Time passed and five people had already participated. Among those, only two had managed to pass the test.
Even though the three participants who failed had acted cautiously, they were cornered during the course of the fight. Seeing them in danger, the Instructor intervened.
...
—You're next —the instructor pointed to a young man.
The young man, upon being called, quickly went down and entered the arena.
Standing in the arena and facing the monsters, the young man had an excited look in his eyes. That young man was Nim.
Nim, now standing in the arena, drew his sword from its sheath.
The instructor, seeing the participant ready, reset the timer and lifted the restriction on the monsters.
The kobolds, regaining their movement, once again charged at the person in front of them.
Nim calmly watched the monsters; he had carefully observed the previous five battles.
Although it was true that the small kobold could use magic, it also attacked physically.
Since it could cast magic at any moment, the previous participants had had a hard time.
Seeing the incoming attack from a kobold, Nim stepped aside and dodged its claw. At that moment, the second kobold, which was beside him, also launched an attack aimed at his head.
Nim ducked and the attack failed to hit; those attacks weren't fast enough to reach him.
Taking advantage of that brief moment, Nim performed a horizontal slash from his position.
Swoosh
The kobold, not expecting the swift counterattack, was wounded by a bloody slash that extended from its waist to its chest.
The instructor, observing everything, opened his eyes in slight surprise.
(This kid is strong)
In the previous battles, the kobolds had only received superficial wounds, as the attacks they received weren't strong enough to seriously injure them.
Also, not everyone could counterattack amid the kobolds' relentless attacks.
This was the first time a kobold had been seriously wounded.
The instructor snapped out of his thoughts and refocused on the ongoing battle.
Nim, who had wounded the kobold, showed no surprise at his own attack. He hadn't even used his full strength—if he had, he would have split the kobold in two.
Since he had decided not to draw attention, he had held back.
The kobold, now gravely injured, howled in pain and rage, trying to attack again; the other kobold also resumed its assault on Nim.
Nim easily dodged the attacks while keeping an eye on the smaller kobold; he hadn't forgotten about it.
The magic-using kobold, seeing the human being attacked by its kind, began gathering magic in its claws; after a few moments, a light started forming—it was the fire spell.
With the spell ready, the magic kobold looked back toward the battle to cast it on the human.
But when it looked up, it saw the human right in front of it.
Swoosh
The claw was cut off and separated from the kobold's body; the unfinished spell fell to the ground along with the claw.
Nim, who had severed the kobold mage's claw, sensed something and quickly retreated. The next instant, the still-falling claw exploded.
Boom
Nim, who had dodged the explosion, looked somewhat confused by the situation—he didn't know a spell would react like that even when incomplete.
The kobold mage, unable to move away in time, had smoke rising from its body—it hadn't died from the explosion but was still in a lot of pain from the burns.
The two larger kobolds closed in on Nim and resumed their attacks. A moment ago, they had lost sight of the human, only to find he had hurt another of their kind.
Nim, under attack again, continued dodging effortlessly. After several rounds of attacks, he noticed the kobold he had slashed in the chest moving more slowly.
It had lost a lot of blood during the fight.
Realizing this, he considered delivering a final blow.
At that moment, Nim, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, jumped and dodged an attack coming from behind.
The kobold mage had taken the opportunity to attack him from the rear.
Nim, after dodging, looked at the cunning kobold mage and smiled.
(I'll start with you)
The kobold mage, feeling the human's hostile gaze, tried to retreat and hide behind its kind.
As it tried to step away, it felt pain in its leg; then, it fell to the ground, unable to stay on its feet.
Falling, the kobold mage realized one of its legs had been cut—blood continued to gush out.
The kobold began roaring in pain, when its cries were abruptly silenced by a sword buried in its throat.
Having received such a grave wound and lost so much blood, the kobold slowly became still, until it finally stopped moving.
Nim, seeing that the kobold mage was dead, pulled his sword from the corpse and, with a quick flick, caused the blood to spatter on the floor.
The remaining kobolds, seeing their kin dead, roared in fury as they rushed forward wildly.
Nim, seeing these two companions, smiled chillingly.
—Enough
In the midst of the instructor's shout, the two remaining kobolds were paralyzed by the collars.
The instructor calmly descended while observing the bloody scene of the kobold's corpse.
(This brat..) he had watched the battle from start to finish, and at first, he had only noticed that the boy was strong for his age.
But over the course of the battle, it seemed the boy had become even stronger than he was at the start.
That struck him as strange, and the only logical answer he found was that the boy had been holding back.
Then, as he kept watching, he noticed something else—something that surprised him quite a bit.
This boy was toying with the kobolds, like a predator playing with its prey; this realization made him aware that the boy had a dangerous personality.
—Kid, what's your name?
Nim said his name while feeling the instructor's strange gaze.
(It seems I got carried away)
Nim, who had decided not to draw attention, had failed by showing more of his strength. He was aware of that strange trait that surfaced in battle—that thrill for combat that made him turn bloodthirsty.
But he couldn't help it—it was something that was part of who he was.
—Nim.., congratulations, you passed the test, now wait in the seats with the other passers —the instructor declared as he called the staff to remove the kobold's corpse and replace it with another.
The injured kobold also had to be swapped out.
Having passed the test, Nim smiled broadly and left the arena, now he only had to wait for his identification card.
As he approached the seats, the other participants who hadn't had their turn yet gave him strange looks—some surprised, others somewhat fearful.
Even the two people who had passed the test were no exception.
Nim decided to ignore those stares; he knew his battle had drawn too much attention, and since he couldn't do anything about others' opinions, he didn't dwell on it.
Besides, now he was only thinking about the test ending. so he could officially become an adventurer.