Chapter 57: The Final Toll

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: The Final Toll

For the next three hours, pitch-black darkness swallowed the woodland.

The nocturnal cycle transformed the forest floor into a far more hazardous meat grinder. Even with Coal’s keen vision and heightened sensory perception, tracking movement through the dense, tangled canopy was severely compromised in the dead of night. Down below, the demonic beasts grew twice as ferocious, roaming in coordinated packs and reacting violently to the faintest disturbance in the brush.

Rather than sweeping wide swathes of dangerous territory, Eric and Coal adopted a patient, ambush-only approach.

Over the course of three cautious hours, they picked off three isolated targets: two Level 3 beasts that had drifted from their packs, and a hulking Level 4 predator caught off-guard in a narrow ravine. Each engagement was executed with surgical precision, Coal pinning them with high-speed aerial distractions while Eric closed in for lethal spinal strikes with his sword.

The three kills netted an additional ten points, nudging his smartband tally to a solid *130 Points*.

Perched beneath the overhang of a mossy cliff, Eric checked the trial countdown projected from his wrist:

[TRIAL STATUS: ACTIVE]

Accumulated Score: 130 Points

TIME REMAINING: 04 Hours, 00 Minutes

"Four hours left," Eric murmured, his voice barely a breath against the freezing alpine draft. "A hundred and thirty points on the board, combined with a near-perfect theoretical score in the bag... that’s more than enough to comfortably secure a high-ranking placement."

He glanced at Coal, whose obsidian feathers were ruffled from hours of vigilant scouting in the biting wind.

"Running around now is pure risk with zero upside. If we run into another Level 6 or Level 8 prodigy, or get caught in a multi-party scuffle, we could lose half this haul in thirty seconds. Time to burrow in."

They scouted the immediate perimeter and discovered the hollowed underside of a massive, ancient tree. Its sprawling roots curved out of the earth like giant wooden ribs, creating a sheltered cavity large enough for a person to sit comfortably.

Eric slipped inside, pulling Coal in beside him. Working quietly, he dragged over loose slate rocks, clumps of damp moss, and tangled dead roots to completely camouflage the crevice from the outside.

To his surprise, the ambient mana density trapped within the ancient root system was astonishingly rich, nearly three to four times thicker than the sparse energy back in Riverdale, easily rivaling the commercial double-density cultivation chambers at the Association guild.

*No point sitting on my hands,* Eric thought.

Closing his eyes, he crossed his legs, regulated his breathing, and guided his liquid mana into steady, uninterrupted cycles. For the remaining four hours of the trial, he cultivated with absolute focus, letting the rich rift energy nourish his meridians and solidify his foundation.

*TING!*

A piercing, reverberating chime jolted Eric from his meditative state.

The smartband flared with bright, amber illumination, projecting an urgent holographic directive into the darkened root hollow:

[TRIAL CONCLUDED]

All combat protocols are officially terminated.

Examinees are instructed to navigate to their nearest designated extraction portal. (Coordinates mapped.)

Notice: Inter-candidate combat, aggression, or point transfers are strictly prohibited. Violators face immediate disqualification and credential revocation.

Eric exhaled a long breath of refined mana and opened his eyes, feeling invigorated. "It’s finally over."

Pushing aside the camouflaged screen of rocks and moss, he climbed out into the pale morning light filtering through the misty canopy. Pulling up the navigational beacon on his wristband, he saw a glowing extraction marker pulsing approximately one kilometer northeast of his position.

"Return for now, Coal," Eric said softly, recalling his contracted beast into the taming space.

Tucking his chin into the collar of his midnight-black scout tunic, Eric quickened his pace, moving swiftly through the silent forest toward the coordinates.

Within ten minutes, he broke through the tree line and arrived at a wide, rocky clearing. At the center hovered an enormous, swirling cerulean portal anchored by heavy metallic runic pylons. Several dozen examinees were already gathered in small clusters, nursing bruises, bandaging lacerations, and waiting in line for the evacuation sweep.

Among the crowd, two familiar faces immediately spotted him.

"Hey! It’s you!" Jenna waved from a short distance away, jogging over with her brother Jim.

The Emberwhisker padded beside her, while Jim’s Ashfang Hound trotted quietly behind. Both siblings looked battered, their armor stained with dried mud and monster blood, but their expressions were relieved and buoyant.

Eric kept his hands resting casually near the hilt of his sword. "What do you want?"

"Oh come on, don’t be like that," Jim chuckled, rubbing his bruised jaw. "The trials are officially over, weapons-down protocol is active. How many points did you end up with after you ambushed us?"

"Not much," Eric said flatly, keeping his guard up. "Why are you asking?"

"Don’t be such a bummer!" Jenna pouted, crossing her arms. "We managed to rally after you robbed us. We hit eighty points each! We shared ours, so come on, spill yours. How many did you rack up?"

"Not much higher than yours," Eric replied evasively, having no intention of painting a target on his back before the final board was published.

A derisive scoff cut through their conversation from a few paces away.

"Hah! Typical."

Eric glanced sideways. Standing with his arms crossed was the wind-aspected tamer, his Windrunner Fox sitting primly at his heel. His torn shoulder was crudely wrapped in alchemical gauze, but his smug, arrogant smirk was fully back in place.

"You ambushed me, played dirty, and took half my points, and you’re barely sitting around eighty?" the youth sneered, eyes brimming with condescending mockery. "I have no idea how you managed to beat me back there, considering I went on a tear and pulled 150 points before the buzzer."

Eric raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised.

*He managed to hit 150 points?* Eric calculated internally. *I took fifty points off him, which dropped him to fifty. That means in the remaining hours of the night, this guy hunted down another hundred points worth of monsters or weaker candidates.*

Still, Eric didn’t let the smirk slide.

He looked the boy up and down with a deadpan expression. "Good for you, man. Does comparing numbers make you feel better about getting your face planted in the dirt?"

The youth’s smirk instantly vanished, his face flushing bright crimson with boiling rage. "What did you say, you little fucker?!"

Eric stepped forward, his cold gaze locking directly onto the boy’s eyes. "I asked if you wanted to get punched in that jaw again."

"Why you—!" The youth reached instinctively toward the daggers at his belt, emerald wind mana flickering around his knuckles.

"Examinees, stand down!" a booming voice thundered across the staging area.

A heavily armored proctor stepped in between them, a crushing aura of General-rank mana pressing down like an iron weight, instantly snuffing out the boy’s wind mana and forcing both sides a step back.

"Combat is strictly forbidden post-trial," the proctor warned coldly, his hand resting on the hilt of an enormous broadsword. "One more twitch from either of you, and I’ll personally revoke your testing credentials on the spot."

"Hmph." The wind tamer clicked his tongue, glaring daggers at Eric one last time before turning sharply on his heel and marching toward the opposite end of the queue.

Jim and Jenna exchanged an awkward, wide-eyed glance, quickly taking a cautious step back from Eric.

"Uh... good luck with your applications, man," Jim muttered hurriedly, grabbing his sister’s elbow and sliding into the line ahead.

Eric simply exhaled, loosening his grip on his sword. Ignoring the murmurs around him, he stepped into the queue and walked through the swirling cerulean rift.