Chapter 522: The Night of Two Hunters: Nero’s hunt

The night grew deeper, but Nero had no intention of stopping.

After eliminating the three cadets near the rocky ridge, he checked his bracelet once more before putting it away. His score had already reached approximately 3,000 points, placing him far ahead of the other participants.

For most cadets, such a result would have been more than enough reason to find a safe place to rest.

Nero, however, had discovered something far more entertaining than accumulating points.

Hunting other participants.

There was a certain satisfaction in studying an opponent, understanding their habits, and exploiting the smallest opening in their defenses. Unlike monsters, which often relied on instinct and brute force, cadets possessed different abilities, fighting styles, and reactions.

Every encounter presented a new problem.

And Nero enjoyed solving problems.

The deeper he ventured into the forest, the more opportunities he found to experiment with his Laws. His mastery of Darkness continued to improve, while the Law of Wind made it increasingly difficult for his targets to detect his presence.

He could cross entire stretches of forest without disturbing a single branch.

He could remain motionless among the shadows while monitoring the movements of several groups at once.

And when he finally chose a target, the encounter was usually over before his opponent understood that a fight had begun.

It was almost too easy.

Almost.

Nero moved through the darkness, his figure barely distinguishable from the branches surrounding him.

A faint current of Wind passed beneath his feet, carrying him from one tree to another. His movements were light and precise, and the air around him remained undisturbed.

Below, several monsters wandered through the forest.

Nero ignored them.

His attention was directed toward a small group of cadets moving along a narrow path.

There were four of them.

One carried a heavy sword, another wielded a spear, and the remaining two were mages. Their formation was reasonably disciplined, with the knights protecting the center while the mages monitored their surroundings.

They had clearly learned from the dangers of the trial.

Unfortunately, they were still looking for threats in the wrong places.

Nero followed them from above.

He observed the rhythm of their movements, the distance they maintained between one another, and the way the rear guard periodically checked their surroundings.

Then he moved.

Darkness flowed from the underside of a branch, spreading across the path like an ordinary shadow.

The wind shifted.

A few leaves drifted toward the knights.

The spear wielder glanced upward.

Nothing.

He continued walking.

A black thread rose behind him.

Before he could turn, it wrapped around his weapon arm and pulled it away from his body.

Nero appeared at his side.

A single strike connected with the knight’s armor.

His bracelet flashed.

The spear wielder collapsed.

The others reacted immediately.

The heavy-sword knight turned and swung toward the disturbance, releasing a powerful arc of mana. One of the mages raised a defensive barrier, while the other gathered energy for a counterattack.

Their responses were fast.

But their target was already gone.

The sword struck empty air.

A violent gust swept through the path, scattering leaves and obscuring their vision for an instant.

When the wind settled, Nero stood behind the mage who had been preparing the counterattack.

His blade touched the cadet’s armor.

A pulse of Darkness followed.

The bracelet flashed.

Two down.

The remaining pair separated, refusing to let themselves be trapped together. The knight moved toward a more open patch of ground, while the mage retreated behind a tree and began preparing a wide-area spell.

Nero watched them for a moment.

Then he raised his hand.

The shadows beneath the trees stretched.

The mage noticed the change and immediately released his spell, sending a wave of mana across the forest floor.

The attack struck the darkness.

It passed through.

A decoy.

The real Nero emerged from the shadow of a nearby boulder.

He closed the distance in an instant.

The mage barely managed to turn before a precise strike triggered his bracelet.

The heavy-sword knight was the last.

He abandoned his attempt to locate Nero and unleashed a series of sweeping attacks, sending powerful waves of mana in every direction.

The clearing shook.

Branches snapped.

Loose stones scattered.

Nero moved between the attacks, using the wind to guide his steps and Darkness to conceal his approach.

The knight’s final swing tore through a thick tree trunk.

Before he could recover, Nero appeared beside him.

One strike.

One flash.

**Eliminated.**

The clearing fell silent.

Nero stood among the scattered leaves, his sword already returning to its sheath.

Four more participants had been removed from the trial.

He checked his bracelet.

The score increased.

His expression remained calm, but the faint curve at the corner of his mouth betrayed his satisfaction.

He was having far too much fun.

***

As the night progressed, Nero ventured farther from the areas he had explored during the day.

The terrain became rougher, with steep slopes, narrow ravines, and enormous trees whose branches formed a dense canopy overhead. The deeper forest contained more dangerous monsters, but it also offered countless places for cadets to hide.

For a hunter, it was an ideal environment.

Nero used the Law of Wind to extend his perception through the surrounding air. Every disturbance revealed something about the landscape: a creature moving beneath the roots, a group crossing a ridge, or the faint displacement caused by someone stepping over fallen branches.

Darkness filled the gaps in his perception.

Where the wind revealed movement, shadows provided concealment.

The two Laws worked together naturally.

Nero no longer needed to consciously direct every movement. His control had improved to the point where subtle adjustments occurred almost instinctively.

He crossed a ravine without touching the ground.

He passed through a cluster of trees without disturbing their leaves.

He watched a group of cadets set up camp, then waited until their attention shifted before quietly removing the one standing guard.

The remaining participants discovered their missing companion only after several minutes had passed.

By then, Nero was already gone.

Farther north, he encountered a pair of knights attempting to hunt a powerful monster.

The creature was considerably stronger than the ordinary beasts roaming the trial grounds, forcing the two cadets to coordinate their attacks carefully.

Nero watched the battle from a distant branch.

He could have intervened immediately.

Instead, he observed their techniques.

One knight specialized in direct attacks, while the other focused on disrupting the monster’s movements. Their coordination was decent, but their timing was inconsistent.

When the monster finally stumbled, the first knight rushed forward to deliver the finishing blow.

That was when Nero moved.

A gust swept across the battlefield.

The monster’s body shifted unexpectedly, and the knight’s attack missed its intended target.

The creature turned toward him.

The knight hurriedly raised his weapon, but the monster’s counterattack forced him backward.

Before the second knight could intervene, a black blade emerged from the darkness beside him.

His bracelet flashed.

The first knight turned in alarm.

The monster was already preparing another attack.

Nero appeared behind it.

A concentrated strike of Darkness triggered the creature’s defeat mechanism, and its massive body slumped to the ground.

The knight stared at the fallen monster.

Then he noticed the figure standing behind it.

His reaction was immediate.

He attacked.

Nero stepped aside.

The knight’s weapon passed through empty air, and a short burst of Wind disrupted his balance.

Nero’s blade touched his armor.

Another flash.

The battlefield became quiet.

Nero glanced at the defeated monster, then at the two eliminated cadets.

He had gained additional points without wasting time on an unnecessary battle.

Efficient.

He continued onward.

***

By the time the eastern horizon began to brighten, Nero had hunted throughout most of the night.

The forest was slowly emerging from darkness, revealing the broken branches, scattered rocks, and disturbed ground left behind by countless battles.

Nero stood atop a rocky outcrop overlooking a valley.

His score had climbed significantly.

He had stopped counting the exact number of encounters several hours earlier, choosing instead to focus on refining his control over Darkness and Wind.

Every hunt had taught him something.

He had become better at moving without leaving traces, better at anticipating reactions, and better at identifying the most efficient way to eliminate a target.

His understanding of Darkness had deepened.

Rather than simply hiding within shadows, he could use them to influence the battlefield, create false openings, and direct an opponent’s attention away from his actual position.

The Law of Wind had become equally useful.

It allowed him to detect disturbances across a broad area, maintain his balance in difficult terrain, and accelerate his movements without producing the sounds normally associated with rapid movement.

Together, the two Laws gave him extraordinary freedom.

He could choose when to engage.

He could choose when to retreat.

And more often than not, his opponents never realized they had been fighting him until the encounter was already over.

Nero looked toward the distant mountains.

The first rays of sunlight were beginning to spill over their peaks.

He finally considered resting.

Then his senses detected another group of cadets moving through the valley below.

He paused.

There were five of them.

Their formation was loose, and their movements suggested they had spent most of the night hunting monsters.

One of them was limping slightly.

Another kept checking his bracelet.

They were exhausted.

Nero studied them for several seconds.

Then he descended from the outcrop.

His hunt wasn’t over yet.