After around an hour, Ash managed to catch five spirits while Ezra had only caught one.
"Is this enough?" Ash asked.
"Way more than enough," Ezra answered.
"!" Ash stopped in his tracks. "…Is this supposed to be here?" It was a second-stage beast; he had seen it in the books before. They were weak five-year-olds. Even when Ash had already learnt a first-stage sword style, there was no way they could stand a chance against it.
"No." Ezra's expression turned into terror, his legs getting weak. "Will we even be able to defeat it?"
Ash took his dagger and threw it at the beast, distracting it, "Let's go!" Ash shouted at Ezra, rushing him.
"I-" Even without talking, Ash could see it, Ezra's legs were failing on him. Clenching his teeth, Ash carried Ezra's small body in his arms, running as fast as he could. After about 5 minutes, he finally stopped. "Hah…" He collapsed on the wall. "…I'm sorry." Ezra, who sat beside him, apologized, his head tucked in between his knees.
"It's fine, you're just a five-year-old."
Ezra clenched his fists, "And you are too." He whispered under his breath. "Hu… Do me a favor, won't you?" Ash said as he approached him.
"What-" Ash's teeth sank into his neck, and he could feel his blood being sucked out. He then passed out.
Ash, on the other hand, felt better. [Sucked blood of an intelligent creature. Bloodline quest: Vampire (Lvl. 2), completed. Rewarding 200 SP. Unlocking skill: Blood Survival (Details), Blood Sucking (Details). Level 3 quest:.]
[Sucked blood of an intelligent creature. Bloodline quest: Vampire (Lvl. 2), completed. Rewarding 200 SP. Unlocking skill: Blood Survival (Details), Blood Sucking (Details). Level 3 quest: Hunt a D-ranked 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.