The Greatest Sinner

"Hmm? You want to team up with me, why? By the way, what's your name?" Evan asked calmly looking at the girl.

"My name is Gerda Monge, I want to form a temporary alliance with you because you are strong. You have the highest time rate, you are the best." The blonde confidently uttered.

"Okay, and you?" Evan simply asked.

Gerda didn't understand Evan's question: "What do you mean?"

"Are you strong enough for me to unite with you?"

From such a question Gerda frowned and replied: "Don't be so rude. I certainly lasted less than you, but I also have a very good time rate- eleven and a half seconds. So what do you think about my offer?"

Evan didn't immediately answer Gerda's question. Instead of answering, he said quietly: "Time... Tell me, how many people lasted more than ten seconds?"

Gerda quickly answered: "Five, including me and you."

"I see. Do you realize there can only be one winner in this ordeal?" Evan said slowly as he watched the other contestants fight.

Gerda nodded: "Yes, I suggest you overpower everyone else and have a one-on-one duel at the end, that's how we determine the winner. Pretty convenient and easy plan, isn't it?"

Evan smiled and said: "HAH, what are you talking about... You're going to stab me in the back as soon as I turn my back."

Gerda tried to say something in her defense, but Evan beat her to it: "Okay, I agree. Our partnership begins with the second wave of monsters, now get out of my way and let me watch the show."

"Oh oh oh oh, how important you are!"

Whoosh.

After these words, Gerda jumped off the ice block and quickly climbed onto another one not far from Evan.

Evan wasn't going to ally himself with anyone, but he wondered what Gerda would do. He was sure that at her opportune moment, she would betray him and when that happened Evan could take advantage of it.

<Hmm, don't they spend too much mana killing these monsters?

Evan thought to himself as he watched that some members had already cast more than two spells. Evan didn't take part in destroying the monsters, but he knew it made him look bad in front of his teachers. He had missed the whole round, which meant that he had lost the opportunity to show his abilities in the first wave of monsters.

Besides Evan and Gerda, two other people were idle, and as a result, only ten participants were fighting against the monsters.

As time passed, the monsters became fewer and fewer, just as Evan had thought before, it would not take too long to destroy them completely. It seemed strange to him that some mages used multiple spells when these monsters could be killed with your bare hands, even if you weren't an Amplifier.

<I wonder what the opponents will be in the second phase?> Evan thought to himself as he watched the last wolf die at the hands of Enni.

She had killed the most monsters in this competition, so far Enni had performed the best. The attention of many teachers had been riveted on her since the entrance exam, and now they were watching her even more closely. Many of the teachers were convinced that Enni would make an excellent Amplifier in the future.

Crack.

Immediately after the last wolf had died, the passageways opened up in the walls and a set of different monsters came out of them. There were more of them, about a hundred. They were enormous lizards, about a meter tall. On their backs, from head to tail, they had razor-sharp blades. They looked dangerous and very nimble.

There were also twenty other monsters called the "Blind Death". They had no fur, only smooth, black skin. Their back paws were large, their front ones more like long, sharp blades. They had no eyes, and their mouths were wide, with many teeth. The monsters looked very intimidating and creepy.

It was obvious to everyone that "Blind Death" monsters were much more dangerous and stronger than the lizards, that`s why there were far fewer of them.

<Hmm, the difficulty level has changed significantly. Evan thought to himself and was about to jump off the block of ice when suddenly the whole ground shook.

One of the five magical circles was activated and the area began to change again.

The temperature rose instantly, and the snow and ice began to melt quickly. In many places, the ground cracked and numerous geysers appeared from beneath it, resembling small volcanoes.

The next moment, most of the geysers exploded and the entire space was filled with red-hot steam. The streams of lava erupted from some of the geysers, filling the area next to them.

"Damn, it's hot, but there's a bigger problem." Said Evan looking around.

Because of the enormous amount of steam from both the geysers and the melted ice, visibility was practically nil.

<I guess I understand now why those blind monsters have appeared in the second round.> Evan thought to himself.

Now this ordeal had become really dangerous. Opponents could easily smell you and attack, while you didn't even realize where the attack came from.

Whoosh.

Suddenly two wind blades flew in front of Evan, dispelling the steam and increasing his field of vision.

Evan smiled and then looking at Gerda pacing in his direction, said: "Looks like I`ve teamed up with you not for nothing."

"Of course, I always keep my word." The girl replied calmly.

Whoosh.

Evan's crimson "Warp" swirled and mana quickly gathered at the end of his finger. The young man pointed his hand at Gerda and the next moment a snow-white beam of mana flew toward her.

Gerda hadn't expected such a thing, she thought Evan had decided to get rid of her right now and had ruined their alliance.

Nevertheless, by the time the girl had time to do something about it, the "Magic Missile" had flown over her shoulder and a deafening explosion erupted behind Gerda.

The girl turned around and saw the lizard torn apart. One precise hit to the head was enough to calm it down forever.

<Phew, so he`s protected me, I thought he was going to kill me right there. Well, you can expect anything from a man who cut off his own leg for the sake of a few seconds>. Gerda thought, looking at Evan.

"Come on, we can't stand and watch this time, we've got to deal with them quickly and move on to the next round."

Said Evan and headed deep into the steam. Gerda nodded and headed after him.

Both Gerda, and Evan only had a rough idea of where they were. The location had completely changed, and the monsters could change their location at any moment, too. Evan decided to just keep moving forward while staying extremely alert. At any moment he could be attacked by the monsters or even by another participant.