Chapter 53: Shadows in the Canopy

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Shadows in the Canopy

With Coal slumbering deep inside the spiritual beast space to replenish his depleted reserves, Eric was temporarily stripped of his aerial scout.

Without an eagle-eyed vantage point to alert him to incoming prowlers or geographic dead-ends, he advanced with deliberate, exaggerated caution. He kept his center of gravity low, sticking to the deep shadows cast by ancient ironwood trunks and navigating through the damp, mossy hollows of the sprawling woodland.

Before leaving the Kharntuft battleground behind, Eric had meticulously carved out every beast core from the fallen swarm. Stashing the crystalline harvest into his spatial inventory, he glanced down at his trial band: *27 Points*.

With a score that high within the opening ninety minutes of the trial, Eric knew he was practically a walking prize. If a coordinated squad or a predatory solo candidate crossed his path, they wouldn’t hesitate to jump him to siphon half his tally.

For the next hour, he moved like a silent wraith through the timber.

Along the way, he ran into a solitary Bannovex, a hunchbacked, bipedal horror whose head was a calcified mask resembling a bleached humanoid skull, its spine overgrown with thick, parasitic green lichen. At Level 2 Soldier rank, the creature lunged with feral speed, but Eric’s Advanced Swordsmanship at Minor mastery dismantled its offense with clinical precision.

A sharp feint to the left, a fluid Shadow Step, and the pale-blue bone edge of the Wavecaller severed its cervical spine in three crisp, economical exchanges.

He crossed paths with three more stray Kharntuft as well. Remembering their ear-splitting distress shrieks, Eric closed the distance before the beasts could draw breath, cleaving their vocal cords before a single acoustic wave could echo into the canopy.

By the time the blade was wiped clean, his trial band updated to *33 Points*.

Feeling the dull burn of physical exertion returning to his calves, Eric decided to take a tactical breather. He scaled a colossal ironwood tree, checked the upper boughs for camouflaged arboreal predators, and settled his back against a broad, moss-covered branch ten meters above the damp soil.

From his belt pack, he pulled out a strip of spiced dry jerky he had brought from Sunshine Home, chewing slowly as his breathing settled into an even cadence.

*I haven’t spotted a single examinee since the dispersion drop,* Eric mused, peering through the dense sea of broadleaves. *Just how massive is this artificial proving ground? With candidates pooled from every major testing center across Auremont, you’d think the forest would be crawling with competition.*

Almost on cue, the underbrush rustled thirty meters downwind.

Two figures slipped quietly through the ferns.

*Spoke too soon,* Eric smirked, freezing in place and pulling his aura inward to suppress his mana signature.

Walking in tandem were a teenage boy and girl, both clad in matching lightweight scout tunics. Flanking them were two contracted beasts: an Emberwhisker, a lithe, long-tailed feline whose ginger fur crackled with tiny sparks of orange flame, padding silently beside the girl, and a stout Ashfang Hound with soot-gray fur and smoldering crimson eyes trotting beside the boy.

Eric narrowed his eyes, quietly activating his ocular talent.

*Appraisal.*

│ Race: Human

│ Stage: Soldier | Level: 2 | Talent Rank: C

│ Contracted Beast: Ashfang Hound

│ Rank: E | Stage: Soldier | Level: 3

------------

│ Race: Human

│ Stage: Soldier | Level: 1 | Talent Rank: C

│ Contracted Beast: Emberwhisker

│ Rank: E | Stage: Soldier | Level: 2

*They look like a sibling pair, both in early Soldier rank,* Eric calculated swiftly. *The hound is the strongest, but their walking formation is completely loose. I wonder how many points they’ve banked between them... Is it worth the drop?*

Checking his soul tether, Eric felt Coal’s spiritual core humming with renewed vitality. The quiet rest inside the taming space had restored enough liquid mana for an explosive, high-speed ambush.

With a silent mental command, a wisp of dark mist curled along the bark beside Eric’s boot.

*FLASH.*

Coal materialized without releasing a single sound, his obsidian feathers blending seamlessly into the shadowed leaves.

*Take flight, buddy,* Eric communicated telepathically across the bond. *Ascend through the canopy blind spot. Do not engage until I initiate the strike.*

Coal gave a crisp, imperceptible nod of his sleek head, kicked off the mossy branch, and dissolved into the upper foliage.

Down on the forest floor, the siblings picked their path through the thick ferns.

"Jenna, watch your footing and keep your voice down," Jim muttered in a harsh whisper, keeping a hand resting on his short spear. "There could be scout-type examinees lurking in the canopy."

"Relax, Jim," Jenna sighed, rolling her eyes as her Emberwhisker sniffed a patch of bioluminescent fungi. "This entire sector is crawling with forest fiends. Everyone is bogging down just trying to survive the fauna. Nobody is looking for an open PvP fight this early."

"Still, carelessness gets you eliminated."

"Fine, but shouldn’t we be hunting more aggressively?" Jenna pressed, glancing down at her band with a frown. "At this pace, we won’t even hit double digits before twilight."

"Patience," Jim grinned smugly. "Let the hotheads burn through their stamina and mana in the opening twelve hours. Once night falls and everyone is bruised, exhausted, and limping, we sweep through the sectors and plunder the stragglers."

"That’s... actually a decent plan, brother."

"Hmph. Never doubt your big bro—"

*SWOOSH!*

A streak of midnight black plunged from the branches like a descending guillotine, slamming between the two siblings with a muffled thud of displaced loam.

"Ambush! Jenna, fall back!" Jim barked, thrusting his spear forward in panic.

"Too late."

Before the warning fully cleared his throat, Eric channeled liquid mana through his ankles.

*Shadow Steps!*

His silhouette dissolved into a dark phantom blur, effortlessly slipping beneath Jim’s clumsy spear thrust and reappearing directly behind Jenna.

*SHING.*

The freezing, ivory edge of the Wavecaller settled gently against the side of the girl’s neck.

"Mroww!"

The Emberwhisker hissed violently, crimson flames flaring along its spine as it sprang forward to defend its contractor—

*SKRRRAAAK!*

A dark shadow dropped from the heavens like an artillery strike.

*Skystride!*

Coal intercepted the burning cat mid-leap. Flaunting the overwhelming physical density of a Tier-2 aerial predator, Coal drove his Talons down, pinning the Emberwhisker firmly into the muddy soil by its scruff. His cold, iron beak hovered a fraction of an inch above the cat’s pupil.

The fiery feline gave a strangled yowl, completely immobilized under the crushing weight.

Ten paces away, Jim froze mid-stride, his Ashfang Hound baring its soot-stained fangs as a low, rumbling growl vibrated in its throat.

"Don’t move," Eric said, his voice dead calm beneath the shade of his midnight hood. "One twitch, and your sister takes an early exit from the trials."

Jim’s face twisted in terror, though he attempted to square his shoulders. "W-What do you think you’re doing?! Lethal strikes are forbidden! If you harm her, the displacement wards will flag the trauma and disqualify you on the spot!"

"Oh, I’m well aware of the safety boundaries," Eric chuckled softly, tilting the blade just enough for the cold serpent-bone to press into the soft skin of her throat.

"Fatal trauma triggers the barrier. But severing a few non-lethal tendon clusters in her shoulder to keep her grounded for the rest of the day? Perfectly compliant with trial regulations. Initiate the point transfer right now, and both of you walk away in one piece."

Jenna swallowed hard, terror draining the color from her face as the cold bone edge bit into her neck.

Jim stared at Eric’s balanced posture, then glanced at the massive black crow pinning his sister’s beast with contemptuous ease. Realizing the unbridgeable gulf in strength, he let out a bitter, shuddering sigh and dropped his spear point toward the dirt.

"Fine... we barely have any points to begin with. Just take them and let her go."

"Brother...!" Jenna gasped, her voice trembling.

Before she could speak further, Eric gave her shoulder a firm, measured shove, sending her stumbling safely into Jim’s reach.

Simultaneously, Coal released his grip on the whimpering Emberwhisker, launching back into the air with an effortless Skystride to perch on a thick branch above, watching them like a silent executioner.

"Save your breath, Jenna," Jim muttered, pulling his sister behind his back and extending his smartband toward Eric’s. "He completely outclasses us. Fighting an elite like this in the opening hours will just trigger our emergency barriers. We give up half our points now, or we go home with zero."