As soon as I crushed the bracelet, the person it belonged to was immediately teleported away.
So that was how it worked.
As long as I obtained someone’s bracelet, they were essentially eliminated from the examination.
That meant I didn’t necessarily have to kill them.
If I could destroy their bracelet first, there was no reason to waste my energy fighting them.
I’m not a killing freak, after all.
If someone wasn’t a threat to me, why would I kill them?
With that thought in mind, I continued moving through the forest.
Eventually, I found a cave.
And, of course...
There were a few wolves guarding it.
As a gentleman, I couldn’t possibly just walk past them.
I drew both of my swords and approached.
Then I condensed several Dark Bullets and fired.
Bang! Bang!
Two of the six wolves were killed instantly.
[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 12 Wolf.]
[You have gained 200 EXP.]
[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 12 Wolf.]
[You have gained 200 EXP.]
I immediately rushed forward with both swords.
Darkness coated my blades as I swung them.
I wanted to make it clear from the beginning that I wasn’t someone they should mess with.
If they came at me like mindless beasts, then I was finished with them.
Unfortunately...
My wishful thinking didn’t work.
The remaining wolves surrounded me.
One of them suddenly lunged toward me.
Why were they so angry?
I only killed two of them!
It was almost as if I had killed their entire family.
I dodged the wolf’s bite by moving closer to it.
Then I drove one sword straight into its body while using my other sword to block an incoming attack.
With one wolf dead, the remaining wolves immediately pounced on me.
So, naturally...
I did what any person with common sense would do.
I ran.
As soon as I pulled my sword free from the corpse, I sprinted away.
[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 11 Wolf.]
[You have gained 180 EXP.]
Those wolves chased after me as if I had stolen their entire fortune.
What ungrateful creatures.
I had already given them the honor of contributing to my growth.
What more could they possibly want?
Eventually, I came across another examinee.
I quickly noticed that he was fighting two wolves.
Perfect.
A chance to make another contribution to society.
I waited until he had weakened them before stepping in.
As a good partner, I delivered the finishing blow.
[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 13 Wolf.]
[You have gained 230 EXP.]
I immediately moved toward another wolf.
The examinee took one.
I took the other.
One-on-one...
It wasn’t much of a challenge.
I quickly cut down my wolf with my dual swords.
Then I turned toward my newly found companion.
He was still fighting.
How troublesome.
I couldn’t possibly leave my dear friend to struggle alone.
I condensed a Dark Bullet.
Then I aimed one at the wolf’s head.
And the other...
At my friend’s bracelet.
Bang!
The Dark Bullet pierced the bracelet.
His body immediately began to disappear.
Just before he vanished, I heard him shout something.
"You son o—"
I smiled.
He was probably thanking me for letting him rest after such an intense battle.
Such a polite fellow.
[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 12 Wolf.]
[You have gained 200 EXP.]
[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 12 Wolf.]
[You have gained 200 EXP.]
Then another notification appeared.
[Congratulations!]
[Level Up!]
[Level: 8 → 9]
[Reward: 1 Free Attribute Point]
I stared at the notification.
Only one?
I touched the bracelet and sighed.
"Why did I only get one free attribute point?"
I tapped the bracelet again and checked the current ranking.
[No. 1 — Nyx Voidweaver — 3,000 Points]
[No. 2 — Lucian Draven — 2,300 Points]
[No. 3 — Aurelia Valcrest — 2,100 Points]
[...]
[No. 7 — Asher — 1,500 Points]
I stared at the rankings for a moment.
Someone already had 3,000 points.
That person...
Must be strong.
I needed to be careful.
From what I had experienced so far, defeating a wolf seemed to give roughly 200–300 examination points, while destroying another examinee’s bracelet gave me 100 points.
That meant the people ahead of me had already defeated a considerable number of monsters and examinees.
I couldn’t afford to underestimate them.
Still...
I wasn’t going to stop here.
I immediately activated my bloodline.
"Devour."
The familiar sensation spread through my body as I absorbed the remaining essence from the wolves.
[Absorbed 1 Vitality.]
[Absorbed 0.5 Vitality.]
[Absorbed 1 Mana.]
[...]
I took out my dagger and began carving the monster cores from the corpses.
After storing the cores inside my space ring, I looked toward the cave.
The wolves had been guarding this place.
That meant there had to be something valuable inside.
Otherwise...
Why would they be protecting it?
I sheathed my dagger and walked toward the cave entrance.
Well...
There was only one way to find out.
I stepped inside.
I looked around.
The deeper I went into the cave, the darker it became.
Eventually, I couldn’t see anything at all.
Darkness surrounded me from every direction.
I remembered what I had experimented with on the way to the academy.
If I could channel mana into my eyes, I could enhance my vision.
But this time...
I had something else.
Darkness was my element.
If I could properly control it, I should be able to use it to see through the darkness.
I concentrated.
Nothing happened.
I frowned.
Why wasn’t it working?
I had already managed to do something similar while riding the massive bird.
So why couldn’t I do it now?
I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down.
Then I remembered that sensation.
The feeling of mana flowing through my eyes.
The feeling of darkness responding to my will.
I slowly tried again.
This time...
Something changed.
The darkness around me became clearer.
My eyes adjusted, and the cave slowly came into view.
A grin appeared on my face.
It worked.
So I really could use my darkness element to see in complete darkness.
Another useful trick.
I continued deeper into the cave.
The further I went, the quieter it became.
Eventually...
I reached a dead end.
I looked at the stone wall in front of me.
Nothing.
Just a normal cave wall.
I turned around to leave.
But then I stopped.
Something felt wrong.
I turned back and stared at the wall again.
Compared to the surrounding stone...
That section looked slightly different.
Almost as if...
It was brighter.
My eyes narrowed.
Could there be something behind it?
A bold idea suddenly entered my mind.
I covered my fist in darkness.
If there really was something behind this wall, there was only one way to find out.
I pulled my arm back.
Then—
BOOM!
My fist slammed into the stone.
Cracks spread across the wall.
I punched it again.
CRACK!
The stone finally broke apart.
Behind it...
Was a hidden chamber.
And inside that chamber...
Was a chest.
My eyes immediately lit up.
A treasure chest.
Now this...
Was worth exploring.