SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant Chapter 513: Final Trial [V]

The four directors observed the entire scene.

Far overhead in the hunting grounds, numerous floating projections cycled through views, each displaying a unique part of the testing zone. Students battled in teams in some feeds. Others had trapped injured beasts. A few dashed away after overreaching their limits. One projection among them started pulling in the most focus.

Trafalgar and Bartholomew.

Selara pushed her glasses up a bit, already entertained. "Oh? That one's intriguing."

Eryndor crossed his arms. Althea stayed silent, yet her gaze fixed on that same feed. Kaelen remained upfront with his usual icy stance, though his eyes dwelled on it longer than needed.

The feed displayed Bartholomew facing a serpent stretching almost eight meters, covered in rough rock formations, its wide head rising over the sparse treetops like a piece sculpted from the earth.

Kaelen broke the silence first.

"Oh," he remarked calmly, "Trafalgar has positively influenced some of our students too."

Selara’s grin grew broader.

Kaelen continued eyeing the projection. "Looks like someone might pull off something extraordinary."

Down in the hunting grounds, Bartholomew remained oblivious.

His focus shrank entirely to the serpent in front.

Each shift of its body produced a rasping noise as the stone layers rubbed together. The beast held back from charging right away. That only heightened the tension. It loomed elevated, tongue darting in and out, sizing up if Bartholomew was worth the effort or just a nuisance.

Bartholomew gripped his bow tighter.

His throat felt parched.

Trafalgar lingered nearby, utterly relaxed, arms crossed, Maledicta lowered. He clearly had no intention of helping. That was plain.

That realization should have unnerved Bartholomew more.

Yet it sparked something unexpected.

It drove home the reality of the moment.

No rescue was coming.

No quick strike would end it for him with praise for trying.

This battle belonged to him alone.

Bartholomew drew a ragged breath and grabbed an arrow.

The serpent struck first.

Its head plunged and surged ahead at alarming velocity, neck plates clashing as it attacked. Bartholomew dove aside just in time. Massive jaws hammered the spot he'd vacated instants before, hurling soil and roots skyward.

His heart pounded fiercely in his chest.

’Move.’

He rolled to a knee and loosed the shot.

[Piercing Shade Arrow] materialized swiftly around the arrow, dark energy coiling along it with faint luminous threads weaving through. Mana packed so densely the arrow whistled piercingly as it soared. It slammed into the serpent's upper neck.

The issue revealed itself at once.

It struck rock.

Sparks and dark mana erupted on contact, splintering some plating but failing to penetrate. The serpent flinched from shock more than hurt, then pivoted fully toward him.

Trafalgar observed from afar and mused, ’Good. He probed the armor first rather than freaking out and burning shots. ’

That marked real progress already.

The serpent barreled in once more, this time using its body's momentum over jaws. Its tail whipped low and viciously. Bartholomew jumped back, but insufficiently. The armored tail grazed his flank, flinging him skidding over the dirt, ripping fabric and flesh alike.

Agony blazed along his side.

The bow nearly flew from his grasp.

His wrist bracelet showed no response.

Not deadly.

Nowhere near, it seemed.

"On your feet," Trafalgar called effortlessly. "If that's all it takes to shatter you, I judged you too highly."

Bartholomew gritted his teeth.

Harsh words to swallow.

Precisely what spurred him on.

He hauled himself upright as the serpent recoiled for the next assault. Bartholomew filled his lungs, planted his feet firmly, and adjusted his bow grip. No longer like cornered game. Like a fighter with a plan.

Armored hide covered its form.

Broad head weighed it down.

Turns altered its rhythm.

The belly, glimpsed briefly, lacked full coverage.

’Panic spells death. Strategy claims victory.’

Trafalgar’s advice echoed sharply.

Bartholomew nocked fresh arrow, mana now flowing silver and faint along it, trailing a slender gleam.

The serpent charged.

Bartholomew held off longer than instinct urged.

He fired as jaws parted.

[Moonbind Arrow] streaked in a pure silver arc, embedding under the jaw where stone met scale. Effects triggered instantly. Moonlit threads erupted from the wound, snaking over neck and torso, rooting into the soil nearby. The serpent convulsed wildly. It pressed on, but slowed, hampered enough to botch the strike's precision.

Teeth snapped on nothing.

Body plowed through foliage and roots, bypassing him.

Bartholomew staggered away, fumbling for another arrow. Sweat trickled down his cheek. Hands trembled still, but purposefully now.

The serpent ripped free of the silver restraints through raw power, light shards breaking under muscular strain. It hissed in fury and thrust low, surging at his legs with a compact, savage twist.

Far too swift.

Bartholomew backpedaled, but a root snagged his foot. The serpent sideswiped him, toppling his stance. He crashed down, wind knocked out. Bow teetered on escaping.

The serpent towered over, its shadow engulfing him partially.

Jaws yawned wide.

Terror surged, nearly blanking his mind.

Nearly.

Rather than flail away, he chose the desperate path.

He lunged closer.

Mana gathered in his empty hand as pale blue-white fractures, stormlight veining his fist. Serpent's maw descended as Bartholomew punched upward.

[Skybreak Knuckle] connected with the jaw's tender underside in a sharp, brutal snap. Lightning flared from the hit, forking across the mouth. The head whipped aside. Bite whiffed entirely, shock stunning the beast into enraged retreat.

Bartholomew realized he'd shouted only post-strike.

He scrambled back, gasping, chest laboring. Fist throbbed terribly.

But success.

Trafalgar’s lips twitched faintly.

’Good.’

That truly caught him off guard.

The serpent flailed in wrath over agony, tail pulverizing earth. A plate cracked off its flank from the thrash. Vastly superior in strength. Yet fury bred sloppiness with each clash.

Bartholomew noticed.

Trafalgar recognized then the battle could turn.

Bartholomew raised his bow anew. Breath ragged from dodging doom twice, clothes shredded, ribs aflame, right hand buzzing numb, yet his expression sharpened to intent.

Serpent attacked broader, favoring span over trees. Aiming to flatten him in the clear.

Bartholomew fell back deliberately, luring it out, forcing greater extension per lunge. Black aura built another arrow at his fingers.

[Piercing Shade Arrow] tore from the bow, embedding in a neck plate fissure. Deeper penetration this round. Not fatal, yet dark mana flooded the breach, wrenching the beast aside.

It wheeled on him raging.

Perfect.

Bartholomew unleashed [Moonbind Arrow] lower, targeting the body's bend. Silver shot lodged between plates, mana webs grounding and binding the underbelly, enough to stagger the pivot.

Beast charged regardless.

Naturally.

Bartholomew dodged with purpose.

He circled a stout tree, compelled the serpent's pursuit, paused for the wounded flank's exposure, then drove [Piercing Shade Arrow] into the breach. Dense mana howled, burrowing deep for a massive shudder.

Serpent countered with a sweeping bash that shouldered Bartholomew into bark.

Left arm erupted in pain.

Bow dangled precariously.

Bracelet silent.

Not fatal yet.

Bartholomew hacked, shoved from the tree, eyed the serpent through haze.

It advanced relentlessly.

He endured.

Trafalgar saw him smear blood from his lip with his hand's back and reflected, ’Yeah. He’s grown, also I didn’t expect him to learn new skills when I was away.’

Serpent readied another blow, but fractured armor sagged on one flank, jaw spasmed from shock, lingering silver mana hobbled its gait.

Bartholomew sucked in air and drew yet another arrow.

Raising the bow now, his hands shook on.