia decided to get closer to the cave and explore its entrance.
———
About ten minutes after Nia and the others found the cave, a black haired girl with a sword in her hand mercilessly looked down at a monster resembling something extinct on Earth for years, a dinosaur.
The T-Rex was close to 6 meters in height and over 12 meters in length. The giant colossus weighing over 8 tons was currently in a pool formed from his own blood.
All of this because he decided to bother the girl that now stood above him.
Xia didn't have any compassion in her eyes as she slashed the Proto-Class Monster's neck, ending his life.
'I'll catch up to you brother… One day, I'm sure.'
Storing the corpse into her SkyLimit bracelet, Xia prepared to go and kill more monsters, when suddenly something happened nearby.
A few tens of meters ahead of her, the ground sank in, and the mouth of a cave could be seen rising.
If Nia and the others were here, they would be surprised to notice that it looked exactly as the cave they prepared to enter.
'Did this cave just appear here because of me?'
'That's not normal.'
Even if Xia thought this, she fearlessly stepped inside the cave. For her, nothing was more important than getting stronger.
Besides, she was very confident in her own power.
There shouldn't be something here that could defeat her. Or at least, that's what she thought…
———
Half an hour later.
'Hmm, a cave? And in the middle of nowhere too…'
As Lux watched the cave in front of his eyes, he didn't hesitate to enter inside.
The first thing that caught his eyes were the blue lights flickering on the hard walls of the cave.
They seemed to be like butterflies flying around, but without a target. And if Lux felt it right, they weren't even intelligent creatures.
But wisps of aura that radiated from somewhere, or from something…
"Heh, this should be interesting." Without fear, Lux spoke loudly, as if he hoped that someone would hear him.
'Not falling for that huh. Don't worry I'll play by the rules.'
Smiling as he thought this, Lux started to walk forward, while following the small road inside the cave.
Besides the butterflies passing by him, Lux didn't see any other kind of monster coming to block his path.
But this didn't mean that there was nothing at all.
In fact, Lux managed to get his hands on different kinds of plants and herbs that grew in between the walls of the cave.
This was a sudden windfall that helped him complete his first mission. With only two or so hours after the test began, it was surely only Lux who managed to complete his tasks.
Not like he cared, but his image should be preserved in front of the professors and the students.
"Hmm, I wonder what would happen if I destroyed these nice looking butterflies? They gross me out for a reason…"
As soon as Lux said this, he felt the cave shake for less than a second. This made his giggle.
'Unfortunately, it stopped so soon… Tsk.'
Not saying or doing anything else, Lux continued to walk forward.
A few minutes later, he was surprised to see multiple paths in front of him. Six paths to be more accurate.
"Hmm, which one to take?"
Lux closed his eyes, before opening them again, his eyes shined with a bright gold color, then he suddenly looked at the paths ahead.
His eyes stopped for a while on two of them. In the third path, a black haired girl seemed to be struggling with two scaled snakes that had wings.
And on the fifth path, there was Nia's team that had a much easier time in comparison to Xia.
'I should go and help Nia, but for now, they're safe. Instead, little Xia seems to have some trouble.'
Making up his mind, Lux decided to go and help Xia. The two of them seemed to be acquainted with each other.