RRUMM…!

The ground beneath them shook, the tremor spreading to the walls until the entire maze quivered.

Catrine was startled and quickly steadied herself. Soon after, the shaking subsided.

Then, a holographic panel formed from magic appeared on the ceiling.

“[Number of remaining candidates: 800 people.]”

Seeing this, Catrine was quite surprised. Thousands had entered the first stage, but now only 800 remained.

That meant more than two hundred people had been eliminated.

‘This test is actually quite easy. It’s nothing compared to what I went through during training with Master,’ she whispered, shaking her head.

To her, this test was merely child’s play. If she hadn’t returned home late, she would have been in the first wave.

‘The second test will begin soon. I wonder how strong those wooden puppets are,’ Catrine murmured with a faint smile.

She wanted to finish the second test quickly. Only then could she meet her sister.

Unfortunately, the rules didn’t allow it, so she had no choice but to follow them.

“The second test… begins!”

The voice rang out again, and Catrine suddenly felt the ground vibrate beneath her feet.

She turned instinctively, spotting a faint red glow in the distance.

She narrowed her eyes to get a clearer look. A few seconds later, she realized the red glow came from puppets.

They were the wooden puppets Ronald had mentioned—shaped like humans in red armor, each holding a sword in its right hand.

But their hollow eyes and expressionless faces left no doubt: they were nothing more than puppets.

“Interesting. Their strength is around the sixth to seventh core spirit level. Quite strong… but that only makes it more exciting.”

Catrine thrust her sword forward. A faint blue glow shimmered along its blade as she assumed a fighting stance.

As the puppets closed in, her figure vanished like a bolt of lightning.

The spot where she had been standing blossomed with delicate ice flowers.

Catrine reappeared above them, spinning gracefully before bringing her sword down with all her strength.

Boom!

***

“Crazy… Your sister is crazy, Merlin!” Margaret said, unable to hide her admiration.

At first, she had only thought Catrine was fairly talented. But now, her evaluation of the girl had risen sharply. Catrine was truly astonishing.

Merlin was speechless. Her strength far exceeded what he had imagined.

‘System, are you sure the main character of The Lost Hero isn’t Catrine?’ Merlin asked weakly, letting out a small sigh.

Even Abel hadn’t reached this level at the age of ten. His entire understanding of The Lost Hero had begun to crumble because of his younger sister.

“[I don’t understand either, Master. Your sister is truly a monster. You should be proud,]” the system replied in amazement.

Merlin could only give a wry smile.

Proud? Of course he was. But Catrine’s extraordinary talent still placed a subtle pressure on him.

If this continued, she might truly surpass him. It was even possible that she would reach the First Spirit Core before he did.

And Merlin wasn’t the only one who felt that way—Luna, standing beside him, also began to feel intimidated by Catrine’s strength.

In the past, she believed that with her S-level talent and the blood of the Tharot family founder, she would stand at the top sooner or later.

That was also why she had trained less diligently after entering the academy.

But now, she realized that dream was somewhat… naive. Catrine was a real threat.

If she didn’t show significant improvement in the next few months, it was entirely possible that Catrine would take Merlin from her.

***

Slash!

Catrine continued cutting down the wooden puppets without showing the slightest sign of fatigue.

With every swing of her sword, ten to fifteen puppets lost their heads.

So in just ten strikes, she had already cleared the second stage of the first test.

But she didn’t stop. Her slashes were like thunderous lightning—too fast to see clearly, yet devastating.

Within a single minute, more than three hundred wooden puppets were destroyed.

By the fifth minute, she finally came to a complete stop, having destroyed over thirteen hundred puppets.

“Phew… I’m tired,” she murmured, brushing the light sweat from her forehead.

Even so, she had used only five percent of her energy.

“Stopping now felt dull. Maybe I should hunt down more puppets.”

The thought brought a smile back to her face. She crouched slightly, bent her knees, and surged forward at full speed.

***

“Damn it! Help me! They’re chasing me!”

A twelve-year-old boy ran with terror written all over his face.

He glanced back and saw hundreds—no, thousands—of wooden puppets pursuing him, brandishing swords, spears, and various other weapons.

They resembled ordinary soldiers, but their emotionless faces made them far more frightening.

“No… they’re faster than me! If this keeps up, I’ll die!”

His thoughts spun wildly as a strong sense of danger closed in around him.

“I have to fight back!”

It was his only choice. If he kept running like this, he would never clear the second stage.

With that resolve, he spun around and charged toward the swarm of puppets.

“Basic Level Magic: Rain of Fireballs!”

He thrust out his palm, and a red magic circle ignited above it.

From the circle, hundreds of fireballs rained down on the wooden puppets.

The explosion that followed made him believe his attack had landed.

But the next moment, as the smoke cleared, thousands of puppets still stood—completely unharmed.

“Huh?” He froze. “How… is that possible?”

Before he could react, his body was engulfed by the crowd, and the puppets struck without mercy.

Thankfully, their weapons were only made of wood; otherwise, he would have been torn apart. Still, the pain was excruciating.

“Help! Ouch! It hurts so much! Stop!”

He raised both arms to protect his head and vital areas from their strikes.

“Someone, please help me!” he screamed, writhing in pain.

If this continued, he would be eliminated from the second stage.

Suddenly…

Slash!

A faint cutting sound echoed from above. In the next instant, the attacks stopped.

Startled, he looked up and saw that not a single wooden puppet remained standing.

“Huh? What… happened? Why are they all destroyed?”

Pieces of hands, feet, and heads littered the floor, as if the puppets had been slaughtered in an instant.

The slash marks on their bodies were so precise that it seemed impossible for just anyone to have done it.

He glanced around but saw no one—only frost flowers scattered across the ground.

“Frost flowers?” he whispered in astonishment, touching them in disbelief.

***

Catrine continued moving through the maze, hunting for the wooden puppets. She wanted to carve a history that had never existed before.

But she knew it was almost impossible. Many of her predecessors had been stronger than her at the same age. Still, she refused to lose… she wanted her name etched into history.

Only then would her brother see her differently—not just as a little sister, but as someone his equal.

Whoosh!

She accelerated, moving faster and faster. Soon, she spotted a group of wooden puppets in the distance and charged straight at them.

Meanwhile, in the monitoring room, Margaret, Merlin, and Luna watched, each lost in their own thoughts.

They could guess Catrine’s goal—to defeat as many wooden puppets as possible. Honestly, her actions were completely unpredictable.

“What is she aiming for? Isn’t a hundred enough to pass?” Luna asked, frowning.

If she were in Catrine’s place, she would have stayed quiet and waited for the second stage to end.

What Catrine was doing was completely beyond her understanding.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Margaret rolled her eyes. “Catrine wants to break the record. As far as I remember, in this academy’s history, only Academy Head Linda has done it—she defeated ten thousand wooden puppets before the second stage of the first exam even ended.”

Merlin and Luna froze. They exchanged glances, shock clear on their faces.

‘Break the record, huh? That girl is seriously stubborn,’ Merlin muttered, sounding helpless.

But given Catrine’s past behavior, the outcome wasn’t entirely surprising.

With her abilities, he was certain she could do it. The strength was certainly there.

Luna stared at Catrine on the screen, her expression a mix of disbelief and awe.

***

“This is the last one… huff…” Catrine sighed softly as she swung her sword.

Ahead of her, thousands of wooden puppets lay motionless on the floor.

She didn’t know the exact number she had defeated, but it had to be more than eight thousand.

“That should be enough, right?” she wondered silently.

Then the woman’s voice rang out again.

Dong!

Dong!

“[The second stage is complete! Congratulations to Catrine Clay for defeating nine thousand five hundred wooden puppets! She is now recorded as the second person in history to defeat the most wooden puppets!]”

Catrine froze at the announcement.

“Second…? How is that possible?”

She had thought she might be the first—but the result was surprising: she was only second.

Then what about the first?

Who were they, and how many monsters had they defeated?

At that moment, the voice echoed again:

“[The second stage is officially complete! Number of surviving candidates: 600.]”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep