Week 3: Desert Test Center (I)
"I...can I really do it?" The boy lowered his head, his voice full of hesitation and uneasiness, afraid that his expectations would be met with disappointment.
Lin Bai raised an eyebrow, feeling a little puzzled. She had always had smooth sailing in both her past and present lives, never constrained by the so-called "can't do" feeling. For her, taking the first step to try was the only way to achieve success. If she didn't even want to believe in herself, wouldn't that mean she had already given up her chance at victory?
She has always believed in the thrill of breaking through adversity. If everyone thinks she can't do it, she will do it, and do it to the best of her ability.
"Just give it a try. I'm the only one here," she said casually.
However, her words did not reassure the young man. The color drained from his face. He clutched the hem of his shirt tightly with both hands, his fingertips turning slightly white from the force. He lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly, as if he were suffocating under the weight of inferiority.
"Perhaps, only someone like you can accomplish such an incredible thing, and I..." His voice was hoarse, and he paused as if he couldn't speak, but finally uttered those few words in a low voice, "I am just a useless member of the family."
His originally straight back now bent a little bit, as if it was crushed by the imaginary gazes of others.
Lin Bai was stunned for a moment, feeling a little impatient. What was going on? He and Gu Jin were from the same family, so why were there such big differences?
She was never good at comforting others, nor did she have the patience to comfort others. She simply said coldly: "If you look down on yourself, how can others look up to you?"
Her tone was flat, but with a hint of unquestionable indifference. Then she crossed her arms over her chest, sat down lazily, and no longer looked at Gu Zhou.
She didn't notice that in the depths of the boy's lowered eyes, the light that was originally as dim as dead water seemed to be ignited by something, and a faint spark appeared.
Give it a try. If it doesn't work, there's nothing to say. I'm just a forsaken child, unloved by the gods. But if it succeeds... at least I can prove I'm not completely useless.
Gu Zhou took a deep breath and stared intently at his notes. His fingers trembled slightly, but his gaze was much firmer than before. He looked at the line of summons he had copied, imitating Lin Bai's style.
He took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, reciting in a clear and pleasant youthful voice: "Loki, one of the twelve Norse gods, you are the embodiment of lies and deceit, the god who controls fire. Please grant me your power!"
The moment the words fell, a shadow slowly emerged behind the young man.
Lin Bai looked at the scene in front of him and complained wildly in his heart.
Why is this summoning word so tacky?
However, her complaints only flashed through her mind.
Behind the young man, a god with a dignified appearance and noble temperament suddenly appeared.
The deity looked down at the two of them, a look of scrutiny between his brows. He seemed momentarily stunned when he saw Lin Bai, then leaned forward slightly and opened his mouth, as if about to say something, but the two of them could hear nothing.
Loki frowned slightly, as if feeling somewhat helpless. He raised his hand, as if attempting to communicate again, but ultimately gave up and stood there, his posture casual and lazy, like a statue of a god with nothing to do.
Lin Bai looked at him, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and he smiled at Gu Zhou: "Look, this is not bad."
Gu Zhou was completely frozen. His eyes were wide open, his cheeks flushed, his lips trembling slightly. He wanted to speak, but couldn't utter a word. He turned his head sharply to look at Loki, his eyes filled with excitement and disbelief.
Loki was obviously in a bad mood and completely ignored what the two of them said. He crossed his arms and looked around boredly, with a somewhat nonchalant look on his face, as if he was a hermit who had not set foot in the world for a long time.
Lin Bai suddenly felt that the gods he had summoned all seemed to have something in common. Regardless of their strength, each god seemed to have not been to the human world for a long time and was full of curiosity about the things around them.
In comparison, the gods from other planets seemed much more rigid, as if they were just systems operating according to established procedures.
Is it because there are so few summoners on Earth that there is only one, and now there are two?
Lin Bai was puzzled, but she didn't show it on her face. Her gaze fell on Gu Zhou, who was still blushing, his fox ears trembling slightly, his unconcealed excitement evident in his words.
She stared at the fluffy ears, and with an idea in mind, she almost inadvertently reached out and touched them gently.
It felt soft, warm, and a little trembling.
Then his ears stood up like airplane ears and a roar came out, "You...how could you!? Do this!"
The boy's fur suddenly exploded, and his whole body sounded like a lit firecracker, and his voice rose several degrees.
Lin Bai was startled and quickly withdrew his hand, while Loki on the side held his forehead and turned his head away, looking as if it had nothing to do with him.
Gu Zhou regretted it the moment he said it. His originally tall figure was like a deflated mushroom. He whispered in a muffled voice: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just... My ears are my sensitive spot, so I hope you can stop touching them like this..."
After saying this, he bowed deeply, his whole body red as a ripe apple.
Lin Bai was stunned.
Why is this tall guy so hypocritical?
She quickly helped Gu Zhou up and said with a wry smile, "It's my problem. I have ADHD. I'm really sorry, haha."
Her eyes couldn't help but fall on Gu Zhou's fox ears again.
Loki on the side finally turned around and waited for Gu Zhou's request.
However, Gu Zhou did not ask for anything in the end. His goal was just to break through himself.
Lin Bai and Gu Zhou looked at each other and suddenly felt that they seemed a little bad, actually allowing a god to be summoned and left out in the open.
The two of them hurriedly apologized to Loki, but Loki just snorted coldly, and his figure quickly turned into nothingness and dissipated into the air.
Lin Bai looked at Gu Zhou with satisfaction - she was very satisfied with this student.
The two ended the meeting, said goodbye and went home.
——
When he got home, the house was pitch black and the silence was unsettling. Lin Bai pushed open the door and flipped the light switch.
"Grandma, are you home?" She raised her voice and shouted. Her voice echoed in the empty house, but there was no response.
Lin Bai's heart tightened, and he quickly took out his laptop to check if there were any unread messages. However, the screen was empty, not even a single message.
An unprecedented anxiety crept into her heart, her heartbeat quickened, and with trembling fingers she dialed her grandmother's number. The ringtone echoed over and over, but no one answered.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down, but her steps were already uncontrollably moving around the room. She searched every corner: the living room, the kitchen, the study, even the storage room. But everything was in perfect order, nothing out of the ordinary, except her grandmother.
When Lin Bai was about to make another call, the light brain made a "ding dong" sound and a new message popped up. It was from grandma.
Her heart skipped a beat, as if a drowning person had finally grabbed a piece of driftwood, and she quickly clicked it.
[Xiaobai, grandma is home for a while now. Something urgent happened and I didn't tell you in advance. Don't worry, just study hard.]
Lin Bai stared at the screen for a long time after reading just a few lines of text, and the heavy stone in his heart finally fell.
She sat down dejectedly on the ground, her back against the cold wall. Only then did she realize that her clothes were soaked with cold sweat, and her legs were shaking so weakly that she couldn't stand up for a moment.
Lin Bai closed his eyes and tried to calm his rapid breathing, but his mind involuntarily emerged the time when he had just traveled here.
——
She was isolated and helpless at the time, her frail frame like a leaf in the wind, bullied at will. The human race was weak, a race forsaken by the gods, destined to be trampled upon in this world.
Just when she thought nothing could be changed, it was her grandmother who brought her back home.
That warm courtyard, that room full of books, and the aroma of food wafting from the kitchen...all of these make up her most precious home.
She couldn't imagine whether she would still have any sense of belonging in this time and space if even her grandmother was gone.
Lin Bai took a deep breath and tried to put aside her uneasy thoughts. To divert her attention, she opened her e-book manuscript and continued transcribing Earth Mythology.
One day in the future, when she finishes the book, it might be published, causing a sensation or remaining unknown. But it doesn't matter. What matters is that it can become a cornerstone of Earth's mythology system, providing a complete reference for those who desire to understand Earth's culture.
As words flowed through his fingertips, Lin Bai, immersed in the mythological story, finally calmed down.
——
The vacation passed in a flash and Lin Bai returned to school.
This week, they are about to have a weekly test.
For her, every exam was a test, especially for a group of summoners like them, who would eventually step onto the battlefield. The stronger they were, the more they could control their own destiny.
The waiting room was bustling with people, and Lin Bai immediately spotted Li Dong and Yu Qiu in the crowd. Chen Wen was chatting with Yu Qiu when Li Dong noticed her and waved.
Lin Bai put his hands in his pockets and strode over.
She casually rubbed Li Dong's furry head, her eyes falling on her drooping ears, thinking of a blushing apple, and asked on a whim: "If I touch your ears, will you be sensitive?"
Li Dong was stunned for a moment, looking confused. "I don't feel anything. It's just like touching your hair."
Lin Bai couldn't help laughing when he thought of a boy whose face turned red like a ripe tomato because his ears were touched.
The radio sounded,
【Please prepare yourselves, the weekly exam is about to begin. 】
Lin Bai suppressed his smile and entered the state of taking the exam.
——
The yellow sand rolled and the wind howled.
The exam is held in a desert examination room, and the key to passing the exam is to find an oasis.
The wind and sand were blinding, so Lin Bai put on the goggles distributed before the exam, which finally relieved the discomfort in his eyes.
She walked forward in the scorching desert, one step deep and one step shallow. There was no one around her, and there was not even a sign of water.
Lin Bai clenched his fists, looked up at the endless sand dunes, his eyes determined.
Each step sank into the soft sand, forcing her to exert even more force to free her feet. Every step forward was incredibly difficult. The scorching heat scorched every candidate, and the fear of dehydration and the desire for water wore away their resolve.
If the challenge competition is to test students' abilities, then the weekly exam is to train students' military qualities. A strong physique and will are extremely important in the war against dark beasts.
The desert was boundless, with no reference points other than the blazing sun in the sky. She pulled out her laptop and checked the map. A flickering light indicated the general direction of the oasis, but it wasn't detailed enough. Lin Bai could only keep going.
The wind picked up, and Lin Bai felt as if invisible blades were scraping across her exposed skin, stinging intensely. She lowered her head, pressed her goggles down, and continued in her intended direction. Just then, she keenly sensed a slight collapse in the sand dunes behind her, as if something was silently approaching.
Lin Bai suddenly stopped, turned his head alertly, and scanned his surroundings with a sharp gaze. Amidst the swirling yellow sand, a long, narrow figure emerged from the bottom.
When Lin Bai cleared the dust off his goggles and took a closer look, he saw a sandworm that was more than five meters long. Its round mouthparts were covered with dense spikes that stretched and retracted, and its tentacles kept moving.
The sandworm's body, which was more than five meters long, was divided into dozens of segments. The legs on each segment swung at an irregular frequency, causing Lin Bai to get goose bumps.
She quickly adjusted herself, trying not to look at the dense spots on her skin, and whispered instead, "High and mighty Montura, the blazing flame of the sun god Ra, god of war on the Nile, please grant us strength to descend into the human world."
As soon as he finished speaking, a god with an eagle head and a human body appeared, with a sun disk on his head, emitting an intense and brilliant light.
The sandworm had already adapted to the scorching sun in the desert arena, but the flash of light caused the sandworm's tentacles to look back and lose its vision.
Lin Bai seized the opportunity and launched an attack. Montula raised his hand and threw the spear. The tip of the spear was flaming and went straight to the sandworm. Although the sandworm's skin was strong, it was not a shell after all. After dodging, it was still pierced.
The sandworm twisted its massive body in pain, its sharp hissing echoing through the air. It writhed frantically, trying to escape the blazing flames, but Montula's divine power was not so easily extinguished. The flames spread along the wound, scorching its skin black, and a burning stench suddenly filled the desert.
Lin Bai didn't relax. She knew this dark beast's vitality was extremely tenacious, and she couldn't give it any chance to breathe. She narrowed her eyes, observing the sandworm's movements, quickly analyzing its movement patterns. The sandworm's movement relied on the rhythmic wriggling of its body, and its weakest point was often its abdomen, which was its most vulnerable point.
Lin Bai's mind moved, and the disc above Montula's head suddenly burst into a golden glow. Lin Bai's vision shifted accordingly, as if he could see through the veins within the sandworm's body. Montula suddenly leaped to the side, avoiding the sandworm's tumbling, thorny tail. Then, with his backhand, he pulled out his dagger and slashed it swiftly at the seam of the sandworm's abdomen.
"puff--"
The blade broke through the membrane, and blood splattered on the golden sand. The sandworm struggled violently, whipping its tail wildly, stirring up large amounts of sand and dust. It was obviously in extreme pain.
Montula then spread his wings, and golden flames traced a fiery trail through the air, hurtling straight towards the sandworm's wound. The flames instantly engulfed the sandworm's abdomen. Its struggles intensified under the blazing flames, and finally, with a painful roar, it collapsed to the ground, its massive body sending up clouds of dust.
Lin Bai steadied herself, slowly exhaled, and looked at the sandworm's corpse. After confirming that it was completely lifeless, she relaxed. She gently wiped the sweat from her forehead and glanced across the distant desert horizon.
[Congratulations to candidate Lin Bai for defeating the intermediate-level dark beast sandworm.]
She looked up at the sky. It was cloudless, the scorching sun was still scorching the earth, and the sand dunes were endless.
She put away her deity, adjusted her state, and continued walking towards the oasis's marked point.
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