In the realm of low-sequence Extraordinary Creatures, the Steel-Backed Giant Ape is inherently gifted when judged solely by strength.
But now it has met its match.
In the past, Chloe wouldn't have had such capabilities.
However, the characteristics of the Desire Mother Tree endowed him with vitality and great strength, giving him the qualification to confront the Steel-Backed Giant Ape head-on.
Vibrant (SR): Life Energy increases significantly, non-lethal wounds heal rapidly, Constitution experiences some growth.
Savage Strength (R): Your strength significantly improves.
The growth in Constitution propelled by life energy, combined with the strength enhancement from Savage Strength, allows him to barely masquerade as a low-sequence Warrior, and still a tank type at that.
Once he joined the battle, the situation for the Steel-Backed Giant Ape deteriorated rapidly.
Within just three rounds, under heavy restrictions, Warrior Rooney severed its head.
He swung the head around, spat, and said:
"Has the academy gone mad this time? Even allowing such creatures comparable to a Sequence Seven to be used as practice?"
The group brought back the creature's head to report back, and casually filed a complaint.
Before leaving, Rooney squinted his eyes as he looked at the back view of Chloe.
...
It was night.
Bam!
In the shadows, someone with a livid expression stared at Rooney, who had been slapped, anger surging through their body.
"Useless!!"
He looked at Rooney, who kept his head down silently.
"The experiment subject was handed over to you, and you said you could handle it, which I believed. And the result? You couldn't even induce the Seed of Evil Thought in the sacrifice to sprout."
"High Priest, that experiment subject was the limit our covert operatives could release, and no one expected that sacrifice to have any other talent in Constitution."
The High Priest knew that life is full of surprises and reprimanding subordinates right now was futile.
He squinted his eyes and said, "Are you sure he didn't use his Recovery talent the whole time?"
"Yes."
"Hmph, those lunatics from the Crimson Church wouldn't dare deceive me either."
The High Priest's face was livid.
If it weren't necessary, he wouldn't want a head-on clash with what the Ethereal Emblem possessed.
They indeed had the potential to ruin his plans.
"Handling the Steel-Backed Giant Ape is still within your scope, Rooney. This person progresses too fast and is still young. If you can't bring him into our fold, find a chance to deal with him."
The High Priest was not one to dither.
The selected sacrificial candidates numbered not less than a hundred, or even a thousand.
But Chloe's aptitude was top-notch.
However, if he could potentially spoil their plan, it would be better to strike decisively and eliminate the risk of discovery by the Ethereal Emblem.
"Our Flesh and Blood Hermitage has been lying dormant for years, how could we let some young kid ruin everything? Kill when necessary."
A trace of murderous intent flitted across the High Priest's eyes.
...
What was our Chloe doing at this time?
He was enjoying a massage from the Magic Cat.
"Elu, leave the letter on the table for me."
"Got it, meow. Today I helped you a lot, meow. I deserve a reward, meow."
Amidst a series of meowing, Chloe got up and took out a small box from under the bed.
Elu opened it and found dried fish made from the Fallen Star Sea's Silver Starfish.
This is an Extraordinary Creature and is extremely delicious.
Elu's eyes immediately gleamed with excitement: "I knew Chloe liked me the most, meow."
"So, what's happening with Rooney?"
Elu lay in Chloe's arms, munching on the small dried fish while saying:
"After you parted, he wandered around the outer city for nearly 2 hours and finally went to a casino, going into an underground chamber, meow."
Speaking of this matter, Elu felt a bit embarrassed.
"There were monsters in the basement, Elu didn't dare go down, meow."
"The information you provided is enough."
Chloe scratched its chin.
As the Magic Cat specifically responsible for delivering messages around the academy, Elu possessed the traits of [Existence Erasure] and [Subspace Jump], its species being extremely sensitive to risks.
The fact it did not dare to show up indicated a lot.
"Very well, since they're no longer hidden in the shadows, there's a way to deal with it."
He continued reading while feeding Elu in his arms.
Before one knew it, it was already deep into the night.
...
The moonlight entered through the windows.
Inside the dormitory of the girls' quarters.
Teresa had her arms crossed, with the heavy burden resting on her arms, yet she felt no discomfort.
They were the eighth squad to submit their spoils.
Thinking of this, Teresa felt a deep sense of unwillingness.
If only they were a bit faster.
It turned out they lost to that woman!
Fu·Icarus' squad.
Ranked fourth.
"Originally, I was determined to outshine her, but it now seems a bit tricky to execute."
That woman's team configuration was more reasonable.
She glanced at the girl daydreaming at the opposite desk and stealthily approached, pouncing as she said:
"Fufu!"
"Ah, it's Teresa."
"How was your second-year group training last year? Was it smooth?"
Fu looked up, absentmindedly saying: "As you can see, we only got fourth, I wanted to see if we could make the top three, quite regrettable, and how about you?"
Teresa replied, "This time we ranked only eighth."
Argh! How frustrating, if it wasn't for the Voodoo Class configuration, how could she have fallen behind!
In these speed races, pure brute squads had a significant advantage.
Conversely, Fufu displayed a surprised expression:
"Didn't your Voodoo Class collaborate with the Healing Class? With them dragging behind due to their lacking stamina, you could still manage to secure eighth place?"
Bringing a healer would certainly eliminate any chance of executing a blitzkrieg.
The conventional approach was to steadily and slowly exhaust the opponent to death.
Teresa was also puzzled.
Frankly, their team had lost about 30 minutes of time on the road, a significant delay.
But in the ensuing battle, Chloe's performance surpassed her understanding of healers.
In less than five minutes!
They took down an Extraordinary Creature nearing Sequence Seven!
It was fast, incredibly fast.
In contrast, at the time, Fufu's Shadow Stabbing Class cooperating with three specializations were all pure brute squads.
Countless Muscle Tyrant Berserkers of the Titan Sequence.
The Patrolling Sequence experts adept at battlefield disruption and hunting.
The Iron Blood Sequence members wrapped like tin cans.
They had stamina, speed, defense, all advantageous in a speed contest.
Yet, she would never forget that astonishing collision by Chloe.
Was that power a healer should possess?
Could warriors of the same level pathway even accomplish that?
What on earth was Chloe's origins?
She heard that person even selected her aunt as a mentor this year.
Teresa took out the Projection Crystal.
She had the habit of recording her combat sessions, aiming for post-battle analysis.
She sent the content of the battle section to her aunt.
On the other side, just out of the shower, Heisha saw her wristwatch light up.
Seeing it was a message from her niece, she opened it to have a look.
Teresa: 「Auntie, this is the healer who cooperated with me this year」
Heisha's waterfall of black hair cascaded down as she clicked open the message.
"His endurance is quite a bit lower than a Warrior's, seeming to solely rely on Constitution talent, really quite rare."
"Hm? The burst strength is impressive, clearly untrained, a composite effect Constitution talent?"
"A scratch from a pebble healed on its own? And it has self-healing ability?"
She raised her eyebrows.
Among students not yet hardened by battlefields, there's such a promising prospect?
How could she not have been aware?
Then she sent a message saying:
「Second-year student from the Healing Class?」
「Yes, from the same group.」
「Understood」