Canis not only had a friendly face, but his personality was also exactly the same. He was a good person, very good to be more specific.
Ash was not exaggerating when he said that Canis was one of the friendliest and kindest people he had ever seen in the game.
But there was one problem, Canis was a very poor student. But the reason why he was poor was quite special.
Dragon Slayer was not born inside the False Horizon but was born in the Abyssal Realm, more precisely by dragons but destined to destroy that race.
And of course, Canis did not know about this. No one knew, except Ash.
Dragon Slayer always thought of himself as just a kid who grew up in an orphanage and was lucky enough to be accepted into Awakened Academy.
Nevertheless, Canis didn't know that he was actually very strong and had a lot of potential. Moreover, he had also met all the criteria that Ash had set.
Without further ado, Ash needed to make Canis one of his loyal Servants, he needed to obtain Dragon Slayer because of his usefulness.
"Hello! Can I come along?" Canis ran towards Ash with a happy yet somewhat worried face.
"Of course!" Ash didn't delay and accepted Canis immediately.
Only after receiving Ash's acceptance, Dragon Slayer slowed down, no longer needing to speed up, and showed a happy smile on his lips.
"Thank you, I am Canis, what is your name?"
"Ash "Worthless" Voidveil - the Third Prince of the Voidveil Empire." He had decided to reveal his true identity immediately.
There was no reason for Ash to hide it anyway. Canis would eventually find out his true identity in the future.
"The Third Prince of the Voidveil Empire?!?!?!" As expected, Dragon Slayer was extremely surprised.
"Why are you so surprised? I didn't bite you?"
"B-But…you're the Prince of the Empire…"
'And you're Dragon Slayer - born of dragons, you idiot…' Ash wanted to say those words but stopped.
Instead, he calmly replied:
"So what? I'm human too?"
Canis was stunned like an idiot for a moment before smiling sincerely.
"Yeah, that's true." Dragon Slayer was such a dummy.
And Ash also really liked idiots because it would be much easier to gain their loyalty.
"Then let's go, shall we?"
Ash didn't wait for Canis's answer and immediately walked away.
"Okay." Canis instantly followed him like a child following its parent.
***
Soon, the sky had turned dark, and right now, Canis and Ash were hiding together in a cave, waiting for the right time to come out.
Most Abyssal Creatures were inactive under the sunlight and would spend that time sleeping, conserving their energy. So no matter what Ash and Canis did, the chance of them encountering one was extremely low.
For that reason, instead of spending the morning hunting Abyssal Creatures, they decided to hunt animals and find a shelter first.
And that was what led to the current situation.
They had now had a shelter, which couldn't be called cozy and comfortable, but it was still better than being outdoors, always having to be on guard.
And a lot of meat to cook. From the looks of it, this amount of meat would definitely be enough for them to last until the end of this test, which was in 3 days.
Everything had been prepared, all Ash and Dragon Slayer needed to do was wait until nightfall.
Ash couldn't see the sun because the entire sky was covered in gloomy clouds.
However, based on the color of the sky, he could predict that time wouldn't be long.
Exactly 1 hour later, the night had completely fallen upon the entire forest, causing everything to be immersed in a damn and savage darkness.
The only source of light left was the fire used for cooking near Ash and Canis' cave.
"Are you scared, Canis?" Ash noticed Dragon Slayer's hands were clasped together.
"A little, sir, but that's completely normal, right?" Canis gave a reassuring smile to Ash, even though he was the one who was scared.
"Of course, darkness is one of the primal fears of humans. And the reason humans fear it is simply because they can't tell what will happen in the shadow."
With that, Ash immediately turned his sinister gaze towards a bush not far away - the one that had been making rustling sounds all this time.
One of the reasons Ash chose not to extinguish this fire was so that they wouldn't be blinded in the darkness.
And the other reason…was to attract the attention of the Skeleton Predator - an Abyssal Creature Rank Fiend.
From within that very bush, a creature that resembled a bony predator, its entire body covered in sharp spikes, slowly stepped out.
It stared blankly at the flickering flames, not paying any attention to the duo hiding in the cave.
With its powerful legs and sharp claws, the Skeleton Predator was cautiously approaching the flames, as if it had been mesmerized by it.
Its long, spiked tail, like a deadly weapon, was constantly swinging without any reason.
It looked like a nightmare that had come to life from hell. However, Ash did not feel too scared when he saw the Skeleton Predator.
Was it because he had encountered a Supreme Tyrant before?
Oh well, whatever.
Ash looked at Dragon Slayer with a determined gaze, and it seemed like he had understood the intention hidden within those eyes.
Dragon Slayer nodded lightly and grabbed his cheap spear while Ash held the Sword of Dawn tightly. Then, both of them gently left the cave, approaching the Skeleton Predator without making any noise.
The distance between the two sides was gradually shortened, but the Abyssal Creature was too immersed in the flames to notice the presence of Ash and Canis.
That was also the reason that would lead to its death.
With quick and neat movements, Dragon Slayer successfully approached the Abyssal Creature in just a moment and immediately crippled the creature's two hind legs.
And before the Skeleton Predator had a chance to scream, Ash's sword had already slashed through its neck, sending the Abyssal Creature to eternal sleep, never to wake up again.
It was a decisive slash without any hesitation.
It was also the result of Ash's time spent practicing swordsmanship.
It seemed that this time, his efforts were rewarded.
[You have received 1 Experience from killing an Awakened Fiend - Skeleton Predator.]