"Hey, I'm getting back some vision on this area..." An examiner said, refreshing his mana crystal with his own mana to get a clearer view.

Others peeked up from their crystals and looked at his, one stating, "Is it in a cave?"

Another one also noticed something, "The walls are glowing green."

"It must be the Poison Tarantula's Nest." Another quickly stated, realizing it for himself.

The blurry static-like vision on the mana crystal finally cleared up to reveal what looked to be the heart of the nest, where the body of a giant spider lay--headless and legless.

"Is that its severed head in the side there?" An examiner from the side commented out of shock.

That crystal balls examiner was left speechless for a few seconds, shocked and even disturbed to some point, "What kind of monster could have the capability of doing this to a Poison Tarantula..."

Another one noticed the brutality with which it was killed, "Its legs were clearly torn off as if it was killed by some beast, but its head cleanly sliced off. What in the world happened in there?"

As a short silence fell on the room, the examiner sitting above the crystal ball changed the angle of the vision to look around the room, "Is that... a boy?"

"Hey look! There are others there as well!"

***

After decapitating the tarantula, having used all of his strength and stamina in cutting it up beforehand, Lyrian blacked out without noticing. As this happened, Garmr was instantly sent back into his shadow.

Soon after, he was awoken by a few light pats on his cheek. As he came to open his eyes, he noticed two blurry faces tinted with a dim green glow.

Seeing Lyrian's eyes begin to open, a feeling of relief washed over Alten, "Lyrian! You're okay! Thank god!"

Leon, who was kneeling over Lyrian's body like Alten, also felt relieved. As Lyrian cleared his head and slowly began to stand, he asked, "Lyrian... how did you manage to kill this thing?" Looking at the dead body of the Poison Spider.

Lyrian paused, thinking of what to say, "Hey... you never know what hidden powers I have up my sleeve." He suddenly said in a joking manner before beginning to walk over to the spider's corpse.

For Leon, this answer sufficed. 'He doesn't want us to know... but I don't sense any evil intentions. It most likely is for the best, but It is still interesting.' He thought to himself, following Lyrian.

"Wh-what!? That makes no sense!" Alten yelled in confusion, also following along, "What powers!?"

Lyrian smirked on hearing this, "If I told you, then they wouldn't be hidden nor would they be up my sleeve."

"Hahaha!" Leon couldn't help but laugh on hearing this, of course, to Alten's dismay.

Lyrian arrived in front of the tarantula's corpse, looking over it with a sense of gratitude, 'This could have been the end of me.' He clenched his jaw, realizing the possibilities of what could have occurred if he didn't have Garmr to save him.

'It's not enough. Im so weak that even passing this entrance exam without dying seems like a difficult concept. I need more power...' He thought to himself, half determined, and also half disappointed in himself, 'On top of that, I completely forgot about the fact that I could have summoned Garmr. Sure, there's the risk of showing him to the world, but that risk is not as bad as failing the exam.' Saying this to himself, he also got another thought, 'On saying that... I wonder what will happen now that I've shown Garmr. I have no doubt that examiners were looking into the situation... I guess ill just have to wait it out and see.'

As he thought this, he retrieved the core from the spider and also its giant fangs at the same time. Again, the thought of Reaping its soul came to mind, but Lyrian had to refuse.

It was a painful decision, but it was an easy one nonetheless. Right now, he only had 1 empty slot for a soul, and the other slot for fusible souls was filled by the Hobgoblin Shaman.

"Hey, what are the fangs for?" Alten asked Lyrian, seeing him retrieve the fangs and put them in his storage ring.

"Oh, those? You'll see once we get to Igniels place." Lyrian grinned.

"Mysterious today huh..." Alten exclaimed, irritated.

With that, the three decided that it was time to leave. After making sure they didn't forget to do anything or leave anything behind, they left the Poison Tarantula's Nest victorious.

Soon they arrived back at the Dwarven Village and went to Igniels place to pick up the stuff that Alten and Leon had gathered on their stay in the village while Lyrian was getting his sword fixed.

"You two again?" Igniel said as he opened the door to his workshop, seeing Alten and Leon, but then he also noticed a third face in the back, "Oh! Lyrian as well? Did you get the sword fixed?" He eagerly asked.

Lyrian was happy to answer, "Yep, it's fixed, and now even more powerful than before." He said, gesturing to his sheath.

Igniel was delighted to hear this, "That's great!" Not only because Lyrian got his sword fixed, but also because he didn't turn out to be a liar in the end.

'Phew! That was a close one.' He nervously thought to himself as he scratched his head.

"Oh yea, I almost forgot. Here's a gift for you." Lyrian said, pulling out the Poison Spider's fangs before handing them over to Igniel.

The dwarf's face lit up from shock as he saw what was in Lyrian's hand, "What!? Tha-that's impossible!" He exclaimed.

*Rumble rumble*

Just then, a small cavequake seemed to begin, as dwarves quickly poured into Igniels place. Igniel took the fangs and put them on his work desk.

"Are those Poison Spider fangs!?" Drodos suddenly said, seeming to appear out of thin air.

"You again!?" Alten yelled, confused at how Drodos always was there when a cavequake happened.

"Yea... I used the sword Brokkr fixed to give it the final blow. It was a difficult fight bu--" Lyrian said as he walked to the work desk, but was interrupted by the perplexed Igniel.

"No... you don't understand Lyrian. This creature was not a normal one. It was an elder, something that is far stronger than a normal variant."

As Igniel said this, Lyrian got a thought, 'That's what Gear said as well...'

"We haven't been able to take care of it for decades! This..." Igniel seemed to be left speechless, "You!" He suddenly exclaimed, as all the other 8 or so dwarves inside of the building also came closer and listened in, their expressions full of shock and surprise at what they were hearing.

"You're a hero! A hero to this village!" Igniel suddenly yelled as the entire room broke out into cheer.

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