Grayridge Town — Middle Region
Slash!
A sharp dagger swept across the throat of a Shadow Cat.
Blood sprayed through the air.
The Low-Tier One Ferocious Beast staggered for several steps before collapsing onto the ruined pavement.
Behind it, a slender young woman slowly emerged from the shadows.
It was Claire Bennett.
A layer of purple-black energy surrounded her body, forming the vague shape of a cat.
Two pointed ears rose from the top of her head, giving her an almost feline appearance.
Her pupils had narrowed into vertical slits.
This was Claire’s B-rank Enhancement ability, Shadow Cat.
Once activated, it dramatically increased her movement speed, reaction speed, flexibility, and attack power.
That ability was precisely what allowed Claire, despite still being an Awakener, to kill a Low-Tier One Ferocious Beast.
Of course, Claire was also practicing an Ability Cultivation Method.
She had not yet successfully advanced into a true Ability User, but her physical foundation was already considerably stronger than that of an ordinary Awakener.
Even so…
A Low-Tier One Ferocious Beast was close to the limit of what she could handle safely.
That was why Claire only dared to remain in the Middle Region.
She had no intention of entering the Core Region, where Mid-Tier One Ferocious Beasts could be found.
After killing the Shadow Cat, Claire immediately deactivated her ability to conserve energy.
The purple-black energy surrounding her body faded.
The cat-like ears disappeared.
Her pupils gradually returned to normal.
Claire glanced at her smart watch.
12th Place: Claire Bennett — 567 Points
Rivergate First High School
Her delicate eyebrows immediately tightened.
“My ranking dropped.”
She had fallen by one position.
Claire instinctively looked toward the ranking board, curious about who had overtaken her.
Then she froze.
Her eyes widened.
9th Place: Kael Veyron — 607 Points
Rivergate Second High School
For several seconds, Claire simply stared at the name.
“Kael?”
A tall figure carrying a long black spear immediately appeared in her mind.
The image of the strange explosion at Thunder Martial Arts School also resurfaced.
Claire’s eyes gradually widened.
“So it really was you.”
She had already suspected it.
Back at the martial arts school, she had wondered whether the powerful attack that destroyed the training equipment had something to do with Kael.
She had dismissed the possibility at the time.
After all, Kael had an E-rank ability.
How could he possibly produce that kind of destructive power?
But now…
The evidence was right in front of her.
Kael Veyron.
Rivergate Second High School.
Ninth place.
607 points.
There couldn’t possibly be another coincidence like that.
Claire couldn’t help smiling.
“As expected, you were the one behind that attack.”
Then her smile faded slightly.
“How did you do this?”
Her expression became thoughtful.
“You only awakened an E-rank ability.”
Yet Kael had somehow entered the top ten.
Claire knew firsthand how difficult it was to kill even a Low-Tier One Ferocious Beast.
And Kael was apparently doing it repeatedly.
She looked at his name again.
A faint sense of curiosity appeared in her eyes.
Maybe my cousin isn’t as ordinary as he pretends to be.
The Middle Region
“Holy crap!”
“Is Kael really this strong?”
“If I’d known this earlier, I should’ve called him Dad and hugged his leg!”
Liam Carter stood in the Outer Region, staring at the ranking displayed on his smart watch.
His body was currently swollen to nearly twice its normal size because of his Enhancement ability.
But his expression was full of regret.
He had been joking with Kael before the examination.
Now he wished he had taken his friend’s offer seriously.
Compared with the benefits of a high examination ranking, what was a little dignity worth?
Liam gritted his teeth.
“Why didn’t I realize sooner that this guy was a hidden monster?”
Not far away, another group was also watching the ranking.
Emily Foster and her teammates had been paying attention to Kael ever since his name first appeared near the top fifty.
At first, they had simply been surprised.
Then he entered the top twenty-five.
Then the top twenty.
And now….
Ninth place.
The entire group was stunned.
“He’s in the top ten!”
“That’s insane.”
“Kael is now the highest-ranked student from Rivergate Second High School.”
“How did he do it?”
Nobody had an answer.
Emily stared at the ranking board with a complicated expression.
She had known Kael was stronger than he appeared.
But she had never imagined he could climb this high.
After a moment, she smiled.
“If Kael can reach the top ten, then we need to work harder too.”
Her teammates looked at her.
Emily clenched her fist.
“Let’s aim for the top three hundred.”
For them, that would already be an excellent result.
They didn’t possess Kael’s mysterious strength.
They could only fight according to their own limits.
Before Kael entered the top ten, his name hadn’t attracted too much attention.
There were simply too many candidates.
But the moment he reached the top ten—
Everything changed.
Almost everyone watching the examination now knew his name.
Teachers discussed him.
Students discussed him.
Principals discussed him.
Even candidates inside Grayridge Town occasionally glanced at the ranking board and wondered who this mysterious Kael Veyron was.
Yet Kael himself knew none of this.
He was already moving toward the Core Region.
Kael’s Physique had just been strengthened.
His running speed had increased considerably.
Fortunately, he hadn’t been too far from the Core Region when he made his decision.
After more than thirty minutes of high-speed movement….
His smart watch vibrated.
The map changed.
Kael slowed down.
Core Region.
He had arrived.
Kael looked ahead.
The Core Region had once been the heart of Grayridge.
The most prosperous part of the city.
Unlike the Middle Region, where most buildings had been reduced to ruins, the buildings here were taller.
Even after decades of destruction, some of their original elegance could still be seen beneath the dust and damage.
But the most important difference wasn’t the buildings.
It was the Ferocious Beasts.
There were no longer any unranked beasts here.
The Core Region was inhabited entirely by Low-Tier One and Mid-Tier One Ferocious Beasts.
For ordinary candidates, entering this area required tremendous courage.
Only the strongest students in Redhaven City would normally dare to come here.
The candidates from Rivergate First High School’s elite class were among them.
But even they had to proceed carefully.
Kael was different.
His current strength had already far exceeded the standard of an ordinary Awakener.
During the thirty-minute journey, he hadn’t deliberately searched for Ferocious Beasts.
As a result, he had only killed four or five along the way.
That had caused his ranking to fall slightly.
10th Place: Kael Veyron.
Kael glanced at the ranking.
He wasn’t worried.
“As long as I find a large group of Ferocious Beasts, I’ll climb back up quickly.”
His eyes sharpened.
“This time…”
“I’ll go straight for first place.”
Kael listened carefully.
The ruined city was filled with distant roars.
One after another.
Some came from the west.
Others from the north.
But one direction stood out.
The southeast.
The roars there were much louder.
And much more numerous.
Kael smiled.
“That’s the place.”
He immediately changed direction.
Most candidates moved through Grayridge carefully.
They tried to avoid making unnecessary noise.
After all, attracting too many Ferocious Beasts at once could result in being surrounded.
Kael had the opposite idea.
If there were more beasts….
That was better.
He sprinted through the ruined streets.
His movement was now incredibly fast.
The fifty-kilogram Obsidian Spear was secured across his back, but its weight barely affected him.
Wind rushed past his ears.
Buildings blurred on both sides.
Occasionally, Kael noticed a lone Ferocious Beast moving through the ruins.
He ignored them.
One beast wasn’t worth stopping for.
He was searching for a horde.
The closer he got to the southeast, the louder the roars became.
Soon, he reached the end of a ruined road.
A rust-covered bus had fallen sideways across the street.
Kael didn’t slow down.
The obstacle rapidly filled his vision.
At the last possible moment….
He pushed off with both legs.
Whoosh!
His body shot upward.
He leaped five or six meters into the air.
Bang!
His combat boots landed firmly on the roof of the abandoned bus.
Kael looked down.
His eyes immediately lit up.
Below him was a large fitness square.
The old exercise equipment had long since rusted.
Broken benches and metal structures were scattered throughout the area.
But none of that was important.
What mattered were the beasts.
There were Ferocious Beasts everywhere.
Their bodies crowded the square.
The air was thick with the smell of blood and the musky stench of animals.
Kael frowned slightly.
“One…”
“Two…”
“Three…”
He counted carefully.
“Eight…”
“Nine…”
“Ten.”
A full ten Ferocious Beasts.
And every single one was a Blade-Armed Tiger.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“A Blade-Armed Tiger pack.”
Ferocious Beasts could generally be divided into two broad behavioral categories.
Some were solitary hunters.
Others lived in groups.
Blade-Armed Tigers belonged to the second category.
Ordinary candidates would immediately retreat upon encountering a pack of this size.
Ten Low-Tier One beasts fighting together was a terrifying prospect.
Even an experienced candidate could easily be overwhelmed.
But Kael’s expression was completely different.
His eyes were burning with anticipation.
This was exactly what he had been searching for.
“A pack like this should have a leader.”
Kael’s gaze moved through the crowd.
Then he found it.
At the center of the square was a huge carcass.
A Horned Rhino.
It had clearly been killed not long ago.
Much of its body had already been eaten.
Blood covered the surrounding pavement.
And beside the carcass…
A massive Blade-Armed Tiger lay calmly.
It was considerably larger than the others.
Its limbs were thick and powerful.
The bone blades extending from its forearms were longer, heavier, and sharper.
Even from a distance, Kael could feel the difference.
He narrowed his eyes.
“Mid-Tier One.”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“So you’re the king of this pack.”
The Blade-Armed Tiger King slowly raised its head.
Its amber eyes locked onto Kael.
The other nine Blade-Armed Tigers also noticed the intruder.
One after another, they turned toward him.
Ten pairs of bloodthirsty eyes stared at the young man standing on the bus.
Kael slowly removed the Obsidian Spear from his back.
His grip tightened around the weapon.
The corner of his mouth lifted.
“If I kill all of you…”
His eyes became sharp.
“I should get a pretty good harvest of Ability Points.”
The entire fitness square suddenly fell silent.
Then…
“Roar!”
The Blade-Armed Tiger King let out a thunderous roar.
The other nine beasts answered simultaneously.
ROAR!
The sound shook the ruined buildings around them.
Kael’s eyes flashed.
At last…
He had found the battle he wanted.