First Demonic Dragon

Since Monica knew that her opponents were about to give her a tough time, she couldn't let herself be taken by surprise like before.

Doing so would most certainly mean her loss.

Gathering up her power despite the couple's mounting pressure, she immediately got rid of her first major weakness.

Her flesh.

Like a living eggshell, her tanned skin and musculature peeled away to reveal a mass of living blue and orange flame in the shape of a woman.

However, this appearance of hers didn't stick around for long.

Releasing a horrible war cry, Monica's flames raged wildly out of control; causing her presence and size to explode.

If she were insecure about being smaller than the rest of the dragons taking the test before, she proved that there was no longer a need to have such a complex.

Her legs and lower body had disappeared entirely; simply becoming a swirling tornado of twin colored flame.

Her upper body however was somewhat demonic in appearance, with her possessing large fiery wings reminiscent of a bat's.

Large horns curled out of her head like a ram's, and her arms numbered a total of four.

Raising her hands above her head, she slammed them down not the ground with a triumphant roar.

The ground not only broke beneath her strike, but dual elements burst forth from the point of collision.

In some parts there were mountain-sized shards of unbreakable ice, and in others there were enormous columns of red flame.

Monica didn't know where exactly her attack had sent the old couple, but she knew that this wouldn't do much to stun them.

Because that was never really the purpose of the attack to begin with, she just needed to be able to buy herself a few seconds.

Without waiting for her opponents to resurface, Monica flapped her wings hard and took off into the sky.

With her back to the sky and her belly facing the ground, Monica harnessed her powers even further to really pull out all the stops.

Ten miniature suns surrounded in a circle; waiting only on her word to fall.

Giving her wings a hard flap, the great balls of flame fell to the forest below and destroyed literal miles of it upon contact.

As the fire raged and the smoke billowed into the air, Monica's glowing white eyes narrowed as she waited to see the outcome of her attack for what felt like an eternity.

Just when she considered going to the ground to investigate for herself, the flames from a section of the forest seemed to have been 'cut'.

At a speed that was too fast for her to follow, Monica's midsection was cleanly severed and the two halves of her body began to separate.

Even if she was no longer in a 'physical' state, she could still be cut or struck by an attack imbued with magic or an opposing aspect of nature.

While Monica tried to regrow her lower half in quick succession, suddenly, a large ethereal hand of a dragon reached out from the other side of the forest clearing.

Even though Monica was currently huge, the hand was somehow even bigger.

It grabbed hold of her by the chest like she was little more than a child's doll, and slammed her into the ground hard enough to rattle even a giant.

The ground that was partially frozen from Monica's abuse crumbled underneath the attack and created a crater miles long.

Monica tried to get up, but she was presently unable.

The sheer strength of the ethereal hand that was holding her down was more than she had ever possessed in her entire body, if not her entire life.

"Honestly… you're quite remarkable, dear."

Like a mirage, Kirina suddenly appeared floating just above Monica's face.

Parts of her armor had accumulated some frost buildup and others looked to be glowing from the extreme heat, but otherwise she remained fine.

However, it was at this moment Monica remembered one of the stipulations for the test.

If she was down for ten seconds, the trial was over for her, and she would fail.

With that in mind, she began desperately trying to break free.

"You really surprised us, Monica. It's well known that fire spirits are the strongest among your kind but even that doesn't fully explain your explosive growth…" Kirina continued.

Unlike other spirits, those born of fire don't necessarily have the same limits on their power that their kin do.

For example, water spirits grow stronger when surrounded by large bodies of water, and their strength grows proportional to the size of it.

Nature spirits become more powerful the healthier and more untouched that the lands they stand on are.

Other types of spirits have different stipulations; but they are all fairly similar with their main focus being on 'immersion'.

However, fire spirits don't have this requirement.

They can act as their own lighter fluid if you will; using their own willpower to skyrocket their abilities and destructiveness of magic.

But the tradeoff is that using this power will quite literally cause them to lose their minds for varying periods of time.

The more power they need to draw out, the brighter they let their ambition burn, and in turn they become more unstable.

Or at least that should be what happens.

Somehow, Monica had overcome that weakness through sheer temperance and willpower.

Kirina couldn't imagine the amount of time it took her to accomplish such a thing.

However, she and her husband were examiners today and they had their own roles to play in today's events.

So even though it was painful for her, shehad to see the full extent of Monica's resolve.

"While I am impressed… I believe it is best if you stay down now, dear. Perhaps this trial might be too much to undertake for you, and I worry about you getting hurt."

Internally, Monica's heart broke in two. "W-What..?"

"This is a dangerous game that Abaddon has set up this year, and the stakes are very high. I don't know if you can get through it as you are."

"O-Of course I can! You'll see!"

"I know that you want to impress us all at home, but you don't really have to, you know? No one really expects much of you after all since…"

Time seemed to slow down for Monica as she recognized that she was growing closer to the deadline.

Seven seconds had already gone by, and she was painfully aware of every nanosecond that accompanied it.

Just as she was painfully aware of what Kirina's next words would be, but still hoped that she wouldn't say them.

But today, it was Kirina's job to disappoint her.

"You are just a fire spirit..."

In that moment, there was no attack, physical or otherwise, that could have hurt Monica more.

Eight seconds.

Internally, she was in absolute pieces and mourned the loss of what she felt was her sole support system.

Did they really not believe in her? All because she was just a little different?

Was there nothing that she could do to impress them?

Was it all just a big waste of time and energy?

Nine seconds.

Though she was a massive flaming monster, Monica still had tears in her eyes.

She let out a painful scream that traveled over half the continent as her body literally exploded.

Kirina covered her eyes from the blinding flash and took a step back in case of some kind of aftershock.

When she brought her hand back down, she was once again amazed by what she saw.

Big Monica was gone, but as consolation there were now thousands of normal-sized versions.

The orange and blue flames she had dispersed at such a wide measure before had come alive and were all acting on the same accord; as if they were just game characters being controlled by someone else.

Though she had no defining facial features, Kirina could still see the look of hurt and betrayal on Monica's faces and it made her feel even worse about herself.

All of her spoke at once and clearly portrayed the feeling of solitude that she felt inside from Kirina's words.

"If none of you believe in me... that's fine." she lied. "No matter what it takes, I am going to prove to you and everyone else that I-I can do this! I don't need your faith or a handout, I'll accomplish everything that I need to on my own, without using his power!"

At that moment, Hajun emerged through the forest, surprised that Monica had not only escaped his grasp, but also somehow managed to multiply herself by the hundreds.

'Jesus, hon, what did you say to her..?' he asked his wife telepathically.

'S-Something I had to and it's killing me inside! I want to take it all back and tell her that it's all Abaddon's fault I had to say it!'

'I don't think he would like taking the blame for that.'

'Who cares, she's crying! I can't have this on my conscience!'

Laughing internally, Hajun started to unbuckle his restrictive chest armor and bracers as he approached the field of Monicas.

"That is some very fine determination you have there, lass, but let us see now if this is the full extent of it, or if you are truly capable of withstanding the storms that are to come."

With his full, unparalleled muscular physique revealed, Hajun brought his hands together in a destructive clap that was louder and more explosive than an atomic bomb.

The wind pressure not only blew all of Monica away, but also outright destroyed her in some cases.

However, Hajun couldn't shake the feeling that his hit was unsatisfying for some reason.

Lo and behold, a single look to the west would reveal the source of his anxiety.

A single Monica, the real one, was not only running against the wind, but she was charging at him without a weapon, and with unparalleled ambition in her eyes.

'Unthinkable... she wants to engage me head on?' Hajun thought with a smile.

It had been ages since he had gotten to brawl with.. well.. anyone!

His best friend Helios was gone, his favorite daughter was too big for it, and his grandsons liked wrestling with women instead of an old man.

This was so very thrilling!

With under a minute left, Hajun dropped his center of gravity and held out his hands in anticipation as he laughed to the heavens and made a bold decree.

"Well met, Monica Ifrit! Know this, no matter what the results of this examination may be, with this you have passed in my eyes alone!"

Those words more than anything else made Monica swell with pride, and her energy surged past the threshold.

Glowing as bright as the sun, she ran full force at Hajun and clashed against him with her very own body; simultaneously creating the loudest and most impactful explosion of the day.