Just as Nox had suspected, the forest behind the Vermillion Royal Academy was massive, covering several square kilometers.


    The vastness was one of the reasons the other students barely crossed each other''s paths. Nox had been walking for approximately 30 minutes, and during this time, he had note across any soul fruits again.


    This made him realize that this test wasn''t as easy as the others thought. There were two obstacles they''d have to ovee if they wanted to obtain the soul fruits. The first was searching for it; he had meticulously scanned around, yet he hadn''t found a single one, which made him suspect that the academy had purposely ced the trees in strategic locations.


    The second was battling the beast that acted as a protector of the soul fruits. Though it wasn''t much of a threat to him, the same couldn''t be said for the average students.


    In order to make his search more efficient, Nox had summoned all his pets and spread them out in all directions.


    All alone, he continued to walk, but after a few minutes, he came to a stop in front of ake with shimmering water and petals floating atop it. Theke seemed beautiful, peaceful, and tranquil. Furthermore, it was inviting, as if calling out to Nox to dive in.


    Nox had not taken a bath for the past three days; naturally, he felt an intense urge to strip buck naked and jump in. No, he didn''t have to—he had fresh clothes stored in his inventory.


    However, despite this, Nox didn''t dare be careless and jump in, as he didn''t know what sort of monstrous creatures dwelled beneath the peaceful-lookingke. So far, none of his beasts had reported back, which meant that they were yet toe across any soul fruit trees again.


    "Could it be that those two soul fruits were thest in this particr area of the forest?" Nox absentmindedly wondered, looking at the clear surface of theke.


    Suddenly, while he was dazed, something stirred beneath the surface of theke. Nox''s eyes shed as he caught the subtle yet unmistakable ripple on the surface of the water.


    "I knew it. Something must be in there," he said aloud as he continued to watch.


    Some seconds passed, and nothing happened, which made Nox narrow his eyes in confusion. He was certain that something was about to pop out from the water some seconds ago, so why had it suddenly stopped?


    Was it a very intelligent creature? Did it notice his presence and decide to stay back? Nox''s head was filled with lots of thoughts.


    When he thought nothing would happen, a sleek creature with frightening speed rose from the water, charging toward thend where Nox was standing, its body aplete blur!


    Nox''s body involuntarily moved on its own, and Oblivion Edge appeared in his grasp. His muscles tensed, and he was about to sh the approaching creature in two. Just before his dagger arm could make a full swing, he suddenly came to an abrupt stop as his eyes glinted in recognition.


    "When did it..." Nox said in disbelief as he looked at the sleek creature with a somewhat dumbfounded expression, not expecting it toe out from the water of all ces.


    Meanwhile, the sleek creaturended before him, an extremely excited glint in those beautiful blue eyes that held an indistinguishable warmth within them.


    The sleek creature was naturally Solora, and the baby blue python quickly leaped up and coiled around Nox''s neck, her small chest rising and falling as she was out of breath.


    "Tre-" Solora stammered as she struggled to speak. "T-ther... a-"


    "Calm down. Take some breaths first." Although he was very curious to know why Solora had gone into theke in the first ce and what she had seen there that had gotten her so excited, Nox remained calm.


    After some time, Solora regained her ability to speak once more.


    "Why did you go into theke?" Nox asked in a somewhat stern voice that made him seem like a father scolding his child.


    "I-I''m sorry, but the water looked so nice and inviting that I couldn''t help but take a dive in," Solora, who was the most vocal among all the pets after Fluffington, said in a quiet, fearful voice as she felt Nox''s intense gaze.


    Nox exhaled slowly when he heard Solora''s reason, and his gaze softened considerably. He reminded himself that the baby blue python was still a child and liked to y, but he didn''t forget to scold her a little, telling her that she shouldn''t be reckless.


    ''So ironic,'' Noxughed in his mind as he remembered the time Nyx would scold him for being reckless.


    Seeing that her master was noticeably calmer, Solora proceeded to tell him what she had seen under theke. Nox listened with a shocked expression.


    "Are you sure of what you''re saying?" he asked, just to be sure.


    Solora bobbed her head and said in a voice bing filled with certainty and confidence, "Yes!"


    "If it''s so..." A fierce glint shone in Nox''s eyes as he sent amand to his pets to gather in front of theke. After sending themand, he looked at Solora and said, "Lead the way."


    The python, without wasting a single second, jumped into theke. Nox followed shortly after, causing a wave of water to ssh everywhere. When he jumped in, he realized theke wasn''t as shallow as it appeared.


    Holding his breath underneath the water, he followed Solora, who was swimming deeper into theke. After swimming for over two and a half minutes, they arrived at a tunnel at the deepest part of theke.


    Thanks to being Awakened, Nox had no problem holding his breath for a long time.


    Looking at the tunnel, Nox felt an ominous aura billowing out from there, but if what Solora had told him was really true, he would me himself for the rest of his life if he turned back now just because of the dark aura.


    Not thinking about it too much, Nox followed Solora into the tunnel. After swimming for some time, Nox felt a pressure pulling him downward slightly. Though the pressure was strong, it wasn''t overwhelming, so Nox decided to go with the flow.


    Not long after, Nox found a spherical opening where all the water was pouring in like a waterfall or sorts, but inside was a straight long pool that led further down, probably where all the water was going out.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    As soon as he climbed out of the pool, Nox stepped on solid ground. He helped Solora out as well. In the process, his eyes fell on a mountain of shiny things!


    "Holy moly, it''s really true!" Nox gasped in shock when he eventually saw the dozens of gold and silver coins, magical items, and most importantly and valuable of all, dozens of soul fruits!


    "How did... who does all this belong to?" Nox was truly shocked and excited at the same time.


    However, little did he know that he was currently below the temple that sat atop a hill, the residence of the owners of the treasures.


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