"Is there another path here? " Zeres stood up, putting the essence orbs he got in his pouch. He glanced at everywhere, until he saw it—a massive path leading to another unknown place.

"Is this where the participants who got killed came from? " walking inside, the place was filled with mangled corpse, the putrid stench of iron and the nasty smell of Forsaken assaulted Zeres’ nose.

Recoiling, he put on his mask, the ground was jagged and multiple shattered weapons were scattered. Staring at the corpses who lay ahead, Zeres felt he might threw up again if he stayed any longer.

’Three days, I’ll just stay here, the essence I’ve got will automatically give me the top spot’ as he thought this, he wandered around the cave, looking for a secluded place where he’ll stay comfortably.

_______________

"Today’s the last day, we still haven’t got enough essence stone that will make us pass" Albreth sighed as he counted the arrows he have remaining on his quiver "fourteen left" he smiled bitterly.

"No wonder it’s the infamous hellish entrance exam for participants" Gracie shook her head, her short brown hair fluttered as she leaned on the tree.

All of a sudden, Derreck arrived with bated breath, his hands on his knees as he signalled for a water. Albreth grabbed the leather bottle hanging on his side and threw it at Derreck.

Breathing heavily, Derreck sat on the ground, he looked at them, his eyes glistened—then he uttered in a low voice "I’ve found a cave, it might have some Forsaken hiding in there"

Hearing that, Albreth and Gracie looked at each other, before they scurried to pick up their weapons "Where is it? Guide us immediately! " Gracie beamed as she grab her dagger.

"Shh, just follow me" Derreck glared at Gracie for a moment, they had to be cautious, they’re in a place where people would take advantage of you if they deemed you useful.

Gracie nodded quietly, her mouth shut tight as they continued to walk in place filled with tall grass, it was so tall that even them were hidden "It’s here" Derreck pointed at the entrance.

"Then let’s go in, we can’t waste more time" Albreth said, then he stepped in slowly—arrow already on his hand as they veered deeper inside the dark cave.

"Al, there’s a wretched there" Gracie whispered, pointing at a certain direction. Albreth’s gaze followed, and he saw it—there were total of tree forsaken of the wretched rank— the weakest of all forsaken.

It stood there mindlessly, it’s shadow-like body moved awkwardly, black pus falling on the ground while ur walked slowly.

"I’ll take down one with an ambush, the rest are yours Gracie and Derreck" Smiling, Albreth pulled the string of his bow, aiming directly at the wretched’s throat, then he released it.

The sound of something slimy falling in the ground echoed as one of the wretched standing there had fallen. "you’re not going anywhere! " Gracie shouted, her daggers gleamed as she shoved it in the wretched’s throat.

"What? " Gracie’s eyes widened, she stared in horror at the wretched before her who had caught her daggers mid-swing. The wretched twisted it’s neck—it opened it’s mouth, and multiple sharp teeths emerged.

Gracie’s entire body froze as the wretched before her opened it’s disgusting mouth, it’s sharp teeths shine and a black pus continued dropping on the ground, Her whole body trembled when she felt the some sticky liquid touched her skin.

Just then, the gripped on her shoulder loosened and she heard the sound of footsteps towards her "You idiot! " Albreth shouted then he pulled her into his embrace "That could have been dangerous, what would you do if you’re alone? " Albreth mumbled, ruffling Gracie’s hair.

"There’s something weird, wretched doesn’t have that kind of reflexes" Derreck said, picking up the essence orbs the wretched they killed had dropped

"Look, this essence can’t possibly come from a wretched" Albreth stared at the essence orb, Derreck was right—wretched didn’t have that kind of essence—the essence orb was yellow in color, and a wretched have green as their essence orb.

"Don’t tell me it evolved into a hollow? " Albreth asked, his voice tensed, as he gripped his arrow hard—too hard it shook. "Should we continue? " Derreck asked, staring at the dark path ahead.

"We should, it’s the last day anyway" Gracie crouched down to pull out the arrow Albreth had used "Gracie right, we have to earn more points" Albreth shook his head, then they head deeper into the dark path.

After some time of walking, they still haven’t encountered even one Forsaken "Do you smell that?" Derreck sniffed again, then his face scrunched up in disgust. "What is? " Gracie asked gripping her daggers tightly as she stared ahead.

"We’ll arrive there soon, I don’t what it is—but the stench is too awful" Derreck covered his nose while they walked quietly. Arriving at the spot where he smelled the stench, he looked around—only to see the mangled flesh, severed limbs and decapitated head lay sprawled on the ground.

"W-what is this?" Gracie stepped back, her face filled with horror as she stared at the piles of corpses before them, they were... Participants just like them, the walls was filled with splattered blood that had dried.

"Just what in earth happened here? " Albreth’s voice trembled while looking around the scenario before him—it was utter horror.

Just then, they heard footsteps heading towards them, it was slow—but every seconds felt like eternity for them, they all instinctively knew that the creature walking towards them wasn’t something that they can face.

Gulping, Albreth tried grabbing some arrow in his quiver, but his hands were trembling so bad he couldn’t grasp it properly ’just grab it! ’ he clenched his teeth as he forced his trembling hand to gripped an arrow—he then pulled the string, preparing for the abomination waking towards them.

After some moments, they saw a pair of black boots stepped out of the darkness, then they saw it—long white hair cascading down his back, blood-rubied eyes staring at them, his white furred-coat with intricate designs fluttered, and a black sleek sword at his side—it was dripping with blood.

’That noble? ’ Albreth thought as he stared at the figure before him, he didn’t know whether it was a man or woman, either way—they had no way out. There was a thin line between naivety and foolishness and he knew full well that they don’t stand a chance against the figure before them.

"Move" The figure before them spoke coldly, some strand of his hair was dripping with blood as he walk past them.

"That was the one who got special treatment from the knight right? " Derreck spoke, his voice trembling as he tried hard to calm down. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Did he perhaps experienced bloodlust? " Gracie asked, her breathing ragged.

"Perhaps, he was never human to begin with, we should just be thankful he left us alone" Albreth smiled bitterly while he put his arrow back on his quiver. It was an experience they will never forget.

"Should we still go deeper? " Derreck asked, trying to forced himself up—he grabbed his spear. "Yes, let’s hope that vampire didn’t take everything this cave has to offer" after saying that, they all headed deeper into the cave.

________________

"Another participant is out! " A staff shouted, looking the the vampire before him.

"Can I put the essence orbs here? " Zeres asked the woman behind the table. "Yes, fell free to do so" she replied curtly, signing up some yellow parchments on her tables.

The sound of multiple orbs dropping echoed as the woman’s head snapped towards the sound, her eyes widened as she stared at the essence orbs before her. Submitting many essence orbs were considered normal within the Academy, but the color of ten essence shocked her—it had a burnt orange color on it, this means that the Forsaken that the participant before him killed was ten ghouls who were close to breaking through the Ravager rank!

"W-what’s your name? " her voice trembled slight as she took a yellow parchment to write something on.

"Zeres" he replied, tilting his head slightly, he glanced at the surroundings "Can I go now? " he asked.

"Wait a moment" the woman replied her long dark hair fluttered as she looked around, then she beckoned on a staff to come before her.

"This participant has officially passed, give him his dorm room and uniforms, and give my evaluation to the professors in charge of assigning lectures—theylly be the to decide on his schedule" After saying this, the woman smiled at Zeres "Congratulations Zeres, you’re now officially a student of Lunaire Magic Academy."

"Thank you"

"Then I’ll guide you to your dorm" a staff approached Zeres, she had a short green hair and emerald eyes, her expression cold, and she wore a fabric that tightly clung to her curvy figure.

"This is the training grounds, and that tall establishment you see right there is where the blacksmiths of the academy do their crafts" pointing at the establishments, she continued to explain everything in a laconic way.

They both walk leisurely around the school grounds until they arrived at the dormitory building. It was a massive building, it’s polished wall was plain white, intricate window panes and at the gate’s entrance, there stood one knight guard—it was a familiar sight.

The guard just nodded when he saw the woman beside Zeres, then he unlocked the gate quietly. "Wait, isn’t this the dorms for Class A? " Zeres asked the woman beside him.

"Indeed, you have been assigned at the same class as them, furthermore—you’ll start with the same time the nobles start at the academy" she replied methodically.

Hmm, right, the commoners will only be accepted after a month had passed since the beginning of the first semester, it was an unfair method—but he can’t do anything about it, he was in a world where bloodline dictate everything after all.

"This will be your room" Arriving before an exquisite door, the woman passed him the Uniforms she’s been holding since earlier.

"Thanks, uhh" Zeres scratched his cheeks as he stepped inside his own dorm.

"Liena" she replied quickly "Ahh, yes, thank you Liena" Zeres bowed at her before closing the door to his dorm.

"I need a bath" Throwing his uniforms on the cozy cushion, he grabbed a towel then hurried his way towards the bathroom.

"Haaaa, that’s better" soaking his body inside the bathtub, Zeres ruffled his long white hair that had became wet. "I need to control my bloodlust" He sighed as he remembered what happened inside the cave.

He had foolishly thought that he was no different than a human, just vastly superior in lifespan and senses—but he was proven wrong by his experience inside the cave, he had almost lost control if not for his decision to drink the pool of blood within the cave. He had realized that he had no control over his bloodthirst.

"And the reaction of those participants, well, it makes sense—as I don’t even remember my sister mentioning even one vampire inside of the academy, it looks like the church despise my kind just like they despise the Forsaken" leaning heavier on the bathtub, Zeres sighed—it looks like his life here in the empire of Humans won’t be easy.

"I’ll be stuck at Eclipse rank for a while, as there’s not even a single one of Mana of Origin here, my meditation is basically useless here" wiping his hair with a towel, Zeres stepped out of his bathroom.

Glancing around, only now did he realize that his dorm was quite expensive, a polished wooden table stand beside his cozy bed, a space wide enough for martial arts practice and a decent table for dining.

Zeres then picked up his uniform, it was black in color, golden chains draped around it’s shoulder and an intricate stitched of red crest on the chest, an insignia used by freshmens