Taranbiest.

Bitz Shards.

The spell combo showed its effects on the ax-wielding puppet. The animal lost its left leg after being bitten by two lightning hounds.

Eren wasn’t exhausted because of the constant use of his infinite mana core. But mentally, he was stressed because of the kind of fight the ax-wielding puppet had put up against him.

It’s already been more than ten minutes since Eren had gotten rid of the elf and mage puppets. He had been fighting with the ax-wielding puppet continuously since then. And yet, it kept on fighting even after being bombarded with Eren’s spell-spamming instances.

Eren had realized that the ax-wielding puppet was special. It wasn’t as rigid as the other two puppets. And it had fewer chinks in his defensive stance. Eren felt like he was in a fight with a real ranker.

The attack was Eren’s first big breakthrough. He felt relieved that the hounds had finally managed to handicap the puppet. Even this was enough for Eren to concentrate all his attacks on the puppet.

Or so he thought.

The bear tattoo on the puppet activated when it was critically injured. The tattoo sent mana pulses throughout the room, making Eren feel as if a real bear had been summoned.

A red glow emanated from the bear tattoo on the puppet’s chest. In the next moment, its body started transforming.

The ax-wielding puppet’s arms and legs puffed up even more. This was as if it was using flesh-altering spells. Only that the effects seem more prominent. The puppet’s mana signature also changed as a result of the activation of the tattoo.

Something unimaginable started happening to the ax-wielding puppet. It started changing into a bear-like humanoid that still retained its human-like features to some degree.

The puppet’s missing leg grew and was covered in bear fur. His other limbs also followed suit shortly after. The puppet’s featureless face suddenly had a bear-like mouth. Its red ruby eyes glowed from red to bright red.

No puppet had ever made a sound before this. But all changed when the ax-wielding puppet completed its transformation.

Breee!

A bear-like war cry was released from the puppet’s mouth as it gripped its ax harder. It then focused its gaze on Eren who was watching the puppet from a distance while maintaining vigilance.

“Fuuuuuuck!”

Eren gulped empty air as it saw the puppet’s transformation. For some reason, his spell spamming attacks hadn’t worked on this damned puppet. And Eren came to realize why.

Like living and breathing beings that harness and use mana, the puppet had a mana defense layer. And its mana defense layer was much stronger than usual. The transformation had made the layer visible so only at this point Eren had come to know about it.

Swoosh!

Boom!

The ax-wielding puppet launched its attack. The ax cleaved the ground Eren was standing on just a moment ago as it swung vertically. The ground cracked and the crack expanded to a few meters in both directions.

Eren had already jumped away from his position using his movement spell. He could see the destruction that was caused by the enhanced puppet with just a single move.

“Other contestants would have been long dead at this point.”

Eren said loudly while changing his position once again after landing on the ground a few meters away. He needed to buy time for himself to cast more summoning spells.

Breeee!

Eren had grim expressions on his face as he heard the half-bear puppet cry right behind him. Thanks to the boost in physical stats it had received due to the bear-like transformation, its speed had increased to another level.

Eren’s agility and his speed were still superior to the puppet’s. It was just that the difference wasn’t big enough for him to have breathing room.

Eren retrieved a scroll from his storage and imbued it with his mana before throwing it on the ground. He then jumped up and turned back. He saw the bear-like puppet who was trying to trace his steps come near the scroll he had just thrown.

Eren used his mana sense to operate on the scroll. This was one of the array traps he had bought from Malcolm. Originally, he had planned on using these resources when he was in the final phase of clearing the testing grounds. But he had never imagined that he would be forced to employ the array trap in the first round.

The array trap expanded on the ground within a fraction of a second. Incidentally, it changed into a bear trap made of iron-element mana that snapped at the puppet’s leg.

This was the same leg Eren had destroyed using Taranbiest. It got trapped in the bear trap, preventing the bear from approaching Eren.

Eren landed on the ground after confirming that his array trap had sprung correctly. He had already started casting spells in midair. So when he landed on the ground, there was a swarm of firebirds surrounding him.

Eren retrieved his crossbow from his storage and cast his spell on it before aiming. Meanwhile, he sent the firebirds forward to attack the puppet head-on and keep it busy.

Blitz Arrow x6

Release!

Blitz Arrow x6

Release!

Blitz Arrow x6

Release!

The crossbow allowed Eren to release six lightning arrows at once. Eren stacked the spells and released the first batch of arrows on the bear’s trapped leg. He then followed up with his next batch of attacks.

Eren had been practicing with his crossbow during his training. It was just that he was not skilled enough in using it while his targets were moving. But now that the puppet had been forced to stay on the same spot due to the bear trap, Eren could use it as his target practice. It would also allow him to keep a safe distance from the bear.

Breee!

Eren kept on attacking the bear with various spells while the bear trap was active. He used his axes in conjunction with the Blitz Whips. He used his Tachi to send his flying slashes at him. Finally, he threw an explosive potion at the puppet.

All his efforts finally paid off when Eren heard the sought-after third thud. It was the sound of all his problems dropping motionless on the ground.

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