Awakening: I Became a Legendary Spirit Summoner-Chapter 29 - : Third Trial, Nightmare Monster Waves

[The Third Trial will start now.]

Karl's vision flashed, and in an instant, he was teleported to the final location of the [Entrance Examination].

When his sight adjusted, he found himself standing in an endless field of grass.

The wind blew gently, making the tall blades sway like waves.

The sky above was vast and cloudless, stretching endlessly in all directions.

He was just about to take a step forward when—

Flash! Flash! Flash!

Multiple bright lights flickered around him, signaling the arrival of others.

Karl turned his head, scanning the faces of those who had just appeared.

He immediately recognized them.

'They're all from the top 100 on the scoreboard.'

It didn't take long for everyone else to realize it too.

Whispers spread among the participants as their gazes darted toward one another, sizing up the competition.

Some had cautious expressions, others were confident, and a few were already gripping their weapons tightly.

And if the top 100 were here, that meant—

"Karl!"

A familiar voice called out.

Turning his head, Karl spotted Celeste, waving at him with a bright expression, completely ignoring the tense atmosphere.

At that moment, everyone's attention locked onto Karl.

He remained calm but made sure to stay alert.

"...?"

Celeste grinned.

"So we meet again! I hope this isn't a trial where we have to kill each other!"

Karl didn't respond immediately.

Instead, he narrowed his eyes.

Would they really do something like that?

Before he could think too deeply about it, a system notification popped up.

[Third Trial: Competitive Monster Waves]

The second Karl and the others saw the word "competitive," tension skyrocketed.

Celeste, who had been smiling, immediately tightened her grip on her staff.

Others clenched their weapons, some even shifting their stances slightly as if preparing for a fight.

Then, more information appeared.

[Everyone in this trial has been divided into three different difficulties based on their rankings in the last two trials.]

[The Top 100 have been assigned the "Nightmare Trial."]

[The Top 10,000 have been assigned the "Hell Trial."]

[Everyone else has been assigned the "Normal Trial."]

[As expected, those in higher-ranked trials will have greater chances of gaining admission to prestigious academies, as well as earning more Credits.]

Karl exhaled lightly.

So this was how it worked.

Instead of a free-for-all battle against each other, they were thrown into an extreme difficulty monster wave.

"Nightmare Trial," huh?

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

It was likely that only the best of the best could clear it.

And if he wanted to enter Starlight Academy, he had no choice but to pass.

He glanced at Celeste, who had a complicated look on her face.

"It seems like we're in for a rough time," she muttered.

Karl simply nodded.

There was no need to state the obvious.

Then, the system continued.

[Rules of the Third Trial:]

[Five waves of monsters will appear continuously. Each wave will be harder than the last.]

[Participants will be ranked based on total points earned from killing monsters.]

[Special boss monsters will appear randomly. Defeating one grants massive points.]

[The trial ends when either all five waves are cleared, or all participants are defeated/give up.]

This was truly a competition between Karl and the others.

Of course, being within the Top 100 pretty much guaranteed entrance to any academy, but there was one more thing that mattered, performance in this final trial.

The better someone performed, the higher their rating.

That's why everyone needed to be careful of the others.

In fact...

"Hey," Sylas Crowell, the Top 1 in both trials, suddenly spoke, his expression neutral, "Are we allowed to kill the others?"

A heavy silence followed.

It was a surprising question, but it made sense.

If they killed the others, they'd have more monsters for themselves, solidifying their rankings.

And more importantly...

If you wanted to become a true [Awakener], you had to be ready to kill others.

Every guide said the same thing.

After a few seconds, an answer came.

[Yes, you are allowed to fight and kill each other.]

[But if more than twenty people die, meaning if the participants for the "Nightmare Trial" go below 80, the trial will immediately stop, and rankings will be taken as they are.]

A restriction.

One that made sense.

If too many people died early on, the trial would end without giving the others a fair chance.

Karl's eyes flickered with understanding.

They needed to be careful.

The area for the trial was huge, allowing them to move freely while waiting for the monster waves to spawn.

[3...]

The countdown started.

Everyone who could took their stances.

[2...]

Some summoned their swords.

Others wielded their staff.

Some began focusing on their special abilities.

[1...]

But as for Karl, he closed his eyes, extended his arm, and whispered:

"Spirit Summoning."

In an instant, seven spirits materialized around him.

[Frenzied Rabbit]

[Alpha Dire Wolf]

[x4 Armor Goblin Guards]

[Orc King]

He had already used some of these in the second trial, but the Orc King was his trump card.

It would allow him to rack up points fast.

And he didn't want to reveal more than necessary.

[Start!]

The trial began.

Immediately, most of the participants dashed away, not wanting to stay close to each other.

Some were finding positions, others were already preparing their skills.

[The first wave will start in 10 seconds.]

Celeste grinned as she petted the [Frenzied Rabbit], humming happily.

"Frappy!"

Karl blinked, "Did you name it?"

"Of course! I don't want to call her 'Frenzied Rabbit' all the time!"

'Her?'

Karl didn't know the spirits' gender, but it didn't matter much to him.

They were spirits. That was enough.

[The first wave will start in 5 seconds.]

Noticing that the first wave was about to spawn, Celeste smiled at Karl before turning away.

She needed to focus as she also wanted to win.

Karl knew what that meant: they couldn't stay together.

She moved in the opposite direction, staff in hand.

Karl turned his attention forward.

He needed to prepare too.

[The first wave will start in 3 seconds.]

But right as Karl was about to move, he suddenly felt something off.

A sharp, focused killing intent, and it was aimed at him.

[The first wave will start in 1 second.]

[Start!]

Suddenly, the trial grounds shook, and out of nowhere—

Dozens upon dozens of monsters began to spawn.

[Nightmare Difficulty Trial]

[Every monster is worth 3 Points/Credits.]

This was the advantage of the Nightmare Trial, it was much harder than the others, but the monsters gave more points.

"Hell Difficulty" gave 2 points per monster, and "Normal Difficulty" gave 1 point per monster.

Karl was about to command his summons when...

"Found the first monsters!"

A voice echoed behind him.

In an instant, a figure cloaked in a dark robe dashed forward, twin daggers in hand.

But it wasn't attacking the monsters: it was attacking Karl's spirits as they looked like monsters.

Karl's eyes narrowed.