Aramith steadied himself as the echo of Lynnor's voice faded.

The forest stretched endlessly, leaving no room for escape.

He closed his eyes.

Darkness inked around the floor behind him and rose like smoke, then dark strings flowed freely from his hands into the ground, and for a moment, he felt his perception expanding through the thin threads of shadow that sprawled across the forest floor.

He caught glimpses: falling leaves, the distant rush of water, something heavy dragging its body across the soil. There was no heartbeat close by.

No Mozrael.

"She's not here," he muttered, half to himself, half to the darkness, which pulsed faintly in response.

Then a roar split the silence.

A beast burst through the undergrowth—a boar-like creature, except its skin shimmered and its eyes were hollowed into sockets of light.

Aramith didn't flinch. He calmly raised a hand; the shadows behind him surged, curling into a blade before the creature even reached him. One clean swing, and the forest went silent again.

The creature wasn't even allowed to attack before he killed it.

He didn't stay to watch it crumble. "No time," he breathed, running toward where he felt Mozrael might be.

Miles away, Mozrael stood amidst a clearing of scorched earth.Her breath came fast, each exhale scattering ash that glittered faintly in the dark. The remnants of three beasts lay still around her, their bodies half-melted, half-burned.

Initially, she'd faced smaller beasts, but as time went on, they increased in number and size everywhere she turned.

Those she'd just killed could easily be classified as Gold-level beasts, but they had no heart.

It was exhausting, and she was being pushed to go all out. She didn't want to do so, because it would cause her marks to glow.

Once again, you're embarrassing me with your weak display of strength.

Let me flatten this place and—

"Shut up."

Aris woke to the silence of the forest.

His head throbbed, and his throat felt dry. For a moment, he didn't remember where he was, only that the world felt too quiet, too empty.

Then the memories slammed back: the laughter, the disgust, Sylvia's voice cutting through to defend him.

He pressed a hand against his face. The tears came before he could stop them.He'd wanted to disappear before, but never like this.

"Get up," came a voice behind him.Sylvia stood with her arms crossed.

He stared at her, eyes wide. "You… you shouldn't be here. If anyone sees you—"

"Then what?" she interrupted, stepping closer. "And stop apologizing for existing, it's annoying."

That made him flinch harder than any insult.

Sylvia sighed. "You think I defended you because I pity you?"

"I—"

"Then you're dumber than I thought."

She turned away, her tone cold but her eyes strangely softer. "The world already hates you. Let it. Just don't give it the satisfaction of watching you crawl."

Aris didn't answer. He wanted to tell her that every word from her only made the guilt heavier, and that her defending him would destroy her name, too.

A loud roar broke the silence, and three beasts appeared before them.

Sylvia let out a sigh.

She made a movement with her foot, and icicles shot from under each beast, wrapping around their jaws and pushing them up till they flailed harmlessly above ground.

"I'll be blunt with you, Aris. You need to know the truth."

He took his eyes off the beasts and looked at her, feeling his heart hammering in his chest. He felt like a girl who'd just confessed and was waiting for a reply.

She raised her hand, and three fireballs appeared above each beast.

"I didn't choose to help you because I wanted to be a good person. The only reason I did so is that my master told me to. He said you're an important dog, so don't die on me."

His legs gave in, and he felt broken.

So she doesn't care for me at all? No, that can't be.

Now, he thought of who her master could be, and the only person in the academy who fit that description and could ask her to help him was none other than—

Aramith.

She dropped her hand, and the beasts were engulfed in the flames, burning to absolute ash.

She turned and walked right past Aris, but he was still too stunned to move.

Sylvia glanced at him.

"Keep moving, Aris. The longer you stay here, the easier it'll be for this place to eat you."

The night had only begun.

After constantly dealing with beasts for three hours, Mozrael was getting more and more frustrated.

It was almost as if the beasts were targeting her on purpose.

"At this rate, I won't find Aramith."

Before she could catch her breath, a bull-type beast appeared before her.

She summoned her fire sword and was about to slash at it, but noticed the bull readying for a charge.

She jumped back a few steps, then threw the sword straight at the beast.

It exploded into ash.

As she watched the flames rise, an idea came to mind.

"I hope I don't regret this," she muttered.

Aramith was moving as fast as he could toward his chosen direction, but a sudden flash to his left caught his attention.

Looking at the pillar of flames that rose above the forest, he knew it had to be Mozrael.

No one had such blue flames, and none of the students were powerful enough to pull that off.

He made his choice and moved as fast as he could.

Mozrael breathed heavily as she held her hand up, shooting a steady stream of fire for a full ten seconds. The sheer width of the flames was enough to make anyone tremble in fear and worry for her.

But this was her surest way of getting Araimth to find her, but when she finally stopped, she was very weak and slumped against a tree.

Mozrael was only given a few seconds of rest before a scream made her spring to her feet.

Footsteps filled her ears, then six students burst through.

They were an odd bunch of two girls and four boys. Two of the boys were severely injured—One with a broken arm and cuts on his leg, and the other with a deep gash on his back.

They were running on pure adrenaline.

When they spotted Mozrael, their eyes lit up with joy.

"It's you!" One of the girls quickly approached her.

"Please! Help us, the beast is—"

A scream from behind them made her stop.

They all turned in the direction.

"It's coming!" One of the boys shouted, and they all ran to hide behind Mozrael.

She didn't hesitate to draw her sword as she could feel a very powerful presence.

The place was silent, but with Mozrael's hearing abilities, she could hear the hammering of their hearts behind her.

The bush rustled, and a student walked out.

It was one of the boys, and though he was uninjured, his expression was one of shock.

His mouth was wide open, and his eyes looked like they were about to pop out.

He looked too shaken and calm at the same time.

Slowly, he walked out and looked at them.

"Are you—" Mozrael started, but almost all the students behind her held her back.

They were terrified of the boy.

" Why are you stopping me?" She asked.

This time, it was one of the boys who found his voice.

"That's not a person. It's the monster that killed the others."

Mozrael narrowed her eyes. She still couldn't sense anything off about the boy before them, but their fear was real. "How many were you?"

"We were close to twenty, but it appeared and started killing us. It wears their skin."

AAAAAAAAHHHHH!

Suddenly, the boy standing before them screamed.

It was the same scream from before.

This creature captured his last moments and took his body, repeating his last expression and sound. This was straight out of a nightmare, and it made them realize the so-called entrance exam wasn't something to joke with.

This realization made them regret coming to the academy and for not leaving when others chose to leave as well.

"I don't want to die," one girl sobbed.

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