The two groups chatted a little, then settled down under a dense formation of trees, completely blocking the sky above.
Raelis set up the fire, Alice hunted the food, and the rest waited patiently.
He had managed to get a bit of information out of the group.
The leader Raelis had spoken to was named Resian. On the other hand, the others didn't even speak.
They're definitely listening, though. They react to everything I say, Raelis noted, careful not to act suspicious.
He was nearly certain these people weren't actually people, but mimics.
Mimics were a species of mana beast that could quite literally take on the form of a person.
Usually, they were no stronger than Grade 7, and even then, they sat at the lowest tier of that grade, incapable of fully replicating the abilities of whoever they mimicked.
Raelis subtly glanced over to Resian. But him, on the other hand... Is he a Grade 6 Mimic?
He had more intelligence than the others, and Raelis saw him use the wind element earlier.
So he's either a Grade 6 Mimic, or he's being manipulated by the Grade 7 mimics behind him... but that's not the Mana Beast who is supposed to wipe most of the candidates out... it's different.
Alice finally got back with the food, and of course, the food was none other than 10 rabbits.
Raelis's team looked skeptical, but he gave them a small nod, silently reassuring them that this test was necessary.
Mimics, unlike actual people, no matter the Grade, can't eat food. They can put it inside their mouths and swallow, but the moment they do, their mimicry would come undone.
Basically, anything foreign to their bodies acted like poison.
Keeping that in mind, Raelis finished cooking the rabbits and handed them out.
He immediately devoured one, and Alice followed suit.
His team hesitated. And from the looks of it, Resian's group wasn't planning to eat either.
"What's wrong?" Raelis asked. "The rabbit's delicious, I promise."
Resian tilted his head. "But isn't it poisonous? I saw others eat the same meat, fall asleep… and then get devoured by mana beasts."
Raelis shrugged. "I seem to be doing just fine. How about this instead…"
He pulled out some berries he'd picked earlier and offered them to Resian.
"Feel free to eat those."
"Hmm... I must've lost my appetite, apologies," Resian said as he put aside the rabbit and the berries.
He locked eyes with Raelis, silently staring for a few moments.
Finally, Resian stood up, and so did his group.
"I'm afraid this might've been a mistake. We'll be taking our leave now," Resian announced.
Raelis let out a quiet sigh.
So be it.
He extinguished the fire, letting a veil of shadows blanket the area.
His team moved back instantly, readying themselves.
In the corner of his eye, Raelis caught a faint white glow surrounding Clea's arm. It vanished moments later, like it had never been there.
Raelis mentally noted it down and ran through the darkness like it was his domain.
Even if he couldn't enter their shadows, he didn't need to.
His steps were silent, and his presence was completely reduced.
So much so that neither Resian nor his group realized Raelis had snuck up behind them.
They stayed eerily quiet, but Raelis wasn't one to take risks.
He quietly sliced their necks, but there was no blood. It was like slicing jello.
Just as Raelis approached and raised his daggers to Resian's neck, Resian suddenly turned around.
His eyes glowed bright red, his face twisting unnaturally.
A chill ran down Raelis's spine as he hesitated.
In that moment, Resian's fist flew toward his abdomen.
Raelis managed to dodge, but then came the real attack.
A fist-sized rock slammed into the side of his head, faster than a spell. He didn't even have time to blink before everything went black.
The darkness didn't last long as he soon opened his eyes and spotted Alice stuffing some herbs down his throat.
"Pftt." He spat them out and gently pushed her hand away.
"I'm fine. But thanks," Raelis said softly.
All of a sudden, a trickle of blood ran down his nose.
Then came the headache, which was obviously the result of the Mimic's attack.
"He cracked your skull," Alice said. "You're sturdy, though. It's healing."
"Right…" Raelis wiped away the blood. "What happened to the mimic?"
"So that's what it was, huh? I thought it looked familiar," Mathieu muttered. "The black slime on the ground confirmed it."
Alice rolled her eyes and turned to Raelis. "The mimic disappeared right after knocking you out. It was way too fast for us to track."
"I see…" Raelis muttered. "Did anyone follow it?"
She seemed to understand what he was thinking. "No one followed after the mimic, no. I made sure to mark every one of you with a special scent only I can smell, so you don't have to worry."
She gets more competent every time I talk to her, Raelis thought with a poker face. But then why haven't I heard of her before? Even with those survival instincts… did she not make it through this exam?
He stretched his back and wiped his fingers across his head again. Seeing that he was no longer bleeding, he decided to move on.
Ajax was still acting cranky as always, and Raelis could tell that he was plotting something.
And then there was Clea, the biggest mystery of them all.
She didn't seem powerful, but her speed earlier, as well as the faint white glow around her arm, indicated that she was hiding something from them.
Something very important.
This won't do... Raelis concluded, then turned to Clea.
But before he could speak, a voice echoed in his mind, and in everyone else's.
It belonged to none other than Headmaster Arius.
[Twelve hours have passed. A few hundred of you have, unfortunately, perished. It's time to begin the late stages of the second exam,] he announced, his voice quieting.
[In exactly ten minutes, I will unleash every Mana Beast we've been holding back. Whether you run, fight, or die… is up to you. You have ten minutes.]
He coughed one final time.
[The count has started. Good luck. You will need it.]