After around an hour, Ash had already caught five spirits, while Ezra had only managed one.
"Is this enough?" Ash asked, looking at his pouch of spirits.
"More than enough," Ezra replied without hesitation.
"!" Ash suddenly stopped mid-step, his gaze fixing ahead. "…Is that supposed to be here?" Lunaris also took a ready position, and it was ready to protect Ash if she needed to.
Not far from them stood a second-stage beast.
He recognized it instantly from the books, and his expression tightened. It wasn't something that should appear in a test meant for five-year-olds. Even with his grasp of a first-stage sword style, there was no way they could stand a chance against it.
"No…" Ezra's face drained of color, his legs trembling as he took a step back. "W-Will we even be able to run away?"
Ash didn't answer right away. His eyes stayed on the beast, sharp and calculating, as if measuring every possible outcome.
"Stay behind me," he said at last, his tone calm but firm as he stepped forward.
"H–Hey, are you serious?!" Ezra's voice wavered, panic creeping in as he hurried after him.
The beast let out a low, rumbling growl, its presence pressing down on them like a suffocating weight. Ash tightened his grip, his breathing steady despite the tension coiling in the air.
Running wasn't certain to work. Fighting wasn't any better. But standing still wasn't an option either.
Ash pulled out his dagger and hurled it straight at the beast. The blade struck with a sharp clang, drawing its attention.
"Run!" Ash shouted, grabbing Ezra and forcing him forward.
"I-" Ezra tried to respond, but no words came out. His legs buckled beneath him, barely able to move.
Even without looking twice, Ash could tell- Ezra was on the verge of collapsing.
Clenching his teeth, Ash lifted Ezra's small body into his arms and ran as fast as he could.
He didn't dare look back.
His legs burned, his breathing grew ragged, but he forced himself to keep going. Only after several minutes did he finally slow down, his body reaching its limit.
"Hah… hah…"
Ash staggered to a stop and leaned heavily against the wall, his grip loosening as he tried to catch his breath.
"…I'm sorry." Ezra sat beside him, his head buried between his knees as his voice came out small.
"It's fine," Ash replied between breaths. "You're just a five-year-old."
Ezra's fingers curled tightly into his clothes. "…So are you," he muttered under his breath, barely loud enough to be heard.
"Hey…" Ash steadied his breathing as he stepped closer. "Do me a favor, will you?"
"What-" Ezra didn't even get to finish.
In the next instant, Ash grabbed him and sank his teeth into his neck.
A sharp sting shot through Ezra's body as his strength drained away. Within seconds, everything went dark.
Ash slowly pulled back, a faint breath escaping his lips. The exhaustion that had weighed him down began to fade, his body feeling lighter than before.
"…Much better," he murmured. 'So the blood survival skill not only allows me to survive on blood, but also allows me to gain energy from it. Makes sense, but it actually makes it quite convenient.' He thought.
[Sucked blood of an intelligent creature. Bloodline quest: Vampire (Lvl. 2), completed. Rewarding 200 SP. Unlocking skill: Blood Sense (Details). Level 3 quest: Hunt a first-stage beast.]
'Only one skill this time. I see. Details.' He thought.
[Blood Sense: Sense creatures through their blood. (Active)]
"That's convenient. But for now, I should continue collecting spirits; there's no harm in getting first place." Before leaving, he cast a spell, one that he had bought from a slave trader after saving up his allowance money for 3 years, on Ezra. 'I can't risk him trying to get revenge on me.'
It wasn't really illegal to make people slaves, although they had to have a proper reason for it. However, most slave traders usually got slaves illegally if it was for the sake of profit.
Leaving the unconscious Ezra behind, he continued collecting spirits.
A few minutes before the test finished, Ash had already collected a total of 11 spirits and went back to where Ezra had been. Noticing he was still unconscious, 'I should find out the side effects of Blood Sucking next time.' He thought. Then he tapped him on his shoulder, "Hey, you alright?"
"Ash? What happened?" Ezra woke up, and he felt abnormally tired. It seemed like he didn't remember what Ash had done.
"After we managed to escape, you collapsed after a while. But time's almost over."
"What? I collapsed that long?" Ezra panicked a bit before remembering that he had already caught a spirit, which meant he was safe.
"That's right, let's go back to the hall."
"Alright."
But before they had even started walking, they suddenly appeared back in the hall. The number of students this time, however, was considerably lower than before.
This time, the same man appeared on the podium once again.
"Silence." Quieting the surprised students, he continued his speech. "First of all, all of you who are here have passed. Congratulations." Before the crowd could process his words, he continued, "Next is the announcement of rankings. First place is held by Asher Alder, 11 spirits. Second place by Alice Rothton, 10 spirits. Third place by Flayn, 8 spirits. Fourth place…" He continued till ten were finished.
"For the top ten, prizes will be announced tomorrow during the entrance ceremony. That is all. Thank you. And once again, congratulations, you all are now students of the Elwing Academy!" The man then disappeared once again.
After a while, the crowd burst into cheers. Both the commoners and nobles were happy that they made it in. Although there was a girl in the crowd who looked slightly annoyed.
Meanwhile, Ash was slightly stunned, although he had somehow expected it.
"Ash, you got first place!" Ezra seemed to be happier for him than he himself was.
"…Yeah." Ash felt a little guilty for placing a slave mark on such an innocent boy, but he shook the thought off. "We should take a rest, you must be tired."
"Yeah, I sure am. But where should we?" Then he noticed something on his pouch, "Looks like it's the directions. Let's just follow it." Following the arrow, they arrived at a simple-looking house.
After knocking on the door and receiving no response, Ash opened the door. Inside, there was only a table and three beds, and on each bed was a uniform. After putting the uniforms on the table, Ash and Ezra soon fell asleep. Meanwhile, Eve waited till they fell asleep before heading to bed herself.