CHAPTER 236: WELL... SHIT

"You have already passed and been accepted as students. What is the reason for the fight?" The cloaked man spoke with a frown, as if not wanting to have any more extra work.

The girl seemed to think for a moment, as if not knowing what she should say right now.

"I would like to have a duel too; there seems to be time till the students come back," Theo spoke, making the blonde-haired girl look at him with surprise.

Theo just showed her casual seriousness. There was no way he was going to back down now that there was a half-baked duel invite in front of him.

The cloaked man sighed and nodded, making Theo move into the circle this time.

The brown-haired boy’s stare lingered as Theo moved past him, but he didn’t show any sign of frustration or agitation. He had simply accepted that he was defeated, which was really hard to see in such a young student.

"Are you ready?" The cloaked man spoke, and the girl and Theo both nodded.

The small mantis was just on the ground, looking at the big hound a few meters away from it with the same insect-like expression.

Yet the hound, on the other hand, showed signs of anger as if the mantis was not worthy enough to fight it or something.

’It’s the first time the mantis and I will be fighting a beast that is of a different kind than the forest, and this high-leveled,’ Theo thought, and soon a small smirk came onto his face in confidence.

There was no way the mantis was going to lose to such a creature.

"Start."

The cloaked man spoke, making the hound move at intense speed from the start, closing the gap within a mere second.

Theo’s gaze went to the blue-haired girl who winced for a moment; he understood what had happened. The hound was not given an order yet.

He understood it very well, as his mantis was the same, one that dodged the hound that was going to bite half its body off with the Metallic Strike skill.

’Good, now we can’t use it for the next 5 seconds,’ Theo spoke in the bond while looking at the mantis. It did the right thing, but Theo thought it would just dodge normally as its natural jump was high enough too now.

The hound looked left and right, and when it found the mantis in the back, a loud, aggressive howl came from it.

At this point, all the kids were getting in from the different gates they had left from and moved toward the fighting circle.

The cloaked man and the others winced at the fact that if the skill was used again, it might just send all the kids away again.

Theo was able to notice that too, and with a deep breath, he told the mantis to dodge every bit of the hound’s attacks without the skills.

Five seconds wasn’t a big cooldown, but the way the hound kept attacking the mantis without stopping, he needed that cooldown to go out soon.

The mantis dodged a few more times until the hound was just too close to run away from, and at that moment, the mantis became a little creative and instead jumped toward the hound, even surprising it in the process.

The hound’s canines bared at the mantis with its wide-open mouth, and the mantis was going right into it. But at that moment, Theo realized it and told the mantis not to do it.

But it was too late. The mantis’s mandibles moved a few times before a spray of poison went directly inside the hound’s mouth, making it close and move away before the mantis could even land inside on the tongue.

The hound winced and made distance with its eyes widened in utter shock. Theo was surprised to see this many emotions inside the eyes of that hound.

"This may be an emergency," Theo spoke with his hands raised, making the instructors look at him.

"That was a spray of poison that went inside this beast’s mouth directly. I don’t know how much time it has left," Theo spoke while looking at the blue-haired girl, who went into shock after looking at him.

The cloaked instructor clicked his tongue and looked at a uniformed person, who nodded and ran toward the small boxes kept at the corner.

"I-Is it going to be alright?" The girl spoke while moving toward the hound, but soon enough, she was stopped by some uniformed team members.

"It’s too dangerous to go near right now. The beast is in panic and can attack even the master right now," one of the instructors spoke, making the blue-haired girl fall to her knees.

Within a few seconds, the uniformed individual came back again and threw a flask with a liquid in it.

Theo could recognize it within a second — that was the universal poison antidote.

But before the cloaked instructor could reach the hound, a white flashing light came and attacked the panicked hound.

Theo saw the light make a translucent gash at the barrier on the hound’s neck before the barrier burst, and the instructor looked at Theo with a menacing look.

’... Shit.’ Theo did not know the mantis had not stopped till now; he had forgotten to tell it the fight was over.

’Mantis, quickly come back.’ Theo gave an order only to get confused emotions through the bond.

’We can’t kill it! Come quick!’ Theo screamed in the bond, making the mantis come back with disappointed emotions.

Theo did not know what to say at this point. The mantis had the habit of hunting so many beasts at this point, it was normal for it to kill and eat the newer species it met too.

When the burst was over in a second, the cloaked man ran and grabbed the hound’s jaw tightly.

The hound was helpless against that strong grip, and soon all the antidote was poured into its mouth before the cloaked man came back up and cleaned his hands with a handkerchief.

"Theo Merrick, meet me near the stage after the entrance exam is over," he said while staring daggers at Theo.

’Well, shit...’